tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67290752024-02-27T22:05:09.728-08:00Sarah's Travel BlogSarah is a wildlife biologist who likes to go to the ends of the earth, meet random people and move in with them. Places where she has become an unexpected house guest include: Africa, Europe, Cayman Is., Alaska, Central America, and BVI.
Besides travel,Sarah enjoys cooking, gardening,photography,camping,sailing,scuba diving, wildlife,kayaking,birdwatching,and meeting new people!
She is currently embarking on a 2.5 month trip to Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina, and Chile.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-89333044886760982772009-02-15T12:06:00.000-08:002009-02-15T12:29:53.028-08:00In search of the Maca Tobiano<br /><br />I have decided that in addition to doing the normal trekking circuits that everyone else is doing here in Patagonia, I am going to seek out one of the world´s rarest birds, the Hooded Greebe. Many people have spent a significant amount of time trying to find this bird, and many have failed. Here is an account of my attempt so far:<br /><br />Day One<br />I agreed to meet my new friends from France, Switzerland, Canada, and Northern Ireland for breakfast at the hostel. Funny enough, it was raining and the three women solo travelers (including me) were all camping and the two men had wimped out and were staying in the hostel. We went for a luxurious breakfast at the gas station which makes eggs and REAL coffee and we had so much fun chatting, that the morning slipped away from us. By the time we hit the road, it was afternoon and we walked out of town along the highway to try and hitchike. No one wants to pick up hitchikers here, and I don´t think four people with packs stood a chance together. After a few hours, the Swiss girl decided to go on ahead and look for a ride by herself, the French girl decided to go to a different city and the Irish guy and I went to look for a bus. I was informed at the bus station that no bus would dare to drop me off in the middle of nowhere to look for a rare bird because of liability issues with leaving tourists in the middle of nowhere. The Irish guy was told that there were no buses until Tuesday, and the French girl had purchased a ticket for the next morning. The French girl and I headed off to the nature preserve which was flooded but filled with geese and flamingos and ducks. On the way back, we found a tiny museum about the history of Patagonia, and I decided that I wanted to stop there for awhile. The man at the museum had lived in the area for some time, knew of this rare bird, and advised me that I do not dare travel to find it without taking a 3-4 day supply of water, food, and full camping gear. He gave me better directions to get to the exact spot. That night, we met up with the Irish guy and made a pasta dinner in the campground. They both went to bed early, and I decided to go to the free rock concert at the other end of town. I never made it to the rock concert as I was stopped by the ice cream store that has the extra dark chocolate yuminess. As I ate my tiny cone and watched the amazing firework show, I chatted with my campground neighbors the hippy troupe of jewelry vendors who schooled me on the art of hitchking in Argentina. One of them has been hitchiking for almost 20 years here and never takes buses. She takes her daughter with her who is around 4 years old and assures me she has never had any issues. We learn later that the swiss girl has been picked up by a trucker and has arrived safely in Rio Gallegos. <br /><br />Day Two<br />I meant to wake up early, pack camp and head out on the road to find a ride, but the weather is awful. The idea of heading out into the middle of nowhere during a giant storm just seems stupid, so I´m hanging out at the internet cafe and spending all my money on coffees. As much as I´m enjoying the camp with the bathroom that I share with 500 people, I was seriously happy to receive an e-mail from my new friend Mario the high school teacher who I met on a fishing trip down south. He lives here in town, and I´m hoping that there might be storm free lodging somehow involved. Tomorrow, I will try and figure out the best way to get to nowhere with the help of a local!