Beachcomber Magazine 05

OUTSIDE MAURITIUS THE ART OF DISCOVERY 58 Child looking out the window of a building in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital and highest city in the world, located at an altitude of 3700m. Enfant regardant par la fenêtre d’un immeuble à La Paz, capitale de la Bolivie et plus haute ville du monde, située à 3 700 m d’altitude. A few kilometers from Valparaiso, the Concón dune stands out from the rest of the coastal line and urban zone that surround it (Chile). À quelques kilomètres de Valparaiso, la dune de Concón se distingue du reste de la côte rocheuse et des zones urbaines qui l’entourent comme une anomalie du paysage (Chili). Capillas de Marmol, Chilean Patagonia. These caves of stratified marble are located on the shore of Lake General Carrera, and can be explored by boat or kayak. Capillas de Marmol, Patagonie chilienne. Ces caves de marbre stratifié se trouvent sur les rives du lac General Carrera et peuvent être explorées en bateau ou en kayak. of samba players in the bars of Sao Paulo. Those hanging out of windows. Those of the street- sellers in the Samaipata market. Those painted on the walls of Valparaiso. Those, infinite reflections of my own, of other travelers, shells of fabric on their backs, in hostels all over the continent. I remember Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, and then, without the shadow of a doubt, I know “ why ”. AT THE RAINBOW’S END I don’t yet have the words to talk about what it feels like to return. So I will borrow those of Nicolas Bouvier in The Way of the World : “ Like water, the world runs through you and for a time lends you its colors. Then draws back, and leaves you once more facing the emptiness within, this kind of central sense of lack within the soul that one must learn to live with, to fight and that, paradoxically, might constitute our surest drive. ” The journey taught me why I left. But more valuable still, it’s taught me that one day, soon, I will know how to leave again.  