This little red head has a TAN.

.... Yes, you read that correctly, ladies and gents, your favourite super pale Canadian has a tan. And a burn, in parts. Hooooray for beaches!!

To update you:

As I said in my last post, I made it to Santiago after leaving Valparaiso. I was there for about 24 hours, so not long, but long enough to get a feel for the city. It´s nice, lots to see, but didn't have the same kind of crazy bohemian vibe that Valparaiso did. I stayed in the barrio Bellavista, which is like the trendy, funky part of town, but it was a Monday. Win some, lose some. I did go out for beers with some English guys who bought motorcycles in Bolivia and were riding through to Brazil. Wicked!



Then Tuesday afternoon I made my way out to the enormous bus terminal and caught a bus out to Iquique. And by that, I mean I spent 28 hours on a bus. Deep. Breath.

It's cool in a way though because in the course of that bus ride, I went through wild changes in the scenery. From the bushy, rolling mountains outside of Santiago we moved into the desert, where the mountains are gnarled and polished and the dust just hangs in the air... you can tell it hasn't rained out there, like, ever. I've never seen a desert before, so this was pretty stunning for me. I sat for hours staring out the window.

Iquique is still in the desert but is a fairly large coastal city with a lot of tourism. Its nice enough, but really not somewhere i'm walking around at night ever. But you don't come here for the culture, really. You come for the gorgeous beaches, the surfing, and the paragliding.

I'm signed up for surfing today and for paragliding tomorrow... it's okay mom, promise. Should be a wild adventure. I spent yesterday wandering the town and then flat out on a beach... thus the tan!

S,