Neil's and Lloyd's Most Excellent Adventure

The last of the travels

2007-05-23T01:35:00.000-03:00

My time is now also nearly over.

For my last few remaining days I decided to head even further east on the coast of Venezuela. From Puerto La Cruz I moved to Santa Fe in the beautiful Mochima national park. The town itself is dirty and unapealing but does have some nice posadas right on the beach. Here I spent two nights and went snokeling on one of the small islands in the area with an American fellow named Ed. I soon grew weary of Santa Fe and we decided to move to Isla de Margarita. Here I would spend the remainder of my time, 7 nights, which is also the longest I've stayed in one place for the past four months.

After a five hour ferry from Puerto La Cruz and a short bus ride we arrived in Porlamar, the commercial capital of the island. The next day we moved to Juan Griego on the north western side - another quiet fishing village. As soon as I could I organized for a couple of dives and went the next day to Los Frailes off the north eastern coast of the island. All in all I was unimpressed and realized that I've been spoiled by my many previous diving experiances in Mozambique. The rest of my time on Isla de Margarita was spent laying on the picturesque beaches, swimming and having some beer. Rather the small beaches for me, as I feel that at the main beaches, like playa El Agua, are very trendy, full of the bad things, aparently, and don't really have space for my beard (that is now starting to reach epic proportions). Mostly I was at playa Caribe with other people from the hotel where I stayed. This one's smaller and has very pleasant, laid back beach bars.

fishing around Juan Griego

more fish and coral

My final day was spent on this beach consuming, perhaps, a bit too much sun and beer. The next day from Isla margarita I got a flight to Caracas, and then that evening, flew to Sao Paulo via Lima, arriving at 3:30 am. Portugese is not the same as spanish!

playa Caribe and some friends

another Caribbean beach sunset

All in all my travels have been amazing! By the tomorrow I will be out of South America altogether and that will mark exactly 4 months of traveling. And what an experiance it has been! From enourmous waterfalls in brazil, to the glaciers of Argentina, to the Andean peaks and altiplano of Bolivia, to the Inca ruins of Peru, to the rainforests of Ecuador, to the Caribbean beaches of Venezuela! As Neil also said, I hope that everyone has enjoyed following our adventures and that this blog has inspired its readers to visit Latin America. This will probably be the last entry concerning my travels although Neil and I may make a final joint update from back home in Stellenbosch.

Lloyd

A Caribbean adventure

2007-05-13T11:21:00.000-03:00

Get a coffee, this is quite a long update.

Since I last posted in Mérida, my travels have taken me Northwards and Eastwards. I first traveled to Coro on the north western coast at the base of penensula Paraguanà. Here I checked into the Posada Turistica Gallo where, as it turns out, everyone speaks french - the owner Eric, his wife and the other travellers! This was a good opportunity to grease my French a bit but found myself invariably throwing in Spanish words (I can`t grease my Spanish because it`s still missing a few large gears). My first day in Coro was spent taking it easy as I had arrived at 5:30am - more reading, some beer and naps in hammocks.

The second day I went on a 4x4 tour of the peninsula with the owner and two girls from Slovakia, Katerina and Susana. The vegetation is arid and sparse and some areas are covered in sand dunes (although not as impressive as those around Ica, Peru). We visited the national park Médanos, home to some interesting and rare species of lizards, spiders, and a prehistoric plant species dating 35 million years back. Other parts of the tour included the salinas, a dip in the sea near a big wreak, flamingo watching and the first church ever built in South America (now designated a chapel by the Vatican).

the oldest church in South America

another 8-legged critter, this time in blue and orange

a very pink salt lagoon

As for traveling, I decided to skip Chichiriviche and the surroundings as a chemical spill in the 90s has apparently killed much of the coral and I figured diving might be disapointing. So the next day was a long hard day´s traveling, from Coro to Valencia to Maracay to Puerto Colombia.

Finally, the real Caribbean, with it´s romantic allure of turquoise waters and coconut palm beaches! Almost as soon as I arrived I was offered a room by one of the locals. They do this often and their prices more often than not beat those of the posadas. My first day in Puerto Colombia was spent seeing the town and the beautiful Playa Grande (big beach). I heard at one of the tourist shops that the diving in the area was among the best in Venezuela and that there was a "dive shop" at one of the nearby beaches, Playa Cepe. I decided to go check it out and got one of the boats that go from beach to beach. "Yes, Yes. It´s possible to come back today" said the skipper, so off I went. About 40 min and 4 beaches later I was dropped off at playa Cepe - smaller, more isolated and truly beautiful!

playa Cepe

The diving, as it turns out, is extremely unorganized: "Yes tomorrow, if we can get a boat. We´ll see how many people there are. Don´t know at what time we´ll open" kind of thing. So I spent some time on the beach reading and waiting for a boat back. Nada, and the sun was getting low. Schedules here are very unreliable, especially if it`s quiet, and you have to be flexible. By sunset I was chatting to a local, Omar, and his girlfriend from Austria (if I remember her name, I´ll put it in here). By sunset we were having some of the traditional drink in these parts - rum! (see Pirates of the Caribbean). As for sleeping, I borrowed a hammock from one of the local artisans and strung it up right there between two palm trees.

The next morning I decided not to go through the hassle of organizing a dive and went snorkeling. The visibility was excellent and the water the perfect temperature. There is quite a lot of sea life and I even saw a long horned cowfish. Around midday I got a boat back and spent the rest of the day swimming at playa grande at Puerto Colombia. I`ve never seen such clear waters - it was perfect!

undu da sea...

sunset in Puerto Colombia, with the remnance of a more dangerous era

dusk on the Caribbean

I have since decided to move on and Saturday I had another hard days traveling; from Puerto Colombia is a beautiful bus ride to Maracay, over the mountains (2000m+) and through beautiful cloud forest on a very bendy road. From Maracay I traveled to Caracas and straight to Puerto la Cruz, a modern city with a pleasant beachfront. Today I plan to go to Santa Fe and stay there for a while before moving on to see the famous oilbird caves and possibly Isla Margarita.

the road between Puerto Colombia and Maracay

Adios all

The world´s highest and longest cable car

2007-05-06T03:13:00.000-03:00

Hello everybody! As you all probably know by now, Neil and I parted ways at the end of our Ecuador circuit. He returned to Stellenbosch, South Africa, and I continued on to Venezuela, extending my journey with about 3 weeks. I have inherited this blog and will post updates as often as I can bring myself to do so.

My first stop, flying from Quito (where the police actually took x-rays of my stomach at the airport - must be the beard and the green passport!) was Caracas, another noisy, dirty city. Nothing about the city appealed to me and I have no pictures or words in it´s admiration. I focused on getting to Mérida, the tourist capital of Venezuela. After one night in a styles pay-per-hour Caracas hotel I got a night bus to Mérida. As Venezuela is a major oil producing country, it is much better off financially than most other countries we´ve visited and so the buses are almost comparable to those in Argentina. And just imagine filling your car from empty to the brim for under 2US$!!!!

the valley next to Mérida

Mérida itself is smaller and although touristy, it is not overbearing. It is on the busy and noisy side though, and I look forward to even smaller towns. The main attraction of Mérida is the Teleférico, the highest and longest cable car system in the world! From the bottom at 1577m to the top at 4765m a.s.l. is 12.5km that is done in four stages. The mid stations are at 2436m and 4045m. The trip takes about an hour one way and provides beautiful views of the town and surrounding mountains. From the teleférico (third or fourth stop I think) it is possible to hike to a small mountain town, spend the night and come back the next day. I went down the same day as I was planning some canyoning for sunday morning. The way down was just as spectacular as the clouds had now come in and were right over the peak. Also, to appreciate the view and nature a bit more I hiked down from the second to the first station (about 1 hour) with an interesting Australian electritian who is also floating around South America.

a very long streach of unsupported cable

end of the first stage

the view from the very top

the jagged rocks at 4765m

Eva Maria

the way down

Now canyoning is a relatively new craze here and basically involves hiking to different waterfalls and rappelling down them. The tour includes 3 waterfalls, one of 8m, one of 15m and one of over 30m! Unfortunately this is tourist low season, and even though I booked, the agency could not get a big enough group together to make it worthwhile. They simply didn´t open Sunday morning and so the hotel owner gave me my refund. Pity. I decided to cut my losses in time and am now moving to Coro where I plan to stay for a day and then move on to Chichiriviche on the coast. I will post again from there. Lloyd

The End is Nigh

2007-05-02T10:27:00.000-03:00

Dear readers, 97 days have passed since I´ve left South Africa. This morning Lloyd has taken the plane to Caracas, Venezuela and tonight I catch the plane back to Sao Paulo, Brazil. I am on my way back... I land back in Cape Town on the 5th of May. Looking back at everything we´ve experienced along the way, it has definitely been a most excellent adventure! I am sure that the experiences will stay with me for the rest of my life shaping my years to come. I have really enjoyed keeping this humble electronic journal these past three months and I hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures. I wish that they can, in some small way, inspire you to pursue dreams of your own. Lloyd has taken over the duties now and will chronicle his further adventures over the next month. So stay tuned... Love Neil

Tempting Fate...

2007-05-02T04:17:00.000-03:00

Since braving the wild rivers of Tena we have moved off to Baños.

Baños is in/famous for two reasons. Firstly, lovely hot springs to soak away pain and all sorts of ailments. Secondly, the constant threat of dying a most horrifying death by searing hot magma from the incredibly active volcano Tungurahua. In October, 1999 the city of Baños was evacuated after Tungurahua (meaning "throat of fire" in Quichua) suddenly became active again. After nothing happened for several months the 25000 people decided they would tempt fate and return. Violent clashes with the military ensued, but finally the Bañositos returned. They lived in relative peace for several years until last year activity increased dramtically culminating in huge eruptions in July and August. The August eruption featured a 10km high ash cloud and serious pyroclastic flows resulting in deaths and destruction of several small villages. Baños is a town totally dependant on tourism. The locals cannot afford not to stay there, they have nowhere else to go. We went for a night tour with our guide, Angel (he´s a man, not a prostitute), hoping for some volcano action. Angel also told us about the history of the Tungurahua and how he and the other people live with the volcano and the precautions they have taken. He said the August eruption was really scary. The blast downed the power lines and except for the glow of magma, the city was wrapped in darkness, all the windows constantly rattling for many hours... Our own experience was less frightening. It was relatively cloudy and there were no lava flows, but we could still see a huge cloud of ash billowing from the crater. Very impressive. The lookout point was frigid at 3000m, but Angel gave us a drink made from the local firewater (a STRONG sugar cane alcohol), served with hot herbal tea. Warmed us up a bit! Because I don´t have a cable for my camera at the moment and my volcano photos are less than spectacular, here are some good ones of Tungurahua I found on the internet.

1999 eruption

this is closest to our experience

also similar, but at sunset

The next morning we visited the hot springs in hope that the Virgin would heal some of the insane itching from the sandfly bites. Incredibly enough, after several dunks is the cold pool and then in the really hot one, the itching stopped! Except for minor relapses, it seems to have passed. After the baths we hired a quad bike to try and get another peak at the volcano. Climbing up to 3000m with a smallish bike suffering from some mechanical issues was to much, and just as fate would want it, the bike stopped on top of the mountain with only 16 minutes left to get back to the bottom. We freed all the way down... Because it was a mechanical failure we didn´t have to pay extra even though we were late. The afternoon we caught the bus back to Quito. The morning of the first we sorted out our tickets and set off exploring the vast colonial splendour of Quito (a world heritage site). Being labour day in South America, there were quite a few seemingly peaceful rallies going on with the riot cops looking on with guns and shields. Makes you feel a lot safer... That night was supposed to be our last night out but because of the holiday all the restaurants and bars were closed! We ended up eating KFC. How depressing... Neil

Riders of the Storm

2007-04-29T06:59:00.000-03:00

From Lago Agrio we went directly to the small town of Tena. Our night bus stopped shortly after midnight, because we reached a patch of deep mud. We had to wait for sunrise and a bulldozer to help us across!

Tena is also situated in the jungle, but the jungle in this area is entirely different from our trip to the Cuyabeno. The terrain is much more mountainous, there are incredible volcanoes jutting out of the lush jungles, waterfalls crashing down deep ravines, absolutely beautiful!

Our reason for coming to Tena is the fact that it is the undisputed capital of river rafting in Ecuador. We booked a tour with River People, a very cool family business, which I can definitely recommend. Our previous experience with rafting in Arequipa left us hungering for more. We wanted a longer, harder, faster and more dangerous trip filled with testosterone and adrenaline... And we got it.

