The Eye in The Sky - Hard To Believe What Our Eyes Were Seeing!

There are a few major highlights - that we have been looking forward to - on the Santo Fuego trip driving north from the End of the World

The Hummingbird

 
And today we saw one one of them -  The Nazca Lines - remarkable ancient "drawings" in the Peruvian desert.  I put drawings in parentheses because they look like cool artistic renditions, but they are huge and can only be seen best from the sky.  Like in an airplane.

Take a Guess ... The Spider

 
So that's what we did this morning.  One of the actions I took before leaving on our trip was to give Fiona some "Gift Certificates" for certain special activities along the way, and today was the day for one of the most phenomenal sites on this planet. 

 

The Tree and the Hands

 

The Nazca lines are a mystery.  After studying them for many years, there are still many questions about how they got there.  
I mean, this stuff is one-of-a-kind.  Who made them?  And Why?

We were given some information, and did a lot of research ... and the answer to "Why?"  ... nobody has really come up with a credible answer. 

There are a whole bunch of "Lines".  On our small plane excursion we saw around 16 - out of a potential of a few hundred.  And it was almost unbelievable. They are so well done and so well preserved.  The best estimate is that they were carved in the ground by an ancient civilization about the time of Christ. 

The Monkey

 

This hot, dry, windless climate of this region is perfect for enabling these carvings to last for over 2,000 years.  The animals and creatures in the lines are almost whimsical, and are perfectly proportional.  

Note to Highway Dept: Don't cut off the tail of The Lizard - this is priceless world heritage stuff

 

We were about three thousand feet high in the plane, and the flight took about an hour.  I was snapping pictures like crazy until I finally had to just put down the iPhone and just stare out the window at what I was seeing.  Totally amazing.

The flight was early in the morning, when the weather is best (calm) and the skies are clear.  

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So the rest of our day was spent catching up on breakfast and some travel business, and then taking a tour trip out in the desert - by car, on the ground, in the afternoon heat - to an ancient pyramid temple ruin, built by the same people.  

 

This stuff also dates back to 400 years before Christ, and was pre-Inca, meaning it was long before the Incas showed up and established their empire.  It was also amazing, but frankly, nothing compares to what we saw this morning. 

 
This pyramid temple complex is so remote, and vast, you have to ask yourself, how can anybody live out here, and build this?  There is no water, no life, no vegetation or animals, and it's blazing freakin hot!  Today was around 95 degrees. 

Hey, wait, is that rain in the distance?
Hallelujah!  Rain! ... maybe 

  

 
It's a privilege to be able to share this stuff with readers of this blog.  It's also a special joy to be able to observe it.  It's kinda lame to say but ... the world is an amazing place, and there is so much that we don't even know exists.  

This temple structure, and even the lines themselves, were unknown until relatively recently. Nobody was aware of the temples (except a few local vandals) until twenty years ago.  

And the Nazca Lines were only truly "surveyed", or diagrammed in the 1940's.  These treasures lay hidden for millenia.  Hey, you can't really see them from the ground. You have to be in the air to visually appreciate them fully.  

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One last thing:  Since this area is so darn dry ... 
On the plane, just before we landed, we passed over what they called the aquaduct.  Not exactly the word I would use to describe this place, but it was a series of circular holes in the ground. 

It was explained to us that they would capture water in this sequence of holes, and use them as a reservoir.  The design was such that they had a spiral access (instead of stairs) where you would walk down to reach the water, at whatever level it was.  Kind of clever if you ask me.

 
This is why we travel, to experience these kinds of days.  Wow, it's hard to put into words what this day was like.  

Never a Dull Moment - Peru, Alpaca My Bags!

 

Peru - Land of the Incas, or at least it used to be.

We've been in Peru now for three days, stepping up our plans since Bolivia didn't work out.
And it's been a busy time.  We are back in the mountains with snow, for a while anyway. 

