The Wrap-up. The good bits, the bad bits and everything in between

One of the realities of finishing a massive trip like this is that you start looking back at the points that really stand out. So much has happened in the past nine months, we’ve recently found ourselves enjoying reflecting on most amazing bits and even the bits that at the time were terrible. This is amplified by the questions from friends and family, some of whom are interested in their own travels, others who just want to know the highlights. The problem, of course, is that it’s so hard to fairly judge things.

How do you compare sailing Croatian Islands, to attending a friends wedding in Brazil, to biking Death Road to seeing the London Olympics?? How do you compare the feeling of being in Mexico, lost and without a word of Spanish, to having a full blown conversation with a local person in their native tongue?? You make a list of course. So here it is, the best and worst bits. Most of these we’ve come up with together, all of them require more detail than I’ve given you, because otherwise we’d be here all day.

Top 5 countries – 1. Bolivia, 2. Guatemala, 3. Ecuador, 4. Croatia, 5. Nicaragua

Best City – 1. Amsterdam, Holland. 2. Split, Croatia. 3. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 4. Cartagena, Colombia

Best Pacha Mamma (Mother Earth) Moments – Iguazu Falls. Sticking my head inside an active volcano and seeing lava on Mount Telica, Nicaragua. Watching a monkey come down and steal some eggs from a birds nest in the Amazon, Bolivia. The view from the top of Mount Pedro, Guatemala. Swimming with whalesharks, Bay Islands, Honduras
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Best activities – Biking Death Road, La Paz Bolivia. Helicopter ride over Rio de Janeiro at sunset, Brazil. Sail Croatia, Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu, Peru. London Olympics, Hyde Park.

Best days – Semuc Champey, Guatemala – charging through a cave using a candle for light climbing waterfalls. Followed up with a trip to the most amazing natural river pools and a night out with the crew. Banos, Ecuador – Canyoning down waterfalls in the morning, before taking in the annual box car derby and independence day celebrations. Sail Croatia – after discovering a giant blow up slide off one of the islands, we parked up for the night for some beers and a bonfire on the beach. The Croatian police were less impressed than we were. Biking Death rd, Bolivia – incredible scenery, adrenalin filled downhill mountain biking and we lived to tell the tale. Mean. Paris, France – After riding the Eurostar we spent no less than 14 hours on the streets taking in a walking tour of the city, the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe, before rounding off our second anniversary with a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Magic.

Best cultural experiences – Cock fighting, Leon Nicaragua. Getting drunk with the local Indians on the San Blas Islands, Panama. Corinthians football game, Sao Paulo Brazil. Ayawasca ceremony, Salento, Colombia.

Best Food – Mexico, followed closely by Guetmala

Worst food – Colombia, by such a distance it’s hard to believe

Best KFC – Medellin, Colombia

Worst KFC – Santiago, Chile

Best Branding – God. Coca Cola may have conquered the world, but there is really no competing with the church. Wherever there is people there’s a church

Who’s carving up – Haviana, the jandel of choice throughout the world. North Face, there are 2 types of trekkers here, those who trek and those who wear North Face. Lionel Messi, the Argentinian soccer god is absolutely everywhere. Chips, shampoo, clothes the kid moves products. Incidentally his team Barcelona FC have more fans than anyone else here. Real Madrid a distant 2nd. Everyone else a much more distant 3rd

Who’s getting ripped off – Ray Bands. If you’re looking for a stylie pair of knockoff sunnies for $3, ray bands are the only choice

Quote of the trip – “I’m a catholic. I don’t believe that god created the world in 7 days, or that Jesus could turn water into wine, of course this is ridiculous. I do believe that the church provides a great template to live my life by and I believe the morals it teaches are a great way to raise my family. That’s why I’m a catholic.” – Congratulations to our Mexican tour guide. The first time religion has been explained to me in a fashion that makes complete sense

Quote of the trip 2 – “It’s better to be looking at it than looking for it.” – Joe Ford, a champion amongst men explains how much booze is too much booze for a weekend away

 

 
I won’t miss – Stubbed toes on the uneven Latin American streets, buying water, drinking horrific coffee, wearing jandels in the shower and putting my toilet paper in a basket

I will miss – Speaking Spanish, buskers at traffic lights, lack of safety standards, popcorn vendors, spending everyday with my best friend, the look of amazement on locals faces when you tell them you’re from Nueva Zelanda

Best book – Long walk to freedom. Took some time but a great story about a guy who never accepted his realities

Sketchiest moment – Catching the Metro to the bus station in Mexico city. Large weapons in a train carriage that’s wall to wall packed just makes me jumpy.

Friendliest locals – Colombians take the cake by a country mile

Worst border crossing – in general we found the stories about dodgy border crossings (like most other safety stories) to be overhyped. We had no serious issues anywhere although the time it takes some of these people to simply stamp a passport beggars belief

Worst travelling day – 1. San Juan to San Jose crossing the Nicaragua/Costa Rican border. A killer hangover, got ripped off, bus running well behind schedule topped off with a dodgy taxi to a non existent hostal on arrival. 2. Capragana to Cartagena Colombia. A 3 hour near death speed boat ride, followed by 13 hours on a range of awful buses and dirt roads, culminating in getting drenched in a downpour that came through the roof of the bus. It was not much fun.

Most haunting moment – Aushwitz Berkinau Concentration Camp, walking into the room where 2 tonnes of human hair is displayed in a huge glass cabinet. I doubt the feeling will ever leave me.

Worst illness – Cushla on the Salt flats – Hung over followed by altitude sickness followed by a bad cause of diarrhea including being in a jeep for all 3 days. Both of us simultaneously vomiting from sea sickness on our ill fated voyage to Colombia

Worst hangover – Me in Cusco after tacking a double header happy hour at the Wild Rover.

TV show – We’ve seen bugger all TV the whole trip but every now and then we’ll strike a hostel with TV. If you’re looking for shows in English, it’s Friends, Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory, around the clock, in every country. If you speak Spanish a little family called The Simpsons are on all day.

The biggest change – has been in my sleeping. Before coming here I needed darkness, quite and a comfy bed to stand any chance of some shut eye. These days I can grab a 30 minute nap on a busy public bus

Best travel advice I can give – Don’t listen to anyone’s travel advice; especially mine. Some of it’s great, but plenty of it’s crap. No matter where you’re going if you turn up with a cracking attitude and some great people you’ll have a blast no matter what.

Well, it has certainly been one hell of an adventure. The concept of this whole trip started a few years ago, from a simple conversion over coffee in Melbourne about our shared dream to see South America. Three weeks later we started saving $100 a week and the seed was firmly planted. It’s taken a lot of hard work and planning along the way (mostly Cushla’s), but it has truly been a once in a lifetime experience. Thanks to everyone who’s taken the time to follow us along on our little journey, we’ve had so much feedback throughout it’s been great hearing from people. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading about it a fraction of the amount we’ve enjoyed sharing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engagement, Salt Flats and Wine Tours, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile

Cush & I at the site of the proposal

Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia

We had been going full steam since arriving in La Paz, but there was one last thing I had to do before heading south. The high altitude city has been Cushla’s most anticipated destination of the trip, both because of its surrounding and the impending arrival of friends Grace and Jono. To sign off our visit Cush and I headed to the outskirts of town; boarding an extremely overcrowded collectivo bus that required hanging out the doors, to the Valley of the Moon. The dramatic clay landscape provided some truly unique views, not to mention the perfect spot for me to take a knee and propose!!! This was actually the third time I’d tried to propose in the last week, but after a few false starts I finally managed to find a lookout with some privacy and got the job done with a ring I’d purchased in Cusco 3 months ago after sneaking away to a jeweller. It was a massive day for both of us and while I’d done my utmost to make things as romantic as possible, logistics meant our celebratory meal was a milkshake and burger at Wild Rover before boarding an overnight bus to Tupiza. Not perfect, but fitting for our first day of engagement to be spent negotiating buses, cabs, and maps to get to our next awesome adventure.

Cush horseriding in Tupiza

On arrival in Tupiza we were excited about the much talked about horseriding, until I got stuck with a horse who had just given birth. It’s Pony had to follow behind us on the tour and my nag would regularly stop for feedings as we went. Not the kind of high speed horse adventure I was looking for. Still, the canyons were spectacular and with the arrival of Grace and Jono we set about celebrating our engagement!! Tupiza on a Monday night is hardly a party town, but we made the best of things sampling the local vinos in a restaurant until the wee hours.

