These are some photos from the festival of folklore and other places. Typical Chilean photos from different backgrounds.
What started out as a nice lunch with crab empandas and pisco sour ended 8 hours later. We walked 15 kilometers and got very sunburned. It was fun but it took a few days to recover.
Lionel in front of the "Terraza" Mural.
The bus, an adventure in itself.
Off we go on a "walk" that turns into a trek.
Beautiful view from the road.
Resturant Terraza, great empanadas de jaiva (crab)
A race at the beach.
Lionel wins the race!
Claudia takes a break
Ocean research center of the Universidad Austral de Chile
yummy cochayuyo
The walk has turned into a trek with a lot of sun.
6 hours later, the trek end is near if we can climb the eroded mountain.
Interesting plant, don't know the name but it is pretty.
University Research Center up close.
Vegetation along the beach.
Trek from hell is ending in near death as we climb a steep, eroded cliff. One wrong move and down they go!
Lunch on the dock. Our own resturant and banduria birds on the lawn.
View from the house to River Calle Calle
The Luzzi Brothers
Luzzi Living
Pato and Pancho
Return from Pucon, I gather the courage to visit my cabin. WOW after 2 and half years I am seeing the changes that have occurred. My cabin looks like Jurassic Park. Nature takes it time but conquers after all. I have a lot of work to do. It is still beautiful.
the ceiling of the loft. logs from the land were cultivated for this construction. The railing was from a demolished house. 90 percent of all the materials in this cabin are recycled from demolished buildings.
This is cypress log that i rescued from being turned into firewood. With wheels, it is the perfect coffee table
Cabin El Pudu, December 30,2009 - Grass is high, trees block the sun
North Porch. There is a hot water heater on the balcony that is heated by the wood burning stove
Main Entrance on the East Side.
Branch from a Lingue Tree. Notice the berries. They are toxic for animals in large doses but purging. Species: Persea lingue (Ruiz & Pav.) Nees Family: Lauraceae Order: Laurales Chilean Name: Lingue , Litchi
Main Entrance. Notice the abundance of bamboo. Good for future construction projects
The kitchen nook. The bench were made from reclaimed materials by a carpenter and have ample storage space.
Space saving stairs. Notice the cutout that allows for a steep incline and maximum visability. Drawers between stairs and storage underneath increase usable spaces in a small environment
View of the second floor loft. Ladder is made of ulmo wood and goes to the small attic on the thrid floor.
View of living room from loft. The siding is reclaimed material. Furniture was reupolstered.
View of the West room. Sliding door saves space and increases privacy.
This was an experiment in a water saving toliet. The water accumulated in the basin (a planter with a hole drilled in the bottom) is used to flush the toliet. I am going to remove this device and make this into the cold room, entrance.
View out the East window.
Living room. The windows were salvaged from old mansions and made of a Alerce, a now protected tree know for its resistence to water and rot. This hundred year window is testament to the durability.
I got so carried away with buying reclaimed materials that I had enough to build this small cabin. This is Johanna's white cabin.
Johanna's birthday party invitation I found in her attic. She was ten years old with her cat, Felix
The kitchen. Notice the woodburning stove. It has an copper coil to heat the water. Only problem is it takes two hours to heat and burns small wood. Not very efficient.
View of the forest from Johanna's white cabin.
Johanna's bird loft in the main cabin.
A century old door and main entrance to the cabin.
The black hole of the parcela, the well cover.
The siding of Johanna's cabin. These 3 meter boards were cut to look like bricks.
Another perspective on the staircase and loft.
The pumphouse
Johanna's birthday invite.
Stair detail showing the storage under the staircase.
Looking out at the forest from Johanna's white cabin.
The pearl of the south they call it. Valdivia has so many attractions. The river market where you can buy fresh fish, flowers, vegetables, or hire a cruise.
This delicious fruit comes from Chupon - Fascicularia litoralis (Phil.) Mez Family: Bromeliaceae
That's right, it is a cow tit bag! A must have fashion accessory
The city has changed alot since my last visit. The classic hotel Pedro de Valdivia was demolished to make way for the Dreams hotel. Not sure I like it but it is an impressive site from a far.
Valdivia City Hall
Dreams casino hotel
The court house. Why do cities spend so much money on these things?
Ouch a McDonalds. All the vices of a modern city
Hotel Naguilan
Advanced Permacutlure Design Course, Pucon Chile.
A site visit at the base of Pucon Volcano
The plant group meeting
The soils group hard at work
Griffen Hope teaching the seminar
Grifen and Javiera's son Andaru - Mauory for Andrew.
Juan Carlos and Jose at the site
Generating ideas in the course
Villarica Volcano at the end of December. There is still snow in summer! Great skiing in winter
New Year’s day, on the bus to Pucon for an advanced design course in Pucon. The instructor is Griffen Hope and his wife, Javiera. We are 25 eager designers from different backgrounds. The task: take 10 hectares of pasture and forest to create a Center for Sustainable Studies, Waldorf School and EcoAldaea.
The clients are two young couples, the director of Waldorf School and parents. We divide into five teams covering, water, Geography, Climate, Energy and Vegetation. The results are amazingly synchronistic. Let’s hope they take the design and make it reality.
That is what it is about right.
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Arrived on December 30, what a trip, three airplanes and 20 hours of flying and waiting in airports, I landed in Valdivia. I saw my old boss, former rector of the Universidad Austral de Chile, Manfred Max-Neef on the plane. Here we go, the small world of Chile.
Aires Buenos Hostel, First Stop
First stop, Aires Buenos Hostel, to see my good friend Lionel Brossi. I am going to pass the New Year with him and his guests. The Hostel is precious, right in center of everything. We made a ceremony with the guests and planted our wishes for 2010. Let’s hope they sprout.
Advanced Permacutlure Design Course, Pucon Chile.
New Year’s day, on the bus to Pucon for an advanced design course in Pucon. The instructor is Griffen Hope and his wife, Javiera. We are 25 eager designers from different backgrounds. The task: take 10 hectares of pasture and forest to create a Center for Sustainable Studies, Waldorf School and EcoAldaea.
The clients are two young couples, the director of Waldorf School and parents. We divide into five teams covering, water, Geography, Climate, Energy and Vegetation. The results are amazingly synchronistic. Let’s hope they take the design and make it reality.
That is what it is about right.
Left Lost Valley at the end of November. It felt strange to buy gas, see all the packaging in the stores. It felt like a long time since I had been exposed to the consumer culture. Everywhere filled with unhealthy things.
Arrived in Sacramento to just after Thanksgiving. Bobbin and Patrick’s restaurant, Mulvaney’s B&L is thriving. A great place to be. They have restored the a historic firehouse and turned it into
one of Sacramento’s best. 
The bad news is that Irfan Khan backed into my car and dented it.
Telephone 510-435-1075
41439 Timber Creek Trail
Fremont, CA 94539
License number 5MRP395
It was a small dent so we made an agreement not to use the insurance company. When I called him, he simply refused to answer my calls. I wonder if he will have bad karma because of it. I like to believe that things are self regulating. Anyway, if you see this black SUV, stay clear. He does not pay his bills.
Here is a picture of Sarah preparing things for Christmas dinner. She might be a great cook one day
Check out this cob structure. City Repair Project in Portland, Oregon has changed the way the city communicates. This is an example of public gathering spaces that encourage community communication
.