We went off to the river at 9h. It was just us and the two guides, Alex and Tim. It was a bit of a hike through some nasty slippery clay down to the river. The trip is a full day on the river, rafting two contrasting rivers. The first is a difficult and technical river with small fast level 3 rapids and LOTS of obstacles. The second is a raging river with lots of big waves, level 4 rapids and some serious whitewater. Lloyd, me and Alex took a small 4 man raft and Tim took a kayak for support, taking photos and just playing around! From the word go it was just an incredibly exciting ride through some of the most beautiful scenery of the whole trip. The canyon walls towered above us covered with insane jungle growth and waterfalls crashing down everywhere.

the river canyon

one of the many beautiful waterfalls

serious splashing

We took about 4 hours to get to the other river where we stopped for lunch. There we were absolutely ravaged by sand flies, I have more than a 100 bites and Lloyd is looking just as bad! Sand flies are worse than mosquitos, they get in everywhere, and if they bite you it starts bleeding and it itches like hell! Today it´s absolute torture...

another big rapid

The rest of the river was just as exciting culminating with the HUGE waffle maker. A mean rapid where we did really well not to tip! Along the way we had lots of fun swinging on lianas, swimming some of the smaller rivers and goofing around.

bombs away!

the wild man just got wilder...

taking a break

All in all, it was a great experience and something I would definitely do again and again! Anyone game for the Zambezi?

Neil

Heart of Darkness

2007-04-26T06:32:00.000-03:00

Finally we have come to one of the wildest, unpassable places on earth. The mighty Amazon.

The part we visited is in a protected park called the Cuyabeno Reserve. This vast reserve sits on the borders of Peru, Columbia and Brazil and is one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world. The park is one of the most remote places in Ecuador. To get there we had to take a 4x4 for 3h to get to the park entrance. From there it was another 3h by motorized canoe to base camp. We spent four days exploring this amazing region with our extremely charming and knowledgeable guide Lenny, Glenn and Tam (Australia) and Claudia (Germany).

(from the left) Claudia, Lenny, Lloyd, Glenn, Tam, me

Day 1:

Our trip with the canoe was extremely cool. It is currently almost the end of the rainy season, but the rivers are still swollen and creates easy pathways between the trees to navigate. We saw quite a few animals on the way to the camp, including some rare river dolphins, monkeys, toucans and hoatzins (a weird almost prehistoric bird).

two white-hand monkeys

the mysterious hoatzin or as locals refer to them, stinky turkeys

The lodge was basically a couple of thatched roof buildings with the sleeping area consisting of matresses covered by mosquito nets. Very basic, but very authentic and more than enough!

the dining room

After sunset we went for a short night walk to see what types of creepy crawleys we could find. Within a few metres, we have stumbled upon several big, scary spiders and all sorts of bugs. After the walk he took us to see the BIG spiders. Two gigantic (as big as my hand) tarantulas right above our heads in the dining area! Luckily they are not aggresive and we sat and watched how they caught their prey. Really cool!

nice little tarantula

After that it was a noisy night in the jungle. The jungle feels to me like a massive single entity, and it does not like to be infiltrated by mere men. It is quite intimidating being so far away from civilization in this dark and mysterious place. I did not sleep to well that first night...

Day 2:

We got up as the sun rose at 6h and after breakfast it was into the surrounding forest for a 3h walk. Lenny told us about the different animals we could see and the plants and their medicinal properties. We tried out quite a few. We even ate some ants called lemon ants. They taste like lemons! Although the walk was interesting, the heat and humidty was extreme and the mosquitos attacked us with relish undeterred by our repellent. I racked up more than 50 bites...

Lloyd of the Jungle

frog on leaf

We arrived back at base at about 12h and immediately went for a swim in the river. So refreshing I almost felt clean!

The afternoon we were joined by three French people and a short, but severe tropical rainstorm and went downstream by canoe to a nearby Siona village. The Sionas are the natives who still live in the forest. There we met Aurora, one of the local woman and she showed us the secret of making manioc "pancake". Manioc is a root we´ve eaten quite a few times on our travels. We went out into the forest to go and dig some out and then went through the process of skinning, grating, drying and sifting it into a fine meal. The drying was particulary interesting. They weave palmleaves into a piece they call the anaconda. The grated manioc is wrapped in the anaconda and then they wring out all the water. After we made the meal it is placed on a hot plate and baked to form a type of cake. It was really good, although it could use some salt or tomato sauce!

Aurora operating the anaconda

the finished product

After that it was back to camp for dinner and rest. We were tired and had no trouble falling asleep!

Day 3:

We got up early for some bird watching by canoe. Very nice and relaxing. We saw quite a few interesting birds and monkeys before we returned to camp for breakfast.

a snake bird

After that it was off to a big lagoon about 1h30´s canoe trip away. It is very impressive and you can see how high the water is because the top of some bushes stick out a few inches above the water! It a very unique experience driving through trees with the canoe. We stopped on an island and went for another 3h hike.

the forest in the lake

Aurora joined us again and showed us many of secrets of jungle existence. She showed us which plants were for healing and which plants for pain. We saw the plants used for curare (famous Amazon poison) and some halluciogenic vines. We tried a root that is used for anaesthetic purposes and it left our tongues and lips numb and tingly! Another cool plant was paperleaf. Paperleaf stains after pressure is applied on it. You scratch your message on the leaf and in a few seconds they start appearing in dark brown.

origin of the species

Aurora weaving a backpack

Getting back to the canoe we had some lunch and rest. During that time a caiman (crocodile family) appeared close to the canoe and we lured him closer with some fish. Quite impressive!

looking for lunch

After this fun it was off to the middle of the lake for some swimming. The water was wonderfully warm and some river dolphins swam close by for an unforgettable experience.

swimming

Next was the art of piranha fishing. We drove into the roots of the trees and sat there waiting for the bites. They are difficult to catch as they take tiny bites and don´t swallow the hook. I was the only one to catch one but ended up accidentally flicking him into the boat next to Glenn! Luckily Lenny quickly caught the little bastard and showed off his teeth!

fishing for piranha

my catch! look at those teeth...

We rode out into the middle of the lake again for the sunset and then headed back in the dark watching the fisher bats dipping and diving around us.

ANOTHER sunset photo

We were exhausted, but we had a great day!

Day 4:

The last day we had breakfast and then it was the long way back to the reserve gate. We were lucky on the way back and saw lots of animals including the elusive red howler monkey and a two-toed sloth!

Neil

Puerto Lopez

2007-04-21T09:13:00.000-03:00

Puerto Lopez is a dusty little coastal town with little going on except relaxing. Their one claim to fame, much the same as Hermanus (South Africa), is the whales. Being out of whale season we spent our middays there lying around in hammocks to get out of the fierce equatorial sun and spent our nights and mornings exploring the surroundings and sampling the local dishes.

Puerto Lopez

relaxing in aforementioned hammocks

The food here is incredible! We tried deep fried prawns, calamari, cooked some fresh fish ourselves, made fruit salad and created some very smooth smoothies. Our first day was spent doing nothing at all. The second day doing virtually nothing. But the third day we went on a boat trip to the Isla de la Plata (Silver Island, a popular pirate legend) for some scuba diving (FINALLY). And it was awesome... The vis was not particulary good, similar to the Cape, but the water was nice and warm (21 degrees) and the marine life incredible! We did two dives at two points of the island while the others in the group explored the island. The first we averaged at about 12m and dived along coral and volcanic rock. The second dive was shallower but featured a lot more coral. We saw many big moray eels, puffer fish, vibrant tropical fish, big game fish, trumpet fish, pipe fish, a sea turtle and some sea snakes! To crown it all a school of devil rays passed close to the boat jumping clean out of the water! It was expensive, but definitely worth it.

the barren wave battered Isla de la Plata

approaching the island

me, smiling for the camera

a big friendly looking moray

Mr. Turtle

a venomous sea snake

trumpet fish with other fish

another moray

The whole area is part of the Machalilla National Park, the only coastal reserve in Ecuador. It includes Isla de la Plata, many hectares of tropical dry forest and some parts of rainforest. We spent our last day in the tropical dry forest. It's dry, humid and VERY hot, but the beaches are incredible! Miles of totally deserted, beautiful swimming beaches. We stopped at a lookout on top of a cliff for a panoramic view of the area and lunch. A whole spit-roasted chicken that we tore to pieces with our bare hands. Hmmm...

Lloyd resting a bit

the crabs make the little balls of sand

Machalilla Park

the almost deserted Los Frailes beach

Last night we caught an reasonably uncomfortable bus to Quito (11h), the capital of Ecuador. Here we will stay today to sort out flight details. Tomorrow it's off to the jungle... Neil

Surfing Peru

2007-04-17T07:56:00.000-03:00

After our experience with the protests we decided that we could do with a few days of rest and unwinding.

We went to the little town of Huanchaco. This is a great surfing spot on the coast, 12km from the hectic city of Trujillo. We spent two days there just relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere. It felt a lot like the West Coast of South Africa. Not everybody that went there enjoyed, because it is so quiet and deserted, but this suited us just fine! We did try some surfing, but the waves were pretty messy and it was VERY hard work. We were pretty sore and banged up by the end of the day!

camouflaged crustacean

From there we were off to Mancora. This is a little coastal resort, seen as THE surf spot in Peru. It was quite a mission to get there! There were no direct buses going before 19h and we didn´t want to wait the whole day in Trujillo, so we hopped from little town to little town in local buses, finally getting there late the evening. There we once again met up with Holly. We spent the night just chilling a bit and got some great cocktails at a beautiful cabana styled bar on the beach.

the creature from the deep

Mancora is a great place if you´re a surfer. It is a bit touristy, but still the water is great (nice and warm), the waves consistent and the prices reasonable. We headed out early for some surfing (it is a lot harder than it looked). It was a beautiful sunny day with good waves. It was incredible paddling around surrounded by pelicans who seem utterly unafraid of humans! We did get a few good runs, and we do manage to occasionally get on the board. But it seems that Sunday is the day the locals spend surfing and the competition is pretty fierce. The waves become really crowded as the waves are only good in a small area and some of the locals are incredibly rude and aggresive. I actually got slapped by a local! He cut in in front of me and I saw him too late and could not bail and hit him with my board. He totally freaked out and started swearing at me, although I was apologising profusely in English and Spanish. Then suddenly out of nowhere he slapped me. I talked to other travellers who got the same treatment! After that incident the surfing sort of lost some of its luster for me... Anyway, we had to stop, because we were burned to a crisp! It is now several days later and the backs of our legs still hurt like hell. That night we spent some time with some Americans we met on the beach watching the paradaisical sunset, me perhaps drinking maybe a little bit too much rum...

a bird of carrion waiting for our sunburnt bodies to stop twitching...

The next morning we were up early to catch the bus (no need, the bus was two hours late) to Guayaquil, Ecuador, a much longer than anticipated ride, but without any major incidents (4 passport checks and a detour because the bus was too heavy to cross the bridge into Guayaquil). We finally arrived in Guayaquil at 21h and got on another bus to Manta at 22h15. We arrived in Manta at 01h45 and just crashed at the first hotel we could find. This morning we caught another bus to Puerto Lopez where we´ll be staying for about three nights. This is a lovely, quiet little dirt road fishing village. We stay in a rustic wood and bamboo lodge with a nice garden and some welcome hammocks in the shade. Ecuador is quite a change from the coldish conditions we experienced in Peru. We are now only 1 degree south of the equator and it is swelteringly hot... They also use American dollars, because of a total collapse of the Ecuadorian currency. OK, off for some more seafood! Neil

A Terrifying Experience

2007-04-12T02:14:00.000-03:00

WOW...

Our last four days have been absolutely jam-packed with action!

We started in Nazca. Nazca is a little hole in the middle of nowhere that has no reason whatsoever to exist. Except for one of the great mysteries on earth. Right up there with Stonehenge. The Nazca-lines. The lines are MASSIVE shapes formed by taking away rocks in the desert. They are complex, depict animals, plants, were created more than a thousand years ago, and incidentally, can only be seen from a plane... Sort of makes you wonder...

Anyway, to appreciate them, we got into a small cessna, my first small aircraft. A pretty interesting experience, although the extreme banking made my stomach lurch quite a bit! The two girls sharing the plane with us, did in fact manage to throw up in a mostly feminine way into the little plastic bags provided! The tour guide was very annoying with his never-ending stream of "on your right, on your right, look down, look down, the monkey, the monkey".

co-pilot Lloyd

the monkey, the monkey...

We viewed ten of the more prominent figures, the most impressive being the detailed afore-mentioned monkey (90m) and the condor (wing-span 130m). After the flight we searched for something to do, but to no avail. We spent the rest of the day reading, sleeping and eating.

the astronaut

the hummingbird

From Nazca it was off to Ica, another town in the increasingly impressive desert (one of the dryest in the world). Interestingly enough, Ica is a wine district of some note. The whole area is desert dunes dotted with tiny little spots of lush green oasis.

Our final destination was the little resort of Huacachina, 4km from Ica. A picturesque laguna surrounded by palms in the middle of some impressive looking dunes. Our hostel, Casa de Arena, looked pretty nice (even though a bit dilapidated)! A swimming pool, surrounded by deck chairs, hammocks and a well stocked pool-side bar. We immediately grabbed some sand-boards and climbed the closest high dune. It was rather unsuccessful. After a few attempts it was back to base for a shower, beer and a bit of reading. That night we joined a barbeque. R45 for unlimited Pisco Sours, Cuba Libres (1h30 time limit) and LOTS of chicken, hamburgers and a salad bar. Nice...

