Watchyman kept my street clear of strife Until he migrated North to start a new life Crossing the border He could finally afford her When he traded his Dolphins coat for a Bolivian wife
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The Watchyman (Part I)
The Watchyman made history when he decided to marry a Bolivian woman to obtain Bolivian residency. He may be the first Chilean to do so, and perhaps the only since the Pacific War of 1879 when Chile conquered the Atacama Desert, capturing a sizable portion of Bolivia. What could Watchyman possibly do in Bolivia that [...]
The Extreme Side: Ski Backcountry in the Andes
If you are willing to hike an extra 20-30 minutes through the snow along rocky ridges, you’ll probably be the only person on the mountain. If you’re willing to hike an extra one or two hours, you will definitely be alone.[...]
Atacama’s Sacred Pili
Trekking along the Rio Grande in Northern Chile’s Atacama Desert is akin to taking a peek at a cross section of the area’s history, serving up pre-Colombian rock art, volcanoes thought sacred by the Incans and Spanish colonial villages with adobe churches.
Patagonia’s Last Pioneer
The two pigs were aptly named “Douglas” and “Obama”. One was white and the other was black. Before I arrived to Lago Condor, located in Chile’s Aysén Region and the heart of the Patagonia, my friend Javier had already told me about these wild animals that had been living off the fat of a virgin [...]
Tayrona: The Freedom to Travel
Have you see the Lonely Planet guidebook for Colombia lately? For a country twice the size of Texas, the two hundred and something pages do not begin to represent the true tourist potential of this country. Still considered one of twenty most dangerous places in the world, the coverage given to Colombia by the ubiquitous [...]
El Pituto
Se dice ‘pituto’ en la jerga chilena. Y todos mis amigos me dijeron que con un pituto no había por qué preocuparme, ni por la entrevista, ni por romperme la cabeza. El pituto me iba resolver la vida, o al menos darme un trabajo. Yo tenía mi pituto y éste me pondría a trabajar en [...]
‘Mex’treme Climbing
Imagine holding onto the side of a building fifteen floors up and knowing that any slip will send you plummeting to the sidewalk below. Now replace the sidewalk with deep canyon and the building with a limestone cliff and you will imagine exactly what Mexican climber Alejandro Fuentes faced at mid-morning on July 10, 2006 [...]
Matacanes & the Leap of Faith
I can’t see the bottom of the black hole called the “Confidence Jump”, but I know if I throw myself into the black abyss I might come out on the other side. At least that’s what Campana, my guide, tells me. After all, he brought me to this juncture where a beautifully sculpted limestone slot [...]
Surfing with the Queen of La Saladita
Until recently, I lived in San Antonio, and whenever I looked out my window I saw one of two things: buildings or live oak. And neither is very conducive to surfing. When I wanted to learn to surf, I instantly realized that I live in the wrong place, two hundred miles from any ocean and more [...]
Moriarty, NM
Tuve que continuar dos millas más por la carretera nacional I-40 antes de poder dar la vuelta hacia atrás. A la salida Wagon Wheel, regresé al café que había visto ubicado a lado de la carretera. Creía que era el pueblucho Cline’s Corner, donde el 285 se cruce con esta carretera I-40. Rápidamente, me di [...]
