Winter Break: Northern Chile and Bolivia

Well, I'm finally back in Puerto Montt after an incredibly rewarding three weeks backpacking up north. I left with no real plan or itinerary; the only things set in stone were my buses and flights to Calama, Chile and back. My original idea was to tour the north of Chile exclusively, visiting San Pedro de Atacama, Iquique, Arica and the National Parks in that region. However I wanted to keep things open in case I got the spontaneous urge to go somewhere else, and that's precisely what happened, almost immediately. I've never traveled like that before and I certainly learned a lot. Not only that, but I think now I may be hooked.
I started Friday, July 6th with an overnight bus to Santiago. From there I took a flight to Calama, where I stayed for two nights.

Calama from the air

There's really not much to do in Calama, and I only flew there because I found a good deal on a flight online. I did, however, get the chance to Couchsurf with a couple in Calama who graciously hosted me during my stay. For those who don't know, Couchsurfing.org is an online community where members can search for other members all over the world to host them while they travel. It's free and it's a great way to get to know the places you're visiting. So while I didn't do a whole lot in Calama, I did explore the city with one of my hosts and on the second day we had an asado.

Grilling out at their apartment in Calama

The next day I took a bus out to San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro is a small, quaint little town with a cool mix of Spanish Colonial and indigenous architecture. It also just so happens to be overrun with tourists. This is due not only to its charm but also its location; there's lots of great stuff to do around San Pedro and so dozens of tour operators have established themselves there. After finding a hostel I set out to explore my surroundings but I quickly found myself a bit overwhelmed by all the places trying to hook me. I figured it might be best to take my time in San Pedro to make sure I got the best experience, so I started scoping out tour operators.

One of my only pictures of San Pedro

 My number one priority in San Pedro was to find a jeep tour of the Uyuni salt flat and I just so happened to walk into one place that was running a tour the next day. Every spot was filled except for one. At first I was a bit skeptical about immediately leaving for a 3 day tour since I had just arrived, but the guy in the office offered to cut me a deal for being filling the vacancy at the last minute so I decided to go ahead and do it, and I'm so glad I did because that set everything else in motion.
The very next morning at 8:00 a van came to pick me up. We rounded up the rest of the group, 12 in all, and starting heading East into the mountains. Our group was an international sampler platter: there was one Chilean, a French guy, a German, a guy from Ireland, myself, and all the rest were from Brazil. We had little trouble communicating however, since nearly everyone spoke English. They were a really cool group and I loved being able to talk to so many people from so many different places. When we reached the Bolivian border-probably at least 1000 meters higher than San Pedro-we got out, split up into two jeeps, put all our gear on the roof and headed out.

The Bolivian border NE of San Pedro

Our guide was a Bolivian named Walter who only spoke Spanish, which I was grateful for because it was good practice and because it seemed more authentic that way. I liked hearing about the land from someone who grew up there. We continued our gradual ascent through the altiplano, all the while stopping at the various lagunas to take some pictures.

As beautiful as it was, it was cold, it was windy, and the elevation started to get to me. San Pedro has an elevation of about 2400 and we were well above 4000 meters during the tour, with the highest point being around 4500. When I got out of the car to walk around I felt light headed and dizzy and if I walked too fast I'd have to stop pretty quick to catch my breath. Some people brought coca leaves (yes, the same ones used to make cocaine), which are a common remedy for altitude sickness in Bolivia. In fact, anywhere in the altiplano you're likely to see Bolivians walking around with huge wads of leaves in their cheeks, like tobacco. I tried chewing some but it didn't help much. Still, I was having too much fun seeing the sights to let it really get to me.

We stopped to take a dip in this hot spring

These geysers were the highest point in the tour: around 4500 meters

Laguna Colorada. It's red because of a kind of algae

That night though the altitude really got to me. We were staying in pretty basic "hostel" that didn't do a very good job of keeping out the wind or the cold. I was laying in bed with a pounding headache and even lying still I could not catch my breath. I spent the whole night tossing and turning, occasionally gasping for breath that just wouldn't come to me. All I could think about was the book Into Thin Air when he talked about his difficulties sleeping on Everest. All night I kept thinking to myself, "man, if it's like this here then what is it like on Everest?"

