Travelog for: Bobi

Hi everybody!
Today when I came to the site I found a great surprise... I'm the toyvoyager of the week!



There's a resume of all my exciting adventures so far!



Thanks to all my hosts!
Many kisses,
Bobi

Hi mum! How are you?

We came to a city 6 hours south called Puerto Montt, but for a very short time and even though Leslie didn't have much free time to take us out, we managed to go on a little tour through the waterfront from the centre to the famous Angelmó port





This very big and famous monument is called "sentados frente al mar" (sitting by the sea). They even have their own song!!





This is Angelmó, an international port where turists from all over the world rive in their fancy cruises to taste typical chilean sea food and fishermen and big ships come and go



In the restaurant galleries and could see panoramic views of the harbour



This sea lion seemed almost trained! He didn't stop posing and swimming around for us!



There were some very old looking fishing boats!





Right there in the Angelmó port there is a big craft market



I'd like to have one of these beanies in my size I wonder how would I look?



These three guys weren't so handsome but they were friendly enough to let me take a photo with them!



I found these mysterious Moais from Easter Island on a shelf!







These jewels are made of a rare semi precious stone called Lapislazuli that is only found in Chile and Afghanistan



This nice couple lent me a woollen beanie How do I look??



Late at night we went up to a viewpoint to see the light of the city! Very nice! 



...And the next day we came back to Temuco.



A big hug to you!
Bobi

Hi mum! I know it's been a long time... sorry about that! We were on a trip, a very nice trip! But you'll see photos of that later, now I want to show you a trip we made to the Andes mountain range and a small town called Lonquimay the other day

On the drive we stopped more than a few times to admire the beautiful landscapes by the road, so we took quite long to get to the mountain range But that's what trips are for, aren't they?

This bridge is very very old!



But don't worry, I didn't cross it! I'm standing here on a new bridge built next to the old one



I really like these high mountains as a background!



Look mum! A suspension bridge! And I was brave enough to cross it! Aren't you proud?



It moved a lot and it was somewhat scary, but I'm sure it wasn't me the one who moved it the most! After all I'm quite fit and my weight isn't enough to move such a thing! I think it was Leslie who did little earthquakes in every step



This is beautiful waterfall is called "princess' waterfall" I think it's amazing how so much water falls and falls and doesn't run out!
I would like to swim here, but the water was really freezing!



...Another river... As you can see there are a lot of rivers coming from the mountain range to the ocean in this zone... a lot.



There were thousands of lupines by the road! Some were pink, purple, yellow and even blue!



Here we started going up the Andes mountain range! Even though it's spring, up here it still seemed like winter!





The view was amazing! And I should mention as well that it was rather freezing!



We kept going up and up until we found snow! Snow in spring!



So we went to play!! But just for a short time... none of us wanted to catch a cold!





Everytime Leslie stopped to take pictures we would run back to the snow



The guys built me an igloo!



We found what looked like a baby Araucaria and went running to climb it, but Leslie said that this one must be about 50 years old or more!



So I guess these must be about a thousand years old!



After crossing a part of the mountain range we got to Lonquimay! There was nothing interesting as it a small town, but in the main square I found these two nice sculptures of Mapuche people





We were very close to the border with Argentina! These signs say Argentina to the left and Chile to the right! I would have liked to turn left and take a sneak peek in Argentina, but for that we would have to cross the entire Andes mountain range... so we just turned right and started returning home.



On the road back to Temuco we crossed the longest tunnel in South America! Túnel las Raices - The Roots Tunnel. It's 4,527 meters long!



There was a moment when we could see nothing at all! The entrance had already dissapeared and we still couldn't see the end!





It was a very nice day!

Hugs from the sunny Chile,
Chrissi

Ciao mamma mia!

Days here have been sunny and the temperatures raising quite fast, bordering the 30ºC these last days. I hope you are not freezing yourself back at home mum! I would like to send you some chilean warmth if I could!

On one of those very rare cloudy days we went to a small town called Puerto Domínguez on the shore of Lake Budi, the only salt water lake in South America!

There were big sculptures of mapuche people, like this guy riding a horse...



Back there, behind the big fisherman, you can see the lake!



This is it! Lake Budi, the only salt water lake in South America



There was a lovely family of black necked swans swimming around! They had 7 babies, but most of them were resting under their parents' warm wings



A little later we went up to a small cemetery with a nice view to the lake
Many many old and not so old tombs had one of Leslie's lastnames written (she has 2), she told me it is because she's descendant of the Spanish guys who came to conquer this area back in the colonial times



Now the sun is shining outside so me and the others are going to go out to play

Many kisses for you!