Cushla feeling the effects on the Salt Flats

Pink Flamingo’s, Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia

Everyone had warned us the salt flats tour involved a lot of driving, what we hadn’t heard about was the altitude, which at times reaches over 5,000m. And nothing magnifies the effects of altitude like a good old fashioned hangover. So we were already on the back foot as we set off for what would become a bit of a battle. The self inflicted health problems soon turned into altitude sickness for Cush in particular and combined with the inevitable sleep apnea from being up so high. Things were looking pretty bad, until we all developed a ‘stomach issue’ which moved it into down right awful category. Hours of driving through a plumbing free landscape with the runs is pretty close to rock bottom but we managed to make the best of it and had some great laughs along the way.

Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia

The tough conditions and looong hours of driving aside, this was an incredible journey. The landscape is huge, dramatic and diverse, constantly changing as you wind your way through the scenic Andes mountain range. There’s a huge variety of wildlife, with the pink flamingo’s taking the cake for the most photogenic. While a bit monotonous, it was a good way to see a different side to a country that takes the cake as the most beautiful I’ve ever been to. If you’re into your photography this would be paradise. We stopped at the salt flats for breakfast at a hotel made of salt, before the traditional random photographs incorporating figurines which was a great laugh.

Tandom Bike time, Mendoza, Argentina

With Bolivia well and truly covered, we made our last long distance trips overnight to reach the Argentinian town of Mendoza. This is where 75% of the Argies wine comes from and with their love of red meat seemed like a great place to spend a few days. The town was a bit rougher than we were expecting, but we were here for the vino and on that front we were not let down. We hired bikes for an afternoon, cycling between various vineyards and an olive/chocolate farm sampling as many varieties as we could get in. The actual wine was all pretty average, but the locations were great and we had a pretty relaxing day biking in the sun and enjoying lunch at a winery.

Photo fun, Salt Flats, Bolivia

With our bellies full of red wine and steak, we set off for the final destination of our South American leg, Santiago Chile. This was really just our exit point so we’d not planned much, but we were both surprised by how nice the city was, and enjoyed a culture that seems very much based around eating out and enjoying themselves. We also found an enormous shopping mall with cheap everything, a god send to two people who haven’t bought new clothes for over a year and pretty much needed to throw away everything in their packs!!

Sunrise on the Salt Flats, Bolivia

Obviously the end of South America brings about some pretty serious reflection about the adventures we’d had; and I’ll write a summary for all that stuff, but to finish off with an engagement and some exciting news to take back to our family and friends in New Zealand was a pretty special way to end this part of the journey. We’ve come a long way from the people who turned up in Mexico City, not knowing a drop of Spanish, feeling complete culture shock without much clue how we were going to survive. Operation don’t get scammed, mugged or killed complete. Next stop, Aotearoa.

Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia

Nights spent – Tupiza – 2, Salt Flats Tour – 3, Mendoza – 3, Chile – 3, plus a couple of overnight bus rides

The Salt Flats – we did our tour through La Torre Tours and couldn’t have asked for anything better. We started in Tupiza which means you’re at the salt flats for sunrise on the last day but I think Uyuni would be just as good a place to start if its on your way

Lunch Break Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia

What grinds my gears – The Argentinian bag tip. Buses here are already exorbitant, before some clown requires separate tips to load your bag onto and off the bus. I could live with this if it meant some quality and speedy service, but because they know they’re getting a tip no matter what they move at a snails pace

We’re not in Kansas anymore – after being given some quick instructions for our horse riding tour, we were quickly handed over to our two guides. One was 12 years old, the other was allegedly 16. They both looked 10 but had apparently already finished their required 3 hours of schooling for the day

High altitude fun on the Salt Flats Tour, Bolivia

Quote of the week – “Wow that went so quickly” – A 26 hour journey now seems like a breeze. That’s when you know you’ve been here a while

Quote of the week 2 – “This is horrible” – Jono on the first day of the jeep tour

Fun Facts – The Bolivian salt flats are 10 times the size of Lake Taupo. It contains the worlds largest reserve of lithium which means your compass is completely useless.

Get a steak – at Don Mario in Mendoza. A massive slab of the good stuff that cooks on a hotplate in front of you, with some blue cheese and red wine for good measure. Ta

Where to stay – Chimbas in Mendoza and La Chimba in Santiago

Hunting snakes in the Amazon and discovering La Paz – Bolivia

Cush & I mountain biking in Sucre

Sucre, Bolivia

Bolivia had quickly made an impression on us, and we had a lot to explore in a short space of time. Sucre’s another beautiful, sleepy little colonial town, that comes with the added bonus of a huge number of treks and outdoor adventure activities available. Short on time and with me suffering from a severely dodgy stomach (apparently quite a common problem on arrival in Bolivia) we settled on a one day bike tour into the mountains. It’s a beautiful countryside and after some uphill slog at altitude we had an afternoon of 50km straight down to take it all in. We also stopped at the Cretaceous Park, an outdoor museum set up around the discovery of dinosaur footprints preserved in clay. Something very different and the first time we’ve seen dinosaur tourism of any kind so good to see them thinking outside the box.

Starting Death Road, La Paz, Bolivia

But the real show in Bolivia is La Paz, and after the now mandatory overnight bus ride we were pretty excited to arrive. This is the launchpad for the infamous ‘Death Road’, a dirt road winding down a valley that was at one time the world’s deadliest road with 100 people dying on the 50 km stretch every year. Thankfully, it got so bad in 2007, UNESCO gave the government the money to build a new one and now it’s left to downhill mountain bikers to enjoy. And it was one hell of a ride!! We’d heard all about the cliffs, the 400m cliff drops off the side of the road that you don’t come back from, but what we hadn’t heard about was the scenery. As if the adrenaline rush of bombing it down a cliff edged gravel road isn’t enough, if you can find the time to stop and look around,

It’s a long way down on Death Road, Bolivia

the valley, laced with huge mountains and forest is well worth the effort. After successfully negotiating most of the road with 20 minutes left I made a conscious decision to gun it to the bottom, blowing 2 tyres and having one massive spill which left some decent grazes and a very painfully ripped up nipple for my effort.

There’s a couple of other things La Paz is famous for, strangely one is the ‘Witches Market’ which despite many reports is exactly like every other market we’ve been to in South America (full of junk Incan trinkets and beautiful coloured textiles). The other is its bar scene. Thankfully we were staying at Wild Rover, one of those hostels with a pub where they walk around on the bar free pouring shots into people’s mouths. A great way to meet some strangers. The party is on there 7 nights a week, until the bar closes and punters kick on to the iconic ‘Route 36’. This is a bar unlike any other, because as well as serving up the standard fare of cocktails and spirits, you can also buy lines of cocaine

La Paz, Bolivia

right over the bar. The illegal nature of things means it apparently moves location every 3 months. The only way to find it is to jump into a taxi and ask the driver if he knows the place and away you go. On arrival a dodgy looking guy appears from nowhere, knocks on a roller door which then opens, leads you up through a locked cage door and into the bar. All very badass. The place is naturally full of Gringo’s but a very unique experience and a great way to meet travelers from all parts of the world.

Grace and Cush on the Anaconda Hunt

After having a big night of catch-ups with our Melbourne friends Grace and Jono, we had to pick up the pieces for our flight to the little town of Rurrenabaque the start of our Amazon/Pampas tour. Arriving in Rurrenabaque was reminiscent of a previous flight into the tiny Tongan island of Va’vau. After a decidedly dodgy landing we caught a bus to the one roomed ‘terminal’ before being hauled into a hot and sweaty bus for the ride into town. We’re fairly experienced at going without the creature comforts by now, but things were about to step up a notch.

Monkey raiding a birds nest

The pampas sit in the Amazon basin and after a rickety car ride we caught a motorised canoe, that would be our sightseeing vessel for the following 3 days, to our ‘lodge’ in the jungle. Over the next 3 days we were treated to some wonders of nature from our seats on the boat. Toucan and Paradise birds, turtles and enough monkeys to belt out a terrible 70’s tune. Some animals prefer to come say hello themselves, like the six frogs who stopped into our bedroom, and much more disturbingly the massive crocodile who lived in the water outside our hostel. Plenty

That’s one big croc just chilling in the river, Pampas, Bolivia

though had to be chased, and we awoke early one morning and set off on an Anaconda snake hunt. My knowledge of Anaconda’s is pretty limited, but a Hollywood film of the same name some years back left me quite nervous about this little mission. Thankfully the 2 metre specimen we found was skinny as a runt and fast asleep. No need for me to scream like a girl on this occasion. Piranha fishing was a bit of a bust, until a Welsh girl, casting the first line of her life pulled one in to save the day.