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-51399487504810731242009-01-23T18:27:00.001-08:002009-01-23T18:27:56.217-08:00This trip has been absolutely phenomenal. I cannot describe in words<br />or pictures or even video the vast wildlife paradise I have been<br />traversing over the last month. It is a seriously hopeful thing to see<br />pods of whales swimming around feeding, the whole ocean teeming with<br />life, and every rock covered in downy baby birds of every variety. I am<br />heading back into the real world of South America, but I feel there is<br />nothing that can compare to what I have experienced.Ben Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10945043499803225496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-66250328124149357562009-01-02T09:56:00.004-08:002009-01-02T09:57:12.577-08:00Tomorrow we are going to land on Steeple Jason and then we're<br />off to South Georgia for a while. Please feel free to write and send me<br />messages (to Ben's address) and let me know how everything in the main<br />world is going. We have a packed itinerary most days, except for days<br />when if I looked at the computer screen I would barf on the<br />keyboard...but I will try to post again soon. Maybe if I barf on the<br />keyboard I won't have to wait for computer access. One computer, 100<br />people.Ben Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10945043499803225496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-54557152890962692212009-01-02T09:56:00.003-08:002009-01-02T09:56:43.515-08:00The next day, we went to West Point island and hiked over it to<br />an even larger albatross colony which was tucked away in the hillside.<br />This one had all kinds of features...a freshwater stream where penguins<br />were taking baths, a large colony of Albatross and penguins together,<br />and big grasses to hide behind to get nice close shots. I tried not to<br />take 20398476 baby penguin photos, and failed miserably. The caretakers<br />of the island provided a proper British tea for us at the end, and in<br />their honeysuckle bush I found a large spider with a big green abdomen<br />and had to do acrobatics to get a decent photo. Later that day, we went<br />to Carcass Island, where we landed on a sandy beach full of penguins and<br />geese. The geese looked like herds of livestock covering the hillsides.<br /> I went out with a group of botanists and found some really cool<br />probably endemic plants to photograph, then went snipe hunting and shot<br />two (with a camera of course. When we got to the beach on the far side<br />of the island, it looked like a typical tourist beach with some playing<br />in the waves, others swimming, some lying on the beach, and some taking<br />walks up and down, except there were no people ONLY penguins! It was<br />like the Cozumel of the penguin world. It was kind of like the opposite<br />of a nude beach in that it was so formal, there were no swimsuits, but<br />everyone was wearing a tux. We watched penguins slip and slide down the<br />sand dunes which was hugely entertaining.Ben Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10945043499803225496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-88338325104942544322009-01-02T09:56:00.001-08:002009-01-02T09:56:23.624-08:00I can't believe someone would have a war over these<br />islands...although the penguins ARE cute.<br /><br />We landed in zodiacs and hiked to a place where there was a canyon that<br />led down to the sea. Perched on all the rocks were Rockhopper penguins<br />and a constant flow of penguin groups going down to and coming up from<br />the sea. All the penguins going down were filthy and muddy, and the<br />ones coming back up were brilliantly white. It looked like penguins<br />were taking themselves to be dry cleaned. There is almost nothing cuter<br />than a baby penguin...except maybe a baby albatross. I was sitting on a<br />cliff taking the 4690873th photo of baby albatrosses and penguins when I<br />heard a slap slap slap and looked over to find a huge albatross right<br />next to me staring me in the face! I froze and it walked around me in<br />circles checking me out and twisting its head side to side to get a<br />better view. Then it walked down the hill and annoyed at least 40<br />penguins before finding its mate and chick and barfing up squid for the<br />chick.Ben Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10945043499803225496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-13321318839042510272009-01-02T09:55:00.002-08:002009-01-02T09:56:03.371-08:00All I wanted for Christmas was a decent pair of sea legs/It's<br />not easy feeling green.<br /><br />We got on the boat and took off for the Falkland Islands. The sea was<br />much rougher than expected, and for two days I didn't dare let my eyes<br />leave the horizon. I have never been sea sick before, but I've also<br />only been on small boats where you are not enclosed. The boat rocked so<br />hard that two large men who were not holding on, crashed into each other<br />and rolled together like a bowling ball into a group of women who fell<br />like pins. Fortunately, no one got hurt. I half listened to all the<br />lectures on digital photography, Birds of the Argentine Shelf, and more,<br />while trying not to barf. In the end, it was fruitless, and I went to<br />bed after taking sea sickness medication.Ben Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10945043499803225496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-52678864245143102822009-01-02T09:55:00.001-08:002009-01-02T09:55:24.004-08:00Tierra del Fuego National Park<br /><br />The next day, we all boarded buses and