Travel-ology

You absolutely have to travel to the Bolivia Salt Flats! We just recently traveled there and were totally blown away by how much better it was in real life than in the pictures we've seen from fellow backpackers.

The salt flats are in Uyuni, Bolivia and spread out for miles and miles on end. The picture are incredible and we even had the fortune of seeing it while it was raining. It was like two skies laid on top of each other.

We would totally recommend going. A backpacking trip to South America isn't complete without one!

Ecotourism is becoming hugely important in the travel community. I thought I'd share this amazing article about the world's best Ecotourism locations from National Geographic.

If you want to go green while you're backpacking, then you have to read this!

Right now the economy is in such a lull airlines are making up for the drop in flights by lowering prices to an all time low. You can get killer travel deals. Take a look at the travel auction sites for great deals and look for deals on airline websites as well. For example you can get an amazing domestic travel discount with american airlines, as little as $37 dollars and hour.

Enjoy the airfare!

I would like to take a minute to point out the Refugios in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. I understand that all types of people wish to visit the park, and clearly, everyone including the old and young, poor and rich should be allowed to enjoy it. However, the refugios in the park are clearly just trying to make money off of the land and everyone that visits. The refugios compare themselves to hostels but they are more like swanky hotels. Each one offers a nice bathroom and living and dining area for the guests. First of all, they like to overcharge. Staying in a Refugio is even more costly than staying in a nice hotel in a Chilean city. Secondly, we set up camp and the staff did everything they could to keep campers out of the refugio, even though you STILL have to pay to camp (rather costly too considering its your own tent). I believe that everyone should visit the park but i do not believe that the beautiful Patagonian land should be exploited by a few companies looking to make bank on everyone that visits.

If you're in Patagonia you have surely noticed the amazing array of flora. For a barren landscape, the Patagonian wilderness is full of incredible wildflowers. Some of the most notable plant life includes the Calafate bush. This is denoted by tiny bright yellow flowers and a small blue berry, which is actually quite tasty. The Fire Bush, or the Notro, is a giant leafy bush with bright red flowers arranged in a star shape. They almost look like fireworks exploding on the brown terrain. The Zapatito de la Virgen is a bright, ornate, yellow boot shaped flower adorned with white frills. It truly looks like a shoe and is one of the most prominent, though rare, flowers of Patagonia. Along the way, there are also a large number of beautiful and rare orchids throughout the steppe. Please make sure not to step on or pick these flowers while trekking!! They are part of the beauty of Patagonia and are the main reason why this area is considered so amazing.