-Hey All-

Here's several albums that I didn't have time to post while traveling; only here at home in Idaho do I have time to catch up on posting pictures! At the moment, none of the photos have captions...that'll be work for tomorrow.

Early October:Perú Album 1

Perú Album 2

Mid October: Bogotá

Late October: Cartagena Early November:The Lost City

Mid November:The CaribbeanMedellín Late November:

Popayán So, the trip is finally over. I flew from Bogotá on the 20th of November and arrived in Spokane, WA on the 21st, greeted by my family in the airport. So far I've spent most of my time carving out a niche in my parents house and trying to re-establish my life here in the US of A e.g. work, automobile, insurance, cell phone, etc, etc. I'm giving myself another week and a half before reverse culture shock starts kicking in. I can be reached by telephone (208) 245 4643 or at travis.m.avery@gmail.com.

Well I managed to totally skip a group of photos. This happens before we go to Puetro Madryn to see the whales and penguins. So here you have it: A few photos from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The greater metropolitan area has a population of 12.4 million people...huge! There aren`t many photos because I just didn´t feel safe whipping out the camera and waving it around, which is unfortunate because there is a lot to see.

Click here.

-Hey All-

More photos, this time from Península Valdés in Argentina. Lots of photos of southern right whales and Magellanic penguins and a handful of other characters that call the sea home for most of the year.

Album 1

Album 2

Enjoy!!

Days Traveling: 48

Hours in Transit: 202

Countries Visited: 4

Still more photos!! Salta is the northernmost important city in Argentina, with tons of restaurants, clubs, and things to do. We were only there for three days, and I sick two of those days, so there aren´t too many pics.

From there, it was a 26 hour bus ride to Iguazú Falls on the Argentine/Brasilian border. Get ready for a lot of photos of water.

Click here!

I thought it would be cool to keep a running tally of hours in transit and countries visited, so from here on out you´ll see this:

Days Traveling: 20

Hours in Transit: 114

Countries Visited: 2

Hey hey, we´re back!!! This time with pictures from a 6-day trek into the jungle. It´s divided into two Facebook albums because of the 50 photo limit. Enjoy!! And as always, questions are welcomed.

Click here for Album 1!

Click here for Album 2!

Okay, the next batch of photos, albeit a bit after the fact. Here we have pics of my last full day in Pampa Aullagas, my home for two years. It was a bit surreal, leaving the place probably forever, or at least for a very long time. And, at the risk of sounding super corny, I´ll go ahead and say that I´ll miss a lot of things, like the Altiplano night sky, the southern cross, wicked sunsets, llama steaks, the neighbor dog Fito, and most of all, my friends.

Here´s the link. Enjoy!

Click here!

Best regards to all,

-Travis-

Due to the very laborious and time extensive process of posting photos directly on the blog, I´ve decided that it´s much easier for me to post them on a website called facebook, then post the link here for you all to enjoy. You don´t have to sign up to look at the photos; just click on the thumbnail and you should get an enlarged format with a caption (providing I wrote one).

Photos from La Paz and Tiwanaku! Click Here!

Sorry bout the change of pace. Let me know if you absolutely don´t like it.

Now for an update. My Peace Corps service is rapidly coming to a close. July 27th, I leave behind the place I´ve spent the last two years and three months of my life and start an extended trek across Latin America with two of my close PC friends, starting with a national park in Bolivia, then moving on to Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, then on up to Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and hopefully the rest of central america, the ultimate goal being to arrive via land to the United States of America, home sweet home. So, be expecting a slew of photos from new and exciting places. Icebergs, penguins, whales, tango bars, empty rum bottles, caribbean beaches, Mayan ruins, jungles, monkeys, exotic birds, etc, etc,.

-Trav-

Cusco, Perú is the site of the former Incan empire capital and is said to have been founded in the 11th century. Pizarro sacked it in 1535. And, in typical Spanish fashion, they killed or enslaved most of the Incas, destroyed most of the city, and built churches over the ruins of temples. All for the sake of some gold and silver.

One of the two massive cathedrals in Plaza de Armas.

