Don´t sniff the sulfur

Pit stop for eight hours in San Pedro while waiting for the bus to take me to Arica. Why Arica? If you glance at a map you will see that it is situated on the coast of the PACIFIC OCEAN! It might be true that I have never seen that one. It is so hot with little to do other than shop (I only need so many tacky sweaters and tribal pipes) so we are taking refuge in an internet cafe. Three days ago I had not yet seen these things:

1. The honest-to-goodness-desert
2. A geyser
3. Chile
4. Flamingoes in their natural habitat (which happens to be much better on the eyes than nose) 5. Llamas, vicuñas, an andean fox, a long-tailed rabbit thing, a suri (kinda like an ostrich)
6. A volcano
7. Vast plains of salt
8. Desert stars

The trip was three days in a jeep with a brazilian woman, two dudes from Ireland and a French guy who only strengthened any French stereotype I have ever heard. Oh, and our Bolivian driver. It worked out that our plans changed to avoid Sucre because it is closed due to rioting. The accomodations each night were basic but warm however lacked washing stations. By last night we washed out hair in the miniature bathroom sinks with ice water allowing the little girls who lived there to dump nalgenes full of it all over our heads. It was worth it since we were later informed that we were 'amigas' and handed slightly wet handfuls of popcorn.

While drinking my jugo of pure kiwi in the town today I picked up a pamphlet about some geysers in the area similar to the ones we had visited this morning. It provided some 'necessary cautions for your visit' - All visitors must be something far from the geysers when coming nearer to them -In winter the low temperature freeze the water that fluid from the geysers, becoming slippery the ground, BE CAREFUL TO WALK - It is not recommended NOT TO INHALE nor to smell the emanations produced by the geysers, because they can be very dangerous And if incase, after all these warnings, you manage to fall into a geyser there are burn tips provided. Most important of all 'not to take away the rest of the clothes attached to the skin'. Boy, that makes me want to visit.