 

Unfortunately, a lot like northern Chile, you have to drive a long way in between cities, to find a place to lay your head.  Once you get somewhere it's interesting and quite nice, but in the meantime, you have to cross a lot of desolate landscape.   Like in the picture below, if you see green, you stop and get a photo.

So we find ourselves for the last couple days in Arequipa, after crossing the border into Peru, and spending a night in Tacna.

 
Arequipa is a big city, the second largest in Peru, with over a million people, and a lot of history.  When you get here after miles and miles of empty dry hot mountains, you wonder how people ever settled here in the first place. 

 
In order to answer that question we have to go back a long ways, before the Spanish and other Europeans showed up.  First there were the Incas.  

The Incas established a lot of what has become modern Peru.  Their civilization was remarkable, and they had great cities and marvelous and ingenious agriculture.  
Then the brutal Spanish conquistadors showed up and laid waste to the Incan empire.  It didn't take long. Arrows and spears are no competition for bullets and cannonballs.

On that happy note, Peru achieved independence from Spain in 1819 and then fought a series of wars against the Bolivians, Chileans, and anyone else close by.    This created the "modern" borders of Peru, one of which we crossed a couple days ago. 

We went about exploring our new host country. Arequipa (Are-ee-KEY-Puh) is tucked up against the Andes, with Volcanoes and snowed capped peaks.  And did I mention that we're over 8,000 feet high here?  You find yourself out of breath pretty easy.

These woolly Alpacas are cousins to the Llama,
their fur is prized world wide. 

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The Spanish settled the place fairly quickly.  
By 1540 Arequipa was a city.  (Keep in mind that Columbus just showed up in 1492)  Many of the buildings are from that era -  that is, the ones that have survived innumerable earthquakes.  This place is on the same fault line that runs from Chile all the way up through Mexico and California. 

There are 31 million people in Peru, which gets its name from the ancient ruler "Biru".  At this point in their history, they are peaceful and have a growing economy.  However, there is a fair amount of poverty, which we have witnessed in the last few days, like in the hills around Arequipa, below.

Like I mentioned before, Arequipa is a significant city in Peru and is kind of an oasis in a mountainous region at the north end of the Atacama Desert.  But once you're here, it's very pleasant with a wonderful sunny climate that gets cool at night (50 degrees at night, with a high of around 68).  We got our sweaters out, first time since Patagonia!

 

 

The Amazing Monastery of Santa Catalina

I have woven pictures into this post of the city and the surroundings, but we had a real sublime and noteworthy experience at a Monastery here today.  

It's built right into the middle of the city, or more correctly, it was established in 1579 and much of the city developed around it.  That's 438 years ago if you're counting. 

Over those years, it has been the home of countless devoted cloistered nuns, and there are still several to this today.  What's a cloistered nun?  It means "kept away from the outside world; sheltered".

As a testimony to history, this place is priceless.  It is said to be one of the most beautiful and well preserved sites in Latin America.  

We were so impressed with the architecture and classic design of the place, with intricate layouts and wonderful colors and flowers.  It was really special.  I took a million pictures.  It's a photographers paradise, especially on a day like today with the Andes Mountains in the background. 

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Oh, and one last thing ... actually two. 

Our hotel has a rooftop terrace where they serve breakfast, and here is a shot of the morning meal with a nice background.

I just can't resist ending a blog post with a sunset picture.  This was tonight in the Plaza.  It really was this colorful.  

No Go, on Bolivia - It Ain't Happenin' - So Peru tonight ...

The Central Plaza in Arica, Chile

 

 

 

Excitement and Adventure comes in many different forms ... or maybe we could start with the headline below:

Man Makes Plans, God Laughs

I think I could say with some modesty that my wife and I are avid travelers, and are generally pretty good at planning and getting organized.  We have been to 40 countries in the last two years, for the most part without a hitch.

But ahah!  Despite our best laid plans, the last couple days have tested our skills and offered a chance to be humbled in the face of overwhelming odds and furthermore ... yeah, okay, blah blah blah.