We struck it lucky with some pink river dolphins, coming across a school who were happy to swim around us for over half an hour. Obviously this meant jumping into the same water we’d seen a crocodile; who was bigger than me, swimming around in not long before. Now we’re in the middle of nowhere, about 4 hours away from what I’m guessing would be the nearest extremely sub par medical facility, a crocodile attack was not at the top of my to do list. But you only come to these places once, so a few of us dived in to

No parental supervision for this one. His mum didn’t even blink. The Michael Jackson dangle. That’s a croc in the water

get up close with the dolphins and get the heart pumping at a rate of knots. Again, all’s well that ends well and everyone made it out with all their limbs in tact. A triumph to South American safety standards. The highlight though came on the final day, when cruising in our canoe we watched a beautiful Paradise bird take off from his nest. Moments later cheeky little monkey came scampering down the tree and pinched 4 eggs out of the nest before taking off to feed them to his family!!

Despite returning to Rurrenabaque covered (and I mean covered) in mosquito bites, the Pampas had been unreal, giving us some

Cush on Death Road, Bolivia

first hand displays of nature that are usually reserved for a David Attenborough doco. After a night with Grace, Jono and our new friends David and Yasmin there was just the small matter of a scenic flight back to La Paz, next stop the Salt Flats tour.

Nights Stayed – Sucre 2, La Paz 7, Rurrenabaque 2, Pampas 3

It’ll cost you – The backpackers budget loves Bolivia like a fat kid on a cupcake. Everything’s cheap but there’s plenty of

Our first Cama bus ever overnight to La Paz. Super plush

value. Death Road we paid 460 B ($66 AUD) through Vertigo who had awesome bikes but average staff.

Quote of the week – “If you need to pass someone on your bike shout really loudly ‘passing on your left’. If they don’t move out of your way then just knock them out of the way with your foot” – it’s back to those extensive safety briefings as our tour guide on death road gives out some survival tips

RIP – my beloved Gola sneakers. After

The mighty £18 Gola’s died an honorable death at the hands of the worlds most dangerous road

 

 

taking me to 3 continents, the top of 3 volcano’s, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer and god knows how many other amazing sights, they couldn’t survive the bike crash on death road. If the good people at sports direct had known how far they’d take me I’m sure they would’ve charged me more than £18. What a buy

What grinds my gears – we’re biking

T-Rex at the dinosaur park in Sucre

through some pristine landscape in Southern Bolivia. It’s the rival of anywhere, except as you round each corner there is the stench and sight of dumped rubbish. People just parking up their cars and throwing household and industrial waste off the side of a hill. Pretty sad

Stay at – The Wild Rover in La Paz. Assuming you’re there to party, this is the location

We did our amazon tour – through

Bit banged up after crashing on death Road

Indigeno tours who were excellent

 

Iguazu Falls, Steak, Red Wine and bomb blasts in Argentina and Bolivia

Cush looking out over part of the Iguazu Falls

Visiting the Itaipu Dam

The ‘Devils Throat’, Iguazu Falls, Argentina

After indulging in Brazilian hospitality for the best part of 5 weeks, we had some serious km’s and some long bus rides ahead of us to get to Northern Bolivia. Thankfully there would be some amazing side missions to keep us entertained along the way. We quickly made our way to the tiny town of Foz do Iguazu, the launching pad to the Brazilian side of the much famed Iguazu Falls. With some time up our sleeve we first took in a tour of the Itaipu Dam, an engineering and diplomatic marvel that supplies 17% of Brazil’s and 75% of Paraguay’s electricity. That’s a lot of power from one bloody big dam. The Iguazu Falls themselves are another one of those huge ticket items in South America and despite Cush getting sick on arrival, some torrential rain and an aggrivating hold-up at immigration, we managed to take them in from both the Brazilian and Argentinian side. It was a pretty awe inspiring experience. While the Brazil side gives you a total view of the massive number of waterfalls, the Argentinian side dwarfs it in the sheer intensity as you stand over the main waterway. Comparisons in travel can be a bit of a nonsense but while standing at the devils throat both Cush and I agreed it was the most impressive sight of mother nature we’d ever seen.

On the road, Salta, Argentina

After a quick catch up with our Melbourne friend Nicole, it was time for a monster 29 hour bus mission to the Northern Argentina town of Salta. Since finishing with Carnival in Brazil it had been a non-stop schedule of travel and sightseeing and Salta finally bought the chance of some relaxation. It’s a small town with a lot going on around the region, so we decided to splurge and hire a car for the day to explore on our own schedule. With no idea of the road rules, or the speed limits we managed to take in some amazing views as we initially headed to Cafayate. It’s worth noting that after driving for 10 hours the road rules and speed limits were still a complete mystery. The general attitude seems to be hammer the horn and hope for the best.

Bolivia Border Crossing

Our respite from overnight travel was short lived as we made our way to the unimpressive Aguas Blancas and the border with Bolivia. This border is really only used by the locals and we were a bit apprehensive about the safety of crossing so far off the beaten track. We needn’t have worried. The initial customs official was so excited to meet some New Zealanders, he looked through our passports in awe before marching us into the office and proudly declaring “these people are from Nueva Zealanda!” We were stamped and on our way in minutes. Arriving in Bolivia was like an instant jump back to earlier parts of our holiday. Back to a land where buses don’t leave until they’re full, and when they do leave they share the road with cars that are 20 years past there used by date and whatever herd of animals happen to be wandering around. After the expense of Brazil and to a lesser extent Argentina, it was also nice to be back in a land where $4 got us a 3-hour shared ride to Tarija.

Tarija Wine tour, Bolivia

This is wine and steak country for the Boliviano’s, and we quickly set about enjoying both. The cafe town is plush with eateries where you purchase your steak by weight, trying not to fill up on the side on offer as you delicious and ridiculously cheap wine. After a couple of days of eating, drinking and wandering we thought it was time to do something a bit more active, with a wine tour the most obvious choice. The thing with places like Bolivia, is that on a wine tour the driver/tour guide isn’t shy to get involved in the tasting. By the end of the afternoon we’d tasted wines that ranged from delightful to disgusting, the lowlight occurring at the La Casa Vieja winery, where they simply filled a large glass with foul tasting vino which was then passed from person to person for a taste. Not the sort of treatment you get in Malborough. We thoroughly enjoyed Tarija, a town where you could relax in a restaurant on the plaza with a bottle of wine, while watching firework shooting protesters who each day appeared to be upset over something or rather.

Quickly settling into the Bolivian pace of things, we arrived in the mining town of Potosi, home to the Cerro Rico mine, the worlds highest altitude city and a whole host of history. Once the most profitable mine in the entire Spanish Empire, Potosi is now the poorest region, in the poorest country of South America. The mountain is known as the mine that eats men, as thousands of locals

Cush and I ready to hit the Cerro Rico Mine

scratch out a living from the remaining silver deposits. We took a tour of the mine, where former workers take you inside for a pretty daunting look at some horrific working conditions. We met a couple of miners, one who was apparently 38 but looked like he was in his 60’s.

Chilling with one of the miners, Cerro Rico Mine, Bolivia

It’s tight, the air is thick and it’s a pretty horrible place, but it’s a way of life for these people, with kids as young as 10 allegedly working and something I think is important to witness. As is the way in these places there’s always something extreme, before you reach the mine you first stop at a local market to buy the miners some gifts ranging from coca leaves, to cigarettes to dynamite!! After a quick consultation with our guide, some extra dynamite was purchased to be used in an ‘demonstration’ explosion while we were inside. It’s a special kind of place that lets a random person walk into a shop and buy a stick of dynamite for $3. Bolivia was off to an exciting start.

Cush hiding from the sun in Salta, Argentina

Nights Stayed – Fox Do Iguacu – 1, Salta – 3, Tarija – 3, Potosi – 2 plus no less than 3 overnight buses

It’ll cost you – Argentina was a slight reprieve from Brazil, but still quite expensive. Bolivia on the other hand appears to rival Ecuador for the cheapest country in South America. 100B ($14) for a half day tour of the mine.

Quote of the week – “The fuse is lit and we apparently have 3 minutes before explosion. BOOOOOM!!! F##k that was not 5 minutes” – Oh how I love explosives

Exploding time, Cerro Rico Mine, Bolivia

What grinds my gears – So, Kiwi’s get a free 90 day holiday visa on arrival into Brazil. For some reason, which couldn’t be explained by anyone at our exit border, when we entered we were wrongly given just a 30 day visa. We stayed 34 days. So after 2 Federal Agents spent 1 1/2 hours looking at a computer and writing things down, the end result is if we ever re-enter Brazil we’ll be required to pay a 22real ($11) fine. We’ve seen some doozies, but this one takes the cake for the most inefficient behavior

Stay at – The Koala Den in Potosi. We did our mine tour through them as well

Best feed – XOXO Resturant in Tarija. Get the big breakfast – coffee, fresh fruit juice, fruit salad, eggs on toast, and caramel pancakes – all for 33B ($4.50).