Plaza de Armas on Christmas Eve. Most of the people in the plaza that night were real Peruvians, which is a rare sight in the center of Cusco; usually it´s swarming with tourists and the only Peruvians are shopkeepers. Vendors came from rural areas to sell mosses, herbs, plants, incense, charcol, and hundreds of other unidentifiable objects that are used in the "Noche Buena" ceremonies. Inca stonework of the temple remains in Cusco. It´s true that you can´t slip a knife blade in the joints. To this day it´s not certain how they accomplished such incredible precision. One theory claims that the seemingly arbitrary angles, corners, and surface treatments are a type of codec that only high-level Incan priests could decipher.

On the road to where we started our four-day trek.

The poor beast of burden that would carry our gear up to a height of 15,500 feet of altitude and back down.

The village where we spent the first night. People still live as they did thousands of years ago, farming potatoes and raising llamas to eat and to trade once a month for other goods. Typical stone house with its corrals. This kid put on this face every time a camera was pointed his way. The people in this area have only been exposed to tourists for about two years now, so they were very shy and respectful. Whereas in Bolivia, you´re almost always pointed at and called "meester," or gringo. We didn´t hear one meester or gringo the entire time. Jacob and I performing the star jump.

It being summer in the southern hemisphere, we were cursed with heavy fog and constant rain on our hike, but now and then a peak would poke through the clouds. Two campesinos in traditional dress of the area. Taking a break on the way up.Type of moss/ground cover. It felt like the plastic indoor/outdoor turf.

This slope used to be covered with a glacier, but due to global warming that doesn´t exist, the glacier doesn´t exist anymore either.

At the pass, we each gathered a small rock to stack as a cairn as an offering of safe passage to the Incan gods. They worshipped Pachamama as a female god (mother nature) and the peaks as male gods. The first half of our trek followed what was a sacred road up to the peaks where the priests would make offerings to the angry male gods. A typical offering would be three female virgins who would walk to the ice skirts of the glacier and lie down to freeze to death. Sounds like a bad deal for them, but they considered it a great honor.

Guess who.

This raging stream flows down to the Urubamba river, whose valley was the "Sacred Valley" of the Incas, where most of their religious centers like Machu Picchu are located.

Taking a break during an 11-hour day of hiking. Of course it was raining.One of the many faces in the sides of mountains. They built a temple in Cusco for this old man. He´s facing right (towards Cusco), with his hand on a boulder.After taking a train at the end of our trek, finally we´re in Machu Picchu!!!Standing outside the main gate looking back up the path towards the guardhouse.The main gate into the compound. It´s narrow enough for one loaded llama to fit through. Inside the gate looking back up at the path.Temple of the Sun. The rock in the middle is part of the natural formations but was carved to correspond with the rays of sunlight that come through the windows of the temple on important dates i.e. the winter solstice, june 21st. The sun was considered a god. The first of a series of fountains in Machu Picchu. This is located by the Temple of the Sun and is the cleanest of the fountains (the same water falls through all the fountains), which gives an indication to its importance.

A cave under the Temple of the Sun, also carved from natural formations. There are plenty of theories as to the function, but none are for certain. One theory says that places such as these were carved before the Incas, and the Incas built the temples and religious centers around these special rocks to preserve and study them. The famous hour-glass stonework inserted between two natural rock formations.

Other natural formations are carved to mimic the ridges of surrounding mountains.This is an abstract representation of one of the nearby mountains carved out of a block of natural stone with high quartz content. If you place your hand over the rock you can feel a static charge. An Incan house. About 10:30 a.m. and the clouds are lifting. A view of Machu Picchu from Huayna Picchu.

Ladders and cables help tourists on trails that Incas would walk with eyes closed.Part of the Temple of the Moon.

Seated in a chair in the Temple of the Moon. Even Incan architecture mimics the surrounding landscape...

...like this......and like this. The money shot.

Views on the train-ride back to Cusco.

