Well, Mom and I drove 24 hours to Denver Colorado. We left Michigan on Wednesday and drove to Indianapolis to stop and see Mallory, then on to Kansas City to crash at Annie and Rudy's place. The next day we drove to Denver where I dropped Mom off at Lynn's house. From there I drove to Vail and spent a day hanging out and mountain biking with my friend Suze. Saturday I drove a little over 8 hours to Bosque del Apache, San Antonio, New Mexico.
When I got here, I was pointed to the bunk house, where I was met by Lorraine, her husband, and a diamondback rattle snake anesthetized on the kitchen table, and another one rattling it's tail in a bucket in the living room. She is studying their movements by implanting a small microchip in them and tracking them around the refuge.
There were 4 fish guys staying in the bunk house that night too. They came back pretty late from working, and then we basically hung out all night drinking Tecate. Their job is to catch and kill invasive carp down here. But, at the Bosque they were catching endangered silvery minnows because the Rio Grande was drying up. They took them from the places that were getting too shallow and taking them to deeper waters. They were super cool guys and we had a lot of fun playing pool and just joking around.
The next day I woke up and went for a 2.5 mile hike in some canyons. Which may not have been the best idea, because we have some pumas in the refuge and someone's dog was attacked. There have been reports of it stalking some birders too. But, I made it out alive, no worries.
I'll be here at Bosque del Apache for this week, and then we start traveling. Here is our schedule we got today:
Week of July 19: Bosque del Apache - training
Week of July 26 and August 2: San Andres - monitoring and mapping, early treatment
Week of August 9 and August 16: Bitter Lake - treatment and mapping
Week of August 23 and August 30: Sevilleta - treatment and mapping
Week of September 6, September 13, September 20: Bosque del Apache - treatment and mapping
Week of September 27, October 4, October 11: Maxwell and Las Vegas - treatment, monitoring, mapping
Week of October 18, October 25, and November 1: San Andres: treatment and mapping
Week of November 8 and November 15: Bitter Lake - treatment and mapping
Week of November 22: Thanksgiving - not counted
Week of November 29 and Decebmer 6: Bosque del Apache - treatment and mapping
Week of December 13 and December 20: Sevilleta: treatment and mapping
Remainder of December and January at Bosque del Apache and Sevilleta
Monday, July 19, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
the big move
I just got a new job working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in wildlife refuges across New Mexico. I start either July 13th or 19th. I will leave Ann Arbor and drive 3 days to Socorro, New Mexico to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge is an extremely famous stop for birding, and is an important point in migration patterns.
I actually don't know much about what to expect when I get there. I know I'll be moving around a lot to different reserves, and temporary housing will be provided. They hired 5 people, I think 1 leader and 4 crew members. We'll all be moving into a trailer together.... hahaha, I cannot wait for this. It is going to be some kind of dirtbag reality show.
New Mexico is covered in National Forests and other Federal Lands. I'm really excited and hope to spend my free time backpacking around and checking out everything in the state.
Hope I can make it home for the Haliburton Ultramarathon on 9/11 to push Alan across the finish line. We can't break up Team Mo and Bro.
I actually don't know much about what to expect when I get there. I know I'll be moving around a lot to different reserves, and temporary housing will be provided. They hired 5 people, I think 1 leader and 4 crew members. We'll all be moving into a trailer together.... hahaha, I cannot wait for this. It is going to be some kind of dirtbag reality show.
New Mexico is covered in National Forests and other Federal Lands. I'm really excited and hope to spend my free time backpacking around and checking out everything in the state.
Hope I can make it home for the Haliburton Ultramarathon on 9/11 to push Alan across the finish line. We can't break up Team Mo and Bro.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Punta del Este, Uruguay
I left Buenos Aires on Monday morning at 7:30 on a ferry to Montevideo, where I got on a bus to Punta del Este, Uruguay and was on the beach by 3pm! It is a tourist hotspot here, and I´ve spent 3 days on the beach. It has been really great and now I´ve got my tan to come home with tomorrow.
One side is a really rough windy surfing beach (all the waves), and on the other side is calm less windy beach. I like the calm one. I leave here at 5:45 am and get to Buenos Aires at 11:30am. I´ll spend the day there, eating at that little place on the corner and maybe a last minute shopping trip. My flight leaves at 9:40pm, arriving in Michigan at 1:25pm Friday. I am definately not ready to come home yet. After Mexico I was totally ready to be back, but not this time.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Futbol!
Ok, so.... I apologize for not writing. This is what I´ve actually been up to: left Ushuaia on the night of the 9th, and flew 3.5 hours to Buenos Aires. Stayed in Buenos Aires for 5 days, and now I am writing to you from Punta del Este, Uruguay.
Then in Buenos Aires I had the time of my life. I spent 5 days there with my friend Carlos and his mom. I was staying in his Grandma´s apartment in the Belgrano neighborhood. It was a 10 minute walk to the subway, 5 minutes to the train, and a bus stopped 3 blocks down. In 5 days we only ate more than a block from the apartment once. We went downtown for pizza one night. There is just the most amazing little take out restaurant on the corner, and if you go to the other corner there is an amazing pizza and empanada place. We literally ate at one of those two every day. I guess the reason was, other than it being the best food I´ve ever had, was that it was soooo freaking hot there, that when I woke up around 10ish, you didn´t want to move at all. So Carlos and I would tend to hang around, talking about what we were going to do, sharing stories of Patagonia, or talking about futbol. The take out place opened at 11:30, so we were always just hanging around, so we´d go grab lunch, bring it to the apartment, and then around 1pm I´d finally feel like I had wasted enough of the day and I´d go hop on the subway and check out the city. I think it was around 90 degrees everyday in that city. It was so gross, everyone is hot, and when you get on the subway it is just a train full of hot sweaty people.
