London bound

And so, for those of you who still remember who I am, I am finally about to embark on my journey back to England (shock horror, it cant be true?!). Despite the morning drizzle here in San Fran, i will try to bring back some Californian sunshine. Home, here i come!

old friends, new lives, same smiles

And so here I am at my final stop in California before returning to London, catching up with old friends some still in the East Bay and Berkeley and some who have moved into the city.Sailing in Berkeley Marina

Having a bbq and chilling at Ali's new place in Berkeley
Hanging out in Costco with Olivia (some things never change!)With Hannah, post dinner, trying to take a nice in-car photo (just for old time sake)
Reunited with my partner in every crime, Olivia, who let me crash on her very comfortable couch in her cosy Russian Hill apartment.

let´s take bob to the beach

Final few days in Peru spent at the beachside town of Huanchaco, catching some rays, playing in the waves, surfing and listening to a nice bit of bob at la playa. We stayed at a little haven called Naylamp, right on the beachfront which had a really tranquil campsite complete with hammocks, chocolate cake and the odd tortuga moping around, ideal.Sawyer with our little friend the tortuga!We got overly excited by the recycling of kitchen scraps!La playa, in all its glory. Each day we would find a relatively uncrowded area only to be slowly engulfed and surrounded by Peruvian families, very entertaining.

Sunset, sunrise, sunset, sunrise......

There was even a carnival complete with decorative floats (including wave woman above), brazilian dancers and an interesting set of Simpson characters in the parade.

After daily visits to the local market and cooking for ourselves everyday (supplemented by a few beach snacks) we decided to splash out on the last day and go for dinner. Our plan of having lots of the Peruvian famous Ceviche failed when most places were shut so we settled for a little hole in the wall place which had great 2soles (50p) veggie burgers, complete with mostaza, ketchup y aji picante (peruvian spicey sauce) yum!

me and my bros

Dedicated to my two guardian angels Tim and Sawyer, fellow wwoofers from Tunuyan who i travelled up through Bolivia and Peru with...fun times boys!

A celebratory ´drink´ after bumping into Tim in the street in Copacabana...well we thought it was beer but it turned out to be a malt energy drink inconveniently labelled with a beer brand! We eventually found real alcoholic beverages a little later, thankfully.

Day spent wandering around Lima, searching for the China town market region and trying to escape the loud hustling bustling city streets. Here we are at the main plaza, lovely.

Breakfast stop...Boys : "I want pastries"

Nati contemplating getting one croissant, Boys : "Let´s get 5....each..."

I didn´t have anyting to do with this photo...hence no comment...Sawyer.

Machu what now, omg the llama

Not much to say really, absolutely incredible ruins at the incan city of Machu Picchu. After arriving first thing in the morning the whole site was engulfed with mist and cloud but gradually the sun began to rise and the mist mostly cleared giving us perfect vision of the whole ancient lost city.Much time was also spent fussing over the cutest little llama happily wandering around and providing endless entertainment to the surrounding tourists...CUTE!

No sun on the isla del sol

Views of Lake Titicaca from Isla del Sol, a short boat journey across from Copacabana on the mainland. Unfortunately there was so sun in sight when we arrived but we still enjoyed exploring the little island and visiting some of the ruins on the North side.

Sorata...ooo llama

After spending a few days in the crazy capital of La Paz and satisfying our shopping desires for Andean crafts and textiles we quickly moved on to the lovely tranquilo town of Sorata set within lush farming vegetation and rolling hills with the imposing snow covered Llampu mountain in the background. Here we did a day hike out to La Gruta de San Pedro, a large cave with lots of bats and underground river resembling the Styx from the underworld where the lovely Ricardo steered us along on a little pedalo boat (5 bolivianos well spent!)
Friendly faces along the way...

palta sandwich...where´s the sal?

Arriving in Villazon after crossing the border at La Quica on the argentinian side. Culture shock number 1.
Views of varied antiplano whilst on a tour of the Salares in Uyuni. Unfortunately i was ill with a stomach infection for most of the trip but still managed to see some of the amazing sights when i wasnt passed out in the back on the 4x4.

Even covered with water the salt flats were incredible to experience with amazing reflections

indigenous inspiration

¨To play an instrument, to sing or to dance structures a way through which to live as well as a way to conceive and make sense of the world and society¨

Fine words from the museo de arte indigena in Sucre, Bolivia.

Making chai and love in Nirvana

This is me Nadedge (chief chai chica) and Fay in our homely little chai bar. Below are a just a few tokens of life at the festival as seen from inside and outside of the chai bar!

Making chai, coffee, tea and hot water for Mate, very important activities in the chai bar, as well as maintaining a constant supply of snacks and sweet breads were also readily available for purchase. Tenemos miel si quieres!

