The adventure continues . . . !

Well after a few months of relaxed living in Christchurch, being reminded of the joys?!! of 9-5 work every day, we are about to embark on the next chapter of the journey, travelling around the South Island, armed with our car – Henry, a tent, some sleep mats and our cooking stuff. We have lots to fit in (both luggage-wise and things to do!!) – walks, a 3 day cycle ride and of course the popular sights like Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. Should be some great sights but the thought of camping for the next few weeks is a little uncomfy! Some may and have called it an adventure. We will see soon whether we agree! :o)

Therefore as the evenings are unlikely to be too action packed, we hope to be able to let you know what we have been up to in New Zealand so far, shortly. And hopefully from here on updates will be slightly more frequent once again (no promises though! ;o))
All the best. Take care

Thoughts on South America

What a fantastic continent to explore. Too much to see! Could easily spend a year and still not see everything. Vast array of different environments even within one country let alone the whole continent – many of which are extremely harsh – deserts, rugged mountain ranges, flat high altitudes (Bolivia which means you don’t even realise you’re high!) Rainforests, Cloud forests the list goes on and on. . . And the traditional culture still so apparent in Ecuador and Peru (less so in all the other countries especially as headed south) - the costumes, festivals, processions were so interesting to watch.

But it’s not just the physical attributes that are worth mentioning. There is a great deal more that South America opened our eyes too. Mainly about the way the western world lives and how many things we take for granted. In SA, possessions are not everything. In fact they mean little because people just don't have them! Ecuadorians and Peruvians live in little wooden or mud huts, furnished with their few bits of second hand old furniture, surrounded by their little mud yards, and a few roaming animals and little else, but they seem so happy and content. Especially the kids who are happy to play with whatever they can. Family, friends and the local community are most important to them.

Which posed the question to Mark and I - are we happier for all our extra possessions and our 'grander' way of life? Or have we just somehow lost sight of the most important things?

At times Ecuadorians, Peruvians and Bolivians did seem envious/hostile of tourists. Is it that tourists flaunt their wares irresponsibly or is it the advertising by multi-national companies creating desire to be like western people? (we saw only a few ads in these countries but tvs were becoming more popular . . . )

Low energy light bulbs and solar panels were everywhere. Arequipa, a town in Southern Peru even had solar hot water shops in the High Street (much to Mark’s delight!! He had to go in and enquire despite not understanding the info!) It certainly put the western world to shame on the environmental front(with the exception of Germany)

So come on guys we can do better! :o) Here is a really informative website to check out for starters: www.sustainableliving.co.nz (yep we know its from New Zealand but the info still applies!)

We observed many other interesting points

• Just how many habitats are being destroyed, the plants and wildlife with them. Often for the locals to make money to survive from them but all too often driven by the Western world’s desire for the most expensive woods, or our need for steaks – leading to rainforest being destroyed for beef production. Costa Rica lost 80% of its rainforest in about 10 years due to supplying America with steak. Obviously everyone needs to eat but the frustrating part is that much of that steak was probably wasted as portions are way too large and way too cheap. Same with Brazil (there were about four meals in one there!) So really half of that rainforest could have stayed standing. Brazil also over produces on their sugar cane and coffee too. So the forest is being lopped for them to make a few pennies on their produce as supply outstrips demand.

• All too often the destruction was actually by huge oil companies from other countries?! Again driven by human dependence on cars, air conditioning, heating etc. Again the Western world seemed to be the main culprits. We were told by a German girl studying Cultural studies in Argentina that somehow America got Peru to sign a free trade agreement which entitled America to help themselves to whatever they liked!?!!

In Bolivia a Canadian company wanted to extract mercury from beneath the Salar de Uyuni (pictured above) -the huge salt plain that Bolivia is renowned for (and the biggest in the world I believe). So far the government had refused but with the country being so poor will their minds be swayed eventually?

• In addition animals were being taken from the wild to fuel the Western world passions of having exotic pets. For example the Hyacinth Macaw from Brazil is becoming very rare because Americans like to keep them as pets. Now admittedly they are gorgeous looking birds but you have to wonder, do the owners actually know where they are coming from and if they did would it make a difference?

• The goodness of organic foods- Ecuador and Peru full of delicious fresh fruits, Vilcabamba a town in Southern Ecuador used to be known as the town of longitivity because people used to live to around 100 years old. However since the road has been built connecting the town to the ‘outside world’ and therefore chemical filled food brought in, the life span has dropped to around 80.

New Zealand here I come!

Hi!!

Well here I am back in Quito, pleased to be able to say that I loved the voluntary work, met loads of really nice people and also learnt lots about Ecuadorian politics (which I may have already forgotten! Ooops!!) I have lots of great piccies of the animals - capuchins, monkeys, ocelots, parrots, parakeets, coatis, kinkajous and also the locals (generally not animals!!) which I will try and add to the blog sometime but do not have the equipment required at the mo. It was a fantastic (and very mucky) experience which I am very glad I did. I even managed to improve my salsa skills on a weekend off as well as almost chop my finger off with a machete! I think Mark will be very impressed with all my war wounds and also my new found skills of constructing huts out of trees. Could certainly save a few pounds?!

Tonight I am catching an overnight flight to Chile and then tomorrow night a flight to New Zealand so the next couple of days are going to be somewhat tedious. It'll be so nice to arrive in New Zealand even if it is 4.40 in the morning, where Mark assures me he will be waiting.