We were planning to go to Bolivia and had already bought the bus tickets and made the hotel arrangements.  But ... well you can read the story below.

But First, Chile (and the far south) come to an end

We were in the city of Arica, at the very north of Chile.  This is a country that is 5,000 mile long from top to bottom, and we drove the whole thing, with some major chunks of Argentina thrown in. 

Arica bills itself as the driest city in the world.  Not sure how they measure that, but it's connected to the Atacama Desert, (not to repeat myself, but the Atacama is the driest place on earth, and that's a fact).

So we spent a day of leisure before our planned trip to Bolivia.  When you're in a place like Arica, it can feel like you are isolated from the rest of the world.  Not altogether unpleasant, but definitely off the beaten path. 

Our Hotel in Arica, right on the Pacific Ocean

 

 

As an example, the vast Atacama Desert runs right down to the sea, and the Chileans and other tourists make the best of it, with a crowded beach not 100 yards from the desert sand - "Hey, we're gonna have a good time, dammit!"

 

So we spent the last couple days making plans to travel, and then eventually spent all day getting on a bus to Peru - but I'm getting ahead of myself.  Read on. 

 

Part of our trip north back to Oregon included a sojourn into Bolivia.  

It was always a push, going to Bolivia, meaning it was going to be difficult and quite a bit out of the way.  We finished our time in Chile and the next natural stop north would typically be Peru, but we had our mind set on a stop in Bolivia. 

Long story short - it ain't happenin'.   Turns out the process to obtain a visa to visit is, well ... it's baffling, unpredictable, expensive, difficult, and in the end:  impossible.  

We spent a lot of time in advance trying to get things lined up, but there is very little available on line.  And what information there is, it's unreliable. 
Fiona is really good at this stuff and she was stumped.  So our best bet (and only option) was to go the Bolivian consulate here in Arica, the launching point from Chile. 

The hours that they're open are very limited.  We went the day before and they were closed.  When we finally got to talk to a person there at the consulate, he was apprehensive.   "There is a lot of paper work and ... it can take ... a long time."  
"Well," we said "Uhh, we don't have a long time, can we get this done in one day?"
"I don't know.  Maybe."  was his answer.

Well, maybe not!  Our day included stops at the photocopy store, numerous computer print outs, pictures, taxi rides, forms and more forms, and - the last straw - an interminable stop at the bank to pay the rather exhorbitant fee of $320 for a visa for the two of us. Ultimately, we waited at the bank almost two hours, till it closed for lunch (at 2:00, siesta?) along with the Bolivian consulate (which closed for the day).  Everybody closes for "lunch" in Latin America.

So we didn't get our visa.  ... now it's the weekend and our bus to La Paz, Bolivia, left first thing in the morning and we weren't on it.  Oh well, you have to be resilient to do this kind of travel.  

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Oh, and one last point.  I was frustrated, but politely told the guy at the consulate at one point "you know, with all this complicated visa stuff, you are missing out on a lot of people who would go to Bolivia and travel and spend money."

And he looked at me for a moment, slightly dumbfounded.  It was as if he wanted to say something rude, but didn't - "you Americans are going to lecture me on letting people into our country?"   

But he didn't say that.  He said:  "It's all political ... and your country ... well, ahem, ... it's only going to get worse with your new administration."

Hey - I'm just sayin' ... I mean, that's what he said.   Kind of like, what goes around, comes around ... I'm not sayin' ... well, I'm just sayin'.


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You have to roll with the punch - we changed horses in midstream and made our way to Peru. 

And so tonight we find ourselves in Tacna, Peru.  It was another day of long lines and border crossings (some time I'm gonna do a blog post on border crossings) but we made it here.  And you know what?  This place is cool!

Once we got here, we had a walk around town and dinner and a big ice cream at the Plaza at the city center.  Every Latin America town has a plaza at the city center, and I love 'em.  They are great places, usually nice and green and well kept, and peaceful and quiet. 