went to Tierra del Fuego National<br />Park. I joined the birding group. It was a typical birder bus ride<br />where every five minutes someone yelled "STOP" or "PARE" because<br />they had spotted something and all we did was annoy the driver. There<br />were a few spouses of people that were really annoyed too, and they were<br />all wishing they had gone with a different group. We saw a lot of birds<br />in the morning, and I got some nice photos of the Andean Condors. It<br />made me miss the California Condors that would be flying over my house<br />right now if people were not such idiots. I spotted the Magellanic<br />Oystercatcher. In the afternoon, we went to another part of the park to<br />find a unique woodpecker. It was windy, and I could tell that we were<br />probably not going to see a woodpecker, so I ventured off into the<br />forest and took pictures of orchids and bryophytes and fungi. Note: I<br />am super pleased with the macro setting on my new little point and shoot<br />digital!Ben Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10945043499803225496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-61799698911073596342009-01-02T09:53:00.000-08:002009-01-02T09:54:14.142-08:00Ushuaia is the farthest city south in Argentina. We landed there to<br />catch the boat. The whole town is kind of an Argentinian Whistler, or<br />giant ski lodge, where you can buy an overpriced fleece, a stuffed<br />penguin, or have an overpriced steak. Flooded with tourists, this<br />southern port brings in major cruise ships full of thousands of people<br />who want to go see a little island with a few penguins on it. Just<br />outside the town itself reminded me of places in the Alps where the<br />plants are low-growing and the air is always cold. The first day there<br />it snowed -- and this is the height of summer! The best part of Ushuaia<br />was that the hotel had a hot tub, and we got to see a local fire-fighter<br />get married. At first it looked like a giant accident...horns blaring,<br />siren wailing...but then we caught up to the front and noticed there was<br />a bride and groom in the cab, and the firetruck was decorated with<br />ribbons. The first day, we drove over a gorgeous snowy pass to get to<br />Tierra del Fuego Island. After an excruciating two hour bus ride with<br />beautiful scenery, we arrived at Esteban's sheep farm. We saw wild<br />guanacos along the way (like a llama but not) and ibises and a beaver<br />lodge. The place where the beaver lived looked EXACTLY like Dagoba<br />where Luke goes to find Yoda in Star Wars. I was half expecting Esteban<br />to use the force to raise a giant aircraft out of the murk, but no such<br />luck. The hillsides were covered with wildflowers and I spotted a few<br />orchids off in the woods. Esteban's house looked like something out of<br />the sound of music with flowers all around and cute little lace<br />curtains. They then gave us a sheep dog herding and sheep shearing<br />demonstrations. One of the dogs was exactly like the yucky puppy in<br />Mexico with dirty nasty dreads and long mangy hair. Everyone kept<br />saying how cute it was and asking me to translate what kind of dog it<br />was to the owner who only spoke Spanish. I wanted to say, It's a<br />"Yucky puppy". But instead I kept translating "Mutt" over and over<br />again. The dog ran down to the river, got all wet, and then rolled in a<br />giant pile of sheep crap. One of the women on the trip decided this was<br />a prime chance to get all lovie with it and stuck her face down put her<br />arms around it. I wanted to suggest to Esteban that we not let her back<br />onto the bus. Loving dogs is one thing. Making out with a dog that<br />just rolled in a pile of crap is another.<br /><br />When we got back to the hotel that night, the whole group had come in,<br />and we started to get to know all the people that were going to be on<br />the ship with us. I had dinner with a fantastic Scottish nurse who<br />lived in Saudi Arabia and went to bed early even though there was no<br />sleeping later -- apparently I cannot sleep if there is no cat, yet I<br />criticize dog people.Ben Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10945043499803225496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-9519634128003051402008-12-29T09:59:00.000-08:002008-12-29T10:05:45.040-08:00Today we went to Tierra del Fuego National Park to go birding. We saw many local birds and also lots of cool looking mosses and fungi. The wildflowers are all in full bloom and it was just beautiful. I'm glad I brought extra clothing, because some people had luggage that didn't arrive and so I had to loan out some clothes. Tierra del Fuego National park is beautiful. It reminds me of Alaska in some ways. This afternoon we're going to get on the ship...I wish I could post photos because our ship is like 1/10 the size of the other two ships on either side of it. It's an icebreaker, and they are monster cruise ships. Once on the ship, communication will be more difficult and all blogs will be going through Ben probably. I bought post cards today to send to everyone who sent me their address. Those who didn't? Too bad. I love my new little digital camera, it took really nice photos of the orchids in the park. I have to go buy chocolate and wine now to take onto the ship for our month at sea. Love to all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-55525326795734636582008-12-27T12:36:00.000-08:002008-12-27T12:50:42.605-08:00If you buy Gucci you can smell like a 7th grade boy...