In Buenos Aires I did a lot of walking and window shopping. I got huge blisters on the bottoms of my feet from my flipflops on day 1, but not bad enough to keep me from walking the entire town the next day. Day 1 (Wednesday 2-10) was also the reason I flew into Buenos Aires early: Vélez Sarsfield futbol game in La Copa Libertadoeres. Vélez played a team from Brazil in a huge South American international tournament and this was a big game. We took a train, met up with Carlos´cousin Nahuel, flagged down a bus, and then walked a few blocks to the stadium for the game at 9pm.
It was already dark when we got there, and we were rushing through all the people walking to the game, we turned a corner, and there was the stadium, towering over the other buildings and glowing blue. I told Carlos that I felt like I was making the pilgrimage to Mecca or something. I have been hearing about this team and watching their games for the past 3 years now, and I was now about to see them in person, but more importantly, I was going to be in the crowd with all the crazy people I hear stories about!!! I couldn´t wait to sing all the songs, and I was praying that we would get under the big banners that they roll across the fans and everyone grabs it and shakes like crazy!
Highlights
Under the banners!!!
We won the game 2-0, and it was pretty cool. I got one song in particular stuck in my head. Carlos and I then spent the next 3 days singing it over and over again.
Dicen que San Lorenzo tiene aguante
Pero son todos putos y vigilantes
Quieren ganar La Copa, pero no peuden
Nunca vas a tener las que tiene Vélez
Oooooooooh, San Lorenzo!
Sooooooooos, Vilgnates!
(repeat for 20 minutes)
listen here ? or here (the first 20 seconds)
Carlos and I didn´t figure out what they mean by viligantes, but the song is basically talking to the fans of the team San Lorenzo, saying
¨they say they have the patience, but they are %&$¿$, they want to win La Copa (the tournament), but they can´t, you´ll never have what Vélez has ¨
San Lorenzo is supposed to be one of the top teams, but they have never won La Copa Libertadores and Vélez has, so they rub it in with this song.
So this set the stage for the next big adventure..... going to an away game of Vélez in the stadium of their rival, San Lorenzo!
Neither Carlos or his cousin Nahuel had ever ridden the buses to an away game before, especially to San Lorenzo in the slums. We went to Vélez and got our tickets on Saturday and thought, well we can always come, and if it looks too scary we don´t have to go, tickets cost like 7 dollars, half that for girls. All the stories were likè "Don´t go! they´ll rob you and take your shoes! They´ll jump you!" all this scary stuff, but we decided to try anyways. We thought about wearing neutral colors so we could blend in with anyone if we had to get out of any areas fast, but ended up wearing Vélez jerseys anyways.
We meet up with Nahuel, and jump out of his dad´s car at an intersection and onto a bus to the stadium where everyone meets. We are all kinda anxious, and we get there, and everyone is so chill. People are just eating hotdogs and hamburgers, drinking beer, and waiting for the buses to leave. I was a little nervous because there were a LOT of people and 6 buses sitting outside. I also didn´t know anything that was going on. We ended up walking around the side of the stadium and there were at least 30 buses revving their engines.
We picked one and got on. There was even a baby on the bus next to us. Everyone else started filing over to the buses too, and they started the singing and pounding. They pound on the ceiling, they pound on the windows, they pound on anything within reach, they sing, they do this arm fling thing, like we would pump our fists in the air, they keep their hand open, and it is incredibly hard to do it and look like they do. We had a police escort to the game, and we had a caravan as far as the eye could see, every bus the same, people hanging out of the doors, people hanging out of the windows, arms out windows, flags flying, some buses bouncing up and down because everyone is jumping, all of them singing at the tops of their lungs. When we pulled out of the stadium people were lining the sidewalks. We were still going slow enough that people were jumping out of cars and jumping on the busses, people were running down the sidewalk to catch one. Every intersection was stopped, and when we were still in Liniers (Vélez´neighborhood), people were waving and singing and cheering. Then we got on the highway and our wild party caravan was just going absolutely wild. As we got closer to San Lorenzo we got louder and louder.
We got there, and the police escort us to a separate entrance, and we go through the same motions, get let in in small groups, get searched, give tickets, meet up with Carlos and Nahuel, get a drink, use a bathroom with no paper and toilet seat, and then go into the game. The other Vélez fans are yelling all sorts of insults at anyone they saw from San Lorenzo. We get in and people are already putting up our banners and signs. I had thought we would get there, sing songs, but no, this is a full production. We found a spot and waited. I thought the section was really full, and that we were doing well, and then the drums started up under the stadium.... and then in they came, the mob.... the flags were flying, the hands were flinging, the drums were beating, and they were singing! When they moved into the stands it was absolutely packed. We had the drums, we had the banners, we had signs, we had pretty much just moved into this place and taken it over. The game was a while off too, they got us in there earlier than the San Lorenzo people. So we were going strong for a long time before the game. I think the lack of fans to challenge us made us sing louder because the teams were on the field were doing warm ups and we knew they could hear us.
Once San Lorenzo´s fans started piling in we were done for. I had thought we were holding our own, and then I saw their mob gathering with the flags and drums under the stadium. They had tons of fans, and completely drowned us out, but we gave a valiant effort. The game was actually a little boring and it ended 0-0, and one news paper comment was "the only goals scored were by the fans" complimenting us on not letting up the enthusiasm for a boring game. I guess that´s what happens when you have fans that hate each other.
Our competition you can see our section on the opposite side of the stadium with the banners from the bottom to the top of the stadium, and you can see their fans with the flags and drums
San Lorenzo
This video makes me laugh out loud, because this is what it was like from the buses, to the game, and to the end of the game.... non stop crazy
The game ended, we piled out and got on the buses. It was a more subdued ride back from the stadium after hours of singing and jumping. Police escort, the Vélez fans just yelled insults at anyone they saw outside of the stadium and anyone that gave the thumbs down on the highway.