Huacachina

the hostel courtyard

The next morning we booked a trip for a dune-buggy ride. It was INCREDIBLE! More than two tours cruising the endless dunes at high speed and crazy angles! We did stop for some dune boarding that went a lot better with waxed-up boards and a lift to the top. We started on some small dunes and then gradually worked our way up to a MASSIVE dune for the grand finale. By then we decided the best and fastest way to go down was on our stomachs. We smoked down the slopes at blistering speeds and then unfortunately had to head back.

buggering around (sorry, bad pun...)

Dune

Lloyd of Arabia

Back at the hostel we had enough time for a quick swim and an ice cold coke before heading back to Ica and leaving on what was to become the longest journey...

I came to South America looking for an authentic experience. Well, I got my wish, but it was not quite what I had in mind.

The first part of the road was from Ica to Lima (5 hours). We arrived in Lima at 17h and then had to wait for 22h30 for our bus to Trujillo, a city 570km north of Lima. It is normally an 8h bus trip.

At about 03h00 the first of our troubles began. The bus simply stopped. We were informed (in Spanish) that we could not go on, because of protesters blocking the roads. After 4 hours of waiting we were off again. Unfortunately that wasn't the worst of it. We were stopped again for four more hours at the town of Chimbote. Because the queues of cars were so long, we didn't see any of the protests. By the time we got there the roads were half-cleared (they blocked the roads with rocks, trees and sacks of sand) and police were standing with guns and riot gear. After this we thought that we have finally passed the worst. Once in town we were blocked once more. When we finally started going again it was already getting dark. On the outskirts of town the first rocks hit the side of the bus. We were ordered by the stewardess to get down and close the curtains. The next 30 minutes we sat in the pitch dark on the floor of the bus not knowing what was going to happen. Luckily we got through the danger area without too much further going wrong. Nontheless, I was quite shaken. This was not a pleasant experience. We finally arrived in Trujillo after a tense 23 hour trip, burned out and hungry (no food on the way).

From Trujillo we jumped on a taxi to the nearby coastal town of Huanchaco. This tranquil little town will be our rest stop for the next few days. Lazy days of surfing, swimming, hammocks and seafood!

Neil

Colca Canyon

2007-04-06T09:22:00.000-03:00

As I said in the previous post, we went off on another trek. This time to the Colca Canyon, a VERY impressive canyon. The canyon is about 100 km long and 3.26 km deep.

the lush Colca Canyon

The trek was 3 days, but did not feature too much walking. A nice change to the Salkantay trek. Nonetheless, it wasn´t all easy going. On our way to the canyon our bus had a flat tire. Because they didn´t have all the tools and could not fix the tire, they sort of patched it up and we proceeded very slowly, stopping every 20 minutes to throw water on the wheel (?).

When we finally got there we descended down the steep walls of canyon. This took about four hours. I HATE going down! By the end my legs felt a little wobbly and I was glad to get to the evening´s lodge. The canyon was incredibly beautiful! Because we are traveling at the end of the rainy season they valley was lush and green. The lodge we stayed at was really nice, although they didn´t have any hot showers.

the narrow path down the cliff

our lodge for the first night

The next morning we were treated to some delicious pancakes for breakfast and started walking at about 8h30. Our next stop was the little village of San Juan, an oasis. It was only a short, gentle walk and we got their nice and early. We stayed in little bamboo huts. We spent the rest of the day swimming and lounging in the sun and teaching the members of our group truco. We have decided that it is our divine duty to spread the gospel of truco everywhere we go.

the mighty Colca river

The next morning we had to get up really early (02h40) to get to the top before sunrise. It was a hard 2 to 3 hour slog up the canyon, but we were treated to a beautiful sunrise and a tasty breakfast before it was off to the main point of the trip, Cruz del Condor.

our group at the top

Cruz del Condor is a lookout point at the top of one of the deepest parts of the canyon and a mayor tourist attraction. The reason for this is the condors nesting in the cliffs. Just after sunrise, as soon as the air warms, they start flying. It is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! These gigantic birds (3m wingspan) glide effortlessly through the air just a few meters away (much to the delight of the HUNDREDS of tourists sitting on the cliffs).

the spectacular view from Cruz del Condor

the massive Andean condor

After this we went to another thermal spring to soak away the dust. From there it was another LONG bus trip back to Arequipa.

Tonight we leave for Nazca.

Neil

PS. we sampled some of the typical dishes of the region. Hmmm....

over roasted guinea pig!

all that was left...

Arequipa

2007-04-03T01:12:00.000-03:00

We are now in the White City, Arequipa. An old colonial city featuring incredible architecture made of a white volcanic rock called sillar. The city features many fine churches, but you have to pay to enter many of them, something I just don´t think is right!

The hostel and travel agency (Marlon´s Travel) where we are staying at is run by a very friendly family and we are enjoying it a lot. They joke around a lot and you should have seen Lloyd´s face when he payed yesterday and they told him his money was counterfeit!

Yesterday we went for our first taste of river rafting! It was incredible, although a little bit short. The rapids were classified as level 3 and 4. Level 4 is supposed to be really hard, but our guides were extremely good and made us feel very safe. It was still pretty exciting and definitely something I want to do again!

Tomorrow we are leaving for ANOTHER trek, this time the world´s second deepest canyon, in search of the elusive giagantic condor. It is a three day trek and should be absolutely amazing!

OK, hope everybody is having a good Easter/vacation wherever you are!

Neil

Challenge of the Ancient Empires

2007-03-30T00:52:00.000-03:00

We´ve now been away for more than two months. It feels a lot longer... When you think back of things that happened just a week ago it feels like more than a month! Time has started to sort of flow together now, I keep forgetting the day and the dates and how much time we´ve been travelling! We are also at times getting slighty homesick, we miss you guys back home! The past week was spent conquering the untamed mountains of Salkantay and exploring the ancient treasures of the Incas. Because you have to book months in advance for a spot on the famous Inca Trail and we like our plans to be flexible, we did not get on this trek. The alternative, though, was also incredible. While it does not feature the ruins of the Inca Trail, the landscape is simply amazing and because the trail is a bit harder and longer, we had the mountains for ourselves! Our group consisted of me, Lloyd, Ben (England), Maxi (Buenos Aires), Mike and Kate (married couple from Israel) and our guide Niko. There were also another group who travelled with us: Sanna, Emma, Nicola (Sweden), Nicolas (Germany) and their guide (Willy).

DAY 1:

As we booked the cheapest tour we could find, there were quite a few suprises in store for us! Firstly we understood from the agency that we would go on a tour bus, so at about 5h we were bundled into an absolutely jam-packed local bus! Luckily we had seats, but it was still pretty uncomfortable. The bus dropped us off into the little town of Mollapata, where we had a light breakfast. From there it was off to the mountains. The first day was not particulary hard for me, Lloyd and Ben (we´ve been trekking around quite a bit and came from Bolivia) but the others struggled with the altitude. It was quite a long day though and most of it was going up to the base of Salkantay, a very impressive mountain towering above us at 6271m!

me, Ben and Lloyd

Salkantay

The last part was rainy and cold. But luckily we have a cook who makes sure that the tents are set up by the time we get to the campsite. We spent most of the night eating and getting to know each other, before we tucked in for a cold night.

DAY 2:

The second day was physically the hardest. It was 4 hours up (to 4600m) and then a long 5 hours downhill. The morning Maxi was ready to give up and go back but Willy and Ben convinced him to go on. He hired a horse to go up.

Maxi and Maximus (his horse) struggling up the hill with the help of Niko

We reckoned going down would be easier, but it seems our luck finally ran out and we experienced the full effect of the Amazonian rainy season. It absolutely poured down after lunch, turning the road into a river of ankle deep mud. Lloyd, Ben and I made good time and finally arrived at the little village of Challaway at about 17h, wet and muddy and exhausted. I also got a nice wet sleeping bag as a suprise. It seems the cook was under the impression he could put our bag (keeping our stuff dry) to better use. Luckily the locals have a hut with a fire in to dry their clothes and was kind enough to share it with us.

most of the way looked like this!

The others really struggled and finally pitched up after 12h of really hard walking. Every body was tired and the long walk had taken its toll on our feet. Only Lloyd was blister free. I had a really big raw blister on my left heel and Ben lost his big toe nails (shoes were too small).

DAY 3: Although the second day was the hardest walking wise, the third was the worst. Stiff muscles and blistered feet made the day quite uncomfortable. The scenery though, was unbelievable. We descended into the incredible jungle and were surrounded by hummingbirds, butterflies and beautiful orchids. There were waterfalls everywhere and all the while the mountains towered above us. We had to cross several swollen rivers and patches of deep mud, and I managed to fall into one of the rivers getting my boots and feet soaked. Wet feet and blisters don´t go that well together and by the end of the day my feet looked 80 years old!

a bridge over troubled water

another "natural" bridge

After 5 hours of walking we stopped for a long lunch. The sun came out and we could finally dry some of our things. I also went for a little dip in the mighty Urubamba river.

it´s good to be clean!

At 15h we got on a local truck for an exhilatering ride to Saint Teresa, our day´s final destination. That evening we went down to a steamy hot water spring to soak away the dust and pain of the past couple of days. It was VERY nice and hot, but ended with a struggle back through the dark, rain and mud. In the hurry to get to the truck taking us back to Saint Teresa, Lloyd lost his glasses. He had to walk back the next morning at 5h30 to go look for them! Luckily he found them! Somewhere along the way or during the night we were also savagely attacked by unknown insects, leaving our feet, ankles and legs looking like a battlefield (somehow Lloyd was mostly spared, must be his musk...).

DAY 4:

The next morning was very relaxed. It was only a short walk (4h) to a big hydro-electric plant where we caught the train to Aguas Calientes. The walk did include some exciting bits. We first had to cross the river in a rickety little manual cable car and then we hitched a ride on a local garbage truck to save us some walking. We also found some crazy looking insects on the way!

me, Ben, Lloyd and all our gear packed into the cable car

hmmm, fancy some lunch?

The train ride was relaxing and went through very impressive jungle terrain. We arrived in Aguas Calientes (Warm Waters) at about 17h. This town is VERY touristy and is the base for trips to Machu Picchu. We spent the afternoon relaxing in more hot springs. Pleasant, but not nearly as good as the previous night. We slept in a hostel that night and it was great sleeping in a bed again and being out of the rain!

DAY 5: The next morning we got up at 3h40. It was a very steep climb up to Machu Picchu (1500 stairs!) but Lloyd and I raced to the top, arriving there just in time for sunrise, but the rain arrived to spoil it again. We spent the next 2h getting a tour of the Machu Picchu site from Niko, but the rain, mist and cold made it pretty miserable. After the tour we spent about 2h sitting on a table under a roof waiting for the rain to stop which didn´t happen. The mist did clear and it heated up a bit and we headed back to explore the ruins on our own. Despite of the rain it was incredible! It really is a must-see site and easy to see why it is one of the 21 finalists for the new 7 wonders of the world!

Machu Picchu

hanging out with Machu Picchu locals

the Inca water systems facinate me

After the ruins we headed back to town to get some coffee and lunch. Our train left at 16h20 and we finally arrived back in Cuzco at 20h. I had one of the most memorable (hot) showers of my life at our hostel, before we all went out to a nice restaurant for a last dinner together.

the whole group (except for Kate and Mike, who left early)

It was an unforgetable experience!

We took it easy for a day, had lunch with Ben, Holly, Maxi and Nicolas and afterwards got an interesting 1 hour massage for cheap (not enough on the shoulders, too much attention to the sensitive bits ;)).

Saturday Maxi, Lloyd and I went for a tour of the Sacred Valley with stops at Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero. Although Chinchero, an old church built on top of old Inca ruins, was nothing to write home about, the other two were absolutely unbelievable!

Pisac is divided into four neighbourhoods and we visited Intihuatana, the most important of them. This was apparently a place for Inca astronomers and the center piece is the impressive Temple of the Sun. The stone work is really impressive. It seems that there are two important styles of Inca architecture, imperial and rustic. Rustic architecture was used for ordinary buildings and features rough stone work but still has the impressive almost seamless fits. Imperial stones are much more precise, are polished and sometimes features impressive carvings. The buildings are all built in trapezoidal shapes and have alcoves in them to make them seismically resistant. Even after two huge earthquakes leaving colonial architecture in ruins the Inca buildings have almost no damage!

more Inca watery goodness...

one of the Pisac neigbourhoods

From there, after a short lunch, it was off to Ollantaytambo. This was easily the most impressive ruins of the day´s stops. It features stones of hundreds of tons (apparently dragged up the mountain from 7 kilometers away by hundreds of Incas) and are intricately carved and smoothed. From there it was back to Cusco.

the Ollantaytambo terraces

Lloyd with some of the smaller Ollantaytambo stones

found this little guy hiding...

Tonight we leave for Arequipa to trek the world´s second deepest canyon and do some river rafting.

Neil

The Floating Islands of the Uros

2007-03-24T02:01:00.000-03:00

After crossing over into Peru we stopped in Puno. Puno is another small city on the banks of the HUGE Lago Titicaca. Puno is the base for one of the most popular travel destinations on the lake. The floating islands of the Uros tribes.

