Posted on Tuesday, 11.17.09

Voice of America expands its Latin American audience

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO

jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com

Facing a group of presidents loudly critical of Washington, the U.S. government’s Voice of America broadcast is expanding its audience in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, VOA officials say.

VOA’s Spanish-language division also will step up its use of Radio/TV Martí’s production facilities in Miami because of budget pressures on both broadcasters, the officials added.

The VOA effort to grow its Latin American audience comes as the Obama administration tries to counter the attacks on U.S. policies by several presidents in the region: Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

“Our focus is on the Andean region because of the upheavals that are going on there,” said Spanish division director Alberto Mascaro. “Our second priority is Central America, especially Nicaragua and Honduras.”

The Andean region includes Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, a Chávez ally, was ousted in July and is seeking to return to power.

VOA — which only broadcasts internationally — transmits its reports via shortwave radio, local FM affiliates and satellite television as well as its Web pages. Funded by the government, it is required to observe standards of “accuracy, balance, comprehensiveness, and objectivity.”

“We need to contribute to informed dialogue” in the Andean region and Central America, Joan Mower, VOA public relations and development director, told El Nuevo Herald in a telephone interview from Washington.

Mower said VOA has 319 affiliated radio stations in the Andean region that broadcast its free programs — 199 in Bolivia, 77 in Colombia and seven each in Ecuador and Peru. It also has 95 television affiliates, with the largest number, 23, in Colombia. The Spanish division has 21 staffers and a 2009 budget of $3.1 million.

VOA’s ruling Board of Broadcasting Governors decided to increase the broadcaster’s reach into the Andes and Central America after three board members toured the two regions this summer, Mower said.

The broadcaster, looking to hire a marketing specialist to increase the number of affiliates, recently completed a major update of its Spanish-language website and last month gathered 17 Latin American freelancers in Washington for training, she added.

Starting next month, VOA will run training sessions for journalists in Bolivia, Argentina, Panama and Haiti on how to cover the swine flu epidemic. It’s also working to give affiliates easier Internet access to broadcast-quality video and audio materials.

VOA’s most recent surveys in the five Andean countries plus Cuba showed a total audience of 1.9 million adults — 1.4 million on radio, 500,000 on television and 200,000 on the Internet, Mower said.

Mascaro said the increased use of Radio/TV Martí’s Miami studios is the result of budget pressures on both broadcasters.

“In a time of tight budgets, we see a need to maximize resources, and the OCB has a great infrastructure,” said Mascaro, a Cuban American who was chief of staff at the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), in charge of the Martí operations. He was hired by VOA in August.

Radio/TV Martí now has about 170 employees and a 2009 budget of $34.8 million, but its 2010 budget is under attack by congressional critics who argue that Cuban government jamming blocks virtually all TV Martí reception on the island.

In August, Radio/TV Martí began shedding 35 employees amid expectations that Congress would cut $4.2 million from its proposed 2010 budget. But a recent proposal in the Senate would cut $15 million, in effect killing TV Martí.

Mascaro’s hiring by VOA and the plans to use the Martí production facilities have fueled speculation that the Miami stations will eventually be folded into VOA, perhaps with the Spanish division moving from Washington to Miami.

Mascaro and Mower said they could not comment on the speculation, and noted that no staff moves to Miami are included in VOA’s proposed 2010 budget. “

Having missed the bus to the Chiloe National Park, I was up and waiting for the bus at the Municipal Terminal around 8.30am. Managed to pack some lunch of pastries. Yes it was raining lightly. At 9am I looked for the bus but it was not there. I asked around and only to be told to wait. At 9.30am I was informed that the bus had some mechanical issues and it would be available only at 11am. Something is telling me something ,I thought. But what? It is my last day in Castro and Chiloe. I will leave early next morning. Today I was determined but meant less time at the park.  

