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ROWANBLOG follows the travels of Rowan and Genesis for the next few months with updates as often as information comes via the South American web...

AND SO ONE CHAPTER HAS BEEN NEARLY COMPLETED AND THE NEXT CHAPTER IS UNDERWAY

well, we've been in Buenos Aires a little over a week, two more to go. Getting the feel of this place. Geno is taking spanish classes, and we are both taking tango classes at a very happenin community center. Bought some beautiful tango shoes. We have a great little apartment, close to subway, museums...very central. Have seen some incredible collections of art, you forget that Buenos Aires was once the hub of the world's great art and culture scene, feel like I'm in Rome or Paris.....spent 6 hours in the museum of fine art. so much to see Rodin, Picasso, kahlo, Ruben's, Rivera, Matisse, Gaugin, Miro, etc..........very inspiring.

lots of love....will be home soon.

January 28th-30th These pics are from the Uros islands on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. They are man-made floating reed islands. Very strange, very squishy. Pics of Isla del sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia. This is the mythical birthplace of the Incas aka belly button of the universe. These pics show the view from our hostel window, the nose of a rowboat and one of the lake's many lagoons.

Geno´s birthday cake, our porter made it on the Inca Trail, out of pancakes and egg whites!!! wrote on cake with jam, Feliz compleanos Genesis

Were slowly catching up. These pictures are from back in February. We spent 4 days trekking on the Inca Trail. Not only were we the only Americans in our group, but also the only non argentines.

Well we are here in bustling Buenos Aires. We have our own apartment for a couple of weeks and then possibly off to Uruguay (Monte Video) for a few days. So far we have just been walking around, sussing out the different neighborhoods. We are staying in Palermo, very posh. found botanical gardens and Japanese gardens today. Tomorrow we will go in search of Tango and antiques market in St. Telmo.

...we are back from trekking... The trek was very tough, but beautiful, saw my first glaciers, and climbed over two severe mountains, camped by rivers and lagoons, didn't bring enough food, so we had to ration food. we were allowed one slice of cheese and one slice of bread!! but we made it, now back to steaks and wine. we are taking a 19 hour bus to B.A. will be there by wed. thinking about renting an apartment for 3 weeks...

We made it to Argentina with some interesting border crossing stories. It is so strange in Bariloche, exactly how I picture the Swiss alps to look, beautiful snow crested mountains, green fertile valleys, day glow blue lakes, and log houses everywhere. fresh crisp air. 2 days ago we climbed an active volcano in Chile, took about 7 hours, using ice picks and crampons to reach the top, very challenging, was pretending I was trekking through Antarctica. instead of trekking down, we slid down the mountain in strange plastic diapers for 2 hours. so much fun! yesterday walked in the rain for 8 hours through national park Huerque, brimming with monkey puzzle trees. we will spend a week here in Bariloche trekking around the lakes, then to the big city.

Just a few minutes before we board our 15 hour bus ride down south. Yes we are still going to Patagonia, just not as far down as we originally thought, it is just way too long. We are headed to Pucon which is the lake district of Chile, it is Subhira's favorite place, then we are crossing over to Argentina, and will hike around Bariloche, also lake district, its supposed to be absolutely beautiful. then we just hang in Buenos Aires!. Life is good, was so nice seeing Subhira, spent the night at his incredible house, feel rejuvenated and refreshed, and ready for our next chapter

Well we are finally here in beautiful Valparaiso by the sea. a south American Santa Barbara so nice after the daily struggles of Bolivia. Chile really is a different world, a first world. I'm finally healthy again, I was sick for about a month with stomach stuff. we will head to Santiago in a few days then to Patagonia. I can't believe we are over half way through our trip. So many stories to tell. It is hard to actually get the time to document everything so far, there is just too much. We crossed from Bolivia to Chile on a four day excursion by jeep through the strangest land I have ever seen. the driest desert on the planet with azulent lakes full of pink flamingos and active volcanoes, we were up 17000 feet for 2 days, very very surreal. more later, just enjoying the comforts of Chilean life right now.

(In Part, as Rowan asked for me to wait until they sent pictures, but now it is 4 days later, so they are somewhere in the JUNGLE...)

...well we are in the amazon, cannot believe it, so surreal. in the last 42 hours have swam with pink dolphins, held an anaconda. fed wild yellow monkeys. observed sloths,cabibaras, strange exotic birds of prey, fished for piranas, and we haven´t even gone to the jungle proper. we will take off tomorow for a 5 day jungle excursion. very hot and humid...

We could easily spend three months in and around Cusco. Weve spent the last four nights in a hotel room that overlooks all of cusco including the cathedrals of the plaza de armas and the surounding mountains (¡que belissima! . The view was worth the 6$ a night each. We spent the last four days scaling the most magnificent andean slopes in the sacred valley. On the third day we hiked 10 miles through ruins north of cusco. While still on the hike we were stuck in a freak hail storm (with marble size stones). By storms end there were 4 inches of hail. Taxis got stuck and tourists and kids had snow ball fights. Local say its the first time its hailed in decades. Yesterday we hiked to Pisaca, a ruin that sits at the top of a mountain 13,000 + feet above sea level. Most of the hike involves scaling long stone staircases. Quintin, our impromtu guide, spent four hours teaching us quechua phrases and sharing his knowledge of inca history. His name, loosely translated from quechua, means ´wild mountain fruit´. The entire hike we looked down upon a valley of ancient terraced florescent farmland, waterfalls, and the rio urubamba winding far bellow. It was one of the most magical days we´ve had here. So much so that its hard to imagine how machu pichu can top it. We´re off on the four day Inca Trail trek tomorrow. We´ll spend eight to 9 hours a day walking along the trail and ruins. we will try to send pics tonight.

We made it to Cusco this morning without losing any limbs. Only one bag is missing but it´s ok. In two days (it feels like 4) we went from abq to atlanta, nyc, miami, lima and finally the sacred valley of cusco. It´s overwhelming and more than either of us imagined. While full of euro and argentine tourists, they seem to be here to enjoy the land and culture. The city is stunning. Green hills shelter tile and tin roofed homes. The cobblestone steets are steep, winding and potentially dangerous if you don´t know how to say no to old indian women selling their incredible weavings. You can feel and sometimes see the heavy indigenous foundations bellow the churches, shanty towns and tourist traps. Alpacas munch grass from the cracks in the same ancient sidewalks they poop on. The two of us shared qui (spell?), which may be familiar to you as guinea pig, traditionally a staple protein of the andes. Tastes like a cross between a rabbit and a chipmunk. We checked into a hotel on the plaza de armas and reserved a 4 day trek on the inca trail. We´re crossing our fingers that the guide company is reputable. Their one reference was handwritten in german but it looked positive. More later...

The morning Rowan and Genesis left on their first leg of travels to South America , from the warmth and love of their families, son with mom, daughter with dad, it of course was exciting, melancholy and scary, and that is what ADVENTURES are supposed to be.