Lloyd, me and Holly booked a tour to go visit these communities. Almost everything they do are based on totora reeds. With these reeds they started building their floating islands a long time ago, probably to escape from the dominating Incas or other violent tribes. The islands, although nowadays very commercial, are a wonder to see. Families build them by using the reeds and then layer more reeds on top of this. As the reeds rot they replace it by more reeds (about 10 times a year). An island lasts about 16 years before the colony moves to a new island.

Holly and Lloyd

the first island

the second island

They also build boats out of the reeds and used to travel many miles on these. We did a short trip on one of these boats to another island. Pretty cool! Once the boats start to decompose they lift them onto the island and plant potatoes in them! You can also eat the reeds, it tastes a bit like cucumber, but with a bit of an aftertaste.

what´s up doc?

one of the grander double-hull boats

There are about 3000 Uros still alive today, but only a handful still live on the 47 islands. They live mostly off birds and fish (they have trout farms on the islands) and of course the money their crafts bring in from the hundreds of tourists!

a friendly local

the fish dance, saying thanks for coming

After that we went to Isla Taquila, another beautiful island. We spent some time exploring the area and then had a nice lunch (trout again!), before the LONG way back on the boat.

beautiful Isla Taquila

That night we took a night bus to Cusco (did not get a lot of sleep). We are now relaxing in Cusco after spending the morning being harassed by hundreds of people all insisting we should book tours with them and eat at their restaurants! We hid in travel offices and restaurants... Hey, wait a minute! Anyway, we looked everywhere for a place on the famous Inca Trail, but to no avail. New regulations allow only 500 people a day (including porters and guides). The earliest possible date available is 19th of April, way to late! We did book space on an alternative route, although not on the old Inca roads and past all the ruins, it is a great and slighty tougher route (5 days, 4 nights) and we still end at Machu Picchu. I will post the photos of the trek when we get back on Thursday. Neil

Copacabana and Lago Titicaca

2007-03-22T06:22:00.000-03:00

OK, it´s been quite a few days since I last wrote. Here´s what we´ve been up to.

We spent our last few days in La Paz resting and eating like crazy. We discovered this awesome restaurant that serves some of the most incredible desserts possible! They specialize in milkshakes and cake but do have some TASTY burgers...

hmmm, that IS a tasty burger

this how milkshakes should look!

On Tuesday we caught the bus to Copacabana. This tranquil, incredibly beautiful little town sits on the shores of the amazing Lago Titicaca. Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3812m, is an average depth of 107m and at its deepest 281m. Because of the high altitude the air is crystal clear and you can see miles and miles over the deep blue waters. The whole area looks like how I imagined parts of Greece and the mediterranean sea.

We spent the first day wandering around the town and climbing the mirrador (lookout point) for some breathtaking (literally - very steep climb) views. That night we sampled some of the famous local trout dishes, absolutely delicious! We went to bed early and I had enough time to finish Snow Falling on Cedars and start on Forrest Gump (I finished that yesterday and now I´m reading A long way down from Nick Hornby).

coming up to pray

The morning we had a great breakfast at the hotel (pancakes, eggs, bread, yoghurt and cornflakes, peaches and I had three cups of coffee). From there we had to hurry down to the docks to catch a boat to the Isla del Sol. On the way we met another South African! Although living in the States for a long time Darren still has his South African roots and we had an awesome time with him and his fiancé, Esther. We partnered up with them and Holly, a friend we made in Sucré. It is amazing how we keep running into people we´ve met all over the place!

a really small island

The boat dropped us off at the north of the island. From there we spent the day trekking across to the south where we had to catch the boat back. The first part was guided (Spanish) and included a mildly interesting museum showing some of the Inca artifacts scavenged from the lake. We went to a sacred Inca rock that looked a lot like a normal rock but is apparently the birth place of the highest Inca god, Viracocha and his sister-wife, Mama Occlo. We ended the tour at an old Inca temple which is still mostly intact.

the local donkey showing off

From here it was a three hour trek all across the island to the south side. Darren, Lloyd and me spent most of the time deeply discussing the wonder that is South African cuisine and worked up a fine appetite by the time we reached the boat!

Back in town we got ourselves cleaned up a bit and then we went out for dinner with Darren and Esther. Me and Lloyd had trout again and we got a bottle of Bolivia´s finest red wine (very good). I was a bit more adventurous this time around and ordered the Trucha Diabla (translated on the menu as trout shedevil) and it lived up to its name! MUY CALIENTE (very hot)!

After 24 days in Bolivia we are finally in Peru. This was the easiest border crossing by far and took less than 20 minutes. Our first stop is Puno. This small city is also on Lago Titicaca, but lacks the beauty and charm of Copacabana. We do go on a very cool tour tomorrow of the famous floating islands of the Uros tribes. I will write later and tell you all about it!

Cheers,

Neil

The Death Road

2007-03-17T10:06:00.000-03:00

After our ordeal at Huayna Potosi we decided that going down should be easier than going up.

We took on the infamous Death Road, also known as the most dangerous road in the world. On a mountainbike. It is called this because of the number of deaths (estimated 200 - 300 a year). Once you see the road you understand why there are so many! The path is very narrow and steep, dropping off MANY meters, often very muddy and gravelly with poor visibilty! This with two way traffic! Luckily a lot has changed recently. A new road is almost completed and already open. This leaves the old road purely as a playground for crazy bikers (like us). The trip is divided into two mayor parts. The first part starts at 4700m and involves a two hour ride on a tarred road in (mostly) good condition. This part is quick and very cold. After this you get to the three hour Death Road part.

a view from the start

the group

In all honesty, the road is a bit over hyped. We experienced it more as an incredibly beautiful scenic trip with periods of adrenaline, than a heart-thumping , near-death experience. The great thing about the trip is that you start high and work your way to town of Coroico at 1500m. The scenery changes from the cold relatively bleak altiplano to hot dense rainforests with stunning views the whole way. There are also hundreds of beautiful waterfalls (you pass right under a few big ones). You still have to be extremely careful, as any mistake can certainly kill you. The weather also didn´t play along, it rained the WHOLE way. And when I say rain, I mean the hard, constant, water curtain of tropical rain. This turned the trip into a mud bath and we were so dirty by the end, only our mothers would have been able to recognize us (maybe).

the start of the death road (great conditions)

wheee!

Finally after having mud in our eyes for a few hours we stopped in a little town at the bottom of the hill and from there it was on to Coroico with our bus for a nice hot shower, clean clothes and a buffet lunch in the EXTREMELY nice 3-star Hotel Esmerelda.

i think we´re losing him...

Coroico is a beautiful village (a weekend hangout for the richer middleclass from La Paz) with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and forest. We would have loved to stay here a few days, but our time in Bolivia is getting very short.

Coroico in all its splendour

the view from Hotel Esmerelda

another glorious sunset

All in all the trip was amazing! For the very reasonable price of $38. This includes all gear, the bike, great breakfast and lunch and transport (and a free t-shirt and CD with pictures and videos of the trip). We had a few days rest to recover from all the recent action. Tomorrow we have to move on again to Copacabana, a town on the shores of Lago Titicaca, and the Isla del Sol. Neil

SO close...

2007-03-15T04:25:00.000-03:00

In my previous post I wrote that climbing Huayna Potosi is the biggest challenge of our tour up to now. As with all great and difficult endevours, there is always the chance of failure. It is this edge that makes these challenges worthwhile and exciting. In the end it is not the final goal that differentiates success from failure, but the experience in striving to reach it. If I sound slightly philosophical it is because this was one of the hardest and most worthwhile experiences in my life (and because I´m reading the Art of Travel (thanks Friedel))!

In short we did not reach the summit of Huayna Potosi. We did come very close though... We reached the staggering height of 5900m (as high as Kilimanjaro). But I am getting ahead of myself. This maybe the end result, but as it is the process that shapes, let´s start at the beginning... Monday morning we got up nice and early to meet our guides for the tour. It is a family business with Miguel in charge and his son Juan second in command. For this journey we were left in the very capable hands of Juan (25), whose being doing these trips for 9 years and his younger, energetic brother (16). I can really recommend them. They were experienced, professional, spoke a bit of English and a lot of fun! They first checked all our gear, supplied us with the rest and then we set out on another hair-raising, death-defying taxi ride through the completely INSANE La Paz traffic to buy some supplies. After this it was about an hour´s drive through the bumpy, dirt road of Zongo Pass to Campo Baso, altitude 4700m. We pitched the tents, had some lunch and then it was off for some training.

our tent at Campo Baso

We went off into the mountains to the Huayna Potosi glacier. Here we practiced the techniques needed for the trek. This included the use of crampons (spikes on snow boots), ice-axes and ropes. Juan showed us the different ways of going up and down the ice depending on the incline. We finally ended with a vertical climb using two axes, a lot of fun, but a bit scary... After a few hours of hard work (everything on this altitude is hard work), we returned. By now it started raining and our backpacks got quite wet. Back at the base Juan showed off his remarkable cooking skills by preparing a feast of hot soup (with meat and veggies) and pasta. That night we spent a restless night in the tent on the uneven and rocky ground while the rain kept on...

training at the glacier

The next morning it was the first official day of the tour. First goal: Rock Camp, 5130m. This is a relatively short walk, but was really tough. We had to carry our heavy backpacks (containing all our gear for the last day) and the air was thin. On the way we were bombarded by horizontal snow and icy rain as the temperatures dropped. We finally reached the refugio after about 3 hours. By now it was really cold. The owner of the refugio and Juan said it was between -10 and -20 degrees! There was no heating in the refugio, but at least there´s a roof and good matresses. After lunch we huddled in our sleeping bags to get some heat back in our bodies. Just before supper the clouds cleared and allowed us some breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and the peak. We went to bed at 19h.

me at the refuge

a clear view of our ultimate goal

We got up at oh30. It is crucial to start early, because you have to reach the peak at about 6h30. After this the descent becomes more difficult and dangerous due to slushy snow and small avalanches. We packed a backpack that Lloyd and I would share. We donned our warmest clothes, put on our snow boots, turned on our head lamps and started for the summit. We were tied together by rope. Juan in front, then Lloyd and lastly me.

Lloyd and Juan

taking a breather

Everything was snow and ice. We plodded through the cold and dark hour after hour. Initially we made excellent progress, but then the trouble started. We hit a long stretch of soft, new snow that made progress very slow and hard work. We ended this with a 30m near vertical (actually about 60 degrees) climb with ropes Juan attached at the top. We kept on going, but it was becoming harder and harder. The extreme cold (my beard actually froze) and the altitude were beginning to take their toll. We were in a tight spot, we were exhausted but couldn´t rest because of the cold and the time. Finally, after nearly 5 hours, we gave up. It was a difficult decision, but I believe the right one. We were only 180 vertical meters from the top, but another 1h30 of climbing. We were just to exhausted to continue and started to show some signs of altitude sickness.

Returning, utterly exhausted, we took it step for step. But even in this state we couldn´t miss one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever witnessed. The morning sun turned the snow light pink and revealed the awe inspiring surroundings. We simply gaped in unbelief at the splendour!

a picture is worth a thousand words

the long way down

Finally we got back to the refuge for some rest and a cup of hot coffee. We made our way down to the base camp and all the way back to La Paz. Even though we didn´t reach our goal, the journey was one of the best experiences of my life and a huge success. It is incredible to come into touch with yourself and nature in such a real way, physically and mentally. I won´t make climbing high mountains a hobby though... Today we rest. Tomorrow the road of death awaits... Neil

Potosi and Tihuanaco

2007-03-11T08:27:00.000-03:00

We have come to our greatest challenge of the tour so far (except for surviving up till now).

Tomorrow we tackle Huayna Potosi. 6088m. To be honest, I am quite nervous. Probably for a reason. The air is going to be thin, very cold (it IS rainy/snowy season) and we have to climb the last 150m up a near vertical wall with ice picks and crampons. I´ll let you know how it went as soon as we get back and post lots of photos! We are now in La Paz. A city unlike any I have seen. This huge, poverty-stricken, incredibly busy and messy city is the highest capital in the world. It seems as if the houses are built on vertical walls all the way up to the mountains! We are using La Paz as our base of operations for the next week while we try and tame the mountains, most dangerous road and the pampas.