Finally got onto the bus [3000CLP] at 11am and off to the park via the little town of Cucao. The bus would return at 5.30pm for a pick-up back to Castro. That is the last and only bus.The journey took almost an hour and got dropped off just outside the park. It was now raining heavier. Paid at the entrance [1000CLP]. Put on my rain pants and started walking. With me were two Spanish girls. The three of us walked together and were the only one at that time. The first trek was Sendo El Tepual. The terrain at time challenging with muddy tracks as it turned in mini streams. My socks and shoes were soaked to the steelcaps. It was not cold and the wind mild. The walk through this ancient forested area was refreshing and with the rain, I suppose the best was to describe it would be , it gave me a different perspective. There were plank walks that made a difference in the water-logged trails and campsites for those wanting to camp inside the park. Capturing the light on paper in those moments were impossible. The flora was diverse and the abundance of bird life gave me a sense of being free. Some of the birds came very close to me without any fear of harm. Perhaps, human traffic here is low and they felt secured. At around I had completed walking the two routes marked here. Due to the late start, i was unable top continue with the long walks which required about 4 hours. I was nostalgic knowing Darwin had gone through here long time ago and had greatly impacted him in his study, “En la ruta de Darwin“.

I decided to continue with another walk, Sendo Oceano. The Spanish girls had enough and decided to head to Cucao. This time the walk was on coastal sand and soon I found myself in ankle-deep with fine sand and sand dunes. Gunerra plants grew abundantly and horsed roamed freely. The dense shrub vegetation disappeared and now I was on a  marshland. Grasses grew in flooded flats. I was already excited of the prospects of see the Pacific Ocean. The water level began to increase as I walked closer to the shore. Not wanting to get my shoes submerged in water, I carefully positioned and walked gingerly onto stones and gravel. Now I could hear the roar of the Pacific Ocean pounding on the Chiloe’s shores. Just about hundred meters from the high ground of the coast, the path disappears underwater. Not knowing the depth, I stopped and contemplated. A hundred meters stood in my way to answer the call of the ocean. My desire to get there was great and I was motivated to get across. I took off my shoes, folded up my pants and headed straight towards the ocean like a possessed man. Only after a few steps, the cold water started to freeze my feet. I hurried but the progress was painfully slow. There was anxiety as well as thoughts of depth and lurking creatures crept in. I made it. Now of soft sand I hurried up the sand bund and I felt like I was punched in the face. It took me by surprise. The wind were powerful and the power of the ocean easily felt. Mixed with rain and sea breeze, the air became cold. However barring all that, the views of the ocean battering the coast was magnificent. In the distant, waves splashed high into the air creating water vapours that seem to float across the inland far beyond the coast. Silhouettes of distant outcrops of land of blue and green can be seen from here. The coast stretched far on both sides. The powerful waves kept a relentless pace and showed now signs of easing. I wanted to leave but I had to feel the Pacific Ocean. I braved the onslaught of cold torrent winds, water vapour and the high waves and manged to find a calm spot. Standing in the icy cold water, I thought of my family just on the other side, the land below the long white cloud. I felt that my time up and had to leave. I did, only to come back to the hundred meters of water. This time I was fulfilled and contented. The water was still cold and numbing. I headed back the same way I arrived here. Water birds made their home on this marshland. Back onto dry land and onto the main road. I had no watch and had no idea what time it was. i wandered back to the rangers office. It was 4.15pm. I still had a long wait fo the bus. Then I realised that the rain had stopped. In fact moments later, the sun began to shine. I was talking to the Spanish girls earlier, and said that if the sun had come up in Chiloe, the local people would either worship the sun or instead hide away from the light. I felt the latter was appropriate as the sun hardly shone here. Here, now, I wondered what they were up to.

I walked northwards away from the park’s office on the main road. Ducks swam around. I looked through my camera to take a snap shot and realised that the duck had stopped swimming as if to pose for me. I put my camera down and looked. They remained still. I looked up in the sky, two eagles were circling above. as soon as the eagles had passed, the ducks assumed their happy way. A bus went past and it was the bus I had been waiting for. The driver informed me that it was too early and asked me to wait till 5.30pm. I as him where he was going . He was going further up north further up the park. I jumped in. After some distant he stopped and ran out of the bus. Grabbed and yanked out the stem of a Gunnera plant. There were numerous. He removed the thick flesh and then started to bite into them. He offered some to me. It was salty and had a milky aftertaste. It is a local “snack”. I had seen then being sold in town. I did not like it at all and he laughed at me.

