Customs was a breeze. I was met by Rich Fink just outside of
the customs area. He took me our to our waiting 1997 Land Cruiser
where I met Pedro Churrata, our driver. The airport elevation is
around 13,000’ so the short walk took my breath away. We drove into
the bustling city, just over the edge of the Altiplano, to the Hotel España
on El Prado. I fell asleep almost immediately, exhausted from the
thin air and the flight. Rich woke me around 11:00 and he, Brian
Horton, Matt Bourke and I, walked up to Alexander Café for
lunch, which was quite tasty. We returned to the hotel. Because
it was all downhill, I was not nearly as exhausted as I had been when we
went to lunch. I removed an ingrown toenail, did some writing and took
a nap.
After I awoke a did some reading and writing. I also constructed the magnetostratigraphy column of the lowest part of the Chuquichambi section which Brian Hampton and I had analyzed in May at the University of Pittsburgh. It was the first time I had a coherent picture of our results. The column will direct the resampling effort we'll need to make for the first couple of days in the field. We all went out to dinner at Pronto’s for Italian food and a surprisingly
good Bolivian Malbec. I took a shower upon returning, finished my
book, and retired.
|
