The Galapagos Islands,

April 28 – May 5

General

The Galapagos islands rightfully represent the jewel of Ecuador’s tourism industry, and consequently are perhaps not as isolated or remote as their reputation might have you believe. The upside here is that the main islands of Santa Cruz, San Cristobal and to a lesser extent Isabella possess a good basic infrastructure for visitors, with the only downside being that you may have to share the beaches, sea lions and other wild life with a few fellow visitors from other boats. The island chain itself consists of about 12 islands, only a handful of which are generally visited on the cruises offered by the various tour agencies.

A word about Charles Darwin –

Probably the islands’ most famous visitor passed through the Galapagos as a young man in his early twenties, a companion to commander Robert Fitz Roy aboard the HMW Beagle on her round-the-world voyage. It was his observations of the flora and fauna in these islands in 1835 that later lead Darwin to formulate and publish his theory on evolution and natural selection in his most famous and revolutionary work, “The Origin of Species”. This book, however, was not published until 1859, by which time Darwin had become a well-established scientist in his field.

The Galapagos Islands are a spectacular place to visit, as much for the unique wildlife that is both unspoilt and complete apathetic to man’s presence here, as well as for the pristine natural beauty. All the islands and the sea around them now belong to the national park service of Ecuador, and as such, are closely managed and tightly protected – a fact that you appreciate once you land on any of the islands. Originally, we were not sure if we were going to visit the islands due to the expense involved and the fact that our (planned) 3 month trip was now approaching the 5 month mark, but as soon as we arrived, we knew we had made the right decision…!

The Boat Cruise

Welcome to San Cristobal Island !!

We arrived on the island of San Cristobal after a pleasant, 2 hour flight, and together with the 14 other passengers, were taken to the harbor to hop aboard a small inflatable raft and find our boat.

- our crew + Jon from Iceland…. …and the rest of our fellow passengers

- our first sunset on board… - our fearless guide, Whitman - Island crusing around in our Zodiac

As great as life was on board, the next four days we would visit four different islands, and spend our time on any number of activities: nature walks, snorkling, swimming, eating, or just relaxing on the boat. The full agenda every day kept things moving right along, and during our daily briefings we would be brought up to speed on what the next day’s activities would bring. Navigation from island to island was usually done at night, with the daytime reserved for our many activities. While the waters around the Galapagos can be quite rough during certain times of the year, we were fortunate in that things during Spring are still (relatively) calm – only one night did most passengers head to their cabin’s early to try and minimize the effect of the rolling of our boat.

Our itinerary saw us visiting the following islands, creating a clockwise circle through southwestern islands in the archipelago: San Cristobal (Sea Lion Island and Punta Peet), Espanola (Gardner Bay), Floreana (Point Cormorant – Post Office Bay), and Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora and Charles Darwin Station).

- on San Cristobal - this way for hikers…… … and this way for photographers…

- first impressions on our morning exploration in San Cristobal with the Queen of Galapagos in the background

- and sometimes it is not clear who is checking out whom!

- a local poser on the island of Floreana !!

- our turn to pose among the local sea lions

…. along with our new friends from Canada

- this place “rocks” !!

- the famous Blue-footed Boobie !!                                                                   - marine iguanas, heading in to warm up

- during a beautiful sunset walk on Espanola…

- more beautiful sunset moments…. …some more beautiful than others !!

Of the many impressive, beautiful things we saw along the way, the highlight for both of us consisted of our afternoon snorkeling with young sea lions pups. We were dropped in one of the bays of San Cristobal near the rocky shore, and within seconds, a number of young sea lions began to approach us underwater. A bit nervous at first we were not sure how to react, since these were, after all, wild creatures and we were visitors in their habitat. But it did not take long before we began to imitate their playful behavior (or were they imitating us…?), diving to the bottom, shooting to the surface and snapping for air before diving once again, swimming in circles around one another, and so on. At one point, Helen even got her swim fin tugged at playfully by one of the sea lions who was flirting with her. We could have stayed here the remaining 4 days, but alas, the bell rang and it was time once more to go back to the boat for dinner.

- ahhhhh, how cute…!! - less cute, but very cool to get up so close

Our afternoon walk on the Island of Espanola was absolutely packed with amazing wildlife…

- a pair of “Masked Boobies - the Albatross, just arrived for nesting season

- the elegant albatross in flight… … and then there’s this masked boobie scratching behind his ear

- Helen, sending off a postcard at the local post office at Floreana - it actually made it home before we did !!

- not unique to the Galapagos, but still fascinating birds! - the colourful sally lightfoot crabs everywhere

- yummmmm…!

- taking a plunge off the boat to cool off … …it’s actually a very tall boat !

- not easy to see, but it’s a school of large, Golden rays - our very own Indiana Jones walking off into the sunset !

- our last morning we went to see the famous giant turtles back at the Darwin Center on Santa Cruz to see the 150 year old creatures, and some of their younger offspring

Isabella Island

Following our wonderful cruise, we decided to hop on a small speed-boat and spend a few days on our own visiting the more remote island of Isabella. We found a wonderful 2^nd floor room (with aircondition !) in a small, beach-front house, and spent the next three days hiking, going to the beach, and enjoying the remoteness and simplicity of the island. Approaching the 5 month-mark of our trip, we thought of ourselves as quite the seasoned travellers by now, but were quite humbled by our room-neighbor, Paul, who had apparently been travelling the world for the last 16 years !!

- our house back on Isabella Island beach - the “crowds” at our local beach checking out the surf

- the Marine Iguana was one of the most prevalant creatures we ran into on Isabella island…

- pretty handsome, ain’t he…?!

- the “ghost crabs” was another cute presence on our local beaches

- hiking up one of the volcanos on Isabella

- with a diameter of 11 km, this was actually the 2nd largest crater in the world

Our Galapagos Diving Trip

As we approached the end of our trip to the Galapagos, we decided that our stay would not be complete without a day visiting Neptune’s kingdom. Having returned to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz, the “main” island, we did some shopping around, we found ourselves on a beautiful, 70 foot sailing yacht that had been fitted to become a dive boat. Most dive operators in Puerto Ayora offer packages that have you spend the day cramped on a small, converted power boat, so we were quite happy to have found this alternative. Together with the crew and our two fellow divers, Daphne and Dina from Israel, we took a couple of plunges into the local waters and saw some wonderful underwater wildlife: (large!) white tip reef sharks, several different rays, sea lions, beautiful sea urchins , bright blue star fish and so on.

- Daphne, getting ready for a “Titanic” moment - Helen and her new diving buddy, Dina

- relaxing in the sun, after a great day’s diving…

Our last day on Santa Cruz we had a great walk to some amazingly beautiful beaches, where we once again headed for the water to do more snorkeling and some great body surfing in the rougher parts of the coastline. During our snorkeling expedtion, we got a bit closer than we had anticipated to more of those large reef sharks, and what was more scary, a HUGE school of very LARGE golden rays, out on their afternoon feeding session slightly different when confronted with these, no wet suit and about a kilometre from the shore - but we survived.

Back in Puerto Ayora, we enjoyed some of the “action at the local fish market where sea lions, pelicans, seagulls and Blue Footed Boobies were fighting over the scraps from the day’s catch.

- hey, whatch got in there…?? - a pair of Pelican anxiously awaiting some scraps

- oh please, please oh please…!!!

Returning home..

And so on our 8^th day in the islands, it was time to say farewell to this very special place, and to begin our long journey back to the world we had left behind some four and a half months earlier. The taxi, boat and bus-ride from our B & B to the airport was actually quite emotional, not just because we were saying farewell to this wonderful place, but because our flight back to Guayaquil marked the beginning of our return “home”.

- the ferry ride from Santa Cruz Island to the airport             - our “ride” back to the mainland

- “Helenita”, tanned and relaxed, on the way home…

…and let’s not forget our friend Pepito, enjoying the comfort of his business class seat on his way back from the Galapagos to Guyaquil

During our return journey, in a subconscious attempt to put off the inevitable, we also managed to spend a week or so with friends and family in Florida, dropping by St. Petersburg to visit Wayne & Tracy and family, Tallahassee to see ML and Jeff, and Orlando, and to visit with Helen’s Aunty Joyce and her cousins.

And then, after almost 5 months, and countless thousands of miles in planes, buses, trains, in automobiles, we  and on foot, we boarded our BA flight back to the UK and the inevitable return to “reality” (whatever that may be) began…!

After our fabulous two weeks in Cusco and the Sacred Valley, we finally decided it was time to move, though it was also hard to leave. I would have been happy to stay for an extra few weeks and just do volunteering for “Bruce Peru” and Spanish classes, but as we headed into the last couple of weeks of the trip we naturally felt the pull of home and the need to get back and start real life again shortly - well, at least in the next month anyhow!

So on to our last South American country, Ecuador - famous for it’s high peaks (6 above 6000m), being on the equator of course and the Galapagos Islands. The country encompasses very diverse ecosystems in a small area the size of the state of Colorado, with elevations ranging from sea level on the Pacific coast side to the highest point Chimborazo Volcano 6310m, with a tropical climate along the coast and in the Amazon region, and of course much cooler temperatures in the highlands.

