Whackiness and Hilarious Consequences

It's a funny thing, this blogging. Who really reads these things anyway? The power of the internet has given millions of people the ability to share their thoughts and drivel with the broadest of audiences in an instant. For a long time I thought blogging was best served for celebrity gossip and political rants. When I decided to take a little trip (see entry #1 in Jan '09) I thought I'd give this blog thing a shot in hopes to save myself some effort in having to write a mass email or having to answer the question "how's the trip?". I was able to write things as they happened, and anyone who was interested could read along in real time or go back through the archives and catch up. Plus, it was like a journal I knew I couldn't lose in a bus station or have stolen from my backpack; allowing me to permanently keep a chronicle of my epic journey.

What I didn't realize until recently, is how much I enjoyed it. I've always loved writing, and missed it once I entered the working world. Having the opportunity to share my opinion and experiences has never been something that I've avoided, so when I came across a fair number of people who told me they enjoyed hearing about The Great White Hike, I briefly entertained the thought of continuing to write. But, shortly after returning to reality, or at least America, I felt I didn't have much to write about or say compared to such an exotic and fast-paced trip. Then I realized I am me and having something to say would never be a problem.

So, I have officially decided to give the blog a shot from reality and see what comes out of it. Without the specific focus of cross-continental travel, there is little doubt the subject matter will have a much broader spectrum from stories to updates, pictures to videos, coherent thoughts to brain droppings. I don't really know who, if anyone, will read this. While having a large following is not one of my priorities, if I can entertain some people at work or just keep the people who care up to date on my life, then my goal will be accomplished. I'm not looking to get rich or famous like some bloggers. As Garth Algar once said: "Its like people only do things because they get paid, and that's just really sad."

I figure that since the Great White Hike has concluded, carrying the title is no longer appropriate. So, in a reference to obsolete technology, the continuation of an existing piece or work, and my favorite initial... I bring you: The B Side.

The Grand Finale

Hi faithful GWH readers! First off, I must apologize for my abrupt disappearance from bloggage at the tail end of the trip. My last entry mentioned a few factors that led to my total abandonment of what was once a well maintained chronicle of our journey, but those are no longer excuses here in the great US of A. The internet is free and plentiful and I certainly have the time. So, I felt the need to bring the Great White Hike to proper close after a month of being home. 

*Just to wrap up the last few weeks from the point where we left off: We left Buenos Aires, saw some waterfalls in Iguazu, got a ride into Paraguay while illegally/accidentally passing through two immigration points in two countries unchecked, flew to Rio, met up with my girlfriend who I hadn't seen in 3 months, sat on the beach, went to an island off the coast of Brazil which was pretty much paradise, finally got sick 95% of the way through the trip (not paradise), ate a lot of Acai on the beach, and then came home. Some pics:

(You can see the rest of the 2,500 pics HERE or for those with shorter attention spans, on Facebook)

Anyway, I've been home long enough to tell a lot of people my trip was "really good" as well as say "yes I am back" and "yes it really was 4 months" and "yes I am very glad I went". What I was not initially prepared for was the overwhelming number of people who immediately asked: "What was your favorite part?". I understand the need to just get the Cliff Notes version of the story and/or that those people may or may not even really care about the answer. However, the question is virtually impossible to answer as so many of the places really aren't comparable and all had their charms. I would expect the same reaction if I asked a parent which of their children were their favorite. Though tempted to name one, you just can't.