At the town of Changquin, the bus stopped. The driver asked me to walk further up and look at a grand view. He decided to have a siesta. The town was a collection of few houses and narrow farming land. Horses and people mingled on this lad adjacent to the park. I walked and again found myself onto the shores of the mighty Pacific Ocean. The views here differed slightly but effects were similar. Local fisherman can be seen on the shores. They had fished shellfish and brought them out towards the bus in several sacks stacked onto a horse. The two guys looked raw but had a friendly smile. While repacking the sacks, the cracked open the live mussels and eat them. They offered some to me, but I declined. I don’t eat shell-fish.

The day turned out to be  wonderful especially the walking in the park amongst an ancient forest, feeling the wrath of the Pacific Ocean on my face and in the later part of the day, the sun, giving the warmth that I needed. I sat in the bus feeling grateful and humbled by the vastness of the ocean and existence of this ancient land. Tomorrow I leave beautiful and warm Chiloe especially Castro to yet another exciting journey that I had planned some time ago, the journey through the Chilean Fiordland by ship. Why by ship, in the words of the indigenous people, where the roads are no more.

26.10.09 – 29.10.09

Andean Machu Picchu, Peru. Click for credits and larger picture

[Second and last part of Pedro's story]

As I said in the first part of this story I am impressed by Pedro’s personality, by his intelligence and extreme hardiness towards fatigue or any kind of climate. He has a lively and authoritative look. He’s pensive sometimes. Not the gloomy pensive, though. The optimistic pensive. He hums while he works.

Pedro directs a team of 10-15 workers, some of them appearing as impenetrable Inca masks to me.

There’s regret in him that the Peruvian ancient cultures were wiped out. “How could they treat the Inca civilization like that?” he laments. Even today – he says – there’s a lot of gold up there. The mountain peasants are poor but they’re surrounded by precious minerals.

“You dig the mountain and you see gold, you see copper. I have been working in the mines. Then foreigners arrived who took away everything. The people, who were poor before, are still poor today.”

His eyes lit up when he saw we speak English at home now and then. He’s therefore started to take English classes.

“We’d be a strong community in Italy had we harmony. There’s envy and jealousy instead towards those who have success.”

One interesting thing he told me about Chile. “After the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship the people have straightened up and now they respect the rules, while everybody in Peru is tricking everybody and there’s total anarchy. A folk sometimes needs some straightening up.”

Ψ

This final observation – let me digress – reported by an ex 1968 student like me who saw Augusto Pinochet as the devil incarnate … Things must be seen from many view angles, and generally speaking democracy isn’t a plant that adapts itself to any terrain, I believe.

Chinchilla at the National Zoo's Small Mammal House. (Jesse Cohen/NZP)

Each issue of Zoogoer Magazine features a close-up, mystery photo that directs readers to an online link where they can discover which animal is in the photo and read about its unique characteristics. Where in the Zoo? is a fun way to learn about animals at the National Zoo. This month I wrote about, you guessed it, Chinchillas!

Who’s the fuzziest furball of them all? It just might be the chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera), which lives high in the mountains of northern Chile. Sixty or so hairs grow from each follicle, adding up to about 3,100 hairs per square inch. Beneath that world-famous fur lies a velvety hide so thick that it’s practically impenetrable to parasites.

Chinchillas’ supersoft pelts keep the fluffy rodents warm in their underground burrows, where a single colony may have as many as a hundred members. The fur also caught the attention of humans, who used it to make coats. A single chinchilla coat, comprising skins from a whole colony, can cost $100,000. In years past, people hunted millions of chinchillas for their fur. Such hunting is illegal today, but chinchillas remain critically endangered, and only a few thousand survive in the wild.

— Caroline Treadway is the editorial intern at Smithsonian Zoogoer and a graduate journalism student at Boston University.

Smithsonian Zoogoer 38(6) 2009. Copyright 2009 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.

Peindre en blanc les glaciers andins. Le projet a remporté le concours « Cent idées pour sauver la planète », organisé par la Banque Mondiale.