We flew into Quito (via Lima from Cusco) arriving late in the evening staying downtown in the area of Mariscal, known for its nightlife and restaurants, although although this was difficult to imagine as it was so quiet when we arrived (at 04.00 in the morning!! We spent the next few days wandering around the old town , getting to know the Mariscal area and some of the cities other attractions, as well as admiring the view down onto Quito from the cable car to the top of Mount Pichincha at 4200 meters elevation. Unfortunately, because of the altitude and its impact on some of our photo gear, we actually lost some of our photos on our magic storage device - fortunately only of Quito city, and not any of the other more spectacular places we visited.

From the old town looking up to the XYZ Hendrik at the top of the gondola looking down onto Quito.

Like La Paz in Bolivia, Quito is another sprawling city set in the Andes but in this case a much more friendly city, and we enjoyed the parks, old town sights, a fun night on the tiles at a local Salsa club and a night out at the cinema (with dinner at Tony Roma’s steak house!). We also got the chance to meet up with Arno & Sanne, a fun couple we’d met down in Southern Patagonia months ealier, who were just coming to the end of a 3 month voluntary stint with a local charity for single mums. It’s funny how people you’ve only met once/communicated with once or twice can seem so like home just because they’re from the Netherlands -guess we’re getting towards the end of the trip and beginning to look forward to seeing friends and family again.

The Equatorial line itself - or so they say - apparantly it’s a few hundred yards away from here - but who’s counting - it’s close enough, damn it!

The highlands of the Ecuadorian Andes have many active volcanoes, including Cotopaxi which is the highest active volcano in the world (5800m) and Chimborazo (6300m - 21000ft), which is actually the highest mountain as measured from the earth’s core! Apparently, the Earth´s somewhat flattened shape on the equator adds 2500m in elevation compared to Mount Everest in the Himalayas.

Part of our time in Quito was spent shopping around for the best Galapagos deal we could get our hands on, but in the process we also came across this great biking company called “Biking Dutchman” and signed up for a two day biking tour of Cotopaxi and Chimborazo - which turned out to be a real highlight of our Equador adventure.

Looking the part

The first day we sped from about 4300mtrs from Cotopaxi down to the valley floor - although didn’t have great views of the volcano due to the clouds, we did have a fun ride down the volcano melt terrain - especially with our new found mountain biking confidence! Here we are, looking ridiculous as always, but the protection is worth having - if only to go faster with confidence…….yee haa!

The best view of the volcano cone as it peaked thru the clouds………speeding down the valley!

Exhilarated and happy about having arrived safely at our overnight destination, the Urbina train station - this was once the highest rail station on the train track connecting Andean Quito to lowland Quayaquil on the coast. Unfortunately the train no longer runs this route as the track is not cost effective to maintain, but what was left here was a fabulous old train station converted into an outdoor adventure, over-night hostel. Set in the valley with Chimborazo towering above - its a spectacular location.

We were entertained that evening by the local panflute band; sharing dinner and a wee jig with a bunch of mad mountaineering French men which was pretty amusing. Here you see our hosts Rodrigo, Maria and Fabian who run the hostel, produce wonderful food, company and great mountaineering stories long into the night if you have the energy!

The beautiful Chimborazo backdrop to Urbina station. Hendrik way up at 5000m at the base camp for those who want to climb the summit.

Looking up into the clearing and the route to the Chimborazo peak. We were happy to have made it this far - 5000m (16,404ft) and boy that took some efforts getting up there - you don’t do anything fast at this elevation, and getting up here gave me a newfound respect for mountain climbers and what they achieve at that altitude and higher. We also came across our french mountaineering buddies of the night before who had been up since 2am making an attempt for the summit. Unfortunately for them, the weather had come in and they had had to abandon the climb before reaching the peak.

We then enjoyed the fruits of our labours and experienced another fun bike ride down the mountain and through the surrounding valley. Encouraged by our new found companions, Thomas and Connie, we decided to stay back at Urbina station to enjoy the hospitality one more night, do some hiking and biking of a different sort……….

Chugga chugga choo choo - the worlds 1st Andean Trencycle - a cross between a bicycle and a train on account of the noise it makes as it speeds over the track rails at up to 35 km per hour (depending on how fast you pedal, of course).

It all looked so tame……..until we came across the slopes enroute….scaring humans and llamas alike…..this track had not been used for 10 years and sheep, dogs and llamas had to be removed from the track at times in order to move on!

Here we come……get out of the path as Hendrik and Thomas speed around another tight corner

What a fabulous and fun way to see the countryside - we went around 12km’s until we realised what goes down must come up and at a completely different pace I may add!

Putting our backs into it - only a couple onboard at a time with the passengers having to walk back.

We spent our last morning on a nice walk with our new, four-legged body guard, Negrita, who looked after us the whole way. She was such a sweetie - she even put up with Pepito’s pranks!

After saying our goodbyes to our friends in Urbina, we then made our way by bus to try and experience the famous “Devil´s Nose” train ride - a unique feat of mechanical engineering in its day with a system of switchbacks built on a steep mountainside to safely deliver the train into the lowlands to connect with Quayaquil. An experience we were advised not to miss, which unfortunately was cut short from the former 4-5 hour ride to a minimal 45 mins each way tourist trap - a bit disappointing having travelled a 1.5days out of our way to get here!

However - everyones like a train ride and we enjoyed it for what it was and tried to imagine what it had been like when you were permitted to ride on the roof in the days before a tourist from Asia got decapitated on an over head line - painful! I guess you could say that’s what you get for sticking your head out!

One last grin please tourist…………..the real macoy……………………and the imitator - cheeky!

We then took another interesting (local) bus ride down several thousands metres to Quayaquil at sea level - the second biggest city in Ecuador and a place not known for its safety. For this reason, we kept to the touristy but very well manicured waterfront area and started to prepare for our exciting Galapagos trip the following day - yippee !!- we were both very excited, and as you will see, we were not to be disappointed this time!

Our next stop after leaving the fabulous Lake Titicaca was Cusco, Peru, capital of the former Inca empire, a beautiful city in an equally beautiful location high in the Andes at 3700m. We arrived here after a pleasant, day-long bus ride in a spacious and nearly empty tour bus ($25 each!), having enjoyed a nice mix of pleasant scenery and architectural monuments along the way. We originally intended to stay for around a week or so, but enjoyed the various sights and activities here so much, that we extended our stay to two weeks.

Cusco itself is not a large city, but large enough to offer its many visitors a good infrastructure in many ways. To me, it also feels like the “volunteering capital” of South America, and it took me a while to get used to the extreme concentration of gringos not only visiting but also working here. The city was the heart of the Inca empire, and there are many traces of the incas to be found throughout the center of the city, as well as its outskirts. Unfortunately, when the Spanish conquistadores arrived here in the 1530’s, they decided to make a statement by destroying most of the fabulous original architecture and constructing their “own” Cusco on the Inca ruins, sometimes even using the original stones for this purpose. A spectacular cathedral, plenty of churches, monasteries and other colonia architecture, a couple of interesting markets, a clean and orderly feeling, as well as the inevitably steep streets all of it surrounded by endlessly stunning scenery make this a gem of a place to visit, relax in, and use as a base for the many activities on offer in and around the Cusco area. Which is what we did…

- Some views of Cusco, from above and down at the central plaza

- helen and our guide on a city tour, before an Inca Temple turned Spanish church…

Our trip started with a short stay at the Hotel Amaru in San Blas, which we left after 3 days due to the distinct lack of water. Described as a temporary problem suffered by all hotels in the area of San Blas, we learned that most places down the block did not have any problems at all, and we moved to a very pleasant B & B called the Meson Montjoy, run by a very friendly and helpful host named Gana (and her daughters). And happily we were able to once again bathe, brush our teeth, and go to the toilet day and night !

- some more photos of central Cusco

Helen had also planned to visit a couple of local charities here, and make a donation to a worthy cause once she was comfortable with the set up. In the process of learning more about childrens’ education charity called “Bruce Peru Foundation”, we also came upon a great language school called Fairplay, which is both a non-profit charity to aid single mothers, as well as an excellent place to learn Spanish. So, we both signed up for some grammar and conversational Spanish lessons with our new teachers Josie and Marta, and help give our steadily improving Spanish skills a good push. If any of you or your friends are thinking of going to Cusco and taking some classes, we highly recommend this school!

- the famous “12-sided stone”, in an ancient Incan wall              - a night view of the central plaza

- plenty of pan-flute music around these parts…!             - a local villager and her children in the city

Another institution worth visiting here is the South American Explorers Club, led by Mary, a very nice and competent lady from the US. They have a wealth of information, resources and experience on anything and everything to do with the area.

