Lauderdale,
Another passion throughout my life has been gem and mineral collecting, with a concentration in crystals. I've been all over the U.S. bashing away at rocks, but never made it to South America. I can relate! A word of advice: while climbing a sheer rock wall, never jump for a handhold: your foot won't find the ledge you were perched on when you make the return trip, resulting in cursing and praying in equal measure. I am lucky to be here writing this!
BTW, I am always interested in trading for crystals, uncut or otherwise........;-)
Come visit sometime and I'll take you to Herkimer, NY: some of the purest double terminated Silicon dioxide on the Earth are to be found there. It takes about a week of hard labor to cut down to where the gem pockets are, but once you break into one there are thousands of perfect double terminated crystals, muahahaha!!!!
I bet we could trade some war stories: the Mother doesn't yield Her treasures to readily!