Bobi

Ciao!

Today we went to the main craftmarket of Temuco to see some Mapuche handicrafts. There were many strange musical instruments, clothes and souvenirs... I liked these "kultrún", mapuche drums



This instrument is made out of a cow's horn!



These are "trapelakuchas", jewel pieces made of silver worn only by mapuche women who have important ranges in their community. They are very heavy!



There were also many lovely mapuche dolls



Then we went to a shopping centre and saw a magnificent giant christmas tree! The whole place had christmas decoration and they were playing christmas carols, it was a lovely atmosphere!



When we came back home we sat in front of the christmas tree to admire the lights listening to christmas carols It's really nice!





I hope you're having a good christmas season mum!

Love,
Bobi

Hohoho!

Today we were at home doing nothing productive... Chrissi and Sweet Mimi were reading a book while Fiona, Petunia and I were folding origami animals



...When we heard someone coming! It was Pato wearing a Santa costume and bringing something!



It was a christmas tree and a bag of presents!



But he didn't bring any decoration for the tree... So Petunia, Fiona and Chrissi went to the big tree to stea... I mean borrow some In the meantime Mimi, Pato and I started helping with the tree



When the others were back they brought a big load of bells and other things



We hung the decorations on the tree while Pato was singing christmas carols to cheer us



When we were done, we added just a little details. Fiona hung a bell on the wall, Leslie gave us a little manger to place under the tree, and Chrissi found a Santa figure that Zandy sent us!



And here it is!! Our own christmas tree!



I can't wait until christmas!
And I wonder what's inside Pato's bag!

Bobi

Hohoho! Merry Christmas from a 30ºC christmas day!

On Christmas eve, in the afternoon we had a lovely dinner with the family, the sun was still shining outside as you can see, since it's one of the longest days in the year!



Then, when we were done eating, we went to check our tree to see if Santa had passed, and yes! There were presents under our tree!



We euphorically opened them...!





There were candies and chocolate for everyone! And we enjoyed them until we could eat no more!

I hope you had a beautiful christmas too mum!

Hugs!
Bobi

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL THE TOYVOYAGERS AND THEIR FAMILIES and of couse, my mum !

We came to celebrate to the beautiful fishing village of Queule once again On the evening of the 31st we made a BBQ with longanizas Yummy yummy longanizas!



At midnight it was time for "3... 2... 1...!!"
As you can see we had a very good time and we stayed up late in the deck watching little fireworks and people playing with sparklers. Our neighbors had good loud music, so we also danced a little



The next day when we woke up (which wasn't precisely early...) the sun was shining and the sky was all blue so Pato and I went to the valcony to see the nice view and breathe some fresh sea breeze



The plants in the garden were green and nice, and there were lots of flowers!



Later after lunch we walked to one of the beaches nearby, well, not so near, about 40 minutes walking up and down the hills But I have no problem with walking, it's good excersise to prepare my muscles for the beach season 



In the beach I found this little dunes, which looked like ruins from an old civilization!



They inspired us all to build a sand castle and play! Mimi, Chrissi and Petunia were the trapped ladies locked by a dragon while brave Fiona and I came to rescue them crossing the dangerous suspension bridge!



It was a very fun day!

I wish you a very happy 2012 mum!
And as they say in spanish... FELÍZ AÑO NUEVO!

Hello mum and dear audience!

We started a journey to northern lands
We slept on a bus for 8 hours and woke up in Santiago, the capital of Chile! But we didn't see anything there because we got off the bus and inmediately got into another one to keep going north Another 7 hours north!

Here we are leaving Santiago at 8 am...



The hills near Santiago have different vegetation than back south in Temuco... it starts getting more desertic, there is less vegetation here and you can even see some cactus on the hills!



Then, after about 4 hours on the second bus we started seeing the sea!



The bus made a stop to stretch everyone's legs in a little Town called Los Vilos. There was literally nothing to see there but one single cactus, so Leslie, desperate to get me good photos, made me sit on it and pose!!!



With my butt full of little red dots we went back to the bus and it started moving again...
By the road there was an enormous eolic park with thousands of giantic eolic windmills spinning, some fast, some slow. They were really nice to watch!



