GringoAnciano

I went to the local biocentre that included a butterfly dome (see first photo) and an aviary. On entering the ground level of the aviary there was a large bird there about the size of a chicken (imagine if you will a supermarket free range chicken prior to the removal of his appendages/feathers, and not carrying his giblets in a plastic bag) that seemed to accompany me on the initial phase of my bird-orientated perambulations. Just as I was about to leave the aviary the aforementioned avian, or one of his fellows (I can not rule out there being a whole flock of such near-identical sentinels) came pounding down the path towards me and then hopped on a nearby handrail. I was then given a severe glowering at (see second photo) and was at a temporary ... read more

Copacabana is situated on Lake Titicaca, at about 3,800 meters high it is the highest navigable lake in the world. The lake is 200 km long, 60 km wide, and 280 metres deep at its deepest (the dimensions are Spanish for very high, very big and very deep!). Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and even the priests are reduced to having second jobs washing cars (see first photo). While there I took a boat trip to the Island Of The Sun where priests were unable to eke out a living because of the rudimentary nature of the local transport system (see second photo). Copacabana está situado en el lago Titicaca, a unos 3.800 metros de alto que es el lago navegable más alto del mundo. El lago se encuentra a 200 ... read more

Whilst in Arica I went on day trip up to 4,500 metres on a visit to Lauca National Park. It was an area of outstanding natural beauty (see first photo). There we saw a lot of wildlife including vicuñas (see second photo) and llamas (see third photo). I was born one of identical triplets, and imagine my suprise when I was reunited with my two long lost sisters (see last photo). Evidently they had been abducted by an Andean travelling llama castrator, who left Britain due to the lack of work. What happened after that is foggy, but we have a lot to catch up on. The photo is proof of what they used to say - only our mother could tell us apart. Mientras que en Arica fui en viaje de un día hasta 4.500 ... read more

At La Serena I visited the 'tourist observatory' up in the mountains near the town. Here we passed over our cameras and they photographed the moon (see first photograph) and saturn (see second photograph) for us through two of their telescopes (see third and forth photographs). This was definitely a highlight of the trip. La Serena also has an interesting archaelogy museum where the star exhibit is a statue (or moai) from Easter Island (see last photograph). The splendid housing of the statue was paid for from an insurance claim when the statue was temporarily decapitated whilst on loan to Barcelona. For any of my readers that may be tempted to submit a similar claim please bear in mind that human head re-grafting is still at an experimental stage. En La Serena, visité el "observatorio turístico" ... read more

In Chillán I was quite lucky to get a room as some were even reduced to living on the porches over doorways (see first picture). I tried to speak to these less fortunate tourists but they seemed strangely taciturn. However, they seemed to be making the best of their lot by growing some flowers to cheer themselves up. The housing situation was not just confined to my species and even the dogs were reduced to sleeping in the streets (see second picture). Chillán is well known as: the site of a devestating earthquake in 1939; the birthplace of Bernard O'Higgings (1778-1842), the founder of the republic of Chile; and the birthplace of the world-famous pianist Claudio Arrau Leon (1903‑1991). Whilst being shown round the Claudio Arrau Leon museum my telling the guide that I had once ... read more