Then in Buenos Aires I had the time of my life. I spent 5 days there with my friend Carlos and his mom. I was staying in his Grandma´s apartment in the Belgrano neighborhood. It was a 10 minute walk to the subway, 5 minutes to the train, and a bus stopped 3 blocks down. In 5 days we only ate more than a block from the apartment once. We went downtown for pizza one night. There is just the most amazing little take out restaurant on the corner, and if you go to the other corner there is an amazing pizza and empanada place. We literally ate at one of those two every day. I guess the reason was, other than it being the best food I´ve ever had, was that it was soooo freaking hot there, that when I woke up around 10ish, you didn´t want to move at all. So Carlos and I would tend to hang around, talking about what we were going to do, sharing stories of Patagonia, or talking about futbol. The take out place opened at 11:30, so we were always just hanging around, so we´d go grab lunch, bring it to the apartment, and then around 1pm I´d finally feel like I had wasted enough of the day and I´d go hop on the subway and check out the city. I think it was around 90 degrees everyday in that city. It was so gross, everyone is hot, and when you get on the subway it is just a train full of hot sweaty people.
In Buenos Aires I did a lot of walking and window shopping. I got huge blisters on the bottoms of my feet from my flipflops on day 1, but not bad enough to keep me from walking the entire town the next day. Day 1 (Wednesday 2-10) was also the reason I flew into Buenos Aires early: Vélez Sarsfield futbol game in La Copa Libertadoeres. Vélez played a team from Brazil in a huge South American international tournament and this was a big game. We took a train, met up with Carlos´cousin Nahuel, flagged down a bus, and then walked a few blocks to the stadium for the game at 9pm.
It was already dark when we got there, and we were rushing through all the people walking to the game, we turned a corner, and there was the stadium, towering over the other buildings and glowing blue. I told Carlos that I felt like I was making the pilgrimage to Mecca or something. I have been hearing about this team and watching their games for the past 3 years now, and I was now about to see them in person, but more importantly, I was going to be in the crowd with all the crazy people I hear stories about!!! I couldn´t wait to sing all the songs, and I was praying that we would get under the big banners that they roll across the fans and everyone grabs it and shakes like crazy!
Highlights
Under the banners!!!
We won the game 2-0, and it was pretty cool. I got one song in particular stuck in my head. Carlos and I then spent the next 3 days singing it over and over again.
Dicen que San Lorenzo tiene aguante
Pero son todos putos y vigilantes
Quieren ganar La Copa, pero no peuden
Nunca vas a tener las que tiene Vélez
Oooooooooh, San Lorenzo!
Sooooooooos, Vilgnates!
(repeat for 20 minutes)
listen here ? or here (the first 20 seconds)
Carlos and I didn´t figure out what they mean by viligantes, but the song is basically talking to the fans of the team San Lorenzo, saying
¨they say they have the patience, but they are %&$¿$, they want to win La Copa (the tournament), but they can´t, you´ll never have what Vélez has ¨
San Lorenzo is supposed to be one of the top teams, but they have never won La Copa Libertadores and Vélez has, so they rub it in with this song.
So this set the stage for the next big adventure..... going to an away game of Vélez in the stadium of their rival, San Lorenzo!
Neither Carlos or his cousin Nahuel had ever ridden the buses to an away game before, especially to San Lorenzo in the slums. We went to Vélez and got our tickets on Saturday and thought, well we can always come, and if it looks too scary we don´t have to go, tickets cost like 7 dollars, half that for girls. All the stories were likè "Don´t go! they´ll rob you and take your shoes! They´ll jump you!" all this scary stuff, but we decided to try anyways. We thought about wearing neutral colors so we could blend in with anyone if we had to get out of any areas fast, but ended up wearing Vélez jerseys anyways.
We meet up with Nahuel, and jump out of his dad´s car at an intersection and onto a bus to the stadium where everyone meets. We are all kinda anxious, and we get there, and everyone is so chill. People are just eating hotdogs and hamburgers, drinking beer, and waiting for the buses to leave. I was a little nervous because there were a LOT of people and 6 buses sitting outside. I also didn´t know anything that was going on. We ended up walking around the side of the stadium and there were at least 30 buses revving their engines.
We picked one and got on. There was even a baby on the bus next to us. Everyone else started filing over to the buses too, and they started the singing and pounding. They pound on the ceiling, they pound on the windows, they pound on anything within reach, they sing, they do this arm fling thing, like we would pump our fists in the air, they keep their hand open, and it is incredibly hard to do it and look like they do. We had a police escort to the game, and we had a caravan as far as the eye could see, every bus the same, people hanging out of the doors, people hanging out of the windows, arms out windows, flags flying, some buses bouncing up and down because everyone is jumping, all of them singing at the tops of their lungs. When we pulled out of the stadium people were lining the sidewalks. We were still going slow enough that people were jumping out of cars and jumping on the busses, people were running down the sidewalk to catch one. Every intersection was stopped, and when we were still in Liniers (Vélez´neighborhood), people were waving and singing and cheering. Then we got on the highway and our wild party caravan was just going absolutely wild. As we got closer to San Lorenzo we got louder and louder.