So, I have come up with a few "awards" for the best of the best, the worst of the worst... in an attempt to answer what my "favorite part" was. I now bring you the 2009 "Hikies" in no particular order:

Best Looking Women (2nd most popular question): Buenos Aires, Argentina

Best Restaurant: Wild Mango's, Belize

Worst Food: Machu Picchu Trek

Worst Food in an International Terminal: Lima International Airport

Biggest Meatball: The Guy at the Front Desk of our hostel in Salvador, Brazil

Best Sports Fans: Brazil (video)

Beverage Missed Most: Fountain Sodas and Ice

Best Celebration: Bus Removed from River After 12 Hours (video, Binder in black sweatshirt)

Best Animal on My Bed: Cat in Lima (video)

Best Animal on Zack's Head: Monkey in Peru (pic)... 2nd Place: His Beard

Best Beach: Tayrona National Park, Colombia (pic)

Best Beach Snack: Acai, Brazil

Scariest Moment: Scooter Taxi in Peru (video)

Best Natural Scenery: Torres del Paine, Chile (pic)

Country I'd Most Likely Go Back To: Brazil

Country That's Not As Dangerous as People Say: Colombia

Weirdest Country: Bolivia

Diamond in the Rough City: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Hugest and Boringest City: Santiago, Chile

Worst Attempt to Fight Gravity: Zack Falling Through a Roof, Ecuador (sorry no video)

Best One Man Dance Party: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia (video)

Well folks... That just about does it.  I can't say this will be the last blog entry I ever write, but this concludes the I-just-decided-to-pick-up-and-go-to-South-America portion. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog and will miss being able to share a great experience with such a wide group of people. It was nice to find out that such a broad audience avidly followed the blog, from people we met once at a bar, up through parents and siblings of friends of friends. So, thank you for all those who followed along and commented over the last four months and to those who joined and provided the material... it was a blast.

-Binder

Almost There....

Some of you may be wondering what happened, some of you may not care... but I will admit I have been lagging on the blog posts recently. I could blame it on any number of factors: the extremely slow and expensive internet in Brazil, knowing I´ll be home in about a week anyway, or my lovely girlfriend showing up and me not caring at all about checking the internet anymore... but I´ll just say I´ve been lazy. This post being brief and pictureless can also be attributed to the afforementioned factors.

Since the last update, we´ve seen Iguazu Falls which was rad but the water was a little low. We then flew to Rio where Nick, Julie, and Zack let out a collective sigh of relief when Brianne finally made it down here and I stopped my minute by minute countdown. We spent a few days in Rio, then went to Ilha Grande which is an amazing Island off the coast just a few hours south of Rio. It was pretty much paradise. We are now in Salvador de Bahia, a 2 hour plane ride north of Rio to see another part of Brazil and for me to see where my dad lived like a million years ago. The weather is unfortunately not cooperating, its pouring and not looking like it is going to stop, so we are going to spend one more day here and try to get back to Rio ASAP for the last 3 days. Cant believe its coming to an end, I will see most of you very soon... then I might post a few pictures.

100th Day Photo Spectacular

Thanks to the endless coverage of Obama's first 100 days on CNN, I just realized that today is exactly our 100th day travelling as we left of January 19th, the before he was sworn into office. To celebrate, and because I finally got a decent internet connection, I am going to share a few more of my favorite pics from the last month... and a little video too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKQHWxR8yNI

Only 16 more days to go. Enjoy...

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Continuing with the tend of adding to the crew, we picked up a few more travellers on this Great White Hike in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Nick, Zack, and I flew on last Friday and awaited the arrival of Julie, Mike, and Jeff the following morning at our totally awesome apartment in the Recoleta. We were very fortunate to be hooked up with the place by a lovely lady named Anne Elizabeth, who is a friend of a friend and lives right in the building. The place is super rad probably too nice for a bunch of vagabond wanderers such as ourselves but it gave us a fantastic home base for a week of shenanigans in this great city.