Eduardo Gold, président de l’ONG Glaciers du Pérou, a présenté son projet à la Commission parlementaire sur le changement climatique. Il fait partie des 26 programmes retenus parmi les 1775 proposés à travers le monde. Il consiste à éclaircir les roches foncées mises à nu par le réchauffement climatique. Riches en fer, elles œuvrent comme des pompes à chaleur. En recréant la couleur blanche du glacier, M. Gold espère faire chuter la température du glacier d’un demi degré. Et ainsi, ralentir le réchauffement climatique.

Un projet pharaonique

L’idée de la teinture blanche a été prônée par le secrétaire d’Etat américain Steven Chu. Des campagnes ont déjà été menées à New York sur des toits d’immeubles. Mais ce serait la première fois que ce projet serait adapté à des glaciers. La mise en place s’annonce pharaonique. Alors que le Pérou compte près de 70% des glaciers du monde, il faudrait peindre 3.000 km de roches ! Ce programme pourrait créer près de 15.000 emplois sur cinq ans : la peinture écologique serait élaborée à base de chaux par des populations locales.

Le risque écologique

Le Pérou est le troisième pays le plus touché par le réchauffement. La cordillère blanche péruvienne aurait d’ores et déjà perdu 30% de sa glace. Peu concerné par les problèmes climatiques, le gouvernement d’Alan Garcia s’inquiète de la formation de lacs. En cas de tremblement de terre ou de séisme, il craint de voir l’eau se déverser dans les villages en contrebas.

Mais ce qui alarme le plus Jesus Gomez, directeur du programme de développement du ministère de l’agriculture péruvien AgroRural, c’est le manque d’intérêt de la part des Andins pour les questions écologiques. Alors que l’eau se dispute entre entreprises privées et communautés paysannes, le réchauffement climatique est relégué au second plan. Loin derrière les intérêts économiques.

by Willow Murton, Assistant Producer, Oceans/Jungles team

9^th October 2009

 This time a year ago, I flew to La Paz in Bolivia, the highest capital city in the world and there, short of breath and cheeks full of Andean colour, I began life on the Human Planet team.  I type this blog now under the stifling heat of the  Algerian Sahara, many miles from those early cool heights.

A village in the Algerian Sahara

Sometimes it is good to stop and reflect. There has not been much time over the last year for moments to look back – so much looking forward into the matrix of kit lists, itineraries and budgets that the months and the countries can go by. 

This October evening, we gathered on a carpet outside under the date palms and the eager gaze of the local well workers who we have been filming with.  Swirls of white turbans and the excited movement of children surround a small screen as we play out clips of what we have filmed over the last few days.  They watch the images and the sounds they have patiently repeated in order to get just the right shot, in the right light.  They laugh and we relax.  This is one of the best moments of film-making, sharing the work of crew and contributors.  We hope all our ridiculous demands make some kind of sense when seen on screen, and we too begin to understand more as questions bounce between us.

Cameraman Gavin Newman, researcher Jane Atkins and me

The claustrophobia of the small tunnel where we have been filming opens out into the warm evening.  Small glasses of sweet mint tea are passed about amongst the comments.  Filming is a demanding and long process which the workers have participated in with huge patience and good humour.  In order to give them a glimpse of how the final film may come together, as well as a chilly insight into another underground world, we put on an edit from an Arctic sequence.  There we are, warm in the evening air, watching people wrapped up from icy cold. There are gasps when I say that the temperature there is thirty degrees below Celsius. The days here in the desert are usually thirty degrees above and not unusually much higher.  Beneath the arid surface of the Sahara, the workers here have dug through thick red clay to make tunnels to feed an ever-growing irrigation system.  They cannot believe the effort of these distant Arctic dwellers as they dig into frozen crevasses. They are even more incredulous when they realise why.  What the Inuit consider a gastronomic delicacy, the workers of the Sahara struggle to imagine edible.  The frozen walls of an igloo protecting those inside from the cruel cold of the Arctic belong to another world, far from the rich red buildings of this small village, where people seek shade from a relentless burning sun.

