My last full day in the Chilean desert, I went to see the El Tatio Geyser, located 4300m (15,000+ feet for you non-metric folks) above sea level. I realized that if a picture is worth a thousand words, pictures of Chile’s northern desert are worth a million.
After (yet another) 4 a.m. wakeup, I was picked up at around 5 a.m. by my tour group, and whisked up, up, up into the clouds and onto the geyser site. The guide had warned us that climbing in altitude so fast would probably make us feel dizzy and nauseous, so I had shrunk down in the passenger seat with a plastic bag and prayed that I wouldn’t vomit in front of these virtual strangers. Mid-way into our ascent, I started feeling super sick and was clammy with sweat. Luckily, disaster was averted: another passenger offered me some of his coca leaf , which prevents and stops altitude sickness. Within 15 minutes of chewing on the leaf, I felt perfect. And probably with reason, for, upon conducting a little research the following day that I realized that coca leaf, in large quantities, is actually the raw material for the manufacture of the drug cocaine. Well. No (legal) worries, however, since the possession, sale, and use of the unprocessed form (lauded as an effective altitude sickness medication) is permitted in Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina.
Feeling almost super human, I got out of the truck once at our destination and started exploring. It was extremely cold: a mind-numbing -7 degrees celcius (19 deg.farenheit). The drastic drop in temperature was due to a combination of extreme high altitude and the season- Chile was just at the tail end of its winter.
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| Chile’s El Tatio Geysers have the distinction of being the highest in the world |
I think that I’ve mentioned before that my chocolate skin (and I suspect, my inviting smile) often makes me a celebrity in places where people who look like me are scarce. As soon as people spotted me, I was an instant celebrity and people started asking me if they could take my picture or, alternatively, if they could get into a picture with me. As I find it funny that my mere presence would cause such a sensation, I typically oblige. I mean, the half-naked Peruvian guy on the left even jumped out of the hot spring dripping wet so he could get the opportunity to have me grace his photo. Who am I to crush a dream??? 😉
My fingers numb and my memory card overworked, we left the geyser site and descended back into the town of San Pedro. I spotted these guys grazing in the plains and asked our tour guide to stop so I could snap a few pictures.
While I am not a huge proponent of animal rights and love to eat chicken, I couldn’t bring myself to eat a llama shish kebab when I had played with llamas (that even had earrings!) the day before. Still, I was conflicted. They smelled and looked yummy and it would have been the perfect opportunity to try some local food, which I usually don’t do. My decision to not eat the llama brochette was riding on my mind even as we got back into the truck and drove past a llama farm, probably the source of the shish kebabs everybody was eating earlier. And then, I saw a different sort of “riding” involving a pair of amorous llamas:
Secure in my decision, I laughed and shook my head after taking pics and video of the event taking place. The things you see when you travel!!
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten while abroad?
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82 Comments
Wow, this looks amazing. So pretty. i had no idea that coco leaves prevented altitude sickness!
Ya learn something new everyday. It’s true I guess!
Notihng I could say would give you undue credit for this story.
The ability to think like that shows you’re an expert
Hallelujah! I needed this-you’re my savior.
@Deidre: These aren't cocoa leaves, but coca leaves! I think the only thing people make out of them is cocaine! Crazy, eh?
I laughed out loud when you mentioned what the coca leaves were made of.
The cold weather is surreal especially with the hot springs right there. Those people are brave; that's insane.
Girl, you are blessed to have so many wonderful experiences and memories. Just imagining all the amazing places you have visited and the people who you have met. Truly remarkable.
PS: My family and I are looking into moving to Canada possibly in a year or 2 so hope you don't mind my picking your brain about your country!:)
I've eaten both alpaca and guinea pig in Peru – guinea pig is probably the strangest thing I've eaten. When in Rome, right?
Like seriously, I might need to go to Chile. I will have to remember the coca leave remedy! 🙂
Funny thing is, the strangest thing I have eaten is part of American Deep South cuisine, but I ate it in Panama. It was "rabito de puerco" pig tail, and pig feet. I know us caribbean folks call it "souse" (sp) But I never would try it stateside but I LOVE IT and only tried it in Pma.
(Oh and I can really call those things strange because being Guyanese I grew up eating cow's tongue) Go figure.
wow…this is really beautiful.
Ironically, I tried guinea pig while in Peru – and that's one of the strangest things I've ever eaten. I say 'ironically' because the idea of eating meat actually freaks me out, but I also love to try new and crazy foods when I travel. So, I compromise by letting my companions order all the crazy and exotic meats, and then I just try a tiny bite 😉
Gah gorgeous pictures of you and the scenery as usual! I always feel like I'm travelling vicariously through you when I read your blog.
Definitely intrigued by those coca leaves….seems like they work wonders!
And I love llamas (and guinea pigs!) and could never bring myself to eat them. Well, I don't eat any mammals, but the cuter they are, the more I would find it difficult to eat them.
@Natural Hair: Brave, indeed! Glad you feel the same way, now I don't feel like such a wimp. 🙂
@sprite: Ask away!! Email me!!
@Emily: You are better than I am! Guinea pig… wow!
@Terri: You can stock up on it on your Chile trip!!
@kvowels: You know what, that's so true! My family's Jamaican and my late grandfather's specialty was pig tail soup!!!
@'Lara: it is!
@Naomi: You are a special brand of vegetarian then… 🙂 Did you like it?
@Crystal: Really?! I didn't know that about you (or maybe I just forgot?)! Does that mean you don't eat beef? I'm not a vegetarian but I only eat chicken. Eating beef or pork is a VERY rare occasion for me, but I like them in certain foods (like hamburgers and hot dogs LOL).
Coca leaves aren't just good for cocaine production and altitude sickness. Local indigenous populations eat them because of their narcotic effect, namely higher energy and appetite suppression. Helps laborers, often times doing mining and pulling insane hours in dangerous conditions to help keep their family in a lesser degree of poverty than what they otherwise would inhabit. Then they die young– life span for miners in general is typically ten years less than normal but combined with a lifetime of stimulant abuse and poverty I think the impact on life expectancy is more significant in the Andes.
I'm assuming that the contributions to cheap labor provided by coca is a secondary reason (the first being not to piss off drug gangs) that the 'culturally important' coca remains legal to cultivate and consume.
As for strangest foods abroad. I can't say I've ever done anything too bizarre, but the context of foods can make them memorable. Conch probably isn't alien to many people but I was eating conche brochette on frites with Bier Lorraine at Snack Elizee, a Martinican fast food chain complete with plastic furniture and florescent lights. If they existed anywhere else I would eat there all the time. Getting deep fried squid balls delivered by barge on a river cruise was also pretty strange until I bought the same hours later from a Circle K in Kyoto.
@legrandezombie: Thanks for that extensive write up on coca! I didn't realize that it was a stimulant in it's raw form, but it completely makes sense since my symptoms seemed to miraculously disappear within minutes. As for the food stuff, the conch I don't find strange, I agree, and the squid balls, after living in China, doesn't freak me out so much, but I DO have to laugh at the fact that they have Circle K in Japan (they have it in HK as well), and that they would sell such things there!!
Wow, beautiful photography and great post!
Girl, the town is called Machuca!
Regards.
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