Hello there and I hope you had a good meal today. Tomorrow we will be blogging about a new “Hostel Gourmet” item that I am sure will leave your mouth watering and a piece of monitor stuck in your teeth. But, for now I can only offer you a taste (look) at some yummy whole foods on the veranda at Hostal Tambopacaya in Lima Peru. Enjoy.

After over two months of repairs, Peruvian officials have announced that the Inca Trail will be reopened April 1st, and that train service to Aguas Calientes will be restored by May March 29th (thanks for the catch, mom)–good news for everyone who’s been waiting to get there. (Via Living in Peru and Peruvian Times).

While things seem to have gone surprisingly well for the reopening of Machu Picchu, it seems as though the rest of the population in the area has been sidelined in favor of Peru’s favorite tourist trap. Promised aid still hasn’t arrived in some areas, avalanches are still a continuing danger in the area (Spanish), new flooding has been reported, and I received an email from a friend in Pisac that the bridge still hasn’t been restored.

(photo of Pisac bridge from Carlos Callasi Molina)

That hasn’t stopped the tourist industry, as apparently tour buses now stop on the Cusco side of the bridge and people cross by foot into Pisac, where taxis wait to take them up to the ruins, and in to the market. Other communities that aren’t on the main tourist circuit will probably have to wait much longer for repairs to be made; after all, nearly three years after the earthquake in Pisco, people are still living in tents….

If you are going to Machu Picchu (or Pisco, for that matter) in the near future, please consider bringing donations of clothing and other supplies. For more information, check out Cusco Flood Relief, and South American Explorers’ Cusco Clubhouse page for a list of organizations to donate to.

Keep yourself updated on Unpaved South America’s goings-on by signing up for our monthly newsletter (in the sidebar to your right, my left).

In it we’ll include sporadic special offers as well as giving you a sneak preview about what articles are coming up on the site. Don’t miss out on this chance to have Unpaved South America right there in your inbox, right next to all those great get-rich-quick pyramid scheme emails, and grandma’s heartwarming animated forwards.

There are many good teams playing in foreign countries this week and it should make for some historic victories and big disappointments at home.

Photo by Neco Varella

Group 1

Corinthians leads Group 1 going into this week’s match-ups with Racing close on their heals. The win by Racing in Montevideo, on March 9 over Cerro Porteño, will do good for Racing’s hopes of moving to the round of 16. In their last encounter Racing lost to Corinthians 2 – 1, but they will play again on April 14th in Montevideo. Read more about the Racing-Cerro Porteño game with Conmebol Here. Corinthians did what it needed to do in Columbia, and tied the game on foreign soil giving them the advantage in Group 1 with 7 points. More from Conmebol Here.

Racing Uruguay 2 – 1 Paraguay Cerro Porteño
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
Referee: Federico Beligoy (Argentina)
Racing
Mirabaje Goal 19′
Cauteruccio Goal 69′

Cerro Porteño
Cáceres Goal 84′

Independiente Medellín Colombia 1 – 1 Brazil Corinthians
Estadio Nemesio Camacho “El Campín”, Bogotá
Attendance: 23,886
Referee: Sergio Pezzota (Argentina)

Independiente
Valoyes Goal 76′

Corinthians
Dentinho Goal 85′

Group 2

Monterrey needs to start winning if they want a chance to joint their two Mexican counterparts in the round of 16. See more about this game from Yahoo Mexico. They did OK for themselves by scoring a tie in Columbia. However, Once is now marked by São Paulo, only one point behind. Two ties in Columbia this week and no wins are going to hurt Columbia’s chances for ultimate victory. São Paulo walked through Nacional Paraguay in Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción Paraguay. A bad loss at home for a team that now has no chance of making in to the next round. Read more…

Once Caldas Colombia 1 – 1 Mexico Monterrey
Estadio Palogrande, Manizales
Referee: Joaquín Antequera (Bolivia)

Once Caldas
Valencia Goal 58′

Monterrey
Morales Goal 33′

Nacional Paraguay 0 – 2 Brazil São Paulo
Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
Attendance: 700
Referee: Enrique Osses (Paraguay)

São Paulo
Washington Goal 59′, 89′

Group 3

Playing catchup in Group 3, Estudinates tried to win in Bolivia, but came up with only a tie and one point. With Alianza Lima’s win over Peruvian group mate Juan Aurich, Estudiantes in now down by 5 points with the hopes of a selection to the round of 16 in doubt. Alianza beat Juan Aurich at home but in just a few days they will play again in Chiclayo, home of the Hurricane of the North, and Juan Aurich will try to even the score.