Yet, further North, the Arctic is beginning its own dark turn to the winter once more.  This year on Human Planet has spanned continents and captured moments of incredible feats, emotion and beauty.  As the workers leave to sleep before they are called to prayer again and back to their work, I contemplate a year which has taken me to a frontline in the Simien mountains, above Greenlandic glaciers, into the path of avalanches, under sea ice and onto its floe edge, from Arctic darkness to midnight sun, from the green of a desert oasis to the barren hillsides of a Caribbean island.  Like the Andean heights where I began, it takes my breath away.

Machu Picchu, high in the Andes Mountains of Peru, is one of South America’s most magnificent and authentic destinations.

Once a royal palace built by an Incan ruler, Machu Picchu sits like a mysterious city eight thousand feet above the sea. Peru’s most famous site, Machu Picchu, is one of the wonders of the world with its two hundred buildings and cloud covered beauty.

About twelve hundred people lived in Machu Picchu, and Peru has done an exceptional job of preserving the treasure that it is.

Professional Inca architects built Machu Picchu with granite blocks and bronze tools, and were so advanced that the thinnest of knife blades can’t be forced between the stones. Today, travelers climb the steep Inca trail to Machu Picchu, but there is a tourist bus from the town of Aguas Calientes.

If you climb Machu Picchu in Peru by foot, don’t forget to stretch when you reach the bottom, your legs will thank you the next morning.

Arrive before dawn and don’t be disappointed by the fog. The ruins and surrounding peaks reveal themselves as the fog lifts, and steal your breath away.

Peru’s Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911, and is today a destination for any travelers seeking an authentic travel experience.

Lima Centro seen from San Cristobal

I’ll postpone the final part of the Roman Jews writing and will speak about Pedro today.

Pedro is a 49-year-old Peruvian emigrated to Italy long ago. He has created a small construction firm that takes care of everything  – masonry, electrical and plumbing infrastructure etc. The work done is professional and accurate.

I find Pedro’s personality impressive. Here are bits of his life story, told trying to use his own words.

Ψ

His father died when he was 8 so his mother had to roll up her sleeves. She has been a great woman. Pedro as a boy was busy doing any possible job in the streets of Lima, washing windscreens, polishing shoes – he had to be ingenious in many ways.

When coming back to Lima years later and meeting again his former street pals he found out many had ended up in drugs and some had died.

In Peru too, he says, there’s this street children problem and the cleanup squads that murder them. But he committed no crime on the street. It’s his mother – he says. She raised him the hard way. Iron-willed she borne them all completely by herself, tied to a rope fastened to a beam, with the babies being brought to the world and she cutting the umbilical cord with her bare hands.

She is over 80 and sick now. Pedro’s brother phoned him to ask him to come back for next Christmas or he won’t see her again.

Topographic Map of Peru. Wikimedia. Public domain

Pedro’s parents were from the Andes. They weren’t native Liman. You’ve got the plains over the ocean, the big mountains and the jungle in Peru [see the picture on the right.]

They teach humility, honesty and hard work in the Andean mountains, he says. That is why when this folk get down to the plains they are too naive and get easily cheated. These people meet a world where cunning and dishonesty are winning. This creates confusion in their heads, he says.

The Andean is more active, has a tougher character and is most resistant to fatigue. At the big markets in Lima lots of them are active managing the stands. Their bodies are smaller and their skin darker. The native Liman has instead lighter skin and a bigger body.

The Peruvian from the Andes in Italy aren’t usually working in the Italian families for housework. They set up construction, cleaning or transportation firms. Pedro always tells his compatriots to learn a job well instead of trying to figure out how to make money quickly. “It’ll be your wealth” he says.

He is happy when there’s problems to solve. “I love le grane! [trouble]” he keeps saying while shaking a head a bit too large compared to the body. Difficulties do not discourage him. They make him more resourceful instead.

He has learned both from his mother and from the street.

Peruvian woman and child in the Andean region of the country. Wikimedia. Some rights reserved. Click for credits and larger picture

His mother Maria was a strict woman and when she wanted to punish her children and they fled away like lightning she caught them while asleep in the deep of the night and beat them up soundly. I didn’t ask him whether his mother remarried or not. He told me that, with the years passing, life had become a bit easier for his family. This made his brothers different. They didn’t have to fight as much as he did.

Having a good head is all that matters in life, he says.