Cusco lies near the so-called “Sacred Valley”, which contains a number of towns or villages dating back to the Incas and ultimately leading to Machu Picchu. We decided that rather than getting on a tour bus to see some of these sites, we would get to know some of the area better in the great outdoors on a mountain bike. Having found an outfit with a nice young guide (and unfortunately relatively poor bikes), the three of us set off on a full day, high altitude bike ride that would turn out to be quite an adventure. Starting off rather tame, the paths first took us over hills and through fields to an ancient Inca agricultural experimentation site, where we stopped for a little lunch. After our break, we continued our ride and quickly learned what a “single-track” is in the world of mountain biking: a steep, narrow, rock-filled trail, preferably with sharp drops on at least one side and little to no margin for error. (Saddles low, we learned, you will understand why that is safer if you have ever attempted this yourself!).

- taking a breather near the sacred valley       

                                                                                - Helen, fearless mountain bike road  warrior

- An ancient Incan agricultural experimenation site, with multi-level microclimates

Having braved several miles of this single-track business, we made it to our next stop, a small family shack in a tiny town en route in order to try the famous “chicha”. Chicha is beer brewed in certain households from corn and additional ingredients such as strawberries in this case, served warm and fresh every afternoon, and very popular among the locals. And us. After a generous helping of this liquid courage, we hopped back on our bikes and continued our journey on to the next attraction, a series of hill-side salt mines farmed by the local villagers. Of course, the path to get there and beyond would consist of some more of this “single-track”, extra steep, extra rocky, extra narrow and with even scarier drops off to the side. In retrospect, we now understand the need for the Chicha BEFORE attempting this last leg of our mountain bike tour.

- going in to see the locals and try some “Chica”          - yummmmmmm (note guinea pig!!!)

- after ingesting enough liquid courage, getting some sacred valley “big air” seemed no problem !

 - the local salt mines near the end…            - triumphant at last, having mastered the single-tracks !!

We arrived safely at the floor of the sacred Valley and made it to the bus station of Riobamba, from where we embarked on a very crowded but interesting bus ride “home” to Cusco.

Once back in Cusco, it was time to start thinking about making our way to the great archiological site of Machu Picchu. Many people attempt this journey on foot using the services of various agencies and their porters to venture the 60 kilometers or so for four days through the high Peruvian Andes. Unfortunately, the trail has become so popular that it sells out 3-6 months in advance, and we were not able to secure tickets. However, we ended up finding a solution that was in the end much more adventureous and much more interesting…

Back at  the South American Explorer’s Club, we had met a local guide (Miguel) and received some advice on “alternate” hikes to do in the area. After another coincidental encounter with Miguel the next day, we found ourselves having rented tent, sleeping bags, cooking gear, and with way too much food for two people. Miguel arranged for us to be led by Lorenzo, another guide from one of the “local” villages, whom we would meet in yet another tiny villages several hours from Cusco. Why not…?

Up at five, we met the first of our two drivers who would eventually transport us for four hours and over passes of 4000+ meters to get to our rendezvous point in the town of Lares. Having arrived in Lares, we were soon met by a rather tired looking man wearing the traditional dress of the local villages who said his name was Lorenzo. It turns out that to meet us at 10.00, Lorenzo had had to walk from one o’clock in morning up and down steep mountain passes pulling along his two horses (+ one of their foals). An apple and a bottle of water later, our bags were loaded on we began what was absolutely one of the most special experiences of our trip.

- Our guide Lorenzo at the rendezvouz point with his horses, and later on the trail after a little rain shower

    - taking a break with the horses on our first day

- putting up the tent in Huacawasi before the imminent rain storm on day 1 - despite my involvement, we actually managed !

For the next three days, we would hike, talk, cook and pass the time with Lorenzo, passing through some of the most remote places still inhabited by people that we had seen so far. While it was still rainy season, our mornings tended to be dry, but afternoons and evenings brought plenty of rain. The first night we pitched our tent in a local farmer’s field, but due to the rains, we spent most of the afternoon and evening in the one-room, dirt-floored hut that was his family’s home, talking, cooking, eating, and – watching a DVD !! Incredibly, while there was clearly no reception of any kind,(they just got electricity in the form of a lightbulb dangling from a home-rigged cable last year) this family had the distinction of having both a tv and a dvd player in their hut !

Day two  proved to be the toughest hiking day basically from the first step, with steep trails taking us over the 4350 meter pass for around 6-8 hours, ending the day in Lorenzo’s own village that evening Pachacancha. While still quite simple, the village had its own soccer field (a source of pride in many communities), and Lorenzo actually had a guest room in the bottom of his house, so that we got to ride out the another all-night rain storm in the luxury of our own individual beds, and even had something unheard of in most parts in the area - our own bathroom! Having brought way too much food for ourselves, we were in the fortunate position that we were able to cook dinner and breakfast the next morning for Lorenzo and another half dozen members of his family, including his wife and two precious young daughters.

- loading up the horses for our second day of hiking, and saying farewell to our lovely host family

- Daughter Madalena - beautiful, smart and funny, if not a bit shy at first

- day 2 starts off steeply…!

 …and continues steeply…

- …until we finally reach the summit at 4350 meters !!

taking a well-deserved break on our descent     …and then plowing onward to our destination

- The descent also posed a few minor obstacles…

…less so for the locals and their 4 footed friends

    - approaching Patacancha, our destination in the distance…

- spinning a yarn in Lorenzo’s house                - his two girls Naomi and Marie - Luce: absolutely precious !!

Day three consisted of a relatively gentle four hour descent as we made our way into the charming and small village of Ollantaytambo, which is as fun to visit as it is to try and pronounce. The village itself dates back to Inca times, sits near the western end of the Sacred Valley and is flanked on three sides by steep, green mountain sides. Ollantaytambo’s charm comes from its well-preserved cobblestone construction with several small streams running along the sidewalks and streets of town. It is a regular stop for tourist buses for the well preserved Inca ruins built on precariously steep hillsides, and also for the fact that it is one of the two embarkation points for the train to Machu Picchu. There are a handful of B & Bs here and small hotels here, one of which we chose as our place for the night, before heading off to Machu Picchu the next day.

     - a family portrait before our departure day 3                     - the last kilometers before our destination  

 - Lorenzo in his traditional hat (1 of 9 he owns!)

- Ollantaytambo and its Inca Ruins and old, cobblestoned streets….very atmospheric!

- a local mother with her daughter

While having lunch (and dinner, for that matter) at the “Heart’s Café” in Ollantaytambo, we stumbled across another very worthwhile charity organization called the “Hearts Foundation”, managed by a young spirited British lady Sonia of 78, who was serving the tables and helping the kitchen staff while we were there !! If you are in the area, you should definitely visit the restaurant (recommended in travel guides), and read about the Hearts Foundation, which looks to support Andean village causes such as single mum shelters, children’s education and adhoc operations for worthy cases that can’t afford the treatment. What Sonia has achieved over the last 5 years is amazing and a great recommendation if you are looking to volunteer in the area.

On to Machu Picchu –

One of the necessary evils in visiting Machu Picchu is the character-less town of Aguas Calientes at the foot of the Inca site, through which all visitors pass before climbing up the mountain to Machu Picchu itself. One of the pluses is the train ride to get there, which, while quite expensive, provides a very scenic way to get cover the remaining distance between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu. Having heard and read so much about the place, with Helen having experienced its magic almost 12 years earlier to the day, our expectations for a “Wow-experience” were naturally very high, and we were not disappointed.

The anticipating builds very quickly with the bus-ride to the top, which is a journey of about 20-30 minutes up a steep serpentine road as the steep, lush peaks of the valley around Machu Picchu unfold before you. Unlike many visitors who get up before dawn to watch the sun rise from the top of the mountain, our plans had us arriving at mid-day, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After our guided tour, and as the afternoon wore on, the crowds that usually flock to the place in the first part of the day thinned out noticeably to a point where we were among the very few people left at the end of the day. Add to that the sun,  which manage to peek out of the clouds for a good part of the afternoon, and we had a truly spectacular experience at the top. As hard as it was to break away from the magic of the place, closing time (5 pm) was fast approaching and the park guards moved us along past the last of the Llamas until we were back on the bus toward Aguas Calientes. We had to suffer through one night there before getting on the return train the next morning back to Ollantaytambo, which turned out to be an even better trip, as we had the entire train carriage more or less to ourselves – plenty of photos, great views, and they even served a nice breakfast with coca tea!

- the train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu, and the excitement builds…!

- the entrance gateway to the sacred city

- some Incan ruins and local, high altitude maintenance work…

- Llamas everywhere, apparently not too concerned with the historic significance of the place…!

- the classic views…absolutely fantastic !!

- now with our intrepid travellers added…

         …and of course, guess who else…?          

- contemplating ancient Incan history on the ride back…

                                                                                    …and enjoying the chugga chugga choo choo…!

Back in Cusco, we spent a few days winding down, and did one last hike a few miles above the city to visit some more of the Inca ruins there, and enjoy the great views. And then it was time to say good-bye to Cusco and our friends at the Meson Montjoy and head to the airport for our flight to Quito…

 - the famous Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman (prononounces “sexywoman”, honest!)

     one last view of Cusco before heading onward to Ecuador…!     

