Category Archives: Americas

North-Western revelations.

Posted on 12/01/2020 by awtytravels

Prior to flying there I knew very little about Seattle. Rain and Kurt Cobain, Foo Fighters and Starbucks, Amazon and serial killers. Squashed between a Pacific coastline that looked too tormented to be understandable and the linear dichotomy of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, USA | Tagged Alaska Airlines, Amazon, Amazon Spheres, Berlusconi, Cascadia, Cobain, Ferry, Foo Fighters, Food, Food market, Inuit, Lowell's, Marijuana, Night, Nirvana, Olympic, Oyster, Pacific, Pike Market, Port, Rain, Salmon, Sea, Seafront, Seattle, Serial Killer, Sphere, Sticker, Street art, Tech, Tech boys, Washington, Washington state, Weed, West Coast | 33 Comments

High and dry – Atacama Travelogue, Part III.

Posted on 18/07/2019 by awtytravels

Laguna Chaxa lies at the end of more off-road fun, a few kilometres of track dug into the soft sand and salt of the salar. Here there are no bathing tourists, only pathways scraped in the blinding whiteness of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged America Latina, Andes, Antofagasta, Argentina, Atacama, Atacamenos, Bolivia, Calama, Camion, Carabineros, Cejar, Chaxa, Chile, Clint Eastwood, Copper, Cordillera de la Sal, David Gilmour, Desert, Desierto, Enel, Flamenco, Flamingo, Lagoon, Laguna, Latin America, Licancabur, Lithium, Minerary, Mines, Monjes, Monjes de pacana, Moon Valley, Mountains, Nissan, Norte, Norte Grande, NP300, Piedra de Coyote, Plaza, Pueblo, Ruta, Salar de Atacama, San Pedro, San pedro de Atacama, Sky, Sun, Truck, Valle de la Luna, Volcano | 14 Comments

High and dry – Atacama Travelogue, Part II.

Posted on 05/07/2019 by awtytravels

Our hostal lies at a crossroad on the edge of town. Go right and it’s ruta 23, the lagunas, Socaire and, ultimately, Argentina. Go straight on ruta 27 and again it’s the Argentinian border, as well as the Bolivian one. … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged America Latina, Andes, Antofagasta, Atacama, Atacamenos, Calama, Cejar, Chaxa, Chile, Clint Eastwood, Copper, Cordillera de la Sal, David Gilmour, Desert, Desierto, Enel, Flamenco, Flamingo, Kim Stanley Robinson, Kunza, Lagoon, Laguna, Latin America, Licancabur, Lithium, Minerary, Mines, Moon Valley, Mountains, Nine Inch Nails, Nissan, Norte, Norte Grande, NP300, Pampa Union, Piedra de Coyote, Pueblo, Salar de Atacama, San Pedro, San pedro de Atacama, Sergio Leone, Sky, Sun, Valle de la Luna, Volcano, Vultures, Wind turbines | 26 Comments

High and dry – Atacama Travelogue, Part I.

Posted on 29/06/2019 by awtytravels

It’s said to be the driest desert in the world outside of Antarctica. So dry that certain riverbeds haven’t seen a drop of water in more than 120,000 years, some weather stations have never recorded any rainfall and, even where … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged America Latina, Andes, Antofagasta, Atacama, Atacamenos, Calama, Chile, Clint Eastwood, Copper, Cordillera de la Sal, David Gilmour, Desert, Desierto, Enel, Kim Stanley Robinson, Kunza, Latin America, Licancabur, Minerary, Mines, Moon Valley, Mountains, Nine Inch Nails, Nissan, Norte, Norte Grande, NP300, Pampa Union, Piedra de Coyote, Pink Floyd, Pueblo, Salar de Atacama, San Pedro, San pedro de Atacama, Sergio Leone, Sky, Sun, Valle de la Luna, Volcano, Vultures, Wind turbines | 13 Comments

Pacific skies.

Posted on 16/06/2019 by awtytravels

I lied. I said that the last post was going to be the final one from Rapa Nui, but here’s another. The fact is that to go to Rapa Nui and not to be mesmerised by its skies is 100% … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged Ahu, Ahu Akivi, Ahu Tahai, Blue, Chile, Clouds, Crab, Dark, Devil Almight Blues, Easter Island, Gold, Isla de Pascua, Light, Ocean, Orongo, Pacific Ocean, Photography, Photos, Rain, Rapa Nui, Sky, Storm coming down, Sun, Sunrise, Sunset | 13 Comments

El misterio vive: Rapa Nui journal, Part III (and final).

Posted on 11/06/2019 by awtytravels

There’s only a beach on Easter Island: as it’s to be expected, it comes with a bit of tourist infrastructure. But stop that image that’s forming in your mind, the one with all-inclusive resorts and a W Hotel with unz-unz-unz … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged Ahu, Ahu Tahai, Anakena, Beach, Clouds, Easter Island, horses, Isla de Pascua, Milky Way, Moai, Navel of the world, Ocean, Pacific, Pale blue dot, Palm, Pescado, Poike, Rapa Nui, Ship, Stargazing, Stars, Sunrise, Sunset, Tahai, Te Pito Kura, Te Pito o Te Henua, Tongariki | 20 Comments

El misterio vive: Rapa Nui journal, Part II.

Posted on 04/06/2019 by awtytravels

The north coast is the remote corner of an island that’s already way out of the way. The further away from Hanga Roa the least passable the road gets, until it becomes little more than a rock-strewn goat path patrolled … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged Ahu, Ahu Akivi, Akivi, America, Chile, David Menezes Salvo, Easter Island, El Misterio Vive, He Moai, Journal, King Hotu Matu'a, Moai, Ocean, Pacific, Poem, Poike, Rano Kau, Rapa Nui, Te Peu, Tongariki | 10 Comments

El misterio vive: Rapa Nui journal, Part I.

Posted on 01/06/2019 by awtytravels

Some trips are born in the heat of the moment. Others come from way back, originating from yellowing books, B&W films or stories told by elder relatives a lifetime ago. This is one of them. But yet again, it shouldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged Animals, Bird Man, Chile, Easter Island, Hanga Roa, Horse, Manutara, Migratory bird, Moai, Motu Nui, Ocean, Orongo, Pacific, People watching, Photography, Rano Kau, Ranu Kau, Rapa Nui, Sky, Tangata Manu, Travel, Trekking | 17 Comments

The ecocide that wasn’t.

Posted on 23/05/2019 by awtytravels

Back in my university days there was a book that passed hands with the same speed as No-Global leaflets, only with more enthusiastic reviews. It was Collapse, by American geographer and historian Jared Diamond, author of that Guns, Germs and … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged Aboriginal civilisation, Academia, Ahu, Article, Chile, Collapse, Deforestation, Don Felipe González, Don Francisco Antonio de Agüera y Infanzon, Easter Island, Ecocide, Ecology, Economics, European Contact, Exploration, Germs and Steel, Guns, Hawaii, Jacob Roggeveen, Jago Cooper, James Cook, Jared Diamond, Moai, Monolith, Ocean, Pacific, Rapa Nui, Rare earths, Statue, Wiley | 21 Comments

Porteño portrait.

Posted on 06/02/2019 by awtytravels

There’s only a way to define my desire to describe a community of 13 million people after visiting it for a mere handful of days: preposterous. Still, this is what I’ll attempt here. This is my final tribute to Buenos … Continue reading →