If you’re interested – in learning more about the Potosi mines, the 1 hour documentary ‘The Devil’s Miner’ which follows a 14 year olds life working the mines is well worth a watch. It’ll blow

Squeezing into some tight spots, Cerro Rico Mine, Potosi, Bolivia

your mind and put some perspective on the ridiculous notion of educated people talking about kiwi kids ‘living in poverty’

Some fun facts –  As much as 450,000 cubic feet of water travels over the Iguazu Falls every second. That’s twice as much as Niagara Falls. Prior to building the Itaipu Dam, 10,000 Brazilian families were made homeless to clear the required area. It’s estimated that during the 300 years the Spanish were in charge 8 million slaves died in the Potosi mine.

Don’t miss – The Iguazu Falls belong on your must see list

We got here – The hard way. Overnight bus from Florianopolis to Foz do Iguazu, 29 hour overnight bus from Puerto Iguazu to Salta, overnight bus and share taxi from Salta to Tarija (12 hours) before a 9 hour bus from there to Potosi. That’s a lot of bus

Beaches, Football Games and Carnival in Brazil

Cush & I – Lopez Mendes Beach, Illa Grande

En route to Lopez Mendes Beach, Illa Grande

After taking in the wealth of Rio’s famous sights and enjoying its action packed nightlife, we were ready to get stuck into some serious beach time as we headed to Illa Grande. This secluded island is purpose built for tourists, with beachside bars and restaurants interspersed with some small hikes and incredible beaches. With our newly adopted son Matty Pestell along for the ride, we set about exploring the island, the most impressive section being Lopez Mendes beach. Vogue magazine (apparently the unquestioned authority on the subject) recently voted it the 3rd best beach on the planet!! Certainly it deserves an award for the hottest girls I’ve seen on 1 beach. Ridiculous awards aside, it was a beautiful spot and after a 3 1/2 hour walk in scorching temperatures the ocean was pretty inviting when we arrived.

A day trip to the underwhelming former prison soon turned eventful as we were greeted by a torrential downpour while starting the 90 minute return leg. With little

Matty P & I racing down the rockslide

choice but to press on, our hopes the rain would ease were in vain and we were soon on a muddy track in ankle deep water. By the time we made it to the township, the streets had transformed into a shin deep river, as had our hostel. With no power in a beach town the only entertainment left was to sit and watch the ever rising waters wondering if our room would be consumed, which it thankfully wasn’t. We then pushed on back to the mainland, arriving at the nearby colonial town of Paraty, famous as the home of the Brazilian staple alcohol Cachaca and the house off some kids movie called Twilight. While we skipped the house, we did take full advantage of the distillery’s, hiring bikes and heading into the hills in search of a rock slide. This is basically a sloped waterfall, that’s completely smooth and slippery courtesy of type of moss growing on it. As is often the way with these things, after building up our courage to eventually go down head first we were quickly shown up by a 12 year old local kid who ripped down on his feet, doing a few jumps along the way for good measure. Not his first trip to the rodeo. After a quick picnic lunch we rounded out a very successful day by finding a huge

A fun afternoon crawling around the rocks in Trindade

rope swing before filling up on Cachaca shots to help power our bicycles home.

Our final stop on the beach tour was the tiny town of Trindade, a place with some beautiful sand that appeared to be inhabited solely by stoners who made wristbands and earings to sell on the streets. The main event here involved a trip to some natural pools, though a lack of research meant we ended up on a huge mission trying to navigate our way around some massive rocks. After a good hour of grunt work our chosen route became impassable and we were forced to return to the town and take the normal path which was a 10 minute walk. Beach time had been incredible, but it was time for the polar opposite as we headed to South America’s biggest city, Sao Paulo.

It was here that we struck the travelers jackpot. At the wedding in Florianopolis we’d been invited to stay with the brides family who live in Sao Paulo, and they rolled out the red carpet. With around 18 million people calling it home, the city is truly a concrete jungle and the chance to get a guided tour from locals

Chinese New Year in Japanese town – Sao Paulo

Cush & I with some random fruit at the Sao Paulo Market

allowed us to experience the culture in a way we never could’ve imagined if navigating it ourselves. With our chauffeur Marcos leading the way, we were given a guided tour of the local markets, where family friend Paulo; acting like he owned every stall, raced around organising us samples of the huge range of tropical fruits. We were then taken to ‘Japanese Town’ which was the home of the Chinese New Year celebrations, with a huge street parade and a host of market stalls and authentic foods. Next we got an up close look at Sao Paulo’s homeless community, who were having a solvent induced dance in the middle of the main square, quite the sight. Things were about to go up a gear though as we pressed on to another market to get what had been billed as a ‘really, really huge pork sandwich’. Eager to test this I was not to be disappointed, as I mowed down a feed that was instantly being discussed as an option for top ten of all time.

Corinthians Game, Sao Paulo

Feeding our Brazilian hosts a proper ‘Kiwi roast’

The highlight for me though was a trip to Pacaembu stadium to watch a Brazilian soccer game in the flesh. As luck would have it we got to watch the Corinthians; current Fifa world club champions defeat Oeste in a 5-0 romp. This was handy both because all the goals meant the crowd were in great voice and because the Corinthians fans are notorious for destroying things when their side loses. The atmosphere at the ground was pretty special and while they didn’t do much work off the ball, the skill level of the players was out of this world. In amongst all the touring, we were treated to a never ending feast and some incredible hospitality from the Matsura and Tanaka families. When you’ve been on the road a long time it’s a great feeling to have people open up their homes and welcome strangers as family. As a small token the three of us set about cooking everyone a ‘Kiwi Roast’ on our final night. While they all looked on suspiciously at the gravy, the Apple Crumble dessert was inhaled in minutes.

Carnival Street Party, Florianopolis

Julia, Haydin, me and Matty P – Fatboy Slim pre drinks

We now just had the small matter of Carnival to participate in as we headed back to Florianopolis to stay with Haydin and Julia. While the South has less street parades than the more traditional Northern areas, Flori put on one hell of a party. This pretty much required us to become nocturnal animals, though we did make it into the city for a couple of the street parties during the day. Matty P again proved his worth introducing a frisby game that will undoubtedly be bought at future beach trips. By night we hit Fatboy Slim, who for an old fella still knows how to throw down one hell of a set, and attended what felt like an extremely exclusive party for models in an amazing club. Carnival was an amazing experience and with some old friends and new ones we had a blast. It was with weary bodies and severely damaged livers that we boarded the bus for the Iguazu Falls.

Nights Stayed: Ilha Grande: 5, Paraty: 2, Trindade: 2, Sao Paulo: 4, Florianopolis: 7

Quote of the week – “They have new law in Brazil. If I drink the whiskey and drive my car they take me to jail. It’s very bad.” – Our host Ruben lamenting Brazil’s ever

Cush & Matty in Paraty

increasing safety standards

Most ridiculous pricing we’ve seen – A 750 ml of Smirnoff vodka just 28 real ($14). A 4 pack of redbull cans in the same store cost 32 real ($16). How this works is beyond me

Beach wear – It really is amazing how much skin is acceptable on a Brazilian beach. For the ladies anything more than a g string bikini and you’re overdressed. For the lads, budgy smugglers are the order of the day

Best idea I’ve ever heard – Girls pay half prize (or nothing) to attend events in Brazil, so while it costs me $70 to see Fatboy Slim it only costs Cushla $50. The result, is that all of the events are packed with girls. So simple it’s stupid.