La Paz

We are staying in an area very close to the Witches Market. But I don´t think it is the same as a few years back. You can still buy a lot of oddities (dried llama fetuses, weird plants, magic potions and protecting amulets) here, but the area has exploded into a travellers mecca. There are hundreds of hostels, tour agencies and, off course, locals selling all sorts of touristy things. We have to admit though, we are buying tons of said touristy things! The wares are incredibly beautiful and very cheap. I have already bought two sweaters, a pair of gloves, socks and a hat. All made of alpaca (so soft and warm...) Today we went to Tihuanaco about 70km west of La Paz. This is was the capital city of the Tiwanaku civiliasation, one of the most powerful and longest reigning (200 BC to 1000 AD) of South America. The Incas descended from them when they mysteriously collapsed around 1000 AD. There´s not a lot left of this city, many of it fell in various wars and or was destroyed during the rule of the Spanish. There is one big pyramid that is still being excavated and seems to be in very good condition. The stonework of these people (or perhaps those before them) is unbelievable! Every stone is cut perfectly and fits together. The surfaces are also uncannily smooth. We spent some time wandering around the grounds with our guide. Many of the treasures have been lost or damaged by the Spanish (they carved crosses into some of the monoliths and used the stones to build their churches), but there is still a good collection inside the two museums we visited.

my new Tiwanaku friends (note alpaca hat)

Lloyd admiring the intricate stonework (note alapca gloves)

a stone priest with a vial of llama blood

Dr. Louw shows where the Tiwanaku used metal clamps to keep stones together

the sun god, Inti

The trip was very interesting and is apparently not even a patch on the marvels of Peru! OK, now it´s off to bed to prepare for tomorrow Neil

Mines of Moria

2007-03-08T04:34:00.000-03:00

The mines...

There are worse things dwelling in the deep than orcs or goblins.

Although we didn´t find any dark demons or Balrogs, the mines of Potosi were filled with a horror of their own.

We did a tour of the mines through Koala Tours from our hostel the Koala Den. We started 8AM in the morning. They were very professional and thorough, all the guides being ex-miners and English! We were taken to one of the miners´ home where we donned our mining clothes (the touristy kind), overalls, boots, hardhat and a genuine old fashioned headlamp. Nobody here have heard about superbright LED´s, so they still use the type with the big batteries you put on your belt.

After this it was off to the miners´ market. This is were the miners buy their tools and equipment. Remember from the previous post I said that the mines are operated cooperatively. This means that each worker works for himself. They work in groups of between 8 and 25. Many of these are families. The government does not supply the workers with anything. No tools, subsidies, engineers or anything. The workers must pay a 20% tax on everything they earn. In return for this, workers get a small pension if they have worked in the mines for more than 10 years or their lung capacities drop to below 50% because of silicosis or they simply become to sick to work. If they die, their widows may collect these pensions.

We spent our time at the market to buy some gifts for the miners. We bought some dynamite!, cooldrinks and coca leaves. It is possible to buy dynamite at a street market with no regulation whatsoever for R17! This includes the stick, fuse, detonator and ammonium nitrate (to get a bigger bang). The coca leaves the miners chew to help against the effects of altitude, hunger and thirst.

From here we went to the mines stopping briefly at one of the refineries. The refineries are privately owned and this is where the miners sell their ore. The ore, although once pure silver during the Colonial rule, are now depleted and rarely produce more than a 30% combination of silver, lead and zinc. The refineries separate the waste from the minerals and then exports the combination for separation to Europe. They lack the facilities and funds to do this themselves. The waste is then dumped in the river. It seems the Bolivian motto is: "it´s bad, but what can we do about it".

We finally arrived at the mines at 4500m above sea level. We put on our lights and finally braved the dark. The mines, without going into to much details, were horrible. We struggled to breath properly because of the dust (containing silica and asbestos) and the altitude. There are no engineers to assist the miners in where to dig, how far or anything. This is done by expert miners. You become an expert by working for 30 years or more (something that happens rarely). The conditions were terrible, it was hot, the passage were narrow and claustrophobic and looked quite dodgy. There were quite a few tunnels where we had to crawl to get to other parts. We talked to many of the miners and they seemed reserved to their lot. Just shrugging it off as tradition and as having no choice. Many of the miners we saw were very young, as young as 14 (illegal, but nobody checks or cares). The life of the miners are very tough and they work long hours in these terrible conditions. They joke around to lift their spirits. According to the guide, few miners become old, the average life expectancy is around 40. Most die of silicosis or cave-ins.

We ended the tour with a bang, with a dynamite demonstration. Lloyd actually held the lighted dynamite a few seconds before the guide rushed away with it!

I wouldn´t describe the experience as pleasant, but it was worth going to. Sometimes we don´t realize how lucky we are...

Now, on a more positive note.

We are currently in Sucre. This incredible colonial town is known as the most beautiful city in Bolivia. It is also sometimes called the White City or The Athens of South America. The city is filled with amazing Spanish architecture and was declared a UNESCA World Heritage site. It´s nice being a lower altitude again (although 2700m is still pretty high) and the lush greenery and temperate climate that goes along with it. We spent our time here in a much more European way, earning a well-deserved rest. Walking through leafy plazas, stopping for coffee and freshly squeezed juices at lovely little hidden cafés and restaurants with great views and pretty gardens, enjoying the many beautiful churches and old buildings and buying traditional handcrafted souveniers.

The afternoon we went to a site where the local cement factory found more than 5000 footprints of about 320 species of dinosaurs. This was changed to an attraction and will soon be declared a World Heritage Site as well. The park contains many dinosaur models built to the scale of the actual dinosaurs (according to the footprints). The largest of the footprints are 80cm coming from a 27m diplodocus. It was a pretty interesting experience.

After that we visited a local museum. Hundreds of BORING paintings from the 17th century depicting Jesus and his disciples. Though the deformed skulls and mummified children section was gross and interesting! We rounded off the evening with a few beers in a VERY trendy and cool little Dutch pub.

We were supposed to leave for La Paz tonight, but Lloyd suddenly came down with high fever. Don´t know what caused it, but a few hours sleep and two myprodols seemed to fix it. We should be able to continue tomorrow.

Cheers, Neil

Salares de Uyuni & Potosi

2007-03-05T08:51:00.000-03:00

A HUGE update, hope you enjoy it! Finally back to a computer and civilization (relatively).

We arrived in Potosi yesterday. Potosi is the highest city in the world at 4070m. It was once a thriving, very rich city and the most prolific silver producer in the world. This was perhaps a curse as well as a blessing. We went on a tour into the mines today. The mines are cooperatively mined, meaning the workers work together and each keeps his own share. The conditions are extremely hard and as many as 8 million miners (most African and Indian slaves under Spanish rule) have died in the past 300 years. The tour was incredible, but I will write more on this tomorrow, don´t have enough time now.

First I have to write about one of the parts we looked forward to the most. The trip from Tupiza to Uyuni through the vast and extreme geography of the Bolivian altiplano. On the morning of the tour we packed everything and waited for the jeeps. There we met our travel partners. Three Argentineans from Buenos Aires: Pablo, Martin and Veronica. They spoke English pretty well (which helped a lot considering the guide was spanish) and we got along brilliantly. They were SO nice and it was great fun seeing the differences and similarities in our cultures. We swapped music and they really enjoyed Arbor and Klopjag! When the jeeps arrived our guide quickly loaded all the food and backpacks and we were on our way. Because the Salares is one of the biggest tourism pulls in Bolivia there are many agencies offering these tours. We went with the Lonely Planet recommended Valle Hermoso and were not dissapointed. They were excellent and our guide was extremely knowledgable, friendly and more importantly spoke Spanish slowly, very clearly and used his hands to illustrate his point. We actually understood most of it, and if we missed something Pablo was quick to translate. There are between 4 and 6 tourists in jeep and a guide/driver and a cook. There are many jeeps leaving at more or less the same time and going to the same places. This is great, because we made a lot of friends on the way! Most of the trip is a long way from civilization and is far from the beaten track. It is impossible to do it without 4x4´s.

off the beaten track

The trip is four days, therefore I am going to divide it into four parts and describe the route and highlights. DAY ONE: The first day is the least impressive of the four. It is along rough ride through spectacular mountain terrain and canyons. This is the main climb. Almost everything after this happens at more than 4000m above sea-level!

one of the many impressive canyons

higher than mount blanc (europe´s highest peak)!

The effects of this extreme altitude does get to you. Firstly it is extremely cold (up to -30) and you are out of breath most of the time. Even if you are really fit. A gentle 100m walk up a hill, leaves you gasping for air. After that it´s headaches, dizziness, slight nausea, tiredness and very strange dreams. To combat soroche cocoa leaves are supposed to help. Yes, the leaves you make cocaine with. Most Bolivians chew these leaves the whole day. We tried some, but they are not very good. They have a bitter taste, but apart from that no effect (at least what we could detect). You have to mix it with bicarbonate of soda to get more of a kick! Also I don´t think they helped for the altitude! After a long exhausting day we finally came to San Antonio de Lipez, the tiny village (about 200 people) where we spent the night. We stayed in basic accomodations and there were no showers. I spent some time playing a version of basketball with some of the small local kids, but had to quit after a few minutes because I was so tired! We spent the night chatting with our Argentinean friends over a tasty dinner and then went to bed early, because we had to get up at 5 AM!

one of the locals

San Antonio de Lipez

thin-air basketball (got my ass kicked!)

The highlight of the day, except for the scenery and company, is arguably the tamales. A typical Bolivian dish that we had for lunch. It is a ball of spicy corn with charque (dried llama meat) in the middle, wrapped in corn leaves.

tamales! hmmm...

DAY TWO: Day two is one of the biggest days of the tour and an extremely long drive (12 hours). We started with Pueblo Fantasmo, a ghost town in the foothills of Lipez mountain, the highest mountain in the region at 5 900m. This was a spanish mining town from the 17th century, but has since been abandoned. We saw some vizchachas, one of the many weird mammals of this continent. They look sort of like big rat-rabbit-squirrels.

a vischacha

more llamas

Once again the scenery was amazing, but desolate. The altiplano is very dry and the only plants that grows there are grassy little shrubs and strange high altitude mosses. There were millions of llamas though! We stopped at a few lakes on the way. These lakes are all very rich in minerals and are therefore distinctly coloured. They are all white, blue, green or red. After lunch at one of the lakes we went for a dip in one of the many thermal pools in the region. The water was a lovely 30 degrees althoug it was very cold outside (climbing out was very difficult).

nothing like a steamy dip with our friends Veronica and Martin

After that we went to the Laguna Verde. This brilliant green lake lies at the bottom of a massive inactive volcano. The lake is very poisonous (full of arsenic). Legend has it that the Incas threw all their gold into the volcano (also a lake) and then the Sun God poisoned the waters so that the Spanish conquisitors all died when they drank the water after crossing the desert. From here it was on our way to the hostel. On the way, though, we stopped at the highlight of the day. Sol de Mañana (Sun of Tomorrow). At 5000 m (the highest point of the tour), these geisers blow super-heated steam and boiling mud into the frigid Andean air. It is absolutely amazing! The landscape is utterly surreal.

Sol de Mañana

We finally got to our hostel at 18h. Again it was very basic and you had to pay extra for showers, which we decided against considering the thermal bath. The night we spent learning a wonderful Argentinean card game called truco. It is played with spanish cards and the rules are incredibly strange. We finally got the hang of it and will definitely teach you how to play once we get back to South Africa. DAY THREE: We slept a bit later. Our first stop was a red lake called Laguna Colorado. What made this lake so incredible was the hundred of flamingos (all three species). I took 70 photos and it was only the first hour of the day!

Laguna Colorado

landing...

After that it was a long drive through the desert to Arbol de Piedra (tree of rock). This is a bunch of amazing rock formations in the middle of the desert. We spent some time climbing around (VERY tiring) and taking photos.

Arbol de Piedra

mucking about...

The rest of the day was more lakes and our first active volcano. The volcano was not quite so impressive, you could see a tiny amount of smoke rising if you looked carefully. We also saw some vicuñas. This species is related to llamas but are endangered. If you kill one you get the maximum sentence in Bolivia (30 years). Our hostel was very interesting. It was on the edge of the great salt lake we came to see. And the beds and floors were all made of salt! It is kind of weird sleeping on a block of salt, but it was comfortable enough!

salty beds

DAY 4:

Finally our last day. Although the tour was incredible, four days of jeep rides do get a bit tedious. Luckily we saved the best for last. The Salares de Uyuni. The largest salt flats in the world. 12 000 square km´s of blinding white salt.

the group on the salares

We spent the morning crossing the salares, stopping for an hour at the Isla de Pescadores (Island of Fish) an old Inca waypoint. The whole island is covered in cactii which made for some great photos!

Isla de Pescadores

Just before exiting the flats we went to the Hotel de Sal. This hotel is made entirely of salt (except the roof). Walls, chairs, tables, beds and floors! It was pretty interesting, but strange!

Hotel de Sal

me being silly

The last part was Uyuni. Except for tours into the Salares there´s not a lot going on. We said goodbye to our guides and Argentinean friends (not without first playing a few hands of truco). We spent the night in Uyuni and left the next day for Potosi.

the train cemetary

modern caveman

It´s been a really long day and I have a HUGE migraine...

Neil

The First Big Hitch

2007-02-27T07:38:00.000-03:00

Finally after a month of travelling we´ve run into our first big hitch. Crossing the border into Bolivia.

What should have been an easy border crossing ended up taking 9 hours and we had to spend a night in La Quacha, the border post on the Argentinean side after initially being refused entry! Let me explain...