He regrets not having had any education, nor having read enough  – he saw the piles of books in our apartment. He’s glad his children had the opportunity to study. One of them will soon be an engineer.

His sons and daughters ask him:

“Papà, had you been born again, what job would you do?”
“The mason.”
“Papà, the mason again?”
“Yes, the mason. That’s the thing I love most.”

[to be continued]

Drive, cut and work cattle in Argentina – come to our ranch nestled in the Andes for an incredible adventure vacation and horse riding holiday.

The annual branding of calves on an Estancia calls for a huge party – called a Yerra . At Ranquilco, we slaughter a cow for a grand asado and gauchos and friends come from all over the surrounding countryside for the feast. Of course, before the great food, wine, music and dancing, we have to work long hard and dusty days in the saddles and corrals.

In 2010, Estancia Ranquilco is proud to offer a cattlework program during our annual branding. This riding holiday is for horse enthusiasts seeking an adventure vacation that will test and enhance their riding skills and offer them a glimpse into the lives and work of the world’s last cowboys on the world’s last frontier.

Our cattlework programs are all inclusive horse riding adventure vacations that include accommodation at our luxury lodge and staying in simple dwellings near grazing meadows with the gauchos. Our horses are excellent cattle ponies, energetic and responsive, suitable for both experts and beginners.

Source:  Nature & Kind Travel Collection

It had been raining all night and it continued to this morning. Thick black clouds hung low over the chilly and waking Pucon. Volcan Villarica was hidden behind a grey blanket. Caught the Igillaima Bus [12000CLP] to San Martin at 10am. It seemed befitting that I had seen lovely Pucon with all it moods. I will be back someday and hopefully with my family [in warmer climate in late November perhaps].

Partway, the paved road gave in to gravel and some serious construction work was ongoing. Trees lined the road with numerous old man’s beard hanging to the trucks and branches and peach blossoms along the way. Thickets of bamboo grew on the forest floor. I was anticipating the  view of Mt Lanin. Arrived at the Chilean border around 12.30pm. The rain continued throughout the journey. I searched for Lanin but non visible, perhaps further up I thought. The forest floor was covered with a beautiful reddish shrub devoid of leaves with the magnificent Araucaria trees standing tall in this cold and isolated place. I asked a man travelling with me in the bus if he knew how far Mt Lanin was. He had a puzzled look and pointed his hand out to the open. Lanin! The mountain was nearly completely covered with snow and dense and heavy clouds. It looked like it was only a stones throw away. All I could see was the broad black base. I was very cold but braved to get a some pictures and take in the mostly black and white but spectacular views. It was very surreal – lonely Araucaria trees tops covered with snow, black mountain, white surrounding and high and very cold.  On board the bus, piping hot black coffee and biscuits were served. It was bliss, considering..

The bus journey continued for another 30 minutes towards the Argentine border over the Tromen Pass [3376]. After the formalities, the journey continued and on sealed roads. The land was flat and covered with initially only Araucaria trees. Visibility was still poor. Cultivated  pine forest took over stood like a regiment of soldiers on a winters’ day. Snow packed mountains appeared on both side of the roads. Poplar trees  and  yellow leafed trees grew only along the river banks possibly a willow. Green shoots were just emerging marking the struggling return of spring.

Stopped at Junin de los Andes town and reached San Martin as the rain continued.  At San Martin, checked in Secouya Hostel [40Peso] and greeted by the friendly Gonzolo. Just what I needed, a warm place with a cozy lounge and some friendly faces. Just rested and wanting to get away from the rain and snow. I needed to organise my dinner, back out in the rain and snow. Somehow my shelter seemed to end up in a chocolate shop. How disappointing! I had already purchased my onward bus ticket to Bariloche at 11am the following day at Pucon. I ws hopeful that the weather will be more favourable there. I crept into a warm bed early.

