Rainbow Hunters

(The Ovalle Valley, Chile)

It is still dark when we set out to visit Flores de los Andes, a lapis lazuli mine that lies high in the mountains of Ovalle, central Chile, at an altitude of 4,200m. It is only accessible for three months of the year, February to April, when the snow has melted. The boys are wrapped in blankets in the back of the 4WD. Juan, a miner, accompanies us. He speaks no English, I speak no Spanish. We communicate with exuberant hand movements and tonal inferences. He is a sweet man, short and stout, with a weathered face and watery brown eyes.

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Australia

(Uluru)

It is dark and cold as we drive in the pre-dawn light towards the great mound of rock, that lies like some sleeping giant in the middle of Australia’s red hearted desert.  We can see it silhouetted against the blue black sky, a dark hump, that blocks out the stars and the sinking full moon.  We follow the road around to the north side, park the car, and follow the dust track, through the spinifex grasses, to stand and wait for the sun to rise against Uluru.

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