Blogs from Arica, Arica & Parinacota, Chile, South America

Day 19: Playing in the sea with Ben We went shopping in the shopping centre to buy Christmas presents and we bought lots of lovely presents. Mum and Dad went to buy presents for me, Joe and Ben and me, Joe and Ben went to buy presents for them. For the first hour we didn’t get anything because we didn’t see anything that Mum and Dad would like and so we went to McDonalds because that’s where Mum and Dad said to meet up after the first hour. After we had a drink we went off and this time we found some presents for Mum and Dad. After we were very sweaty and tired after all that shopping we went back to the apartment and we had a little rest. After a while we went to ... read more

I know that there are a least a few blog followers who share my passion for anything with an internal combustion engine and 4 wheels and I said I’d write a bit about the Xterra we’ve been travelling in. If cars isn’t your cup of tea skip this one! Well, I’m very impressed. So much so that I’ve started looking at what Nissans are available for when we finally make it back to the UK. The Xterra would be wasted in the UK really. It’s best on uncertain or gravel surfaces, but has been remarkably smooth on the tarmac too and it’s really roomy. Last time we came here to Chile was 3 years ago and we did the 10 hour trip in our tiny 3 door Toyota Starlet, so it’s been great to have the ... read more

Chronogenetics With every scientist like an artist- there is always the theoretical stage where a picture is imagined before it is drawn...before it is postulated ...before it is manifested. With space travel it would have to be a new science that superceded the rest -why- because nothing like this had ever been attempted before...TO GO BOLDLY INTO THE UNKNOWN FRONTIER... SPACE. The first thing that the first timemaster realised as he was building his machine to carry him through space was that there was no time in space and no space in time...Thus within the mind there was only thought...and thought did not need time or space to travel -it needed only imagination which was both time and space!... So if the known universe were charted as static co-ordinates then all that had to be done ... read more

Day 304 Friday 10th August It is a shame that most hotels just have to have something wrong with them, this place has been a good hotel, right up to check out. At 6.00am we are checking out and there is an annoyance small but still it is a pity. The hotel conversion rate is 2.8 for US dollars to soles when every other hotel has been 2.7 and if you use Mastercard they will not do it in US dollars so basically it is a rip off. After some consideration we pull out the last of our US money, which includes the 100 dollar note no one in Peru would touch (it is not counterfeit it is just Peru will not except $US100 bills) and she accepts of course she had no choice because we ... read more

'Get out of the waves.... Go back to the valley man' These words came back to haunt me when I was Jonny Utah for the day. George Evans where are you now? George was a young man I used to work with and who, during long night shifts. used to bring in films to watch. (and no, not the ones with Ron Jeremy, mores the pity). One film we all loved was Point Break with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, who played FBI agent Jonny Utah. A classic from the 1980's set around the surfing community. who happen also to be bank robbers. Dressed in masks of former presidents of the USA, Jonny had to learn to surf ... read more