Merry Christmas!

We have celebrated Christmas Eve with high adventure! We went Blackwater Rafting. This means you travel on a river, going deep in the heart of a large cave, to see glowing worms sparkeling on the ceiling in the dark, in your own inner tube.

You start your adventure by becoming attractively outfitted in a thick wet suit, used only a few hundred times. First the booties on your feet followed by squeezing yourself into overalls like a stuffed sausage. Then you put on an overcoat which helps you baste in the sun of the staging area for a wonderful ripe smell. You add padded boxer shorts over that (which they say is padding against the rocks in the cave -- but I think the guides just needed a laugh). The look is topped off by beautiful white rubber boots and a helmet with a light attached for visibility in the cave. Once you are in this adventure suit, you feel more like the Michelin Man than Indiana Jones, but you are ready.

When you get to the cave you are issued your inner tube. You begin the journey by spelunking your way deep into the cave following a trail of water. (That is walking.) As we walk, Daina is finding every hole along the way plunging in hip deep and climbing out. (Of course these same holes are only knee deep for Steve).

Finally the floating portion of the trek begins. You walk to the edge of a 6 foot waterfall. You stand at the edge, turn your back to the falls, hold your tube up to your ass, and leap backwards into the cold, dark water. Now that is taking the plunge! After some whooping and sputtering, equilibrium was re-attained and the view of millions of stars on the roof of the cave were ample reward. Just another traditional Christmas!

We continue our way through New Zealand joining with Daina's parents for a while. It is great to see familiar faces after a couple months on the road!

Grand Finale, Grief, Going Onward

Grand Finale. Our final days in Chile were a blast. We were joined by a friend we know in Atascadero who is from Chile. He got us looped in a night on the town, took us to his parents home/resort where we lounged in the pool and were served "Onces" (the Chilean version of tea), exposed us to near death in a funicular, and stuffed us with a fine fish dinner with a bloatation dessert before dropping us at the airport to continue our journey. We couldn't have asked for a better way to finish Chile.

Grief. Fate laughs when we plan, doesn't it? We planned our whole 7 month odyssey around our sailing boat cruise. First we were informed that the cruise had been cancelled (leaving us stranded in Thailand with no transport to Greece and 37 free days) because of the pirates. Then we were informed that we could go on the cruise from Thailand to Goa, India at which point we would be kicked off the boat and invited to re board in Safaga, Egypt, after the boat runs the pirate gauntlet sans passengers. Holy crap! We zoomed through the stages of grief:
Denial: This can't be happening!
Anger: Those bastards probably just didn't sell enough cabins to run the cruise!
Bargaining: If we sign a release can we go anyway?
Depression: Why is our life so bad? (TOTALLY JUST KIDDING, but we're really sad.)
Acceptance: We're ready for whatever comes.
So we are working on plan B: Nepal? We'll let you know when we figure it out.

Going On. We have gotten over our jet lag and settled into New Zealand.

National Park

We have survived Chile´s premier national park, Torres del Paine. This park is located at the end of a really long dirt road. We rented a tiny car and were assured it could handle the roads of the park. We began driving by delicately picking our way around potholes and boulders, attempting the perfect strategy for washboard, and stopping dead in our tracks to not be enveloped by the huge plumes of dust kicked up by other vehicles. Readers who are experienced off-roaders are of course thinking, "Idiots. Put the pedal to the metal and go!" Eventually we threw caution to the wind and adopted this attitude with our poor little car. It is hard to convey the experience of these roads. Let´s just say that as we rattled along, my face itched. With all this being said, the park was spectacular. Jagged, snow-capped peaks, mountainous glaciers, bluer than blue icebergs, and sweeping falls were all as magnificent as advertised. We even saw the promised creatures of the park, the fox, llama, ostrich, and flamingo. The weather was cold but clear with impressive visibility. It was a grand adventure.

During part of our visit, we stayed at a high-end hotel (similar to, but not as nice as, the Awahnee in Yosemite). The first morning we came to the dining room for the continental breakfast. We helped ourselves to the buffet where the plates were only slightly bigger than a cup coaster. We took our food and beverages, selected a lovely table with a spectacular view, and started eating. (The view was the picture above.) Then we spot a cursed little sign on our table: HAB 36. Oh no! This is a table reserved for the good people in Room 36. We are Room 21! We glance around and realize OUR reserved table was in the other room. These tables are for the people in the UBER-expensive rooms... We figured we had 2 options: move ourselves into the next room (which would include an outrageous number of coaster-sized dishes necessitating 4-5 trips) or switch the room number sign. Like burglars in the night, we switched the signs and ate our meal in fear of being ousted at any moment. Clearly we are representing America admirably in our travels.