Best feed – The enormous pork sandwich in Sao Paulo

The world class Pork Sandwich, Sao Paulo

obviously takes the cake, but on Illa Grande they frozen juice iceblocks for 1 real (50c) are the closest thing to a frozen jucie I’ve ever come across

Interestingly – Brazil is comfortably the most developed and wealthiest country we’ve been in since leaving Europe, and our incredible hosts in Sao Paulo and Florianopolis aside, it is also the least friendliest country we’ve visited. Rio and Sao Paulo also had more homeless than anywhere we’ve been

Don’t miss – the Museo do Futebol (football museum) underneath the stands of the Pacaembu stadium in Sao Paulo. For about $3 this is the best museum of it kind I’ve ever visited

What grinds my gears – Our first flight in Brazil we were treated to supermodel quality air hostesses. So you can imagine my disappointment when our later flights were hosted by girls who’d struggle to get a run with Jetstar. Come on TAM airlines lift ya game

Cush can’t get enough of Haydin & Julia’s new puppies

Stay at – Backpackers House in Paraty. A great atmosphere with the best breakfast we’ve had anywhere. Don’t stay at Overnativa Green Hostel on Illa Grande, overpriced lodgings with the worlds rudest staff. Not a great combination

We got here – From Rio to Illa Grande and Sao Paulo on some pretty average bus rides. From Sao Paulo to Florianopolis on a cheap flight with TAM

Weddings in Florianopolis & Chopper Rides in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil

Tough day at the office – Matty & I up Sugar Loaf in Rio

All the boys – Martin’s wedding

With a friends wedding and Carnival just around the corner it was high time to cover some serious distance and take in the sunshine of Southern Brazil. After two full days of travel, Florianopolis started with a hiss and a roar. Arriving at 1am to find Matty Pestell chomping at the bit to hit a local beach party. After a few drinks and very little coercion I joined him for my first experience of the Brazilian nightlife as we saw the sun come up over the ocean at a dance party on the sand that was still pumping when we pulled up stumps at 7am. This would be the first of many sunrises seen in Brazil.

After some early rain we couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon for an outdoor wedding. Some flight delays from NZ meant Rene Smith took the fashionably late award, strolling into the apartment 30 mins after our ‘scheduled’ departure for the ceremony. Thankfully the this was to be the most relaxed wedding on record, with family and a few friends overlooking the water, as more than a few local passers-by got their camera’s out for a slice of the action. A couple of I do’s later and we congregated to

Cushla dressed in her finest for the wedding

a nearby house where the sweltering temperatures meant swimming and some back yard soccer was the order of the afternoon.

It was here we were introduced to our first Brazilian BBQ, a fantastic tradition that involves an absurd amount of marinated meat being slow roasted over coals. The celebrations went long into the night, pausing briefly for the bouquet toss where Cush was reluctantly forced into claiming the honors, launching everyone into full scale planning mode for our big day. Around 4am the group decided the Nelson Speedway was the only sensible option for the ceremony with the Stoke Rugby Club the likely venue for a classy reception. Weddings are always a great day out and we’ve had to miss a few important ones to make this trip, so it meant a lot to get to see one of my oldest friends tie the knot and catch up with a few of the old Nayland College boys.

With Rene and Matty in toe it then came time to attack the

Cush & I at Lapa Stairs – Rio de Janeiro

jewel in the Brazilian crown, Rio de Janeiro. From the very first minute it is absolutely pumping with energy, a bit grimey and a bit rough, but ram packed full of soul. Arriving on a Friday, we were immediately thrown into the thick of it attending the Lapa Street Party. This basically involves tens of thousands of revelers partying as street vendors wander around selling various potent drinks and shots of tequilla. There’s not really any bands, there’s not really any reason, it’s just a party that goes off because everyone’s having a blast. For me this sums up Rio perfectly.

By day we did our best to take in the  wealth of attractions, visiting the much famed Copa Cabana beach and the much nicer Impanema beach which sits next to it. In one of those moments that leaves you unsure whether to laugh or cry, we fought through huge crowds to see the infamous Christ the Redeemer, only to have the entire statue shrouded in fog. You couldn’t

Cush finally gets a glimpse of Christ the Redeemer

even see the base of the statue when standing right next to it and we were forced to wait in the rain for 2 hours before the fog cleared for 10 minutes, just long enough to take the obligatory photo. We left felling pretty disappointed at missing out on a real highlight, a feeling that wouldn’t stick around for long.

The following day our exploration instincts were rewarded when we stumbled across a navy museum where we were treated to a self tour of a formerly functioning submarine. After doing our best to spy imaginary bogies through the telescope and launch imaginary missiles, we headed to Sugar Loaf Mountain for sunset. The cable car accessed mountain provides panoramic views of the entire city and was to be the scene of a fantastic surprise. There’s a lot to love about Matty P, but without doubt his affection for helicopters now sits at the top of the list as he shouted us a 15 minute sunset chopper ride around the city!! The beaches, mountains and skyline combine to create an amazing spectacle and seeing it from the air was an

View of Copacabana Beach from the chopper

absolute treat. Making Up for the previous days disappointment we twice circled around Christ the Redeemer with pristine views of the statue.

Poverty and wealth collide – the view from the Rio slum

Rio is also well known for it’s nightlife and as well as the Lapa Street Party we took advantage of our incredibly social hostel to meet some new friends and enjoy wandering through Lapa’s bars. On one evening the ridiculously cheap price of rum lead to my downfall and resulting in me making quite a scene in our 8 bed dorm room. After far to many drinks and sporting nothing but a pair of superman undies, I twice fell off the top bunk before crashing around the room en route to the bathroom to regurgitate the nights work. Cush, being the darling she is had been kind enough to book an early morning Favella (slum) tour the next day, so despite being in danger of being blown over by a stiff breeze we headed off to inspect Rio’s largest slum.

In a bizzare twist, the slum; located in Rio’s hillside, provided some of the most spectacular views of the city we would see

Some interesting wiring in the Favella – Rio

anywhere. Despite sighting some incredibly unsafe wiring and plumbing techniques, the slum contained a lot more wealth and safety than we’d been expecting. When we later mentioned our tour to some locals they scoffed at the concept of walking out of a Favella alive let alone cruising around one with an SLR camera around your neck, indicating this was very much a tourist slum. It was an amazing week and left us very much in love with the city of Rio. Between it’s bustling streets, it’s random alley parties, it’s amazing beaches and world renowned tourist sights, this is a place you’d struggle not to enjoy.

Nights Stayed: Florianopolis – 6, Rio – 5

We got here – Via one hell of a mission. 24 hour bus from Cusco to Rio Branco, then a flight to Florianopolis via Brasilia. Flights were with Tam who incidentally appear to have a supermodel only hiring policy when it comes to air hostesses

Matty, Rene & I On our way to Christ the Redeemer

It’ll cost you – Plenty, this is the most expensive Latin American country we’ve been to by some distance. In fact Brazil is the first place we’ve been that’s made more for a holiday budget than a backpackers one. Thankfully we were on the receiving end of some generous mates who helped make things a lot more achievable. $22 for a bed in an 8 room dorm. During Carnival this price skyrockets to $110 per night which is crazy

Cush and I up Sugar Loaf – Rio de Janeiro

Quote of the week – “Watching you was the highlight of my trip so far – like Christ the Redeemer was good but watching you was great” – Ollie Shore, one of our dorm mates after enjoying my intoxicated display in our room

Quote of the week 2 – “I think the real story here is how much weight Oprah’s put on” – Cush isn’t too concerned with Lance Armstrong’s confession

Getting ready for our helicopter ride up Sugar Loaf Mountain

Safety – The Lapa St party was the first time we’ve (knowingly) had a pick pocket attempt. There’s certainly an edge as you walk around Rio and you quickly see how it gained its reputation as a dangerous city

Stay at – Books hostel in Rio. An absolute gem

What grinds my gears – The Spanish deserve a lot of respect. They conquered vast amounts of foreign lands, meaning people can now move seamlessly through Latin America speaking just 1 language. So why couldn’t they go one step further and vanquish the pesky Portuguese?? 4 months of tirelessly practicing Spanish out the window. Thanks for nothing Spain

Acai – Cushla’s new favorite food

This blog was bought to you by – http://www.sciencekids.co.nz. Thinking quality childrens’ educational resources, think Science Kids (there you go Rene, as promised)

 

Conquering Machu Picchu and Cusco – Peru

Cush & I at Machu Picchu ruins

Cusco’s one of those towns you hear plenty about while traveling, because anyone and everyone who’s in South America seems to be drawn to Machu Picchu. It’s the most visited attraction on the continent and one of Unesco’s ‘7 new wonders of the world’. We quickly learned why as we trekked up to the ruins, taking in plenty of local customs and enjoying exploring one of the liveliest cities we’ve visited so far.

We arrived into Cusco on my 30th Birthday, which meant I was able to order people around as much as I liked. Drunk on power I lead us to the small town of Pisac, where driving rain and wind couldn’t stop us exploring a very impressive former Incan Citadel. For whatever reason this is completely undeveloped meaning we virtually had the place to ourselves as we explored the dilapidated structures in the stunning valley.

Mum & Dad getting dressed in some local gear

As good as Pisac was, we were in Cusco to get to Machu Picchu and after surveying the options we set off on the 4 day, 3 night Jungle Trek to the ruins. The walking trail over the first 3 days would take us through some breathtaking scenery, with huge valleys scaling the Urubamba river, which courtesy of recent rains was in sever flood. The landscapes grew more dramatic as we came closer to Machu Picchu mountain and the surroundings were as impressive as anything I’ve seen. While the walking pace of the group was at times painstakingly slow, we were exposed to some local customs along the way, getting a tutorial in chewing coca leaves, dressing up in traditional outfits and playing with a monkey that had been ‘rescued’ by a local family.