We got there, and the police escort us to a separate entrance, and we go through the same motions, get let in in small groups, get searched, give tickets, meet up with Carlos and Nahuel, get a drink, use a bathroom with no paper and toilet seat, and then go into the game. The other Vélez fans are yelling all sorts of insults at anyone they saw from San Lorenzo. We get in and people are already putting up our banners and signs. I had thought we would get there, sing songs, but no, this is a full production. We found a spot and waited. I thought the section was really full, and that we were doing well, and then the drums started up under the stadium.... and then in they came, the mob.... the flags were flying, the hands were flinging, the drums were beating, and they were singing! When they moved into the stands it was absolutely packed. We had the drums, we had the banners, we had signs, we had pretty much just moved into this place and taken it over. The game was a while off too, they got us in there earlier than the San Lorenzo people. So we were going strong for a long time before the game. I think the lack of fans to challenge us made us sing louder because the teams were on the field were doing warm ups and we knew they could hear us.
Once San Lorenzo´s fans started piling in we were done for. I had thought we were holding our own, and then I saw their mob gathering with the flags and drums under the stadium. They had tons of fans, and completely drowned us out, but we gave a valiant effort. The game was actually a little boring and it ended 0-0, and one news paper comment was "the only goals scored were by the fans" complimenting us on not letting up the enthusiasm for a boring game. I guess that´s what happens when you have fans that hate each other.
Our competition you can see our section on the opposite side of the stadium with the banners from the bottom to the top of the stadium, and you can see their fans with the flags and drums
San Lorenzo
This video makes me laugh out loud, because this is what it was like from the buses, to the game, and to the end of the game.... non stop crazy
The game ended, we piled out and got on the buses. It was a more subdued ride back from the stadium after hours of singing and jumping. Police escort, the Vélez fans just yelled insults at anyone they saw outside of the stadium and anyone that gave the thumbs down on the highway.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
ushuaia, argentina
Ushuaia was amazing. I was still traveling with Anya from Columbus, Ohio and we spent our days hiking to glaciers, hiking in Tierra del Fuego National Park, and taking boat rides in the Beagle Channel. We stayed at the most relaxing little place run by a guy named Javier. Our room had a 180 degree view from the Beagle Channel, across town, and up to the mountains. We also unfortunately had a front row seat to the busiest bar in town which was raging until 3 or 4 am everynight. And after long days hiking it was often hard to fall asleep and we were woken up several times every night, but it wasn´t really that bad. We were sleeping in every morning anyways. We ate great seafood and drank more wine, went shopping and hiked like crazy! It is the most amazing place ever, and I could have spent a lot more time there. Ushuaia was awesome because everything is soooo close to town. You can just walk out your door and in 5 minutes be at the boats for tours on the channel, you can walk 5 minutes and get to the buses running to the Parque Nacional, which was a 30 minute trip, you could call a cab to take you to Galciar Martial, which was 10 minutes away... you can wake up, eat a long breakfast, decide where to go, and boom, you´re there. You don´t have to plan out a whole day of traveling or anything. Just wake up, hang out, decide what you want to do and in 10 minutes you´ll be on your way.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
new travel plans
So, things are changing by the minute... Now my ideal plans are
Punta Arenas tomorrow, arrive 3pm
get 2 bus tickets for Ushuaia on Friday, 12 hours
arrive Ushuaia Friday evening
stay for 3 or 4 days
leave Tuesday or Wednesday for Él Calafate
Arrive Él Calafate on Tuesday/Wednesday afternoon
stay here until Friday, (possibly bus up to Él Chalten to see Mount FitzRoy?)
fly out of Él Calafate on Friday to Buenos Aires, arrive Feb. 12
stay in Buenos Aires through the weekend until Feb. 15
go to Uruguay beach, or Argentina beach, or go to Iguazu Falls from 15-17/18?
leave Buenos Aires on Thursday, February 18th at 10pm.
Punta Arenas tomorrow, arrive 3pm
get 2 bus tickets for Ushuaia on Friday, 12 hours
arrive Ushuaia Friday evening
stay for 3 or 4 days
leave Tuesday or Wednesday for Él Calafate
Arrive Él Calafate on Tuesday/Wednesday afternoon
stay here until Friday, (possibly bus up to Él Chalten to see Mount FitzRoy?)
fly out of Él Calafate on Friday to Buenos Aires, arrive Feb. 12
stay in Buenos Aires through the weekend until Feb. 15
go to Uruguay beach, or Argentina beach, or go to Iguazu Falls from 15-17/18?
leave Buenos Aires on Thursday, February 18th at 10pm.
Jessamyn just took off for the airport and Neal is driving back to the Estancia Valle Chacabuco.
Neal is studying the pumas in the park. Everyday he looks at the GPS locations of the pumas´radio collars from the past few days, and when the pumas stayed in one area for a while, it usually means they killed something there and ate it for a few days. He then hikes to that location and finds the kill site, then records the data on what they were eating, how old it was, male or female, and other things. He will be here until June or something, then he is possibly moving to Montana to study wolves.
Our first night in Coyhaique we all went out to a huge dinner of amazing steaks, then went out for some drinks. Those drinks then turned into a night of dancing until 3am.
I bought a cool sheep wool/baby alpaca wrap sweater thing. It cost a ton, but they make each one on looms in the back of the shop, and we met the lady who runs it, her kids and her husband. The shop was filled with ponchos and wrap sweaters. Anya, Jessamyn, and I tried on almost every single thing in the store. Everything was sooooooo nice. The most incredibly soft things and they all looked so chic. I also picked up a really cool scarf.
One of our biggest jokes from volunteering is the name of a little lamb who lived at the administracion, where the workers live in the park. He just ran around all day eating and being cute. The kids are mostly terrified of him because he head butts them. But it is ok because they ride him all around too. The best part about this sheep is his name: Jamey Namey. If you can imagine this being said in the Chilean accent, it is the most amazing thing ever. Once we learned the name of this sheep we were always yelling it everywhere, and it just turned into this big thing. I just got a message on facebook from James who is still in the park. He was in the car with everyone plus one of the kids. They drive past a bunch of sheep and the kid yelled out "Hay muchos Jamey Nameys!!!!" (There are many Jamey Nameys!!!!!) It was even funnier because we were convinved they were lying to us, and that the name was really Jeinimeni (henni-menni), which was a nature reserve next to the valley we were in.