In a few days we will head back to Santiago before flying on to New Zealand!

Birthday Bash

Today is Steve´s Birthday! And how do we celebrate? Sleep in a cozy little hotel with snow blowing outside in Puerto Natales. Then luxuriate in a hot tub at a local spa; aroma therapy, fresh cold water to drink, and plinky-plunky tunes in a funky little tent. We follow that with a stop at an amazing bakery for fresh breads and treats. We finish with a meal at Afrigonia. This is a lovely restaurant owned by a Zambian and a Patagonian with an African theme. It has been highly recommended. This fun day was perfectly punctuated by a birthday card from Gary and Linda which was waiting for us in our hotel when we arrived!

Our continuing journey south has been good. We enjoyed our bus trip which was fast and comfortable from the wine country to Puerto Montt. From there we rented a car and went to Puerto Varas, a small tourist town on the lake similar to Santa Barbara where we bet 1000 pesos and won 5000 pesos in the casino! We also took our rental car on a ferry which took us to Chiloe Island, where we drove way too far on a dirt road to check out penguins. There were few penguins and you had to get in a boat to see them so we skipped it. But we hiked to the top of a hill, the sun came out, and we had a great view. We also went to a restaurant there and enjoyed ¨Loco Empenadas¨ and beer.

We then left Puerto Montt and made voyage on a ferry traveling 3 days south. Our room consisted of 4 bunks, 4 small lockers, and a pleasant german couple. The scenery was breath-taking as we traveled south on an inside passage down the coast of Chile. We experienced sun, snow, wind, and high seas, and very few Americans on board. It was quite an adventure.

Now we are going to Torres del Paine National Park. We are renting a car again and heading out tomorrow. The weather is brutally cold so we are desperately wishing for global warming to advance quickly. With that goal in mind, we are buying hair spray by the case and spraying as fast as we can. Do join us! We are wearing everything we brought and are often still cold! Hasta luego!

Giving Thanks for Plumbing

Happy Thanksgiving All!

On this annual feast for gratitude, we find ourselves celebrating with a fine meal of conger eel. It sounds horrifying but it is a delicious, local white fish here in Chile. Yum!

In our first month of travel in Costa Rica and Chile, we have often been reminded of how truly wonderful American plumbing is. If you are too delicate to partake of my toileting ramblings, stop reading now and have a great day giving thanks for your good fortune!

OK if you are still with me I will be ranting about only 3 of the foreign toilet issues only of these 2 countries.

FIRST: toilet paper needs to go in the toilet!
Part of our orientation into our homestay in Costa Rica was a graphic entreaty to not put toilet paper into the toilet and the perils of trying to fish it out later. Sincere promises were made to be careful. But of course, at some point you forget and drop the offending paper into the toilet. OH NO! You stare into the toilet in horror. Your guilt is huge. But then figure, well just one little bit won´t hurt too much... But, strangely enough you forget the very next time. OH CRAP! As you leap up to stare again! Then you find yourself reaching forth to try to catch the offending bit by a dry corner. PLEASE! I long for my toilets of home.

SECOND: (and I will make this short) padded toilet seats are sick and wrong.

THIRD: The issue of PAYING to PEE.
I don´t appreciate paying. This is arrogant, but it seems like a basic right. But let´s accept the concept of paying. At that point, shouldn´t there be a minimum expectation of paper, cleanliness, and soap to wash up? Recently, we were charged 150 pesos at which point a dirty old man (literally, he wasn´t a perv) handed out 30 sheets of toilet paper. THANKS. Upon entering the tiniest, filthiest little compartment, I was greeted with no toilet seat. Nice. OK, so you hover. Once business is complete, not wanting to touch anything, I use my foot to flush at which point the door to the compartment busts open violently, revealing to a staring public my judo move on the toilet handle. Oops. And to top it off, instead of going down, gravity fails me and the water starts rising. OH NO, RUN LIKE THE WIND!

So this year I am giving thanks in absentia for the art and science of plumbing in the United States. Happy Thanksgiving!

Going South

Our departure from Costa Rica was eventful! During our last day of class, we experienced an earthquake! We predicted a 5.0 and were very close with the news reporting 5.1 on the Richter Scale. Our homestay continued with its challenges as they had to put down one of the 4 dogs. He was an old cocker spaniel we had called Joe. But we bid the banana country farewell and have moved on to Chile.

Our short stay in Santiago was nice as we experienced the southern version of Wiener House -- a fine dining establishment called Doggies where we enjoy the local favorite, the hot dog.