Bolívar Bolivia 0 – 0 Argentina Estudiantes
Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Carlos Galeano (Paraguay)

Alianza Lima Peru 2 – 0 Peru Juan Aurich
Estadio Alejandro Villanueva, Lima
Referee: Percy Rojas (Peru)

Alianza Lima
Fernández Goal 41′
Tragodara Goal 59′

Group 5

Two games in Ecuador and no win for the home teams. Ecuador is struggling in Group 5 and sitting in the bottom two spots. Emelec lost at home and Deportivo Quito tied Internacional from Brazil in Quito.

Emelec Ecuador 1 – 2 Uruguay Cerro
Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil
Referee: Víctor Carrillo (Peru)

Emelec
Pérez Goal 70′

Cerro
Caballero Goal 52′
Dadomo Goal 57′

Deportivo Quito Ecuador 1 – 1 Brazil Internacional
Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito
Referee: José Buitrago (Colombia)

Deportivo Quito
Minda Goal 33′

Internacional
Giuliano Goal 40′

Group 6

A note to Mexico’s Morelia: Thanks for coming to the tournament, better luck next year. With only three games left the 2 – 0 loss to Deportivo Cuenca seals the deal for Morelia. Mean while on the other side of the Continent, Nacional of Uruguay battled Argentina’s (have fun with this translation) Banfield to a 2 – 2 tie in Montevideo Uruguay. A tie at home is not good enough for advancement in the group, but they are in striking distance if they can win in the next games.

Deportivo Cuenca Ecuador 2 – 0 Mexico Morelia
Estadio Alejandro Serrano Aguilar, Cuenca
Referee: Giovanni Perluzzo (Venezuela)

Deportivo Cuenca
Méndez Goal 59′
Escalada Goal 83′

Nacional Uruguay 2 – 2 Argentina Banfield
Estadio Gran Parque Central, Montevideo
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Heber Lopes (Brazill)

Nacional
Varela Goal 6′
Regueiro Goal 41′

Banfield
Rodríguez Goal 18′, 37′ (pen.)

Group 7

Cruzeiro from Brazil stayed within range of the Group 7 title in Caracas by tying the home team Deportivo Italia in Venezuela.

Deportivo Italia Venezuela v Cruzeiro Brazil
Cruzeiro Estadio Olímpico UCV, Caracas

Deportivo Italia
Blanco Goal 11′
McIntosh Goal 65′

Cruzeiro
Kléber Goal 26′, 50′

Group 8

U de Chile with a win could have taken control of Group 8, but U Católica said no, we want a point too. So, a tie it was in Coquimbo Chile. Flamengo took advantage of the tie in Chile and scored a 3 – 1 victory over Caracas Venezuela who could only watch as the Brazilians walked all over them at home. Caracas has zero wins or ties and can kiss this year’s chance good by.

Universidad Católica Chile 2 – 2 Chile Universidad de Chile
Estadio Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso, Coquimbo
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Claudio Puga (Chile)

Universidad Católica
Rubio Goal 21′
Silva Goal 70′

Universidad de Chile
Olivera Goal 19′
Puch Goal 90+1′

Caracas Venezuela 1 – 3 Brazil Flamengo
Estadio Olímpico UCV, Caracas
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)

Caracas
Castellín Goal 65′

Flamengo
Vágner Love Goal 36′ (pen.), 75′
Rodrigo Alvim Goal 90+2′

It’s been almost three weeks since The Earthquake in Chile. It’ll take some time before the country is fully recovered, so if you’re planning a trip there, make sure to do your research and be smart.

The Santiago Times (English) and the LA Times’s Latin America Blog have had some of the best continuing coverage of the earthquake, but here’s a roundup of other travel-related resources from the internet.

- Wendy Perrin of The Perrin Post posted (I’m going to leave that how it is): “Where in Chile is it Safe to Travel Now?”, a region-by-region guide.

- Craig and Linda Martin over at Indie Travel Podcast have a great new podcast up about their experience during the earthquake, as well as an exhaustive list of tips for travelers who want to be prepared for a disaster. I was cringing the whole way through because of how unprepared Rob and I would have been. Listen to this, it’s good stuff.

- For more resources, check out Jill Robinson’s poston Vagabonding: “Tools and tips for immediate post-earthquake travel in Chile”, and World Nomad’s website for a list of tips for traveling in Chile.

