“There’s a good reason why nobody studies history, it just teaches you too much.”  ~  Noam Chomsky Manta is the “Tuna Capital of the World” and we didn’t have time to stop at the fish market 🙁   (BTW the little blue on the belly of the fish is a window reflection, not part of the […]

Our first stop in Peru was El Chaco, a small port town serving the city of Pisco since the 1600’s.  However, the shore excursions in Pisco, Peru were too long or energetic for us, so we simply went into the port town of El Chaco, a charming village on Paracas Bay.  The Malecon has been […]

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”  ~  Ibn Battuta Built with Oregon pine shipped as ballast during the copper boom.  This town was once part of Peru and grew prosperous in the 19th century from saltpetre mining, a form of potassium nitrate.  It was ceded to Chile in 1883 […]

“The most energetic workers I have encountered in my world travels are the vegetarian miners of Chile.”  ~  Charles Darwin An important 19th-century port in the copper and gold industry Coquimbo and its riches lured many Europeans.  Today Comquimbo is a thriving gateway to Chile’s scenic central valleys.  Nearby, coastal La Serena, founded in 1544, […]

Nautical Term ~ of the day ~ Rummage Sale “Rummage” comes from the French arrimage, the word for a ship’s cargo. Damaged cargo was sold at a “rummage sale.” Easter Island is a Chilean territory/state. A number of sailing vessels, including whalers, visited the island from 1792 onward. By 1860 the population was about 3,000. […]

“The mountains are calling and I must go”. ~ John Muir Rio Simpson National Reserve, with a beautiful rugged landscape.  We love our rhubarb from WI and John is standing next to it’s South American cousin, while not actually related to European rhubarb, it looks similar (though even larger) and tastes very much the same.  […]

Chemicals added to the water to kill/prevent ticks which would be scratched a lot and ruin the wool. They need the head submerged to cover it with the chemicals too.

“City at the End of the World” Ushuaia is the capital of and gateway to the celebrated Tierra del Fuego, the “Land of Fire,” named by Spaniards upon seeing the constant flames burned by the indigenous Yamana to keep warm.  This region comprises the large island of Tierra del Fuego and countless Chilean and Argentinean […]

Conversation between leaders of the UK and Argentina UK: knock knock. Argentina: who’s there? UK: Falkland Islands. Argentina: I don’t get it. UK: And you never will. A Very Short History of the Falklands War On 2 April 1982, Argentinian forces invaded the British overseas territory of the Falkland Islands. Argentina had claimed sovereignty over […]