We continued south to explore the wine country. It is really beautiful. We met a charming English couple and joined them in touring the wineries. Touring is expensive, but the wine is cheap. We have continued our education in all thing bodega (the spanish word for winery).

Now we are moving south again to Puerto Montt. We will be traveling overnight in a "Salon de Cama" bus for 12 hours. Should be interesting! We have our box of wine, our salon on the bus, and we are ready to ride!

Parrots and Prostitutes and Chile, Oh My!

Last weekend we made another pilgrimage to the coast, the Pacific coast this time. We saw 2 large red macaw parrots in the wild!! They were eating, chatting, and flying. Quite a show. We also encountered a coatimundi. It came within 20 feet of where we were, and just hung out for a while. Amazing.

We have continued to embarrass ourselves while slaughtering the spanish language. Lo siento! Tomorrow is our last day of class, much to the relief of our teacher.

Our home front has been interesting. Our neighbor (a nice young american guy) is teaching english here in San Jose. His newest class consists of four local prostitutes. Last Sunday our host family experienced a loss. The paternal grandmother passed away from brain cancer. We felt quite awkward as extended family came and went in the aftermath. Then last night, the maternal grandfather went to the hospital with heart trouble, so things continue to be up in the air at home.

We have enjoyed our Costa Rican experience, but are excited to move on to Chile on Sunday.

P.S. We alsmost forgot to mention this little friend we met in the rainforest.

Eyelash Viper (Sorry Mom)

Sloths, Spanish, Steve

Costa Rica is FANTASTIC!!

We arrived on Friday and settled quickly into our Home Stay accomodations. The house is nice and Maria takes good care of us. Her cooking is excellent and we are very comfortable there.

Sunday we took a trip to Tortuguera National Park.

On our way there, first we saw a smoking volcano. The morning was sunny and clear and beautiful. Then we saw a BANANA PLANTATION with a processing plant. There was nothing industrial and the whole process was outside. We watched the people working hard, taking bananas from the field and sorting them into the boxes that arrive in our supermarkets.

Next we took a 3 hour boat ride on a river flowing into the Carribbean through the rain forest. We saw SLOTHS!! One sloth was rather active and we saw his face. The other was close enough to touch but he was just hanging there -- like a sloth. We also saw the JESUS CHRIST lizards. This is the lizard that runs across the top of the water, also known as the basilisk. Steve was the hero in spotting an 8 foot crocodile with a hunch back that we were able to get very close to. He also spotted a large green iguana.

After the boat ride, we took a walk which ended on a Carribbean beach. This beach is famous for nesting green sea turtles. We saw several nests where the giant mom sea turtles had hauled themselves up the beach and layed their eggs. We were told a few babies have already hatched and made their way to the ocean.

On Monday we got down to our main business of learning Spanish. When we arrived, we were tested to let the school know that we are muy estupido. After the initial humiliation was complete, we were assigned to an excellent teacher and we are learning. We are working hard, so of course we will be fluent in no time!

On The Eve of Departure

We finally squeeze our suitcases shut.

Steve's weighs in at 62 pounds and Daina's a mere 49.

A few months back, we were forced to look at each and every possession to decide what to keep and what had to go in order for us to move out of our house. Now we are again examining our stuff trying to decide what is absolutely necessary for our 214 day journey. It feels like we have truly stripped down to the basics -- and it feels good! The adventure begins tomorrow regardless of what we've brought or what we've forgotten.

Getting Started

We are very excited about our 7 month adventure.
This is our itinerary!

29 October 2009 Depart LAX

COSTA RICA

30 October - 15 November: San Jose for 2 Week Language School

CHILE

15 November - 16 December: Santiago, Chile to Punta Arenas, Chile and back

NEW ZEALAND

18 – 29 December: North Island New Zealand

30 December - 12 January: South Island New Zealand

AUSTRALIA

15 - 27 January: Tasmania

28 January -17 February: Australia (Including Whitsunday Islands)

INDONESIA

18 February – 13 March: Bali and surounds including Komodo Island, the coral triangle and possibly Borneo to see orangutans

14 – 19 March: Phuket, Thailand

ABOARD STAR CLIPPER SHIP 20 March - 26 April (37 days)
Stops include: Similan Islands, Sri Lanka, India, Egypt, passage through the Suez Canal, Alexandria, Rhodes, and Mykonos

EUROPE

26 April – 19 May: Greece (mostly on islands)

20 - 23 May: Venice, Italy

24-25 May: Luxembourg

26- 31 May: In route north through Belgium to Amsterdam

1- 3 June: Amsterdam

4 June 2010 Arrive LAX