what a crazy time i’m having. i’ve only been in south america for 4 days and it feels like i’ve been here for a month. after the loud night in buenos aires, i jumped in a taxi, took a 3 hour ferry, then a 2.5 hour bus ride into the beautiful country of uraguay. got there at 11pm, got a bite to eat, a beer to drink, and slept. next morning, ride a bike around punta del este, walked, and just explored that little city. it was so beautiful!

that evening, i rented a car, watched the sunset, slept early, woke up early, watched the sunrise, threw my backpack in the car, and headed to cabo polonio. the 2.5. hour was so beautiful. pristine untouched ranches and olive farms going forever. the cows, the horses, and all the trees and flowers were breath taking. i finally see the sign “cabo polonio” and pull over. there is a small parking lot where i left my car and paid $3 for a ride on a 4×4 over the sand dunes into the little hippie village. 30 minutes later, i arrived. the ride was so fun! i felt so dam free!

i get there and find a nice little hostel settled right on the beach. pay my $15/night, put my backpack down, and take a nice 2 hour walk around the beach. i felt like i was in movie set or something. this little town was amazing. no electricity so they use car batteries to make power for the basic necessities. my room was the smallest room ever. just enough to get a good night sleep right in front of the waves and seals swimming by.

there is so much wildlife there. birds flying around everywhere. penguins, sea birds, and some areas you can only see on the discovery channel. nobody was around when i took the walk near the rocks and it was pretty cool watching the seals play around. try to count how many are in this photo. it was totally amazing!

i’m sitting in the kitchen drinking a beer while some of the other backpackers were cooking dinner. then one of my local friends comes in at 8:30pm and says “hey, the sky is pink!’ what? it was cloudy all day long so i thought there would be no chance for a sunset. he says “come on, follow me!” i grab my camera in one hand, grab my beer in the other, and we ran towards the other side of the hill. and when got over, i felt the chicken skin. it was one of the most beautiful sunsets i’ve ever seen in my life. i was screaming, yelling, and snapping away as many photos as possible. i was in a great place!

it’s 2 weeks before the summer season starts in uraguay. nobody was here! all the hostels were empty, the restaurants closed, and totally empty beaches and streets. the timing was perfect! i sat down on the beach with my beer and camera watching the yellow sky turn red, pink, and orange right in front of my eyes. i wanted some peace and this is were i found it. yes, it’s on the other side of the world but i’ll take it.

then back to the hostel for homemade dinner, wine, beer, grappa, music, drums, and lots of fun! thank you pancho, sophia, diego, and the other backpackers that made my stay so memorable. i will be back!
by the way, wanted to wish everybody a happy thanksgiving! i will never forget this 2012 thanksgiving. i was thankful for having so many beautiful people and so many family and friends around this world. thank you!

I’m a newborn Hippie!

FACTS: THERE IS A FACEBOOK CRIME EVERY 40 MINUTES. LAST YEAR, THERE WERE 12,300 ALLEGED OFFENCES INVOLVING FACEBOOK. CRIMES SUCH AS RAPE, MURDER, CHILD SEX OFFENCES, ASSAULT, KINDAP, DEATH THREATS, AND WITNESS INTIMIDATION AND FRAUD.

this poor girl was lured by killers by her facebook page. she’s a beautiful model that trusted 2 men that were supposedly her facebook friends. they paid for her flight and accommodations and when she got there, they gave her water with drugs inside. she passed out, they killed her, and that’s the end of her life. to all you people out there, please be careful and don’t give anybody the benefit of the doubt. this is one of the reasons i don’t have facebook. i have a hard time trusting people by just a photo and name. i’m old school and like to make and reconnect with friends how we use to do it 20 years ago.
here is the story on the news. so sad.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIKzn-FXX8M[/youtube]

here is just another story. this teenager was murdered by a serial rapist. the 35 year old man posed as a handsome young teenager and lured the 17 year old girl into his trap. she went to meet him, he told her that he was the young boys father, took her in his car, and raped and killed her. he dumped her body in a ditch and drove off.