Captain’s Blog

While walking around Buenos Aires and doing some local discovery, I shot a few pictures.

The first thing that you notice, is the amazing amount of beautiful women walking around.

And in the local eating establishments… They’re just everywhere…

Then there is the amazing architecture. You can see so many inflluences from other countries. This is the customs building.

A very french looking Department of Defense.

This is a statue to Christopher Colombus

This is the Central Mail office.

This is the Presidential Palace.

Nice view of the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace. It’s nice to see some of the traditions.

Next month are the Presidential elections. There seems to be quite a few demonstrations. And, the local Police force is always ready to keep it peaceful.

Making sure that they put up a nice presence.

These guys are good. Very amiable and I enjoyed talking with them. I didn’t feel any tension or animosity. They were there for a show of force only.

The demonstrators gathered in the local plaza.

The demonstrators came armed as well. Many had baseball bats and heavy sticks. I’m guessing they were there for a show of force also… Though I felt a bit safer behind the police line… No violence, just a peaceable demonstration…

Capn Scott

I guess most people would’ve taken the plane. It’s not 23 hours…

I’m also not most people…

Many times the journey is better than the destination. This time the destination is great, and the journey came in a close second… This is my first time through the Andes Mountain range. It was pretty impressive.

I enjoyed Chile, but now understand why there aren’t too many expats living there. It seems that everything is double the American price. Really… So… I left… And, took the long bus ride through the Andes Mountains.

It was pretty cool to see the skiers on the lift travel above the road on several of the passages.

In this section with the ski lift, the road winds back and forth up the side of the steep mountain.

In one area, there were some clouds that gave the mountains a dark angry look.

And in other areaas, it was just another beautiful day in the mountains.

These dudes were big and grand. The bus motor really got a workout climbing through this.

This is the springtime here and there is still alot of snow available.

There’s a small guage rail that runs along the side of the road in many places. It seems to be non-functioning, there were places that the tracks were missing and such. This little bridge looked a bit out of place.

Definitely a treat. I haven’t been through snow-capped mountains in many years.

As seen from the Argentinian side. The first to find that trail must have been pretty bold. I can’t imagine how many tried and didn’t make it…

More photos are in the gallery located here.

Upon arriving at the Mendoza bus terminal, we were surrounded by 12 policia and 4 narco policia. It seems that they got a tip that a passenger or the bus was carrying some drugs. We were instructed to exit the bus before the terminal and everything was searched. They emptied the entire bus contents onto the asphalt. And, I mean everything. I watched them sniff shoe polish and squirt every lotion and such to check… This was one of the few times where being a gringo in South America was a good thing. They pretty much didn’t search my stuff or really bother me and apologized for the inconvenience. Though, I had to carry all my bags to the terminal…

After arriving here, I now understand why this is called “the Paris of South America”. This city is absolutely precious. I see myself here for a while shooting oodles of pictures. There is ancient architecture, great foliage, interesting parks, old churches, animals, etc… What a great atmosphere. This city feels more alive than any city that I’ve been in for some time. The people are genuinely interested in your thoughts and opinions. And it feels very family. There is a cultural, kind of artsie, flare here. There is also a bit of a pronunciation difference. Playa is pronounced Plazscha. You don’t have a llama, you have a Zschama. And the pronunciation is very italian… Just love it…

And, of course, more pics of this unique city as I get the chance to adventure inside with my camera… I’m hoping to journey to the Iguazu falls in the next couple of weeks. But first, I need to finish a couple of websites and try to generate a little income to pay for all of this…

Capn Scott

You couldn’t have picked out a better day if you were given a choice. The skies were clear, the temperature was perfect and there was a perfect light breeze that opened up the flags just right. It seems that everyone was there. There was plenty of kite flying and kids playing. Over 500,000 people attended this parade.

The snowcapped Andes in the background really sets off the flag just perfect.

The press was there for interviews and coverage of the parade.

I’m not sure if this is supposed to be the way this works… The troops look at the horse, and the horse looks at the troops.

What’s a parade without marching bands?

An amazing amount of troops… All marching… Over 7,000 they say…

A military officer in full dress and a fine steed. Definitely a very macho look…

I’ve lived in many countries, but have never seen a President up close. Madame Presidente was so close at first, that I had to wait for her to get back into her vehicle for me to get the picture…

Now… That’s what I call a drum line…

These guys are a bit far from the water…

All in all a fantastic day. I’ve had a few request for more pics, so I’ve built a photo gallery and will be adding pics along the way. You can either click on the photo gallery link above the page, or click here

This is the Google Earth link for the parade grounds in Santiago, Chile

Figured I´d stroll around and find a festival… I ended up in Parque O´Higgins… Yep.. a good old irish name for a spanish park… (though, doesn´t beat the chinese restaurant in David named Don Jose)

There had to be over 10,000 people here.

