Photo Album from our last Two Months

Our lunch and siesta spot in Bocas del Toro, Panama after a morning snorkeling and dolphin watching. Gotta love a tropical afternoon on a Caribbean island.

Quilotoa Crater, Ecuador. Ranging between 12,000 and 14,000 feet, we hiked the 7 mile loop along the ridge around this amazing crater lake.

At the refugio on Cotopaxi Volcano in Ecuador. 15,840 feet in a blizzard at the Equator. Later in the trip we would reach a Hoffman record height of 19,470 feet on Huayna Potosi in Bolivia.

Jessica rappels a 240 foot waterfall ¨Cascada Corazon¨ near Mindo, Ecuador, with help from our guide missing his right thumb! (that´s never a good sign)

Biking through beer can on Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro, Panama (in the Caribbean) On the way out to one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen, riding by the dump presented this humorous photo.

Water spout approaching as Bill gets ready to paddle out anyways into overhead surf at Dominical, Costa Rica. The surf went off the entire week we were there!

Zip lining through a cloud forest in Mindo, Ecuador. South America´s most extreme canopy tour.

Caught in a tropical storm and loving every minute of it, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. The lightning that was right on top of us and intense rain in this evening squall were unbelievable.

During our third rappeling outing, Bill rappels a waterfall near Baños, Ecuador. So tall it doesn´t fit in the picture!

Finally Some Pictures! Bolivia ¨Death Ride¨ (see below for Chile Update)

We finally have some pictures and the ability to post them!

From the ¨Death Road¨ ride in Bolivia.

At left, our group in the classic section of the ride half way in and above Jessica leading Bill and the pack through the first section of pavement early in the day.

We Made it to Santiago, Chile!

Well, after a brutal travel day we finally made it to our hotel in Santiago, Chile. Coming off our LONG climbing day in Bolivia, we were up early the next morning and off to the airport. We awoke to a La Paz covered in snow! Nothing quite like a snowy July 27th. Fortunately, the airport was operational and after a drawn out check in we boarded our Lan flight departing from the world´s highest international airport. An hour later we landed in Iquique, Chile. From 19,000 feet on Huayna Potosi to sea level in 30 hours. Iquique is a unique coastal town located in the Atacama Desert, where there is literally not a plant in sight. Turns out the rest of the passengers on OUR flight were heading on to Santiago immediately. For some reason our booking skipped the next 3 flights and left us with a 10 hour layover! We tried the stand-by rountine, then gave up and headed into Iquique as originally planned to spend the day. A nice taxi driver took us to town, gave us a little tour, then returned us to the airport 8 hours later. We enjoyed a great walk along the beach, explored the town´s historic district, had great seafood, and sampled Chile´s beers. Our Santiago bound flight arrived at 2:00 AM and to our great relief our bags arrived safely once again!!! This was a huge milestone as our ski gear has now traveled through 9 airports enroute to this southern hemisphere ski destination. Our first no show transfer of the trip left us to find our own ride to the Hotel Orly, where we arrived (at a reduced rate no less) arround 3:30 AM. Makes us tired just thinking about it. Our hotel is wonderful and we are excited to explore Santiago over the next 2 days before heading up to Valle Nevado ski resort.

Our Bolivian Send-off Adventure

Background: One of the things Bill was really excited to check out in Bolivia was the world´s highest ski area, Chacaltaya. On a perfect, cloudless day we climbed to the top of Chacaltaya at 17,000 ft. Unfortunately the glacier is mostly gone and the ski area is no longer. However, across the valley is the peak you see pictured at right, Huayna Potosi. Having two open nights we booked a 3 day/2 night guided climb.

Day 1: After getting all of our gear, we were driven to the base camp hut and given our mattress to sleep on for the night on the floor of the loft along with 17 other climbers. Decked out in our gear we hiked up to the leading edge of the peak´s main glacier and spent 3 hours climbing, traversing, and descending it using ice axes, crampons, harnesses and ropes.

Day 2: With full packs we climbed from the base camp at 15,000 ft. to the Rock Camp (advanced base camp climber´s hut) at 17,000 ft. The hike up was brutally steep on a loose scree field. While in an amazingly picturesque setting, the entire area reeked of urine and we shared an even smaller loft. 20 climbers slept in the loft from 5:30 PM after "dinner" until midnight when the climb for the top begins. We were elbow to elbow, feet to feet, with a six inch corridor down the middle of the two nasty foam pads. Just imagine 20 foreign climbers who hadn´t showered in 2 days and all their gear packed in this stuffy, freezing space. By the way, we were the only English speakers. You can imagine the sounds and smells. Speaking of which, let´s not even talk about the bathroom facilities.

