Extrañaremos Santiago

Well - it's time to move on... It's been close to 100 days and we leave Santiago on the 6th of February for a 3 month backpacking journey before heading back to the states the middle of May. We ended up spending 3 months here with all the blessings that came our way and the volunteer opportunities that arose. We will depart with some awesome memories from the time here and have met some wonderful people that will now be lifelong friends.

Adding to our packs for this leg of the journey - we now have a tent, 2 sleeping bags, 2 pads, 2 small fold-up stools, and a basic camping cookwear set strapped and bungied to the packs. We're fully loaded that's for sure...

We have a pretty good plan and have made some reservations in a few towns for hostels. We also plan to do quite a bit of camping to stretch our money and couch surf where possible. We best be camping as we are hauling it now :). We are honestly going to see some pretty amazing places - and are both so thankful for this opportunity.

Before I go further on our plans I must first give a shout out to the true love I've found, friend, and partner - Jenny Marie Jackson Boyd - What Up - I love you and thank you for who you are - you're such a wonderful, strong, and amazing woman! Thank you GOD ALMIGHTY for introducing us! I can't imagine having this experience or doing a trip of this nature with anyone else - plus - they would have probably put me to rest by now... :) Thanks sweetie.

Our plans from Santiago will be to travel to the following places in Patagonia and beyond:

Pucon, Chile
Villarrica, Chile
San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina (Bariloche for short)
El Calafate, Argentina and Glacier National park (36 hour bus ride in no man's land of Patagonia via rough roads from Bariloche - this we have both agreed = FUN, but it's close to the southern tip of S. America is why).

The last week of February we fly from El Calafate to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where we will head down the coast of Brazil from Rio to the following:

Sao Paulo
Curitiba
Paranagua - we'll take a boat to "Ihla do Mel" (Honey island)
Florianopolis (another little island off the coast)
Porto Alegre
Also a few small towns in the mountains near the coast to visit my friend Lucia's Mom and some of her recommendations:
Taquara
Gramado
Crenola

After Brazil we will venture down the coast of Uruguay with a few stops where we are hoping to rent some beach cabanas:
Cabo Polonio
Punta del Diablo
and then the capital of Uruguay - Montevideo

From Montevideo we'll take a ferry to Buenos Aires for a few days to meet up with some friends we made there when we began our trip and then bus back across Argentina to Santiago, Chile again. We plan to stay for a night there and then begin heading north through Chile for a few stops, possibly parts of Bolivia, and then ending in Peru where we plan to Volunteer again for a couple weeks, take a 4 day excursion into the Amazon, and end with Machu Picchu. We'll see how well we do with our budget and time as both are running out. :)

Before we even left for South America I remember wondering to myself who we will meet, what they will be like, and even what they were doing right at the very moment I was having those thoughts. Now to reflect on the before, during, and after, halfway through our trip I find it quite refreshing and fun. It creates a little tingle of warmth and happiness within. Upon snapping out of this little dreamland - yet again - I find myself smiling...

Some of the people from Santiago that became real from my prior daydreams in Colorado are Diego, Ale, Tomas, the Perkins, Frank, Dulce, Vito, Maria Jose, and the babies Jen has grown to love at the orphanage - especially Isaac - who wasn't even created at the time of my original thoughts. Each one of them are now joined with a few others we've met along the way such as Guido, Natalia, and Marlen in a special and secure place deep within the treasures of our chest. We still have more to come as I begin again to think about the before for the next 3 months...

We are both excited and ask for your thoughts and prayers for our safety and guidance as we set out for the next step of this journey. Thinking of you all always and have you in our prayers as well! We most likely won't be in touch as much (like Santiago) over the next few months. All depends on the capabilities of the technology we find ourselves with, which has actually been quite impressive up to this point. Afterall - it is 2010.

Love you all and thanks for following us.

Onward and upward...

Aaron & Jen