Uyuni - La Paz via Oruru overnight train 

Leaving Uyuni by train, we felt relatively refreshed after our overnight train journey north through Bolivia our transit point in Oruru - in any case much better than an overnight journey on one of the infamous buses which after heavy rains was more than likely to get stuck in the rivers crossings where bridges once where - we did see lots of wtaer logged land en route so think we made the right decision!

Dusk over La Paz from our rooftop  & La Paz from on high!

 Arriving tired after our jeep tour from Uyuni via overnight train to Oruro and connecting bus up to La Paz, we were greeted by an incredible assault on all the senses. The very steep streets headed up into the hills either side of the valley, the buses spewing out fumes as they rushed thru narrow streets somehow missing the foot traffic, the local ladies cholitas (recognized by their tall hats and full skirts) noisily selling everything from llama foetuss to shampoo in the roadside stands and meanwhile we’re there with our backpacks trying not to breathe too heavily with every step as the altitude of 3800m takes it’s toll.

All the chaos of the chocked city streets took a bit of getting used to after having been in the remoteness of the stunning areas of Uyuni Salt flats, San Pedro de Atacama desert and Salta canyons for the weeks prior. That, in combination with the altitude and fresh temperatures and Hendrik getting a bit sick, as well as having some business to attend to, did not make our time in Paz as carefree as we may have liked, however we did enjoy a few special times before we headed onwards to Lago Titicaca.

Fruit and veg clearly not so stimulating!

Cholita traditional dress walking past Parliament

Fab old buses - Bolivian style

Once we became a bit more acclimatized we enjoyed exploring the old town, the endless markets and soaked up the rustic nature of this city that sometimes felt like it was back in the 19th century. The people here are so colourful, and many have a hard life whose traces are very visible in every line on their faces, but they seem happy in general and make the most of what life has to offer them. It does really make you appreciate what a privileged upbringing we have had and encourages one to really make the most of what we have in life, love and our friends and family around us. 

Just one corneto....give it to me!

One of the really fun adventures we experienced during our time in La Paz was the ‘Road of Death’ mountain bike ride - from a remote location outside of La Paz at 4700 meters down to 900 meters in the jungle in Corroico. Not so fun for the previous residents where this narrow serpentine gravel road with 1000m drop offs was the only traffic artery to the capital for the surrounding small villages. Many buses, trucks and cars have fallen over the edge since the road’s completion in the 1930’s, sometimes due alcohol and sometimes pure bad luck and poor weather as and they try to pass each other on dirt road that is too narrow, full of blind turns, wet otherwise perilous . There are still plenty of crosses placed along the edges which serve as testimony to the fate of thousands of travellers over the past decades. The government finally bowed down to local pressure and international media attention from organisations such as the BBC and built an alternative 2 lane tarmac road completed in the last few years, leaving the original road to mad tourists who want to experience it on mountain bikes. Of course, yours truly would normally never do something like that but we were pursuaded by Pepito that a trip to Bolivia would not be complete without this adventure.

So with another early start we headed out of La Paz with our 6 fellow gringos to the point of no return - at an icey cold 4700 meters above sea level, and kitted out with the necessary gear we began our descent past those grave cross markers which reminded us of why the road got it’s title - an ominous start, indeed !

Eight mad gringos bravely welcome the road of death………soon we were hurtling down the ‘new’ road at speed!

Here’s the drops offs that give it it’s well earned reputation - still with smiles on our faces though!

Some parts were waterfall drop offs where bits of the road easily became eroded……but we braved thru it!

About 4 hours with temperatures ranging from 0.C to 35.C at the end in the jungle floor where we had a well earned lunch and dip in the pool!

Surviving this “brush with the death road” we decided to quit La Paz while we were ahead and were happily on our way to the town of Copacabana on Lago Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is the worlds highest navigable lake and is bordered by Bolivia to the South & East and Peru by the North and West - a place I had long wanted to visit and did not disappoint. The name Copacabana will sound familiar, of course, and it might be worth noting that the famous beach in Rio which bears the same name was actually named after this little Bolivian lake-side village!

Copacabana view

View over from our cabana over Lago Titicaca

Our very pleasant experience here was vastly aided by the fact that we scored some fabulous cabana accommodation  shown here with the sunset views above and the cool interiors inside made of wood and glass.  Copacabana also houses beautiful mosaics structures on it’s main church featured below.

Ladies who should not be working...but sadly this is their daily life.

We spent our first day enjoying wandering around the village and exploring the coastal pathways. Bolivia being landlocked due the loss of land to Chile in the Pacific wars cherishes the few lakeside frontages it has and has resulted in Copacabana becoming a popular lakeside resort  - many families were enjoying picnics on the lake edges and we enjoyed an afternoon coastal walk that enabled us to look back onto Copacabana across the famous Lake and of course delivered the obligatory fishing boat shot.

Our next adventure was to explore Isla del Sol, the biggest island on Lake Titicaca with a great Incan history and beautiful walks waiting for us. We’d discovered a fabulous 18 km trek along the coast through several villages until we reached the headland of Yampupata where we’d get a fishing boat to drop us over to Isla del Sol and spend the night there.

Heading out early we walked east from Copacabana, through the village Kusijata, then passed trout fishing farms and after a couple of hours arrived in the village of Titicachi. An ideallic setting with hills either side overlooking the bay where some of the floating reed islands can be found.  

            

            

            

We’d had beautiful weather and views all day only to be capped off by this fabulous view across the lake of the snow capped Mount Illampu in the sunset. We were pretty exhausted by this time, and especially drained when we discover upon reaching Yumani that we still had the famouns Incan “1000 Steps” to climb to get to our lodge - the Incas may have been short people but they liked their high steps tall. With the additional challenge of the altitude we needless to say slept well that night!

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The following day we walked along the central ridge of the island from one end to another - not particularly flat either but a beautiful walk with stunning views of the Lake and Peru and Bolivia coastlines on either side. Here you can see some of the Incan terraces still set in the hills - how they got these there in the first place is quite remarkable and just one of the many examples of their endurance as a race.

    

3 hours and 12 kms later we reached the North side of the island to see the Incan ruins here - not so much to see but a spectacular location and a pretty tired but elated Helen shown here as I was watching a offering ceremony to Pacha Mama ( Mother Earth).  Making our way back to Copacabana - we came across this traditional reed boat - sadly with some nasty sponsor on top for the tourists.

Having enjoyed our time in Lake Titicaca area we needed then to head around the Lake to the Peruvian border, which proved a little hairy when peasant roadblocks were being enforced at night to extort money from passing busses - but we made it in one piece. We spent just one very short night in the town of Puno before our day coach trip up to Cusco.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed several archeological sites en route to Cusco as a warmup for what awaited us there!

    

and we even made a couple of friends enroute! Cusco here we come…..

         

Heading northeast from San Pedro de Atacama towards Bolivia, we began a three day jeep tour through the Bolivian high desert which would prove to be yet another highlight on our trip through the continent. With yet another wake-up call before 6.00 am, we were transferred in minibus (along with a number of other guests) to the border-crossing of Chile and Bolivia. From there, we climbed into a one of three jeeps (Toyota Land Cruiser - only the  most reliable cars up here please…)  which would move us about 600 kilometers through the Altiplano at elevations ranging from 3500 to 5000 meters above sea level.

 The customs post at the border crossing between Chile & Argentinam, elevation around 4000-something above sea level…a rather simple affair in this part of the world!

The tour operator we had chosen, Estrella del Sur, came highly recommended and together with our driver and guide, Carlos, they created an incredible experience for us. We had a great group on board our jeep, with Carla and Bill (Chile/England), Peter and Markus (Germany), joining us for the next three days. Once our gear had been stowed on the roof of our jeep, we set off and within minutes arrived at the first of many spectacular sights which we would see, the Laguna Verde. Apparently, a combination of algae, wind and sun create an emerald green light across the entire lake, which is really amazing to see. After plenty of photos, we climbed back on board and headed further into the Parque de Eduardo Alveroa, toward the next of the sights en route, the Desert of Salvador Dali - while the scenery there looks like something out of one of his paintings, the artist had actually never been there - a case of Life imitating art…?

- about 200 meters into Bolivia, we found this old shell of a bus…this did not seem like a good omen, at the time, but it became apparent later that it served as the local restroom for people like us crossing into Bolivia…(no, we did not use it)!

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- Our transport for the next 3 days - 7 people inside, 200 liters of fuel in two special tanks underneath, and everything else goes upstairs…and off we went into the high desert of Bolivia ….!

- Our first stop, the spectacular “Laguna Verde” - perhaps you can guess as to why it got its name …?

A little while later, still on our first day, we came upon the Polque hot springs used by more intrepid tourists than ourselves to relax and warm up. While it was nice and toasty in the water, outside temperatures were around 5 degrees, so we chose to give this last bathing opportunity for the next 300 km a miss.