<br /><br />Lately, I have been running into old classmates a lot. Mostly on Facebook, but also in other ways. Today, I flew from San Francisco to Atlanta to Buenos Aires, and was not expecting to run into anyone. We took an hour bus ride across BA from one airport to the other. We walked into the dinky somewhat shabby looking local airport and who is the first person I see? Teddy Franco on a giant Gucci ad plastered all over the airport. It was like the whole airport was his face. Now, Teddy and I were not exactly best pals, but we sat next to each other in 7th grade History class in Jr. High. Now he's all rich and famous and crap and probably has no idea who I am, but the ad is still funny. "If you buy Gucci, you can smell like this hansome man on the poster." My only frame of reference for how Teddy Franco smells is from Jr. High, so to me the ad read, "If you buy Gucci, you can smell like a 7th grade boy." I'm sure he smells better now, and frankly I shouldn't talk because after flying for 48 hours with no shower, I probably smell worse than a 7th grade boy. It makes me think though, would I rather be rich and famous and have my face plastered all over an airport in Buenos Aires, or go to Antarctica and see penguins? No offense Teddy, penguins win. <br />--Sarah signing out from Ushuaia, ArgentinaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-1171837560203532072008-12-27T09:18:00.000-08:002008-12-27T09:21:09.788-08:00<div>While Sarah is on the boat way down south, I, her cousin Ben, will be periodically posting updates to her blog for her, since she can't really get at it from the boat.</div><div><br /></div>Sarah's current travel status: Sarah is In Buenos Aires on her way down south. <div><br /></div><div>More details as I get them.</div><div>Cheers!</div>Ben Salzberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10945043499803225496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-86803029593225369442007-09-16T15:34:00.001-07:002007-09-16T15:34:40.333-07:00Flickr: celesteh's photos tagged with munich<blockquote cite="http://www.flickr.com/photos/celesteh/tags/munich/page4/"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/53/131829998_2b7d61eb7a_t.jpg" /></blockquote><cite cite="http://www.flickr.com/photos/celesteh/tags/munich/page4/"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/celesteh/tags/munich/page4/">Flickr: celesteh's photos tagged with munich</a></cite><br /><p style="text-align: right; font-size: 8px">Blogged with <a href="http://www.flock.com/blogged-with-flock" title="Flock" target="_new">Flock</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-72946735783539975152007-09-16T15:33:00.001-07:002007-09-16T15:33:00.836-07:00Fur Motorcycle<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/celesteh/tags/munich/page3/" title="Fur Motorcycle"><img alt="Fur Motorcycle" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/132344196_c4f9c33b5f_t.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />check out this furry bike<p style="text-align: right; font-size: 8px">Blogged with <a href="http://www.flock.com/blogged-with-flock" title="Flock" target="_new">Flock</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-53884034257914519912007-09-16T15:28:00.001-07:002007-09-16T15:28:23.208-07:00blog testwill this show up in blogger?<br /> <p style="text-align: right; font-size: 8px">Blogged with <a href="http://www.flock.com/blogged-with-flock" title="Flock" target="_new">Flock</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-15337516377167549992007-01-22T17:55:00.000-08:002007-01-22T18:28:34.943-08:00Hi everyone! I've decided to include some short works of fiction in my blog. Did you get that TSA? FICTION. WHAT FOLLOWS IS FICTION. THERE IS NO WAY THIS REALLY HAPPENED...IT IS ALL A BUNCH OF LIES! This was a story made up by someone else, this did not happen to me. Got it?! So here goes:<br /><br />Once upon a time there was a girl who needed to get from one country to another. She happened to be on a boat in a beautiful bay off of Aehaie (our fictional country). Her new found friends had taken her all over the country the night before and shown her a really good time until around 4 am, so when she woke up in the morning she was really tired and hungover. Unfortunately, the sailboat needed to get to another bay, and everyone on that boat woke up late and was groggy, so there was a mad rush to