My new Homepage

years after having embarked on my trip to South America, I've finally managed to set up my own website:

Fotografie MD
and re-ignite some blogging fervour:
Fotografie MD Blog

Buy the Book (if you like)

I've finally managed to make a book about my trip, featuring some of the best pictures also seen on this blog. I decided not to include a lot of comments or text, to be able to give the pictures more of an impact.

Here's where you can buy it:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/633332

Home

I should be mid-way across the Atlantic by now, so this blog will soon cease to be updated. Unless I go on another trip of course.

Until then: thank you for reading, for responding and indulging me and my thousands of pictures.

Altos de Lircay

Wow!

What started out as a simple idea of stubborn "back to nature"-ism turned into a great experience of spring-time mountains in the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, just a few hours outside of Santiago.

Starting with my late-night arrival at a truly deserted end-of-the-line bus stop, walking for 2 hours to the park entrance, pitching my tent in complete darkness on a supposedly closed campground, watching the fog of death closing in around me while I cooked up a feast (not), cursing the clammy morning clouds, tip-toeing through enchanted forests, gazing at snow-covered peaks in brilliant sunlight, trudging through snow knee-deep, wading through icy mountain streams, shivering in my puny tent at night.

I need to go back there! I only spent two nights and one whole day there, but I really fell in love with the place. Plus I met an old mountain guide on my way out of there - whilst enjoying my first cup of hot coffee in two days - who told me about a great 4-5 day trek through the national park, up an old volcano (the headless or "Descabezado") and down the Argentinian side of the mountains.

I didn't take that many pictures thought - even though I had a fresh 4GB card at my disposal -which tells me it's time to head home and let things settle down awhile.

So if anyone is looking for either somewhat strenuous day hikes near Santiago or challenging multi-day treks , Altos de Lircay gets my vote. But beware, apparently it's very popular from mid-september onward, so for the first 5 hours hike from the entrance, you definitely won't have the place to yourself!


PS: oh, and there's no decent hiking maps to be had for the region. At least neither Conaf nor the IGM could provide me with one. The old guide told me that the map he showed me was one of a limited run produced some years ago and not available anymore.

Reception

I should be safely ensconced in my tent in the National Park by now, so I feel you people living close to Frankfurt ought to start thinking about a rousing welcome for when I arrive back ;-)

My flight is direct from BA to FFM, arriving on Monday 22nd at 3pm. How about we meet up right after I land (5 or 6pm) in either Mainz, Frankfurt or Darmstadt for a couple of beers and some stories? I don't feel like going straight home and need to get nice and tired so I can thumb my nose at jetlag by getting a nice night's sleep straightaway.

Suggestions welcome. Marie, you'll drive me, won't you? :-)

Photos 5.1: San Pedro de Atacama

Catching up on some episodes I didn't have the time to publish before, here's San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, where I arrived right after my Uyuni tour.



Rage is apparently transmissible through badly washed fruit and... can't read the rest. Pity, might have brought us one step closer to world peace.



Heading off into the ravines and tunnels cut into the Valle de la Luna near San Pedro, we were surprised by the stark features and wind whipping across the place.



I does look just like a lunar landscape.



Sand blown all over the place by gusts of wind was a minor nuisance at first, mostly notable for the pretty contours it created in the sand.



...however the headwind and sandblasting took their toll on us, even on Nicholas, who had biked most of the way from Lima via Uyuni. My lungs felt like they were being filled with liquid after some of the hills we ascended.



This was covered almost completely within 30 seconds by sand blowing over.



The sky was forbiddingly dark behind us, but we decided to head back down toward San Pedro anyway, for fear of being caught in something more uncomfortable than the odd sandblast.



Other people were heading in the opposite direction, straight into the wind. It felt good to get out of there, I must tell you!




Nicholas waiting patiently for me to snap away at the spectacular scenery.



And just for once, I'm in some of the spectacular scenery. Mind the shorts; I had my calves sandblasted for cleaner skin that day.



Evening brought a long-awaited fogata in my familiar little hostel. Lovely people, nice wine, excellent dead cows!



There's a story to this I can't even begin to write about on this blog. So go on, ask me for details while you're buying me a beer once I'm back!

Overall judgement on San Pedro: expensive, a bloody nuisance to get cash in, stormy and sandy in autumn but very worthwhile for all the sights all around. Oh, and the people make for a startling but nice change from Bolivia... once you've gotten used to the touristy side of things!

not been eaten, yet

Now that a few concerned emails have arrived and I'm finally able to get to an Internet cafe: I'm fine, just not been within easy reach of the net.

To make a long story short, I had to ditch the idea of camping out of Mendoza and instead proceded to eat my own body weight in meat over the course of the next two days. Okay, so I also went on another short hike, with subsequent terrifying rappelling sessions down the cliffsides and surprisingly successful attempts at climbing up part of them.

Pictures off all this will have to wait, because they are now on their way to Germany. Yep, I managed to meet up with dad in Santiago over the course of the last 4 days.

Decadence started in Mendoza, because I decided to travel in style: the wide leather seats in the first class bus section were worth every cent. As was the suite in the Plaza in Santiago's Las Condes district. After months of staying in rock-bottom hostals, the views of the setting sun illuminating the snow-capped peaks as seen from the pool on the 17th floor were a nice change.

The food was spectactular, as was the wine, although the exercise room was the only thing that saved me from instant obesity.

So now I'm back to travelling on a budget for the last few days before I fly back to Frankfurt. I've managed to get one of the last seats on a bus leaving for Talca, a few hours south of here. From there, it should be a relatively short hop over to the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay for a few days' camping and longer hikes.

Santiago is chilly and damp today, and I'm a tad apprehensive about snow falling on my crap tent in the mountains. But what the hell - for some reason I couldn't face the thought of the Fiestas Patrias madness here in Santiago so I opted for getting away.

I won't break into song just yet, but it seems I may just get my nature experience set up by tonight!