Then he says he has lots of nice things planned which I am not allowed to know until I get there, although he has told me we are going to a rugby match on the 2nd June which will be interesting - The All Blacks against France. I take it they should be good then? - I hope so as it's my first ever rugby match. If this games bad that's it, I'll never be persuaded to go to another again?! ;o)

Talking of Mark as I note he has let the side down on the blogging (he says he had nothing to write!) He has been in Auckland the last 3 weeks, seeing the sights and working at the hostel a few hours some days for free accommodation. It sounds like he has been enjoying himself but is ready for a change now, so he says. On his birthday he went paintballing with some other hostellers and ended up rather bruised. He has also spent a few nights at some comedy clubs and meeting up with a friend Joe and his wife Tash. Hopefully I won't cramp his style too much when I get there?! :o)

Anyway I had better go and get my stuff sorted so I'm ready to go as soon as I've had dinner. It wouldn't be too great if I missed the flight!

So until next time have fun

Off to pastures new . . .

Hola All

Well here I am having just waved Mark off on his way to New Zealand, since after several weeks of most frustrating organising, I have finally arranged to head back up to Quito tomorrow (to where the adventure started all those months ago . . .) so that I can do three weeks voluntary work in the Ecuadorian Amazon at a Wildlife Rehabilitation centre. I hope it will be as good as I imagine as I think it has aged me by several years already! Being a charity AND Ecuadorian I shouldn't really be surprised at the constant delays and lack of efficiency . . but I still am! ;o)
The website of the organisation I am volunteering for is: www. Santamartharescue.org if you wish to know more.

Meanwhile Mark is looking forward to watching the rugby, frequenting Jazz clubs and enjoying some peace and quiet before I join him on the 31st May. . . . :o)

This last week in South America has been pretty hectic too. We went to a couple of towns in the wine region of Argentina – Mendoza and San Juan. Visited the Valley de Luna National Park which has amazing coloured rocks from each of the Mesozoic periods - Jurassic, Triassic and Cretaceous. Its pretty amazing really - one is bright red, another yellow and the other grey.

They have found many intact dinosaur fossils in the park too.

Then we had a very pretty bus journey across the Andes to Santiago, a surprisingly pleasant city. The area of our hostel looks how you would imagine London to have been many years ago with cobbled streets, old fashioned lamp posts and quaint buildings. However I can't remember being somewhere where so may people smoke for a very long time!

And that brings us up to date again so until the next instalment (and Mark said he may do one – shock horror!;o)) Take care and Adios.

Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile (only 7 days left! sob!!!)

5th April
Hola all and greetings from Argentina! Time is racing by so we are now down to our last month in South America. How can that be?! As I write we are headed down to Patagonia, the southernmost part of Argentina and also the coldest understandably! Can't say we are looking forward to that but that’s the price you pay for seeing glaciers?!We have a way to go though. Another 20 hours to get down to El Chalten, the first national park, along an extremely bumpy road. We have just spent the last 2 days in Bariloche, a pleasant town by a huge lake in Argentina's lake district. The scenery was very similar to that of Scotland, pines, lochs and mountains. Pretty and pleasantly warm. Previous to that we had a few days in Buenos Aires, a nice city, quite French looking we thought. The worst weather so far this trip though. Rain most days. We had to sight see like a couple of very drowned rats! Whilst there we visited Evita´s tomb in the very strange cemetery that is done like a miniature city. Some of the tombs were so large and elaborate that they were better than houses (especially the mud huts of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador!).

24th April
Well hello again, it is now 3 weeks later and the first chance we have had to do blogging again – its hard work this travel lark!! So much to do! :o)
So here we are in Puerto Madryn a pleasantly warm place after the South. Tomorrow we are off on a tour to hopefully spot some sea creatures – sea lions, seals, and Orcas (if we are really lucky). We are hoping luck picks up because so far in this place everything seems to have been jinxed. Or should I say I seem to have been jinxed (much to Marks hilarity!) He has decided that any technology I touch goes wrong. I am surprised this computer is working in fact. Last night 3 cashpoints wouldn´t work so we had to ration dinner (fortunately we found a 28 peso (4.50 GBP) all you can eat restaurant so we just had to go thirsty!)) , our phones would not work and yet we had reception and the real technical disaster was the other day in Ushuaia, where we were viewing our photos on a cd in an internet café. All of a sudden there was an almighty bang as if the cd had snapped. Is that possible? Well, yes, apparently so as when it was finally retrieved (with much difficulty as the door wouldn´t open) it was in lots of pieces. If anyone can tell us how this can happen we would appreciate it?!

Anyways so what have we been up to:

Well following on from the mail above, 2 weeks ago we survived the mega long bus journey, whereby we saw brown soil, more brown soil and a creamy tuft of grass here and there and more brown soil! And occasionally, just to keep us on our toes, we were very lucky to see a Rhea (a small ostrich), a bird of prey, a Guanaco (like a llama) or a Armadillo (so cute!)
So when they say Patagonia is a HUGE expanse of nothingness, they are most definitely right! We flew back from Ushuaia over it and from the air we were most privileged to see a few empty valleys and craters too.

We have done quite a few mountain walks and were very lucky to have some fantastic clear views over Fitzroy mountain in Argentina composed of a sheer granite wall. We met a couple Dan and Stef who we climbed the mountain (and got lost) with!! They were also brave enough to accompany us out to a funky restaurant where M had a bit too much to drink so was coming out with funny but slightly embarrassing comments! Fortunately they can´t have minded too much as we are hoping to all meet again in Santiago!