Not much later, once we were on the road again, we reached the Geyser Sol de Manana, whose name sounds a lot more pleasant than the actual location. It`s a series of nasty, super-hot, mud-like slime bubbling up to the surface as a result of subterranean volcanic activity underneath the earth`s crust. As temperatures were around 400 degrees or so, Carlos warned us to keep a respectful distance between us and the superheated muck. Later, we learned of the most recent cases were more careless visitors had fallen in and suffered a very painful fate…

- a high altitude swimming break at the local hot springs - 35 degrees inside, about 5 degrees outside…!

- here is something NOT to stick your feet into (or anything else, for that matter) - superheated volcanic mud bubbling its way to the surface at a toasty 400 degrees centigrade…! 

Our last stop that day was the amazing Laguna Colorada, a lake that this time turned not green but red in the afternoons, again due to the combination of Algea, Sun,sun and wind. The Laguna Colorada is considerably larger than the Laguna Verde, and is also inhabited by tens of thousands of Flamingoes (Flamencos Andinos, Chilenos, and James were the three species here). With overcast skies and a snow storm that had just started, the entire area - lake plus air around us - seemed to take on a mysterious reddish glow - really cool! 

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- Laguna Colorada, glowing reddish-pink in the late afternoon sun. The red color comes from a combination of sunlight and algae that populate the lake.

Heading back from the lake, we reached our refuge for the night at the foot of a few nearby volcanoes in the building you see in the photo´s below. With a handful of dormitory style rooms and the choice of concrete slab or worn out chain-link springs for beds, a dining area, and and no heat, we were surprisingly comfortable here, considering morning temperatures dipped to a refreshing  minus 10 degrees!  Before dinner that night, some of the guys actually attempted a mini-game of soccer against the local kids, but at 4300 meters above sea level, needless to say, they did not last very long!

- Our home for the first night, a very simple lodge at the foot of some spectacular scenery at 4300 m. We were soon received by a snow storm, and woke up to frost covered mountains all around us (not to mention temperatures of minus 10 degrees !!)

 Up early the next morning we loaded up the jeeps and set off to continue our journey. Our first stop was at a collection of very large, odd-shaped boulders that had been eroded in these shapes by a combination of wind and sand. The most famous of these formations was the leaning rock you see below, which, at the current rate of erosion is expected to topple over in just a few thousand years or so.

- Setting off the next morning, waiting for the photographer to get into the car… The snow had passed, and we enjoyed bright blue skies for a good part of the day!

 - the Arbol de Piedra, a funny tree-shaped leaning rock, and the slighly more normal-shaped group in our jeep - Helen, Carlos, Peter, Mark, Bill and Carla

 Once we had taken our photos and climbed on some of the more accessible rocks, we continued onward to a series of beutiful Lagunas Altiplanicas (…more flamingoes) where we would eat an excellent lunch. Speaking of food, we were all pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity of food that our guides and their local helpers throughout the trip: Two hot meals a day, plenty of drinks, fruit, etc. was beyond the norm on these type of tours and well received by our group.

- and of course, more flamingoes to complete the scene….

Continuing our journey that afternoon, we crossed the Salar de Chiguna, one of the salt lakes that leads up to the Salar de Uyuni and began to get a so-called taste for what was to come the next day. Before we reached our destination that night, however, we (meaning Carlos) had to fix the flat tire we got crossing through this salt flat. While it was not quite a formular one-style pit stop in terms of speed, we were very impressed with the efficiency with which the tire was changed, and did our best not to mess things up by getting out of the way and not trying to help.

          - train tracks through the endless desert of Chiguna

- SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSssssssssssssssssssssss……..hit…!

We spent our second night at an “inn”  in the village of Villa San Martin, just a short drive away from the Salar de Uyuni, in facilities that tested both my courage and patience: the good news was, that we had showers with hot water, with the more challenging bit being negotiating our way upstairs to our room: climbing rickety old stairs from 1825 (or so it seemed) that wanted to collapse under every step, together with the upstairs landing which consisted of a few old boards (same age) and no railing. Anyway, we survived and had a great dinner together as well, and began to anxiously anticipate the last phase of our trip the next day to the Salar de Uyuni, the highlight of any tour through this part of the world.

Up at 04.00 (not a typo!) to make it in time for sunrise, we loaded up the jeeps for the last time, climbed in, and prepared to drive through the largest salt lake in the world. With a surface area of 12,000 square km, we have heard it said that the Salar de Uyuni is actually larger than the Netherlands! Also, at an elevation of 3660 meters, the Salar is also the highest salt lake in the world. As we departed, and due to the early hour, Carlos was also kind enough to play his “soft, early morning music”, which helped damped any grumpyness and prepare us for the experience of watching the sun rise in the middle of the great salt lake.

 After close to two hours driving to and on the Salar, we stopped the cars n the middle of nowhere and got out to watch the sun slowly rise over the great salt lake. I must say, despite the cloudy sky that day, the athomsphere was tremendous, with a mix of infinite space, tranquility, and awe-inspiring scale all around us while sky and salt lake slowly changed colors from deep blue to white. We also used the moment to run around and take some fun trick-pictures….(see below)

- stopping the wagons to watch the day break on the Salar de Uyuni

- hey what happened to Helen?  Apparently, the salty air has the propensity to shrink some of the visitors to the Salar….!

- It appears that the desert also bestowes visitors with superhuman strength (that`s Hendrik standing on Helens hands)

- here we are with the whole group, back to normal size again….

- relaxing on a bed of salt (wet from the lake underneath, as we sooned learned) in the middle of nowhere …

The Salar de Uynuni, or a part of it, is actually still an active salt mine. Most of the workers live in a nearby village at the edge of the Lake, and mine the Salar for very low returns using extremely basic, manual methods. Tourism and handicraft sales make up the other part of the revenues from which the villagers live.

- a salt miner goes about his work on the Salar

The last stop on our fantastic tour was not to see a natural wonder, but was fascinating nonetheless - the “train cementery” of Uyuni. Apparently, the town of Uyni used to serve as an important transit point on the rail lines connecting the key cities of Chile and Bolivia. Somewhere around the middle of the last century, the use of (steam) trains proved no longer economical, and many of the locomotives, cargo wagons and passenger cars were put to rest on the rails outside of Uyuni. Decades later, they are still “rusting in peace” (teehee) and provide a super-interesting place to visit and of course, to take lots of pictures. Interestingly, when we asked a local policeman for the way to reach the train cemetery, he pointed us to the  tracks and told us to follow them for a couple of kilometers. An obvious solution, I guess, although the walk back to town on the same tracks and in the dark with the noise of train whistles nearby was a bit disconcerting!

The next night marked the end of our short stay in Uyuni, and we set off for the city of La Paz - appropriately enough, by train….!

- on the way to the train cemetery at the outskirsts of Uyuni…

- one of many old steam locomotives in its final resting place - the grafitti on the side is quite appropriate…

- old passenger and cargo cars, piled together

- evening light throws its last rays on a this rusty old train, with ominous storm clouds drawing closer in the background…

Now we`re travelling like real backpackers - well no more flights until we leave Peru that is! We arrived back into Chile from Argentina with our 1st longhaul bus journey - a 10 hours trip which stretched into 13 hrs with campesinos road strikes - all part of the open road travel apparently. What we really enjoyed, though, was the spectacular scenery as we headed up and over the Andes pass at 4300mtrs then wound back down into the desert. Was a bit of a shock arriving in San Pedro in the pitch black amid a torrential storm - not what we expected for the ´dryest place on éarth!´- apparantly we just struck lucky so to speak as the storm had also cut the town lights. Anyway we eventually found our hotel and got settled in.

 The next day was a different story of course and every looked completely different in the daylight and sunshine. A one road town completely set up to cater for the tourists set in a desert oasis - tours agencies everywhere you looked as due the distances most sights had to be explored using private transport. Quite tricky to suss out who to use for what but we got there in the end and decided to spread out the standard tours with some biking, walking and horseriding!

Our 1st day we discovered some spectacular scenery above by just cycling a few kms out of town with an exploratory bike ride towards to end of the afternoon to miss the mid day heat and capture the sunset.

Views from the Pukara (fortress looking back towards the volcanos and the Andes pass to Argentina

The next day we had a daytrip booked for the Lagunas Altiplanicos – beautiful lakes set high in the Andes – an interesting day spent although you did get the feeling that the tour guide was a little bored – however we enjoyed it! The other Lagunas Miniques and Miscanti shown below are pretty stunning but we weren`t allowed to walk around so much which was a shame!

The 1st of the Lagunas Altiplanico - Laguna Chaxa where the flamingos are until just after sunrise - hence why we departed at some ungodly hour - little did we know we see hundreds of the buggers in the Salar de Uyuni - still it was worth it at the time!

looking out across the Lagunas Miniques and Miscanti - stunning clear colours

enjoying the views!

The following evening we planned a trip to the Valle de la Luna once again on the bikes -  No mean feat (feet?), a journey of 20 kms mainly on hilly desert roads – we had planned to arrive for sunset but unfortunately overshot the main viewing point and carried on into the national park down a long steep road to the “3 Marias” shown here – all well and good but by the time we´d realised our error it was too late to get back to the viewpoint for the full sunset! We pedalled as hard as our little legs would carry us and just caught the end of the sunset shown below. We were meant to experience the many changes of colours of the luna landscape and horizon – well it still looked pretty spectacular as far as we saw!

