New Home

Jarek's DIGITALITIS has a new home at www.digitalitis.com/blog . For all new great pictures visit the new location. You should be taken there automatically in a few seconds. If not click here.

Rivers of Atacama

Lifeless, sterile and beautiful - absolute desert. Last time these dry riverbeds of the costal range north of Iquique saw water was 120.000 years ago. Since then no rain at all. It is the driest place on Earth. Many ask me how I can live in a place totally devoted of vegetation and green color. Either they are blind and cannot see the great beauty or I am mad.

Project Caleta Colorada

Objective: discover new flying zones of Northern Chile and fly where nobody flew before. It is an essence of adventure. It is not true that everything was already discovered and that there is no more space left for pioneering.

Northern wind

They say that when it blows from the North flying sucks in Iquique. I do not know who has come with this idea but he definitely was wrong. Last Sunday was so cool and sweet. Like flying a totally new place. Filete! Check out McRivur coming to landing at Cavancha beach.

Copa Altazor 2007

Day first - Patillos to Los Verdes, very difficult conditions, low cloud base, nobody made to the goal. Day two - 25km over Iquique, beautiful weather, sun and breeze. Summary - lots of pilots, great flying, laughing, asados, fun, fun, fun.

Quebrada de Tiviliche

The canyon is 1200m deep at its mouth. Yes, it is a long way down. Nobody has flown there before. That is until we got there. And to get there we spent a whole day of off-road driving with our faces glued to my GPS. Then a warm night spent high above clouds and some serious paragliding fun next day. Try to spot a paraglider on the picture. That is Nick - the first man who has ever flown Tiviliche.

Bad Judgment Tour Pisagua 2007

With every stone which falls from under the tires into the void below I grew a single gray hair. I used to have dark blond hair. Now it is all gray. There is a road from Pisagua to a ghost port of Junin. Nobody dares to drive this road. My nightmares have a location now.

Ten Days of Solstice

Flying under midnight sun. Yes you can fly for 24h per day if you wish. Just head to Alaska in summer. I found these pictures by pure coincidence in my archives. Enjoy more photos at Paragliding Alaska...

Reprise

For those who wonder: I am still kicking! I just have come back from a month long expedition to Argentinean Puna. Trip summary: the lowest temperature around -20C, the highest altitude above 5000m, a ripped tire, no other humans for days, a sand storm, snow shoveling at mountain passes, marvels of unaccessible Southern Salar Antofalla, a crashed wreck of a military jet at Salar Tolillar, pink flamingos at frozen Laguna Purulla, constant GPS navigation, endless salt flats and plenty of +6km mountains, volcanoes and lava flows, and above all - colors - colors like nowhere else, colors of Puna.

Patillos de Atacama

It is not even top flying season here but as always desert flying from Patillos to Iquique rocks. Flying panoramas and experiences like nowhere else in the world. Flying is great. Flying in Atacama desert is even better. I would never exchange it for a steady office job and endless mortgage payments. And you? Do you really think you will get a second life to enjoy your time on Earth? No? So why aren't you here with me?!

Local knowledge

"You cross three cattle rails and after several kilometers the road climbs. You can camp there. Do not miss the turn it is marked with a small stick. On your way back tomorrow give us a shout so we know you are all right. You know we do not see many people here."

Private property

"Bon dia!" "Do you know that this is a private property? Aaaa, a foreign tourist? What are you doing here? Do you need help? No? Be careful nobody lives here in hundreds kilometers range. Well then...buen viaje."

Last Hope

Thousands of uninhabited islands, hundreds of glaciers, millions of not climbed peeks, wild and uncharted lands - fiords of Patagonia. Grand playground for antisocial oddballs. I'm in!

Make them pay

So this is the famous Chilean Patagonia's treasure, right? Oh it is beautiful and swarm with American tourists. There must have been Torres del Paine commercial on Fox television recently.

La Ultima Estancia

All right boys and girls, I am making a big U turn and starting to head North. Do not look like this at me, the bridge to Antarctic is not ready yet.

Fuegian red

All the news I am interested in I get from weather reports. And they said that autumn is comming to Tierra del Fuego and brings warm colors to this cold land. So enjoy while you can.

Sauerkraut but no prozac

What they left out is that while surveying waters at the end of the world Beagle's captain Pringle Stokes fell into depression, locked himself in for days and finally shot himself and died a few days later. He was buried on shore on the Straits of Magellan at Port Famine.

Nothofagus

If only my car's door could adapt to crazy winds of Tierra del Fuego as well as flag trees...

