a big jambo to all! (hello in kiswahili) i hope this finds everyone doing fabulously! its been about six weeks since my last entry and in that time i have been getting to know the glorious continent of africa. 'safari' in kiswahili means journey, and the last month has been exactly that. it was a bittersweet moment to leave buenos aires at the end of april. 4+ months of exploring south america had been exhilarating, challenging, and rewarding. it was the perfect start to this trip and helped to instill a strong sense of adventure and travel confidence. buenos aires, which [View Full Entry]

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ok, maybe not everything fun has to live up to this criteria...but don't tell me there is not a parallel there somewhere! the experience of riding a bicycle down the world's most dangerous road is definitely helping to prove this theory. but more on that in a bit. after sending kirsten and brian off and saying goodby to our machu picchu family (which i heard from my sick-bed, was quite the dance party!) rick and i had one more day/night in cusco, before heading back to the peruvian side of lake titicaca for a bit more island hoping. this was also [View Full Entry]

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in 1911, an American explorer and Yale university professor named Hiram Bingham, stumbled upon a mass of carefully laid granite stones, covered with overgrown jungle, and nestled in the high mountain ranges of south western Peru. this sprawling array of intricately laid stone structures, was soon to be revealed as Machu Pichhu, or the "lost city" of the fabled and revered Inca empire. "lost" is a relative term, applying mostly to the non-native world, however hiram's "discovery" became the catalyst to a renewed infatuation and awareness of the advanced and remarkable history of one of the wo [View Full Entry]

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hello friends and family! sorry for the lag in blog updates. the past 3 weeks have been a string of travel and trips, and i have been admittedly bad at checking in and carving out Internet time. however, i am ready to amend the lapse, so get ready for some updates! after a few days in la paz and the huyani potosi adventure, i set out for Copacabana (the Bolivian version), a small town on the southern shores of lake Titicaca. Copacabana, while somewhat geared to the traversing tourist, is also a nice place to kick back and relax for a [View Full Entry]

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ah...to be back in a teeming city! la paz is the defacto capital of bolivia, located in the north western part of the country. it is home to about 1.5 million people, who all live at 3,660 m. in a big canyon, surrounded by the gorgeous bolivian cordilla real mountain range. the city sprawls the base and walls of the canyon and offers a busy, lively, daily pulse of traffic, people, and markets. not a place for those in fear of over stimulation. you can find just about anything and everything on the streets, being sold by the "duenas" (bolivian women) [View Full Entry]

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you read about it in all the guide books. its an adrenaline fueled, bare bones, somewhat sketchy, not so encouraged or highly recommended, but still widley popular 3 day adventure, and pandora's box-like, mode of transport from san pedro de atacama (small town in northern chile) across the bolvian border and through the salt flats and surrounding desert and landscapes, ending in the small town of uyuni, bolivia. on the last leg of my bus "tour", i met two fabulous irish ladies who had somewhat of the same travel plans in mind. we made the final trek to san pedro de [View Full Entry]

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although i only spent 3 days in santiago, there are a couple of interesting things worth mentioning. arguably the stablest economy in south america, santiago initially struck me as a blend of european functionality (stores, businesses, restaurants...and prices!) and south american architecture, traffic, and markets. the city (similar to los angeles) also suffers from a heavy blanket of smog that persists throughout the year in varying degrees. on many days, the smog blocks the gorgeous backdrop of the andes mountains, which if you are lucky to catch a clear sky or stong breeze, are surpri [View Full Entry]

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hello all!...i hope this finds everyone doing well and enjoying the start to a fabulous spring (at least in the EEUU)! after a few days back in the lovely buenos aires for some much needed r&r..and one suburb U2 show, i jumped on an overnight bus for the 14 hour trip to mendoza. some of you may be familiar with the name mendoza, as it can be found proudly marking the labels of delicious malbec's, cab's, and merlot exports. i was excited to spend a few days exploring the infamous "wine region" of argentina, and arrived early morning and found my [View Full Entry]

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each day began with a gentle awaking to the sounds of rushing water, the rustle of birds in the trees and little critters running through dry leaves, small whispers of wind blowing through the leaves, and the muffled noises of other campers starting to surface from their tents and mobilize for the day's hike. it was normally very cold in the mornings and evenings, so the wool cap, gloves, and fleece were immediately thrown on as we crawled from the tent and into the daylight and fresh air of the Torres Del Paine national park. my morning ritual (so predictable for [View Full Entry]

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there is really not an effective way to completely describe or capture the emansive and enormous barreling river of ice known as the perito moreno glacier. it commands respect. it's unbelievable big. imagine a tsunami's amount of fresh, chillingly cold, glacier water, thrusting with unparalleled power down from some of the highest and imposing peaks in the world...and then, with the snap of a finder, it gets suspended and froozen in its path - an invisible shield holding the glacier and all its power from crushing into the valley and lake below. that is the feeling when you look up at [View Full Entry]

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