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It's hard to believe this South America trip is over. Colombia, Argentina and Chile, I had a blast. #untilnexttime #missyoujuju (at Atacama Desert, Northern Chile)

#untilnexttime #missyoujuju

This will be the final post. In four hours Lucy will take a 20 hour bus to Santiago, then a series of flights back to Minnesota. While her family is incredibly excited to have her back, I am very sad to see her go. I will be spending the next month with Duncan touring Bolivia and Peru, which I know will seem to fly by, and while it will surely be a blast, I will miss Lucy immensely. She has a big adventure ahead of her, getting back to the real world and all, but nothing will compare with the adventure we have spent together over the past 7 months. We've seen so much and met so many amazing people it is hard to capture it in the words and pictures you've been following. Thanks for keeping up, and we will see you all very soon. XOXOXO Lucy and Julian

When we finally got into Argentina a we had an amazing time touring the area. We took an amazing drive on the old hwy 40 through incredible canyons and beautiful old towns and cemeteries. We stopped in Cafayate, which was a beautiful colonial town, and the second center for wine production in the country, and then headed north through the incredible Quebrada de Cafayate towards Salta, the oldest city in Argentina. We passed by beautiful desert landscapes filled with the picturesque Cardón cacti, and more gorgeous old cemeteries. We did a fair amount of shopping here (a good chance to load Lucy up before she heads back home), and although we were a day short, we still felt like we got a good taste of northern Argentina. It is a beautiful area and the Quechua people who live here are very friendly and easygoing. The van seemed to really be settling in to the dirt road driving, and with heavy hearts we headed back into Chile one last time and prepared for Lucy's departure from Calama.

We had a slight delay when we tried to pass into Argentina. We wanted to take the less-traveled pass the first time, which was mainly a dirt road, and much longer. It had amazing scenery as it cut through an incredible stretch of the Andes, and we felt truly dwarfed by the mountains surrounding our van. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the pass at 4:30, we were informed by the border patrol that we didn't have the proper signatures on our forms. We thought the rental company had taken care of everything for us, but it turned out that we had to stop at a border station in San Pedro first, because this pass was smaller, and less frequented and so did not have the Chilean border people present to sign for our exit from Chile. We couldn't believe our ears, and the prospect of running around and heading the 250 km back to San Pedro was difficult to bear, but we had no choice. We made it back to San Pedro that evening, camped one more night there, and decided that in the morning we would take Paso Jama, the easier and faster way. In the end we lost a day, but that's how it goes, I guess.

Road Trip part 1: El Tatio Geysers, Chiu Chiu, Humberstone We met up with Dunc in San Pedro, picked up our rental van without any real delays and hit the road. Our first real stop on the trip was El Tatio, a field of steaming geysers and hot pools that sit atop a mountain at over 4,500 meters above sea level. The geysers are most impressive at dawn, before the wind comes in and disperses the steam, and so we decided to head out along the long winding dirt road in the afternoon so that we could camp in the can and check out the geysers the following morning. It was a good plan, and we got to the geyser field easily in the van, but we underestimated the temperatures up there. It started getting cold, really cold, as soon as the sun went down, and combined with the altitude related headaches, meant for a very uncomfortable night of sleep (or lack thereof). When we woke up before dawn to drive down the hill to the geyser field the inside of the van was literally covered with ice like the inside of a freezer. The geysers were incredible, and the sight at dawn was truly memorable, but we could barely move our fingers to take the photos. Once the sun had sufficiently warmed our bones we headed West, through more dirt back roads towards the tiny town of Chiu Chiu. The town really isn't much of a destination, but the road there offers a different and more scenic route to the larger city of Calama where we were to stock up on gas and groceries. The road was long and buy, but offered gorgeous views of the valleys leading down. Chiu Chiu does have what is believed to be the oldest church in a Chile, dating back to 1545 or so. It was beautiful, bright white and built with cactus wood and adobe. We didn't linger long in the town, but were glad we made the trip this way instead of backtracking through San Pedro. Next we headed to the town of Pica, the same town where we had previously spent two weeks working. There we spent the night with our friends Marelene and her children, and stocked up on grapefruits, oranges, lemons and other tasty veggies from this little oasis town. Our next main stop on the itinerary was the pair of host towns, Humberstone and Santa Laura. These two old saltpeter mining facilities were booming from the 1870s until the late 1950s when the introduction of synthetic saltpeter killed the market for the real stuff and dried up the towns' economy virtually overnight. What remain are incredibly well preserved shells of what were once bustling towns of miners and their families. It was fascinating to walk around and check out the place. It had a very creepy vibe, and really felt like the place had only just recently been abandoned. Then we headed north towards Arica, and then from there East into the Andes to he beautiful mountain town of Putre, which would be the gateway to the National Parks Lauca and Las Vicuñas, the next leg of our road adventure.

