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What You Get Isn’t Always What You See

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Mike

I am a very picky eater. A difficult thing for a guy who loves to eat in restaurants. An especially difficult thing hopping from strange country to strange country with strange foods. Strange, of course, to me – the visitor. As foreigners we sometimes gag at things others eat. Food can stir up such emotions. Just spend a moment with a vegan.

My palate has grown more adventurous as my travels have increased. I will now try any local weird food, but the weirder the smaller the bite.  Guinea pig (they call it cuy) in Ecuador or Peru? Okay, but just a sliver. I didn’t say my taste buds were wild and carefree 🙂

So today, that taste for food adventure emerged. A hankering for something different for lunch. So out into the wilds of foodland I went in search of some local fare, perhaps some mean cuisine with a twist and a bit of flair. I walked to the center of Calama, Chile, where there’s a concentration of restaurants, looking at menu after menu. Nothing struck me. I made my way back across town in the direction of a particular restaurant that seemed to have some local items. I ordered an Italian cappuccino and asked the server to give me another minute to decide what to eat. Impatient, she gave me a half-minute. I asked for another minute, please. She stepped aside, but hovered. Feeling rushed, I couldn’t decide what to order. None of the items on the menu sung “O Mio Babbino Caro“ to me. When that happens I’ve struck upon a heavenly delight.

[Impatient server moving closer] Okay. I think I will really go wild: how about a Caesar salad? Yep, a Caesar. This is what it looked like:

Caesar salad? Really?

So much for adventure today. But what’s with all this cheese in my Caesar? Under that thick layer of yellow was just lettuce and a few chicken strips. Mustard on the side. Croutons on the perimeter. Okay. You are not in your homeland. Things are done differently elsewhere, I reminded myself. Dig in!

Well, not bad with the spiced up mustard added. And the chicken hidden below the cheese was cooked to perfection. So, too, I gather, was the long strip of hair I found as I went for another bite. This is what I found:

A little bit of pepper, a dash of paprika, a pinch of salt, a strand of hair...

Well, I did have a taste for something exotic, didn’t I? Brunette? Hmmm…yum!

I calmly put down my fork and called over the server nearest to me. My impatient server had gone AWOL. When she reappeared, the other server whispered in her ear – presumably not sweet nothings, but the problem at Table 9. She came over and offered to make me a new salad – yeah, right, I’m going to fall for that fresh plate of salad trick – or order something else. Well, I think I’m done eating, thank you. I’ve suddenly lost my taste for food adventure. Then again, on the way over here I think I saw a McDonald’s.

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A Place In The Desert Sun Where Snow Kisses Sand

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Mike
Licancabur, view of the volcano from San Pedro...

Licancabur Volcano viewed from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. The volcano is located in Bolivia and Chile. Click image for more information

And so I am now in San Pedro de Atacama, the tiny village in the middle of the desert that draws thousands of tourists seeking natural fun and adventure.

The Atacama Desert in Chile‘s northern region is a landscape like no other. As I made the one-hour bus ride from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama I wondered why is it that this vast land is not deemed one of the world’s natural wonders. Have you ever seen or heard of a place on Earth where in the middle of the desert there is actually snow? Boggles the mind.

The Andes Mountain range runs fairly uninterrupted through the Atacama Desert, and where there are tall mountain peaks there’s usually snow. The landscape is a study in contrasts. My eyes focused on the snow-blanketed mountains but my mind kept saying, wait a minute, you are in an arid zone, a vast wasteland straight out of Mad Max’s Thunderdome. And yet, there’s the snow, lots of it, cascading down to the desert sand. Man, I’m definitely heading up one of those mountains to shift from hot sand to cool snow in one day’s climb. Hot to cold and back to hot. Well, more like warm. It is winter in the desert and while the days are comfortably warm, the nights are chilly.

As for San Pedro de Atacama, it isn’t at all what I expected: homes and other buildings are built from adobe – a mixture of clay, sand, straw and water – and roads left unpaved – in other words, rocky dirt words that I’m sure turn to mud – if it ever rains. The Atacama is the driest place on Earth.

The village, with homes that date back to the 1500s, seems to have been built to cater to tourists. It has rows upon rows of hostels and hotels and businesses that offer guided tours to see the mountains, the desert, the geysers, lakes, lagoons and salt flats. Tour guides abound. There are also the usual shops – countless of them – selling local arts and crafts. In short order, San Pedro de Atacama is crawling with tourists who outnumber actual residents, just below 2,000 people. The tourists are here for obvious reasons. The town is the launch pad for all the natural beauty – the flora and fauna – that the surrojunding area offers. But beyond that, San Pedro de Atacama is a fantastic little town that has remained largely unchanged for centuries. It’s well worth a visit.

Now if they could only do something about the wind kicking up all that sand. Bring sunglasses to keep some of that sand out of your eyes. And expect to be dusted in that fine desert sand.

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The Rush Of A Desert River

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Mike

Today I decided to leave the town center of barren Calama, Chile, to go find the longest river in Chile, the very circuitous and as I discovered, very cold Loa River. The river originates high in the Andes Mountains and snakes its way across the northern portion of the world’s longest country. The Loa courses high above sea level along some of its stretches. Its fresh water from the mountains becomes brackish in some areas. That is certainly true when it makes its way through Calama.

I took a very long walk along the river, following its banks as much as passage allowed without actually going for a swim. In some areas, the river is very deep and the water is ice-cold, even through the desert. There was no way I would leave the Loa without at least dipping in a toe. I took off my boots, my socks, and rolled up my jeans and went in calf deep. Brrrrrr. A cold shock to the system, but then I started to get used to it. Or maybe I had just grown numb to the freezing temperature.

It was an absolutely beautiful day in Calama. I was confusing the glands that regulate body temperature as I felt the warmth of the sun heated my upper body while the chill of the river froze my feet. I got out of the water and sat on the banks of the river. There is something especially soothing about sitting by a river out in the middle of nowhere with birds singing in the afternoon. If I were a bird I’d sing all day, too, living out here in this beautiful wilderness.

I will never say I love Calama. Since starting my journey more than five months ago, I have seen prettier places. But even in ugliness there is beauty. Just look at the rundown houses in Venice, the paint peeled, the stucco grimy, the facade aged. Even those are beautiful. So in Calama, you can find beauty if you look with a certain eye.

Despite the fact I spent the entire afternoon walking along the banks of the river, I still had some energy left to clown around, as you can see from these pictures. Now, there are some people – and I wonder sometimes why I still call them friends – who will criticize me for “having too much fun” as if life is to be spent in eternal misery. To them I say, I’ve heard you. You’ve already said your piece. Live your life the way you see fit, unhappy or otherwise, and I’ll continue to do what what brings me joy – travel – which is meant to be enjoyed. I’m not exactly in Paris – not yet – or some very cool city, but I will make the best of Calama and enjoy it as much as possible.

To the rest of you who don’t mind a little silliness every now and then, I leave you with a photographic essay of  how I spent my day. Until next time…

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