Interspersed with the walking we had some adventure activities to keep us on our toes. The tour kicked off with a 50km downhill mountain bike that saw us descend nearly 3,500m in just 3 hours. We were initially skeptical as to why we’d require full body armour for a simple bike ride, but after seeing 2 overturned tourist vans and numerous large

Preparing for our downhill adventure

trucks rounding blind corners on the wrong side of the road our doubts quickly vanished.

We also had the privilege of celebrating New Years Eve in a small Peruvian village, starting with a much needed visit to the local hot springs. After a large group dinner we began to sample a range of local beverages including something called Inca Tequilla, which should have been a warning to go easy. It wasn’t. We quickly pressed on to the local discoteca and partied with the locals before heading to the square for the obligatory fireworks at midnight.

New years day ziplinging

By this point I’d had more than my share of the Inca Tequilla, and with an early start the following morning bed was calling. Back at our accommodation though, our hosts were just getting started and being polite guests we joined them for a feast and champagne. That’s where things go blank for me, but apparently I proceeded to pick up and throw their young child around the room, before smashing a glass, taking my shirt off and after much coaxing, treating a table full of excited locals to the haka. Happy New Year indeed.

Breakfast at 8am the following day was a nightmare. As well as feeling like crap in a bottle, I was also ‘that guy’ from the night before, meaning lots of people were keen to talk to me about what I’d done and how I was feeling. Powerade and coffee helped numb the pain, but I was in a fragile state as we set off for a morning of ziplining in the nearby gorge. Thankfully one of our Incan guides took pity, pulled me aside from the group and led me

The Jungle Trek crew at Machu Picchu

to an icy cold river for a quick head dunk. Adrenalin then took care of the rest as we zipped our way around the valley, not a bad way to spend a hungover New Years day.

The from the top of Machu Picchu Mountain

Steep climb to the top of Machu Picchu Mountain

After a night in Aguas Calientes, we rose at 4am to tackle the steep climb up to the Machu Picchu ruins. We’d had some mixed weather over the previous 3 days, but everything played ball as we got a 3 hour tour around the site from our guides. It is a pretty inspiring place. The process of a prehistoric culture putting this together is mind boggling and the surrounding landscape is stunning. As the morning pressed on and the tour buses continued to arrive the whole place became overrun with people. We were happy to escape and head for another steep climb to the summit of Machu Picchu mountain. We’d initially been pretty disappointed to find the more popular Huayana Picchu was already sold out, but the crystal clear day meant climbing the higher mountain gave us 360 degree views of the surroundings and the perfect view of the ruins site. You hear so much about this place as you’re traveling here and it certainly lived up to the hype. If you can get past the crowds, and starting earlier than most is the only way to do that, it’s well worthy of its status. It was also great to have been able to share the experience with Mum and Dad, who’d done an amazing job on some fairly strenuous walks, while 95% of the other people visiting simply caught a bus to the top.

Cusco Main Square

After bidding farewell to my parents, Cush and I set about exploring more of beautiful Cusco. A quality walking tour took us around the various local food joints, giving some inside tips and tastings of traditional Inca delicacies. Much to Cushla’s delight the tour even ended at a Chocolate museum, which combined the informative with some fondu deliciousness. Much more to my taste was the aptly named ‘Pork Alley’. This little gem is a whole street lined with restaurants that specialise in a meal consisting of deep fried pork, roast spuds and corn that will set your world on fire. This meal came in extremely handy in our recovery from Cusco’s other main attraction; partying.

Cush exploring Machu Picchu ruins

With our old traveling crew of Jaime, Joe, Esther and Jess arriving for their final weeks in South America, we made good use of the party hostels as we made some interesting discoveries. It turns out that drinking at altitude has 2 major kickers. Firstly, you get very drunk, very quickly which is great for the wallet and the entertainment level. Secondly, you get a hangover like a jackhammer. I’m not sure on the science behind it, but after exhaustive research I can confirm it as a fact.

Cusco is a nice little town, with old cobble stoned streets that wind through endless alleyways. Between the markets, the walks and the lively atmosphere we were stoked to have been able to spend so much time here. Sadly, this would be goodbye to our traveling crew, who we originally met in Guatemala and had shared some amazing adventures with since. We bid them farewell and began the long journey to Brasil.

Sacred Valley

Nights Stayed: Cusco – 10, Santa Teresa – 1, Santa Maria – 1, Aguas Calientes – 1

Quote of the week – “If only I had an off switch. Then I could just have a quiet night, drink 20 beers and go to bed” – Joe Ford with a timely reminder about what makes the Irish a cut above the rest in the drinking stakes

Nothing warms the heart – like watching a 7 year old responsibly supervise his 5 year old brother in a game of ‘light the fire crackers and throw them on road before they explode in your hand’. The families that play together certainly do stay together

Stay at – Loki Hostel. Good Mabo

We did the Jungle Trek – with Lorenzo Expeditions who were brilliant. It’s worth noting that everyone we spoke to in Cusco was happy with their tour company so it seems like

Machu Picchu

you can’t go too wrong

Fun fact – As well as being my birthday, in the Inca world December 28th is also known as Dia de los Santos Inocentes, which is their version of April Fools Day. Having your birthday on this day is considered to be extremely lucky by the Inca’s and may go some way to explaining how I turned out to be so incredibly good looking

Fun fact 2 – Peru corn kernels are 4 times the size of NZ corn

Random food of the week – Cuy (look it up). If you ever had a Guinea Pig that ran away or crapped in a cage you had to clean up when you were a child, this is your chance to get some revenge. Surprisingly delicious

Must do in Cusco – Grab a coffee at Jacks Cafe, and some chicken wings in Paddy’s Irish pub in the square. Mean feed.

Cush exploring Sacred Valley

You know you’re in a party hostel – when 2 people are having sex in your 8 bed dorm room at 3am, and not the quiet kind. I suppose this had to happen eventually

What grinds my gears – Instant coffee being served up at breakfast. Decent coffee is cheap to buy and easy to make, if you’re not gonna do it right don’t do it at all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peru – Scaling the Colca Canyon and Lake Titicaca

En route to the Colca Canyon

Peru contains a couple of big ticket items on the South American travel list and we were excited to get to Lima and rendezvous with Mum and Dad who’d decided to join us for Christmas. Our itinerary for the first week and a half was jam packed with exploring and trekking that would take us to the bottom of the worlds second deepest canyon, while cruising on the worlds highest navigable lake and spending the night with some of the locals.

Mum & Dad on the floating Island’s of lake Titicaca

Cush & I at the Condor Eagle lookout

With a couple of days to kill we set about exploring Lima, a much more upmarket city than we were expecting. The Miraflores Mall was easily the most elaborate shopping complex I’ve ever seen, with upmarket shops set in a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was all very first world and we even made it to the cinema to see a little film called El Hobbit: Un viaje inesperado, which we were surprised to find playing in English. Once mum and dad arrived it was time to board another overnight bus and make for Arequipa. We’d heard stories about the Peruvian bus’ and this did not disappoint, with huge leather seats, pillows, blankets and meals making us feel like we were flying business class. Finally some transport worthy of my status.

Showing off my mad as soccer skills to the kids in the Canyon

Arequipa is a cute little town, but we had limited time to enjoy it as it was our gateway to trekking the Colca Canyon. The 2 day trek started in the wee small hours as we went in search of a famous Condor Eagle nesting area. It’s a bit hit and miss whether you’ll see Condors soaring, but despite the dramatic landscape we were feeling a bit robbed when we only saw a few darting about. Then, right on que, just as we were leaving, a huge group turned up and put on an almighty show, soaring out over the canyon in large numbers. It had apparently been a week since a group last saw any flying so we counted our blessings and headed for the walking track. Setting off on the 1,000m descent into the canyon the weather was perfect and the scenery dramatic. I’d been imagining a huge hole in the ground ala the Grand Canyon, but this was more of a gigantic gorge, with a walking track winding down steep cliffs. Along the way we got plenty of info from our great guide as we passed through a few local villages, I was lucky enough to get involved in a game of soccer with the kids at one of the villages; though at altitude my lungs gave out long before the kids did.