Everyone had told us that we had to see a soccer game here in BA, either River or the Boca Juniors. Luckily, they were playing each other on the first Sunday we were there. Its actually one of the premier soccer games on the continent, known as he Superclasico, and we decided that there was no way we could miss it. Despite extreme hangovers after the first night in BA (in which the T Rex made an appearance that would bring a tear to Michael Crichton's eye), we piled onto a bus and bought our home team gear. We had been warned to sit under the overhang so that we could be protected from the River fans above who like to hurl objects below at the Boca fans, their speciality is cups full of urine. While the overhang protected us from recieving golden showers, it provided multiple flashbacks to 1989 when we saw the upper deck rocking furiously under the jumping and dancing River fans above. I assumed it was normal until I saw the wide-eyed locals wondering if the stadium might collapse on our heads. It didn't and the game ended up in a 1-1 tie, the star player for Boca scored the lone goal. Seeing that and the opening ceremony (in the pics) put this game in the top 3 live sporting events of my life (in case you care: the others were Warriors over Mavericks Game 3 of the 2007 playoffs in Oakland and A's sweeping the Twins in the 2006 ALDS at home).

We were in BA for about a week and were able to see all the major sites: the Recoleta Cemetary, La Boca (the colorful neighborhood on the postcards and covers of guidebooks), Tango, steak, and the San Telmo Street Fair among many others. The real sight to be seen is actually Zack.... with huge cans. Best 5 pesos I've ever spent. The days were filled with wandering the glorious city, stopping every few blocks for coffee and/or beer in every neighborhood cafe. The nights almost always involved steak and throwing Zack under the bus (good to have McDonnell around again) then throwing Mike under the bus (thanks Zack). Julie deserves a medal for putting up with us 5 guys, but at least she has a whole new set of good fart and poo jokes.

It was great to see McDonnell and Robinson, especially since it might have been the last time anyone sees them as they are currently enduring a 13 hour layover in Mexico City. Its cool guys, I hear swine flu aint really that bad. Zack, Nick, and Julie and I are in Iguazu, Argentina, home of Iguazu Falls. Nick has a friend who somehow lives in Paraguay nearby, so we have a local guide here for the next few days. Two days here then off to Rio!!!

More pics...

Northern Patagonia, Chile and Argentina

After hitting the bottom of the continent, we have bounced back up and will continue Northward for the remainder of our trip. The area of Northern Patagonia is known as the Lakes District because, well, it has tons of lakes. We flew and bused it to Pucon, Chile, a town very reminiscent of Tahoe City... on a lake, mountains, trees, a few bars, and tons of outdoor activities. My kind of place. One thing it has that Tahoe doesn't is the huge volcano, Volcan Villarica, looming in the background. It looks just like one of those 8th grade science projects, a perfect cone with snow around the top and smoke coming out. We figured why not climb it. The tour companies equip you with crampons (spikes on your boots) which you need on the ice. They also give you an ice axe, which you don't need and I think they just give to tourists to make them feel cool (see picture below). It takes about 5 hours to get to the top. Once there, you can stand on the rim and see down into the crater. We also went river rafting... we were just a tad hungover. Please enjoy the stupid look on all our faces.

The Lakes District hadn't gotten much fanfare in terms of many tourists saying "you hafta go!!", so we were very pleasantly surprised when our bus ride from San Martin to Bariloche (Argentina) turned into one of the more memorable rides of the trip. Known as the 7 Lakes Route, we wound through the forest and many undeveloped lakes and witnessed a pretty sweet sunset. It was so sweet in fact, that we decided to rent a car the next day and drive the full route and the parts we missed. Our. Car. Sucked. I think it was a 2 door Spec, complete with a broken radio, no power steering, and a pool full of stale beer in the spare tire compartment which we discovered when we got a flat. We stopped at a hotel overlooking the main lake and sweet talked the manager into letting us sit on the pool deck and enjoy a $12 bottle of Argentinian Malbec. Life is rough down here.

Over the past three months, I have been able to share my high school level Spanish with the big French speaking Russian. He has learned to converse quite well, mostly around anything involving food or directions. No word has become more important to our trip than "postres", or deserts. It has been a running joke to says "postres??" after every meal, including breakfast. You can see in the picture taken at the top of the mountain in Bariloche that nothing quenches a thirst like a massive piece of chocolate cake.

