This is my farewell to South America after quite probably the best 4 months of my life. In this mere 26,000 words I have attempted but failed miserably to even start to describe the incredible experiences and friends this trip has given me. In the past I thought that a continuum of ones person was a sign of the strength of your character and personality. While I still think that to a degree I have seen the benefits of core change. Seeing sights that both elate and depress to heights and troughs very rarely delved in day to day life can not help but change the way you look at this oh so beautiful world. South America has scarred me so deeply while I have barely left a scratch. Until my dying day this experience will have altered who I am and who I become and, furthermore, I believe for the better.
I find myself often looking at the world in a far more abstract way. I conclude stronger then ever that many of the things our society convinces us to care about and stress about are nought but a con. They distract us from far more important issues that if faced are key to our happiness both as individuals and as a people and planet. This involves both very personal ways in which we can view the world and the way we draw together to hopefully make the best of what by hook or by crook we have been blessed with. Many may call much of this hopeless idealism and I am sure some of it is. In fact my own thoughts are barely embryonic. I would though reply with a quote from a book that has left me breathless:
"He who would do battle with the many-headed hydra of human nature must pay a world of pain... only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean
Yet what is an ocean but a multitude of drops"Oh how I would love to end this blog there with words far superior to any I could conjure up, but I can not. This is because these scribblings have to be devoted to the amazing people who have given me so many memories. There are too many and my brain not sufficient to name all of them but here a just a few - to Dave,
Mik, Arnie, Claudia,
Eliana, Talia,
Jez, Anna-Marie,
Natie, Nana, Avie, Monique, Anita, Shaun, Mark, Sebastian, Geoffrey, Andre, Alex, Alexis, David, Helen,
Orit,
Sarit,
Vroni, Mill, Princess, Buster,
Saudia, Maria, Nicky,
Cath, Sam,
Kye, Leah, Rowan, Ulla,
Heiko,
Helle, Claudia, Gloria…… the list goes on and on. Even to the last hour when Dave and
Mik raced across a whole metropolis and ran around an airport largely to say goodbye and have a final beer, they have been more than great.
I would whole
heatedly recommend to anyone this wonderful continent. Here I have climbed huge mountains, crawled deep in mines, hurtled down mighty rivers and the death road, participated in riots, visited the places of my family, seen the most beautiful wildlife, witnessed the sun rising over
Machu Pichu and setting over the Caribbean, galloped, attempted another language, been held hostage, dived into volcanoes, ridden on the top of buses, partied until dawn, seen abject poverty and towering wealth, learned to enjoy salsa, tango and even
electronica, grown a
tache, driven under colossal
Iguazu, seen the amazon, scarred myself for life, philosophised deeper then ever I thought I would, and become besotted with this wondrous continent.
In short I am in love and have no choice but to return!
