Monday, March 22, 2010

The Pantanal, Brazil; Chile & Bolivia

I know it has been a while since we last spoke, so I am combining the last month´´s travel into one blog post... Internet is ´slow´in Bolivia, but then again, so is the pace of life here - Which I am getting well accustomed to.

After taking the overnight bus from Puerto Iguacu, Argentina, I arrived in Campo Grande, Brazil at 7am, where I happened to run into a fellow named Gil. It´s a funny story: Just as I was leaving Iguacu, some Aussies recommended I search out Gil at the Campo Grande bus station. Turns out I didn´t need to search him out as his assistant found me. Gil runs expeditions into the Pantanal, the nature-filled wetland in Southern Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul state). He used to work in Windsor, Ontario back in the day. After reviewing what they had to offer, I decided to take a chance on him - Booking the first tour you come across in a bus station is not always the best way to go about planning a trek - but it worked out. We drove about 5 hours to the entrance of The Pantanal, where we transferred to a JEEP and had another hour ride down a dusty, bumpy road to Possada Santa Clara. Our lodge was well-equipped with all facilities and we slept in hammocks in the upstairs screened-in patio, safe from the mosquitos.

As far away as we were from ´civilization´I was actually able to catch the 3rd period and overtime of the gold medal match between Canada and the USA. I was obviously happy with the result from the game, so I celebrated with about 5 strong Caiparinhas, who didn´t let me forget about them in the morning. Our three days at the lodge included a river boat tour, where we got to see some monkeys, cayman - which are slightly smaller aligators, King fishers, Herons and many more types of animals I cannot remember. That night also included a safari truck ride, where we spotted some capibara (world´s largest rodent), tucans, Arara (aka Macaws, the big, beautifully colored parrots), cayman, turantula and Boca de Sapo. Fabien, our guide, spotted the Boca in a tree 30 meters away in the dark. This is one of the world´s smallest snakes and is also one of the world´s most dangerous. It can take down a horse in about 3 hours. Our horseback ride the next day yielded a few armadillos and some cayman. Fabien and Marcello were two of the local guides working at the lodge. Marcello is quite the fisherman. The one day he landed a 10-pound catfish.

After leaving the Pantanal, I headed to Bonito with Tom, an Aussie from the lodge. We got in late on a Wednesday night and had a quick beer before bed. The next day was spent dealing with my travel agent regarding refunds for my Chilean flight tickets. I realize now that it is useless to book flights from home when backpacking. Good news though - since the earthquake, LAN airlines has been really good with giving refunds. I got all my internal SA flights refunded without penalty, so all is good in the hood. Bonito is a cool little town. There is so much to do around there. I spent one day with Louise, Hannah and Tom, from NZ, Carlos from Vegas, and Rafael from Rio. Raf was on holidays and decided to join us on a bike tour down to the municipal park. There is a river flowing through the park, where you can feed the fish, lie in the sun, play some volleyball and just chill out. At the park, I had one of the shop owners give me a piece of fried potato to feed to one of the local friendly Macaws. Miel was her name. She pearched herself right on my arm while she nibbled on the fry - a stunning experience having an animal so beautiful be so close. The following day, Carlos, Raf and I went to another park about an hour out of town. This park has marked trails through the forest, where you can stop and view some amazing waterfalls. You can swim in most of the stops. The water rushing down on your back is the best massage you could ever have - and it really gets rid of the awfu hangovers again caused by the caipirinhas.

Carlos and I got the same flight back to Rio on March 9th. We did´t hear they change to the departing gate over the intercom as we don´t speak portuguese and almost missed our flight in Sao Paulo. Upon arrival in Rio, I ran into a couple that was also in the Pantanal the same time as me - Fabien and his girlfriend Virenka. Had a few quiet ones on the beach with Carlos before heading in for the night as I was catching my flight to Santiago the next day.