Drum lesson in the peaceful surroundings of the chillout stage zone where the chai bar was conveniently located. Great for quick dancing breaks during our shifts. In addition to this much fun was had dancing whilst inside the chai bar.

Muchos amigos de Chai. A happy haven for people to come and rest their danced out main stage feet and chat to the lovely welcoming chai chicas. We had lots of friends.
Psychedelic colours from the main floor. The stages were constructed of all natural materials like wood and bamboo and decorated with lots of stones, bones, hand crafted decorations and statuettes.

Bar friends, we had friends in all the right places!They made great refreshing smoothies as well as serving artesan beers for post work drinkies.
Firedancing from the opening ceremony of the festival. Everyone has a talent.
The chillout zone stage set in amongst the trees, next to the river and complete with hammocks and chill areas and a great line-up of performers.
A little walk along the river took you to the ´beach´ an area of the river where you could swim and which had a little sandy bank to take a siesta in the shade. Ideal when you needed a break!
We always encouraged dancing and spontaneous playfulness at the chai bar!

my arm smells of goat

Yesterday me and Fay, another wwoofer used our free day to take a trip to the close by Tunuyan landmark of Manzano Historico. We did quite a bit of hiking but also made use of friendly passes by to hitch hike back to the pueblo when we got a bit tired and realised we definitely didnt have enough time to make it back in time for the bus! While back in town, we also bumped into some other wwoofers who had moved on. A spanish couple, Tony and Lia and their cute little naked baby daughter L´Arrel (which means root in Catalan) who are now working at a farm with goats and using the milk to make dulce de leche. We went to see the farm and Tony showed us how to milk which a rather interesting experience and reminded me of the SATC episode when Samantha sprays herself in the face with cow milk haha Anyways tomorrow I am off to another farm close by before Fay and I venture on towards Mendoza where we are going to be volunteering at festival in the mountains called Nirvana. It is focusing on permaculture, sustainable living, natural food, yoga, reiki etc as well as having a large array of music acts ranging from electronic to sci trance to chillout. It is set in a peaceful location in the mountains of Cordoba and is hoping to be a no-trace festival by encouraging people to take all their rubbish, bring plates and glasses (to eliminate throw away utensils), not use any soaps/shampoos (biodegradable and friendly products will be available there), as well as composting toilets. Needless to say i am rather excited! I think we will be working in the restaurant while we are there and maybe also in the Smoothie & Chai Bar, pretty ideal one might say. I´ll let you know how it goes!

¿Porque no?

So here are some photos from where i am currently wwoofing! I have spent most of my time working on this casa de barro, mostly working on the interior walls, which are now nearly all complete with their final layer of a rich clay colour natural paint mix. I have had a great time here in Tunuyan. I spent Christmas with the other volunteers at the next door farm Huerta de Vida where we had a mexican feast including mole, eggnog and sugar biscuits! New years was a big dinner celebration with all the community here where a big table full of family, friends and wwoofers enjoyed a feast of homemade goodness. Ramon, a friend of Jorge and Azu stayed with us at Madre Tierra for a few days and we helped him cook up a great stew of sweetcorn, pumkpin, tomato salsa, garlic, onion and multiple spices called something like Humito, a traditional Inca hotpot! We cooked it up in a huge pan on a parilla afuera and it was perfect for a slightly chilly cloudy day.

wherever the wwoof takes you

Hello all......Currently having a hard time getting the USB to work on this semi-ancient computer and so alas no photos yet. After a quick trip up north to see the Iguazu Falls (amazing, cannot describe in words!) I have now moved on to a different farm in Tunuyan close to Mendoza (still in Argentina) where i am wwoofing once again. Am currently spending my time doing lots of different things within the farm community which consists of a few different families. Mostly i am working with Gustavo, who is building (Tierra Circular) his own home from mud, wooden pallets, recycled car windows, garlic husks and any other recycled or natural materials he can get his hands on. I have been finishing the final layers of barro (earth mixed with horse poo and clay) while he is completing the bathroom with nice tiling. We are experimenting with a totally natural chemical free paint using linseed oil to make it water repellent. We discuss our thoughts on ecological living in particular about circular systems (systems Soph!!!!) and how in the cities there is a linear approach which contains a lot of inputs and waste and not as much recycling and reusing. Gustavo has also been teaching me Tai Chi Chuan which i have been really enjoying and is great for loosening up after a day on standing on a barrel throwing mud at the wall! I also help out in La Huerta (basically growing field or vegetable gardens) with Jorge who started the Madre Tierra project. As you can imagine, basic farmwork activities include but are not limited to the follwing, hoeing the land, putting down garlic husks as a nutricious mulch (¨Oh ajo!¨), chopping down weeds ´yerbas malas´, putting up supports for fruit trees, watering watering watering, harvesting delicious goodies....endless activities in the hot sun con my sombrero (we dont want wrinkles now do we) build up my appetite for delicious vegetarian sometimes vegan meals usually enjoyed after a much needed jump in the river with ice cold Andes water!

