Brandee's leaving South America mail, may 8th 2003

Hola!

It is with mixed emotions that I write my last
installment to you from South America...I am sad to
leave this magnificent continent full of majestic
beauty, diverse landscapes, rich native heritage and
passionate Latin culture. I will also miss the
friendships born along "gringo trail" - somehow, many
of you just appeared and reappeared when I least
expected!!!

Don, Cam, Achay, PJ, Cass, Isobel, Omid, Jane,
Patrice, Keith, Toby, Bex, Darren, James, Drew, the
Irish Mike´s, Antoine, Scott, Mark and anyone I forgot
in my haste - thank you for the fun! You ALWAYS have a
friend in me and a place to stay in San Francisco or
LA!

For those of you following my travels on my Web site,
you´ll notice that my journal lacks several weeks of
updates (I´ll try to blame Anngi, Neal and Stephanie
for distracting me with their visits). Nevertheless, I
still have been snapping away with the camera. Check
out my photos of Chile and Argentina at:

http://www.brandeertw2003.com/pages/8/index.htm

Our trek through Torres del Paine National Park was
incredible and worth a look!

So with just 2 hours until I leave Buenos Aires...I
wish you all the best and thank you again for your
interest in my travels.

Tonight, I bid farewell to South America...and dream
of Africa!

Love,

Brandee

Don's mail after the road of death, May 7th 2003

well, have i left you in suspense by taking so long to
write after tell you all that i was biking the worlds
most dangerous road? i'm talking about the road that
claims atleast 100 lives each year as trucks roll off
or as the road gives way on an edge or as frequent
landslides hit cars and maybe crazy bikers too! the
road that is as narrow as the drive way to the
cottage(just enough for one car) at some points as it
huges the side of a cliff with 600-800m drops straight
down and water falls falling from above.

the first leg of the adventure was a fast paced,
tucking for more speed, adreneline packed race down
the paved section... we hit speeds of 80km/h as we
followed behind trucks to break the wind waiting for
the right opportunity to pass.... we were faster than
every truck out there! after lunch we started our
"death" section, where the pavement stopped and the
fatal drops started. or guide briefed us on the rules
of the road: 1. right of way goes to those going up
hill (not us), 2. right of weight: heaviest goes first
and where the want (not us), 3. horns are like radar
for the drivers: they honk as they come around blind
corners, if there's a truck it will honk back, if
there's no honk it is believed that no one is there(
except maybe a poor sucker on a bike with no horn),
4.this is the only road in bolivia where it is law for
you to ride on the left side(cliff side) of the road,
this way traffic coming up has the inside track and
also this way the drivers coming down can see just how
close there wheels are to falling off the edge... this
is only overruled by the 'right of weight' rule...
large truck like to take the inside track
regardless(this left us on the edge).

this was alot to think about before starting but it
sank in after your first few near death experiences.

although these bikes were top of the line, the road
was still very bumpy and after not too long you were
really feeling it in your ass and in your hands. i
soon realized that if i didn't stretch my hands to use
my brakes my hands felt much better and i also found
that there was a very smooth track right next to the
edge... my conclusion: ride on the edge and don't use
your brakes and your a happy camper.

the beginning of the unpaved road started right in the
clouds amoungst beautiful vegetation and a number of
water falls falling right on to the road and some
flying right over the road and continued down into
nothingness. this led to very muddy terrain and
inturn, very... very muddy bikers, thank god for my
sun glasses. everyone had that mud trail up their
backs only in this case it was a full back of brown,
we had mud all over our faces and in our teeth and
every where else.

we ended the ride had some beers and took a bunch of
pictures of our filthy selves, then it was off to
coroico and hostel esmeraldas for lunch. this place
was an incredible utopia of sorts, esspecially after
what we had just been through. for under $10CAN we
stayed in a reasonable room with access to a free pool
table, a swimming pool, fuzball, hammocks in
gaezebos(sp?), over 100 DVDs and a movie room, there
were buffet meals!!! breakfast lunch and dinner!!!
there was a happy hour that cam and i took full
advantage of; showing up everyday at exactly the right
time to grab our 3 litres of beer for 20Bs =$3US

i'm back in la paz now and off to the very small town
of sorata to do some hiking to conclude this trip,
it's all ending now but i feel great

peace everyone, life is great, love it
i feel so alive
don