I take a lot of pictures in plazas.  The outskirts of cities may be funky and dirty and not nice, but the plazas? ... they're always nice, some of my favorite places.  Like the one at the top of this blog in Arica, Chile.  Or the one below, here in Tacna, Peru.

The Driest Place on Earth - The Atacama Desert - you don't have to worry about weeds, nothing grows here

The La Portada Archway on the Chilean Coastline

 

In the North of Chile  

 

Solar Power, Wind Power, Electric lines - harvesting energy in the Atacama Desert

Driving and mileage update

For the last three days, we've been drifting across the Atacama Desert - the driest place on earth.   The average rain fall in the region is just one millimeter per year. As about the thickness of the wire on a paper clip.

 

There are some weather stations in the desert that have never reported any measurable rainfall. It is a place inhospitable to man or beast, or vegetation for that matter.  Nothing grows here.  It's about as bleak as you can get.

When you get far enough north in Chile, the wonder of Patagonia turns to dry, arid, parched landscape. But it has its own kind of beauty, and there are still big moutains, and a lot of space.  You have to drive for hours and hours to get anywhere. 

Check out these two cars (among many) who met their ultimate fate in the dry Atacama Desert.

  

 

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One thing of interest was the harvest of energy in the desert.  This means solar and wind power.  There were hundreds of windmills.  And huge solar farms.  

 

So in order to access this generated electricity, they have to string massive power lines on big towers, and they were building them along the roads out there.  We saw them assembling the towers - the workers looked like little ants climbing up the frame. 

 

Speaking of roads, for most of the trip through Chile, we have been driving on I-5.  The Panamerican highway is Ruta Cinco or Hwy 5, known to most of us as I-5.  We will take this road pretty much all the way home to Oregon. 

 

And we have covered some ground.  At this point, as we find ourselves in our last stop in Chile (Arica), we have traveled over 8,175 kilometers - which equals real close to 5,000 miles.   

We just crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn, to which there was a monument built, and we stopped and got the picture.  It seemed like the right thing to do.

 

What exactly is the Tropic of Capricorn?  Well, it's the ... umm ...line is that defines the tropics ... hunh?  There is also a line in the northern hemisphere (which we will eventually cross on this trip) that defines the Tropic of Cancer.  They're kinda related to the summer and winter solstice ... and other stuff ... clear on that?

 

We are at day 35 in our travels since leaving home.  We turn in our little red truck tomorrow and catch a bus to Bolivia. 

 

This little truck, a 4wheel drive diesel with crew cab, has been through some real tough terrain.  Just today we crossed over about five mountain passes, with treacherous roads over canyons four thousand feet deep, with no guard rails!  Driving along the edge of a sheer cliff as deep as the Grand Canyon with nothing between you and eternity, is waaayyy outside my comfort zone.  It was nerve racking.  There are some really dangerous roads in South America ....

On the way north, we eventually came through several big cities - they are far apart.  One of the cities was Antofagasta, with a nice plaza in the center of the city. 

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Last night we were in Iquique, (Ee-key-kay) on the Chilean coast, after a long day of driving. Fortunately this day of driving was along the spectacular coast line of Chile, with wonderous sites around every corner.  The photo of the arch at the top of the blog was taken on this road.

 

 

 And then magic happened!

 

We went out for a meal and were kinda tired and walking back to our hotel room, when along came a parade!  It was noisy and high energy.  It was a procession of dancers in town for a hugh dance celebration.  So we followed the huge party, which ended up in a plaza right by our hotel room.  We stayed and watched the dancers into the night, it was super fun.  They were doing folklorico, or folk dancing from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, and of course Chile.  These are the surprise moments that some pretty special travel memories. 

 

Our hotel room had a great view!

 

And when we finally got to our hotel here in Arica, it's a funky but creative boutique hotel right on the beach with the ocean not 20 feet from our door. I can hear the waves crashing in the sunset as I write this blog post. 

I captured this photo of Fiona without her noticing as she watched the sun set over the Pacific.