Our "hostel" in the desert

Still haven't learned the difference between llama, alpaca and vicuña, but I can tell you this is one of those three

I felt much better the next day. I had an easier time breathing and I wasn't feeling as dizzy. Some people still felt pretty sick though and would stay feeling sick for the rest of the tour. After spending the whole day driving and visiting lagunas and rock formations we arrived at our next "hostel" which, believe it or not, was made almost completely out of salt. Everything from the walls to the tables to the beds were made from blocks of pure salt from the salt flat. Just sitting in there made me thirsty.

El Arbol de Piedra, the Stone Tree

Flamingos!

The Salt Hotel

Even the beds were made of salt. I'm not joking.

The next day, after a much better night of sleep, we set out for the immense Salar de Uyuni. There's not necessarily a ton to see on the Salar; its main attraction is its incredible size. There is, however, a peculiar little island covered with hundreds of cacti. We pulled over there for a short walk and I took these photos:

After the island we drove out to the middle of the Salar to have lunch and take photos.

After that we finally arrived at the town of Uyuni, Bolivia where the main attraction was a Train Graveyard.

The Uyuni Salt Flat group

Now, the tour I did offered two options: either to take you back to San Pedro or to drop you off in Uyuni. Originally my plan was to circle back to San Pedro so I could travel around the rest of northern Chile, but after hanging out with everyone in my tour group and hearing all the things they were planning on doing in Bolivia, I made a somewhat spontaneous decision to stay. At first I thought about heading straight to La Paz since I got the impression it was kind of the main attraction, but a couple of the guys from my tour were planning on going to Potosi so I decided to tag along with them. We took an evening bus from Uyuni and ended up arriving in Potosi around 1 or 2 in the morning; thankfully we had made a reservation at a hostel beforehand. The next day we explored the city a little bit and switched to a better hostel.

The main plaza in Potosi

I really liked the architecture there

They sold all kinds of weird stuff in the market

One of the biggest tourist attractions in Potosi is Cerro Rico, a mountain riddled with silver and aluminum mines. The mines were once a major source of wealth for the Spanish Empire and they're still very much active today. Nowadays tour agencies take people down into the still-active mines to see the dangerous and bizarre working conditions firsthand. I had heard about these tours before I had even begun to consider traveling to Bolivia. A lot of people describe it as one of the most unforgettable experiences in South America. I didn't want to spend too much time in Potosi so later that day I booked a tour with the other two guys. There's a lot in South America I still haven't seen, but I can say that it was an unforgettable experience. I can't say I would do it again, but I'm sure glad I did it.
After going to the tour office to pick up your equipment (helmet, headlamp, jacket, boots) they take you to one of the many "miner's stores" that line the road going up to the mountain. These stores sell everything a miner might need: shovels, picks, water, cigarettes, oh, and TNT. Yes, they sell dynamite in roadside shops in Bolivia and anyone can buy it. Literally anyone. In fact, they offered us some. See, it's customary for the tourists going down into the mines to buy gifts for the miners they meet along the way. We didn't buy any dynamite but we did buy some water, juice and beer. After the miner's shop they took us to a refinery to see how the raw material extracted from the mountain gets processed.

Some refineries at the foot of Cerro Rico

Silver!

Finally we arrived at the entrance to the mine. It was a bit chilly outside but they warned us that it would be hot in the mine due to volcanic gases. They also advised us to wear bandannas over our faces to protect against all the dust in gas in the mine. We turned on our headlamps and went inside.

