Bye bye Deloitte!

After 5 long (and let me tell you, some were longer than others) years at Deloitte, I said farewell today. The departure was bittersweet as with it brings amazing opportunities ahead but also means I am leaving behind numerous mentors, friends and esteemed colleagues. It was a great run. On to the next adventure!!

Paragliding

Check one more thing off the bucket list! Paragliding is awesome!! Iquique, apparently, has the best paragliding in South America. Reason why? Because you jump off the most enormous sand dune/mountain I've ever seen and soar over the entire city until landing peacefully on the beach.

The cliff we jumped off

My tandem buddy, Patricio, told me that we shouldn't be nervous as he likes to go paragliding when he is stressed out to relax. I quickly understood why after overcoming the initial nervousness of LITERALLY RUNNING OFF THE SIDE OF A CLIFF. Once I was sitting in what seems like a swing floating above the city, I was completely relaxed. All the nerves I've been feeling lately about quitting my job, moving to the UK, and going back to school flew out of my head as quickly as the vomit that came out of Jackie midair. Poor thing started getting a little nauseous half way through the flight and gave her tandem partner a little spray of fun in his face. Luckily, Erica and I avoided the motion sickness and landed on the beach stoked on life ready for the next time we have the chance to "parapente" again. SO FUN!!

Colonial Baquedano Street

After we went paragliding, we enjoyed a great seafood lunch at El Wagón. I really am going to miss Chilean fish when I leave this place. We then strolled around the colonial looking Baquedano street before heading to the airport.

Once I have figured out how to make stills out of the video footage from the day, I will post pics. Check back soon!

Iquique

Another weekend, another trip. Erica, Jackie and I headed north to El Norte Grande this weekend to explore the desert near the Bolivian border of Chile. We have a beautiful ocean view from our hotel room in Iquique. What a nice escape from Santiago!

This morning at 5:30 AM, our tour guide Mauricio picked us up to start our tour of the desert in the north of Chile. We had a jam packed full day of sight-seeing natural phenomena, indigenous villages and beautiful landscapes. Our first stop was the Geysers of Puchuldiza, a geothermic field that is active for most of the day. There were between 20 and 30 small geysers and two notable tall, powerful ones that shot to at least 50 feet in the air. The ground was covered in ice surrounding the geysers that were 175°F due to the extreme temperatures at night. The geothermic field was at 4,300 meters, or 14,100 ft. above sea level. You could really feel the altitude!

After the Geysers of Puchuldiza, we continued on to an old Aymara settlement called Mauque that has turned into a ghost town save one remaining family. The church in town still stands and is used annually for indigenous ceremonies.

After Mauque, we traveled on to the Laguna Aravilla where three types of flamingos can be found. Although flamingos are generally thought of as birds that live near the sea, our guide informed us that they are found in this region due to the high concentration of salt in the earth. There was a salt flat near the lake which makes the water salt water in which the brine shrimp that flamingos feed upon live.

Our tour then carried us on to the Termas de Enquelga where we had the opportunity to relax in the hot springs surrounded by grazing llamas and ñandus. I have never seen to many llamas in my life! It reminded me of driving through Texas and seeing fields full of cows, except instead of cows, they were llamas.

After the hot springs, we visited two more traditional Aymara villages - Isluga and Colchane. At this point, they all started to look the same to me. Dusty square buildings, plaze in the center, church with a tower, you get my drift. Our last stop of the day was the Gigante de Atacama, the largest anthropomorphic geoglyph in the world. It looked like aliens came down some time 1000 years ago and drew ET on the mountain. The carving in the hillside dates back to some time between 900 and 1450, however little is known about its true history.

Mendoza

With only a few weeks left to check things off my South America bucket list, I have been busy planning and going on trips lately. Last weekend, I crossed off a really great trip from my list of places to visit before leaving the continent - Mendoza, Argentina.

O. Fournier Winery in the Uco Valley

Four girlfriends and I flew over the Andes on a short 45-minute flight to the lovely Argentine land of Malbec for the weekend. Saturday morning started with a drive through the miles and miles of vineyards to O. Fournier winery (http://www.ofournier.com/web/) in the La Consulta region of the Uco Valley. We toured the impressive estate and winery which has been designed to work with gravity to minimize the use of pumps. After touring the winery came the fun part - tasting! We tasted four of the vineyards top wines, including a great Malbec that made it home in my suitcase.

The view from lunch at Tupungato Divino

After our tour, we moved on to a small restaurant between several vineyards called Tupungato Divino. The restaurant and wine bodega is nestled at the base of the Andes among the vineyards of the Uco Valley. We all enjoyed a fabulous five-course meal of pumpkin ravioli and Argentina beef paired with amazing wine. Once we had finished eating, the owner of the place invited us to the area where he makes his own wine and offered us the chance to crush the grapes ourselves. I felt like Lucille Ball (minus the barefoot thing).

Making wine at Tupungato Divino

Once we got back to Mendoza, we continued the wine-drinking at a cute wine bar called The Vines of Mendoza. I tried the flight of whites, since I had been drinking mostly red all day and fell in love with the Pulenta Estate Pinot Gris. I highly recommend it if you ever come across it! Sadly, Argentine wines are hard to find in most of the world, because a very limited production is sold for export purposes. Sounds like the Argentines want to keep all the good stuff to themselves!

Flight of Whites at Vines of Mendoza

We enjoyed dinner at Francis Mallman 1884 (http://1884restaurante.com.ar/) which was so fantastic I bought the cookbook on my way out! I will be "Grilling the Argentine Way" all summer long in Houston. Since we had eaten such a large lunch, we ordered several salads and starters to share tapas-style. The warm camembert salad was to die for!

Sitting in the wine cellar at Azafran for Sunday lunch

Sunday morning, after a great night's sleep with full bellies drowzy on wine, we headed to the Park Hyatt Hotel for spa day. I had a heavenly 90 minute massage for just $50. Can't beat the prices in Argentina, despite the rising inflation. After a hot steam, some quiet reading in the lounge area, and a fancy shower, we headed to lunch at Azafran for our last indulgence before the perfect weekend came to an end.

Mendoza wine country