no further word out of peru from agent willie or uncle ben since their last update detailing the perils of chasing llama herders. a little concerned about this, and so we decided to send in a special ops team lead by the wiley veteran, Captain Carlito.
here is the Captain's first report from the field:
Maria and I roused ourselves at 4:30 to get an early start in an effort to beat the crowds, headlamps on, hoofed it up the step trail, made almost exclusively of stone steps which crossed the switchbacking road that a few hours later would be bringing tourists by the busload to the ruins. On the way up we passed only three other early birds and after a sweaty and exhausting hour+ we arrived at the gates and on through to the ruins. The Inca trail group camps are a good two and half hour hike from the ruins, and so we were able to enjoy breakfast with a breathtaking view before any other trekkers arrived.
tomorrow am off on a 5 day high altitude trek around a Massif called Ausangate. Next week are Pervian Independence Day celebrations, they seem to be gearing up for some serious display of military might judging by the parade practices we found ourselves in today.
Not sure if any of this is related to agent willie or uncle ben. will continue to scour the scene. maria and i may have to befriend a few locals to get a better fix on the sitch......
more to follow.....
Saludos
keep up the good work, Captain!!!
a whale washed up on ocean beach the other day, causing quite a stir among the locals, both in the water and out. the partially decomposed creature turned out to be a fairly rare Baird's beaked whale that measured out to a whopping 41 1/2 feet.
most troubling to the surf community was the presence of dozens, if not hundreds, of shark bites throughout the carcass. shark experts measuring the size of the bite marks estimated that some of the sharks were likely at least 18 feet in length.
shark experts also speculated that the whale's bodily fluids and its cantankerous stench were likely continuing to attract sharks to the area.
this hypothesis was confirmed by our very own agent mcbryan. fresh off his bigfoot siting in alaska, mcbryan was chased from the water on monday by a great white that surfaced about 15 feet from one of his buddies. how about them apples?
to read more about the beached whale and the shark danger, check out the article on surfpulse.
agent mcbryan recently took a little bojourn to Alaska with his family and sent in this report:
Saw a fair sampling of the Alaskan wildlife: Bears, Bald Eagles, Moose. Sockeye Salmon were in between runs, but we caught a bunch of big ole Alaskan trout that are bigger than your forearm.
This is what our guide told us when we first arrived at Wilderness Lodge. We weren’t in the “Lower 48” anymore. The feeling was different here. I wouldn’t call it overly threatening, but you had that sense that anything could happen.
A little sage advice from our guide: if you are approached by a moose, run like hell and hope it doesn't chase you. However, if you encounter a bear, the best thing to do is to make some noise, stand your ground and make yourself look big by raising your arms over your head . . . trying to run is fruitless . . . bear will almost always catch you.
and if you run into bigfoot, take a picture . . .
Killer highlight from trip was cruise leaving Seward out through Resurrection Bay . . . northernmost ship worthy port in Alaska that does not clog up with icebergs. Water temp - about 38 degrees - made ocean beach feel downright toasty.
on water, we saw most of the Alaskan staples: Otters, Whales, Sea Lions, Glaciers, Puffins . . . impossible to describe the vastness of it all, and there is no way that pictures can do it justice . . . just gotta get up here and experience it for yourself. stellar read if you're into this sort of thing: “Danger Stalks the Land” by Larry Kaniut. It contains about 50 true tales of death and survivial that will blow your mind.
Alaska is unlike any other part of the US. There is real danger here – the life and death kind, but there is also real beauty, the kind of natural beauty you'd be hard pressed to find in more "developed" places.
this is what i'm talkin' about . . .
the adventures of agent willie and uncle ben continue as our heroes criss-cross peru taking on altitude sickness, transporation chaos, bad beer, and menacing viruses.
here's an excerpt from willie's last missive:
godspeed, fellas!
so agent willie is down in peru this month traveling with his dance troupe.
between shows, he and uncle ben are checking out the sights and doing more than a little mountain climbing.
here's a snippet from his latest update:
get your bojon on, willie!!!
seems like the east bay is sprouting all sorts of fads and cutting-edge trends these days.
first off, straight outta richmond, we've got the Homies - thumb-sized figurines of streetwise latino characters wearing over-sized urban duds and packing muy attitude. reportedly, these bario caricatures are sweeping the nation, having become exceedingly popular with both inner city and suburban kids alike.
then we have a recent news feature from oakland on Whistle Tips - metal plates welded inside a car's muffler that create a screeching whistle noise that is audible for almost a mile. residents in oaktown are trippin' about this one:
trendspotters take note: the east bay's got it goin' on . . .