the dingy and everthing was just shoved into bags so this girl could get to the airport. When she got to the airport, she was planning on having a few hours to repack before the flight, but instead, she was early enough that she was able to go standby on an earlier flight, so she had to rush right out to the gate and get on the plane. The people working security in Aehaie were very skilled and talented and made sure that this girl did not DARE bring on board the 1/3 of a latte that she had just purchased in the airport accross from the security entrance. NO, she MUST dump out this small amount of latte before getting on board. So she did. It was a great flight with good views and the girl landed safely and went through customs and immigration in the country of Usahie without any problems. As the girl was looking for change in her purse for the bus, she realized that in her purse were one decent size knife, a book of matches, and more than 3oz of a highly flammable liquid. We should all thank the security agents of Aehaie for saving the lives of the innocent passengers aboard the flight, and this girl, because had she had those last few sips of latte, she might have been caffeinated enough to accidentally pull out the knife on board thereby creating an international disaster and ending up in jail. This was not a podunk airline with a cardboard sign either, this was Usahie Air! <br /><br />The moral of the story...if you make people dump out their coffee, they will fall asleep and forget to use the 3 inch blade you let them bring on board. <br /><br />(This is a purely fictional story, any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental and has no basis in reality whatsoever)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-25584702362647330402007-01-22T07:39:00.000-08:002007-01-22T07:41:07.832-08:00I have been kidnapped by pirates. Fortunately, they have a half a million dollar catamaran and sunny dispositions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-32070167401360498492007-01-15T08:01:00.000-08:002007-01-15T08:02:05.924-08:00Computer dying....can't find outlet...perfect weather here...off to Anegada...won't have phone/e-mail for days. Having a great time. Love to all. <br /><br />--SarahUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-39373795730854223262007-01-12T14:56:00.000-08:002007-01-12T15:02:34.610-08:00Oh the craziness! I have to be brief here, because someone is coming to pick me up to go out in a few minutes. Everything has been non-stop. Partying, camping, hiking, swimming, more partying, hitchiking on sailboats...I have certainly been meeting my quota of 5 new people per day, in fact, I think I've been meeting 20 new people per day. We're on our way out right now to a tapas bar followed by god knows what, and hopefully I will get home before 5am. Where is home? I have no idea, home keeps changing, things are all crazy, but everyone here is awesome. I'm on Tortola. There is no water, only beer, so we are all dirty and drunk. So many islands, so little time. I'll try and blog tomorrow if I don't get kiddnapped by yet another group of people. We might go sailing though, to an island, or diving, or god knows what. Love you all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-47140651344853314122007-01-07T17:03:00.000-08:002007-01-07T17:25:52.704-08:00Ahhh sun sand surf. I was unable to get out of bed in time for breakfast, so I went walking around town. On my way back, I ran into some guys I met on the beach from New York. We had lunch together -- I had steamed Yuca balls with fish inside and salad. It rocked. We then went to the beach where we met up with a Puerto Rican nutritionist who showed us around. We might go out marengue dancing later. Tomorrow I am heading to isla culebra to camp and maybe dive. While we were at the bar -- I skipped over some of that part...there were the most beautiful rainbows. It soon started to pour and we all headed for cover. We were under the shelter and the wind changed and blew the rain right at us, so we all four jumped onto the bar at the same time. This prompted shouts of "Yeah baby take it off" from the other people seated. We remained on the bar until the rain stopped. While on the bar, we took photos of ourselves hanging from the pole holding up the ceiling that went through the bar. I LOVE being a hag. I often forget that the beginning of the trip is hard. For the first 24 hours, feelings of loneliness, disorientation, and shyness kick in. You cannot be shy and be a solo traveller. It doesn't work. Being a solo traveller however is a way to help get over shyness. I have only made seven friends so far in the 48 hours that I have been here. That's actually a lower count than usual. If you want to be really active while travelling, five a day is a good number. Just like eating fruits and vegetables. I hope I don't have internet access tomorrow. I also hope someone doesn't steal my computer. <br /><br />Get this. Walgreens here sells coffee granola bars!!!!!!!!!! They have actual beans in them. I was looking for a sleeping bag and settled on large beach towels that were 4 for $10. I suppose I could sew them into a sack if I wanted. I hope there are other people camping that are friendly. I couldn't bring my stove on the plane. Must rent scooter and buy charcoal.