Patagonia Parte Dos

Another phenomenal day in Torres del Paine started with a half day hike on Lake Nordenskjold where we enjoyed glorious weather while seeing the Great Falls, eagles, the mountains reflecting in the lakes, and the remains of llamas that weren't fast enough to escape the Pumas! We never got a first hand look at a Puma except in pictures. Cristobal was a terrific guide. We returned to the Explora Lodge for a gourmet feast before heading out for horseback riding with our guide Augostina amd our gaucho Jose. What a marvelous experience riding in the wide open of the Patagonian pampas. Clark and I regretted that we forgot our jock straps for the galloping segments! We crossed streams and climbed hills for marvelous vistas of the surrounding beauty. Then it was off to see the icebergs at the opposite end of Grey Lake from the Glacier which we hiked to yesterday. The sun was setting as we got to the icebergs which accentuated the deep blue shades of the ice. The ride home provided extraordinary views of Torres del Paine with its silloette reflecting in the lake as the the sun dropped below the horizon. This has got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth....so unspoiled with tourists and so unsurpassed in its natural beauty. The staff at the Explora Lodge went out of their way to make sure that we got to do everything we wanted during our three days here. We hate to leave........we're spoiled rotten! We have a five hour return to Punta Arenas tomorrow for our afternoon flight to Puerto Montt and the start of our two day boat crossing of the lakes of Chile and Argentina where we will land in Bariloche for four days at an estancia, including skiing in the Andes. Adios from one of the earth's most beautiful places!

Dad and Clark at the Icebergs on Grey Lake


Clark and Dad in front of Massif on Lake Nordenskyjold


Gaucho Clark in the pampas ......Mom and Hilary.....
does this remind you of a photo taken nine years
ago in Jackson Hole?

Grey Fox in Torres del Paine

Sunset in Torres del Paine with reflection in Lake

Iceberg in Grey Lake

Explora Lodge where we spent three glorious days in
Torres del Paine

The Massif of Torres del Paine reflecting in
Lake Nordenskjold

The gauchos in the pampas


Torres del Paine from 38K feet on our flight from
Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas

Torres del Paine

Dad and Clark looking at the enormous Grey Glacier in Torres del Paine, part of the Southern Ice Field which stretches 400 kilometers.

Giant Condor with 3 meter wingspan taken with Dad's telephoto

Phenomenal Patagonia

We knew by the bird's eye preview on our flight from Santiago that the landscape was phenomenal. The skies were perfectly clear all the way from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas for seeing the glaciers, fjords, ice fields and sights of sights.....Mount Fitz Roy and Torres del Paine. With both mountains, the pilot tipped the left wing and did a semi circle of the mountains so we could capture them on film. Just wait til you see these pictures.....which we hope we can post later today! Our landing approach took us in over the Straights of Magellan with great views of the Straights and Terre del Fuego! The skies have been clear since we landed two days ago and are expected to be the same today for another adventuresome day at Explora in Torres del Paine. Roberto, our driver from Punta Arenas (we were the only two in the van) was most generous to stop on the five hour drive north to Torres del Paine National Park for photo opportunity after photo opportunity! We saw flamingos (how nice to see them on the shores and not the Parrot Jungle in Miami), condors (what a sight to see them soaring with their nine foot wing spans), gauchos on their horses, llamas, ostrich, and grey fox. The first ground sighting of Torres del Paine drew gasps! And then we arrived at the Explora Lodge to a warm welcome by the Vice President for Guest Relations Marcela Sigall and her incredible staff. Since this is the winter season, there are only 20 guests here for a lodge that accommodates 100, so we were upgraded to a Deluxe Suite with picture perfect views of the massif of Torres del Paine - it is incomparable in its magnificent beauty. The view from our window creates the same excitement I recall when seeing the Matterhorn and Mt. McKinley for the first time! The lodge is stunning, expansive and full of delightful staff who are spoiling us rotten! The extensive happy hours have provided wonderful opportunities to get to know the other 18 guests from Chile, Germany, Australia, New York, Spain, and St Louis. The guy from Germany heads one of the largest observatories in the world located in Santiago. You should see the size of his camera lenses- they give me lense envy! But glad I am not dragging them around on hikes!

