Blogs from Arica & Parinacota, Chile, South America - page 5

So, I'm sitting on this first of a three leg bus journey to get to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. I continue to be amazed by this bus, so finally decided to pull out the laptop and write about it. First, let's put things into context of my amazement. I've been on buses shared with goats and chickens. On ones where you shoved and pushed to claim a seat, and ones that were standing room only. Been on ones with people puking and the entertainment of the monotonous ride was to watch the vomit run up and down the aisle. Others where you could climb up on top of the roof to sit for a "custom" view. Ones where everytime the bus stopped, you better keep an eagle's eye on the luggage catch so your bag ... read more

Last night we had a nice dinner at a little restaurant on the corner of a street nearby. We had a couple beers of Cristal, the local beverage of choice and Brett had fried fish and salad and I had beef and rice. I wished I would have chosen the fish and salad because it was sooo good!! I mean we are right on the sea after all. I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. We sat for a while and talked, a lot about college and some of the crazy things that used to go on at North Campus Village, shout out to those of you reading this who remember the debauchery that was NCV….after dinner we made our way to one of the only other places that was open, Sunday night in Arica is pretty ... read more

March 14  So I woke up around 7:30 checked the surf and debated going out for a long time but decided to wait on the tide switch again. So I had breaky n hung out a bit.  I went out around noon for a few hours. There crowd grew as I was out there but I must say all the guys in the water were super nice so it was a great sesh. I got some fun waves and the vibe in the water was great. When I came in I had some lunch and chilled out till my avo sesh.  Which was even more crowded but with kids so I paddled over to colegio to have it myself. It wasn't as consistent especially at first but as the tide dropped it got better and I ... read more

OK, I spelled Machu Picchu wrong in the last entry... On Wednesday, the 16th, we had our second luncheon for those passengers who are booked for the entire cruise, the "All-Rounders." Here's the menu: Seafood Tower -- Baby shrimps, rock lobster and tiger prawns on an artichoke bottom served with cognac flavoured cocktail sauce. Cream of Carrot and Pumpkin Soup -- Infused with ginger, served with a swirl of herbed cream and crouton. Duo of Salmon and Sole -- Pan fried salmon filet and poached lemon sole filet served with grilled green asparagus, mushroom and lobster sauce. The Best of Chocolate and Orange -- Silky chocolate cheese cake and orange mousse with Campari flavoured fruit sauces. Not bad, huh? Oh, this was accompanied by a glass of champagne as we walked in and wine with the ... read more

After enjoying two beautiful days at the beach in Iquique we started our journey up to Peru. Our first stop would be Arica, 4 and a half hours from Iquique. Knowing that it would be our shortest bus ride, oddly enough it seemed as the longest one for me and Lucy. We only spent the night there and the next day we contiunued on to Peru. Our second stop was the city of Tacna, 50km away from the Chilean border. As I crossed the border I got excited for my future adventures in Peru but got sad as I say goodbye to Chile, my home for the last 5 months. After Tacna we had a 6 hour bus to Arequipa where we would meet up with some friends. ... read more