I started off so well pedalling hard up the hills but this is realllllly steep …honest!

Then enjoying a bit  of downhill cycling thru the Valle de la Luna - unknowingly having passed the main spot for sunset….oops! 

Hendrik - outdoor mountain god biking man….grrrr……instead of stopping we went onto here the 3 Maries!

What we also discovered is that it then gets dark very quickly and we were soon pedalling back over those hilly dunes in pitch black – no lights in the desert  – luckily the good boy/girl scouts we were prepared with flashlights which we strapped to our bikes to make the way home a little less spooky!

The following day was time for horseriding – had taken a bit of convincing Hendrik and we had a fantastic 3 hours trotting through the desert hills with our Gaucho cowboy Claudio. Great fun especially when we got to gallop a little and learnt to ride the American way – even Pepito joined in!

               Ride…em cowboy!                                         Pepito getting in on the cowboy action!

We saved the most spectacular tour for our final day – to the Tatio geysers. Unfortunately it meant getting up at the ungodly hour of 4am to make the geysers before sunrise at 6am when the steam is more visible and horrible temperatures of approx 10·C below. They were amazing though covering the landscape with scalding blowholes heated from the earths core.

Was great to warm one´s bum and hands on the hot steam and our breakfast milk was warmed in one of the pools for a welcome hot chocolate.

At -7·C a warm bum can make all the difference…..Hendrik errred on the side of caution and went for the hand warming option!

When we were finally geysered out we headed off ot the hot thermal baths but with it being still around 0·C I didn´t fancy stripping off to warm up only to come out wet and freeze again (plenty of mad buggers that did!) – still at least I got my feet in!

I was looking through the steam when I saw the most remarkable thing – Was it a bird , Was it a plane – NO IT WAS SUPERMAN! – what on earth was he doing here? Who knows but he made for some spectacular shots as he posed for his fans – at the end of the day he ran out of steam (!) and headed off the save the universe!

We also enjoyed a wee splash in these fantastic thermal baths at Purmamarca. 8 separate baths each beautifully warm and set in a  lovely secluded valley. The current flowed from one bath into another – here we nearly lost Hendrik, but as you can see he eventually came up for air – lucky me!

On our way back to San Pedro we invested in some very warm Alpaca hats knited by this lovely lady - just in time for our chilly trip across the Salar de Uyuni to Bolivia the following day - best  U$5 spent all trip!

Sporting our new purchases ready for the cold Bolivan desert ahead of us…!

March 5 - 12

Arrival at Salta was very pleasant - the scenery out of the window of the plane was great - green, lush rolling hills, and generally a very nice countryside. The airport itself was compact,  clean with very friendly and helpful people to help sort out tourist info and rental cars. FYI : Salta is the regional capital of the 2nd most northern province of Argentina, located at 1200 meters above sea level, with a population of around 80,000. 

A short taxi ride later we arrived at our new home, Hotel La Candela, a small and friendly hotel a few shorts blocks from the center of town. The staff there, (Florencia, Ines, Xavier and owner Lucia )also worked hard to help us with anything we needed.

 Our first night we spent walking along Salta´s main square, which really comes to life magnificantly at night when the old colonial buildings and the cathedral are illuminated

- the old municipal building at Salta´s main square

- and of course, there is a Cathedral in the square as well…

Another highlight right at the plaza is the MAAM - Museo Archeologico de Alta Montana. Essentially, this small museum was build to display a both interesting and somewhat morbid archeological find: the 500 year old mummies of three perfectly preserved Inca children, discovered in  1999 in their original location on a local volcanic peak at 6700 (!) meters above sea level.  The three children, two girls and a boy aged 7 to 15, apparently served as sacrifices by the Incas to their gods, and remained almost perfectly preserved (skin, hair, clothes - very creepy!) due to the extreme cold and low humidity. One apparently got struck by lighting somewhere in the course of the last half millenium, as evidenced by a charred shoulder. Anyway, it´s a well done exhibit, definitely worth going to if you are ever in the area. As there are no photo´s allowed in the museum, those interested will have to google the museums website to find some illustrations of what we saw…

Day 2 - logistics and more of Salta

After sorting out our plans for the coming days, including renting a car from Helen, our Swedish friend at Avis, we managed to hike up to the top of the local hill to enjoy some views of the town and immediate surroundings, before taking the cable car back down to town. (it was a cloudy day, so no photos posted)

Day 3 - Quebrada del Toro

To get around and explore the area around Salta, we took our rental car and spent the next few days on the road.

We started with a day trip up the so-called Quebrada del Toro, named after the river that runs through it. In short, the scenery was spectacular all the way up, and what made it so great was the fact that every few minutes, it seemed to change completely. From lush green valleys near the bottom, to dry desert landscapes near the highest point - 4650 meters or 15,345 above sea level - we never got tired of looking out the window. Having said that, we did make a few stops along the way, the highlight of which by far was our accidentally stumbling into the valleys “4th annual Bean Festival”  in Santa Rosa de Tastil, a town of about 3 buildings and three soccer fields (!!). We stopped for lunch and enjoyed an asado de cabra, and empanadas of - you guessed it - beans, before heading up the valley,  joined this time by one of the local ladies who needed a lift home. Our drive should have stopped in the desolate and poor mining town of San Antonio, but we were spurred on by the idea to find a famous and picturesque viaduct, and went considerably farther and higher than we should have (it was getting dark!), only to come to the conclusion that we were not going to find this structure that was almost 200 feet tall and who knows how long.  So, we made the difficult decision and headed home spurred on by the impending darkness and curvey, dirt roads ahead of us…

- an old train line heading up the Quebrada del Toro

- the road heading back down from the Quebrada

Day 4 - Purmamarca & Tilcara

Having made it home safely, if not somewhat tired, the next morning it was back in the car to drive north on Highway 34 to enjoy more great mountain scenery, as well as visit a few historical sites along the way.

 Our first stop was the tiny and quaint little town of Purmamarca, know mainly for the nearby “Hill of Seven Colors”. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived and with the sun setting behind us, only about 3 or 4 of the colors were visible. Nevertheless, the town and local geography made this a worthwhile stop on our drive North.

- The Hill of Seven Colors (Cerro de los Siete Colores), showing about 3 to 4 shades at this time of day …

- some of the local goods for sale at the street market in Purmamarca

Moving on, we made a short stop a little farther up the valley at the town of Mamara, known for its unusually picturesque cemetery. Set against the dramatic and colorful slopes behind it, this cemetery is itself located on a series of hills and covered with multitudes of colorful artificial flower decorating the individual graves.  

- the cemetery at Marmara…

We stopped for the day in the pueblo of Tilcara (pop. 5000), known best for the pre-Columbian fortress  which is located there. After settling in at our cozy little inn called Malka with owner Teresa (we had our own wooden cabin!), we explored this rather quaint, white-washed adobe town and eventually found an equally cozy place to eat. During dinner, the skies opened up and dumped a ton of rain on the poor village, and we learned as we left to head home, that dirt streets do not make for effective drainage systems! After walking a few extra blocks in the pouring rain and deep mud (we managed to get lost in a village of about 10 square blocks), we finally made it home to our cabin, wet, but happy that we eventually got there. With most of our clothes dry by the next morning we set off to explore the Pukara for a couple of hours and enjoyed the views across the valley from the top of the fortress hill.

Day 5 - Exploring the Pukara and surroundings…

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 - a view from the Pukara into the valley below       the locals were apparently not very tall back then

- 500 years later, the local population still looks great !  (Helen is the one on the right…)

Back in the car, we continued to drive North until we reached the town of Humahuaca, which would be our home for the next couple of days. The scenery along the way continued to impress us with constantly changing, dramatic landscapes of mountains, valleys, different colors and geological formations. As always, trying to capture these in pictures proved difficult, but we try to get the idea across with a few photos below. The other rather impressive thing we encountered was the complete oversized and out of proportion veteran`s memorial located in the middle of this tiny town. Built in the 1930`s, the statue of a warrior took 10 years to complete!  (could not find any photos, sorry)

- making friends along the road-side…”como se llama su llama…?”

Day 6 - Touring the pueblito of Coctaca and the Hornocal Mountain

To help us explore the area a bit more,  we had booked a day-tour with local guide, Gustavo, and together with another guest, Celine, we headed off into the mountains around Humahuaca for a day that we will long remember as a definite highlight of our stay in the Salta area. 

Starting with a drive to the tiny village of Coctaca, we picked up another local guide (Milton) who helped show us the trails and explain some of the local points of interest. After some time walking, we hiked what felt like straight up a series of hills in order to view some rare petroglyphs from pre-Columbian times. At the same time, we learned a few interesting things about the area, among others, that the valley below us had been farmed by the Incas - 40,000 hectares of it !! - in order to support a local population of around 8000 about 500 - 600 years ago. Incredibly, a lot of the fields and terraces they had created then are still visible today, and some are even used by the local farmers. Apparently, the old Incas were pretty sharp when it came to developing new agricultural techniques, and helped the local population along in the process.