We got to the tiny oasis town of Pica in the afternoon and realized quickly what exactly passes for an oasis in the Atacama desert. It's only when you look around you at the endless sand and rocks stretching into the horizon on all sides that you can really appreciate the shade of trees in the plaza, and the orange and lemon trees in front of all the houses. We got to the home of Manfredo and Marlene, and their two young kids Diago (4) and Emma (1 1/2) which is a very rustic place on the outskirts of town. Their kitchen and living room and bathroom are in a semi-outdoor home, and they live in a separate small earth-bermed home. There was one dome room built out of old tires and adobe, and we were staying in an old camper trailer. We were living there with one other volunteer from France, a guy named Ambroise, and our job as it turned out was to help finish a second dome that was started months prior by a different pair of wwoofers. The work itself was not very much fun. Manfredo seemed to have very little idea of how to build the thing, offered little to no advice, and not a second of actual assistance. So it was up to Ambroise and us to figure out how to make this poorly designed structure into a dome. It was frustrating. Aside from the work itself, Pica was a very relaxing place to be for two weeks. The weather was very deserty, with temps during the day getting into the nineties, and dropping at night down at times to the forties. The night time temps here are a little bit higher than other places in the desert which creates a wonderful microclimate for the cultivation of citrus fruit, mangos, and guavas. Manfredo and Marlene owned another parcel on the other side of town--a huge grove of oranges, mangos, and the most incredible grape fruits we have ever eaten. We spent a couple of days at this site, helping them prepare a pair of cabañas for renters, and spent a lot of time stuffing our faces with grapefruits and the small, deliciously sweet San Pedro mangos. Serendipitously, we happened to be in the area at the time of a giant religious festival in the nearby town of La Serena. It is the biggest such festival in Chile and lasts for about a week, during which time nearly 200,000 Chileans make the pilgrimage to the otherwise desolate and barely populated village. One impressive tradition for the exceptionally devout, is to crawl on ones knees 50km from the neighboring town of Pozo Almonte as a sign of reverence and gratitude to the saints. By the main event of the festival is tons of brass bands and dancing troupes, each representing a different Catholic saint, all playing on different streets of the town at the same time, rotating around to different areas throughout the day. These groups are often accompanied by wildly consumed dancers, the most famous of which are the giant ornate devil masks. Other fun costumes include old men with canes, weird fuzzy bears, and ballerinas, all of whom don elaborate, and often creepy, paper mâché masks. The festival continues into the night with many of the more ornate masks displaying colored lights. We were very lucky to happen to be here during this festival, and took a bunch of great videos of dancers and brass bands. Standing only on one corner you could look in four directions and listen to four different bands playing four different tunes, with four different dancing groups all performing their hearts out at the same time. It was wild. We ended up working for nearly two weeks, and were very relieved and glad when the time came to leave. We headed six hours south to San Pedro de Atacama (finally) where we would wait for three days for Dunc to arrive on his 38hour bus ride from Lima, Peru. Next up: Atacama desert road trip!

The #latirana festival was amazing... Costumes on costumes on costumes. (at La Tirana, Chile)