Also the Perito Moreno glacier was extremely pretty. Very blue and we were lucky enough to see several huge lumps of ice fall off of it too. The sound was like an earthquake which you heard long before you saw it!

Then we headed to Torres del Paine in Chile which is a well known National Park. Originally we had the intention of camping but on stepping off the bus in Puerto Natales the nearest town, that thought quickly disappeared. It was absolutely freezing and we were informed that the previous night they had had snow up in the mountains! So in the end we took the warm option and spent the 3 nights staying in the Refugios which had lovely log fires to warm ourselves on and our wet clothes on. Wimpish we know but most appreciated as it really was cold outside and a hot shower was most needed at the end of the day. On the last night there was 7 inches of snow fell and we woke up to a picture postcard wonderland. It felt like Christmas!

While there I persuaded Mark to do an Ice Trek on Grey Glacier, which he enjoyed. The caves, crevices and falls were so blue. And it was most amusing learning the techniques with our crampons on - the ´toilet´ technique for example. The final challenge was to abseil down and then ice climb out of a crevice. An easy feat for Mark but I didn´t enjoy it too much especially when I got near the top. Did it though!

Then we headed to Ushuaia – the Southernmost city in the world on another 14 hour bus ride, and this was like a Winter wonderland too. Lovely snowy mountains all around. Gorgeous autumn colours on the trees and the Beagle Channel flowing sedately by. Unfortunately we didn´t see it like this however until we were about to board the plane to leave, as the two days we were there and could explore further it was tipping down of rain and we couldn´t see a thing!

So what else?
Well many moons ago, where our last update ended we were about to embark on our journey to Brazil. A very long and sweaty affair, we have never been so happy to have a shower! The train was not the most luxurious either and there was nowhere to buy food even though the journey was 20 hours long. Instead at each of the stations the Bolivian ladies and children boarded the train selling their homemade food. Some of it smelled quite nice but the fear of HOW it was prepared (and being stuck in a hot train!) was just too much so we decided to play safe and go hungry!

Then we crossed over into Brazil to a town called Corumba and it was sooo hot. Really humid and we were given the worst (and last) room in the hotel (a funny L shaped room with an air con extractor right outside the window). Paying such high prices in Brazil was a bit of a shock to the system too. Especially after Bolivia which was the cheapest country of all, where an average meal costed 1.50GBP each for a drink and nice main dish. The best value meal we had in Bolivia was in Sucre, where we had the most gorgeous, huge salad starters which included rose petals?! And were actually really nice (although I did wonder whether they had hallucinagenic properties as I almost fainted at the end of the meal, perhaps they didn´t combine with the wine well?), a bottle of wine, gorgeous main meals and desserts all for under 10GBP for 2 meals! Bargain?!

Back to the subject of Brazil however I was pleasantly surprised with the scenery of Brazil, the reputation of Brazil not caring for their scenic areas having influenced my expectations, so the sight of gorgeous lush trees and green hills surrounding the town were a most pleasant surprise.
However the town did remind us of America somewhat, having been built so spread out that trying to walk around it was near on impossible. (we gave it a go and all the ´same sort of stuff´was all over the place). They definitely expected people to drive cars.
Mark on the other hand was most upset at being surrounded by advertising again after having 3 months of hardly seeing any at all. (The mastercard cooler around the wine we ordered really topped it!) This trip has meant we are certainly starting to see and understand/question things that we would never have realised. We will share those facts and observations another time however as this update is going to be too long as it is!

So next we headed off to the Pantanal for a four day trip. The weather was very hot and the sky blue but the Pantanal area was very flooded and this limited the activities that we were able to do.
We went mule riding through the water up to your waist. All pretty sedate until you realised that there were Anacondas in the water! Amusing too as the mules looked like horses with HUGE ears and they ran like donkeys too. It looked like everybody was doing a donkey derby! Had a great boat trip and saw River Otters, Toucans and Monkeys.
And went on a fantastic jeep trip and saw so many animals – Macaws, Parrots, Capybaras, Caimans, Birds of Prey, Peccary (a small wild pig), and my the favourite animal and photo of the trip so far a Coatimundi. He was sooo cute. I just wanted to get him down from the tree and give him a massive hug. However I just about managed to restrain myself so that Mark didn´t get jealous! ;o)
We also went tubing (where you sit in a rubber ring and float down the river). Again this was very relaxing until you remembered there were Anacondas, Caiman and Pyrana´s in the river so a nip on the bum was expected (but thankfully didn´t happen!)
The only thing that ruined the trip really was the company selling us the trip, telling us we could do stuff that we couldn´t possibly do at this time of the year, just to make a sale. For example they said we could go to the ´high ground´ and see Anteaters. When we conveyed this to the staff at the lodge they virtually fell over laughing and said only if the Anteater and us had a snorkell!! (I´m glad we gave them a laugh! hmmm)

Also the food was awful. Every day we had the same meal for lunch and dinner – kidney beans, rice and spaghetti. We were so ready to eat something different. To top it we both got ill at the end of the trip – I´m not sure whether it was a delayed reaction from escaping Bolivian food or whether it was Brazilian food! Of course the Brazilians blamed Bolivia.
On our last day at the Pantanal we were introduced to the baby Capybara that they had found by the roadside. It trotted around after everyone like a dog and rolled over to have its tummy tickled (this time I could tell Mark WAS jealous!! ;o))