Neal is studying the pumas in the park. Everyday he looks at the GPS locations of the pumas´radio collars from the past few days, and when the pumas stayed in one area for a while, it usually means they killed something there and ate it for a few days. He then hikes to that location and finds the kill site, then records the data on what they were eating, how old it was, male or female, and other things. He will be here until June or something, then he is possibly moving to Montana to study wolves.
Our first night in Coyhaique we all went out to a huge dinner of amazing steaks, then went out for some drinks. Those drinks then turned into a night of dancing until 3am.
I bought a cool sheep wool/baby alpaca wrap sweater thing. It cost a ton, but they make each one on looms in the back of the shop, and we met the lady who runs it, her kids and her husband. The shop was filled with ponchos and wrap sweaters. Anya, Jessamyn, and I tried on almost every single thing in the store. Everything was sooooooo nice. The most incredibly soft things and they all looked so chic. I also picked up a really cool scarf.
One of our biggest jokes from volunteering is the name of a little lamb who lived at the administracion, where the workers live in the park. He just ran around all day eating and being cute. The kids are mostly terrified of him because he head butts them. But it is ok because they ride him all around too. The best part about this sheep is his name: Jamey Namey. If you can imagine this being said in the Chilean accent, it is the most amazing thing ever. Once we learned the name of this sheep we were always yelling it everywhere, and it just turned into this big thing. I just got a message on facebook from James who is still in the park. He was in the car with everyone plus one of the kids. They drive past a bunch of sheep and the kid yelled out "Hay muchos Jamey Nameys!!!!" (There are many Jamey Nameys!!!!!) It was even funnier because we were convinved they were lying to us, and that the name was really Jeinimeni (henni-menni), which was a nature reserve next to the valley we were in.
Coyhaique round 2
Hanging out in Coyhaique with my new amazing friends Anya from Ohio, Jessamyn from New York, Griffin from Northern California, and Neal from Northern California (works with pumas in Valle Chacabuco). We have been eating like kings and drinking all the wine we can get our hands on. We have a sweet hostel room that we´re all piled in to. We have been here since Monday afternoon.
Jessamyn leaves today, in about an hour. Anya and I are flying to Punta Arenas, Chile tomorrow at 1:00. We will probably stay the night there, and then the next morning try to get a buss/ferry to Ushuaia, Argentina. We will hang out there together, and then she will go back to Punta Arenas, and I will either fly straight up to Buenos Aires or go see glaciers in El Calafate. Carlos is flying into Buenos Aires today and his mom is already here. His grandma has been in the hospital so they are coming to visit.
Ok, I promise to write more later. I want to go hang out with Jessamyn before she leaves.
Jessamyn leaves today, in about an hour. Anya and I are flying to Punta Arenas, Chile tomorrow at 1:00. We will probably stay the night there, and then the next morning try to get a buss/ferry to Ushuaia, Argentina. We will hang out there together, and then she will go back to Punta Arenas, and I will either fly straight up to Buenos Aires or go see glaciers in El Calafate. Carlos is flying into Buenos Aires today and his mom is already here. His grandma has been in the hospital so they are coming to visit.
Ok, I promise to write more later. I want to go hang out with Jessamyn before she leaves.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
leaving the park
I´m leaving the park tomorrow. Going to Coyhaique with 3 other friends here. I can´t write much now because everyone wants to use the computer. I´ll be in Coyhaique until Wednesday, then Anya and I are flying south to Punta Areanas, Chile. From there we will bus and ferry to Ushuaia, Argentina!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
We just had 2 exhausting days of hiking and wildlife watching/chasing. Yesterday we ended up hiking and rock climbing for 7.5 hours. It was insane. We got to the lake and it was freezing cold. Well, not FREEZING, but I didn´t want to swim. We made a fire and Alejandra and Catalina swam. Then James, Griffin, John, Rachel, and Felipe jumped off a cliff over 20 feet up. After the lake we hiked around climbing rocks and general looking around.
Today we piled into 4 trucks and drove to the Argentina border. We saw flemingos and nandu (like a emu or ostrich). We caught a baby armadillo. Pretty much the normal routine around here.
This is James´ blog. He just graduated from college in Kansas and is here volunteering for 6 months. As of now he has been here for almost 4. http://goingsouth09.blogspot.com/
I don´t know when we´re leaving here. I guess tomorrow night or Monday, but we haven´t been told anything. We will be near the Argentina border though, working on some native seed collection.
Today we piled into 4 trucks and drove to the Argentina border. We saw flemingos and nandu (like a emu or ostrich). We caught a baby armadillo. Pretty much the normal routine around here.
This is James´ blog. He just graduated from college in Kansas and is here volunteering for 6 months. As of now he has been here for almost 4. http://goingsouth09.blogspot.com/
I don´t know when we´re leaving here. I guess tomorrow night or Monday, but we haven´t been told anything. We will be near the Argentina border though, working on some native seed collection.
Friday, January 22, 2010
hanging around the adminitracion
Yesterday was a lazy hang out day. The weather was amazing, for about the 2nd time on this triip. We sat in the sun, Griffen, Felipe, and I went to Cochrane!!! Our first time leaving the park since Felipe and I got here on the 4th or 5th. We bought Sprite, Fanta, potato chips, and cookies and we ate it all before we left. Felipe got chapstick and I got razors because mine broke. A successful adventure. Pretty funny stuff.
Today we´re going hiking to a lake to go swimming. It is going to be absolutely freezing water. But the sun is blazing, maybe I´ll jump in.