Yesterday we took an all day 12K hike through ice packed trails to Grey Glacier. The hike was stunning and challenging with most of us falling and busting our asses at least once! We reached our destination about noon and were treated to a fabulous picnic which had been carried in the backpacks of our guides......Cristobal and Coca. The view of Grey Glacier with its stunning shades of blue and floating icebergs was awe inspiring. Today, we will do a morning hike to Lake Nordenskjold with its breathtaking views of the massif of Torres del Paine and then this afternoon after another gormet lunch, we will go horseback riding in the pampas! Oh, what a life in Heaven on Earth. If God is not a permanent resident of Torres del Paine, I am convinced He spends part of the year here!

Stunning Santiago

Two previous days of rain in Santiago and snow in the surrounding Andes made for a picture perfect morning on the top of San Cristobal hill overlooking this fouth largest city in South America with its 8 million people. Our tour guide, Bernardo, was superb taking us on a five hour tour that included two botanical gardens, the Cathedral, the La Moneda Government Place, the outstanding Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, the San Francisco Church and the Santa Lucia hill (where Santiago was founded in 1541). The day started with 32 degree temps and rose to a high of 54. Lunch at Tip y Top was outstanding which was followed by a workout for Clark and a massage for Dad at the Ritz Carlton, where we are staying. This city is absolutely stunning and the people are most attractive and fashionably dressed. Tonight´s dinner will be at Coco Loco, one of Santiago´s best for seafood. We are mighty grateful to the Santiago Ritz Carlton´s high tech business center for finally providing an opportunity to download numerous memorable photos highlighting our stops during the first week! Hard to believe we have only been here a week with all we have seen and miles we have traveled. Tomorrow it´s off to Patagonia and the Hotel Explora-Salto Chico in Torres del Paine National Park - a 600,000 acre National Park with stunning mountains, glaciers, fjords, wildlife galore and 16 options for explorations - talk about choice anxiety!! We have no idea if we will be able to send postings and photos from the southern end of the continent, so stay tuned until we can reconnect with you. Buenas Noche!

The Virgin Mary atop San Cristobal hill


The cathedral in the main square

Santiago skyline from Japanese gardens

On top of San Cristobal hill

La Moneda Government Palace~the President of Chile´s office

Mystical Machu Picchu!

The terraces in the sacred ruins

Me and my babes in Cuzco, oh and the llama comes with them!

The church in the main square in Cuzco

Bird in Aguas Calientes

Three toed sloth in the Amazon rainforest

Andian bear in Aguas Calientes at the Pueblo Hotel

Hummingbird at Pueblo Hotel

Scenes from Cuzco square during July 26 Independence Day celebration

After a week in the land of the alpaca, Dad is starting to look like one! (view of Cuzco from our hotel room at the Hotel Monesterio)

View of rainforest from canopy in the Tambopata National Park

The Canopy Inkaterra~ the longest canopy walk in the Amazon consisting of 7 swinging bridges 10 stories above the ground.

Shabuya we´re in the Amazon baby! Our boat

at sunrise on the Rio Madre de Dios.

Our friend, the tarantula outside our hut!

Clark taking command of the canoe on Lake Sandoval!

HAH! And you thought these were only in pet stores!
(Our first Macaw sighting)

Our hut at Reserva Amazonica

Clark and Dad sitting on what looks like the top of the world!

Clark sitting on the highest point on Waynupicchu!!!

Clark on the way to the first view of Machu Picchu

(look closely and you can see the ruins through the trees)

Dad on the way up Waynupicchu with bird´s eye
view of the ruins!

Hotel Monasterio, Cuzco and the faces of Peru

Cuzco is the South American version of Florence, Italy with its magnificent cathedrals in the beautiful square, with its red tiled roofs, narrow coblestone streets, markets, markets and more markets and street merchants, art, and delicious food. We ate in the hotel´s courtyard the first day and enjoyed meals in the square on our other two evenings here. The hotel is phenomenal, built in 1595 as a monestary. We were greeted with coco tea upon arrival to help with the adjustment to the 11.4K altitude. Sacred music plays lowly in the background all day and night. You expect to see monks and nuns wandering the hallways! The only habit we have gotten into here is the Peruvian beer, Cusqueña!

