Mass Update #2: Bolivia, Argentina & Chile

Hi all,

I just realized its been over a month since I've updated... and my route has definitely strayed from my original plan. So here's a snapshot of what I've been doing for the last month:

Bolivia

Potosi: Caiti and I checked out the mines in Potosi, one of the highest cities in Bvia, about 4300m (basically walking makes you feel like you ran 10 sprints in a row, yikes). So we booked a tour through the mines, all decked out with the headlamps, rubber boots and bandanas. We crawled to the 4th level (underground) of the mine and managed to have only a couple "I'm going to suffocate" panic attacks. Its crazy to think the miners work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week in those conditions. We also got to blow up some dynamite after, just for kicks. Hey, its Bolivia, we do what we want.

Salar de Uyuni: So technically, I already did the one day tour with Kel, Craig and Conor when they were here... but Caiti managed to convince me that I should do the 3 day tour, end up in Chile, and then we could go to Argentina and Chile together... so I am now volunteering for 2 weeks instead of 4. Traveling is too much fun, there's nothing I can do about it!

The 3 day tour was incredible but SO FREAKING COLD! I'm talking cold to the point that you need to sleep in everything you own and have 5 beers for good measure. The days were so warm but the pictures of us at night are hilarious.

Argentina

Salta: After spending so much time in Peru and Bolivia it was such a nice treat to arrive in Argentina. Number One: good food. Empanadas, espresso, and the best red meat in the world?? Yes, please. So nice after living off of chicken, rice and yucky fries in Bolivia. We also fit in a rafting trip and a little bungee jumping. Bungee jumping = terrifying. I can now personally say that standing there and CHOOSING to fall head first and spring back up again is far scarier that skydiving. The video I have is seriously hilarious, especially because you can actually see me change my mind at the last second and I end up flailing my arms and legs all the way down. Overall, so happy I did it... however, a little questionnable as to whether I will do it again.

(I attempted to post the video, it was being uncooperative. Grrr.)

Mendoza: Wine country! We rented bikes for the day from this cool dude named Mr. Hugo and rode from winery to winery tasting some incredible malbec wines. Bobbi on a bike?? Dangerous. Bobbi drinking lots of wine on a bike?? Apparently less dangerous. Who would have thought? Limbs are all in tact.

Chile

Santiago: Overall, Santiago as a city did not rock my socks. We did however, meet some really fun kids and had a great time BBQing (Chilean style = meat, bread, beer; veggies are not invited to this party) and enjoying other close cities like Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. The hostel we stayed in also had a RIDICULOUS kitchen so we were able to cook every night. Seeing that Chile is so much more expensive than everywhere else, it helped the budget a bit too.

Iquique: So after 5 weeks of traveling together, Caiti and I parted ways, truly the end of an era. Everyone, at first, would think we were sisters. Upon finding out we weren't, they assumed we were long time friends... "Naw, I met her in La Paz and apparently I can't get rid of her."
So I headed north on a 26 hour bus ride with two German friends. We spent the day on the beach in Iquique, befriended a stray dog and threw a stick for him for roughly 4 hours. This dog wasn´t mangy though, a first in SA. The other 3 dogs that joined our party were pretty mangy.


On the second day we went paragliding and were able to see the whole city. It was hilarious to see us take off, because you are basically supposed to walk/run off the cliff, but when he told me to walk my feet were already off the ground (short kid) and so i basically just rocked the bicycle motion midair. It´s what all the cool kids are doing these days.

I´m now back in Peru, cruising pretty quickly up the coast to get to Ecuador. Volunteering officially starts June 9th, I´ll get my mosquito net ready.

Love you all, keep me updated on the goods and look forward to seeing everyone when I get home!

Peace and Love,

Bobs