A whirlwind update

Megan:
As you may have noticed, it's been quite a while since our last update - this is mainly due to how much we have packed into the past month, but the inflated cost of internet shops lately hasn't helped to motivate us either. In short Jon and I spent the second half of November working our way south through Northern Chile and Argentina in time to meet up with my sister Molly and her boyfriend Andy in Buenos Aires on December 1st. Although a lot of that time was spent on buses, we managed to have some really wonderful experiences in various stops along the way.

Once we were able to get over the completely foreign-sounding Chilean accent, we realized how nice it was to be in a country that is much closer to first world standards. After leaving Peru, our first destination was Arica where we joined a tour to the small town of Putre and the nearby Lauca National Park. We have been making a point lately of doing tours completely in Spanish - a nice addition to just getting an informative explanation. The wildlife in this region of the Atacama Desert was fascinating. We saw llamas and three other related species (vicuñas, alpaccas and guanacos), a large rabbit-like rodent that has a long tail (viscacha), some huge ostrich-type birds (ñandús), an andean condor with a nine-foot wing span, and flamingos.

From there we made our way west to San Pedro de Atacama. Our first impression of San Pedro was that of an incredibly over-priced dusty town that had been stuck in the middle of the desert solely for tour operators and the tourists that supported them. Once we discovered that the next available bus didn't depart for another five days, we decided to give the town a chance and settled in. It took us a full two days to decide that this town had some nice things to offer. As it turns out the only tour we decided to do was fantastic. We began by exploring a geyser field at dawn - an incredible site to witness despite the unbelievable chill that rolls through at that time of day up at 14,000 ft. Once the sun began to shed its warmth, we were able to soak in a thermal pool fed by the geysers. After a number of short stops to become familiar with local flora and fauna, we went on an unexpected hike following a stream into a beautifully sculpted canyon.

After our five-days' wait, we happily crossed into Argentina and stayed at a charming little hostel in the town of Salta. The guys who ran this establishment had a knack and love for cooking and offered to make dinner for whoever was staying there that night. We thought they were making a simple meal of pasta and sauce, but this turned into a four-hour production of making pasta from scratch and a carefully simmering fresh vegetables, meat and spices into an artful sauce. Somewhere in this cooking process, I no longer felt like I had been traveling and without roots for 10 months - I felt like for at least one night, I had come home.

After this delicious home-cooked meal, we slipped away to the quaint town of Cafayate known for its small-scale vineyards and beautiful canyon lands. We spent our first day here attempting to stay hydrated in the heat of the desert red rock as we wandered through the phenomenal layered rock formations. Our second day we enjoyed touring and doing tastings at a few of the local wineries. Our favorite discovery was Torrontes - a crisp white wine exclusive to Argentina - luckily we still have another month in Argentina to continue enjoying this one. We also had the interesting opportunity to tour a local goat cheese factory where we actually ended up acting as translators for the rest of the tour group as we learned about everything from the goat's strictly regimented diet to the classical music they listen to during the milking process - fascinating.

After this whirlwind tour through the north of Chile and Argentina (and a 20-hour bus ride), we arrived in Buenos Aires with a few days to spare before Molly and Andy's arrival. Since we are planning to return and spend the month of January in this bustling cultural center, we spent the last few days of November researching Spanish schools and getting an apartment lined up. While there we also enjoyed meeting up with numerous friends who we had met earlier in our travels and had a great spur of the moment visit from a friend of Jon's from high school.

We were delighted to see Molly and Andy when they arrived safely in Buenos Aires at the beginning of December and spent our first two days together showing them around the city and beginning to catch up. Since then, the four of us have headed south where we've been thoroughly enjoying the Patagonian wilderness. Tomorrow morning we are beginning our third backpacking trip this month, and as you may have guessed, we have a ton of photos and stories that we're looking forward to sharing in the days to come.

Wishing you all happy holidays!