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Published: March 25th 2008
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This last weekend I went on a trip. A long trip in a little bus. When will I ever learn. Like I said on my last entry, I had signed up for a camping trip to an island up north. It was going to be my big trip here in Chile and I paid big money for it accordingly. The flyer made it sound to be all planned out and I figured we would be well taken cared of. It had so much potential, it really did.
The island is named Isla Dama and is famous for its penguins, dolphins, and lobos (sealions). The currents bring water up from Antartica so the water is frigid despite being quite close to the equator. Oh, and Dama means lady in Espanol. The reason its named lady island is because it is shaped like a lady, neat-o. I paid my dues, $200, and left on Thursday night at 1130. That was weird but the reason was so that we could arrive early on Friday and spend the day on the beach of the island. We had 9 in the group and we all crammed into the tiny little, 3.0 engine powered bus. With
all 11 people and luggage in the van it could barely make it up the mountains. We got about two hours out when the lights on the van began to dim. Ofcourse the guys stops to see why and turns the van off. Well, the battery was dead because the alternator was about dead and we had to push start it to get to a truck stop. We waited till dawn for safety reasons and headed toward La Serena, a nice little harbor town. This place was pretty cool. A bunch of cheap little tourist shops where I bought some gifts for the people I like. Are you one of them??? No se... I finally found an alpaca sweater for my sisters soon to be child. We took off around 12 and headed into the desert. Looked like West Texas or New Mexico. It is really odd to travel through this area. Nothing but mountains, then deserts, and then finally an ocean.
We arrived in the little, itty bitty port town of ...... and went down to the docks. All we got there was bad news. A cruise ship had anchored of the coast and wouldnt allow anyone except
for their passengers onto the small island Dama. We thought maybe we could visit the island the next day but no, the rule was in place until Sunday, when we were leaving. The entire reason we went on the trip was to go to the island. What we ended up doing was making camp on the beach down the way. It was pretty there. There wasnt any sand but instead, seashells. A sea of seashells. I have never seen anything like it. At night, the full moon would shine off of the shells it it seemed just as bright as during the day time. We shared three to a tent. I had two Germans, a strange 30ish guy and a uber quiet girl. The guy had these glasses that said, "Hey! Look at me! Im not from here!", so I tended to stay away from him in the market that one day. The others on the trip were two Canadian older ladies (40ish) and a swiss guy who is cool. He brough beer! At night we would sit around the lantern (no firewood) and drink boxed wine. Everything comes in boxes here. The guys running the show left the trash
outside and we had a group of foxes raid the camp. Zorros. They made this really strange sound, something like a gremlin would make. Well, in my mid at least.
Those two days we didnt do much. The highlight of the trip was taking a boat out to the island to look at the penguins and lobos. I included a video on this entry for you guys. Hope it works. I really never understood why everyone was so fascinated with penguins before but when I saw them here I understood. They are pretty cute. We putted around the island, saw the wildlife, then went back for a strange dinner at the guys friends house. The place was like a museum for dead sea creatures. This guy must have been at sea for most of his life and collected everything dead he saw for his living room. The house was really cool but smelled pretty bad. They had a little boy named Oscar. I guess he liked me because he followed me around for most of the night. They feed us some seafood soup stuff and bread. I had no clue what the guy was saying and mainly talked with
the little boy, or tried to. We headed back to the camp and I went to bed, hoping the trip the next day would be tolerable.
It really depends on what you can tolerate I guess. For some reason, we stopped again in La Serena for an hour and a half at a fish market. Everyone just wanted to head back but there we were. The battery was dying again and by night fall we were sitting in the Easter weekend traffic on the highway with no lights. Thankfully, the guys pressed on and we made it back by eleven on sunday. I was freakin tired and needed a shower by then. Was it a good trip? Ehh, not really. It wasnt the guys fault running the thing so there isnt anyone to point a fingure at. A shame that it couldnt have gone better really.
After the trip I have been taking it easy again. I get a little nap in every afternoon and do the school event in the evening which consists of learning something about the Chilean culture. We learned how to make Terremotos last night. A drink with pineapple icecream and white wine. Not
too bad! I am all set for my trip back on Saturday and looking forward to seeing the people back home. If anyone needs anything while I am here, it is last call. Chau for now. -Eric
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Mike
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Welcome Back
I'm glad you had a great time on your trip, it sounds like something I would've love to do!! Have a safe trip home and I hope to see you soon. I'll be doing a cross-country trip in May...maybe I'll stop in Te Has!!