The treking team after scaling the canyon

There’s nothing more satisfying after a hard days walking than a nice hot shower and a cold beer in front of a fire. Unfortunately what we got was a swim in a cold pool, followed by a warm beer in our powerless accommodation. Still, it was good to relax with a feed and we all slept like logs before rising at 4:30am for the climb out of the Canyon. In all we managed the 1,000m climb in 3 1/2 hours, not bad for a couple in their late 50’s and Cush battling a foot injury that left her with only 9 toenails. Yummy!! All that was left was a buffet lunch, some handling of a giant eagle and a soak in some hot pools to round out what was a fantastic trip. We’d done a lot of walking, been up to 4,900m (where we were in snow) and were pretty satisfied with our achievements.

With Father Christmas rapidly sneaking up on us, we headed to the town of Puno on Lake Titicaca, to celebrate Dad’s birthday and begin a day of Skyping into the various family festivities back home. Christmas in Peru is celebrated like everything else in Latin America, with food, church and a truckload of fireworks. While drinking a couple of bottles of red wine and watching Home Alone in Spanish, I also managed to throw together a Chicken roast, and with mum recovered from a serious bout of altitude sickness we had a great family day.

Cush looking at Bolivia from Amantani Island

Mum & Dad busting their dance moves out

Keen to see more of the lake we took a 2 day tour which started by visiting the famous floating islands of the Uros. In a bid to escape the invading Spanish, the Uros people cunningly decided to build hundreds of islands on the lake using layers of buoyant totora reeds. It’s a bizarre concept, but it obviously worked because they’re still here and even though it’s decidedly more tourist focused than I’d like, it was certainly interesting. We then pushed on to the Island of Amantani, where the 4 of us got to spend the night staying with a local family. They prepared our meals, gave us some insights into their lives on the island and even put on a disco with local music and dressed us in traditional clothes and dancing. Spending time with locals is always a highlight for us and this was no exception. Again, we’ve been struck by the warmth of the locals, who will happily bend over backwards to help where they can.

Traveling with Mum and Dad had been a real eye opener and it was a treat to be able to see their reactions to the surroundings. You’re surrounded by so many crazy sights here that you do become a little immune, so

Messing about with the animals

their comments about the overloaded cars, and the crazy living conditions and the unsafe everything was a pleasant reminder to us. Of course it also meant Christmas Day was more of an occasion than it otherwise would have been. Feeling pretty happy with our conquering of the worlds second deepest canyon we set off for Cusco and our date with the Machu Picchu ruins….

Nights Stayed: Lima – 2, Arequipa – 2, Conon Del Colca – 1, Puno – 2, Island Amantani – 1

Stay at – Arequipa Downtown Backpackers. We did our Colca Canyon Trek through them as well and it was brilliant

We got here – on a 28 hour bus ride from Guyaquil, Ecuador to Lima, Peru on Ormena. This was our longest single travel leg to date. God bless Temazepame. Overnight bus from Lima to Arequipa on Oltursa. Both companies were great.

Settling in for the long bus ride

Hard to believe – they have some problems with rubbish in the canyon as the locals don’t know the difference between organic and plastic. They think a drink bottle will decompose just like a banana skin

Quote of the week – “I don’t think there’s any seatbelts in this van” – Joan Hegarty. Bless you mum, but the real fun starts when you see how they drive

A serious interpreting session with our local hosts

Best safety seen yet – A woman rides on the back of a motorcycle, with her newborn baby in a sling, while she breastfeeds. Credit where credits due, that’s multitasking

The downside of traveling – The wedding season has kicked off in New Zealand, meaning we missed the nuptials of good friends Mark Jolly and April Pitman.

What grinds my gears – Whinging little kids on overnight bus rides. I’ve no problem with kids having a good cry when things are amiss, but those little buggers who just grizzle cos they’re bored or tired or whatever need a good smack. Parents, pull your finger out

Colca Canyon, Peru

Colca Canyon Walking Track

 

 

Rafting, Canyoning, Bridge jumps and a whole lot more in Ecuador

White water rafting – Banos

“So…. What’s been the highlight??” It’s the most common question I get asked when speaking to friends and family from home and it’s a tough one to answer. Things are so different as you move between cities, towns and countries and comparing them is nigh on impossible. All that aside, this time last week the answer was categorically Guatemala. As of now it’s Banos, Ecuador. Imagine Queenstown NZ, decided to have a 90% off sale on all adventure activities. The result gave was swinging off 100m bridges, canyoning down 40m waterfalls, white water rafting and downhill mountain biking. But more on all that in a bit.

Cush hits the mountain bikes in Cotopaxi

Ecuador started with our first flight since departing Europe and a nice change to avoid a lengthy bus ride through the Andes. Quito is apparently the official centre of the earth, making it really easy to balance an egg on a pin. It’s also high, with an altitude of 2,800m which combined with Cush getting sick limited our explorations. After some acclimatising we moved on to Cotopaxi to stay at a lodge at the foot of a giant volcano. The lodge sits at 3,500m (the peak of Mt Cook in NZ is 3,800m) which provided some interesting challenges to the daily routine. The most mundane tasks lead to fits of heavy breathing, while a morning mountain bike ride really took its toll on the lungs. Still, the lodge was a beautiful escape, set at the base of snow-covered mountains and we enjoyed our powerless bungalow and relaxing in front of an open fireplace. Unfortunately this would be the scene of some disgrace for me as my fire lighting skills were not up to the oxygen starved altitude conditions.

Now for Banos. As I already mentioned, this place had it all and we were treated to great weather and some cultural activities amidst our extreme sports. After some catch-up drinks with Esther and Jess we headed out to the towns independence week celebrations. This involved a large concert, where Ecuador’s version of Dave Dobbyn sang Ecuador’s version of ‘Why does love do this to me’ as young and old consumed vast quantities of alcohol. Interesting to

Cush & Esther feel the fear on the Zipline

see but not something to keep us out all night.

We rented mountain bikes and took advantage of a huge downhill run of 30km of road that winds through a giant valley. The scenery is amazing and the incline means that for minimal work, you can get some ridiculously unsafe speeds up. Along the way we stopped off to a Superman style zipline across the gorge, peaked at a few giant waterfalls and soaked up the views that would be worthy of almost anything NZ has to offer.

Me Adventure Canyoning – Banos

Boxcar Racing down the main street in Banos

Our travel reunion was complete once Jamie, Joe and Wade bowled into town and we set off for a morning of waterfall canyoning in the nearby mountains. This entailed abseiling down six waterfalls of increasing size, until finally conquering a 40m drop. There were a few scared faces in between some humming of the Indiana Jones theme song, but I love stuff like this and it was one of the highlights of the trip. Our scheduled afternoon bridge swing was then postponed on the news the towns marquee event a Box Car Derby would be kicking off at 3pm. Unable to believe our luck, we settled in with the entire town as people hung from balcony’s, lined rooftops and squeezed in for any vantage point of the carts that came flying down the main street. We also found an entrepreneurial local who was taking advantage of his location and supplying beers on the stealth from an illegal bar. This was a crazy, crazy event, where the risk of injury to racers and bystanders was topped only by the amount of fun everyone was having.

The crew with the eventual Boxcar Champions take time for a photo opp

While canyoning had been incredible, we thought we may have erred when we signed up for white water rafting. A grossly disorganised operation that seemed very light on ideas and safety had us questioning ourselves before getting in the water. Thankfully our fears were quickly erased as the grade 4 river threw up a fantastic morning in the sun. Recent rain meant we got some above average water and Jamie ensured Joe was the first man overboard courtesy of a gentle nudge when he was off-balance. This lead to an all in and the entire crew ended up overboard.

Various techniques in the bridge jump

The elephant in the room was still the Bridge Swing, which was causing some serious angst. A shocking run of luck on the dice the previous night meant I was required to do my jump in Jess’s swimsuit, a suitably frilly 1 piece. The boys flirted with the idea of joining me in ladies attire but on viewing the 100m drop quickly decided a silly hat would be more than sufficient. The jump was exhilarating as you’d expect, all the more so given the assumed lack of safety requirements in setting up such an activity in the back blocks of Ecuador. Still, no-one died and we can’t ask for any more than that now can we.

If you’re going to risk death you’d might as well look like a massive knob while you do it

The girls celebrated with a deluxe 4-hour pamper session at a nearby spa, which involved dancing to video clips while covered in mud amongst other strange procedures. We then reconvened for what would be an early 30th birthday night for me. I was even treated to candles and a cake that looked lovely but tasted like poison. Stuff like Xmas and birthdays can get a bit lost when you’re traveling so it was pretty special to get a night with the crew we’ve had some great adventures with. And we celebrated accordingly.