Greetings from Upside-Down Land, where people throw sticks of dynamite at each other to solve disputes. Private cooperatives clashed with the government-owned companies over control of Bolivia´s mines, which seems absolutely and utterly idiotic considering Bolivia has been pushing to nationalize all their other resources, namely the hydrocarbon industry. Nonetheless, logic and reason seem to have a loose hold here in Bolivia. So, we now have a very tense situation and several dead miners.

See some of the madness for yourself. It´s in Spanish, so just watch for the dynamite explosions. Keep in mind that this takes place in Oruro, where I live. Also keep in mind that there are no laws/regulations/restrictions as to who can carry dynamite; if I wanted, I could go buy twenty kilos of the crap right now.

http://www.univision.com/content/content/content.jhtml?cid=981868

Cheers to the rest of the world where logic and reason prevail (to a certain degree).

Dude,

Its good to hear from you again. Shawn and I were begining to think that our squirly little expatriate freind had finaly succumbed to dysentery or banitos. How much longer do you think you'll be in Bolivia? We still need to make that trip to Machu Piccu. I've been contemplating building myself a sailboat and subsequently learning to sail of course. I imagine that this will take quite some time, but who knows, perhaps we can sail to Peru. Although I think its a prety long trek from the coast to Machu Piccu. I'll have to quit my job before any of this happens.

Are you still in the Peace Corp. or are you just hanging around South America for the scenery? From the looks of your photos there seems to be pleanty of scenery worth haning around for.

Stay healthy and alive, and keep in touch.

Later,

Brian

Che Guevara, an icon in the rest of the world, has little fame in the United States, and I suppose with good reason. The communist who wanted to instigate a war between the US and the Soviet Union might not cut a very popular figure in the States. Nonetheless, the finer points arguable, Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna is hugely popular in South America as a poster child of revolution. His caracature is found in grafitti, t-shirts, bumper stickers, billboards, and just about anywhere.

The 7th to the 9th of October marks the capture date and excution, respectively, of this Argentine-born revolutionary, and there is a festival to commemorate these dates in the towns of Vallegrande and La Higuera, where US-trained Bolivian special forces captured and executed Che. We expected a plaza filled with dirty hippies essential to the festival, but were sorely disappointed; there were only four hippies!!

Town of Vallegrande, Santa Cruz. In 1967, the people of Vallegrande sent Che packing into the hills persued by Bolivian Special Forces; they refused to help his cause.

Pueblo of Pucara on the way to La Higuera from Vallegrande.The back of a truck is the most common (and most uncomfortable) means of travel in Bolivia.Protesters in Pucara taking advantage of the influx of traffic to La Higuera; they blockaded the only route, demanding electricity for the village, leaving Che fans stranded for a couple hours.All the houses in Vallegrande are covered with Che and anti-capitalist grafitti.

Large bronze statue in La Higuera

The same giant head.Mostly in attendance in La Higuera were Cuban doctors that are working in Boliva.More Cubans. Being one of 5 gringos in attendance was a bit disconscerning.Here comes President Evo Morales´ helicopter! There was a brief moment of excitement cut short when we learned that it was empty, arriving only to transport Che´s daughter, the Cuban ambassador, and the Venezuelan ambassador back to La Paz. The flag you see is the Whipala, the banner of the people of the Andes.At one point in the demonstration, everyone was chanting "CUBA SI, YANKEES NO!!!" That translates to "Screw the Americans." Somehow communism doesn´t go hand in hand with dignidad (dignity), like this here sign wants us to think... Smaller statue of Che put up by students and ripped down by soldiers several times over the years. Che´s following has always been youth, and still is.Inside the schoolhouse where Che was interrogated.Writing on the threshold of the door of the schoolhouse in La Higuera where Che was interrogated and executed by a Cuban-born CIA agent in 1967. Translation: "Through this door left a man to eternity."Washhouse in Vallegrande where Che´s handless body was layed out on the wash basin to be itentified by Bolivian military and US CIA agents.Pondering over the story of Che.

Viva la revolución!!!

By the mausoleum in Vallegrande, where Che´s body and six of his companions were buried in secret by the airstrip.