Upon leaving the Pantanal and entering ´civilisation´again, we went to a Brazilian town called Campo Grande. This was the spit of America, diners everywhere, overweight people everywhere, concrete everywhere and all the shops were cooled down way too much so they were freezing. (ie. No concept of using only what you need. The attitude ´its there so why not use it and heck with the consequences´ was everywhere.) Another example of this was the HUGE portions of food. At one restaurant I ordered a half portion and yet there were still 4 steaks to this, a huge bowl of chips and rice and some salad. This half meal would have fed both Mark and I AND we´d still have had some left over. The concerning thing about such gluttony however is that not only is everyone overweight but that to obtain all this steak (at least half of which must be wasted), the rainforests and other habitats are being destroyed to provide more land for beef cattle to be raised. This seems to be the case in all the South American countries. An article I read said that 80% of Costa Rica´s rainforest had been felled for beef cattle to supply America with steak. Not surprising of America but certainly frustrating . . . The worrying thing is that the UK is possibly heading the same way . . .?

Our final stop in Brazil was Foz de Iguazzi, the closest city to the Iguazzi falls which are amazing. If you haven´t heard of them, they are the widest falls in South America and are four times wider than Niagara. They are so wide in fact that its actually extremely hard to see them all at once! So all the photos only actually show a portion of them. In the most intense part, the Devil´s Throat, the noise is immense. We viewed the falls from the Argentinian side which is much larger than the Brazilian side and cheaper too. At the falls we were also met by our friends the Coati´s (same as Coatimundi´s I think!) who cheekily were trying to steal somebodies camera!

Before leaving Brazil we also visited a Bird Park near the falls where they run a breeding programme to help some of the endangered birds. They had so many different birds. The Grey Parrot from Africa was great. He loved talking to you by making clicking and whistling sounds. Toucans are particularly pretty too. Many of the birds were kept in huge walk through avairies. The photo is of me with a Macaw. There were also Anaconda´s at the park – M´s favourite animal – not!!

After this we headed down to Uruguay – Montevideo. M loved the city – the layout, architenture and the European Ambiance. I thought it was pleasant as far as cities go but 3 days was enough for me!
Then we headed to Colonia de Sacrimento in Uruguay– a major tourist town where everybody seemed to have doubled their accommodation prices since our guide was written (and its the 2007 guide!)
We eventually found somewhere to stay, had an expensive dinner and decided we would catch the ferry to Buenos Aires, the next morning and much sooner than planned!
However we decided to go for a quick nose around town first thing in the morning and found ourselves adopted parents for a stray dog! He seemed to love having `owners´, playing on the beach, following us around for over an hour! Lots of other dogs seemed to get jealous too and attempted to join in so at one point we had 3 dogs walking with us! The hard bit however was when we had to go back into the hostel to pack and he looked so sad. However he was sat there patiently waiting for us when we came out, and accompanied us to the bus station, waited patiently, and then walked to the ferry docks with us. We were both feeling terrible that we were going to have to leave him in a moment when thankfully a bus driver called him over. Phew!!! It was a relief but how shallow is that?!! ;o)

So that brings us back to Buenos Aires and hopefully covers everything.
We will try and do a conclusion of South America at some point but may not be until we reach New Zealand now. (A week!)
By the way we have now been on the tour mentioned earlier and saw Sea lions and Elephant Seals as hoped but no Penguins (the last few migrated the day before – shucks!) and no Orcas as the wind was too strong. The Orcas are apparently fantastic to see because they ´strand´themselves on the beach to catch the Seal pups. We saw some video footage and it looked amazing although the way they play catch with the seal afterwards I´m not sure about.

Also we have discovered why our phones weren´t working, the reason being that the phone company has changed their charges without notification so a 5 minute call from my sister the other day cost 72p a minute to me instead of being free! Understandably we are not happy. I´m glad there was only 3.50GBP on the phone at the time! Hence our contact numbers may be changing again shortly. Sorry. Most likely we will get a New Zealand phone soon anyway.

So until next time, take care and have fun . . .

Bolivia - Spanish Classes, Salar de Uyuni and Tupiza

Written the 14th March but not able to update until now due to the usual computer issues – internet goes down, power cut, no USB port, etc etc – we know them all well by now!! ;o)

Greetings from Sucre, a very pretty Bolivian town which thankfully serves ´normal´ food. Such a relief!! (We were starting to think we were going to turn into a pizza or a chip as that is almost all we have dared eat in Bolivia until now!! Most unhealthy)
Yesterday we got to meet the local dinosaurs, no not the old folk but the owners of the many dinosaur prints just outside Sucre. (This location used to be a lake several hundred million years ago apparently!) And today we are getting ready to head off on our travels again, on a 14 hour bus journey to Santa Cruz in the lowlands, and then a 20 hour train to Brazil, to do a 4 day Pantanal trip (for those of you that watched Planet Earth, it is a huge wetland area that was featured on that).

We would like to say that we are both now fluent in Spanish after our 2 days of classes, at least in our dreams! It did help a little but still didn´t enable us to fully understand Lord of the Rings in Spanish. Fortunately the film doesn´t really need the words so we just watched the actions!


It was a huge relief to leave La Paz though. Far too many cars, pollution and noise! However a visit to the Cocoa museum before we left was interesting. Apparently Cocoa leaves have been made illegal in this country many times, until the ´powers that be´ realised that they get more work out of the workers if they let them have them. A perfect example was in the mines in Potosi which we visited and which were pretty grim. Very dark, dusty and cramped. The employees used to do 36 hour shifts in the mines and it was only the Cocoa Leaves that kept them going. We ourselves can´t really see the appeal. They taste foul and don´t seem to have an effect (unless we just haven´t had enough?!) About 4% of the leaf is Cocaine so as you can imagine, it´d take alot to have that much of an effect.

