A Long Drive

Videoblog: The Pantanal

Shreesh — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:55:55 +0000

Through the lens

A swampy paradise - Tranpantaneira - Dangerous Jobs for Women. (Map this!)

The Pantanal is a tropical wetland in Brazil, a swampy paradise for birdwatchers and nature lovers. During the rainy season, a large part of the Pantanal is inaccessible due to flooding. The Transpantaneira road is a gravel road 147 kms long with almost as many bridges spanning it.

Almost There and Back Again

Neena — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:52:28 +0000

Black Sunday- Gasohol - Blue Monday - Goodbye to Brazil

Nov 23rd, 2008: Black Sunday. Today was the worst day on our trip. Today, we found out that highest grade Brazilian gas that we have been filling in our car contains more than 20% (23%, to be exact) alcohol. This much alcohol can be damaging to the car's fuel system and can cause major problems like fuel pump malfunction. So, we have decided to abandon our grand Amazonian adventure and leave Brazil by the shortest route.

From the viewpoint of a photographer

Neena — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:20:25 +0000

Early morning

Points of view - Meeting birding - Meeting Photographers - The Pantanal & Photography

One of our favorite movies is Akira Kuroawa's "Rashomon". It relates the story of a murder from four different viewpoints, including the victim's. I often think how applicable it is in everything that we do, from work to family to traveling. In the rainforest one person sees colorful birds and beautiful insects, another sees discomfort, mosquitoes and heat. Some people reverently see ancient deities in high mountains while others see an irresistible challenge beckoning to them. A hike can be done at a quick, uniform pace that brings color to the cheeks or it can be done at a deliberately slow pace to observe wildlife.

Learning Languages

Shreesh — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:29:30 +0000

An Old Hobby

Easily measured - Latest target - A word for bread

For the first time in a long time we are in a position where we do not know the local language. Learning languages is addictive and to feed this addiction we travel. There are few goals where ones progress can be simply and easily measured. Mountain climbing in one of them - keep one foot in front of the other and you make progress towards your simple goal; if you turn around then no more progress is made and the goal is not reachable. Similarly, when learning a language you get instant feed back on how well you are progressing by gradually increasing comprehension and communication.

The Iguazu Falls

Neena — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:55:02 +0000

Bossetti Falls

The Iguazu Falls - Should I jump? - Panormama and the election

Throughout this trip, we had been looking forward to visiting Iguazu falls on the Argentina-Brazil border. And not only did they not disappoint, they exceeded our expectations. The Iguazu falls are formed by the immense Parana river thundering over the earth's surface in the shape of 275 waterfalls. It envelops the San Martin island, flowing over it, around it, through it. It creates the poetically named "Garganta del Diablo" or "Devil's Throat", such a churning maelstrom of water, vapor and mist that it sometimes obscures itself. It forms waterfalls of every shape and size, from thin streams intertwining like lace to a wide deluge forming an orangish velvet curtain.

Election Day 2008

Neena — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:04:16 +0000

Election day.
Photo: ©Fred Gault

Election Day - Technology in 2008 - History is made

Recently, the US has been more and more on our minds. The election was interesting enough; the financial crisis made it urgent to follow the US news.

Happy Birthday, Neena

Shreesh — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:05:57 +0000

Winding River

In wine country - A fine Torrontes - Overlooking the vineyards - Great stories

While we were living in San Francisco we usually went to the wine country to celebrate birthdays, so how lucky to find ourselves in the Cafayate wine country during Neena's birthday! A birthday calls for celebration and how better to celebrate than with fine wine and food, so I arranged for a private lunch for two at the San Pedro de Yacochuya winery.

A year on the road

Neena — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 04:22:47 +0000

Valle de Luna

Neena's reflections

Anniversary - Why? - Time to reconsider - Learning - Crisis

The 1st year anniversary of our trip was on Oct 20th, 2007. Last year, at 10pm this day, we left our apartment of 11 years to head North toward the Arctic circle, before turning around for the long drive south to the tip of the Americas. A year later, we are making an assessment, what did we expect from this trip and what have we learnt?

On the road

Shreesh's reflections

A year gone by - Change - Big changes - Overcoming Fear

I would like to say that "Gee, I can hardly believe a year has gone by!" but I cannot. It definitely feels like a year, if not more. Does time fly by when you are having fun? Yes, if it is an abandon mindless kind of fun I do think it does.

Off the Beaten Track

Shreesh — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:59:06 +0000

In the rubble

Not so interesting - Diamond in the rough - Welcoming people - Herd instinct - Shades of gray

There is usually a reason why certain spots are off the beaten path. Most of the time this is because there is not much of interest to be gained at that site or the trouble involved in getting there does not merit the payback in entertainment value. On the other hand, going to sites mobbed with tourists can be quite off-putting and most places cannot handle the large volumes of people wanting to see them. Rare is the site like Machu Picchu that can handle hordes of visitors and still feel uncrowded and spacious.

Videoblog: Ghost town in the Atacama

Shreesh — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:12:33 +0000

Humberstone, Chile

Nitrate crisis - Crumbling buildings - Magnificent ruins

I have found ghost towns fascinating but until now I have never had the opportunity to visit one. The closest I ever got was old abandoned warehouses, which are species of mini ghost town unto themselves. The northern part of Chile has quite a distribution of ghost towns, mostly related to the nitrate industry that operated in the Atacama desert from the latter part of the 19th century to the early part of the 20th. The development of the Haber process in the 1910's provided for a more economical way to make fertilizer and the nitrate industry went into decline and eventual extinction.