That movie, 180 South will come out in March. We watched it in the park that is featured in the movie with Kris Tompkins, who is in the movie. So awesome. The movie is amazing. Back in 1968 Some guys drove in a VW bus from California to Patagonia and climbed mountains, surfed, and did all around awesome stuff. A guy wanted to do the same thing, but took a boat, got lost, all sorts of things, to climb a mountain. Doug Tompkins was in the original group of guys and ended up founding North Face, and now runs Conservacion Patagonica, with his wife, Kris Tompkins. Yesterday we were hanging out, and a guy with a dog walked by. Started talking to Griffen about his dog. He later casually mentions he was the guy who filmed the original footage of the trip in 68. This trip these guys took is legendary among backpackers, climbers, surfers, etc.
When this movie is released everyone has to see it. We wanted to run out and pull out fences!!!
Tomorrow I get to go hiking with Neal, the puma guy. He goes and finds puma kills and takes data on what it was, how old, where, when, and other things. There is a big study going on in UC Davis, and Neal is the guy who collects the data.
I´ll write more after the swimming trip.
Today we´re going hiking to a lake to go swimming. It is going to be absolutely freezing water. But the sun is blazing, maybe I´ll jump in.
That movie, 180 South will come out in March. We watched it in the park that is featured in the movie with Kris Tompkins, who is in the movie. So awesome. The movie is amazing. Back in 1968 Some guys drove in a VW bus from California to Patagonia and climbed mountains, surfed, and did all around awesome stuff. A guy wanted to do the same thing, but took a boat, got lost, all sorts of things, to climb a mountain. Doug Tompkins was in the original group of guys and ended up founding North Face, and now runs Conservacion Patagonica, with his wife, Kris Tompkins. Yesterday we were hanging out, and a guy with a dog walked by. Started talking to Griffen about his dog. He later casually mentions he was the guy who filmed the original footage of the trip in 68. This trip these guys took is legendary among backpackers, climbers, surfers, etc.
When this movie is released everyone has to see it. We wanted to run out and pull out fences!!!
Tomorrow I get to go hiking with Neal, the puma guy. He goes and finds puma kills and takes data on what it was, how old, where, when, and other things. There is a big study going on in UC Davis, and Neal is the guy who collects the data.
I´ll write more after the swimming trip.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
back after more camping
Well, I have returned once again. This was the 3rd camping trip. We got set up in a wind tunnel basically, and after 2 nights our big cooking tent was completely destroyed by the wind. It was an amazing sight to see it billowing in the wind, poles snapping, the tarp ripping.....
We ended up moving camp after that to a better spot. Too bad I was woken up this morning to Griffen banging on a pot running around camp yelling `WE NEED HELP!!!!´ The best part was that no one moved. I thought they had made breakfast for us, to get us out of bed. No, Anya, Jessamyne, and Griffen were holding onto the parachute of a tent, keeping it from blowing off the mountain with all of our food.
We´re watching a movie called 180 South tonight, so I have to go. We´re at the administracion for 3 days. Griffen has 2 fly fishing poles. We might go out to a river and learn how to fish, or climb a mountain or something.
We ended up moving camp after that to a better spot. Too bad I was woken up this morning to Griffen banging on a pot running around camp yelling `WE NEED HELP!!!!´ The best part was that no one moved. I thought they had made breakfast for us, to get us out of bed. No, Anya, Jessamyne, and Griffen were holding onto the parachute of a tent, keeping it from blowing off the mountain with all of our food.
We also removed a ton of fencing out camping.
We´re watching a movie called 180 South tonight, so I have to go. We´re at the administracion for 3 days. Griffen has 2 fly fishing poles. We might go out to a river and learn how to fish, or climb a mountain or something.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
another camping trip
just got back from camping again. lots of new volunteers showed up. Rachel, Christian, Griffen, James returned, and Jessmine. I think we´re at 13 people. Austin and Taylor leave tonight for California. Those are the guys that I rode in the back of the truck with. I´m sad to see them go, they are the first people to leave since I´ve been here. They are pumped to go though.
Took a ´shower´ in a stream today. That was sweet.
We´ve been drinking a lot too. Definately had a major bash at the campsite, getting drunk and listening to country music on Tuesday night. It was a ton of fun.
We spent our time on this trip removing the sheep fences. We did such a long distance it was incredible. And the scenery was so great. We were crossing mountain streams, falling down steep slopes, climbing huge rocks, and pulling fences out of bushes. We got really high up and we could see all across the landscape, the Valle Chacabuco, lakes, snowcapped mountains, rivers, all the good stuff.
I wish I could get pictures up here but it just takes so much time, and so many people want to use the computer. So, I´ll try but no promises. I did get some pictures of some animals put up on faceobok.
Everything is great. Tons of nature out here, animals everywhere, but still trying to see a puma. Not much exciting news to really share. We just sit around talking all night, and work during the day to let the guanacos roam free.
I´m going to make Griffen, another volunteer, teach me how to fly fish sometime, that will be cool.
I´m also drinking a ton of yerba mate (pronounced ma-tay) tea. We pass it around at breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday. Carlos, I love it. I drink like at least 10 cups a day and I hate it with sugar. I´ll bring the kind we drink back so I can see if it tastes like yours, which I never liked. I was scared to drink it the first time, because I knew I didn´t like it. But I have been loving it here. It is made with love from Louigi.
There is also a lot of rituals that go along with drinking this tea. It is served in a hollowed out gourd with a special metal straw. One guy heats the water and fills the gourd with tea, fills the gourd with water and gives it to you. You always take it with your right hand, you don´t touch the straw, and never comment on it. If it is good, bad, too hot, too cold, nothing. You drink all the tea and you hand it back to the guy pouring, he refills and gives it to the next person. Also, you never say gracias when it is handed to you, or when you are finished and you hand it back. Once you say gracias, that means you are finished and you will be skipped the next time the mate is passed around the circle.