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-9703300988710830332007-01-06T23:01:00.000-08:002007-01-06T23:49:22.276-08:00The Queens of Kings day<br /><br />Coming to you live from Puerto Rico! I know I missed a few trips along the way... Ghana, Hawaii, etc. There really was limited e-mail access in Ghana though, and Hawaii had wireless everywhere so it was just like being at home. <br /><br />This just in...I do not have the biggest butt of any white girl! She was wearing string underwear, spandex, and stilleto heals. Someone should have just said NO. I really wanted to walk up and do the train station impression, "You have the biggest ass of any white girl I have ever seen! I can't believe my eyes!" She probably wouldn't have found it as funny as I did. It was a moment that I was wishing I had a camera phone. Had I pulled out the DSLR with the 300mm lens, I think she would have noticed. You'll all just have to trust me. <br /><br />Anyway, PUERTO RICO. <br />The plane flight was one of the worst I have ever had. I was in between the screaming baby and the cookie cutter tourist couple on their way to a resort. Half the plane was full of indian medical school students who didn't get into medical school in the US, and therefore are now going to med school in the USVI because that's still technically US soil. Loopholes, loopholes. So out of several hundred medical school students all sleeping quietly, somehow I ended up next to this really irritating couple who talked the whole damn time. They were worse than the screaming baby. "When I get to the hotel, I'm going to put on my bikini right away and order one of those large rum drinks with the umbrella in it...When we get to the hotel we should find a place for lunch and then walk around exploring (the hotel) and then unpack, and then..." For FOUR HOURS! I had to listen to these people talking about their hotel. It was very clear that they did not plan on leaving their hotel at any point. <br /><br />My luggage was an hour late, and my cell phone did not have reception IN the airport, so in the process of trying to get a hold of Jose, I had the priviledge of going through airport security twice, which raises my total number of airport security experiences to four today. <br /><br />Enough whining about airports...I finally got a hold of Jose and he showed up exactly one minute after my bags arrived having come from the other side of the island. We could not have planned better timing. J and C took me around San Juan a little and then apologized profusely that this being christmas they really needed to go to a family thing, so they found me an affordable hotel and sped off to "Three kings day" dinner. <br /><br />The funny part of this is that in spite of the fact that this is "three kings day" I have never seen so many queens. It just so happens that the only affordable hotel in all of San Juan is a gay hotel. I walked out to the beach and lying in front of me were hundreds of good looking men wearing speedos and hot pants tanning and rubbing oils on each other. SO, I chose a chair right in the middle of the fray and instantly felt like I had entered a TV episode of Noah's Ark. When I woke up two hours later, I had a brief conversation with the produce manager from New York lying next to me about lettuce, and went upstairs to change for dinner. Except that I did not change for dinner, I fell asleep immediately and woke up 8 hours later. I wasn't sure when I woke up where I was or what time it was or what planet I was on, so I headed downstairs where the gay bar was in full swing. There I met two drunk airline stewardesses who invited me to go find food with them. We found a 24hour restaurant and ate and chatted about all things vulgar, and airline crew drama gossip. <br /><br />Tomorrow I am going to explore San Juan and I have no idea if I will end up going camping or hopping over to BVI, so either way I probably won't have internet for awhile. The embarassing thing is that once I hit San Juan all of my phone problems stopped, and I have a faster wireless connection than anywhere in sillicon valley. SO, in the heart of the high tech world, nothing works, but on remote islands, everything works fine. I have had this experience before. People don't believe me. The world is backwards. Speaking of backwards...it was freezing in California today and 70 degrees in New York. In January. The end is near.