It was a day that started really badly and ended up worse. We woke up at 7h. This was the first problem. The bus from Salta leaves at 7h15. We put on clothes and ran all the way with our heavy bags, reaching the bus terminal just in time. In the process we forgot our drinks and food for the day in the fridge. Nothing we could do, so we didn´t worry to much. After 7 hours on the bus we arrived in the horribly boring and dusty frontier town of La Quacha at 13h30. We had to catch the train on the Bolivian side at 15h30. Lots of time.

We stood in a long line on the Argentinean side to get our exit stamps. Then when we finally arrived on the Bolivian side we were denied entry because of a small tear in one of the pages of my passport! We argued and begged, but to no avail. It took about 2 hours of negotiating and meetings and calls. Finally we had to turn back and queue again on the Argentinean side again. By now we had serious headaches, hunger and bladder pains. We were also suffering from the extreme altitude (3440m). We finally got back in La Quacha, found a hotel and decided to go see the consulate first thing in the morning.

After some disprins, food and sleep we woke up the next morning feeling more positive. We went to the Consulate and waited until they opened (late, of course) at 9h10. They made some calls, held meetings behind closed doors and finally started typing a letter. After this it was more calls and waiting. FINALLY they beckonned us over went out the door and started walking! They were taking us to the border personally! Lloyd had to run back to the hotel and get both our big backpacks. He then had to carry the full 30+ kg´s the whole way and meet me on the Bolivian side. After more meetings and calls, they finally stamped my passport! We walked into Bolivia at 13h45.

Bolivia looks very different from Argentina! It is amazing how much one kilometer makes! This side is much poorer and has a much more lively market scene. Most of the population seem to be of indian descent. We did get a good meal for very cheap, about R14 for salad, soup, main meal and dessert and a litre cooldrink.

Because we missed the train on the first day (only runs certain days) we had to take a LOCAL bus. These busses are very cheap and you get what you pay for! It was quite an experience. The road is incredibly dusty and very corrugated (the bus does not have functioning shocks). Certain parts it feels as if the bus is being rattled to pieces! It was only a few hours before we arrived in Tupiza.

Tupiza looks like a cowboy town. It is dusty, a bit rundown and surrounded by beautiful red mountains and canyons. This is the town where it is rumoured that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid finally met their match. It has a lot of charm and it is a shame that we can´t stay here longer.

Tomorrow we are heading off on one of the highlights of our tour. A 4-day jeep trip to Uyuni via the Salares de Uyuni. The worlds highest and largest salt flats. This tour includes the salt flats, canyons, sand stone rock formations, countless lagoons of many colours (including red), a volcano, thermal springs, subzero temperatures, llama meat dinners and a night at the Salt Hotel (made entirely of salt). We are travelling and staying with Valle Hermoso.

I´ll post many photos and details in 4 or 5 days.

Neil

The Pitstop to Nowhere, One Month and 19924.32 km

2007-02-25T08:24:00.000-03:00

One month... I can´t believe it has gone so quickly! I have seen so many things these past 30 days and yet it feels if we have barely started. We have travelled, as the crow flies, 19924.32 km! That´s almost halfway around the world!

I woke up with a good feeling. The spider bite (probably) that I suffered in Mendoza is not turning into a necrotic wound. I´ll probably live...

NOT AGAIN!

We are now in Salta and it was a big suprise! For some reason I had the notion that Salta was going to be a desert town or at least dry with vineyards. The only desert here is the green type. We´re back into the humid jungles. Apparently though just a few kilometers west and you do get the dry Andean conditions I was expecting. Salta is a very colonial city, with typical Spanish architecture. Pink buildings, narrow cobbled streets, leafy plazas, little cafés selling cheap lunches and strong coffee and gold-gilded almost gaudy cathedrals and churches. And of course more excellent ice-cream. Argentinean ice-cream is incredible! They have about 30 standard flavours to choose from and they are all SO good... Today we have to do our last shopping before crossing into Bolivia. We have to buy insect repellent and some Argentinean souveniers. We also have to go on the gondola. Salta has a gondola to the top of a mountain overlooking the city. Should be beautiful! But, before we came to Salta we had QUITE a bit of adventure. Our trip to Los Penitentes was amazing. First we had to travel the Andean passes to our destination. This trip was probably the most dramatic and intimidating of the tour. The mountains TOWER over you, many of them reaching heights of 5000m+. The bus trip goes through valleys, tunnels carved from the rock and past strong-flowing rivers. The higher you go the more dramatic and desolate the landscape becomes. When we finally came to Los Penitentes we couldn´t quite believe our eyes. Could this really be the place? The 30 dusty buildings looked silently at us while our bus disappeared into the distance. Most of the buildings were deserted and shut tight. Shutters squeeked eerily in the stiffening breeze. A lone eagle let out a harsh cry. You get the idea...

hum the theme song of the good the bad and the ugly

Luckily there was a very nice restaurant open. I call it The Pitstop to Nowhere. Los Penitentes is barely more than a pitstop on the way to Aconcagua and Chile in the summer and a tiny ski-resort in the winter. They quickly pointed us to our hostel, a pleasant little wooden building.

the view of Aconcagua from our hostel

After we checked in we decided to hike our way to the Puente del Inca, one of the main reasons for coming here. We set of on foot towards the next town, 7km away. It´s going to be easy to hitch a ride, I said. Just stick out your thumb, somebody is sure to stop! We ended up walking 5km before someone stopped, and nobody stopped on the way back. It wasn´t that bad. Walking through the dusty, majestic passes holds a certain unique charm. I felt like a gunslinger. Back in the old days.

hitch-hiking in the Andes

The Puente del Inca (Bridge of the Incas) was worth the walk. It is a huge stone bridge, formed naturally, with a raging river flowing underneath. On the bottom there is an ancient bathhouse containing sulphorous thermal springs staining the bridge yellow. Unfortunately you can´t go down there anymore and we had to be satisfied with looking from above.

sulphur caked Puente del Inca

We hiked back and settled at the hostel with a well-deserving and aptly named Andes beer. After a nice dinner at the local restaurant it was back to the hostel to get some sleep. Alas, a band of decidedly strange foreigners had also checked in. They were mostly Polish I think. They kept on giving us strange disturbing glances whenever they saw us and making wierd noises in the showers... Having just finished climbing the mighty Aconcagua they were also in an extremely loud party mood, and sleep would not come easy this night.

The next morning we went up the ski-lifts to get a nice view of the town and surroundings and then sat waiting for the 12h bus. It is only in South America that you buy a ticket for the 12h bus at 13h and eventually get on at 14h30! Nevertheless we finally got back into Mendoza and decided to go directly to Salta on another 18h overnight bus trip. We have to start moving... Here are some of the promised photos!

mountainbiking around Junin de los Andes

Vulcan Lanín

the black volcanic beaches of Lago Lanín

danger: water is cold and deep

refelctions of Lloyd

I miss you all, but not enough to come home just yet, Neil

Short update

2007-02-22T09:08:00.000-03:00

Just a short update, still no photos, I promise they are coming, but this PC shocked me three times through the USB-cable. No way I´m putting it in my camera!

We are now in Mendoza, finally clean and freshly rested. We were planning to go on a wine tour yesterday, but our hostel management made a mistake and the trip was cancelled. Today we are leaving for Los Penitentes, a refuge in the mountains about 4 hours from Mendoza. What makes this place significant is its location close to Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of Asia. 6962m!

We will come back to Mendoza in a day or two and then do the wine tour and then it´s onwards to Salta.

Neil

Neuquen or waiting for the bus...

2007-02-20T03:18:00.000-03:00

At the moment were tired, dirty and bored. We are in Neuquen, the uninspiring little provincial capital of the lake district. It´s not that it´s a terrible city or anything, there´s just not a lot going on. It´s hot, gray and dry and really nothing to write home about. The highlight was playing two rounds of ten-pin bowling for 16 pesos. Our bus for Mendoza leaves at 20h00. We spent our last day in San Martin waiting for the bus. To use up the time we checked our bags into some lockers and then went for a lovely 1h30 horseride in the forests around San Martin led by a Mapuche Indian guide. It was really nice and SO beautiful. We suck at horse riding, though... After that we had some more freshly baked empanadas at a local restaurant. If you don´t know what empanadas are, it is a DELICIOUS little pie filled with meat or vegetables that you can buy anywhere for cheap. It is the perfect snack. Add two or three and it makes a good meal! We finally caught the bus at 19h. When we arrived at Junin de los Andes, an even smaller town than San Martin, we checked into our hotel. It was a bit more expensive but wonderfully worth it. Our room had a balcony overlooking a beautiful little brook filled with trout (hmmm...), and the breakfast was huge. I had three cups of coffee... We had to catch the bus at 00h45 (this morning), so we had a lot of hours to kill. We left our things at the hostel, packed a light bag and rented some bicycles. We spent the first part of our bike tour climbing an Andean pass. It was terrible! I was so tired I almost threw up. The thin mountain air didn´t help. We eventually got to the top and the ride down was spectacular. Worth every drop of sweat. Then we tackled a really hard off-road route. Rocks, mud, soft sand, narrow paths, low branches and thorny bushes. Being an extremely experienced mountainbiker I stopped dead when I saw the mud, tried to put my foot down, found only a steep embankment and then tumbled down the slope with the bike on top of me. When Lloyd came by I was lying with my feet in the air and my head in a ditch! Luckily I didn´t get hurt, just a few bruises and scrapes (and dirt). The whole bike trip was great fun and we´ll definitely do it again. After that we climbed on a local bus to the Lanin National Park. The centre piece of this extremely beautiful park is the 3747m Lanin Volcano. This was extremely impressive! We finally got back to Junin after 22h. Just a few more hours to wait. We arrived in Neuquen this morning bleary-eyed and particulary stupid. We can´t speak Spanish when were tired. We found out to our dismay that there were no buses leaving until 20h. That means another all-night bus ride and still no shower! Cheers, Neil

Promised photos

2007-02-17T01:40:00.000-03:00

By now I hope everyone has caught up reading the blog. We´ve been travelling a lot so did not really have the energy or means to update frequently. If I happen to be a bit verbose in my writings, sorry, not going to change! Here is another LONG update!

We finally arrived in Bariloche after the plane has been delayed by more than 5 hours! What made this particulary frustrating was that nobody could tell us what the hell was going on! Most of the planes were late and the weather seemed fine... It also didn´t help being really tired and not getting any sleep or food! All calculated, we went something like 38h without sleeping properly.

Luckily we had a great view from the plane as we approached Bariloche, a relatively small city (population 120 000) nestled in between the Andes, the beautiful Lake Nahuel Huapi and forests. Because we arrived so late, we really struggled to get a place to sleep. February the lake district is THE holiday destination. After dragging our backpacks up and down steep hills we finally found a little family run place. It was pretty nice and cheap. We put our bags down, made some coffee and then it was off exploring again. Bariloche is pretty. Snow covered mountains, a big lake and little stone and wood buildings selling home-made chocolates and jams. It is very touristy, but not in an annoying way.

Although it seemed great, we decided to march onwards. We are getting behind schedule. It was a VERY hectic morning. We decided to walk the 4 kilometers to the bus terminal, when I discovered, halfway, that my waterbottle containing wonderfully cold orange juice was gone. That made Lloyd think and look for his money pouch which, as it turned out, was gone. He quickly ran back to the hostel in a state of panic leaving me with the bags. I started thinking and quickly rummaged through MY bags finding his money pouch, which I thought was my hat! An sweaty, exhausted Lloyd pitched up, just SO relieved to finally get it back! We hurried onwards to the bus stop, learning that all the busses for the morning has gone. Just before we gave up we got a bus that was running a few minutes late and managed to get on in the nick of time.

The journey was probably the most spectacular of the trip. We are now into some serious mountains. The route runs right along the spine of the Andes through ancient forests dotted with huge blue and green lakes and rivers so clear you can see every stone. The roads were not in particulary good shape because of recent snow and road works (most of it was dirt) and our bus got stuck on a steep hill for about an hour. Luckily it was on a construction site and the workers eventually managed to get us over using rocks, rubber mats and construction vehicles.

We finally arrived at San Martin de los Andes at about 18h. And wow... It was worth the trouble! This beautiful little village (10 000 people) is bounded in by the Andes on three sides and another beautiful lake on the other. It takes about 20 minutes to go from the one side of the town to the other.

By then we were insanely hungry and went foraging for food. Venison, steak or trout. We ended up eating parrillada. It was 18 pesos each, relatively expensive (a bit cheaper than a steak) but we were totally defeated by this meal! The owner brought us a reasonable plate of gross looking meats consisting mainly of different organs. We were sorely dissapointed but nevertheless consumed everything which turned out to be pretty tasty (except blood sausage, ugh...) and ate the bread that came with us. When the owner took our plates we were really full. He then put some more plates in front of us. This seemed like a really strange thing to do. He also brought a another basket of bread... Then he put ANOTHER big plate of excellent meat in front of us! Ribs, lamb, a big juicy sirloin each, and some chicken and pork! We asked him if we could take it home and he said no. I proceeded to stuff the big steak into my almost bursting stomach, ate the lamb and then had to retire defeated. We were very close to the point of actually getting sick! We asked him again and this time he said, OK, we can take it home! I was still full this morning...

