Adventures of a South America Nomad: 2013

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Venezuela Ordeal

I left Chile by plane with the idea that I would go to Venezuela. I landed in Bogota, Colombia and caught a connecting flight to the border city of Cucuta. From there, I had big plans to go by road to Merida and all around the country. Little did I know what Venezuela had in store...

It was all wrong, right from the start.

First, there were bug bites on eyelids in the morning. Then as i'm walking to the border I roll and sprain my ankle hard and get two cuts in my hand. Then the line at the Colombian side to get stamped out is incredibly long. To even find the office where I had to get my Venezuela entry stamp was a nightmare. It took forever walking around with my packs. Then I had to wait for about an hour and half for a bus that should be coming every 10 minutes that was going to the next city I wanted to go to. I ended up taking a taxi anyways. Just outside of the Venezuela border town of San Antonio there is a military checkpoint. But it still took about 30 minutes to move 300m and get up to the military checkpoint.

So I literally had just got into the country, got my stamp, got into the taxi and then got assaulted.

Military checkpoints are not uncommon in south america but usually the Canadian passport is a golden ticket and they leave you alone. This time however, it seemed like this gave them a license to perform unlawful searches and intimidation. This military guy took my passport, told me to take my bags out of the taxi and go inside the checkpoint shack. He didn't give me back my passport but gave it to some young kid who was dressed as military as well. They made me open and pull out all the stuff from my bag. The kid tried to open the various gadgets and electronics looking for God knows what. Then he put me in a back room with no cameras or nothing and told me to empty my pockets. He proceeded to count all the money in my wallet and asked several times how many US dollars I had then finally let me leave with my passport.

I later read stories online about the military or police doing this nonsense. They flat out steal all people's US dollars. They make up stories bogus charges against people and keep their passports and put them in jail. They are just corrupt to the core. When I reached my destination of San Cristobal I had decided that I was going right back to Colombia. I wanted to get there as fast as possible. But my ankle had swollen to about three times its normal size and I needed to rest. I booked a hotel where I iced it and rested it for two days. I barely left the hotel because they had a restaurant too.

I met a lawyer who told me in Spanish that what they did was flat out illegal and they shouldn't have done it. He was deeply ashamed of them and tried to convince me to stay and see the rest of his country, but my mind was made up. He said that next time, it's better to fly around the country rather than take buses. There are no military checkpoints at the airports. He also gave me his card and said that if I got hassled again to tell the guard that I need to call my lawyer. He was so nice and had nothing to gain.

On my way out of Venezuela I took a shared taxi. I thought maybe because I was in a private taxi it made me a target. On our way out of the country a State policeman stopped us and demanded IDs. He was yelling at everyone going by to stop on bikes and trucks. He looked at my passport and pointed at my entry stamp and did a throat slash sign. I have no idea what he was trying to convey, because I had definitely not overstayed my time. The taxi man argued on my behalf and he let me go as well.

These guys just want a payoff. That's all they are looking for when they pull this nonsense. It's not a nice way to be introduced to such a beautiful country. I was really disappointed I didn't get to see Venezuela, but for my own safety, I had to leave. There was a landslide that closed the road for about an hour while they cleaned it up on the way out. AND the regular way was closed so we had to take an alternate route. We got past the military checkpoint where I was first assaulted and finally made it across the border into sweet, safe haven Colombia.

I was glad to be back. It feels like a second home. Viva Colombia!!!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Valparaiso/Vina Del Mar

On the coast of Chile, about an hour and a half from Santiago, are two beautiful cities named Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. In the summer time this place erupts into non stop parties and beautiful people lining the beaches.

I went to a barbecue at a sustainable living community located in the forests close to the coast. It was really cool to see how they have built houses out of mud with glass bottles for light entry and the various ways they are trying to lessen their impact on the environment through compost and rainwater collection. We met a guy who was so passionate about what he was doing that he invited us into his house and showed us around. It was really cool.

