The sound of footsteps and hiking poles making pockmarks in the dirt mixed with the chatter from the group that had just completed a 17.2 km. (10.7 mile) hike up into the Andes mountains. Congratulations were in order for another successful hike, except this was no ordinary mountaineering group. Seven of them cannot see.
In Santiago, Chile, a metropolis of 7.2 million people that sprawls out on the foothills of the Andes, there are plenty of mountaineering and hiking clubs that seek the joy of mountain trails. But one group, coordinated by the local Fight Against Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation (FUNDALURP in Spanish), provides an outlet for those who suffer from this group of genetic eye conditions that leads to incurable blindness.
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G. Morty Ortega is a photographer based in Denton, Texas. He specializes in news, humanitarian, travel and editorial photography. Morty shoots both still photography and video for international and national clients. He is available world wide for assignments and stock sales.