Good times. We´re leaving again, maybe today, maybe tomorrow. We don´t know yet. See ya later!!
Took a ´shower´ in a stream today. That was sweet.
We´ve been drinking a lot too. Definately had a major bash at the campsite, getting drunk and listening to country music on Tuesday night. It was a ton of fun.
We spent our time on this trip removing the sheep fences. We did such a long distance it was incredible. And the scenery was so great. We were crossing mountain streams, falling down steep slopes, climbing huge rocks, and pulling fences out of bushes. We got really high up and we could see all across the landscape, the Valle Chacabuco, lakes, snowcapped mountains, rivers, all the good stuff.
I wish I could get pictures up here but it just takes so much time, and so many people want to use the computer. So, I´ll try but no promises. I did get some pictures of some animals put up on faceobok.
Everything is great. Tons of nature out here, animals everywhere, but still trying to see a puma. Not much exciting news to really share. We just sit around talking all night, and work during the day to let the guanacos roam free.
I´m going to make Griffen, another volunteer, teach me how to fly fish sometime, that will be cool.
I´m also drinking a ton of yerba mate (pronounced ma-tay) tea. We pass it around at breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday. Carlos, I love it. I drink like at least 10 cups a day and I hate it with sugar. I´ll bring the kind we drink back so I can see if it tastes like yours, which I never liked. I was scared to drink it the first time, because I knew I didn´t like it. But I have been loving it here. It is made with love from Louigi.
There is also a lot of rituals that go along with drinking this tea. It is served in a hollowed out gourd with a special metal straw. One guy heats the water and fills the gourd with tea, fills the gourd with water and gives it to you. You always take it with your right hand, you don´t touch the straw, and never comment on it. If it is good, bad, too hot, too cold, nothing. You drink all the tea and you hand it back to the guy pouring, he refills and gives it to the next person. Also, you never say gracias when it is handed to you, or when you are finished and you hand it back. Once you say gracias, that means you are finished and you will be skipped the next time the mate is passed around the circle.
Good times. We´re leaving again, maybe today, maybe tomorrow. We don´t know yet. See ya later!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Week one over
Me working to remove invasive plants in Valle Chacabuco, Chilean Patagonia
Hey everyone. Since the last time I wrote I went camping for 4 days while we worked to narrow a 1 lane road and revegetate the shoulder, and today we all went horseback riding for like 9 hours.Working on the road was hard and pretty stupid. We pretty much raked and picked up rocks and threw them into a bulldozer, then re-raked everything. We thought we were going out to pull out the sheep fences, but plans changed, which is pretty common around here. Apparently the big boss, Doug Tompkins ordered it to be done from where ever he is around here.
We had a little asado (barbeque) with lamb for Saturday lunch, and a party Saturday night. Lots of cheap beer and Chilean wine.
Today we went all the way to Lago Cochrane and back. Hung out with some gauchos, and I took a lot of pictures. I´m trying to get some up here so you can see how awesome this place is. It was a pretty epic ride, I hope we get to do it again before I leave. Which I´m sure we will.
Tomorrow morning we are going out camping in the field again. This time pulling fences for real. We actually saw the fences today. So, I´ll be back in like 4 days.
Things are going great. We got another volunteer today. She is from New York, and just spent 7 years in Ireland. Our group is 11 now, and everyone is really interesting.
The coolest guy in the world is our volunteer crew leader. His name is Louigi. He is a serious gaucho, always making fun of us and swearing in English. Most of the Americans can barely forma sentance in Spanish, and he is the same in Enlgish, but he is so funny it doesn´t matter. I´m pretty sure the guy can do everything. Expert horse rider, can make anything, knows all the plants and animals, knows EVERYONE. He is super cool and a blast to work with.
So I´ve been trying to upload one picture on this blog, and it is taking forever. I might put some up on facebook to see if it is faster. I think anyone reading this is my facebook friend.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
day 2
On our way out to the field today we saw 3 baby foxes. On our way back we saw an armadillo. This happens a lot out here. I don´t think you can see this many animals in any US National Park. It is insane. They are everywhere, and they just don´t care too much about us.
When we see animals close to the road on our drive out to work the guys that work with us, Louigi and Pablo, screech to a halt and everyone jumps out of the truck and out of the back and runs for it. Today the baby fox ran into a little pipe running under the road, so we took pictures into the pipe and found out there were 3 babies in there. It was really cute.
On our way back with Pablo an armadillo ran off the road, and he slams on the brakes and we all jump out and chase it into some bushes. Just as we were about to give up it made a run for it, so so did we. I think Pablo was trying to pick it up for us, he was crawling into these crazy thorn bushes after it. It was hilarious. I did see it when it was running off the road, and I saw its tail in the bushes.
Animals I´ve seen:
Guanacos (they are everywhere)
Fox
Condors
Armadillo
some wierd rabbit eared mammal
a mouse the size of a softball
ibis
there are pumas and flamingos here too. And some sort of ostrich looking thing. and a tiny endangered deer called a huemul. we´re going to go hiking to try and see one sometime in the future.
We leave for the field tomorrow. We´ll be gone camping and working for 4 or 5 days. We´ll be pulling up the fences out there. So far we have spent two days removing invasive species.
Also, I took my first shower today. The sun was shining so we all took advantage. It has been too cold for anyone to want to be wet in the wind. We have 2 toilets, 2 sinks, and 2 shower stalls outside we use.
Also today we talked with Paula, the volunteer coordinator. She gave us an orientation to the park and the program. In it, she was explaining the biggest threat to the endangered deer in the park, the huemul, was hungry packs of dogs from the nearby town.