Banos had been a complete blast from the moment we arrived and it was almost fitting that on our final morning we awoke to a huge volcanic eruption of Mount Tungurahua. Our timing impeccable as we left the small town with its streets covered in snowing ash. I’ve never been anywhere that offered the variety in terms of adventure activities and we were both gutted we hadn’t allocated more time to Banos. But, with the impending arrival of the Hegarty parents in Lima we had some serious moving to do. Bring on Peru!!

Cush & I getting ready for canyoning

Nights Stayed – Quito – 3, Cotopaxi – 2, Banos – 4, Guayaquil – 1

It’ll cost you – peanuts. Mountain bike hire for the day – $5. Ziplining $10. Waterfall Canyoning $20. White Water Rafting (lunch and photo’s included) $20. 100m Bridge swing $15 ($20 if you want a video and photo’s). 4 hour pamper session $60. The bargain basement prices mean you can experience everything you want on a backpackers budget which is really the making of this place

Best Feed – The shredded pork burger at the Stray Dog is hands down the best thing I’ve had in South America. After some real trouble in Colombia it was great to see a huge step up in the food quality of Ecuador

Where to stay – The Secret Garden in Cotopaxi is a must visit

Fun fact – Ecuador has the same sized land mass as New Zealand but is home to 4 times the population who live off half of our National GDP

Random experience – Some language difficulties meant we arrived 15 mins late for our 8 hour bus ride to Guayaquil. No drama for the women at the bus company who promptly closed her office, jumped into a cab with us and simply chased down the bus. We didn’t even have to pay for the cab. Love this place

The reality check – Apparently they do bridge swings instead of bungy jumps in Ecuador because they had a fatal accident so now bungy jumps are banned. Thankfully we found this one out after our jump

Quito by night

Quote of the Week 2 – “Aaaaaargh. Can’t you just push me off??” – Joe has a bit of trouble getting his legs moving on the bridge swing

Quote of the Week 2 – “I can’t wait to get to Ecuador and go to a Supermarket” – Cush. “Why??” – Dean. “Just so I can look at all the prices” – Cush discussing her fetish for supermarkets

What grinds my gears – OK so you serve up the best food I’ve eaten in the last six months. For two days it’s shredded pork burger and fries paradise. Then with no notice at all you close your shop for 3 days leaving me like a junkie without a dealer. Shame on you Stray Dog. Shame on you

Coffee & Ayahuasca Tours in Salento & Bogota, Colombia

The beautiful Balneario de Santa Rosa hot springs

After yet another bus ride that induced our lives to flash before our eyes, we arrived in Colombia’s beautiful coffee region. The roads are treacherous but the landscapes are truly breathtaking and matches anything I’ve seen.

Our first stop was Santa Rosa, where we treated ourselves to a morning at Balneario de Santa Rosa, a spectacular thermal spring set in the forest. Oh it’s hard work all this traveling, and a couple of hours bathing amongst a backdrop of forest and the most beautiful waterfall we’ve ever laid eyes on was just what the doctor ordered. It’s a quaint little spot but we quickly moved on to the main attraction in the region, Salento.

Salento offers a wide range of activities and we quickly took advantage grabbing 2 horses and releasing our inner cowboys as we set off on a 3 hour ride for a nearby waterfall. I haven’t been on a horse since uni days and it was great to get some galloping done, even better that Cushla’s horse insisted on keeping pace with mine, meaning I could control how fast she went.

We met some incredibly friendly people at the hostel and a group of us decided to head on a day tramp in search of a hummingbird nesting area. Very cultured. Led by what we assumed was a very capable American girl who’d done the walk just a couple of weeks before, we embarked on one almighty balls-up. Going in completely the wrong direction we slogged up an incredibly steep and muddy track for 3 1/2 hours before realising the error of our ways. We obviously didn’t see any hummingbirds, but we did get some beautiful views and have a lot of fun trying to navigate the downhill mud track.

But it’s the coffee that makes Salento famous and we couldn’t turn down a trip to Osaco a local organic coffee farm to get a behind the scenes look at how coffee grinds start their life. As a coffee lover it’s almost comical I didn’t have the foggiest how they make the stuff and despite a bit of a language barrier it was a great tour. We were also treated to a special event as we got to see a litter of puppies just 2 hours old. More Cushla’s taste than mine it was none the less a new experience.

With a spare afternoon we made our way into the Salento township to play the local game of Tejo. It’s a little bit Petanque and a little bit Shot Put as you launch metal disks into a box of clay. The kicker is that in the box of clay is a whole lot of gunpowder and if you hit your target you get a large explosion as your reward. Of course the game is set in a bar, alcohol being the perfect companion to a game involving dangerously heavy objects being thrown long distance at gunpowder.

Cush trying her hand at the local game of Tejo

We had some amazing adventures in Salento, a beautiful mountainous area which actually felt a lot like home. But the highlight came from an event very different from home. With a van load from our hostel we joined a large group of Colombians and participated in an Ayahuasca ceremony. Ayahuasca is a mind altering hallucinogenic that Inca people drink as part of a religious and spiritual experience. They make it from the root of a local plant much like kava and the drinking process is accompanied by great ceremony.

Not a bad place to be lost

A Shaman (local priest) dressed in a full feathered head piece and other bizarre bling, begins a chorus of religious chanting. The bongo drums beat, with some acoustic guitar and vocals in the background, before the pipe flute chimes in to complete the ensemble. All the time of course, the constant chanting of “hi yo hi yo, hi yo hi yo” gets everyone pumped up. After splashing some holy water on ourselves we were then given a cup of dirty liquid, instructed to toast the gods and drink up. Then you head off to a little corner, lie down and ‘heal your soul’.

Salento, Colombia

The Colombians are really into this stuff and there were a couple of gringo’s who’re doing it as part of a fairly intensive soul-searching exercise. For me personally, it was certainly an interesting night but not the life changing experience others have reported. First and foremost this was religion and if you’re that way inclined I think you’d be more likely to see the light. Still, by the time they were blowing ground tobacco up my nose (to clear the evil spirits) and shaking poisonous leaves over some of the locals we’d been treated to a pretty special event. From a cultural perspective, this is as genuine as it gets and a night that will never be forgotten.

Getting to know some locals and army officers in Bogota

We signed off from Colombia with a whistle-stop tour of the capital Bogotá. A bike tour was the perfect way to get to grips with this big city, as we stopped in at the local emerald market, saw the bullfighting arena and got the background on some critical history. Having met up with Jaime, Joe and their newest edition Wade for 1 night only, we then proceeded to party like it was 1999. The pickings were slim for entertainment, but we made lemonade and had one of the best nights in recent memory. The perfect way to top off an incredible month in Colombia.

Coffee time in Salento

Nights Stayed – Santa Rosa – 2, Salento – 4, Bogotá – 2

Stay at – La Serenna in Solento. The best hostel we’ve stayed in by some distance

The Colombians – Deserve to sit 2nd behind the Irish as the friendliest nation of people I’ve ever encountered. They are such a warm and helpful bunch

Best feed – the pork chops and chips option for 13 pesos ($7) in Bogotá will be hard to top anywhere on the planet. A special meal that came in a time of crisis. A rare bright spot in a country that has terrible food

How bad is most of the food?? – We’ve taken to pre preparing hard boiled eggs, lettuce and 12 hour old cold toast for our bus rides as it’s head and shoulders above what we’ve found at the bus stations

Bogota Bike tour

Strange feed of the week – BBQ’d Iguana. I won’t be going back for seconds

Quote of the week – “I was a bit thrown off by that river we walked across but I recognize this bit and we’re definitely only 20 mins from the top” – Our American ‘guide’ keeping the troops motivated. It turned out at this point we’d been walking on completely the wrong track for three hours

Interestingly – Despite producing the worlds best coffee, Colombians generally get left to drink the crap beans that aren’t up to export quality

Beautiful Salento

The Spanish – continues to be a bit of a double edged sword. I’m now having conversations where both parties fully understand each other, interpreting directions and even sharing a joke, walking away thinking “I’ve got this Spanish thing sorted”. 5 minutes later I’ll try to have a conversation with someone else and I won’t understand a word

What difference a bus ride makes – We’ve spent the last 3 months in often sweltering heat. 2 weeks ago I was going to throw my hoodie and shies away because I hadn’t worn them in the whole trip. 1 bus ride (and a couple of thousand metres in altitude) and some serious cold was a shock to the system. Time for the 3 stripe trackies; that had received a free ride, to come into their own

What grinds my gears – Ridiculously over inflated currency. You want a beer?? That’ll be 3,500 Pesos thanks. The whole mess is made even more ridiculous by the fact the Spanish word for thousand is million. Just do us all a favour Colombia and move a couple of decimal points over. Ta