22.10.09

Quite disappointed that the climb on Volcan Villarica was cancelled, I went off to the local bus station to catch a bus [3400] to the Huerquehue National Park. The ride went past some picturesque sites with some views of Villarica and other nearby mountains. Entrance fee 4000CLP. The weather was still good as a group of people started the walk. I was with two others and joined up with anothe couple. It is essentially a forest walk, through woodlands and some coastal walks. he is no guide route but all we knew was that the bus will return a 2.10pm and the last bus at 5.10pm. There were many Araucaria trees. I enjoyed a coastal walk along the lakes. As the walk continued, the weather became a little chilly. The forest floors was covered with thickets of bamboos and more views of snow-covered mountains. Crossed some high passes. By late afternoon, it started to rain and in places the forest floor was covered with snow. A few lakes including Tilchillo, Chico and Verde. At lunch, it was already cloudy, dark, raining and getting much colder. It was a wonderful  walk minus the cold wind at open places and the continuous rain.  The park ranger just waved us not to rush. We made it back to the park’s entrance but was late by 5 minutes to catch the 2.10pm bus. We were all cold and just wanted to get some hot drinks, but non available. We walked down the main road and found Rapa Nui cafe.  The lady with her daughters were really kind and accommodating. It was really a good feeling and out of the cold as well. The room was heated and hot coffee in my hand. I wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry. Just then, I pondered over the decision to discontinue the climb up Volcan Villarica, I felt good and safe and appreciated Aguaventura’s foresight. I wondered about those whom had gone out that day. The mountain was not happy that late afternoon onwards. Caught the 5.10pm bus back to Pucon. 

Joined a local half day tour [15000] visiting the various sites including a waterfall in a forested area, Carbunga Lake and towards the end to a thermal spa pool. Sometimes it was really good to let some do the planning and drive around. I would certainly suggest to go the thermal pools to rest those tired and not to mention, smelly legs. 

I enjoyed Pucon with it cafe lined streets and it surrounding greenery and beauty with a volcano as the backdrop. Tomorrow, I am off to cross the Andes into Argentina to the lake district town of San Martin.

20.10.09 – 23.10.09

Au Venezuela, vous le trouverez partout, vraiment partout : sur toutes les monnaies, sur tous les billets, dans toutes les écoles, dans toutes les administrations publiques, sur toutes les places principales de toutes les localités de tout le pays… Je veux parler de Simón Bolívar, le Libertador.

Le voici statufié sur la place de Mérida.

Il est sombre mais éclairé, comme il pourrait l’être à la vue du pays qui l’a vu naître et de ceux pour l’indépendance desquels il s’est battu.

A controlled power outage in all of Huanchaco has delayed this post about ten hours. You may now revel in its glory.

Welcome to the Market. Peru’s markets are a great place to get food, supplies and even voodoo remedies. They offer a look back in time, and yet their currents still run deep within the community. For two months we have observed and participated in the craziness, and I am now just beginning to feel the pulse. I will show you here what crossed my vision in the myriad of underworlds called, in Peru, the Mercado.
Flickr SLIDE SHOW.

All markets start small

Long and skinny

Low clearance

Light and sweet

Everything you could need can be found at the Market

Olives and Jessie

Apples and Jessie

Remedies?

Fake flowers bring light to the darkness

What'chu want, I got it

Overhead

Tough guy, then, food

The inside scoop... Chicken

Bonito Fresco

Kathy Kwak said: Dinner, anyone?

Breakfast now makes me sick

Not your supermarket varieties

Where you from

Even at the game

Chose. No you chose.

Adjacent to the Market.

Photo Essay.
Flicker Page.
Slide show.

Tim and I had an encouraging, enjoyable, and we believe productive

time in Ecuador.  Our travel via air and land were rather uneventful

with the exception of riding crowded buses on some very steep grades

and crooked roads which, as you may have guessed, provided just the

right conditions for car sickness to abound all around us!  So much

for the fresh air of the Andes!

As planned our brother Juan met us at the airport and escorted

us to a number of meetings with indigenous church leaders.  The

various locations fleshed out quite a diverse group of church leaders.

Our first meeting was with a group from long established churches in

the Quito area.  They were very transparent as they shared that

continuing in the western model simply wasn’t reaching their people.

They were weary of attempting to keep lifeless machinery running.  Oh,

but what an excitement was revealed when they realized that programs,

buildings, and even American missionaries were not the answer but

rather the revealed Word of God.  Nothing is needed but a Holy Spirit

empowered implementation of the truths found therein.

