February 2004

February 02, 2004 - 1:34 p.m.

So we have made it out of the Futaleufu and are now back in Bariloche. The Futaleufu valley was incredible... it offered us some of the best boating we have done on our trip with a beautiful setting. We had it all ... beautiful weather, lots of rain to make the river go up, some good paddlers to joins us on the river, a few play spots (a couple with eddies) and even a couple swimmers to save. It was definitely one of the highlights on the trip ... and a place that we want to head back to one day.

Mark on Rio Gol Gol

Now we are going to make our way back to Pucon to arrange some things for the wedding and to do some more kayaking.

February 08, 2004 - 12:28 p.m.

Well we made it back to Pucon after spending a quick two days in the searing 36 degree heat in Temuco getting some clothes and supplies. Since we left at Christmas Pucon, aka. Pluton has underwent a complete demographic transformation. At being a city once of 10,000, it now has become a mass of over 100,000 partying Santiagoans and other strange mixtures.

Cars creep the streets all day and become a massive traffic mess by evening, fortunately almost everyone parties all night long so if you do the norm the town is actually sleepy and bearable in the AM. All this summer madness ends about as abruptly as it starts over the next 2 weeks so we will survive. Michelle and I are beginning to count down our final days in South America too.......Excited about our upcoming wedding ceremony at one of our favorite places with some special friends, and sad about leaving a country that we have so much become attached. A few friends and family will arrive soon to be here with us during this time so we look forward to a memorable February in Chile.

Kayak Pucon

February 23, 2004 - 10:17 a.m.

So Mark and I are now married, as of the afternoon of February 21, 2004. What an amazing experience! I don't even know how to begin to describe it. Mark's sister Michelle did a really good job, here are her words from an email:

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How does one describe such an amazing place...so cut off from the world we all know so well...this place is nothing like our own society...it’s magical...I now know why Mark and Michelle chose to marry here...phenomenal is merely a pebble word among the many that lie on the beach to describe....

The wedding took place late afternoon...with the best of their Chilean friends...kayak buddies from home (Edmonton-Calgary), Mom and I...with the Volcano in the background, sky so blue, sunshine that went well above 30 degrees, a river play spot on our side ready for us all to dive into after the ceremony...kayaks lined up along an old fence as the pulpit...simply superb...my eyes are misty just reminiscing with you now...God it was beautiful...through the tears in my eyes...I took a lot of pictures...the music played, Turn your lights down low with Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill in the background as the Bride and Groom walked hand in hand down the middle of the gathering of friends and family...tears were falling down everyone’s faces...it was simply...just so...right.

Mark all decked out in a dark, navy shirt and pants...Michelle wearing an amazingly simple, exquisite white Chilean dress with subtle embroidery to highlight...her hair pulled up with a braid that showed the little pink beads we laced inside and babies breath trailing down the curls that now lay upon her back...her hair has grown so much! They are an amazing couple and their bronzed faces and skin glowed beyond compare...they are happy together...and they got married Chilean style...a wedding I will never forget. 30 of us traveled the rapids in Kayaks with Bride and Groom right after...I shared one with Mom and it was truly an experience I will never forget...it’s hard to even put words together to describe what the river was like...in some places my mind could only focus on the rapid I was going through...some parts were frighteningly rough but, exciting enough to give me a craving for more...to see us all connected in such positive energy riding this river was...well...I’ll let you just feel it...I can’t put it into words...you can only imagine...and yes...it was that good!!!!

I wished I could beam you here...to share this amazing time away...I write in hopes that I may bring you here in spirit for a moment as you read...for I will never forget this time...Pucon, Chile is a place that without a doubt will never be forgotten...always to be remembered and most definitely will be revisited again...IT´S A MUST!!!

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I want to thank everyone who sent their Congratulations.... it's great to know that we are being thought about even though we are far away. I wish all of you could have been here to share this day. It was more special than I ever hoped it could be!!!

See "Wedding" post for pictures.

February 29, 2004 - 1:19 p.m.

So this past week we spent relaxing in Pucon and going to the rivers to paddle. We are slowly selling all of our paddling gear and getting ready to head north. Tom, Scott and Dave are going to join us for the first part of the journey (until Santiago). We plan to hit the beach and do a little bit of surfing, and then we are on our way north to Peru.

It’s going t be hard to leave Pucon, which has become a second home to us. We have lots of good friends and amazing memories and both of us are looking forward to the day we can return here.

Liucura Playspot

January 2004

January 04, 2004 - 12:30 p.m.