#latirana

After Valparaiso we headed on another overnight bus (a mere six hours this time) to another coastal city, and the second oldest city in Chile--La Serena. A very busy little city, but with not a whole lot to see or do. We saw a couple of very old stone churches, some of the oldest in Chile (dating back to 1545) and a famous and defunct, though not nearly as old, lighthouse on the beach. Apparently in the summer the beaches are a big draw, and indeed they did seem quite clean and enjoyable. We only saw a handful of surfers out in the water, as the icy pacific waters keep most other folks out, especially in winter. We stayed for three nights just relaxing before we headed out to our next wwoof spot. We thought our next wwoof spot would be in the nearby Valle de Elqui, a very famous valley east of La Serena nestled in the Precordillera. The area is renown for the vineyards of pisco grapes, and in general as a beautiful oasis in the middle of the otherwise dusty and dry mountains. We hadn't heard from our host for a while, however, and when he finally got back to us he informed us that he had to cancel our visit due to a serious bout of bronchitis that he was just recovering from. He said that there would be no work for a couple of weeks. This was a bit of a bummer for us, as it left us struggling to think of how to fill the three weeks that remained before we had to meet Duncan in San Pedro de Atacama. We put these concerns aside for the weekend, however, and decided to visit the Valle de Elqui on our own. The first two nights we stayed in the tiny town of Vicuña, the first town along the road into the valley. It was shockingly cold these two nights, and in a hostel with no heat, we spent most of the time huddled under blankets (or watching the World Cup quarterfinals). We walked up to the top of tiny cerro, which provided a view of the valley, but there was little else to do. We moved on to Pisco de Elqui, the real tourist hub of the valley, and a much cuter little town. We stayed in a really nice little hostel with a nice outdoor kitchen a great view of the valley, and enjoyed our first day lounging around the sleepy little town. It was much warmer than Vicuña, during the day at least, and although the nights got chilly, it was our first real taste of being in a desert. The second day was downright hot out as we walked and hitchhiked our way to a neighboring village of Horcón, where there was a large outdoor artisan "mall" but otherwise pretty much nothing. We did have a lovely lunch at an adorable little family restaurant (great food considering how surprised they seemed at receiving guests) with a great view of the other side of the valley. The walk back to the road took us through the "town" of Horcón which felt like you were walking through a settlement of homesteaders who had just unloaded their wagons. As we thumbed for a ride back in the hot afternoon sun, a friendly dog kept us company for a few kilometers (as they are want to do) and when we finally got picked up, he turned around and made his way home. We left the peaceful Elqui Valley on bus, back to the station at La Serena. In the meantime, we had managed to find a last minute wwoofing spot way up north in the heart of the Atacama desert. We had no idea what kind of farming could be happening in the driest desert in the world, but all we knew was the town of Pica, which was 18 hours by bus from La Serena, was by all accounts a true oasis, known for the famous limes of the Chilean Pisco Sour, as well as other citrus fruit. We would hopefully be working on an orchard of some kind, stay for two weeks, and it would be our last work on the trip. Whatever it would turn out to be, we had decided, it would be a necessary way to save money, and to bide our time before we were to arrive at San Pedro and begin our highly anticipated 19-day desert road trip...

VALPARAISO!! This city is about an hour and a half west of Santiago and is the primary port for Chile, and also now a certified UNESCO world heritage site. As such, all of the beautiful old buildings are required to remain in their original form, and it remains very difficult for the gentrifying forces of modern globalization to enter into the picture in Valparaiso. You won't find a McDonalds or a Starbucks here, for example. What you will find is a ton of colorful barrios connected by steep narrow streets and a winding maze of staircases through the alleys. Great big beautiful murals cover the face of the city, as artists converge from all parts of Chile and elsewhere to contribute to the street art. The whole vibe of the city is centered around sense of free form artistic expression, which takes many forms, from street vendors to the famous murals, to graffiti, and cute crafty shops. We stayed in a hostel in Cerro Allegre (happy hill) which is one of the cuter, more artsy cerros in the city. We spent our days wandering around the city on foot, taking in the sights, but doing it pretty leisurely. We had the pleasure (and the pain) of watching the intense Chile-Brazil soccer game in a bar nearby our hostel. It was one of the most nerve-wracking sporting events either of us have ever watched on TV, which is a testament to the infectious nature of the energy around the World Cup. It was really fun to be there, but their loss was definitely depressing. We only spent two nights and three days here, but we met many foreigners who have found themselves sucked into the laid-back lifestyle of Valpo and ended up staying for months. On our third night we took an overnight bus (saving us a night in a hostel) to the city of La Serena 7 hours north along the coast. No real plans, but just continuing to roam around and see the different towns along the way to our Wwoof stay in the Valle de Elqui.

