Life #4: Social Exploration
These are my reflections of exploring South America in the ‘80s, a truly life-changing experience.
We slumped on the plane, staring blindly into spaces
Silently reflecting on farewell embraces
Ophie and I, twenty-four
The whole world to explore
While tears were trickling down red-eyed faces
Little did I know, that I would never return
To live in my country, I had loved and learned
South America beckoned
Yet I’d never have reckoned
My life in New Zealand had forever adjourned
Our shoestring odyssey was no luxury tour
But our plans at this stage, were a little obscure
Just Chile to Peru
Brazil, Bolivia too
And post-war Argentina, if open and secure
Touched down in Chile, passengers clapping aghast
Then we took a train south, in a carriage third class
Crossed a lake in a boat
To a region remote
Hiked through to Argentina, over a mountain pass
On the top near the border, was an alpine hut
Desperately disappointed, to find it locked shut
Cold, starving and drenched
We gave the window a wrench
Baked beans in the cupboard, we couldn’t rebut
We hitchhiked across to the Atlantic coast
Singing Yellow Submarine, at the request of our host
Much conversation
Lost in translation
But las Malvinas son nosotros, our drivers would boast
Squeezed in the truck cab, with just enough room
Lungs choking on pungent diesel fumes
With a Spanish crash course
We sang ourselves hoarse
Crisscrossing the continent to Beatles tunes
North to Iguazu Falls, and crossed to Brazil
Below the world’s most torrential water spill
From the boat we alighted
Feeling so excited
Aerograms from home, would be quite a thrill
Missing friends and family, after months away
But to our utter shock, despair and dismay
It was so sad to now know
When we got to São Paulo
All our loving letters had been thrown away
Yet we had no other means of communication
Years before internet and quick information
The days before WhatsApp
We were craving for contact
A lonely, hollow feeling of isolation
Bolivia’s Death Train was like an animal pen
Sweltering in the carriage, with dogs, pigs and hen
We took trucks stuck in bogs
Boats of hollowed-out logs
The more challenging the better, for us back then
By the year mil novecientos ochenta y tres
Politicians had been vanishing, without a trace
Opponents assassinated
Or simply evaporated
Military coups and corruption, were commonplace
Yet beyond dictators and political perversity
Were proud people dealing with daily adversity
We felt their generosity
Their deep religiosity
Such a striking continent of cultural diversity
To Peru and the Inca Trail, to Machu Picchu
Trekked on our own, camping among ruins in situ
Then one early morning
As its sun god was dawning
The full glory we felt, to finally greet you
We marvelled at the vista of ancient history
How its stone walls were built, remains a mystery
Rocks hauled to position
Chiselled to precision
We lamented the loss of the Incan dynasty
We travelled on a shoestring, wherever we went
Eye-opening experiences, were heaven sent
We journeyed so thriftily
Maybe too riskily
South America was truly, a life changing event
Our yellow brick road ends in the United States
The carnival was over, a sad parting of mates
Our adventure we’d braved
Spent the money we’d saved
I needed to look for a job, and London awaits
But I could not have imagined, how destiny would go
Twenty years later, working on Chilean hydro
Then more dreams to fulfill
Building wind farms in Brazil
Sliding doors, fate and fortune …. more than I ever could know
Kevin Holmes • 11th November 2022