Hello and Happy New Year to all back in the land of chilly weather and snowflakes.....Michelle and I have ventured far south driving our van relentlessly to the tip of South America....our next stop is Torres del Paine and the spectacular scenery and hiking it has to offer......

Meanwhile back in Bariloche I became an accredited Hard CORE (idioso) kayaker as I just brought the new year in with a hellonearth 15 hour portage through super dense bamboo and a night shivering to death in my paddling gear as myself and two other paddle geezers highly underestimated the Middle Manso flows paddling it at unHEARD of 5.5 on the gauge! The canyon boxed up on us and we decided that it was better to portage the WHOLE thing than risk blind class V rapids....a good decision now that it is over, but man was I begging for good ol’ fur trees and grizzly bears after a jungle setting like that..... But we are ALIVE and Michelle waited her stressed out self patiently for us at the Lake and now I am taking a break form that crazy backcountry paddling misery for awhile......next kayak stop hopefully is the 50,000 + cfs Rio Baker with a good crew on Jan 18.......

We will be in down in the deep south for the next few weeks enjoying the long days and super friendly people as well....and I forgot to mention the fuel prices are a lot cheaper thanks to tax cuts to the people who live this far south.......wish that was the same in Canada.

Punto Tombo

January 10, 2004 - 10:50 a.m.

So Mark and I are back in Argentina after spending a few days at Torres del Paine (a National Park in Chile). What an amazing park!!! Towers of rock in crazy geological formations line the skyline with glaciers hanging off every mountain. The icefield there is one of the largest in the world. Mark and I even managed to go kayaking...this time on a river that is normally done in sea kayaks. 38 km of floating down a glacier fed river in total wilderness. Paddling by hanging glaciers that drop right into the sea. Plus the wildlife was incredible; seals, geese, condors, guanacos, armadillos, ñandus, skunks, parakeets, foxes and lots of other birds. Mark even got to pet a relatively tame skunk! and on the sea kayaking trip he chased a goose until he could pick it up and put it on the cockpit of his boat. If you ever get a chance definitely go visit this place...very beautiful and magical.

Torres del Paine

Torres del Paine

Now we are in Rio Gallegos waiting for a visa to come in the mail (ours was lost with our wallet) before we head on to the Carreterra Austral (Rio Baker and Futaleufu).

January 16, 2004 - 11:54 a.m.

So Mark and I have been exploring the southern part of the Carretera Austral. It's super beautiful and very remote. We spent a couple days hanging out by the Rio Baker. Mark surfed a wave and I ran a short section of just out of the lake. I have never paddled a river it's size (around 50 000 cfs), and it sure moves. The past two day we have spent driving on a crazy dirt road and now Norman, Mark and myself are totally covered in dust (Norman is definitely NOT a dust proof vehicle). Yesterday we checked out some rock paintings that are about 10 000 years old and drove through some amazing valleys and over some incredible passes. We made it to Coyhaique this morning... the only sizable town on the Carretera.

Michelle on Rio Baker

January 23, 2004 - 12:53 p.m.

So Mark and I are now at the Futaleufu and it has lived up to all it’s expectations and more... huge waves and some sweet play too. We plan to stay here for another week or so before making our way north again... we'll update again when we get out (the email here is expensive and slow).

Rio Futaleufu

December 2003

December 05, 2003 - 4:49 p.m.

So we are still in Pucon...It’s paddling paradise here. We have been running lots of rivers. Mark's favorite has got to be the Rio Puesco as he has run it four times this week. I like the Rio Maichin... a totally sweet class IV that keeps me nervous with all its drops. We have found an amazing play wave too but it's a bit father from Pucon (2.5 hours) on the San Pedro. Other than that a lot of other gringos are showing up so we have lots more paddling partners. Hopefully soon some chicks will show up because other than Mariann I haven't paddled with another chick in 9 months (and as much as I like guys it would be nice to paddle with another female).

Hanging out in Pucon

December 13, 2003 - 4:46 p.m.

Well Michelle and I turned some rainy Pucon days in for a short road trip back north towards Santiago. About 6 hours away we met up with Nate, Matt and friends in the Rio Nuble valley and proceeded to have 2 days of outstanding whitewater fun. After a rainy first day that also included our very first Puma sighting, the skies cleared and I paddled a class V gorge with the boys and then took Michelle down the class III+ section from the previous day. Michelle is starting to stomp down almost everything that gets in her way......and the shuttle driving is making her a pro at the manual transmission as well......