- Starting our hike, things looked relatively flat and innocent enough…for now…

- heading up to the petroglyphs, things were looking a bit steeper already…! (keep in mind that we are at around 3500 - 3800 meters elevation here!)

- the second photo shows Gustavos hand pointing out a few of the petroglyphs that have been found in and around the area (this one is - you guessed it - a llama).

-storm clouds brewing behind the “cardones” (cactus) in Coctaca…!

After a yummy lunch of  Empanadas, cheese, tomatoes, and mate (Argentinian tea), as well as energizing coca tea (from the famous coca leaves), we said good-bye (adios) to Milton and headed off to the second part of our day, a visit to the stunning mountain of Hornocal. Driving about an hour and a half to yet higher elevations we were not sure if the cloud cover would permit us to view the Hornocal, but we took the chance anyway. Arriving at our viewing point at around 4250 meters elevation were properly rewarded for a brief but awesome view of layers upon layers of folded earth (14 in all), with each one diplaying different colors in the late afternoon sun. Inspired by the view, we decided to test our lungs and get a little closer by hiking down the hill - which of course meant we had to struggle our way up again once it was time to go. Lots of photos later, the clouds began to close in, and we said a quiet “thank you” to Pachamama (the Qechua name for mother earth) for allowing us to experience see this fantastastic and rare treat. We headed back down to Humahuaca very happy with our day, and with our guide Gustavo, and of course, with Pachama.

        - The road up to see the Hornocal …

-  some curious high altitude friends checking us out…local Vicunas (cousins of the Llama)

…at the top… with a close up view of the Hornocal with the clouds beginning to move in for the evening

The next day, we decided to explore the scenery a bit more by heading north in our car together with our new friend Celine, before turning back and heading to Salta to end what was a great stay in Northwestern Argentina!

- driving back to Salta with our friend from the tour, Celine.

- A typical road hazard in this part of the world…!

   

Unfortunately we don´t have any pictures of this day and evening as we´d decided to take minimal nickable stuff with us - however we had a fab time and enjoyed the different music styles that passed us by - this was just the start of being infected by the carnival anthems that haunted us for days afterwards and we´ll be seeking out once we get home. We met a fantastic local couple called Eduardo and Lourdes who took us under there wing and made sure we got home safely after many beers at sometime in the early morning!

Day 2 - Our 2nd day and the last official day of carnival we decided to explore the old town Pelorinho part near to where we were staying up on the hill in Santa. This was a very different carnival - lots of children dressed up and drums bands parading with dancers in tow - very interesting to see the contrast to the previous day - unfortunately no samba girls here much to Hendrik´s disgust - guess we´ll have to go back to carnival in RIO another year!  

here are some daytime scenes of the carnival in the old cobbled streets of Pelorinhro

You might think these girls were a bit chilly but they were hot hot hot so no problems there.

Met this weird couple at the carnival who reminded us of someone we knew……boy what a pair of hips ….gotta stop eating those pastries!

Some more colourful photos of the old town - you can clearly see the Bahian influence here - a real mixture!

That evening we met up again with our new friends Eduardo & Lourdes and enjoyed an evening of live music and even a bit of samba dancing would you believe - lucky for you we have no photos of this unprecedented event and rolled in in the early hours of the morning - luckily our Pousada had a special carnival timetable for breakfast where we could still get the full spread upto 12.30 - BLISS!

The art deco elevator looking down onto the port where all the boats leave from to the islands….next stop Morro de Sao Paolo!

So after a couple of days carnival we were ready to chill on the reported ´best beaches in the world´ and headed off to Morro De Sao Paolo, a small island with limited transportation, just tourists and some stunning beaches - perfect what more could a girl ask for especially with the 40th Birthday looming!

Hendrik had found a beautiful place on the edge of the fourth 4km beach which had this amazing tide that when it went out left sand for miles and beautiful hot water pools to bathe in….almost like Hayling Island back home apart from the temperature that is! Also we could easily walk along the beach the other way to the one small town from here for the evenings.

We enjoyed our walks and cycle rides upto the 5th beach called the ´enchanted beach´and this became my official birthday beach where we enjoyed the majority of my special day.

Here looking the beach, beautiful godd/esses that we aspire to be - we´ll leave that to you to judge….hmmmmm!

Pepito enjoying a wee hammock siesta.               Hendrik taking special care to choose the right                                                                              gem for my beautiful amethyst ring for my Bday.

40th Birthday Girl Breakfast in bed                         …….and more bubbles before we headed out                                                                                for dinner.                              

The day started with a fabulous bubbly breakfast in bed and the whole staff at the Aymores singing to me in Portuguese which was very touching apart from the fact that I was sat in my nighty not wearing particularly much - oh well no different to a bikini I thought!

Thanks to Skype I was able to receive the usual birthday songs from M&D and the boys -out of tune but wonderful of course as well as your singing email cards and wishes.  After a wonderful afternoon on the beach we headed out for dinner in town where we found a great small place with a fantasic guitar musician and the evening was complete.

  A 40th Birthday shot on the beach for posterity….of course I don´t look a day over 33!

And don´t think you´ve got away with it we look forward to celebrating with you all on our return….!

BUENOS AIRES !

What a fantastic city – after several weeks of being in remote stunning countryside we were concerned that a week in BA would be too much but we just soaked it up!

Helped by our great boutique hotel location, setup and most of all fantastic staff especially Karina, Carolina and one of the owners Gustavo (Gurda Tango in San Telmo ) we really felt immediately comfortable and able to explore this great city.

Photo of the girls flirting with Pepito  at Gurda Tango!

San Telmo borders on the blue collar area of La Boca – the home of Boca Juniors and most famously for us Brits – Diego Maradona – the hand of god – here to can see me getting upfront and personal. An interesting area to explore for it’s colourful heritage shown here but not to be explored after dark.

Old colourful buildings in la Boca

San Telmo the more bohemian, artsy area of town has a beautiful heritage and colonial buildings and streets to explore. The home of Tango we enjoyed watching street performers as well as an outdoor milonga ( Tango dance meet for anyone interested) there was too much to photograph click-click as you will find out when we get home.

Photòs of Tango murals, colonial courtyards and real Tango in progress - needless to say Hendrik and I were more the watchers than the partakers!

Cafe Tortoni - one of the oldest Tango dance halls / cafes in Buenos Aires

Here is Puerto Madryn where a whole new dockyard complex has been constructed much like in the UK. Unfortunately the prices are very expensive and so is a very exclusive area which is out of reach of the majority of the Portenos (BA locals) costwise.

We really enjoyed learning the history of BA and Argentina thru our vistit to the National History Museum and the BA free tours concept where you are given a ´free tour´ and then tip as you think appropraite at the end – great way to see the city.

San Martin was the main guy who along with Chile and Peru formed armies to help the Portenos win their independence from the Spanish in 1810 . Their political history thereafter was characterised by military coups overtaking the government seemingly every time a level of stability was in sight. The people demonstrated regularly in Plaza de Mayo to portray their distrust and distaste at many times throughout the marred history and it policed 24/7 even now. A key political era was that of Eduardo Peron – known as Peronism and Eva Duarte´s (his 2^nd wife) had a huge impact on improving the rights of the poor and women in early 20^th Century Argentinian society.

Guston giving our BA Free Tour - worth a go if you are in town.

The Pink Palace in Plaza de Mayo where many of the main political speeches to the people were made.

Apparantly, the military coup which resulted in the government takeover approx (1973 –86) resulted in a tragic period with over 30000 people ´disappeared´and 9000 placed with different families. Due the people uprising the Falklands invasion and 650 unnecessary deaths of young argentinian soldiers and of course countless British forces – were thought to be a distracting ploy by the government to rally patriotism at that time when they were struggling. This backfired with the loss of the assault, lives lost on both sides, and the crumbling of this regime. Enough of the history lesson and I hope that Ive not misrepresented it but we found this really interesting.

Standing infront of the English church (meant to be a replica of Big Ben) since renamed after the Falklands War.

What a beautiful vibrant lady she was only to live a short 33 years

The eerie graveyard of Recola and Eva Peron´s gravestone within.

We spent and ínteresting day at Estancia Cinacina, unfoirtunately we managed only 15 mins on a horse before a torrential rainstorm washed out the rest of the day - however we did at least get to experience Hendriks dancing as shown below with one of the locals!

IGUAZU FALLS - Argentinean and Brazilian side

Pepito enjoying the view and H&H getting wet at the lookout on the Brazilian side!

After Hendriks bag not arriving – we lost 2-3 hours recovering that – thankfully all was resolved but cut short out Argentinean Iguazu experience – still we made the best of it of course.

As for the Falls themselves (Cataracts) – nothing short of heart stopping – those who have been will understand what we mean. No amount of photos or excited squeals from us will give you the real experience but we´ll do our best.