There were local singing favorites…

A sign encouraging everyone to participate… I don´t think anyone needed any encouragement…

Okay… I want one of these for my back yard… With the outfit and all…  (though…  I didn´t get very close to him…  I heard they bite…)

I stopped into one of the big tents to get a bite and enjoyed the dancing…

Lots and lots of dancing…

And everyone seemed to bring their own personal band…

Indians? a little unexpected… but I´m sure part of the culture…

I arrive late on Saturday, and pretty much find a small restaurant and then retire to my hotel.  On Sunday, I need to take care of a couple of necessities.  I first purchase a pair of shoes that will be warm.  These tropical sandals are just not gonna cut it.  And, several pairs of socks.  I haven´t worn socks for over 2 years.  Then, my next purchase is a cell phone.  And, during this time I begin snapping new pics.

Also, I seem to have arrived during the week of Patria.  The time when all Chilenos celebrate their country…

The obligatory church shots…

I stroll through this mall and enjoy some of the dancing festivities of the week…

Great colors and great dancing…

They really have a formal look…

And, are definitely enjoying themselves…

The live band in the background is doing a great job…

Definitely a treat to watch…

Very cool…  I think I´ve shown up at the right time…  I wish I could say that I planned this…

Another great church in the center of town…

Ahhhhh… the day is here… I´m off to Chile…

So… I´ve taken alot of pics from an airplane… with pretty much none of them useable… Don´t know why I keep snapping the shots… thank goodness for digital…

Nice shot of the Andes…

The sun is getting ready to do the show…

We´re dropping down below this high level of clouds…

Amazing colors… and in between the levels of clouds with some of the smaller mountains and islands peeking through…

The history of Panama City is so rich. It includes Spanish Conquistadors and Pirates. Arghhhh… did someone mention pirates??? The pirate Henry Morgan is very influential here. He even seized the entire city once… And also Portobello. His name instilled fear into many men…

I´ve been in Panama for a couple of years and haven´t had a chance to visit the ruins. I guess it´s fitting on the day before I depart to do such…. Arghhhh….

The back of an old church…

One of the rooms off of the side of the church.

Looking out into the bay in front of the Panama Canal…

The church from the other side… Did I mention that I like to take pics of old churches???

An old courtyard…

One of the churches closer up…

An interesting shot… the old ruins of Panama with a picture of the future of Panama in the background…

More photos are located in the gallery here.

Okay…  so everything is sold…  And I just bought my plane tickets online. I´m sitting here in a local pub finishing up…  And the sky opens…

That is some serious rain…  No… that´s not a river…  it´s the street…

Darn…  looks like I´m stranded here in the bar for a while…

Okay!!! Time to play with the new lenses… I start out with my trusty 24-70mm2.8L… I take all the new toys to the Parque Cervantes in the middle of David, Panama

Nora in the Park… Pretty girl… Oh… by the way… I gave her an engagement ring…

Okay… this 100mm macro lens is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Wow… that´s fast… did I mention that this is quickly becoming one of my favorite lenses???

a shot with the 50mm…

back to the 100mm macro and a shot of some sweetpeas…

oh absolutely… there are no flowers or insects safe anymore from my lens…

Playing with the camera has really been fun. And, like so many other new toys, I now have the urge for bigger and better. I´ve looked around, and there is no upgrade for the 20D in the country, except for the successor, the 30D. I don’t really see an advantage in that upgrade. I really would like the new 5D. But that isn’t gonna happen anytime soon here. Also, the new successor to the 30D has arrived… the 40D. Now, the 40D does look like a decent upgrade, but won´t be available for a while. Though, I really would like to step up to the professional level. The 5D has been out for a couple of years and the life cycle is about due. I just purchased the G7, for a nice almost professional level point and shoot. And, wouldn´t you know it… the next month after I purchase it, they come out with the G9. So, as not to make that mistake again, I will wait for the new successor to the 5D.

Though… I have the monies… The only way to keep myself sane, is to remove the monies from my pocket. I certainly haven´t outgrown this 20D. What a wonderful camera. So, I will take the monies and spend them on the needed lenses and accessories. I´ve decided to pick up the 50mm 1.4, 100mm 2.8 macro and 400mm 5.6L lenses. And, along with them, and monitor/printer calibrator, level, timed remote etc… Adobe, in their ultimate wisdom, has blocked all credit cards being used in any foreign country. So… road trip…

I picked up a round trip ticket to L.A. from San Jose, Costa Rica for around $400. One day in L.A. and return…

I take a taxi from David to the border, then the bus (8 hours) from the border to San Jose. While in San Jose, I have some time to kill, so I take my camera and my 24-70 2.8L lens to the park… again… sometimes the journey is better than the destination…

The obligatory church pics…

This guy really likes feeding the pigeons…

They seem to be pretty tame…

And here come the squirrels…

It was starting to look like… if the kid didn´t give up the cracker, there would be a riot…

These guys would gently take the peanut from your hand.

The kids were loving this.

Peanut… cookie… really didn´t matter.

Everyone was enjoying this outing.

Definitely a commune with nature thingie going on here…

If I were to caption this… that pigeon is saying… “Does noone else here notice that big black camera on the ground?”

Definitely enjoyed the nature thing going on here. These animals seem to be very tame, but what I saw was alot of respect from the humans…