Then we had a 3 day trip to Salar de Uyuni – a huge salt lake in the middle of Bolivia. Fantastic and very warm, despite it looking like you were surrounded by snow!
Much time and effort was spent attempting to balance on a Pringles Tin or a tripod! I think we got there in the end though?!Also on the trip we saw the National Park Andina which borders Chile and Argentina.

This huge park is most definitely in the middle of nowhere and features desert, rocks, coloured lakes, more red / orange rocks and loads of flamingos. I thought the sights were amazing but I think M thought that too much time was spent in the car travelling to the next place. Most frustratingly however, we managed to get a virus on our computer disks and therefore quite a few of the photos have been ruined. Hopefully Mark is onto it now though and a few have been salvaged. The frustrations of modern technology!

Next we travelled down to the cute little town of Tupiza and learnt first hand the problems of Bolivian transport, as mentioned in the travel guides! Our train was supposed to get into Tupiza at 4am and actually made it there 7 hours late at 11am, due to 2 piles of rocks on the tracks that took hours for a digger to arrive and clear. For us it worked out well though as it meant we got a proper nights sleep and were having fun playing cards with a Swiss couple while we waited.
Then the next day we did a Triathlon, which meant we cycled, horse rode and rode in a jeep to see all the pretty sights of Tupiza in one day! And there were lots. It was very like the Northern Territory in Australia with huge red rocks everywhere. Some have compared it to the Wild West and it did look a bit like that really – dust, cactuses, huge rocks and wide open spaces . .

Well that is about it for the adventures this time so until next time take care!

Machu Picchu, The Jungle, Bolivia and lots more!!!

Apologies for the lateness of this update, we realise it has been a while. To compensate it is a whopper though so we hope you have a fair while to read it!
Also we do feel we need to make you all feel better about England´s weather (although snow sounds pretty good but not grey, grey, grey!). As much as we would love you to imagine we are always in blazing sunshine and warm, we are actually in the most mixed climate ever!!! At the moment it is pouring with rain but warm (like clockwork the rain seems to start at about 3pm in these warm places). However yesterday we biked down ´The World´s Most Dangerous Road´ which starts at the snow line (a height of more than 4000m which is the height of La Paz – the capital of Bolivia) and so was absolutely f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g (major hat and gloves weather – in fact we cannot believe how much we have worn our hat and gloves) to here, Coroico which is at 1300m and is near rainforest so warm!! All this change in climate over just a distance of 64km!! You can actually feel it as you cycle along. It really is amazing. (And I can´t help think would be great to have in England, when you are fed up of the cold you could drive 2 hours and thaw out for the weekend!!) Of course the difference here is that even at great altitude when the sun comes out it can be really hot and you get sunburnt easily too but as soon as that sun disappears – cold – all seasons in one day almost!!

Anyways whilst on the subject of the Dangerous Road, it is a narrow, dirt track curling around the side of the mountains with amazing views and was a main road until 3 months ago. Eventually it was decided that 90-100 people dying every year because buses and truck kept falling off it down the 500m drop, whilst trying to pass each other, was perhaps not the best?! The scary thing is that there seem to be a lot of similar roads to this in South America so you have to wonder if they have as high fatality numbers too?

So we are in Bolivia and have been for a week now. The first few days was spent in a town called Copacabana, a gorgeous hostel with views over Lake Titicaca, which has bright blue waters and is huge! Supposedly we were relaxing, but unfortunately the first couple of days there were absolutely freezing (hat, gloves and thermals definitely required inside the hostel as well (no heating here!)) so staying warm wore us out more! Luckily the next couple of days were lovely and hot and sunny. Phew. So we went to the Isla del Sol, a very pretty island before heading to La Paz the capital, where we survived 1.5 days before the traffic and people got too much so we escaped here!! We are in fact going back there tomorrow though and are going ´back to school´ for a couple of days to improve our Spanish. Should be interesting and we hope helpful!

However previous to entering Bolivia there was lots going on in Peru:

We survived the Inca Trail! In fact after all our worrying about how hard it would be, it was a walk in the park – well almost, the hundreds of downhill steps did your knees in a little!
And although the trail was pretty, we have been so spoilt with lovely scenery that it was nothing special and it felt a bit like we were on a conveyer belt, it was so busy! The 3rd day was the most disappointing though as that was the day we should have got fantastic views as we passed into Cloudforest for this day. However it decided to rain (pretty common for the cloud forest at this time of year). So unfortunately we could only imagine the views we were missing. Although at least we were reasonably dry with our waterproofs, and ponchos. Some people were absolutely drenched! (And the dangerous road goes through Cloud Forest too and was clear – yay, so we don´t feel as hard done by!)
However on the 4th day we reached Machu Picchu which was absolutely FANTASTIC and it did make all the walking worthwhile and even better was that although it started off cloudy by the afternoon it was blazing sunshine and so clear. The views were absolutely amazing so we were really lucky (alot of people had said it had been constantly cloudy when they were there). You could certainly see why it remained hidden for so long as it was so buried in Cloud Forest and miles from anywhere. An awesome sight. We would certainly recommend it!
On the photo you can see Wayni Picchu, the mountain overlooking Machu Picchu and we set off to climb it, not quite sure whether our legs would hold out! To be bitterly disappointed when we were told it was too late to start climbing (much to Mark´s relief I think. I had twisted his arm rather!) Instead we made do with finding wild chinchillas playing amongst the rocks and they were so cute!