The Peruvians are a beautiful, friendly, sweet, industrious people. They are mastering the art of hospitality. We have never been treated in a more friendly first class way anywhere. We feel like royalty. When we retunred to the hotel for the third time, we were given a two story room with a magnificent view of the square, complete with a floral arrangement, bottle of red wine and a tray of sweets! The peasants in the countryside on our train ride to Machu Picchu were a sight to behold. We´ll never forget seeing the family of eight washing their clothes on the Urabamba River as the sun was setting and they all stopped their work to give big waves to us as the train passed. The Peruvian ladies in their short skirts and hats are quite a sight as are the young mothers who are hauling their human and alpaca babies around on their backs in colorful ponchos. The litle girls are all selling finger puppets in the square and have been to the Amway school of sales - they simply follow you across the square in an effort to make the sale until you buy a few or shout NO! The children love trying their English with tourists. One guy told us he was Bill Gates! Dogs are everywhere, but we can tell you they don´t have the life of riley that Casey Dog has at our house!

While I have been typing this entry, Clark has been trying to download photos with no success, so we will give it another try from our hotel in Santiago.

Adios from Peru!

Amazon Basin and Rainforest

We had an incredible three days at the Reserva Amazonica located on the Madre Dios River and in the Tambopata National Park. The Reserve was an extraordinary setting with cabanas made from natural materials from the rainforest, each with wonderful hammocks and beds with mosquito netting. We took five excursions that included a two hour walk through the rainforest that surrounded the reserve. We saw all kinds of flora and fauna and numerous plants of medicinal benefit, including the Viagra Plant!!! Later that evening we could hear the sounds of chain saws in the rainforest!!!! The first morning we were up at 5am and off to Lake Sandoval for a five hour excursion where we saw a Three Toad Sloth, Mealy Parrots, Stink Birds, Scarlet Macaws, and so many more birds that one can´t remember without the list in front of us. We also saw and heard from a distance the Giant Otters but they decided to hide after we rowed across the entire lake to take their lousy picture! We had a afternoon excursion to Monkey Island but since it had just rained, the monkeys were no where to be found, however that evening on our night walk through the rainforest, we spotted numerous night monkeys. What great fun to hear them swinging in the trees and causing nuts and branches to fall. We also saw taranchalas and on our evening river cruise we saw Capybaras which are the worlds largest rodents weighing it at over 120 pounds! It was a thrill to spot several Caymans - spotting those two eyes with a flash light was quite a sight! One of the real thrills on our night river cruise was seeing the Southern Cross and Scorpio (since we have two in our family)! The stars were as numerous and bright as we have ever seen them. Yesterday morning was the highlight as we climbed the equivalent of ten stories to experience the canopy walk on the swinging bridges above the tree tops. We spottted lots of birds and the view of the rainforst from on high was incomparable. We will try posting pictures this afternoon after more meandering through Cusco and before we catch our flight to Santiago. Peru has been awesome with so much variety - the bustle of Lima, the incomparable beauty of Cusco, the mystic awe inspiring wonder of Machu Picchu, and the ecological magnificence of the Amazon basin and rainforest. The absolute highlight of Peru was climbing to the TOP of Waynupicchu, the highest mountain that forms the backdrop for the sacred ruins. It was certainly one of the greatest experiences of our lives - and to have done it together is a memory that will be with us forever! It´s off to Chile and Patagonia. Stay tuned.

pics from peru

Dad and Clark´s first sighting of Machu Picchu!

The train ride through the Sacred Valley

The train ride from Cuzco to Machu Picchu was a unique experience. We had to go through 7 switchbacks to cross the pass leading us out of Cusco (which is 11.4K feet elevation) to the Sacred Valley along the Urabamba and through the Andes with mountain landscapes that reminded us of the Rockies, Tetons and Kaui in quick succession. Breakfast was served on the way to Machu Picchu and the ride home included tea, native Peruvian entertainment and an alpaca fashion show! We enjoyed the eye candy but refrained from retail therapý!