Yesterday I helped Azucena, Jorge´s wife, with the epic baking session before the Saturday organic farmers market in Mendoza where they go to sell their delicious bounty. After a long hot flour-filled day I was happy to spend the evening with the chicos from one of the other wwoofing farms who came over with homemade pudding and a film (Waking Life - its all about lucid dreaming)...followed by a goodnight sleep in mi carpa under another starry starry night...ideal!

Peeing in the woods

Today, we have come into town so that Marcelo and Kim can run their errands and stock up on the supplies they are not yet able to produce at their place. For the other volunteers and myself, today is one of our two rest days a week and although i would have much rather stayed at the farm, i had a few things i needed to check/emails to send etc.

Anyway, the first week at Mama Roja has been great. We wake up early with the morning sun and after a breakfast of homemade cereals, fruit and bread we set to work on the days work. There is a rota for various daily activities such as bread baking, kitchen help and plant watering. The afternoons are free for us volunteers to do as we wish. I often spend time reading (Marcelo and Kim have a great collection of books about sustainable building, organic gardening, arts and crafts etc etc), pottering in the garden, playing in the river, doing yoga or exploring the jungle-esque surroundings of the farm. The other day we all went out to explore the surroundings (Machete-ing down a previoud overgrown trail) and noticed an orange tree. After creating a viable path to the tree - during which we also found a passion fruit tree - we collected two bags of oranges which we will make into marmalade.

Our main project at the moment is building a shade covering structure for one of the vegetable gardens. The shade covering fabric is designed to let in enough light for the plants to be productive but prevents the very harsh rays which in the summer heat can frazzle the poor greens. In addition to this we have been doing lots of other little jobs such as constructing trellis for the cucumbers, staking the tomato plants, harvesting wheat seeds to name but a few. Everything here is very sustainable and in harmony with the environment around. Everything is reused or recycled (composting toilets!), food scraps are fed to the chickens or contribute to the compost which then feeds the rest of the garden. The river provides all the water needs and also gives us a nice place to bath/wash our clothes. There is a shower in one of the earthern bathroom buildings but the river is much more enjoyable place to bathe.

There are lots of creepy crawlies around inlcuding some amazingly coloured caterpillars and butterlies. I also saw a coral snake yesterday, heading straight for my tent, hmmm, however Kim reassured me that it wouldn´t go into my tent!

I am learning lots about how many things we buy can easily be made by ourselves eliminating lots of chemicals and giving you the satisfaction of having created something for yourself while preserving the resources and environment around you...watch this space!

Off to Mama Roja

After a quick stop-off in Corrientes, one of Argentina´s oldest cities and full of lovely architecture, parks, plazas and a nice riverside parade, I am now about to head up to Obera. Here I will spend some time volunteering at a sustainable living centre called Mama Roja. They are building adobe houses, practising eco-living, restoring the land and other green activities to build a healthy alternative lifestyle.

You can see their mission statement here at their blog...

Obviously no internet at the centre, but will hopefully be able to keep you guys updated when we go into town occasionally!
Besos xx

Couching in Rosario

Rosario, birthplace of Che Guevara and home to some very lovely couchsurfers. I stayed with Patricio aka Pato who is currently studying at the university and lives with his younger brother. Whilst he was in classes, i spent some time wanbdering around the city getting excited by its tree lines streets and range of different architectural styles. Situated next to the Parana river, Rosario is an industrial and export centre. Strolling along the riverside, where there are lots of parks reminded me of the southbank in London during summer, with lots of people enjoying the afternoon sun. I went to the Monumento a la Bandera (flags!!!), where the Argentinian flag was raised for the first time. Standing at 70m tall the monument is a great place to go to get a panaramic view across the city. In the evening, we went to a couchsurfing gathering at one of their favourite hanuts the tango bar, Chamuyera, where I was introduced to lots of other friendly Rosarians. I spent the next few days in Rosario hanging out with Sandra and Sofia and their friends and a big group of us had a nice picnic in Parque Urquiza, as it was the day for the census and lots of people had a day off work. I also stayed with Sofia who teaches spanish to foreigners and is studying to be a translator so she helped me with my castellano. We laughed about finding our principes azules (Prince Charming) and she also taught me some new Argentinian words, like Huesito, which means ´little bone´ and is what you call someone who you are seeing!On my last night (i was about to catch a night bus to the northeast of Agentina) we had a nice stoll around the lively night scene of shops, bars and restaurants which after their afternoon siesta had come alive!!