We are off to the glorious city of Buenos Aires today to meet up with three more Americans who actually came through on the "oh you guys are going to South America?? I will TOTALLY come visit you!!!" claims. We have a sweet apartment lined up, should be awesome. We have completed over 3/4 of the trip, with just one more month to go....

a few more pictures....

Patagonia, Chile

We have moved way south since the Pachamama trip and are now pretty much on the bottom of the planet in southern Chile, not too far from Antarctica. To get here we had to stop through Santiago, which really is just another big city that we couldn't wait to leave. The only things really to come out of Santiago were our new addition to the team, Nick Hier... and this picture of me and Zack riding the cable car high on the hill in Santiago and wondering if it was tomorrow yet. Nick went to CU with Zack, and has been enjoying skiing in Colorado and working for the family business. He will be completing the final 6 weeks of our journey with us and adds a new fire to the crew. He is also a soundboard for me and Zack to finally have someone to complain to each other about after 11 weeks. He also rounds out the 6ft-plus white guy crew, promising to make people question if we are all related and further making fitting in small South American cabs even more challenging. So everyone give Nick a big welcome to the Great White Hike.

The big reason we came all the ay down here was to see Patagonia, the large region of Southern South America (Chile and Argentina) famous for mountains, lakes, glaciers, hiking, hiking and camping. We flew into Punta Arenas and bused it to Puerto Natales, the jumping off point for Torres del Paine National Park. The most popular hike in Torres del Paine is the "W", four days and three night of hiking in and out of the valleys along the lakes in which the trails make a big W (see, its not just a clever name). The highlights are Glacier Grey, and the Torres - the three huge towers of rock that you can see from both the front and the back in the valleys.

We spent 4 days hiking all day, and three nights pushing the capacities of our rented sleeping bags and tents that are clearly not made for people of our size. We bought all of our food the night before we left in a hurry and it became apparent very quickly that we did not bring enough food once we saw some girl on the boat gorging herself on a huge sammy. After 2 days of our bland oatmeal and instant coffee breakfasts and trail mix lunches, we found ourselves spending a lot of our time on the trail intricately describing what we would put in a sandwich. It was Zack's 26th birthday on the third day, and we found it a perfect opportunity to suprise the bithday boy with two huge sammys purchased at the campsite kitchen that morning. The sandwiches were a little overpriced but it was worth every centimo to see the joy on the kids face. Not to mention we got to stuff our faces as well.

The final night we spent at the base of the Torres, just a 45 minute scramble up the rocks to see them overlooking a small lake. There is about a 10 minute window right at sunrise where the rocks glow orange and the sunrises through the valley so we set the alarms for 530 am and began our climb in the dark. We continued our streak of great weather for the epic pictures and were able to get these shots. We stumbled tired and sore back to the campsite to pick up our packs, eat breakfast and continue to the bottom even more tired and sore. We arrived a pathetic, dirty, and tired mess... glad to be back to civilization.

Getting little to no rest, we boarded a bus early the next morning to see the Perito Moreno glacier, one of the largest in Patagonia, probably THE largest but I was asleep for a lot of the bus ride while he guide was talking. It was a big piece of ice, and we got to see pieces of ice fall off the big piece of ice into the water and make a big splash. It was pretty radical actually. Oh, and you may notice something different about my face in the one picture. On the bus ride home from Torres I found myself chewing on my mustache and realized at that very moment it was about time for it to go. Zack says he "hates change" (as if the beard was normal) and demands I grow it back instantly. I never thought it would get to the point where I got made fun of for NOT having a beard. However, I might be done with facial hair for a while, at least until this Movember.

We are on the move again tonight to head a little more North to the Lakes District, to start in Chile and cross the Andes into Argentina. Its just about a week until we meet up with three more of our favorite Americans in Buenos Aires, rent an apartment, and enter the final leg of the journey. Exactly five weeks to go from today.... Which reminds me, what's up with Bay to Breakers??