In the July and August Semester of 2005, Todd Fredericksen, from Ferrum College, Carmen McEvoy, from the University of the South, and I took 14 students on a west to east traverse across South America at subtropical latitudes.

We had a bunch of adventures getting to our traverse's starting point at Antofagasta, Chile on the Pacific coast. From there, we headed eastward through the Atacama Desert and then across the Andes into Argentina. We explored the rain-shadow desert and eastern foothills of the Andes before crossing the broad savanna region known as the Chaco which covers northeastern Argentina and northwestern Paraguay, as well as southeastern Bolivia. We then crossed the low rolling hill country and dry forest region of Paraguay and crossed into southern Brazil to visit Iguazú Falls. Throughout the trip, we paid attention to how the geological/tectonic development of this part of South America establishes the base for the numerous different ecosystems through which we passed.

I would like to thank Denise Poole and Jennifer Eppley for quickly reading my scrawled journal and keying that mess into the computer less thana monthafter my return.

Clicking in any of the boxes of the calendar below will take to the journal entry. Most days will eventually  include some photos.