I wanted to know if the 2 pet cats who live in the administacion cause any problems with the birds, like in Ann Arbor. So I say 'Tienes problemas con los gatos y aviones?' And everyone looked at me funny, then burst out laughing because I asked if they have any problems with the cats and airplanes.
When we see animals close to the road on our drive out to work the guys that work with us, Louigi and Pablo, screech to a halt and everyone jumps out of the truck and out of the back and runs for it. Today the baby fox ran into a little pipe running under the road, so we took pictures into the pipe and found out there were 3 babies in there. It was really cute.
On our way back with Pablo an armadillo ran off the road, and he slams on the brakes and we all jump out and chase it into some bushes. Just as we were about to give up it made a run for it, so so did we. I think Pablo was trying to pick it up for us, he was crawling into these crazy thorn bushes after it. It was hilarious. I did see it when it was running off the road, and I saw its tail in the bushes.
Animals I´ve seen:
Guanacos (they are everywhere)
Fox
Condors
Armadillo
some wierd rabbit eared mammal
a mouse the size of a softball
ibis
there are pumas and flamingos here too. And some sort of ostrich looking thing. and a tiny endangered deer called a huemul. we´re going to go hiking to try and see one sometime in the future.
We leave for the field tomorrow. We´ll be gone camping and working for 4 or 5 days. We´ll be pulling up the fences out there. So far we have spent two days removing invasive species.
Also, I took my first shower today. The sun was shining so we all took advantage. It has been too cold for anyone to want to be wet in the wind. We have 2 toilets, 2 sinks, and 2 shower stalls outside we use.
Also today we talked with Paula, the volunteer coordinator. She gave us an orientation to the park and the program. In it, she was explaining the biggest threat to the endangered deer in the park, the huemul, was hungry packs of dogs from the nearby town.
I wanted to know if the 2 pet cats who live in the administacion cause any problems with the birds, like in Ann Arbor. So I say 'Tienes problemas con los gatos y aviones?' And everyone looked at me funny, then burst out laughing because I asked if they have any problems with the cats and airplanes.
day 2
It is the morning of day two working here. I have about 20 minutes. Yesterday we used pickaxes to dig up invasive thistles, mullein (which we control in Michigan too), and poison hemlock. It was really fun. We were in this huge valley with packs of guanacos all around us. sometimes I was scared to go after some thistles because I was so close to the guanacos I thought they might charge! (which they never do, don´t worry mom). Thursday we go out for 4 days to pull up fences. After that we get a break and we´re going to go horseback riding on one day.
Everyone is really cool. We don´t talk to really anyone but the volunteers. No one really talks to us either. The Tompkins are here, the people that started this whole thing. Maybe people are busy tending to their needs.
The weather is comfortable. Very windy, but the temperature isn´t bad. I wouldn´t mind it warmer though.
Everyone is really cool. We don´t talk to really anyone but the volunteers. No one really talks to us either. The Tompkins are here, the people that started this whole thing. Maybe people are busy tending to their needs.
The weather is comfortable. Very windy, but the temperature isn´t bad. I wouldn´t mind it warmer though.
Monday, January 4, 2010
arrival
Well. I made it. I am writing to you from Valle Chacabuco. To get here I flew 24 hours, bussed for 1 hour, stayed in a crappy hostel, hiked 45 minutes, met friends coming here in Coyhaique bus staion, met German family plus Austrian guy also, spent 4 hours searching for a way out of Coyhaique with new friends because the busses sold out, rode in the back of a rented truck for 6 and a half hours on an unpaved mountain road (half of which was in the rain), stayed a night in cochrane, and then rode in the backseat of a truck with 3 other people. My tent is up, the sun is still up (at 9:47), and the other volunteers here are really awesome. When we arrived there were 2, now at the end of the day we have 9. we´re based out of the administracion at the moment, so we´ll be eating dinner in a building, and we have toilets and hot showers (sleeping in tents). Thursday is the day we plan on going out into the field, which means we´ll get driven way out in the middle of nowhere and work for like 4-5 days.
Google environmental imperialism. That was the topic of discussion at the volunteer dinner table. My friends I met in Coyhaique at the bus station are brothers from California, and at the park there are 2 people from Santiago, one person from Columbus, Ohio, and one from Wisconsin.
There is a herd of guacanos right next to our little shanty town. We wanted to see how close we could get, so we walked out to them. They had little babies too. Then we saw a dog coming towards them, so we walked towards it to see what it was doing. When we got close it laid down and stayed still. We got close enough to see it wasn´t a dog but a fox. It didn´t like being that close to us to it hopped up a trotted off in the direction of the guacanos. The guacanos then huddled around the babies and and a stand off which ended with one guacano charging the fox. Pretty cool.
I´ll write later, I´m exhausted. But I made it, 4 days of traveling I´m at the bottom of the world!!!!!!!!!
Google environmental imperialism. That was the topic of discussion at the volunteer dinner table. My friends I met in Coyhaique at the bus station are brothers from California, and at the park there are 2 people from Santiago, one person from Columbus, Ohio, and one from Wisconsin.
There is a herd of guacanos right next to our little shanty town. We wanted to see how close we could get, so we walked out to them. They had little babies too. Then we saw a dog coming towards them, so we walked towards it to see what it was doing. When we got close it laid down and stayed still. We got close enough to see it wasn´t a dog but a fox. It didn´t like being that close to us to it hopped up a trotted off in the direction of the guacanos. The guacanos then huddled around the babies and and a stand off which ended with one guacano charging the fox. Pretty cool.
I´ll write later, I´m exhausted. But I made it, 4 days of traveling I´m at the bottom of the world!!!!!!!!!
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