winifredcreamer

Archaeology in San Agustin

We drive through the Colombian countryside alongside the Magdalena River in a tiny cab. When we met Hugo and his taxi at 9 am we were glad we decided to leave our big suitcases at the hotel in Neiva and travel with our carry-ons for our two-day trip to San Agustin. Other than the occasionalContinue reading “Archaeology in San Agustin”

Colombian Gold

We came to Bogota for a single reason: to see the best gold museum in the world. The Museo De Oro is full of gold panned from streams around Colombia, hammered and cast into amazing shapes. One of the fascinating parts of this history is that several regions of Colombia made gold objects in clearlyContinue reading “Colombian Gold”

Peruvian Gold!

But not the way you think. We had a chance to visit a gold and silver processing operation run by friends of ours. Even though the precious metals are invisible, it was fascinating to see how they are extracted from tons of earth, and why gold and silver mining involves moving mountains. First Jonathan putContinue reading “Peruvian Gold!”

June in Peru

A few years ago, this was field season. We spent every June, July and August excavating at sites near Barranca, leaving home around 8 am and returning around 3:30, followed by clean-up, lab work, dinner and more administrative tasks. I remember it being cold in general, but I’m surprised by how different I feel thisContinue reading “June in Peru”

May in Lagrange, IL

There are beautiful flowering trees this week in Lagrange. They bloom and fade so rapidly that I didn’t get a photo of many of the white pear trees that are widely used in landscaping. I love the pink flowering redbuds. This tree looks like it is dancing in the street.

The puzzle that is Bolivia

We saw wonders in Bolivia, a remarkable plain of salt, the capital of an ancient empire, rare birds. In between those high points we flew around La Paz in a gondola, then drove across miles of altiplano where we passed quinoa fields, grazing herds of cows, horses, sheep, llamas, alpacas, vicunas and even pigs. WeContinue reading “The puzzle that is Bolivia”

Bolivian Architecture: Aymara Exuberant

We couldn’t help but notice the houses built on top of apartment buildings near the airport in El Alto, on the plain above La Paz, Bolivia, since they are brightly colored and decorated like casinos. The more we found out, the more fascinated we became. These buildings are considered “Neo-andino” architecture by some, and areContinue reading “Bolivian Architecture: Aymara Exuberant”

Salar de Uyuni

We drove from Sucre to Colchani, a settlement near the Uyuni salt flats/Salar de Uyuni. We stayed at the Palacio de Sal, a hotel made with a lot of salt mined nearby.The domed ceiling of our room was made of blocks of salt We went on a day-long tour of the area around Colchani withContinue reading “Salar de Uyuni”

Sucre and the Tarabuco Market

We spent three nights in Sucre. The Hotel Monasterio used to be a monastery and still has some great decor–Bolivian Baroque? It was comfortable and placed us in the heart of Sucre. We walked down to the central plaza for dinner each night and found good places, La Taverne (French-Bolivian), Cosmo Cafe, and Cafe FlorioContinue reading “Sucre and the Tarabuco Market”

Finding Red-Fronted Macaws

After Tiwanaku, our goal for Bolivia was to see where Red-Fronted Macaws live in the wild. We drove to Cochabamba, setting out the next day for the Red-Fronted Macaw Lodge. At Aiquile, we turned off the Cochabamba-Sucre road and continued for 40 km on a road under construction until we reached Perereta, a hamlet besideContinue reading “Finding Red-Fronted Macaws”