The most colorful city in Chile #Valparaiso #nofilter

#nofilter #valparaiso

After the goat farm, we spent one wonderful week in Santiago with Lucy's parents. We arrived one day earlier than they did, so we could settle in to our apartment and check out the area. We were surprised to find it quite organized with many peatonales for pedestrians to walk and shop. While we primarily spent our week in Centro, the financial business area of Santiago, we took several beautiful walks to different barrios, hopping on the tram to the top of the a large metropolitan park, and climbing to the top of Cerro Lucia to get some views of the city. While the views were impressive with the Andes looming at the edge of the city, the wintertime smog was oppressive, and hindered the view enormously. Smog aside, the city is very beautiful: very pedestrian friendly with tons if beautiful old buildings and a lot of lovely parks. Naturally the World Cup was a prominent feature of our week, and we were able to see some really important games. In a small, but packed bar we watched Chile knock Spain out of the cup and secure their own place in the next round. The scene that followed out in the streets after that one was epic. We also watched Chile play Holland to determine who would take first in the group on a big public screen by the Casa de Moneda. It was a close one, but Holland proved dominant in that game. We took a day trip to some vineyards on the outskirts of the city, and to the neighboring port city of Valparaiso, and it's posh sister city Viña del Mar, on a driving tour. It was nice to see some areas outside of the metropolitan area and we liked Valparaiso so much (and felt there was so much more to see) that we decided to come back after Santiago for a couple more nights. The week flew by, of course, but we had a really nice relaxing time seeing the city. Compared to Buenos Aires the city seemed a lot cleaner and well-kept. It obviously has a much stronger infrastructure, with a beautiful efficient subway system and clean and well-maintained sidewalks and roads. (After nearly six months in South America, one can't help but notice these things). After another day in the city to run some errands, we packed up again, and hopped on a bus to Valpo.

The goat farm! We spent a short week at a goat farm in a tiny town near Valparaiso. It was weather-wise a nice change from the rain and cold of Pucón; although it did rain on us one day it was overall much warmer, and we even had a couple downright hot days. The farm itself was in a beautiful valley and full of animals. There were loads of goats, of course, but also a lot of sheep, some very large pigs (called "jabali"), chickens, geese, a lonely duck, a very angry and aggressive turkey, eight or nine dogs (several used for the pastoral duties), and about eight cats (used primarily for cuddle duties). The owner of the farm, Aldo, was an extremely friendly and hospitable foul-mouthed Chilean who gave us loads of fresh veggies and occasionally his delicious homemade goat cheeses. There were two other longer term volunteers there when we arrived, one guy named Joshua from Germany who had been there for five months, and a Frenchman named Alan who had been there for two weeks. Since the two were the seasoned workers, they took care of the more important work if the farm such as the milking and taking the goats out to pasture. Our tasks for the week revolved around cleaning the goat pens in preparation for the impending rain, but we also spent one day out in the pasture with the goats, who spend six hours a day wandering throughout the valley trying to eat what sparse vegetation they can find this time of year. The last two photos show our day in the "pastoreo" and trust us, the black dog was even larger and more intimidating that it looks (although it was actually very friendly). Despite the hours of digging goat poo, we actually had a very nice time. We spent some quality time with a baby goat who was born just days before we arrived (sooooo cute!), spent loads of free time cuddling with the very friendly cats, and even got to watch a handful of World Cup games on a tiny little television we managed to hook up inside our little cabin. It was too bad we couldn't stay longer to learn a bit more of the details of goats and milk production (I only got to help with the milking once), but with the two other volunteers already there, we seemed a bit superfluous anyway. After our week was up, we hitchhiked into Santiago, which was about an hour and a half to the east, where we were to meet up with Lucy's parents the next day for a week of touring through the big city.

Being tourists in Santiago with my parents! It's been 5 months since we last did this! #parentsweek (at Santiago Centro)

#parentsweek

For the last three weeks we've been in Pucón working at an Eco-build for an English expat family Jago, Lucy and their three young kids.We stayed with a bunch of other volunteers from all over the world in a hostel in town (our hosts rented of the entire hostel for the volunteers, so it was more like a home) and drove every day to the work site which was 30 minutes up in the hills. Their site had an incredible view of a big snow-capped volcano in the distance, and indeed seemed like beautiful spot to build a house. While it was at times exhausting, overall it was an extremely interesting and inspirational experience, and we learned that with a little bit of know-how and a healthy dose of common sense it is very possible to build your own home for a lot cheaper than you'd think. The home we were building is made primarily of super adobe, or earth bags, which are long tubes filled with a mixture of soil, clay and chalk. The bags are filled and layer one on top of the other with lines of barbed wire between the layers to hold the bags in place. Once in place the bags are tamped until until they are flat, level, and packed tight. Once dry the walls of bags are hard as cement, have incredible heat-retention, are virtually fireproof and very earthquake resistant. These bags allow you to build very nice curved shapes in the walls, and provide a lot of wiggle room while during construction. It is very easy to adapt and change the design as you go with very little hassle. On top of that, the materials for their 1600 square foot home cost less than $20,000! Almost all of the lumber they used for the home was harvested from their property. We used whole trees for the rafters of the roof (which needed to be very strong as it will in the end be covered with soil and turned unto a green roof), and the boards we used were cut on site with a huge bandsaw owned by one of the Chilean carpenters. Pretty convenient. We had a few really nice days, but for the most part it was abundantly clear that winter had arrived in chile, which is this region means a lot of rain. Some of the days at the site were miserable, and others cut short due to intense rainstorms. We were trying to finish the roof and he dome section before everybody left for the winter, but an early snowstorm cut things short. Very unlucky for Jago and Lucy as there was no way to cover the unfinished sections due to all the snow. They will back in September to to put up the adobe finish inside and out, and all to finish all the other details that remain. I guess they just have to cross their fingers that everything will be okay when they get back. We learned a lot about super adobe, but more importantly learned that building your own house is a lot more feasible than we originally had thought. If we do end up trying something like this we probably will not use this method, but working here for the pat three weeks has shown us that there are a lot of ways to do it, and that with a little perseverance and a lot of hard work anything is possible. Tonight we take an overnight bus to Valparaiso, to take a local bus to the down of Olmué where we will spend a week in a host farm, milking and making cheese. Stay tuned.