BBQ and Concert

Me trying to be artsy

After the bbq, we left just in time to see the sun set over the Pacific. It's a really spectacular spot. I don't think I've watched as many sunsets as I have on this journey. It makes me wonder what I was doing all the time the sun was setting in Toronto.

Valparaiso is an old port city. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site for it's colonial architecture and the elevators all over the place to help the residents of the city get up and down the massive hills. They have boats in the port willing to take you around for a tour if you would like...for a nominal fee of course.

boats in the port

walking down centuries old streets

out of order elevator

cool graffitti everywhere

tea house

Stairs beside the elevator...I'll take the elevator

Man in the plaza blowing bubbles

Old school street car

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

La Serena

The Atacama desert in Chile is one of the best places in the world for viewing celestial bodies. All the major space stations have their observatories in the desert valleys a few hours from La Serena. I went camping with a friend who lives in Chile because he had been before. He regaled us with stories from his last adventure up there. How him and his buddies had biked 70km with 25+lbs on their backs each. 8lbs of water alone! It was crazy.

Energy mountain

I'm not that intense, so I opted to take the bus. We got to the place called Rio Magico (magic river) and it really was magic. There was an observatory in this small town. And only us at the campsite. It was so beautiful to be out in the moonlight with the campfire. I had an amazing time. Unfortunately, the same bright moon caused less stars to be seen, but we still saw quite a few of them.

Beautiful

This particular place where we camped is called the Valle de Elqui. It's known for being the "magnetic centre of the earth" and has a lot of mysticism and stuff associated with it. For example, this mountain was the original location for the NASA observatory. But when they got up there, all the sensors started going crazy because there was a strong energy field being emitted from the mountain. It's supposed to be the source of all the energy.

Pisco Wineries

This place is also known for it's pisco refineries. Never tell a Chilean that Peruvian pisco is better, the same rule applies the other way around. They are both very proud of their piscos. Pisco is a hard liquor made from grapes. The desert is the best place to grow the grapes because it's super hot in the day and gets pretty cold at night.

All in all, a good camping trip into the desert, even if it was only for one night!

Camp

The Magic River Eco-Park

Desert flowers...the best sort

Monday, November 11, 2013

Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

It's come to my attention that as much as I hate tourist locations, they are tourist locations for a reason! Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, as the locals prefer it is the island of giant stone monuments made by a long extinct civilization. Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name for the island. And it's amazing.

The island has a tragic history both culturally and environmentally. Historically, it was said that people from the South Pacific, quite possibly Polynesia set off in boats to find this island. When they arrived it was a land of plenty. Lots of trees, lots of fish, lots of animals. But the people were unaware of the impact they had on the ecosystem. They cut down too many trees for the boats that they used for fishing and ropes they needed. They hunted the animals and birds on the island to extinction. By the time the Europeans had arrived their population had fallen from a high of 15,000 to 2-3000. They even had to resort to cannibalism. Then the explorers introduced diseases, the Peruvians (Spanish colonizers) conducted slave raids and disease and lack of food decimated the population. Of the original people, only 111 remained. The kings and royalty were the only ones educated in literature. They were taken as slaves and died in Peru, so the written language has been lost. It's a sad tale.

The culture revolved around massive stone statues called Moai (mow-EYE) which were created to symbolize ancestors who were deified. They were worshiped and could hold the power to win wars, produce harvests, and create fertility. The people carved the statues from the volcanic rock and then cut them out of the rocks. It is amazing to think about how this "primitive" culture did all that with the tools available to them. After they made them, they transported them all over the island. Usually, they were placed on the coasts with their backs to the seas. The ocean was the spirit world and the island was the land of the living. So they would watch over the people and protect them.

I got there and was excited to see the Moai. I rented a car and went all over the island over two days. I went to a traditional Polynesian show. I went to see many standing and fallen Moai. I even went to the beach. These are the photos and videos I took. Enjoy.