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-1162970445285100242006-11-07T22:09:00.000-08:002006-11-07T23:20:45.753-08:00Wow!! Are you all still reading this? It's been awhile! If you work at Sun and you are still tuning in, congratulations! Dana thinks it's weird that I only blog when I travel. SO, I'm in Chicago. Well not really Chicago, but if I told you where I was you wouldn't have any idea where that was so for all practical purposes I'm in Chicago. There is a massive corn field outside the window and that's how I can tell where I am. Apparently in the midwest tuna and chicken are considered to be vegetables. Oh, and potato chips are a vegetable too. I'm sitting with Dana, and trying to get news about who won the elections in California except the only recent election news on the web is from get this -- China! Someplace called Xinxhau or something. The chinese are ahead of us in so many ways! Dana just football punted a beetle across the living room. We are sad that her ex-boyfriend did not win the election. Barack Obama is hot and he should run for vice president under Oprah. <br /><br />Dana says: There is no corn since it is fall here and it has been harvested. hahahha. And Sarah and I are in agreement that Obama is hot. I have met him and have gone to alot of his events in the cornfields. If Oprah and Obama run then Chicago would rule the world!!!!!!! I did not know that tuna was a veggie either.<br /><br />There you have it folks, from the lion's mouth -- chicken is a vegetable! It's time to alert all the vegetarians in Berkeley. <br /><br />This is ltloink coming to you from Frozencornfields, Illinois.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-1104951592925618552005-01-05T10:59:00.000-08:002005-01-05T10:59:52.926-08:00<b>Howdy to all!</b>
<br />I can't remember if I've written in a while or not. The team here has shifted to mostly men from being mostly women. This morning I had a dissappointing mango yogurt for breakfast. Instead of mangoes it tastes like aspartame. I also had a disappointing mango last night that was rotten. Aside from bad mango experiences things are going OK. John and I had a fun trip to the grocery store which is the iguana team's version of “getting out” once in a while. Right now, I am sitting near this baby iguana who is eating. She wanted me to know I was in her territory, so she checked out all my stuff and then left a pile of scat in my direction.
<br />WOW what a day!!! I haven't had time to finish this because I have really been running all around! Now this guy Craig is coming down from the noth zone and I have to train him, so I will have to finish this later. Yesterday I ran all over town in the car, from the post office to DHL to the office supply store etc. Maybe I'll get to go diving before Feb. Love to all.cxjohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02134571128286930156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-1104779528099664552005-01-03T11:11:00.000-08:002005-01-03T11:12:08.100-08:00<b>Today the much anticipated moment</b>
<br />we have all been waiting for arrived. The boys met the girls. When the girls meet, serious fights occur, so the question was, will they fight or not. Well today some of the boys met the girls, and no fighting happened. They treated each other like old friends. One boy even followed a girl around, and she showed him things to eat. Almost everybody ate today in the southern zone. One girl ate almost all the purple flowers off the plants in her territory. As for the humans, we are all fine, and we had a few laughs last night before we completely passed out around 9:30.cxjohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02134571128286930156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-1104435930923066092004-12-30T11:45:00.000-08:002004-12-30T11:45:30.923-08:00<b>Last night it rained</b>
<br />today it's cloudy and windy, so the iguanas aren't doing much yet. Yesterday went well. OPP took a long walk, and everyone else stayed in or near. Gooey spent the night with a crab in the retreat, and we have to check today how that went. We also saw a really large snake near RBO's place, but no missing iguanas yet...as for the people, Des is leaving tomorrow, and we are all worried that we are going to starve to death without her fantastic cooking. John has started rumors of making fish tacos though, so we might be OK. As for me, I went to bed much earlier last night, and am feeling much better today. I also did all my laundry and cleaned my room, so I can at least find things. I'll update you all if anything exciting happens today like male/female encounters or fighting.cxjohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02134571128286930156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729075.post-1104176244068384222004-12-27T11:37:00.000-08:002004-12-27T11:37:24.066-08:00<b>We are looking at a loogi-thing</b>
<br />that is alive. It reminds me of when we found the free-living flat worm that looked like angel hair pasta. So it is some kind of animal maybe...chris is talking to it. We are going to name it Lougius carrii after chris.cxjohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02134571128286930156noreply@blogger.com0