Despite the visions of snakes and insects falling out of the trees onto our heads, and leeches attacking our feet, we survived and loved our first Jungle trip! An 8 day trip took us to Manu National Reserve near Cusco, Peru and we both agree that it was one of the highlights of the trip so far.
You know you are in virgin jungle when:

1) It takes a 10 hour van ride along a narrow dirt track that winds around the mountain edges (much like the worlds most dangerous road really) and a 6 hour boat journey just to get to the outskirts of the reserve!
2) You see Capybaras (huge guinea pigs (see photo), caimans, immense number of different types of birds, huge groups of all kinds of monkeys sitting or swinging through the trees (excellent), Giant Otters swimming, Turtles, Ants, ants and more ants – Leaf cutter, Army, and Bullet are absolutely everywhere!
One type of monkey – the Woolley monkey is quite aggressive and comes low in the trees, staring at you (they are so human looking – that is scary!) and shaking branches to try and get you out of their patch!

3) You are so excited that you may see a jaguar whilst on the boat but at night when it´s dark, you are oh so scared that one may pounce on your back! Especially when your guide tells you that if you did get lost in the jungle, you should sit with your back against a tree (make sure it isn´t the kind where when you touch it Fire Ants come out in their droves and bite you. Apparently you will last 5 minutes. Not good?!) Then rub leaves all over you ( make sure they aren´t poisonous too!) and place them on the ground in front of you. This is supposed to deter whatever it is that is after you!! I´d rather not test it personally!
4) You are awoken to the sound of a violent storm (the wind howling) and the sound of a huge gorilla???!! Thankfully you know that it is in fact the Red Howler Monkeys as otherwise you really would not leave your cabin! (and they look so cute and quiet in the flesh too – see photo)
5) You desperately need the toilet in the middle of the night and after fighting your way out of your mosquito net in a zombie like state, once outside the cabin your heart starts pounding and you decide that you don´t dare walk the 50 metres in the dark to the toilets, so decide to go there and then listening all the time for any sign of movement or the glint of eyes! Fantastic you think, you have made it safely back to bed, only then to find that a pesky mosquito has managed to follow you back into your net!! Aaahhh!
6) Suddenly you feel a cold thing on your shoulder, and you turn round to see a snake hanging from the tree. Just joking!! That didn´t actually happen at all but it´s what most people imagine! In reality the only snake we saw was a Fer-de-Lance that the lodge owner had come across the day before while he was going to the loo in the forest! They are very poisonous so he had killed it fortunately before it got him. In fact there seemed to be a pattern to this going to the loo thing. Our guide said the only time he has ever seen a Bushmaster another poisonous snake which chases you, was when he was doing the same. We were glad we only found this out on the last day! Otherwise the week could have been difficult?!
If you are ever in this situation yourselves, just remember, throw anything you have at the snake – hat, gloves, so that it bites them and not you! Hopefully not a much required piece of advice there!
7) Every evening you look forward to your lovely shower – well I´d like to say that but in reality it is freezing, which is kind of refreshing for about 2 seconds as its soo hot but then . . chhccchhh! Alternatively you could have another real wildlife experience like Mark did and share your shower with a lizard?

8) You feel totally inspired. The scenery is amazing, the rivers power immense. The animals are fantastic. You cannot help but feel moved and like you want to go out and do something that really matters! And also you cannot help but think how sad it is that habitats like this are being chopped down all over the world . . .

Sadly even just outside the reserve you could see the difference. This area is called the ´Cultural Zone´ and has small communities within it. Here the scenery was pretty much the same as in the reserve (logging is prohibited) but the absence of animals was so obvious, despite the fact that hunting is prohibited. We actually visited one community and they tried to sell us a necklace with Red Howler Monkey teeth on it. Need I say more? :o( It makes you realise just how much of an impact humans have on the world and just how necessary National Parks are. Although just imagine a world where everything was natural and the overhunting, overfishing and exploitation of resources didn`t happen at all . . .

So what else . . .
We also visited Colca Canyon – supposedly the deepest canyon in the world and a little disappointing as it was covered in cloud so we couldn´t see a thing! We did see a couple of condors though.
And lastly we went on a tour of Lake Titicaca from the Peru side, which involved visiting some floating reed islands that communities actually live on and also staying with a Peruvian family on the Island of Amantani. This was particularly fascinating as we had lunch, dinner and breakfast cooked by them (lots of freshly grown veg) and a strange Ammonia drink, stayed in their house - different and also went to a dance in their traditional dress. Bet you can´t spot the South American?!

One last thing, confession time, we did finally decide to try guinea pig as it is everywhere here and was part of a buffet (therefore we didn´t request it specially cooked - makes us feel better!). However neither of us liked it, it was very fatty and had a strong taste, so Karen and Lisa and all the pet guinea pigs of the past, we hope you forgive us?!!
Until next time. Adios

Cordillera Blanca, Temples and Flights

Well as we are busy acclimatizing to dizzy heights again in Cuzco, ready for the 3 day walk along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu on Saturday, it seems a perfect opportunity to let you all know what we have been up to. And it has been indeed been a manic 1.5 weeks. We have covered thousands of miles (2/3rds of Peru!), culminating with a 14 hour bus ride here last night. Fortunately we decided to treat ourselves to the ´luxury´ seats this time after having done 2 other night buses and feeling like zombies the next day. And we think the extra space was worthwhile. However despite our section only having 8 people in it, one had to be a chronic snorer. Even during the films this morning he was still asleep merrily snoring away and driving everyone else insane! The trials and tribulations of traveling eh? Are you feeling sympathy?!! ;o)

Other than long bus journeys though we have fitted in plenty of sightseeing – seen some of the famous temples – the Moche Pyramids – Temple of the Sun and the Moon (a bit like the Egyptian Pyramids (photo above)), Chan Chan and another temple called Tucume. A lot of them looked rather liked heaps of rubble from the outside to be honest. But inside, where excavations have been done, there were some fantastic carvings and paintings. I would say that my favourite was the Moche Pyramids and Mark´s was Chan Chan.

