Some places simply capture your heart and fill you with wonder. Lake Titicaca and Tiwanaku, only 50km away from one another, captivated me and were the cherry on top for our visit in Bolivia. Lago Titicaca, in the Aymara language Titi= Puma and Caca=Rock, truly took me by surprise and captured my heart and tapped into […]
Don’t skip Bolivia: La Paz, Cerro Sajama and Corocio
Most overlanders traveling in South America do visit Bolivia, but we have been asked by several times by overlanders if they should skip Bolivia. There are lot of reasons someone might skip this country. For one, Bolivia has a reputation for bad roads, corrupt police, issues getting fuel and just being a hard place to travel in. If […]
Now, How do I Become a Flamingo? Southwest Bolivia’s Laguna Circuit
Getting to this remote and mother-nature-intense part of the world was a great accomplishment for us. Somehow (perhaps due to El Nino) the Andes of southern Bolivia and northern Chile received an unusually heavy snowfall in late May of 2017. It has happened in the past, one man told us that it had happened more […]
How We Stay Cool as Cucumbers: Insulated Van Curtains, Sun Shades, & Screens
This was a daunting project, but boy am I happy I did it. Because of these simple additions we stay cool in the hot sun and we get a lot of privacy too. These curtains, shades, and bug screens are something we use EVERY day. We don’t always boil a pot of water in the […]
The Salar de Uyuni: Miles and Miles of Salt
As we said before, our route was a little crazy during this part of the trip. From Sucre, we headed back to Chile so that we could see San Pedro de Atacama and travel the Lagunas Route back into Bolivia. Yeah, it was a big circle. Back in mid June of 2017, on the way […]
Secret Bolivia Loves Part I: Silver Mines, Dinosaur Prints, and Chullpas
To many, Bolivia is a country of unknown places and people. People want to uncover and explore it. People dream of crossing into this unknown and secret land. With many of the world’s MOST _______ places (most driest, highest altitude lake, most remote, most unique cultures). But, for us, it was important to realize these […]
The Sweet Spots of San Pedro and NW Argentina
From here our route gets a little wonky for a number of reasons. Please, bear with me while I try and explain it as succinctly as possible. Also, check out our Our Route So Far page for a handy visual aid. The first reason was that our 90 day Chilean visa was coming to end. […]
Stars, Desert, and Getting High (In Altitude)
Once we said goodbye to Todd’s AWESOME grad school friend Alfredo and his family, in early May 2017, it was time to head towards some major attractions, Chile’s San Pedro de Atacama and Bolivia’s Lagunas Route. These are both very high altitude locations so we began mentally preparing for the warm sunny days and cold […]
Thank You Coquimbo
After dropping Mom and Dad off at the Airport in Santiago, in mid March, we made a quick dash up the coast to Coquimbo for Easter weekend. We had plans to see old friends from my grad-school days in Virginia, Alfredo and Ivka. Back in grad school, when I was a young, and lonely bachelor, […]
Mom and Dad Came to Visit!
We had more visitors! This time they were very special, my folks! They agreed to come down for two weeks at the beginning of April and visit Chile. Just a little spoiler, we had a blast and we really enjoyed having them. Obviously we couldn’t travel, with them, the same way that Alex and I […]