We accidentally caught some of the Oscars during a going away/Jessie’s birthday party at the Elysian Brewing Company last night. The Elysian’s television is among the quietest in the world, so we didn’t catch much beyond Kathryn Bigelow winning for best director. At the time I suspected that this was a first for womankind, but I convinced myself that it couldn’t possibly be true that in 81 year of Oscars a woman had never won. Unfortunately, she really was the first. Depressing. Congratulations to her.

Two Latin American movies were nominated for the best Foreign Language selection this year. We haven’t had a chance to see them yet (weirdly, the bootleg film selection in Peru’s markets has a dearth of actual Latin American movies), but here’s a shout out.

“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Argentina)

“The Secret in Their Eyes” is a crime noir directed by Juan José Campanella and based on Eduardo Sacheri’s novel La pregunta de sus ojos (The Question In Their Eyes). It’s been wildly successful in Argentina, and sounds quite interesting. It won last night’s Oscar.

“La Teta Asustada” (Peru)

“The Milk of Sorrow” has been making a splash around Peru, as the first Peruvian film to be nominated for an Oscar. It’s by Peruvian director Claudia Llosa, and starring ridiculously sweet Magaly Solier, and addresses the fears of abused women during Peru’s recent history. I’m really looking forward to seeing this one, so look for a review in the near future….

We are now on home soil and we feel great. We are seeing friends and just hangin’ out. Life is good and so are our friends. A very big thanks to everyone who helped us with this first step. And, thanks to my buddy Eli who would stay up late with me talking of philosophy, religion, rocket science and blankets. Portland OR.

Eli.

They started decorating the tree in the heat of the afternoon, while we sat on the front porch with Agusto and Faviola drinking Pilsen Cristal. The little bay of Barranca’s Chorrillos beach was hazy with blowing sand and the afternoon sun turned the waves to molten bronze.

Agusto critiqued their progress in between bouts of fetch with Obama, his four-month-old Rottweiler. The tree was too spare, he said, the presents too unevenly dispersed on its branches.

Earlier that day we had seen another family decorating their own Junza tree, laying it flat to reach the highest branches before planting it in the ground. I mentioned this to Agusto, and he nodded. “That’s how I did it when it was my year,” he said.

In contrast, the family in charge of Chorrillos Beach’s Junza this year was trying to decorate an already planted tree with long poles and stepladders. They weren’t able to reach the tallest branches, though, and the tree was bloated with presents at its base.

Agusto was not a man to criticize without lending a hand, however. He bought a dozen plastic Barbie balloons from a vendor walking by, telling Faviola to pick out her favorite colors—teal, pink, yellow, green—to add to the tree.

The indistinguishable points of color that we could make out from Agusto’s front porch solidified into unexpected shapes as we approached the Junza tree. Red plastic baskets were hung from its branches, as were toy cars, clothes hangers, a few parcels wrapped in bright gift paper, and a half-dozen pairs of sexy, lacy panties. The branches were streaming with mardis gras-colored ribbons that curled and danced in the light sea breeze.

The Junza tree is a Carnaval tradition from the Peruvian Andes that found its way to the coast. A tree is decorated with gifts, then people dance around taking turns with both the machete and the beer bottle until the tree falls. We had met Adolfo the day before, and he convinced us to leave our hotel and stay with him and Faviola for the night in order to take part.

The band had assembled while we were finishing up the tree, and as they belted out their first halting notes the little square began to fill with people. Agusto ran back for the machetes, and another few bottles of Cristal.

We began to dance and drink in earnest, passing the bottles around in the Peruvian style: first you pour yourself a cupful, then you hand off the bottle to the next person in the circle. You drink, then hand them the cup. They pour their own portion, then pass the bottle to the next person.

Everyone took turns with the machetes, from the youngest child to the oldest adult, men, women, girls and boys. Even we gringos were thrust into the center to take a few hacks.

The band pumped feverish music into the air while the crowd got rowdier. Shredded bits of ribbon and woodchips littered the ground, and finally the tree began to give way. It began to creak, twist, shudder, and everyone fell back. Children readied themselves for the mad dash to collect the presents.

The tree fell with a mighty paper rustling of dry branches, and a popcorn popping of burst balloons. Faviola handed me one of the destroyed Barbie balloons, laughing. Only a few had survived the fall unscathed.

Night had come while we danced, and eventually we went back to collapse the porch where a lonely Obama waited for us. The tree lay alone in a bed of shredded ribbons and burst balloons, with a few children still rooting through its branches for missed treasures. The Junza was over for another year.

For more of Robert’s photos of our wonderful evening, click HERE.