Our final adventures

My goodness, how many things have happened in the past 3 weeks! Our amazing adventure is now approaching its bittersweet end, but what a trip it's been! Climbing an actively steaming volcano (or actively spewing acid gases, rather), rafting the rapids of the Trancura river (as you'll see below), getting intimately acquainted with a host of wonderful people from all walks of life, and exploring the incredible geology and culture of southern South America on a 4,200 km journey! I hope all you readers have enjoyed tracking our progress as we criss-crossed the Andes, despite our somewhat limited internet access. It's really been a blast for all of us, and I'm glad we were able to share at least a fraction of our experience with you via this little travel-blog. So, cheers to you! Cheers to Karen for making this entire trip possible! Cheers to John Niles for providing an amazing set of pictures and Erika for so eloquently describing our trip to make the blog what it is! Cheers to the drivers (Miro and Roberto) and the chef (Quilo) who patiently endured our craziness through the long days and nights, and cheers to everyone for making this trip such a success!

Enjoy our second to last (pictures from Villarica still to come) set of pictures from the expedition! See you soon!


Todos at La Payunia (back in Malargue), an amazingly untouched and lunar-esque volcanic landscape.


A great example of one of the many volcanic bombs that dot the slopes of the ~800 volcanic cones in Payunia.


The bus dipping at around 15 degrees from vertical in Payunia.


Jay leading his boat with vigor through the rapids of the Trancura river.


Lisa very excited to raft.


Claire, Daniel, Mary, Gina, Brian, Leah, and Kate.


Alejandra, Lisa, John, me, Vivi, Carolina, and Suzanne braving the river.


Brian contemplating a soil column at Parque National Huequenue (outside Pucon).


Karen, Vivi, Alejandra, Leah, Andrea, Billy, and Mark hiking at Parque National Huequenue.


Alejandra, Karen, John, and Suzanne at Enladrillado in Parque National Altos de Lirquay.


The view at the top of Enladrillado showing one of the "beheaded" volcanoes, amazing structure, and a lava flow on the right from 1932(+/- a few years, I forget the date exactly). One of the best views of the trip!


Celebrating our last night camping, right before the traditional asado that usually accompanies the final night in the field.


Boarding the Ascensor El Peral in Valparaiso. These lifts are over 100 years old, and carry people up the steep slopes of the town.


View looking up the Ascensor.


Alejandra, Vanessa, and Suzanne exploring Valparaiso.


Our Abbey Road picture in Valparaiso...I have no idea what I'm pointing at.


The last unloading of our faithful bus as we arrive in Santiago! That bus endured some rocky roads without so much as a hiccup (well, any really BIG hiccups), and for that we are incredibly thankful.

Thanks again for checking up on the blog (and your friends/family), and stay tuned for some pictures of our Villarica volcano climb!