Our 1^st view and certainly the bets way to start was by overlooking from the high point on the Argentinean side over the DEVIL´s THROAT – just mesmerising- the lookout places you over the edge of the several hundred area at the top of falls – the sensation was as if you were falling over the edge with the water every time you looked over – needless to say was holding on tight. I actually felt quite nauseous with the sensation whilst Hendrik who is slightly agro phobic was distracted by the clickity click potential!

The Devils throat itself - very scary!

We then followed the well laid lower paths to get the full impression looking up at the falls – fantastic views with plenty of spray to be sure we knew where we were. WE could have done with more time wandering around the various trails and appreciating the incredible lookouts along with the beautiful butterflies.

The next morning we headed over to the Brazilian side to see what that had to offer – thinking it would be an anticlimax having seen it all the day before – how wrong we were!

With the views being mainly panoramic – here you got the full impression of the sheer scale of the falls. Difficult not to be snap happy and of course nothing captures the sheer beauty, intensity and power of nature at places like this.

There was one great lookout where you got soaked from the falls spray right out on a ledge overlooking another dropoff – you get anywhere near this close to nature and its danger in the US national parks – however as we were walking back to the start point we came across and ahead upstream of the drop where you (if completely insane) could easily enter the water – Complete MADNESS!

Words do not describe this wonder of nature – everyone should experience it once in their lives – start saving Mum and Dad – we´re going to Argentina oh yes and Brazil while we´re at it!

(Feb. 13 - Feb. 22)

Rio de Janeiro

After spending two days viewing the spectacular Iguazu (Iguacu) falls, our trip took us to the fabulous city of Rio de Janeiro. Arriving late, we were received with a super-warm welcome (including great caiprinias!!) from Bill and Sue, owners of the bed and breakfast (called “Um Meia Tres”) that would become our comfortable home over the next days. The house is located in a great part of Rio called Santa Teresa, a very historic district full of turn of the century mansions, with great bars and restaurants in the area. The views from the terrace of the room in which we stayed were nothing short of spectacular, clearly the best Santa Teresa has to offer. And besides being extremely friendly, charismatic and helpful hosts, Bill and Sue also offer one of the best breakfasts we have “experienced” on our two-month journey so far.

A frequently asked question when travelling to Rio has to do with safety, crime, etc… We found that with the good advice of our hosts, coupled with a generous dose of common sense and consistent vigilance, we did fine and encountered no problems during our stay there….you might say we even felt comfortable.

So, on to the city of Rio…

We spent the four days taking in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of this fabulous city, starting with a trip across the bay to Nisteroy, where we visited the museum of modern art (MAC). The exhibit itself is so-so, but most people -. ourselves included - make the trip to see the building, an Oscar Niemeyer construction, as well as to enjoy the beautiful views across the harbor back toward Rio. It was our first day in a Portuguese environment, so some adjustment and time was needed in order to succeed with some of the more basic issues like transportation and food, but with the help of our fingers, toes and Spanish made to sound like Portuguese, we managed to get along just fine, eventually.

Favela (shanty town) Visit…!?!

…The next day, Bill and Sue invited us to meet with their friend Bob Nadkarni, a former BBC correspondent and current painter, philanthropist, hotelier, and resident in one of the local Rio favelas (shanty-towns).

Somewhat apprehensive about going into one of these (in)famous favelas, we were quickly put at ease by Bob and his family, and the generally welcoming and, well, rather “normal” atmosphere which we had entered (friendly people, bars, restaurants, shops, etc…). We were also amazed by the spectacular views of Rio and the Sugarloaf from Bob´s living room, and very much enjoyed the many stories he shared with us about his life in Brazil. For anyone interested in staying in a favela, the name of the hotel which he is completing around his home is “the Maze”. And if you like Jazz, then you can even enjoy regular jazz sessions held there!

After spending a good part of the afternoon looking at the famous Pao do Azucar (Sugarloaf), we set off to actually try and get up the rock. (By the way, it´s called the Sugarloaf, because it resembles one of the old tools used in the production of sugar from sugar cane.). A short taxi ride and two cable cars later, we were standing on the top of Rio and enjoying some truly spectacular views. While at first we were somewhat irritated with ourselves for setting out so late, we soon realized that the end of the day was exactly the best time to be there, in order to watch the sunset and the lights of Rio slowly come alive (see photos below).  Suffice it to say that it was very hard to peel ourselves away and get back into the gondola headed down.

That night, we went to a fabulous Samba bar in the district of Lapa, and listened to great live samba music, danced, and basically had a great time until the doors closed and we were ushered out early in the morning!

The next morning, it was back up a hill again, this time to visit the Corcovado, the “other” famous landmark in Rio that one has to ascends there. At 713 meters above the city, this art deco style statue of Jesus Christ was built by French architect Paul Landowski in order to commemorate the centennial of Brazil´s independence from the Portugese on Sep. 7, 1822. Construction actually lasted ten years, from 1921 to 1931!

While Corcovado´s crowds were quite a challenge at times, both of these literal “highlights” were phenomenal to experience, and while very touristy, clearly a must for anyone visiting the city.

Then, finally, it was time to visit the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. As we were there on a weekday afternoon, the beaches were not too crowded, but we were still able to get a good impression of these two famous stretches of the Rio coastline. One of the more impressive sights was  “futvolley”, a game that is basically a combination of volleyball and soccer, played on a beach volleyball court but only using feet, legs and head. It is extremely athletic, requires unimaginable amounts of skill and dexterity, and when I learned that they actually have leagues for “over 60´s”, I became really depressed. (Bob, are you reading this…?) !! We did expect to see a few more of the glamorous sun worshippers and divine figures on the beach, as one expects when going to the beaches in Rio, but found that no matter what your size, as a woman, you wear the smallest possible bikini bottom, regardless!

The Churrascero – another culinary highlight (besides breakfast at our bed and breakfast), was our visit to the Churrasceria in Ipanema, recommended by our host Bill. Basically, it´s an all you can eat steak house, where the meat comes to your table presented on skewers or swords, and you either accept or decline whatever happens to pass by in any particular moment. In this case, strange as it may seem, they also offered a salad and sushi bar, all of it on the basis of “all you can eat”. While there was fortunately no tally at the end to tell us how much we (meaning Hendrik) ate, there was a time stamp on our bill that indicated we had been there for 142 minutes (!!). Must have been the slow service…

In summary, we loved Rio, and it exceeded both of our expectations to the point that we wished we could have had a few more days there. Here are a few of the photo impressions we took there…

- The (partial) view from our B & B terrace at Um Meia tres

- Sue, Bill, Bob, and Hendrik, getting started on the white wine (it was after twelve, but not by much!)

-the view from Bob´s house at the Favela, with the Sugarloaf in the background…!

- another great view from Bob´s house in the favela…!

Rio…..!!!!!!

- the view from the top of Corcovado…

- despite the outstretched arms, no further similarities here…!

Pepito, checking out the babes on Copacopana beach…!

Manaus and the Amazon Rain Forest

From Rio, we flew to the city of Manaus to experience a few days on a floating lodge in the Amazon rain forest. Located deep in the Amazon of northern Brazil near the confluence of the Rio Negro and Rio Solimoes (which then becomes the Amazon), Manaus proved to be a very large, bustling industrial city, to no small extent also due to a free trade zone established there in the 1960´s.

Getting from our hotel in Manaus to our lodge in the jungle required a combination of car, boat, car, and again boat, for a total journey of around 4-5 hours, which is actually not that bad considering the remoteness of the place to which we were headed. Once there, we were greeted warmly by the 8 to 10 staff, and the two (yes, two) other guests at the lodge, Nikolai and Rebecca, from Denmark and Norway, respectively. Lodging was simple but comfortable, and while we had no warm water, we did have an outside shower which was actually quite interesting. We spent the next three days doing any number of activities, from Caymen (Brazilian crocodiles) spotting at night, to jungle walks, to visiting a local family living on the river, Piranha fishing, and , my personal favorite, a very quiet canoe ride through along the side rivers to see the local wildlife (brown cappucin monkeys, Toucans, Pink River Dolpins, more monkeys, etc.).

 All in all the 4 day experience at the Amazon Rainforest Adventure lodge, as it´s now called, was very interesting, though we would have enjoyed more frequent and longer, more intense activities while there in order to make things a bit more adventurous and stay a bit busier.

 Leaving the rain forest at the end of our stay, we returned to the Mango Guest House in Manaus, and treated ourselved to a few hours of window shopping at the local mall, as well as dinner and a movie there (in English!). And the next day, it was off to Salvador de Bahia…

- Our new friends in the jungle, Nicolai and Rebecca from Denmark

- Our guide in the jungle, catching a Cayman with his bare hands on our evening excursion

- the view through the trees on our trek through the jungle

- Out fishing one night, Helen ended up with one of these on her line -  a Piranha!!

 Check out the nasty, razor-sharp teeth - we put a stick of wood in his mouh, and he bit through it instantly and without effort!! (..and released him back in the river later)