Saturn

Yep, it's really Saturn taken through the eyepiece of a telescope. The skies in northern Chile are so clear I went on 2 seperate star observation tours. So cool!!!

Checking In

Hola a todos!!
There are a lot more pictures to come.  The internet as of late hasn't been so great so as to load pictures to the internet, but they are on there way.  I crossed into Peru today and am now in Arequipa, the second largest city of the country.  I have only one more week until I am home for a few weeks, so trying to squeeze the most out of the last few days.
Talk to you soon.

The Wanderer

Giant Moai

Can you see the giant Moai in the mountain? If completed this one would've been 21m (69ft.) tall and weighed 270 tons!

Swimming Pool

Nice little natural pool amidst jagged volcanic rock. I don't suppose many people get to come here, but Alvaro, my guide and hotel manager, is local so I got to. Waves come from either side and keep you pretty much in the middle so you don't scrape your body to bits.

Moai on Ahu

All the Moai you see standing were put back up since 1955. All the Moai had been knocked to the ground when the clans of Rapa Nui starting fighting a few hundred years ago. The platform is called an Ahu. The thing on top of their heads, is their top-knot, which was sculpted in another part of the island than the statues themselves.

Moai Quarry

Here is the grassy side of the volcano where the Moai were literally sculpted from the rock face. They are all over.

Hanga Roa

The town of Hanga Roa. The entire island has a population of approximately 4,000, so it's a small town. Basically everyone lives here in Hanga Roa.

Painted Sky

Every night the sky looks like a giant painting.

Moai

Giant Moai statues. All you can see is the head, but the (buried) body is about 60% of the total statue. So these things are huge!

Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Wandering through caves and it started raining outside.

Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

 Whew! A 5 hour plane ride and I am finally here on Easter Island. It was one of the nicest plane rides I have taken in some time. We got a nice meal, chicken or salmon, and the silverware was actually made of metal. On the tray there was a wine glass, a coffee mug, and this was in addition to the soda they gave you right before. The food, however, was still airplane food, but you can't have everything. TV screens in the back of all the headrests with a little remote that could dual as a game controller. I decided to go the movie route and almost got 3 full ones in. I watched Whatever Works, a Woody Allen pic, with Larry David, Little Fockers, and most of True Grit. The first two I hadn't seen, and knew I wouldn't quite get through the third so I went with a previously viewed choice.


When I landed, after getting my bag, I was met with a lei from Alvaro, the guy running the hotel I'm staying at. Born in Chile, he grew up on the island (his dad Alvaro, Sr. is a native), he's spent the last 15 years in Australia, but now is back to help Mom and Dad run the place. It's a killer deal too, just 14 bucks more than the cheapest dorm room hostel I could find, and I get my own room complete with bathroom. After tomorrow I'll have the kitchen all to myself too, when the Canadian checks out. Super nice guy and his Mom is a sweet, tiny, old lady. I got in a bit late so I didn't have a chance to meet anyone else, but it's going to be a nice few days coming up. Tomorrow Alvaro is taking me and the mysterious Canadian on a tour of the first half of the island (I'll see the other half prob on Saturday). He was showing me on the map and it should be stellar. What a crazy cool place. As we flew over it, to turn around and land, you could see the whole thing in the airplane window. It is seriously just a tiny speck, but so full of mystery, beauty and warm people. The next pics should be pretty amazing, so stay tuned.


~The Wanderer

Neptune's Fountain

Congreso Nacional

Pretty Church

Cool Pedestrian Bridge

Bat-hombre

Cool graffiti in Barrio Bellavista

Virgin Mary

This statue sits atop the city's biggest hill. The spot where I got the pic with Santiago behind me.

Santiago de SMOG

It is a beautiful city, but smoggy as hell. (Notice the cool new watch I'm sporting)

Santiago de Chile

After you cross the border into Chile you have to get down the mountain.

Grapes

The grapes

Mendoza - Wine Country

One of the wineries on the tour. The biggest one.

Santiago de Chile

Howdy y'all,

I am sorry there hasn't been an update for a minute but I wanted to put some pictures up and haven't been able to upload any as of yet.  So just giving a bit of written word.  After I left BA I went to Mendoza, Argentina's main wine production area, for a couple days.  It was nice, had a few glasses of tasty vino, then hopped a bus across the border to Chile.  Santiago is nice and seems slightly cleaner than BA, although the smog is incredibly bad.  You'll see when I can post a pic or two.  Now I am just seeing the sights and museums until Wednesday when I head to Rapa Nui (Easter Island).  I'll be sure to get those pics up pronto, because they should be pretty epic.

The Wanderer

Looking Up

Looking up from the patio.

Dinner in the Apt

L to R: Guillaume, Annie, Me, Rodrigo, Ashley

Buenos Aires, te amo

I am finally leaving this kick-ass city.  I originally planned on staying for about a week.  I've been here for a month to the day! It went incredibly fast, but it was more than fun.  Ended up getting an apartment with 4 other people, Guillaume, Rodrigo, and two American women, Annie and Ashley.  We cooked dinner every night and were able to take things a bit easier than the hostel.  The apt. was great, a bed for everyone, a two-tiered terrace, giant kitchen (that we almost destroyed with dulce de leche, sorry no pics, I'll have to tell you that story in person), in a great location.  It even slightly cheaper than the hostel and you could really stretch out and not have to keep an eye on all your stuff, all the time.  Muy bien hecho.

This evening I take an overnight bus to Mendoza, Argentina's main wine production area.  After a couple days there I continue my bus journey into Chile to Santiago, where besides checking out the new city, I'll be waiting for my excursion to Easter Island.  The updates of late have been lacking, but there's a lot of stuff coming up that these eyes have never seen, so the camera will be out and snapping.

mucho amor,

The Wanderer

Tres Amigos

Part of the reason I stayed in BA so long. Guillaume on the left, Rodrigo on the right. Chillin in the kitchen of our apartment. Two very cool dudes.