Day 3: After not really sleeping, at midnight we put on all our gear and with headlamps shining the way, began the steep climb up the glacier roped together with our guide. After a brutal 5 hours we neared the final exposed pitch up the summit pyramid. Unfortunately, the typical perfect weather this time of year here, was not to be. It had snowed earlier in the night, leaving the trail soft and a nasty, cold wind was gusting. Feeling the strain of 2 sleepless nights, the elevation, and uncooperative weather we decided to not risk it and turned back after successfully exceeding 19,000 ft. We descended a bit, not believing how steep it had been, then watched the sunrise before returning to high camp for our things. Once packed up we descended the now snow covered scree field to base camp. An hour later we were in a car heading back to La Paz and the Hotel Rosario.

Overall: On one hand we had the unique opportunity to spend 3 days in one of the most amazing mountain environments on our planet. We saw eagles soaring, watched numerous Andean peaks illuminate from dusk til dawn, and had a world class climbing experience. On the flip side, the cramped, dank huts, permeating smell of urine, horrible food, sleepless nights, and intense suffering at 19,000 ft. in gale force winds made us very happy to have this adventure end.

Surviving the Death Road

After returning from Copacabana and Lake Titicaca our next adventure was to mountain bike down the old road from the Andes above La Paz at 17,000 ft. to the subtropical Yungas at 3,000 ft. We arrived at the tour agency at 6:30 AM, met the great group that would join us for the day, then an hour later were on our high end downhill bikes at the pass covered in snow. The canyons we descended rivaled Hell´s Canyon and the snow gradually gave way to tropical vegetation. During the section of the ride known as the Death Road vertical cliffs dropped away from the narrow, rough dirt road. Eventually we were Death Ride Survivors lounging at the pool of a hotel near the end of the ride. We drove back to La Paz on the new road that bypasses the section we rode, amazed at what we had just accomplished. Bolivia is a wild and exotic place, and in a few minutes we are off on an entirely different type of adventure. If you are interested look up Huayna Potosi. For the next two nights we will be staying at two different huts on the flanks of this great peak.

Lake Titicaca & Isla del Sol

Due to the strong winds this morning the harbor in Copacabana was shut down and no boats could go to Isla del Sol. Lucky for us, our amazing private guide had his buddy drive us out to a peninsula closer to the island where he had one of the local boatmen take us over. Turned out we were the only tourists to get to go to the island today. As a result, we had a very uncrowded experience exploring the Inca ruins and hiking the ancient trail from one end of the island to the other. While it was a bit windy, there was not a cloud in the sky and the views of Lake Titicaca and the Andes were incredible. The bonus ride out to the boat launch provided us additional amazing vistas and the opportunity to see numerous lakeside villages. An amazing day that only we were fortunate enough to experience.

From Quito, Ecuador to La Paz, Bolivia via Lima Peru

On our last day in Quito, Ecuador we were rewarded with the clear view we had been waiting for going on three weeks. We took a gondola ¨The TeleferiQo¨ up Cruz Loma to 13,534 feet. From there we were rewarded with the view you see pictured to the right. In all we could see 9 different snow capped peaks straddling the equador. It was an amazing send off after an incredible 20 days of adventures in Ecuador. Shortly after 8:00 PM we boarded our flight for Lima, Peru. We arrived around 11:00 PM, and rather than wait in the airport until noon the next day, headed with our waiting driver to the Manhattan Airport Inn. After a good sleep we returned to the Lima airport for our flight to La Paz, Bolivia. We made it without incident and after a few stressful minutes of waiting our bags appeared. The airport is actually in El Alto, appropriately named, because it is located at 14,000 feet. We were never so happy to see our bags, successfully make it to a destination, or find our name on a sign held by a smiling driver! All our planning has been paying off. Heading to our hotel we were rewarded with the view that is our new title image. A truly impressive and unique city that literally takes your breath away. Heading into town we were completely blown away at just how different everything was. They call this the third world, but we are beginning to think maybe we found the third and one half world! We couldn´t fathom that the driver was actually stopping on the street we would be staying on. Inside the Hotel Rosario we found an amazing sanctuary, shared by a lot of other very out of place gringo travelers. At first we were nervous to even venture out. However, once we did we were well rewarded with an amazing cultural experience, incredible shopping, and the colorful local streets in this the heart of La Paz´s tourist district. Back in our hotel we enjoyed llama tenderloin for dinner, then giddy due to the altitude and fact that we were actually in Bolivia, finally feel asleep. Today we took it easy, explored town, and planned activities for our remaining days here. In the Witch´s Market we were even blessed and now have a mother earth idol to protect us. We skipped the llama fetus and herbs offered us. This is quite the place. Tomorrow we head up to the world´s highest ski area for some sight seeing (it is currently closed). The next day we head to Lake (hee hee) Titicaca for 3 days 2 nights. Back in La Paz we are going to do a mountain bike descent of the World´s Most Dangerous Road. Our final days in Bolivia we are going to attempt to summit the 19,972 foot Huayna Potosi on a 3 day guided expedition. We will keep you posted...