You can just barely see stains around the entrance. Those are blood stains from llamas they sacrifice twice a year as offerings

It was cramped inside, to say the least. I was hunched over almost the entire time we were in the mine (about an hour and a half) and through many parts I had to army crawl. The further we descended the hotter it got, and the already-thin air (Potosi has an elevation of about 4000 meters) got really difficult to breath. To make matters worse, it smelled horrible down there. I mean it smelled bad. Like a mix between sweat, urine and tobacco. Eventually we got to some areas where some miners were working. They were pretty friendly and got even friendlier when we gave them some beer. They even offered to let us do some of their work for them, so we took some shovels and helped them clear some rocks. It was hard work, especially in that cramped space and that hot, rancid air. But just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder, they took us down to see "the Tio", or the god of the mine.
I get the impression that indigenous beliefs and Catholicism mix easily and often in Bolivia, but nothing could be a clearer example of this than the Tio. As our guide explained to us, the miners live in two worlds: the world on the surface, and the underworld of the mine. Above ground they're all practicing Catholics, but once they enter the mine they worship the Pachamama or the Mother Earth. The Tio is a figure they built that represents Pachamama and they bring it offerings to bless them as they work in the mines. It's also one of the creepiest things I've ever seen, and sitting in a circle in the dark facing this thing was one of the most bizarre things I've ever done. After that I was kind of alright with getting the hell out of the mine.

One of the more spacious areas in the mine

The Tio. Don't be fooled by the flash-it was pitch dark in there

The next day I left for La Paz. I had heard that there was a lot to do there, but what I really wanted to do was book a tour to the jungle a few hours north of there. I didn't like most of the companies offering tours because they offered a sort of "theme park" experience on obnoxious motorboats where the guides would wrestle alligators and snakes. I wanted something a little more tranquil and a little more authentic, and I ended up finding that with a place called Madidi Travel (http://www.ecobolivia.org/es/). Basically it's a conservation group that also runs tours as a way of educating people and spreading awareness about conservation. In fact, they lead a group from National Geographic in 2000, and the story made the front cover. All the profits go to their conservation efforts. My heart was set on going with this company, so I looked for their office in La Paz, wanting to leave as soon as possible. Unfortunately they were closed the day I arrived so I had to wait a bit. Luckily for me though, the day I arrived just so happened to be the 203rd anniversary of La Paz and so that night they had a huge party downtown with crafts, street food (I ate it all) and a long, long, LONG parade.

Plaza San Francisco early the morning I arrived

Getting ready for the party

The beginning of the longest parade I've ever seen

Tons of women dress like this in Bolivia

Zebras, for some reason I never figured out

The next morning I went to book a tour first thing. I would have to fly to a town called Rurrenabaque about one hour North of La Paz, but unfortunately there wasn't another flight until the next day. So I booked a flight for the next afternoon and spent the rest of my day exploring La Paz, which is a beautiful city.

I left the next day around 5:00. It was the smallest plane I've ever been in but thankfully there wasn't much turbulence. When we arrived at the "airport" in Rurrenabaque (one runway with a house next to it and a dirt road running into town) I already knew I was going to have a great time. The town was surrounded by steep green mountains and you could hear all kinds of tropical birds all around. It was like Jurassic Park or something. The town of Rurrenabaque itself is very cool, though a bit touristy. I found a hotel, got some fried chicken and fries (pretty popular in Bolivia), had a beer and went to bed.

The airport in La Paz

I could have tapped the pilot on the shoulder

You can't quite see, but we didn't fly over the mountains so much as next to them

The "airport" in Rurrenabaque. I'm pretty sure there were some chickens running around just outside this frame

Downtown Rurrenabaque

The next morning I left for my tour. I booked a five day, four night stay at the Serere nature reserve which lies about 2 hours by boat North of Rurrenabaque. It was a beautiful boat ride and I really enjoyed riding further and further away from society into thicker and thicker forests.