Lastly, today. It may seem like a quiet, relaxing day, but it is actually a very special day. It is our first washing day! We finally came to the point where it is simply impossible to wear the same clothes again (after more than three weeks).

And with that thought, I´ll leave you with some photos from El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier.

Adios,

Neil

Sleep...

2007-02-15T06:31:00.000-03:00

It is now just after 6h. We are at Buenos Airport after having spent the night here trying to sleep on the hard, cold floor, which was, needless to say, not very successful. We finally checked in at about 5h30 only to discover that our plane has been delayed by a few hours further delaying our sleep. At least they gave us some meagre scrappings for breakfast and I get to update my blog!

Sunday was a relatively quiet day which we spent walking around Ushuaia, taking photos and going into the icy waters of the Beagle Channel for a swim (which turned out to be not so cold, pretty much on par with the West Coast of South Africa). We were still having a great time with Kessie, who decided to join us all the way to El Calafate.

Monday morning we had to get up very early to catch our 6h bus, which we almost missed. The 16h bustrip ended up taking 20h. Included in the ticket was: two border crossings, a ferry trip over the ocean, scenery that looks like a mixture between the Karoo and Free State on Valium (it is absolutely flat, with nothing of interest for hours on end, dotted with the occasional sheep, llama or, if you´re lucky, a tree) and moving to another bus because of mechanical problems or something. The trip was not as bad as it sounds, we had good company, and the highlight of the trip was definitely the ferry ride. Midway through the channel we noticed we were being followed. By a pod of Cephalorhynchus commersonii (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerson%27s_Dolphin), a beautiful species of small dolphin! We finally arrived in El Calafate at 02h30 and got in bed at 3h.

Luckily for us, Kessie´s skill as conversationalist and her bubbly personality got us a free ride to the Perito Moreno Glacier (the whole reason for coming) with a very nice Argentinean guy whose name we just couldn´t pronounce. Once again it is difficult to describe the amazing sight of another natural wonder in this continent. The glacier towers 60m above the water and stretches up into the mountains. You can hear the cracks of the ice from far away. After taking LOTS of photos from the view points we got up nice and close by boat and we were lucky enough to see a HUGE chunk of ice break of crashing into the water before us! For more technical information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier.

Yesterday the three of us decided to make a big Valentines brunch. Lloyd and me whipped up some french toast (impressing the locals and getting a few weird stares), we had great sandwiches, muesli, orange juice, fresh fruit, yoghurt and, because I finally cracked and had to buy some, coffee. After that we had to take leave of Kessie. Something we weren´t very eager to do, we will surely miss her!

The long roads and travel time are finally taking their toll on my reading material. I have to get something new before crossing into Bolivia!

Now it is almost time to fly to Bariloche and the Argentinean lake district and there get some SLEEP!

Adios,

Neil

P.S. I will post the photos later, this PC doesn´t detect my camera...

Short update

2007-02-14T09:09:00.000-03:00

This is only a very short update. We are currently in El Calafate, a small tourist town. It is built almost solely to facilitate (and in the process take advantage of the tourists) the viewing of the Perito Moreno Glaciar! The glacier is actually amazing enough to allow this! Still, for all its touristy things, it manages remarkable charm and beauty... El Calafate has only one internet server in town and it is SLOW (256kbs for the whole place), so no pictures now! I will update as soon as I´m in a position to do so. We are flying back to Buenos Aires tonight at 20h35 and then to Bariloche at 07h50 tomorrow. That means sleeping at the airport... OK, that´s that... Time for breakfast and packing! Neil

Ushuaia

2007-02-11T11:36:00.000-03:00

Quite a lot has happened since we took the plane to Ushuaia four days ago.

My foot was pretty sore from whatever insect or arachnid that decided ravage me. It is now finally healing.

my ankle (taken for dramatic effect)

The flight to Ushuaia ends with a breathtaking view of the city, the surroundings and the Beagle Channel. When we landed here at 20h00 we stepped out into the icy cold of the Antarctic wind and rain. This was going to be cold...

We took the taxi to our hostel, Torre al Sur, which is very nice, homey and cheap. Our room faced the mountains and we got a breathtaking view!

A few interesting things about Ushuaia; it is the southernmost city in the world, it is 1100km from and the launching pad to Antartica, the sun rises at 4h30 and sets at about 22h30. And it is not that cold! The average summer temperature is 9 degrees, and except for the first night it is actually nice and warm (sort of). It apparently snowed quite a lot in the days just before we arrived and the mountains were covered in snow. In the next few days a lot of this melted...

The first night we looked for a restaurant and got ourselves a nice juicy steak and our first wine since we left South Africa. Most of the wine in Argentina comes from Mendoza (which we will fully explore and experience in a week or two) and their principal grape is Malbec. It was actually very nice... We went back to the hostel to get some rest.

The next morning we met up with Kristin, a German traveller and as she planned the same trips and routes as us, we quickly made friends. She is sharing a room with me and Lloyd. We spent the day trekking up one of the mountains to go see the Martíal Glacier. This was an incredible experience even though we did not really see the glacier as it was covered in the newly fallen snow. The trek wasn´t too hard, it took about three hours and gave us spectacular vistas of the city and the mountains. When we got down we were really tired, but not too tired to open another bottle of Argentinean wine to go with our fine supper of beef, chicken and potato salad! After that it was straight to bed.

Me, Lloyd and Kristin sitting in a tree

the trek up the mountain

who´s afraid of snow?

The next morning we explored the Tierra del Fuego National Park. This is a vast park of forests, bogs, mountains and crystal clear lakes. The lakes are many different colours, some are bright blue, others green and still others black. We saw quite a lot of wildlife, but most of all we saw rabbits (thousands)! The Europian rabbit was, for some reason, introduced, along with beavers, and they accordingly wreaked havoc on the environment.

We started our trek at Fin del Mundo, the end of the world. We walked about 6 hours in total exploring the area and ended our trip on the shores of Lago Roca, a beautiful lake nestled in between the mountains. Because the sun was nice and warm and I decided to take a dip in the icy waters! Very refreshing! Back at the hostel Kristin made us a very tasty vegetable soup mixed with noodles. And then we drank some more wine...

Lago Roca

Today is a rest day. We will spend it at the hostel and walking around town a bit. Tomorrow we have to get up early (5h) to catch the bus to El Calafate (16h journey).

Cheers,

Neil

Buenos Aires 2 and the road ahead

2007-02-07T09:02:00.000-03:00

The past couple of days we had our hands full exploring Buenos Aires. Like I said in the previous post; this city is absolutely amazing!

Yesterday we didn´t quite do as much as we planned. We moved to a different area of town and a new hostel. We also booked some flights, got something to eat and then took a little bit of a nap. We left everything for the evening! We decided that we would see what the night life was like. Turns out it works a bit different from South Africa. Firstly everybody planning on going out goes to sleep early. Between 8PM and 11PM the streets are pretty quiet. There are a few restaurants or cafés open, but that´s about it. Then everybody starts crawling out of the woodwork at about 1AM! Many of the clubs only opens at 2AM! From there on it´s partying until sunrise and then of to bed to about 9AM or 10AM when the day starts.

We WALKED about 35 blocks to get to the area where all the restobars and clubs are located. Most of the places were still closed or not open on Tuesdays (the rest day, it looks like). We finally found a plaza similar to parts of Stellenbosch with lots of bars and quite a lot of people just after midnight. Here we drank a few beers, before catching a taxi back to the hostel, utterly exhausted at about 2AM.

Today we first finalized our plans for the next couple of days. And then, with yesterday´s LONG walk still freshly implanted in our minds and tired bodies, we did it again! Crazy...

We decided to check out Palermo, a really upperclass area. It is filled with massive parks, lined with trees, designer shops and SO many statues and monuments we grew tired of taking photos!

Our first stop was the Buenos Aires Zoo. It was very cheap to get in and reasonably interesting. It did have many of the South American animals, a very impressive constrictor collection (pythons, boas and all the other squeezy snakes) and a superb collection of butterflies, beetles, scarabs and other creepy crawlies (they were all dead and stuck to a board though).

dude, it´s a llama!

From here we strolled through one of the parks to the Japanese Botanical Garden. This was really nice and we took a well-deserved pitstop here.

Next stop, Recoleta. This fancy neighbourhood is similar to Palermo, but has even more skyscrapers, statues and monuments. The goal of this excursion was the Cementerio de la Recoleta. This necropolis is were all the ultra rich and powerful spend in eternal rest. It is an experience walking through the streets lined with massive crypts, adorned with as much marble and statues as possible. The highlight is supposed to be the Evita Peron´s grave, but it would be shame to go straight there and skip the others.

our way back to the hostel we stopped at the Hard Rock Café for a quick chopp (basically a draught) and then it was all the way to the hostel. Again utterly exhausted! We did get some very good por kilo dinner, three knives and three forks (they only come in threes or twelves) at a big supermarket.

I recently got the first batch of probably many bites and there is an especially bad one on my ankle and the front of my foot. It is quite swollen. It is annoying when walking, but it will probably be OK in a day or two.

We had to purchase our flight for the next part of the trip in advance to keep costs as low as possible and hopefully everything goes smoothly or we could end up stranded somewhere in Patagonia (the south of South America). Everything should be fine, did a lot of planning but still, you never know before you get there.

Tomorrow we fly to Ushuaia, the southern most point of Argentina. It is going to be a LOT colder there, which would be a nice change. The average temperature for February is about 8 degrees celcius. There we will stay a few days and explore the town and the Tierra del Fuego National Park. From there we catch a bus through Rio Gallegos to El Calafate. El Calafate is the hub from where you explore the Perito Moreno Glacier. This should be really impressive. Then we fly back to Beunos Aires where we have to spend the night waiting or sleeping at the airport before we fly of the Bariloche, a little town in the Argentinean lake district. We should arrive there on the 15th of February.

Cheers,

Neil

Rosario and Buenos Aires

2007-02-06T07:12:00.000-03:00

Rosario was, how shall we say it, not quite what we expected. Although certain parts were definitely pretty, overall it was a bit grungy. Our hotel was very dodgy; according to our guide book: the rooms are clean and new. Things have changed pretty drastically since then!

the Bandera Monument in Rosario, we went up to the top

a close-up of the statue

The main sights were pretty good though. There is a huge monument overlooking the whole city and you can go up to took pictures. This part of Rosario is filled with plazas and parks and I guess if it wasn´t Sunday, probably a lot more people. We spent some time getting lunch at the beach. A thin strip of sand next to the incredibly big Parana river. After this it was back to our hotel. The next morning it was time to go to Beunos Aires, a 4 hour bus trip. Buenos Aires is amazing! It is a huge, exciting city, with modern and historic buildings mixed together. It is a bit more expensive to stay here, but it makes up for it with the sheer amount of things to do! We are staying in the center of the city. This is where most of the historical building are located as well as many of the shops. Through the middle of the city runs Avenida 9 de Julio, one of the broadest streets I have ever seen. It is 14 lanes!

Palacio de Congreso

Yesterday we went to see the Congressional Palace modelled on Washington D.C.´s Capitol Building and the landmark Obelisk. Very nice.

Buenos Aires Obelisk

We ended the night at the famous Cafe Tortoni. This is an atmospheric café famous for it´s tango shows. It was a very upperclass establishment (had to reserve for the 23h show). The show was 30 pesos and well worth it! The show is just longer than an hour and features singing, great music and some spectacular dancing. Today it´s more exploring, including a trip to Evita´s grave, booking tickets to Ushaia and proper Argentinean steak! Neil

Long bus rides, Carnaval and Jesuit ruins

2007-02-04T00:13:00.000-03:00

Lloyd at the ruins in San Ignacio Mini

OK, finally we are sitting in Rosario, about 320 km from Buenos Aires.The past few days were filled with confusion, adventure and quite a few suprises!

Firstly we left Puerto Iguazu for Posadas. When we got there we found out we couldn´t get a direct bus to Rosario before today. This is way too long to spend in this little city (didn´t look to exciting). Because it was already getting late, we decided we couldn´t take a bus to the next town, Corrientes. We would arrive at midnight and we wanted to see the ruins in San Ignacio Mini anyway (50 km east of Posadas). So off we headed to San Ignacio.

This is a really small town. We were worried that we wouldn´t get a place to stay, but the guy at the local tourist office pointed us in the right direction. He talked for about 15 minutes of which we understood maybe 20 words! Here we got a really nice suprise. It was the first night of San Ignacio´s Carnaval! We gathered our things and began walking to La Familia Campestre. A family run camping ground with cabanas. We got ourself a little double storey wooden cabin for 40 pesos. Rustic and basic but very nice! One thing we learned of this little town very quickly is that the people are VERY friendly. We had our first real Spanish conversation and it actually went OK!

After we took a quick cooldown swim, we went to town to scavenge for food and see the Carnaval. South America time works very much like Africa time. If somebody tells you something begins at 9h, fat chance! The Carnaval finally started at 11PM! It was well worth the wait though! Very colourful dancers paraded through the streets samba-ing followed by drummers giving the rythm. Was an awesome experience. We ended up sneaking back to the camping grounds at around 2AM.

