"Pura vida." It's about the good things in life that come from what's natural, and Ticos (Costa Ricans) love saying it. And I've loved living it for the past few days. (Mav, because I know you're reading this, I just wanted you to know that they also say "man" exactly like in Scarface. It's awesome. And I say it every chance I get.) As my last foreign stopover before making it back home, I landed at the international airport in San José, Costa Rica, on Friday afternoon and was prompted greeted by rain, which begins like clockwork every afternoon--2:00 in San [View Full Entry]

---

---

In my mad attempt to fit as much into my Peruvian trip as I could, I left my tour of the Islas Ballestas in the morning to make the three-hour trip down to Nasca to fly over the famous Líneas de Nasca and then go another seven hours back up to Lima. The lines were of course interesting, but one aspect of the trip that was even more--we'll say--exciting was the trip down to Nasca itself. After grabbing a collective taxi out to a major highway, I caught a one-hour bus down to the city of Ica where I was told [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Islas Ballestas, located a few kilometers off-shore from Pisco and Paracas, are sometimes referred to as "the poor man's Galápagos." "Well," I said, "I'm, poor, a man, and have always wanted to go to the Galápagos Islands . . . Let's do it." Numerous tour companies leave out of Pisco for three-hour tours. They seem a bit short, and if you're looking for information about the animals, you might have to read a book or something, but for the pure shock of seeing such a sight, the tour is well worth the 30 soles ($8USD) you'll dish out for it. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Monday morning was the beginning of the end for me, as I started my long journey home back to the US. Catching a plane out of Buenos Aires at 6:30 in the morning (meaning no sleep that night), I suddenly found myself in the bustling, very "South American" city of Lima, Peru. I say "South American," because while being in Argentina and especially Buenos Aires, it's so incredibly easy to forget where you are. Lima is a combination like any old, large Latin American city, full of modern businesses and colonial architecture, great little local restaurants and suspiciously abdundant KFC/Pizza [View Full Entry]

---

---

As you're driving through the winding mountain roads of central Argentina, one of the last things you expect to come upon is a tiny little German town, full of chocolate, wooden architecture, and beer. However, that's just what you'll discover if you happen to find yourself in the quaint little village of Villa General Belgrano, just 90 km from Córdoba. So how did a German town end up in the middle of the Argentine mountains? Glad you asked . . . Back in 1943 during World War II, British seaman severely wounded the Nazi ship the Acorazado Graf Spee off the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sadly, I don't have all that much to say about the wonderful city of Córdoba because due to my limited time left (and a few extra days spent elsewhere) I only had one day in Argentina's second-largest city. One of the great things about the city is that the sights are all very viewable in a day's walk. Concretrated in the center, Córdoba is a bastion of colonial architecture (and related history)--cathedrals, basilicas, convents, universities and more. Beyond that, it has two art museums that, while not extremely expansive, give a good survey of cordobé art, past and present. Anot [View Full Entry]

---

---

In the 1840s a civil war raged in Argentina, the porteños against the interior of the country. One woman named Deolina Correa set out with her infant baby and supplies to follow her sick husband, serving as a soldier in the war. After her food and water ran dry, she soon collapsed in the desert, dead. When were body was found, those there were astonished to find that her infant baby was still alive, suckling on the dead woman's breast. Soon news spread of the apparent miracle, and people began to become devotees to the dead soul (not technically a saint) [View Full Entry]

---

---

Mendoza, right on the edge of the northern Andes in known for two things: wine and just being a darn pleasant place. Arriving around midnight on Thursday, the first thing I noticed was just how many people were out at sidewalk tables, having a bite to eat and a few drinks with friends. All of these sidewalk restaurants and bars were constantly packed out. Even in the afternoon or morning you could find places with tables outside filled with Argentine youth. The city itself doesn't offer many sights, but is just a great place to, well, hang out. Boasting a 430 [View Full Entry]

---

---

So, already on this little "trip" of mine I was able to fulfill one childhood dream that I had--seeing the Amazon--but in some brilliant stroke of luck, I've spent the last two days completing my other childhood dream, working on a dinosaur dig! The Centro Paleontològico del Lago Barreales (or Proyecto Dino) is located a little more than an hour to the northwest of Neuquén, in a semi-desert area full of fossilized animals and plants. The entire area is incredibly rich in such paleontological treasures and boasts being home to the world's largest known carnivore, the 14m, 8 ton Gi [View Full Entry]

---

---

When you hear the word Patagonia, what do you think of? Whatever it is, it will probably never compare with what you will see when you actually arrive there. In my first major excursion out of Buenos Aires in a month, I decided to go straight for the throat and head down south to the northern part of Patagonia, known as the Lake District. In a laughable twist of irony, after spending an entire month in BA with friends, I boarded a bus alone just a few hours before the start of my birthday. Luckily, I met a fantastically nice Irish [View Full Entry]

---

---