The idea of the clandestine burial was to keep Che and his companions from becoming martyrs in the name of communism, and only in 1997 were the bodies uncovered when the location was disclosed by a Bolivian soldier involved.

Paying homage. I´m not a communist, but I certainly respect the man.Nightfall in Vallegrande.

The ruins called El Fuerte, or The Fort, are Bolivia´s best preserved ruins to date. Located by the town of Samaipata, department of Santa Cruz, it is also one of Bolivia´s most frequented tourist destinations.

Not much is known about the origins of the site, only that it pre-dates Incan settlment by thousands of years or more. It was thought by the Spanish conquistadors to be a fort due to its hilltop placement, but that theory has been disproved. More likely it was a vast temple complex, with the most prominent figures being the Jaguar and the Serpent. These zoological forms and others are carved into the rock. Also present in the rock spine are a complex system of canals, depressions, holes, zig-zags, cisterns, niches for dieties, and a whole lot of unexplainable forms.

It also shows Incan settlment with its great hall (second largest in Bolivia), immense plaza, market, and housing. On top of that is remnants of Spanish domination.

Less than a third of the entire site has been excavated.

Panorama of "El Fuerte"One theory describes the site as a sort of airstrip for extraterrestrials. Go figure.

Incan housing. Surrounding landscape, looking towards the south end of Parque Amboró Second largest Incan great hall in Bolivia. The eight lumps on the right side are the columns that used to open up to the huge town plaza.

Example of the extensive carving on the rock spine.More niches for idols.Leaving the site at sunset.MORE PHOTOS SOON

Well I´m back after about a six-month blogger-negligence. And with a bang. These photos are only a few of the hundreds taken on a four-day backapacking trek in the jungle with my Dutch pal Tom. And seeing how most of them are on Tom´s camera, you´ll all have to wait until I get my hands on them. So until then, here´s a few. More to come!

Starting point of a 4-day trek into the jungle

Notice the size of the rocks in the riverbed, and compare that to what you see later.Tom Van Diessen, my Dutch friend.First night´s campsite.

iPod charger in the jungle.Starting point of the second day.Backpacking in the jungle is a bit different than in Idaho.Any guesses as to what this might be? You´re right, it´s part of the shell of a fossilized, giant armadillo!!Tiny little frog chillin´ on the armadillo shell.Plenty of animal tracks in the mud, but not one sighting.I suppose that´s kind of neat, eh?Notice the hanging nests in the tree. They were everywhere!! We referred to them as hanging skulls, and never actually saw what kind of bird/creature inhabited them.Doesn´t get much more beautiful than that.For the first day, there was a decently defined trail to follow, but for the next two days, it followed the riverbed. That meant that we did a great deal of boulder-hopping with our packs. A new experience for me, being raised on the manicured hiking trails of the St. Joe National Forest in Idaho.More boulder-hopping.They just keep getting bigger!!Second night´s campsiteAt one point, we had to make a tricky hand-off of packs in a particularly deep part of a canyon. This is me trying to keep my balance on algae-coverd rocks just under the surface. If I fall off them, it´s game over.Tom on the recieving end of the operation.And one pack successfully delivered to dry ground, leaving one more to go.Paradise!!

Third night´s campsite. Panorama of Parque Nacional Amboró on the drive back to the town of Buena Vista.

Hey Travis,

I had your Pops hook me with a invite to your site. All my info changed and i couldn't Log back in, becuase I forgot all my info. I would probably for got to breath too if my brain didn't already do it for me. Anyway I hope things are good. I have a new email address. It is dezine2c@comcast.net

I hope you are doing well, I heard you got robbed...shitty. Let me know if I can send you anything.

-Jared

In the jungle village of Cururu, the lil chillins were astonished to one morning find a group of nine gringos, some whiter than others, on the opposite river bank loading a truckload of equipment into their dugout canoes and later taking residence in the chief´s hut. Cururu, which means "toad," is a community of the nearly-extinct Guarayo people that live in the north of the Santa Cruz department, nearly on the border of the Beni department. With their distict culture and language, they number less than 10,000, which is probably means they´re closer to extinction than the endangered and protected species they hunt on a regular basis. TO BE CONTINUED LATER

Así trabajamos.

