Hello all,
Nothing really interesting to report, I have spent the last couple weeks working and chillin in La Paz and getting lazy. I just wanted to send a quick note to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.
Life in La Paz is great. We are heading off to Argentina for the holidays, so I should have some good stories soon. At work we are still running around looking for money to start our telecommunications network. Also, we have been fortunate to have been awarded a couple grants (youth training program and a geographic information database). We are also putting together additional development grant applications for future projects.
Other than that not much to say. In the meantime, here are some pics of my life. Well, at least the home and office to give people who are interested an idea of where I live and work. I took some crappy shots this time, so some are blurry. Like I said, I got lazy the last couple weeks but I think that it still gets the point across.
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b30de13ec44b
Thanks to all who sent christmas cards to Bolivia. Mail is such a nice surprise.
Hope to see you all in 2003,
Nick
Friday, December 20, 2002
Monday, December 02, 2002
In Honor of Pedro
my second tour of the salar and the lagunas in the extreme southern altiplano of bolivia was an enormous success. come'on guinness, large ben, el boliviano, and me - johnny nascar (see the shades) began the journey with some beers and dinner at a local pub tuesday night. getting an early start at 1am wednesday morning, we made tracks for uyuni - 9 hours away with a live turkey, 128 cds and a roof full of gear.
foreshadowing the journey ahead, we slammed into some enormous potholes within an hour of leaving and nearly lost control. traversing the southern altiplano requires extreme patience, unbridled enthusiasm, four wheel drive and a host of repair items. luckily we had 3 of the 4.
beginning the 2500 kilometer trek with an all nighter, we stumbled bleary eyed into uyuni with a flat tire, no map and raging hunger... after replenishing, repairing and receiving a donated map - we ventured into the vast salt lake known as the salar of uyuni with only a vague idea of where we were headed (west then south then north then east).
after much serious debate, we arrived at isla de pescado and found "one of the top 10 campsites ever." eating well by a camp fire and sleeping underneath a canopy of bright stars, the road trip was off to a tremendous start.
racing south across the flats with brian and oliver surfing/filming on the roof, pedro (the turkey) became a bit restless... thanksgiving morning seemed to have aroused a survival instinct as he strutted around chest and feathers out... gaining confidence he attacked your poor story teller and his companions - including a two footed drop kick to el boliviano.
passing from salt flat to desert we made our way to our second camp site a few hundred meters off the main road where the howling wind was reduced to a growl - and the preparations for thanksgiving commenced. obeying advice... three of us coordinated to force wine down pedro´s throat... apparently if you dont get em drunk they get all tense and the meat is tough.
after allowing him the proper amount of time to enjoy his drunkeness, we commenced a ceremony to pachamama (mother earth). coca leaves, beer and some sticks where disbursed in a circle and the guillatine was prepared. pedro went somewhat peacefully... although the saying 'like a chicken with his head cut off' now has new meaning.
while the pavo tasted pretty horrible, the killing, cleaning and cooking process was an experience i wont forget.
finding our way back to the road in the morning.... Earl (the land cruiser) began to protest the monotonous journey across rocks and dirt. unsure of the problem and mechanically deficient, the four gringos pressed some tour companies for advice.
with our gas filter on backwards it was clear we were ill prepared for our trip. the chaffeurs broke out their spare parts and went to work. walter (friend of the map donator) came to the rescue and we managed to get the part we needed for 4 bucks. then Earl reacted by refusing to start, part of the door falling off and the rear door refusing to close.
despite the erratic and often death defying driving skills of Come'on Guinness (including getting us stuck in a river), Earl pressed on and we completed the circuit by hitting the lagunas, a hot spring (not pictured), and some geysers (not pictured).
As you can see in the following pictures, we saw an amazing variety of landscapes, wildlife and weather. arriving back in uyuni at 8pm - we dove into our first served meal since departing 3 days earlier. a pizza buffett created by our friend the map donator - happy to see we had maded it back safely.
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b30c4e562590
until the next adventure,
nick
fyi the camera ran out about midway but this will give you the basic idea.
foreshadowing the journey ahead, we slammed into some enormous potholes within an hour of leaving and nearly lost control. traversing the southern altiplano requires extreme patience, unbridled enthusiasm, four wheel drive and a host of repair items. luckily we had 3 of the 4.
beginning the 2500 kilometer trek with an all nighter, we stumbled bleary eyed into uyuni with a flat tire, no map and raging hunger... after replenishing, repairing and receiving a donated map - we ventured into the vast salt lake known as the salar of uyuni with only a vague idea of where we were headed (west then south then north then east).
after much serious debate, we arrived at isla de pescado and found "one of the top 10 campsites ever." eating well by a camp fire and sleeping underneath a canopy of bright stars, the road trip was off to a tremendous start.
racing south across the flats with brian and oliver surfing/filming on the roof, pedro (the turkey) became a bit restless... thanksgiving morning seemed to have aroused a survival instinct as he strutted around chest and feathers out... gaining confidence he attacked your poor story teller and his companions - including a two footed drop kick to el boliviano.
passing from salt flat to desert we made our way to our second camp site a few hundred meters off the main road where the howling wind was reduced to a growl - and the preparations for thanksgiving commenced. obeying advice... three of us coordinated to force wine down pedro´s throat... apparently if you dont get em drunk they get all tense and the meat is tough.
after allowing him the proper amount of time to enjoy his drunkeness, we commenced a ceremony to pachamama (mother earth). coca leaves, beer and some sticks where disbursed in a circle and the guillatine was prepared. pedro went somewhat peacefully... although the saying 'like a chicken with his head cut off' now has new meaning.
while the pavo tasted pretty horrible, the killing, cleaning and cooking process was an experience i wont forget.
finding our way back to the road in the morning.... Earl (the land cruiser) began to protest the monotonous journey across rocks and dirt. unsure of the problem and mechanically deficient, the four gringos pressed some tour companies for advice.
with our gas filter on backwards it was clear we were ill prepared for our trip. the chaffeurs broke out their spare parts and went to work. walter (friend of the map donator) came to the rescue and we managed to get the part we needed for 4 bucks. then Earl reacted by refusing to start, part of the door falling off and the rear door refusing to close.
despite the erratic and often death defying driving skills of Come'on Guinness (including getting us stuck in a river), Earl pressed on and we completed the circuit by hitting the lagunas, a hot spring (not pictured), and some geysers (not pictured).
As you can see in the following pictures, we saw an amazing variety of landscapes, wildlife and weather. arriving back in uyuni at 8pm - we dove into our first served meal since departing 3 days earlier. a pizza buffett created by our friend the map donator - happy to see we had maded it back safely.
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b30c4e562590
until the next adventure,
nick
fyi the camera ran out about midway but this will give you the basic idea.
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