Chile con Queso

Arica, Chile's northernmost city on New Years Day. We tried to surf a little bit, but mostly just ended up drinking saltwater.
Surfs up dude. I know that is not a surf board if the foreground, but it is in the background. This is Ryan and Brandon, my fellow vacationers and PC volunteers in the Oruro Department.
Chile was a little bit more expensive than Bolivia.
Oh, how much was dinner? 35,000? Good I was hoping you were going to say 35,000. I just happen to have 35,000 right here.

If I've learned one thing in life, it's try to be a good person and make your parents proud of you. If I've learned two things, it's never pass up a chance to be in a picture with pretty foriegn girls.

Big Mama Sajama

This is Sajama village, about 10 miles from the highway where we got off the bus and started walking. It is also where the park entrance is.
This is Sajama from one of its foothills. It is a huge volcano rising up to 21,400 feet. Ryan, the person pictured, and I hiked up a foothill that was 16,500ish feet high.
We set up camp at a conveniently located hot springs here at about 14,000 feet.

It's a nice view to wake up to, and the hot springs were about 25 feet away.

These are Sajamas little chilean sisters. Not quite as big as Sajama, but together they form an impressive trifecta of 21,000+ foot volcanos.

And here they are silouetted at sunset. The skys are crystaline and the air up here is the clearest I've ever seen. If only there was more of it.