I wasn´t too sure what to expect with Santiago, based on all the news reports. As you know, news agencies love to over-dramatize things. I am not understating the magnitude of the earthquake that happenned in Chile as it was powerful and caused a significant amount of damage and injury or death. However, context must be given here. Santiago is about 120 kilometers from Concepcion, which was the hardest city hit. Damage is almost unnoticeable in Santiago. The city rebuilt itself with much better infrastructure back in the 60s after their last major quake. There was only one building that was completely collapsed in the whole city, Happy House hostel. Funny enough, this was the first hostel I had on my list before arrving in Santiago and by chance choosing a hostel closer to the airport. Met a fellow named Mathieu at the hostel who is from France, but working there. Shared a few beers with him and the crowd, which included Eva and Maudi. Two Dutch girls studying Latin American studies in Santiago. Some hostels can be a little cliquee, but people at La Casa Roja are all very friendly - except for the Asshole American Chris... Wait, nevermind.

I went on a city tour of Santiago and went up the ´hill´via funicular to get a great view of the city. It is a beautiful city, mind the smog. Bellavista is a great bohemian part of the city where the students and artists hangout. Great for people watching. The next morning, I awoke to a 7-point aftershock. It seems pretty surreal right now looking back as it took me a few seconds to realize what was happening. You can actually see a video of the security cameras at my hostel on youtube. Just type in ´earthquake casa roja´ and you will see it. Spent the day hanging around the pool and chilling out. On the Friday, Eva, Maudi and I went to Valparaiso, an hour and a half east of Santiago along the coast. This is where the Chilean government sits. The day of the inauguration was the day of the aftershock - hopefully not sign of political things to come as Chile has had a rough past, certainly in the last 40 years with Augusto Pinochet and his military dictatorship. Valparaiso is a cool city. It is a colourful city with what many would call artistic grafitti. Grafitti was a way of communicating anti-opressive sentiment when people were censored from doing so during the reign of the said past leader. This phenomena has led to the creation of an outdoor museum. You can tour the upper part of the city and around every corner is a new mural with a description and name of the artist. I caught the last bus back to Santiago after a few farwell drinks with Eva and Maudi.

Saturday morning, I departed on a caravan tour called the Pachamama tour. The caravan takes you on a loop starting in Santiago, either heading north or south and then back to Santiago. The round trip up north takes 10 days. I decided to stay on for 6 and end up in San Pedro, in the middle of the Atacaman desert. Along for the ride were Scott & Hannah (ENG), Ben (NZL), Kev & Dan (HOL), Fabien (GER), Phil (SUI), Claire, Anne and Clo (FRA), our local guide, Yerson, and our driver Rodrigo. Nothing makes a trip like a great bunch of people. Our trek included stops in Serena, Bahia Inglesa, my favourite - Antofagasta and finally San Pedro. Photos really do not due justice to the natural beauty of the Chilean coast or of the Atacaman desert. It is simply something you have to see in person to appreciate. Upon arrival in San Pedro, Ben, Dan, Fabien and I decided to head to Bolivia via Calama in the North of Chile.
It was a Hell of a ride to get here. I was warned about the roads in Bolivia, but they were nothing like I imagined. After driving for what seemed like an eternity, we finally arrived in a little desert town called Uyuni. A nice little place, with a mixture of everything. It is full of tourists, but the town has seemed to keep it´s traditional roots. The little old ladies still wear their pre-colonial garbs with rounded top hats. Bolivians are not as open to forigners as Chileans. I don´t know why, but I can only guess that it is from the utter ignorance, disrespect and imperialism shown to Bolivia over the years by foreign mining companies (and tourists alike who don´t even try to say hello in Spanish) who used many natives to work the salt flats and nitrate mines to death not even that long ago.
Bolivia is a beautiful country rich in culture. I am ashamed to say that before I left, I was of the opinion that: ´Why would I want to go to Bolivia?´I was so ignorant to this beautiful - And cheap! - country. Our hostel costs $3.50 a night, our meals less than $4. Tomorrow, Dan, Ben and I are heading for a 3 day trek into the salt flats. After that, I head to La Paz to soak up some of the delights of the steep city - It is the highest major city in the world - and hopefully find some volunteer work.

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