Friday morning at 7:00 a.m.

Friday afternoon about 3:00 p.m.

Gumer relaxing during a break.

Gumer´s brother, Mamerto.

Boiling water for coca tea at 7:30 p.m. friday night.

Freezing my ass off at 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Gumer loaned me his poncho. Trying to keep warm!Coca tea in the morning...mmmm. No, it´s not cocaine.Trying to keep the herd together.

Skull from a ransacked grave on the mountain behind the town. Two skeletons were torn apart and bones thrown all over the place, presumably by humans and animals. Notice the cone-head. Cranial deformation!! Gross.

3,000 year old tomb with half of a skeleton, a pot, and one tooth. From the era inbetween Tiwanaku and the Incas. According to a Bolivian acheaologist, animals are responsible for the missing half. The pot will go in a museum the town is trying to establish.

3,000 year old ceramic with paint intact. View of sunset by the tomb-site.

-Well, back in the saddle again.

The famous quinoa, a high-protein super grain that grows exclusively in the Altiplano

Resident bird of prey. There´s a group of about six that live in the mountain. Once again, the rare vicuña. Crawled through the quinoa patch on hands and knees to get about 10 meters away from a group of 22 of the buggers; usually they travel in groups of 5 to 8. Two males proceeded to fight with their necks, wrestling each other to the ground and squealing like stuck pigs.

-Hey All-

Those of you that visit regularly will have noticed the lack of new posts. Unfortunately, along with most of my sanity, I left my camera cable up in Colombia. Since then I´ve been relying on my friends´ cables to upload my photos and it´s not very convenient. But never fear, a replacement should arrive soon and I´ll be back to posting like mad once again.

Even without photos, I could give a litle update as to the work situation. Finally, after almost 9 months in my site, I´m getting the necessary documents signed by the necessary parties, which means that I´ll be getting money money money to start drilling wells. Should be breaking ground with a month and a half (still have to buy all the materials first).

Cheers,

-Travis-

Travis,

Nice photos. Lookin good. You are really good with that camera. We miss you.

Ross is growing up while you are away. You can see it in his face. He's seems to have a lot stuff on his mind. Read, not just the usual stuff like food, games & sleeping in. :) I really enjoyed playing chess with him several times over a couple of hours at the table back in January.

John, Alicia, Benjamin, Hannah & Breanna

Hey everybody!! Yours truly, without facial hair for the first time in a loooong time.

Some of you have been wondering what my living conditions are, so here´s a collage of a 180 view of my room (no, Ross, it´s not a hut)

My friend Jaime and I. This is a really fun situation. The rains have essentially made the mountain an island, and the road, as you can see, has been washed out in several places. So after getting off the bus, taking off shoes and socks, and wading across the washed out sections, we´re waiting for the bus to make it through or fall off the road into the water. It made it, thankfully.Normally, all that water is dry ground.

Looking north west west.

Another fun river crossing. This is taken from a footbridge.

-Hey All-Here we have some photos from my trip to Colombia. What a crazy time!

Pre-colombian statues over the Rio Magdalena

Me -n- Ita

Our trusty guide in St. Agustín, Agny

Marcelo and I by the Estrecho del Rio MagdalenaEl Corazón de JesusChildren of a family that makes panelaLeft, Agny; right, Paulo Marcelo, my Colombian brother

More statues.Getting friendly with this monster.Another sweet statue.Fountain called Lavapatas, or "foot washer"Ita and Paulo MarceloCata on the left, me, ItaAlfredo, the father, dancing with Cata on Christmas day

Teresa, the mother, playing and singing on ChrismasItayosara and her best friend Anita...and me.

Cousin RubenPaulo Marcelo and uncle RodrigoDancing with mom!!In the dining room with mom and dad the day of my departure, with a nifty new beanie they gave me

Minutes before leaving for the airport. I don´t wanna go!!!! Waiting with grandma and mom.