Straits of Magellan

Beyond this there is Tierra del Fuego and then Cape Horn and then Drake Passage and then Antarctic. All those names sound like from a fairytale and turn on my imagination - lands and seas at the end of the world. I wish I had a sailboat to explore all of them. Well, I must buy one then.

Desolate Place

Pali-Aike volcanic field is the least visited national park in Chile. Chances are you will be the only human visitor there.

Pingus

So you think penguins are cute. The one thing you cannot see in TV or cinema about them is that their colonies stink. At Monte Leon you'd better be upwind from thousands of these little buggers.

Ice machine for giants

Exercises in physics. Sound travels much slower than light. First you see a ten story tall block of ice falling into water then you hear it, long and deep thunder. Then again, and again.

Scream of Stone

The most difficult mountain on Earth - Cerro Torre. Since I started hiking and climbing I have always dreamed about seeing and touching it. And here it is. Can I have an unattainable dream, please. My life is boring - a long string of fulfilled dreams.

Pampa 40

How does one run a road in pampa? One takes a map and a straight ruler. That is it. No Ph.D. in civil engineering required. The mother of all gravel roads - Ruta 40. Never ending pampa, never ending road, 120km/h with cruise control on on this gravel road. That's an experience!

Cypress Hill

No streets, only wooden walkways between houses build on stilts. Everything made of cypress wood. A road came here only two years ago. Caleta Tortel is emerging from isolation in the hart of Patagonia. Still if you want world to forget about you move here.

Big fish

Do you want to see the bigest salmon in the world? - he asked. Sure - I smiled. And there they were. And he caught a small one to give it a hug.

Carretera austral

This must be the nicest road of all. This loose gravel road goes for thousend kilometers where no other roads go. Steep mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers. Place to test your and your car's offroad and survival abilities. This is Patagonia. Crusing and enjoying. This is great.

Explorers

Valley of Explorers. This is a proper name for this place. Glaciers everywhere, waterfalls, rivers, and lakes. Next season I am taking a see kayak here to go down the river and then paddle to great glacier at Laguna San Rafael. Nobody did it so far. Nobody even comes here.

I want chiken, pleeeeeease!

They eat nothing but seafood here. My belly already hates this rainy island of Chiloe. Brothers and sisters, let's prey for chicken for dinner tonight.

Osorno-san

I spent last weekend in Japan. Not really. But Fuji has his brother in Chile. Perfect cone. And for climbers - dangerous, very dangerous.

Across the border with gauchos

All gauchos from the area came to Junin de los Andes to party and show off their skills. I have not seen that many horses and riders in a single place in my life. I guess Argentinian pampa is big enough for all of them. They put me on a horse and invited to live with them. My brother would love it.

Manuel

What do you do with dozens of three and a half meters logs? You build a Swiss cross shaped house. That's patriotic! Will it be painted red and white?

Job opening

I am addicted to good food. And lots of it. Cook for me and I will be your slave. I am announcing a job opening: Jarek's Personal Chef. Email me your resume. The job comes with a full package of benefits which includes.... Well, we can discuss it in private during the initial interview.

Paragliding Santiago photographs

Fruits from my camera. Photographs taken during my flying in Santiago. There is a high chance you will recognize your wing on one of the pictures. Plenty of great models in Parabeer club. Are you sure you are not wasting your talents? See the Paragliding Santiago gallery.

Central America gallery

Finally, Central America pictures are ready. Easy countryside living helped here a lot. With increased processing speed the remaining backlog of pictures should be ready in...a couple of years. Check out the Central America gallery.

Volcano Quetrupillan

Five hours of climbing, getting ready for a pioneering flight, and then... What an experience flying down from a rim of snow covered volcano into lush green valleys far away! I love my life.

More photos at the What's Cooking? gallery.

Summer in...?

I am living on a farm with horses deep in a countryside. Just like summer in Poland. Well, almost...

Chilian wine

One more glass of wine, please. Or a botle. On the second thought, make it a whole case. In Iquique next to Tercer Ojito there is an anonymous alcoholics club. Just in case.

Goodbyes again

Kisses and hugs to all my great friends in Santiago. It was so much fun here. Hope to see you and fly with you again. But now Patagonia is waiting for me.

Santiago flying

Summer flying in Santiago is soooooo good. Last Saturday I flew 35km from Vizcachas, got to 2700m, landed at 21:15 after almost 4h flight, and was greeted by three cute chicks (unfortunately none of them was legal age). On the other hand the two who came to retrieve me were very doable. Thank you Mona and Poly for the retrieve.