Yesterday the crew rejoined at the Rio Laja....a river that Michelle and I had visited way back in April. This time with a strong paddling crew, I finally puckered up and scared myself down 5kms of screaming blind class V! whoooohoooo.....well it was so bouncy and sweet Alan and I ran it twice!! The more we stay paddling in Chile, the more we are at awe with this place......it is becoming a second home for us both and it will be hard for us to leave. And Christmas is just a round the corner.... that is the weirdest part for sure! Happy Holidays to all our friends back home.

December 21, 2003 - 4:46 p.m.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season... Mark and I sure are... went on another little road trip, down south this time, to check out the Rio Llancahue and Rio Fui. The Llancahue was at a perfect level and it even had a 20 foot waterfall that was clean enough for me to run (though I had to run it twice to get it right). The Upper Rio Fui looked really big and so we just put in on the lower and had a 20 minute huge wave train ride down to the take out. Lots of fun and super fast.

Michelle on Rio Llancahue

Mark and I are going to spend Christmas in Pucon (probably going paddling somewhere) and then start heading south into Argentina. So we will be on the move again soon.

Also we have decided that we will get married in Pucon in February so if you are in the area let us know and we would love to have you show up.

Merry Christmas to everyone back at home!!!

December 28, 2003 - 11:09 a.m.

So Mark and I celebrated Christmas a little differently this year. On Christmas Eve we drove down to the San Pedro river with a crew of people (mostly boaters from California but an Aussie and Pom to top it off) and camped over night by the side of the river. We put up a Christmas tree by standing one kayak up in the middle with 4 kayaks surrounding it, decorated it with beaners, helmets and glowsticks and placed a few presents under it. For Christmas dinner we cooked a parilla (or Chilean BBQ) and partied deep into the night. The next morning we had a gift exchange and then loaded up all the boats to head down the river. Overall an excellent way to spend Christmas...good company and good paddling!

Rio San Pedro

Our Chilean Christmas tree

Now Mark and I have left Pucon and made our way to Bariloche, Argentina. Here we plan to paddle maybe a couple days before we start our journey into the deep south! Hopefully we'll find a cool little town to bring the New Year in style.

November 2003

November 04, 2003 - 11:16 a.m.

Michelle and I have been hanging out on the Rio Manso for the past week as the days grow longer and steadily warmer. The Manso has numerous sections and levels of difficulty, but the real show was the 4th annual Bariloche rodeo held last weekend on a super sweet wave! My new kayak flew me into 2nd place and so to celebrate I made a serious ass of myself drinking FERNET and other numbing concoctions....

AND after this I found myself getting back in the paddling gear at 1 am with some other yoohoos to hit the wave once more in the DARK! well.....nuff said. Apologies to my sweet girl who had to clean up the midnight snacking leftovers from under the pillow. So despite the surreal beauty of the Manso drainage (no I didn't drop the 65 ft waterfall either) Pucon Chile is our next stop.

November 08, 2003 - 6:01 p.m.

So Mark and I arrived in Pucon on Wednesday afternoon without too many incidents. We got a flat tire driving from Bariloche and decided to buy 2 new tires in San Martin de los Andes. So Norman now has extra traction in the rear - useful for the muddy roads we have been experiencing.

Volcan Lanin

The past few days we have spent paddling the rivers close to Pucon, and checking out how much they have changed since we have been here last. It's been rainy most of the time so we used today to go warm ourselves up in the hot springs with some good Chilean wine. We plan to spend the next few weeks here, hanging out with good friends and paddling lots.

November 23, 2003 - 2:48 p.m.

So the past couple of weeks we have spent in Pucon paddling some sweet rivers and finding some crazy playspots. Mark's run a couple creeks (one of them stole his paddle and hasn't given it back...yet) and even hucked himself off of a 35 foot waterfall. It's been raining lots so all the rivers are high and lots of fun, though we are looking forward to some sunny days in the near future.

Mark on Rio Puesco

October 2003

October 01, 2003 - 3:45 p.m.

Well after a smoky ride due to the high altitude, we have made our way down to Arequipa and the searing desierto heat. Fortunately we have a fun little creek here that costs us a 2 dollar cab ride.

Areqiupa is a nice change from Cusco and we are happy to be staying with our friends from when we were here back in March.....Best of all the plan is now set for driving Gian Marcos Mitsubishi Montero into the deepest canyon in the world....Cotahuasi. We hope to paddle some of its headwaters before we head on what should be one more exciting paddling adventure in South America!