Also visited a few North Peruvian towns and were initially sure that everyone was being suspiciously friendly and chatty. They were also very keen to shake our hands. However in fact they just do seem to be friendlier people than the Ecuadorians and sincerely interested in chatting to us. Especially the little kiddies who get well excited to be saying Hello in English. How sweet!
Also visited Lima – the capital city which we had heard bad reports about and so thought we would not like. However we were pleasantly surprised. It had a lovely square and quite a few very pretty buildings. Miraflores the tourist area was nice and we did a tour which took us very high up to look over the city. There were a lot of Shanty Towns but they very intriguing. The only thing not to like about Lima was somehow I picked up a bug/food poisoning etc which I am hurriedly trying to shift as I don’t think it´ll help much on Saturday! Oh dear! Feeling better today though so fingers crossed.

Yesterday we were in Nasca doing an early morning flight to see the Nasca Lines - drawings of a huge monkey, spider, dog, etc in the middle of the desert. Don´t know whether you´ve heard of it? Was very interesting.
But the highlight of the last week or so was the 4 days we spend in a town called Huaraz (pronounced Awaz!) located in the Cordillera Blanca, a huge mountain range that has over 50 mountains of greater height than 5700m and the highest tropical mountain in the world, Hauscaran at 6800m. It was absolutely fantastic. We did a walk through a gorgeous valley in the Hauscaran National Park, up the mountains past waterfalls and streams, with huge snow tops towering above us until we finally reached Lagoon 69, a gorgeous bright blue lake, nestled beneath the snow topped mountain Piscan. It really was awe inspiring and oh such a relief to get there!! Hot hot hot!!
Then the next day we mountain biked down the Cordillera Negro mountain range, which is a slightly smaller range and runs parallel to the C. Blanca. Therefore we had fantastic views of the C.B and also of the Cordillera Huaylash – another huge range close by, which for those of you have seen the film or read the book ´Touching the Void´, is apparently where that took place.

So there you are, that´s us up to date and attempting to psyche ourselves ready for our huge hike/camping/possibly getting very wet (its rainy season) experience over the next few days. But hey we all love a challenge?!! It was rainy season in Huaraz too and yet it was gorgeous weather so fingers crossed. Then on our return from Machu Picchu we are looking into our first Amazon experience. Should be fun?! We saw lots of photos of all the gorgeous?! creepy crawlies we could possibly see today. Tarantulas, Coral Snakes, humungous caterpillars …. Yurkkk!
Remember you guys you are all very welcome to join us on route. We must have half persuaded you that there´s so much to see out there?!! Well until that last sentence anyway?!
So for now we will say ´Buenos Noches´or ´Good Night´

Hello from Peru!

Well here we are again. Have finally made it to a computer for an update and we have made progress with our travels too. As from yesterday we are in Peru! And a very clammy Peru it is too.

Since our last communication we have seen so many sights and have so many photos – again! Plus we have been very energetic too. Perhaps we will be okay climbing the Inca Trail yet?!

Our first adventure since the last update was to climb and bike down Cotopaxi which was absolutely fantastic but also freezing when you were near the top of the mountain. The walk to the refuge was really hard and as we were gasping for air and sliding back down in the ash, I was thankful that Mark had talked me out of climbing to the top (which would occur at midnight so not even the views to make up for the cold or energy consumption!) Fortunately when the cloud cleared we were able to see the snow and glazier at the top of the mountain which was amazing and made the effort well worth it. Then the cycle down which was fun to and Mark managed to crash into a rock and fly off his bike to land running! Apparently the acrobatics were most impressive a fellow cyclist said. (I missed them – shucks!)

We have also been exploring local markets which was most interesting. We went to an animal market where sheep, cows, goats, llamas etc were for sale, a guinea pig market (hard to stomach after having so many as pets but they were still alive at this point and oinking like they do!) and a couple of other normal markets too. The markets were all really colourful and Mark did well at making friends with the locals as per the photo!!

We have also seen loads of rural Ecuadorian countryside and are amazed at how much litter they chuck everywhere. Especially as they seem to live off the land so it’s hard to understand the use they have for so many plastic containers? We also cannot believe the size of the houses – tiny with little bare yards around them and no gardens and yet they do seem very content especially the babies who sit on their mothers back quietly even when she is busy digging the fields!

However they do have some really spectacular countryside (where there aren´t towns and hence litter!) As sampled near Vilcamba when we went on a 2 day horse tour up to the Podocarpus National Park (one of the last places the Spectacled bear is found). The ride was fantastic, right up into the mountains with no car access. We were riding on the edge of a steep drop along the river and the horses were so good. Thankfully! We then stayed in a little lodge up in the mountains. It was definitely one of the best things we have done so far this trip.