Our second meeting was as if we were seeing firsthand the Book of Acts

fleshed out.  Brother Juan has laid a Biblical foundation of what the

Church should be.  The believers have eagerly taken hold and are

actively learning how to become a God reliant reproducing church.

The various meetings in the Puyo area revealed similar conditions.

Weariness seemed to accompany those who were exposed to the

constraints of buildings and program oriented ministries. On the other

hand, there was a perceivable excitement in the places were buildings

and programs were not the focus.  All, however, were greatly refreshed

and encouraged as they were again reminded that God has provided

everything necessary to see the Great Commission to its conclusion.

Our responsibility is simply to embrace and obey His teachings.

Our families, ministries, and work required this trip to come to a

conclusion.  Our thanks to each of you who prayed for us, our

families, and most of all the glory of God in our absence.

Thankfully His,

Tommy

After two months in Peru, Rob and Jessie take a look back and try to put their fingers on just what it is that’s kept them here so long. Click here for parts One (Peruvian People), Two (Peruvian Transportation) and Three (Peruvian Food).

In Part 4: Peru’s beauty, both natural and human-made

People have lived here an awfully long time

When I was a kid out in Harrah, Washington, I was in awe of how old Fort Simcoe was. The houses had been turned into museums so that we kids could marvel at how primitive life was in the 1850’s and scare each other with ghost stories. It was ancient history.

These days as we take the bus back and forth from Huanchaco to Trujillo, we pass along a road that cuts through the 20 square kilometer ruins of Chan Chan. A few kilometers out of town, and older still, the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna are still being excavated and giving up their ancient secrets.

The ancient pre-Inca cultures of Peru’s North Coast had the same building materials of today’s inhabitants: mud brick. This means they’re often in a pretty bad state of repair, which can get wearying to the ungrateful traveler, but their contemporaries in the Andes were blessed with stone, which leaves ruins that are often less impressive in sheer size (Túcume’s pyramid complex rivals the Egyptians, it is said), but more interesting in terms of us being able to understand what we’re seeing.

The Cajamarca culture left us Cumbe Mayo and the Ventanillas de Otuzco, as well as the tourist-icized Inca Baths. The Chachapoya left us the fortified city of Kuelap, the mummies of Laguna de los Condores, the spectacular sarcophagi of Karajia, the Revash complex, as well as countless other smaller ruins that are known only to a few. See how only three of those have a link? We’ll definitely be going back to that area.

Peru is amazingly stunningly wonderfully beautiful.

Sometimes getting there can be the best part, as in our train ride from Lima to Huancayo, or bus ride from Cajamarca to Chachapoyas.

Rob’s taken a couple thousand photos of how beautiful the landscape is, and I’ve written a couple thousand words describing the natural beauty of places like the Gruta de Guagapo and Gocta Waterfall. We spent four days loving every minute of the rain during our trek through the Santa Cruz valley, and every bump on our mountain bike day-trip in the Cordillera Blanca.

Peru is a land of extremes, from the dry, barren coastline to the breathtakingly severe Andes to the humid, fertile jungle, and you can go from one extreme to another in a matter of hours.

I’m trying to keep in mind that we’ve only seen a fraction of the country’s northern half in these hectic two months of travel. I’m looking forward to a new pace of life as we settle into Huanchaco and volunteering—going from a grand, skin-deep overview to an in-depth look at a single community. In December we’ll hit the road again, this time visiting some of the more touristy places with Mama and Papa Kwak, and then, who knows?

I think we’ll be happy no matter where we go here. It is Peru, after all.

The Andes Mountains are perhaps the most impressive mountain range in the world*.  Unlike the Rockies, the Andes are a young (relatively speaking) range.  The Rockies, while incredibly beautiful, are essentially crumbling away into a pile of rubble.  The Andes, on the other hand, are still on the rise (even more than the Jonas Brothers).  Take a look here.  This spire of rock violently stabs at the air, the cliffs fall away into cavernous ravines.  It is a truly stunning place.

In this photo: Cordillera Blancas, Ancash, Peru

* only mountain ranges which I have seen, (which excludes  the Himalayas)