And after a total of 15 hours on buses, we got to La Serena!
Mum, don't surprised if you find my butt a little flat when I come back home... This is why.
But traveling is never a pain, so as soon as we got there we left our baggage in the hostal and started walking a long long street that leads to the bech

There were many monuments along, but I specially found this one interesting, they are 2 condors (the national bird, remember?) hunting a poor rabbit! I hope Sweet Mimi didn't see it



Then there were no more sculptures but road, just many blocks of road to the beach... surrounded by nice palm trees



And then, finally, after walking about 18 blocks we got to the beach! we were starting to feel tired but as soon as we saw the sea, it took all our tiredness away!

The first thing you see when you get to the beach is a nice lighthouse which is the most known icon of La Serena



We stayed here the whole afternoon relaxing after so much traveling and walking...



You'll see more La Serena soon mum, and so will I

Take care
Love,
Bobi

Hi mum!

Another sunny day here in La Serena! In fact most of the days are sunny here and fantastically it only rains a few days a year!

In the morning ("morning" in holidays never means earlier than 9 am here ...) we went walking to the centre, wich is just a few block away from our hostal and we found this beautiful church called Santo Domingo which was built in the year 1700 and something...



It has a very beautiful dome, doesn't it?!



Inside it was cold and they had nice music playing which gave a nice and calm feeling





Outside the church there was a garden with beautiful flowers!



Just across the street we found the main square, it's rather small but nice, and it was under some reparations, you can see white fences back there...
Petunia and I climbed this tree of trumpet flowers (floripondio), I just wanted to look at them, but Petunia wanted to try them! so Leslie told her not to because they have very very stong drug effects and can be easily deadly when boiled as tea. I think avoid tasting it was the best desition.



Next to the square there was this big cathedral, Catedral de la Serena. It was built around the 1800s and it's the biggest and main cathedral of the city.




...We went in, and were lucky to find it almost empty because there was a big "no photos" sign I didn't mean to be disrespectful but such a nice construction must be photographed, right?

Next to us there was another tourist with his camera under his jacket, taking photos whenever he thought no one was looking! of course he never imagined there was a little toyvoyager dog watching him from between the big pillars! haha!



In the walls there were many images of saints and other religious people who, to be honest, I don't know who they are...



Then we went out to the street again...

Haven't I told you mum that in La Serena most of the constructions keep a colonial style? In the centre, for example, they can't build anything bigger than 4 floors height, and most of the contructions have tile roofs

Anyway, we were walking in the street and found quite a nice building, but it belonged to some court or something like that so we were just trying to sneak near the door, but a nice guard found us and invited us inside to take photos!

Inside the building there was a beautiful patio!



Then out in the street again we found this cool tile bench where we sat to rest for a while

I was distracted looking around and talking with the others when Leslie got us all into a cab...



...And somehow we ended up in a little gym watching an Easter Island dance! Which was a little like this



What a day!
Love from the sunny Chile
Your Bobi

Hi mum! how are you??

Today we went to visit the japanese garden of La Serena!
We were so lucky... when we arrived there was no one but us! So no weird looks or staring people who always seem surpsised to see toyvoyagers running around the place



I mean, no one but us and some animals
The first birds I saw were these black necked swans and one just black.



Then we all climbed this sculpture, which looked like a building with toyvoyager-sized flats!



What a nice view from up here!







And time for some culture in the end!



Have a nice day!

Bye

Ciao ciao!

The photos you're going to see now mum are from the day we went to Coquimbo, a city next to La Serena, literally, only 10 minutes away
When we walked there we walked for a while through the coast where all the fishing boats were... back there you can see the desertic hills!





Then we went up to the highest point in the city.





Here I am at the feet of the Third Millenium Cross, a giant monuent - view point inagurated by John Paul II in 2000
Do you see the little windows in the "arms" of the cross?? Well that is the viewpoint!





We went up by an elevator... And this is the wonderful view from up there!! You can see the whole city of Coquimbo and its gulf



The Pacific Ocean...



Back there you can see La Serena city!





Under the cross there was a small cathedral and a religious museum but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside grrr... I saw some of John Paul's belongings, like clothes, chairs and other things... And I saw Michelangelo's La Pietà! And this I was allowed to take a photo with! I'm so proud to be italian!



After the Cross, we went to a fortress used to fight the pirates back in the day!





Look mum! A cactus with a flower!!



I could imagine the battles against the pirate ships firing those big cannions!





I'll write again soon!

Bye bye

Bongiorno mamma mia!