Several of the towns in Ecuador have turned out to be very interesting. Riobamba had a big carnival going on whilst we were there and it really did put English carnivals to shame. So many people were dancing and had fantastic costumes. Cuenca was Mark´s favourite town and had some pretty, old buildings. However my lasting memory of Cuenca (and maybe Mark´s too) was attempting to go to the Cahas National Park and getting all set up with our walking gear, then getting to the park but not knowing where to get off the bus, eventually asking the conductor who did not know where we were either and by this time being totally surrounded in fog so staying on the bus a while longer before finally jumping off the bus, waiting for 15 mins in the fog to then get on another bus to drive for an hour back to where we should have got off the bus (we think – still aren´t sure!) How confusing and very frustrating!

So anyways all in all, it has been an interesting time. With several ups and downs – the Devil´s Nose train ride being one of them (the railway that is on a vertical slope) and here we are now planning what to get up to in Peru. So far it has shown several differences from Ecuador but we will see soon enough so until next time, take care and have fun!

Cloud Forests, Equator, Galapagos and New Years Eve in Quito

Hi All. We hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New Year?! For us it was very good although somewhat strange. You just can’t quite imagine its Christmas Day when you are sat in the blazing sunshine surrounded by blue sea and sea lions! (not to rub it in or anything!! ;o))
Anyway as you may have gathered we are back from the Galapagos and had a fantastic time but we have so much to update you on that we’d better start from the beginning!! Hope you don’t nod off? So where to start . .

Since we arrived in Quito almost 3 weeks ago (time flies!) we have visited a local market to see the way things are done out here and despite already having overflowing bags there was so much lovely stuff that a few bargains just had to be had! We’ve braved the local buses which are very cheap, about $2 for a 2 hour bus ride and most interesting too. Generally they have loud salsa music playing in them as they often do when you walk round the streets too. Ray and Caro you’d love it. You’d be boogying all the time!

We spent a relaxing couple of days in the Cloud Forests about 2 hours out of Quito just before we went to Galapagos. Our accommodation was a treehouse which was pretty cool and there were also hot pools too which were most relaxing too. We did dwell on you guys back home for a while you’ll be pleased to hear. And then breathed a sigh of relief that we are here!! :o) However you will be pleased to hear that we did have to get up for a 6 am birdwatching tour. (See its not all easy?!) Although it was worth it. Saw loads of very pretty birds – toucans, parrots, parakeets and hummingbirds (which are tiny and so cute, and fast!!) Also saw an Armidillo which unfortunately ran too fast and blurred.

The next day we went to Galapagos which was a long haul – 2 flights, 2 bus journeys and a ferry ride. When we finally arrived though we were so impressed. The boat was lovely, the sun shining, and the sea blue and it was warm 27C . (Quito was about 20C most of the time in the day). Our group were really nice (there were 16 of us) but the most surprising thing was just HOW close the animals would get to you. They were everywhere. Sealions lazing across the boats, pelicans all around, and Iguanas just laying in your path. It was amazing.
They really were not phased by our presence. During the week of sailing around 9 islands we had seen countless sea lions and giant tortoises, Iguanas – marine and Land, Flamingos, Blue-footed boobies (so cute and did a most amusing dance), Frigate Birds with huge inflating red chests, Galapagos Penguins (really cute too), Masked Boobies and many more birds. Plus did some fantastic snorkelling so saw sharks, Sea Turtles, Sting Rays, heaps of colourful fish and swam with Penguins and Sea Lions. For anyone who loves wildlife we would definitely recommend it. We were also lucky enough to have dolphins swim with the boat twice. They were so fast and had great fun racing the boat and leaping out of the water.
The crew were even nice enough to do a ‘half’ Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so we even had turkey and champagne to celebrate. It was great. As they say a once in the lifetime experience.

So here we are now back in Quito, having had a great New Years Eve yesterday. They have a great big street festival from about 12 midday that goes on until well after midnight. Fireworks are everwhere (a vast improvement on Paris last years lack of fireworks!) although you did fear for your head slightly! Then they burn puppets at midnight to start the year anew. The city did look at one point rather like a scene out of the film War of the Worlds!
Also we were able to spend New Year with Sophie and Jose who were on the Galap tour with us which worked out really well.

We are preparing to leave Quito tomorrow and hopefully doing mountain biking down the highest active volcano in the world, Cotopaxi. There are heaps of these volcanos all around here. They look amazing with loads of snow on the top.
We tried to climb a slightly smaller volcano that overlooks the city on Saturday.
There is a cable car that takes you part of the way up, from 2800m to 4100m. Then you can walk for 2.5 hours to get to the very top which is 4700m high. Not an easy feat considering the altitude sickness. We were doing really well and were within 30 mins of the top when the cloud decided to come in so you could barely see 5m in front of you. Not the best on the side of a mountain and certainly not ideal for seeing the views from the top?! It looked like it was going to hang around and did for 1.5 hours so we turned back. One day I’ll get to the top of a mountain!?!
So there you go. That’s the mega update. Hopefully things will continue as they have been. We did have one minor hiccup yesterday when I discovered that my walking trousers had not been returned from the laundrette. That was fun trying to explain to the staff?! They were eventually returned to me 3 hours later. It turns out from speaking to a tour operator that this often happens as the trousers can be sold on the black market for a large amount here and staff generally only earn about $6 a day.

Anyway take care all and Happy New Year 2007! Hopefully you will be able to view all the photos so far on kodakgallery.co.uk. very shortly. However they are taking a long time to download and we have to work out to invite everyone to view them too! Fingers crossed . .