The next day we spent exploring the ruins. A bit expensive for foreigners (we get charged more) but very impressive. It must have been amazing in its prime! We got a BIG brunch, the people here give very big portions.

We caught the bus back to Posadas at 13h, bought a ticket to Corrientes (4h30), arrived there at 19h30, bought a ticket to Rosario for 20h45 and arrived here this morning at 7h30. I got quite a bit of sleep, but Lloyd wasn´t quite so sucessful.

Today we will explore Rosario and probably leave for Buenos Aires tomorrow. The area we are staying at is a bit grungy and you can probably rent the hotel rooms by the hour... Nontheless, this is part of the adventure and at least there´s TV, hot showers and breakfast!

Well, I´m off exploring again,

Neil

Fergus, Lloyd, Kevin and me after getting soaked in Iguazu!

Crossing the border and Puerto Iguazu

2007-02-01T09:23:00.000-03:00

Yesterday we made our first border crossing. It went really smoothly! I was really relieved because a travel agent in Sao Paulo said it wasn´t possible to go to Argentina without a ticket back. We did go by bus, but they just stamp the passports and you´re on your way.

Argentina uses Pesos and the sign to indicate this is $. Spanish is the national language and I have to say I find it a LOT easier to communicate over here! Portuguese may be similar but it was seriously difficult. At least I can now ask directions, order food, get bills and exchange a few pleasantries.

We met up with some travellers in Foz de Iguazu. An English guy and a Scot, Kevin and Fergus. They are almost at the end of their South America tour and are leaving to tour Australasia, New Zealand and Asia next. They´ve given us some great pointers for the rest of our trip. We bunked up with them in a nice (and cheap) 4 bed hostel and spent yesterday and today exploring with them. Puerto Iguazu is a lot different from it´s Brazillian counterpart. The town is much smaller and there´s not a lot to do, outside of going to the falls. We went to a place where the river seperates the three countries (Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina). There is a monument on each bank, but it`s really not particulary impressive. The food is pretty nice and you get good value for money. It is VERY hot and humid though. Yo tenga mucho calo!

The park, where the falls are located, is very nice. We saw quite a lot of wildlife. A big pack of coaties (the local beastie), wild guinea pigs, lots of different birds and some amazing butterflies. The butterflies are everywhere and enjoy landing on you to hitch a short ride and pose for some photos!

The falls were, once again unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it. The Brazillian side gives you a grand overview of everything. This is needed to appreciate what you experience on the other side. There are catwalks going over a lot of the waterfalls which gives you incredible views on everything! We spent the first part exploring the lower waterfalls and then ended this with an amazing boatride up to to the bigger waterfalls. You end up going under one of the big waterfalls and getting COMPLETELY drenched! Very welcome because of the heat.

After this you go back up to the higher circuit and walk over the waterfalls. And lastly you take a train ride, followed by a walk to the Devil´s Throat. This is the absolute highlight! This is an 80m drop in it absolutely thunders down. The spray goes up WAY above the falls, drenching everybody. In the end you just have to stand there and try to understand what your seeing. It is really THAT impressive.

Tomorrow Kevin and Fergus head back to Brazil and we continue on our tour of Argentina. The plan is to leave for Posados tomorrow, an old Jesuit Mission. It is about a 6 hour bus ride. From there we go to Rossario, the birth place of Che Guevara. That is another 10h bus trip. From there it`s just 4h to Buenos Aires where we`ll stay for a few nights and then fly to Ushaiua, the end of the world.

Cheers,

Neil

Foz de Iguaçu

2007-01-31T06:41:00.000-03:00

Yesterday, we finally reached the high point of our Brazil trip. The mighty Iguaçu Falls. I cannot even begin to fully describe it in mere words. This has to be one of the most impressive things I have ever seen! 275 falls crashing doing 80 metre cliffs in the middle of the jungle. Off course I have taken excellent photos, but still they do not capture the falls completely (have taken about 150 photos on a 1.2km stretch...) Basically you go to the Iguaçu National Park, pay a small entry fee (20 Reais), take a bus through the jungle to the falls and then walk a well constructed pathway all along the falls. The Brazil side gives you a nice overview of the falls and ends at the part called the Devil´s Throat. We spent most of the day exploring the falls and the surrounding rainforest. From there we went to the Parca de Aves (like World of Birds) where we could get up close to toucans, parrots, hummingbirds and some of the rare butterflies! We ended the day by going for a rodizio, a national dish of Brazil. It is basically an all you can eat meat buffet. They keep on bringing skewers of different meats roasted over the fire to you until you can eat no more. This includes beef, chicken, lamb and pork. VERY nice. Also cheap! Between 8 and 10 Reais. Today we have to cross the Argentinian border to the town called Puerto Iguazu. This is the Argentinian side of the falls. We´ll spend tomorrow exploring them. They should bring us much closer to the falls, so we must remember our ponchos! Cheers, Neil

Curitiba, Paranagua, Foz de Iguazu

2007-01-29T19:07:00.000-03:00

Oi!

We had a incredible last couple of days! We took a bus from Sau Paulo to Curitiba (6.5 hours), where we slept the previous two nights. I really liked the city, it was advanced, modern and definitely wealthier than what we have seen so far. It also felt a lot safer.

We spent the first day wandering around in the heat and sampling some of the local food and beer. For the second we booked a train ride to Paranagua, a port city about 110 km´s from Curitiba. This journey takes about 4 hours and includes snacks and cooldrinks and a very helpful guide who even understood a bit of English. Initially the price of 50 Reais felt a bit expensive, but it is worth every cent! It is one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen! The train cuts through pristine rainforests and includes miraculous views. The highest point is about 900m going all the way down to the coast. This beautiful ride goes through tiny little villages where children run along waving at the train and villagers get by by riding up to 4 people on a bicycle! Wow... The photos came out great as well!

At the bottom lies Paranagua. A interesting little village. We spent our time walking around lazily in the tropical heat (and believe me, it´s hot, and getting hotter). From there we took the bus back to Curitiba through some tropical rain. It was a long but very succesful day and we collapsed on the our beds at the end!

Today we took our first really long bus trip. The trip to Foz de Iguazu is just a tad longer than 10 hours. With only one stop... The country side continues to be absolutely beautiful. Everything is so green and fertile. The hostel we´re staying at is nice and friendly and they have a pool. Which we immediately made use of!

Tomorrow morning we are going to see the falls on the Brazil side. I am very excited, it is going to be one of the highlights of the trip. 275 falls...

Will update again tomorrow! Need food now...

Adios

Neil

The missing blog

2007-01-29T06:58:00.000-03:00

OK, finally I got to a place where I can update again!

Here is the 27th of January:

Yesterday we spent time exploring Sao Paulo and organizing and planning our next few days of the tour. The area is a lot nicer and more accessible during the day. Felt very comfortable and safe in most of the areas we visited. Night brings out all sorts of weird characters! Already a bit of the initial shock is gone, although we still struggle a lot with the language barrier. Even getting the right metro subway ticket is difficult! I'll divide today's blog into three sections: Strange things about the hostel, the Sao Paulo tour and what happens next. Strange things: Bathroom manners. All the toilets here have septic tanks and you cannot throw any toilet paper into the bowl. There is a nice little bucket for your waste! The showers are also pretty interesting. There is hot water, but if the hot tap is turned nothing happens until you turn on the cold tap as well. Water from this is heated by some sort of current. You can actually see the wires going into the shower! Does not fill you with a whole lot of confidence! The elevators here are very small. Think single closet. 4 people are crammed in here. And lastly the breakfasts served here are excellent. Fresh fruit, ham, cheese, bread, juice, coffee and of course chocolate cake! The computers are in Portuguese as well and cannot be changed. I can't understand any of the menu's, so cannot set up any photos for now. Can't find the right options. I'll send a few photos as soon as possible. Probably via e-mail for now. Sau Paulo: Sau Paulo is a town of many flavours. The old center of town is a bit rundown with lots of old buildings in terrible shape. The streets are filled with an unbelievable array of shops and people. There are fruit stalls everywhere, with many fruits that are found only in the Amazon. People park their cars anywhere and sell beer and juice from out the boots. The prime piece of the area must be the magnificent Cathedral de Sé. This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! It is HUGE and very beautiful. The surroundings around the cathedral is very interesting, although a bit dodgy. Thousands of shops selling counterfeit dvd’s, games and all sorts of Chinese and fake American products. The rest of the time we spent exploring Avenue Paulista. This is known as the New York of the Tropics. The street is lined with MASSIVE skryscrapers and fancy designer shops and little cafës. Walking around this area it is easy to forget how poor the rest of Sau Paulo is... One interesting thing we came upon was the chinchila. We couldn’t really figure out what it was. It’s sort of a kangaroo type rat? With a bushy tail. Plans forward: Today we are taking the bus to Curitiba. A large student type city. It is about a 6 hour bus trip from Sau Paulo. From there we go to Paranagua by train. This journey is supposed to be the most beautiful train trip in all of Brazil. You even pay more to sit on the left side of the train! This is about 4 hours. From there we head on to Foz de Iguazu (Brazillian part of the falls) (a 10 hour bus trip). There we will attempt to cross the border to Puerto Iguazu (the Argentinian side). Then we head for Buenos Aires. We’ve got a lot to do! Ciao, Neil and Lloyd

Small temporary update

2007-01-27T06:12:00.000-03:00

This is just a small update. We had internet problems at our hostel in Sau Paulo. The Internet crashed halfway through the update, luckily I save everything to flashdisk. I´ll post it tomorrow. We are currently in Curitiba, the capital of the Parana province. It is a very different experience from Sau Paulo. Much more friendly (it is a university city), clean, with lots of new buildings. Tomorrow we leave on a 4 hour train journey to Paranagua, a small port city (supposed to be the most scenic train route in all of Brazil). From there we head back to Curitiba and then go on to Foz de Iguaçu by bus on Monday. Ciao, Neil

Dos forasteros en la ciudad (two strangers in the city)

2007-01-25T19:31:00.000-03:00

Finally!

After a long, but relatively pleasant flight, we are safe and sound in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Everything went smoothly, no trouble with customs anywhere, no questions asked. Watched a few movies on the plane (Little Miss Sunshine (very good) and Barnyard (a nice easy watching animation)), studied a bit of spanish and slept a little. In other words, nothing really happened to prepare us for the culture shock.

I knew it was too good to be true! Even though was prepared for having a bit of a tough time I didn't realise that NOBODY speaks ANY English! We arrived on Guarulos Airport and exchanged a few dollars to Reals. One US$ is equal to about 2 Reals.

After this we tried to phone the hostel. We managed to get a phonecard quite easily, but operating the phone was a lot harder. The instructions are all in Portuguese! We asked a few people to help, but nobody understood us. At last we found a information booth and there we experienced the warmth and friendliness of the Brazillians. They were very helpful and at least spoke a little bit of English. We finally caught the correct bus and we were on our way.

The city is incredible. I have never seen something this big! 17 million inhabitants, most of them very poor. Certain parts look a lot like the Townships of South Africa. It is very rundown, without proper water and electricity. The big difference is that you can't just ignore them and go around. You go through the heart... The hostel where we are staying is nice, clean and secure and at least they can speak English. The rooms are about $18 per person in a double room. Not to bad, although it is possible to go a lot cheaper. But then you have to go into the shadier parts of the city (and our area is bad enough).

We went for a bit of a walk through the area searching for food and getting our bearings. It feels very alive here, the night clubs are throbbing, the restaurants are full and everybody is out and about. I'll try and get some photos sometime, but I don't feel comfortable carrying my camera in plain view just yet. Not here! Everyone here drinks beer and it seems as if they all party on the sidewalks! There are groups of people standing around drinking and being merry. Have already seen a couple of very "colourful characters"! Public affection is also not a problem (gay couples as well).

We went to a nice little bar/café and ended up ordering by pointing a things and mixing a bit of spanish in between. The sandwiches were very nice and the local beer, Bhrama, was very refreshing. They give you a 600 ml bottle of the sweetish, fruity beer and a couple of small glasses and then everyone shares. It was a very interesting experience!

We'll probably stay one or two more days in Sao Paulo as we try to sort out our travel arrangements. We will be heading west next to Foz de Iguazu. It is a 16h bus trip so we will be able to see a lot of the country side.

Now we have to go get some free Caiperhina, Brazil's most famous cocktail in the hostel bar! And then off to bed for a nice, long, well-deserved rest!

Internet is cheap and reasonably fast so I'll be updating often.

Neil

Ready to go!

2007-01-24T15:07:00.000-03:00

We've finally packed everything (well sort of, a few thing still lying around, and the packs are a bit heavy). We fly tomorrow morning at 6h! I'll try and post as soon as possible when we land in Sao Paulo!

Almost ready...

2007-01-23T06:36:00.000-03:00

OK, everyone! Welcome to my blog. With this blog I will attempt to chronicle my our great adventure across South America. Hopefully we will be able to make many updates along the way so that our story can be told, just in case we die :) Will post more on our plans and preparations later, but right now we have SO many things to finish! Cheers, Neil