Today I'm going to show you photos of the day we went to the Elqui Valley (valle del elqui). It is the place with the clearest sky in the world! That's why there are many obstervatories around these hills
Actually this was already a while ago but I haven't had many time to do updates because we've been traveling quite a lot

The valley is crossed along by a river, and can you believe there is a whole town under it!? One day in 1996 the inhabitants of Gualliguaica town were told they had to leave their houses to build a dam and the next day their whole town was under water! It was rebuilt nearby but there are still people sad about it, specially old people who lived all their lives in their original town...  I feel sorry for them.



After about one hour going into the valley we got to its first town, Vicuña This is the main church right by the main square.



And this is the old city hall used around 1800 by the mayor and other politicians Now the main room is a museum where you can see pictures of the important guys who used to attend meetings there. I wonder how was this place when they were alive? how were their lives...? I bet they were very different to the traveler life I know so far



Then we took another bus to go deeper into the valley to a small town called Pisco Elqui

As we went further into the valley it became nicer and nicer! The mountanis were bigger and the fields greener!



Mum, this is the place with the clearest sky in the world!!
- Astronomers: envy me!



What great hills are on the sides of the valley! I would love to climb to the top!





And we got to Pisco Elqui! Even though there wasn't much to see there it was a nice place, very in touch with nature... small streets, small houses, many of them made of clay! This is the main church.



This is it in the inside



Then we went to have lunch to a nice open air restaurant, it was very late for lunch, but when we are traveling we use to forget about eating until we suddenly realize we are starving! hehe There's so much to see that one doesn't really care about trivial stuff like that, right?

And guess what ... Leslie made me sit on a cactus again!
She said her excuse this time was the funny name of this cactus... although I think that's a pretty lame excuse! One of these days I'll put a cactus branch on her seat... let's see if she likes it!
Anyway, this is called "mother in law's cushion" (cojín de la suegra) I'm pretty sure that name was made by a mean man!



Then we took the bus back to La Serena
I loved the valley! did you like it?

I'll write again soon!
Bye!
Your Bobi

PS: my bum still hurts

Hola mamá!

Our days in La Serena came to end, but before we left I climbed a tree to pack some cherries for our 15 hour trip There were plenty of them in our hostel backyard!

There were some birds standing on the higher branches staring at me with a face of saying "hey! don't steal our fruits!" but I just ignored them and kept picking



There was also a thornless cactus which I liked very much



Back in the south we did not stay in Temuco but came to Queule right away to navigate!



As you can see the sky wasn't blue but it feels nice to cool down after so many days in the desertic north!



The boat had a cool name!



And after hours rowing through the river and the sea we were hungry so went to have our meal. At home they were waiting for us with some yummy goldenberry jam



Kisses from your sailor little dog

Bobi

Hola mum!

This is your adventurer dog reporting from Bolivia!
Yay! After more than 50 hours traveling, we got to the highest city in the world, Potosí!

Here we are outside the customs office in the middle of the andean plateau at 3.695 m.a.s.l waiting for our turn... At this height you can already feel the lack of oxygen and it was cold and windy but we were all very happy to be there!



After we crossed the border we kept going through the plateau...
For hours the landscape outside the window was like this...



There's an unbelievable amount of volcanoes up there!!
I had never seen so many and so close to eachother!



And then for some more hours the landscape turned more montainous, and we could see some aborigins' houses made of rocks from time to time



And after many many hours, we arrived to Potosí! the highest city in the world at 4060 m.a.s.l!

As soon as we got to our hotel we dropped our baggage and went out running to explore! Of course, we only run a few meters and realized how much oxygen we were missing and how super tired and extremely exhausted we were feeling, so we just walked from that moment on, which is somewhat awkward for us who are all used to be running and jumping around


I learned new things, so I want to teach them to you
The first thing we saw was this old church called "Nuestra Señora de la Merced" and it was built in 1555 when the spanish conquered Bolivia and forced the natives to build churches for a God they didn't even believe in...



And this is San Lorenzo church



The natives were forced to build and build as slaves, and they were so angry to be building churches to God that they decided to add some of their beliefs' elements to the contrsuctions, even if it costed them their lives.
Here you can see a sun and a moon in the corners, they represent the sun and moon deities that they worshipped.
I admire how brave they were to add these details even if they knew the spanish would kill them for doing it!




Then we went back to out hotel to recover some oxygen!

Tomorrow, city tour
Stay tuned!

Love from the highest city in the world!
Your explorer dog, Bobi