Happy birthday to the love of my life! @juju825 Big Bash tonight in Pucón, Chile! #chocolatecake #28neverlookedsogreat

#28neverlookedsogreat #chocolatecake

We knew the end of May we would begin working at an Eco build and decided to treat ourselves to a couple of days in a Domo camp. We hopped on a packed bus heading towards Rio Puelo, and arrived to our destination three hours later. Rio Puelo is a very small town that doesn't have much to it, but a beautiful mountain view when it isn't raining. We were here during the rainy season, which made us feel guilt free for relaxing in the Domo camp. The place was very cool, although we were the only guests. It is nestled in the forest, and has a very secluded feel to it. There are three domes, complete with futons, wood floors, and a nice wood stove for warmth, all of which are connected by long boardwalks a few feet above the ground. The couple that owned the place were very nice. Victor had our dome already heated when we arrived and had a lot of wood for us to burn through the night. We cozied up and changed into suits and the provided bath robes and headed to the wood-fired hot tub. It pretty much rained the whole time we were there, but it turned out to be a very pleasant place to spend a rainy weekend. The hot tub was very hot, and really pleasant as the falling rain cooled us down a bit. The domes were nice in the rain too. The stoves heated the place really well, and the rain echoed loudly on the surface of the dome, creating a very soothing level of white noise, perfect for a nice deep sleep. Each morning we went to the restaurant and ate a delicious breakfast provided by our host Coco. That morning she explained how they made the domes, originally buying a kit in 2007, and soon realizing it would be more efficient to build their own. They made a mold of the metal pieces, three different sizes creating hexagons and pentagons to create a tight dome. She then explained they also had the exterior made of a thick tent like material that could withstand the weather changes. It seemed indeed to be a very sound structure, and was a very comfy-cozy room. With the rain letting up a bit in the morning, we decided to go for a short stroll to Rio Puelo. There was little there, and the sky threatened rain all morning, so as soon as we got to town we walked back and decided to hop in the hot tub for a nice afternoon dip. Of course it started to rain as soon as we got changed, and with all the rain the boardwalk was very slippery and we had to be careful not to fall. That night Coco made us some dinner at the restaurant, and we spent one last night relaxing back and forth between our cozy warm dome and the hot tub. Not too bad. On Saturday we caught a 2:00 bus back to Puerto Varas to get the rest of our stuff together and packed to be ready for an early morning bus to Pucón the following morning. We caught the bus as planned and headed out on our way to this construction project, excited to see what it would be all about.

Before and after our trip to Chiloé we stayed in Puerto Varas, a very nice little town in the lakes district which, in other less rainy times of year, offers great views of several volcanoes in the Andes. Despite the constant cloudiness we could still catch good glimpses of snow capped Volcán Osorno looming across Lake Llanquihue. It is a nice little touristy town, but this time of year was very quiet and offered a pleasant base for a few excursions. When we got back from Chiloé we spent a day going to the Saltos del Petrohue, a series f cascades along the Petrohue river. We took a bus out to the park, where we got to see the cascades at probably their highest water level. It was a lot more impressive than we expected, and we got some some good photos. We took a few short walks around the area, too, one of which lead to this creek where we got to see Salmon trying to make their way back upstream to their spawning grounds. It was surreal, and more than a little disturbing, actually. These salmon were huge, and most of them were dead. From one bridge we could see at least 15 giant dead salmon lying in the rocks in the stream. Kinda gross. Otherwise our trip to Rio Petrohue was beautiful, even without much sun.

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