America del Sur

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Estamos en Iquique ahora. After Cuzco we went down to Puno where we took a two day one night trip onto Lake Titicaca. It was a very culturally rich experience. We took a boat three hours out to the Island Amantani, and there we stayed with a native family, ate native food and danced the native dances. It was definitely an experience.

After Puno we took a bus to Tacna, then took a very interesting car ride across the boarder of Chile to Arica, then we took another bus to Iquique. Iquique is a bustling city on the beach with palm trees and highrise hotels and apartment buildings. The first night in town we met some locals that were sitting around a fire on the sidewalk. They invited us to have a drink of coca cola and wine. I was very happy to speak spanish with some friends again (Brandon and I have been speaking too much english) we talked about surfing and skiing. One of them, Roni, is the owner of a surf shop. He agreed to take us surfing and give us a lesson for pretty cheap. So the next day we went surfing and had a great time. We were able to stand up and catch of few waves but mostly we just go battered and beaten. That is usually my experience with surfing. It was really good to have instruction though. If we had a week to devote just to surfing we would definetly get much better.

Next we are heading father south to Santiago. We are going to stay with my cousing-in-law, Pato´s, brother and sister and do some skiing. After a week or less in the Santiago area we are going to head father south to Las Leñas to ski some more and then we will see from there how much farther south we head...perhaps to the very cold Patagonia. Vamos a ver.

Ciao todos

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Photos

Surfing in Iquique
Roni took us to Waiquique. Like Waikiki but in Chile. It was my first actual lesson on surfing and it helped alot. Just knowing where to set up for the wave helped alot.

Iquique
We were scared it was going to be really cold but even though it was misty all day it got pretty warm and the water wasn´t that bad.

Lago Titicaca
We spent two days and one night on the lake. It was definetly the largest lake I have ever seen.

Reed Boats
The elaboarte reed boats were very cool. They took turns letting people row the boat and then they insisted we pay them 5 soles for a 10 minute boat ride...tourism is their only economy.

The boat ride
Three hours out and three hours back. Even though it was sunny and clear it was pretty cold on the boat, the lake sits at over 12,000ft.

Pachatata
In the Inca culture they believe that Pachamama and Pachatata are the most important gods. Mother Earth and Father Earth. At sunset we hiked to the top of Pachatata Mountain and they said that if you make a wish and walk around the top of the mountain three times: once for the past, present and future, the wish would come true.

Pachamama y Pachatata
This was sunset on top of Pachatata.

The native attire
They dressed us up in Native clothes and had us do the native dances. Estaba muy gracioso.

Floating Reed Islands
The reeds are extremely important part of the culture on Lake Titicaca. They make their islands from them; their houses, boats, gardens, and they even eat them and use them as toothbrushes.

Example of Construction
They showed us this little model of how they construct the floating islands. The men use a long knife to cut out squares of the roots and then they tie them together and secure them to the lake floor, then they cover them with many layers of reeds.

Roberta
This was our host mom. She was only 20 years old and she had a one year old baby. She insisted on eating on the floor when she cooked for us. We kept on asking her to sit with us but she didn´t want to, so we refused to have her clean up after us.

Soccer Field
Before we hiked up to Pachatata. We played a soccer game at 13,000ft. it was really difficult to breathe and on top of the altitude the field was dirt.

Isla Amantani
This is the island Amantani. It consisted of very small houses and farm land.

Machu Picchu
I had to add this picture. It was my favorite shot.

Comments

[Jeff S]

Perfecto'
Thanks for sharing in the adventures!!! Keep surfing...check out the peguins on your way south through Chile. Enjoy the time away... take advantage of your trip...you've invested a lot to experience South America. Make sure to visit Pucon and search out the hot springs. Rent bikes to get around...keep summiting those foreign peaks. Go around the tip and on to Argentina and figure it all out for us. Bien Viaje...escuch a Pachamama Jefe'