When we arrived I met my guide, Severo, on the banks of the river. He was an older man who was born in raised in one of the indigenous communities north of the reserve. He lived his entire life in the jungle and had been working as a guide for about 15 years. He was the best possible guide I could imagine for such a trip. His love of the forest was as boundless as his knowledge of it, and he shared it all with us during our time there. What's more, I never had more than two other people with me in my group so it was very easy to ask questions and have a very personal experience. The first thing he did was show me to my cabin. On the walk there we spotted our first wildlife: cappuccino monkeys playing in the trees. I didn't know then how common that sight would become over the next week. Although there are some cabins built on the property, it's still very much a wild place. Life filled every corner and crack in the jungle. In fact, the first time I flushed my toilet in my cabin, a frog got flushed out from where he was hiding in the toilet bowl. Later that night when I went to the main lodge for dinner I tried to close the screen door behind me but something was in the way. I looked back and saw a monkey hanging from the corner of the door, trying to get in. I tried to shoo him away but he just crawled up my arm and onto my shoulders. There was one other animal, a raccoon-type creature called a coati, that was constantly getting inside the house but other than that they had surprisingly few problems with animals there. They all seemed to coexist in harmony.

Inside my cabin. Note the all-too-necessary mosquito net hanging over the bed

Cappuccino monkey

The casa grande where we ate our meals and relaxed at the end of the day

The coati, whose name was DuDu, was really a pretty cute guy. He would snuggle right up with you

There were two macaws who lived at the casa grande

One thing that I really liked about this tour company was that they had no set itineraries. Every evening my group (only three people including myself) sat down with our guide and we decided together where we would go and what we would do the next day. The reserve is pretty big so there's plenty of land to explore, plus it's teeming with wildlife so everyday offered something new. Most of our time was spent simply walking through the jungle with our guide while he pointed out different plants and animals, but we also canoed around some of the lakes on the property, made some crafts and fished for prianha, which we ate later for dinner. Piranha have a lot of bones, but they're tasty! I spent five days and four nights at the nature reserve and that was by far my favorite part of the trip. I was pretty sad to have to leave, but now I'm scheming of ways to go back.

A very cool bird called a Serere

Our guide, Severo, pointing out some monkeys

Some of the trees there were massive

A group of three spider monkeys who had been rescued from poachers and re-released into their natural habitat

A pretty good sized fish called a papa

My first piranha. Not too big but it was still pretty cool

Another piranha I caught later. Check out those teeth!

A pretty good sized papa I caught

Dinner

I was just hanging out in the hammock when this monkey hopped in!

By the time I hae first arrived in La Paz I had put together a loose plan to return to Chile via Peru, leaving Bolivia from lake Titicaca. However by the time I got back to La Paz from Rurrenabaque it was clear that I didn't have nearly enough time to cover that much ground, so I took a bus straight away from La Paz to Arica, Chile. I was a little disappointed to come back to Chile. Not only was Bolivia much cheaper but it has a certain vibe that's missing in Chile. Still, I was excited to check out Arica and Iquique, two beach cities in the North. I was only able to spend a couple days in each but after visiting both I have to say I much prefer Iquique to Arica and if I could do it again I might have skipped Arica to spend more time in Iquique. I spent most of my time just walking around town and hanging out on the beaches. Even though it was a little cloudy in Iquique I loved the beaches there. It's a pretty popular surfing spot and watching the surfers out on the waves made me want to try surfing. I've never been much of a beach person, or rather I've always preferred the mountains, but spending a couple days on the beach made me miss the beaches in North Carolina.

Arica

A church in Arica that was designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel

El Morro de Arica, an important site in the War of the Pacific

Playa Cavancha, Iquique

A buoy that commemorates the sunken ship Esmeralda from the War of the Pacific

A bell tower in Iquique

Finally, after a short flight and a not-so-short bus ride, I returned to Puerto Montt tired, happy, and in need of a shower and clean clothes. It's a bit of a drag to return to my normal routine here after a month of living on my own terms but I've got some cool stuff going on right now. I'm coaching a spelling bee team which will be competing on August 27th and 28th, and we're also preparing an English Song Festival for the beginning of September. I've got another four months left here but I'm sure they'll fly by. I've already started thinking some about what I'm going to do when I finish the program but so far it's mainly just been daydreaming. If you see or hear anything you think I would be interested in let me know!