So Michelle and I are still happy traveling together as we head back into summer for Chile.....it will be an easy drive down an already familiar road.......road trippin at its finest! South America is a place you come to enjoy a lot as we live in the places we have been to.....we look forward to the weeks ahead.

October 12, 2003 - 3:06 p.m.

So I have returned to Arequipa sin Mark. I left him paddling on the Rio Cotahuasi. We stayed in Arequipa for a week waiting for people to arrive so that we could go check out "el canyon mas profundu de mundo". During that week we paddled the Rio Chili a number of times and hung out with the Velluntino family.

Finally last Tuesday we took off to go paddling with Gian Marco and Russ, Damon and Matt (Americans). It took us until Wednesday to reach the canyon but the drive was very beautiful and the area is super remote. The next day the boys decided to do a first descent on the Upper Upper Cotahuasi while I did the shuttle. After a long couple days (and me biting my nails) they turned up - completely worn out but still smiling.

Cotahuasi

Gian Marco and I left them in the canyon while we drove back to Arequipa. They are going to do a 4 day descent to (almost) the ocean on the Rio Cotahuasi. I am going to hang out in Arequipa until Wednesday, when I will go pick Mark up and we will be on our way to further adventures.

Take Out

October 20, 2003 - 10:15 a.m.

So I picked Mark up and we decided that we would blaze to Chile. We made it from Arequipa to La Serena in three days (2500 km). We got to La Serena late Saturday night and on Sunday we found a local surfing spot to break up the monotony of driving.

So we have finally exited the desert of Southern Peru and Northern Chile and now we are in Los Andes just north of Santiago. From here we plan to make our way to Mendoza, Argentina and then further south to the good rivers.

October 25, 2003 - 6:17 p.m.

Hey all

Well after easy drive over the Andes which included a stop at one of Chile’s fine ski resorts (missed last day by 2 weeks....darn!) we have followed the snowmelt downstream and have been hanging out with Martin and all of his friends at Argentina Rafting, located near Mendoza and the heart of Argentinean vineyards..... The river is super easy but as it rises the playspots are beginning to become spectacular! Now that our bodies are resting we are heading south to run El Rio Diamante y el Rio Grande.

Later next week we should be back in Bariloche looking for the crooks with our stuff from the ugly last time we were there......Bariloche is a having a whitewater festival Nov. 2nd so we should be able to meet up with many friends and start the summer season down in Patagonia in style......Argentina is really becoming a special place for us the second time around!

a steak and fine wine awaits!

Rodrigo, Mark and Sergio

September 2003

September 10, 2003 - 1:30 pm

Well I just got back from 10 days in the jungle and I wish I was still there. I four hours by boat from Puerto Maldonado in the Tambopata-Candamo reserve. I volunteered at this swank lodge there located right by the river. I had to do four hours of work a day and then the rest of the time I could go with the guides on tours, wander around in the jungle or just chill in a hammock.

I saw loads of animals including caimans, capybaras, monkeys, macaws, parrots, toucans, a tarantula and many other cool things. One of the highlights was going to the collpa or macaw clay lick and seeing hundreds fly around.

Collpa (if you look close you can see Macaws)

Probably the best part was not the actual jungle but the people I got to spend time with. They were wonderful and for a little while I was a part of their small family. I miss them a lot already.

Now I am back in Cusco and waiting for Mark and his mom to show up so we can do some more sight-seeing.

September 14, 2003 - 6:21 p.m.

So I am still in Cusco and still waiting for Mark and his mom to show up. Mark's mom should be arriving here on the 17th and Mark sometime after that (hopefully by my birthday).

I have been fully enjoying the Cusco nightlife as I have seen most of the sights here. Watching the sunrise after a night on the town is always beautiful, though the rest of the day is generally spent in bed. Good times and good friends.

September 19, 2003 - 10:46 a.m.

So yesterday was my birthday and we partied it up Cusco style, and had a blast. Mark and his mom arrived on the plane (I wasn't expecting to see Mark until the 18th) on the 17th. It was great to see both of them. We spent that day fairly relaxed as both of them were a bit tired from the trip.

Yesterday we did the typical tourist thing around Cusco before Mark and I headed out on the town last night. Lots of friends showed up and I had a blast. Today we are going to check out a few ruins around town before checking out Machu Picchu this weekend. Should be a good time.

Thanks for everyone who sent birthday greetings. It's nice to know that I am not forgotten about back home.

September 25, 2003 - 10:22 a.m.

So yesterday Mark's mom left to go back home to Florida after celebrating Mark's birthday with him. It was a really great visit and we were both very happy that she could make it down.