Mystical Machu Picchu - an over the top experience

Saturday, our second day at Machu Picchu, found us hiking to the very top of Waynupicchu, which is the taller of the two mountains that form the backdrop for the sacred ruins. The mountains that surround Michu Picchu are like the setting for Jurassic Park. The hike is limited to 400 people at a time. We were 337 and 338 up the mountain at 9:30am. The hike was a strenuous 2 1/2 hour hour hike, one hour to the top. We used cables and ropes to help us up the steeper slopes with 1000 foot drops. The Incas believed in big steps - all at least 2 feet high. Sometimes we simply climbed up rocky inclines. We even had to squeeze thru a tunnel to reach the apex. We literally felt that we were on top of the world. It was a great feeling of accomplishment. The beautiful clear day provided extraordinary views of Machu Picchu and the surrounding Peruvian Andes with snowcaped peaks as high as 21K feet. We had several pictures taken sitting on top of the highest rock at the apex. The photos say it all about this over the top experience.

Machu Picchu

Today was another great day in Peru. We woke up at five to catch the three and a half hour train ride to Machu Picchu, the most significant of all the Inca ruins. Ramiro, our tour guide took us on a 3 hour tour where we were able to take some beautiful pictures and learn a great deal about the ruins. We agreed that it is one of the most beautiful places we had ever seen. We still find it hard to believe that the Inca people were able to build these magnificent places using stones that weigh up to 130 tons. We enjoyed an awesome Peruvian lunch at the lodge at just outside the entrance to the ruins. We were going to hike around the ruins some more after lunch but decided to come down the mountain and relax at the stunning Pueblo Lodge (our digs for the night), set among a rainforest and swarming with hummingbirds. We will be going back up to the ruins tomorrow to hike to the top of Waynupicchu, the highest mountain that forms the backdrop for the sacred ruins. Hasta luego amigos

Our first day in Cuzco

From top to bottom - panorama of Cuzco, Dad and Clark at Sacsayhuaman, Peruvian women with baby alpaca and human baby, Dad and Clark in Hotel Monasterio courtyard enjoying a delicious lunch, and Clark in front of mamouth rocks at Sacsayhuaman

El primer dia - live from Cuzco

Hola señores y señoras , The flight to Lima was smooth and on time arriving at midnight and then up at 6am for breakfast and to catch our flight to Cuzco. The flight over the Peruvian Andes was awesome with elevations of 21K feet. Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas and oldest city in the Americas is incredible. The Hotel Monasterio where we are staying is magnificent and we had a delicious lunch in the courtyard. Our guide, Ramiro, took us on a four hour tour of the Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo , the Temple of the Sun, and the Cathedral of Cuzco, the most outstanding cathedral in Peru. Tomorrow morning we catch the vista dome train to Machu Picchu with Ramiro. Stay tuned for our report and photos on the wonders and ruins of Machu Picchu. Off for dinner and an early night´s sleep. Adios, Charlie & Clark

The Trip in a Nutshell

Charlie and Clark take off this week for the adventure of a lifetime in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. We land in Lima and then visit Cuzco, the capital of the ancient Inca empire, before heading to Machu Picchu, one of the true wonders of the world. Our time in Peru ends at Reserva Amazonica where we are staying in thatched huts while exploring the Peruvian Rainforest in the Tambopata National Park.

Chile will find us first in Santiago before flying to Punta Arenas and then driving five hours north to Torres del Paine National Park where we will stay at Hotel Explora-Salto Chico for four incredible days in Patagonia. From there we fly to Puerto Montt to begin a two day boat crossing of the lake district of Chile and Argentina. We'll disembark in Bariloche, Argentina.

We begin or time in Argentina at an Estancia in the Nahuel Haupi National Park near Bariloche. We'll to the gaucho thing and ski in the Andes at Cerro Catedral. Then its off to Buenos Aires for several days that will include a tour of the Colon Opera House and a night at a Tango Bar before flying up to Iguazu Falls, which spans two miles with 300 foot drops! We'll start on the Argentine side of the falls and then cross to the Brazilan side where we are staying at the magnificent Hotel Das Cataratas.

Rio here we come for three glorious days at the Copacabana Place Hotel and excusions to Sugar Loaf and Corcovado. The mighty Amazon beckons for our final three days. We fly to Manaus to board the Amazon Clipper for our riverboat cruise that includes piranha fishing, alligator flashing, birdwatching, canoe trips into the rainforest and finally navigating to the "Meeting of the Waters" where the black Rio Negro and the muddy Amazon meet. After our month-long adventure we depart from Sao Paulo for our return to North Carolina.

Stayed tuned for regular postings and photos when we have access to internet cafes and hotel business centers. Adios Amigos!!!!