We did the typical tourist things while she was here. Checked out the town and as many ruins as we could fit in. The highlight was Machu Picchu which we visited on equinox so the whole place was filled with shaman and new-age folk. It added to the whole experience.

Machu Picchu

Another crazy adventure was getting stuck in a protest (our bus wasn't allowed through) on our way to Machu Picchu. Our bus had a couple windows broken with stones and eventually we had to walk through the barricades to get to another bus. We just caught our train in time to make it to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu from Huaynu Picchu

Mark and I planned to go on the Apurimac one more time before we left but I don't think it is to be. Yesterday the roads were closed due to a car rally and we wanted to try again today but our truck driver came home drunk and put and end to that plan. BOO!

Well we are soon to be on the road again with lots of stories...

August 2003

August 2, 2003 - 11:15 am

The Apurimac was a blast. A beautiful canyon, with no one else around. Crazy rapids that definitely made us work to get down. There was even a nice play hole right by one of the campsites that Mark got to play in for a couple of hours.

Rafting the Apurimac

Yesterday Mark and I floated down the Urambamba in our kayaks. It had pretty scenery (with Inka ruins along the side of the river). But once was enough - as it was mostly a float.

We plan to stay in Cusco for a little while. Mark has an opportunity to safety kayak down the Apurimac a few more times and I plan to hike around the area. We plan to save Macchu Pichu until the tourist season dies down a bit.

August 13, 2003 - 10:24 a.m.

Nothing much has happened since I last wrote - we are still in Cusco. Mark is now working as a safety kayaker for Southern Rivers on the Rio Apurimac. Last trip he went on I went along as well, just to enjoy the canyon and to get out of the city for a bit.

We will probably continue to do this for another week or so and then move to somewhere new.

Tipon

August 16, 2003 - 10:33 a.m.

Wednesday night a couple friends (Juanito, Leo and Piero), myself and Mark decided to make a trip down the Apurimac, kayaks only, in two days. So after some frantic arrangements on Wednesday night we left at 2 in the morning to make it to the river at 9. It was fantastic going down just kayaks - we blazed through the rapids and stopped at various play spots along the way. I had a blast going down in a kayak - much better than rafting, though I decided to skip the two class V rapids on the way down. We camped beside a sweet hole and got some awesome video footage. We slept outside on the sand with the stars overhead, with the sand flies only bothering us a bit. A sweet trip down the river, great rapids and beautiful scenery. SWEET!

Rio Apurimac

August 23, 2003 - 9:44 a.m.

Still in Cusco.... Mark is still working on the Apurimac... I found a job to pass the time helping sell raft tours. Nothing much new to report though I promise the next update will be more interesting...

August 29, 2003 - 9:01 a.m.

So on Monday afternoon Mark made his way to Lima from where he should have caught a flight on Tuesday evening and made his way to Canada for a short 2-3 week visit. Unfortunately flying stand-by he did not make it out. As of yesterday night he was still stuck in Lima but hopefully as of this morning he made it out and is on his way to Canada.

So that leaves me with about 3 weeks on my own....

So last Sunday I left to go on a trek with Frank (a German raft guide/kayaker). We decided to go on a 5 day/4 night around the mountain Ausangate (6372 m), the highest mountain in South-eastern Peru. We went with a local guide, Vincent, who could speak Quechua and a bit of Spanish. Originally we were also supposed to go with 2 Swiss but they did not turn up and it was just the two of us.

The first day was easy. We took the day to get to Tinki (a small village close to Ausangate). The only problem was we rode in the back of a truck with a bunch of Peruvians. Not the warmest way to travel but definitely interesting. The next 3 days involved trekking around the mountain, hiking over 5 passes - the highest being 5200 m. Within that 3 days we did about 60 km so each night both of us were exhausted and rested in the tent while Vincent cooked us dinner (besides it was freezing cold when the sun went down). Luckily we had a horse to carry our gear or I don't think we would have made it. We learned that normally the trek is done in 7 days/6 nights or if you ride horses (which we did not) it's done in 5 days/4 nights. So it was definitely a crazy, hard-core adventure. It was sunny most of the time (luckily) but we did have periods of snow and cold. To ease our aching muscles at the end of the forth day we arrived at some natural hot springs and soaked for a few hours.

The final day involved a 10 km walk back to Tinki and then we caught a truck half full of empty beer bottles back to Cusco. The views were fantastic and both Frank and I feel good about ourselves for finishing such a crazy hike.

Going up...

Nevado Ausangate