‘Columbia – the only risk is not wanting to leave’

From her

Columbia – a very interesting place, nothing like you would ever expect it to be or maybe that’s just  my ignorance  or too many movies about Pablo Escobar . What ever it is I certainly didn’t expect what I came across.

About a week ago we crossed the border from Ecuador into Columbia on a very long and windy bus journey through the lush green rolling hills. It was like a scene out of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. We landed in our first city called Popayan which is known as the ’Monaco’ of Columbia during Semana Santa (Easter) - madness! Popayan have very elaborate Easter celebrations so rooms where like a needle in a hay stack. Thankfully about 10 very friendly Columbian gathered around us and immediately started to dial some phone numbers to find us a room. Let me tell you this is unheard of when you travel, theres friendly people, but these people where going above and beyond. Finally they found us a room 3 times the price we normally pay which didn’t include a shower head nor a toilet seat. It was a classic case of wrong time, wrong hotel. Never the less we had a great time walking around the city with stunning white washed walls of endless colonial buildings and enjoying the elaborate Easter parades. I couldn’t believe this was my first encounter with Columbia, the country known for cocaine and danger! Many thanks to our 2 main helpers.  

Our lovely Columbian helpers

   

Popayan, Columbia

The Easter parade

The Easter Parade

Next port of call was Cali, a place off plastic surgery and partying. We did neither of these things but Shaun was in his element searching for the fake ones. Cali was ok but certainly not as pretty as Popayan and it was here that I really started to notice the poverty. We only stayed 2 nights so we had a quick walk around the city and a trip to the zoo. The zoo was shit hot, it was so good to see some cool animals. Loved it.   

Big Gato

The ever so lovely Zebra

The Toucan. It's as colourful as its depicted.

Lama

Check out the size of this Tiger!

The capybara, the largest rodent in the world.

The happy couple at the zoo

By this stage cities were starting to take their toll after so much beach time so we headed for Columbia’s country side, in particular to the coffee region ( Zona cafeteria) to a small town called Salento. OH MY GOD, this has to be one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been too. We were lucky too, arriving during a small festival where all the cowboys had come from miles around to eat local fare and have a good ole yarn. We wandered around the very colourful streets, took in the local music and drank the tastiest coffee.   

Salento, Columbia

On the streets in Salento, Columbia

Traditional music man. Salento, Columbia

One of life's joyful moments, a cup of coffee!

Me thinking about how truly thankful I am for coffee

Shaun thinking about how truly thankful he is for his coffee

The next day we went for a 3 hour horse ride in the lush country side. Since landing in South America I had been dying to go for a horse ride , we couldn’t have picked a nicer place. The ride was topped off when Shaun got bucked off his horse! As his wife I know I should have shown concern but I was far to busy laughing. Thankfully the only thing that was broken was his ego.   

Our lovely horses

   

   

Salento, Columbia

Later on in the day  we went for a tour of a coffee plantation. Interesting to see how something that millions of people drink every day is made, I had no idea. Check it out   

Here is a nice little coffee plant. 

A coffee plant

It takes them about 2 years before they start producing beans.   

The famous coffee bean

When the bean turns red, they are hand-picked, some of the workers can pick up to 100 kilo’s a day.   

The coffee bean ready to be picked

These beans then go through a machine and are skinned and layed out to dry in a hot house. Once dried the coffee beans turn black.   

   

Once dried they are roasted, toasted, flavoured or something to that effect and delivered to our local coffee shop and brewed to our liking. Everyone give thanks to the slight, agile Columbians who pick our beans everyday.   

After yet another very long and windy bus ride we arrived in Medillin the second biggest city in Columbia , once the home to Pablo Escobar and the very wealthy cocaine trade. Pretty city but again I’ve noticed a lot of poverty here! I think you notice it in places like this because there is also so many wealthy people. According to the lonely planet guide book ”The wealthiest 10% of the country controls 46% of the country’s wealth (they also earn 80 times more money than the poorest 10%). Around 60% of urban Colombians live in poverty (the figure is 80% in rural areas)”. Today we witnessed that poverty while taking a ride on their Funicular, what a strange, sad contrast, a multi million funicular amongst the slums of Medillin.   

Next stop folks is a 15hr bus ride to the top of Columbia to the Caribbean Coast. Sun, sand, snorkelling, seafood - all the ‘s’ that we love.   

From him   

Disclaimer – The stupid interface will not allow me to put some paragraph spaces in. Not my fault, please ignore.

I´ll start with Quito, Ecuador’s capital city, even though it was uneventful if not boring. One thing it did live up to was it´s mantle as one of South America´s most dangerous city´s. We were´nt mugged, assaulted or sprayed in the face with pepper spray and maybe it was these warning´s from the lonely planet that planted the seed of slight paranoia we had whilst wandering the streets. But there was an unsettling atmosphere especially in the evening and the looks from local eye´s sometimes said it all, piss off gringo.
So off we pissed to the border on a journey that turned out to be straight from the Twilight Zone. I won’t go into detail, you had to be there. However it started out with what could have been a monumental stuff up followed by a procession of events that fell into place at precisely the right time, do do do do, do do do do (thats the theme tune). After a night in a hotel that looked more likely to be rented out by the hour instead of a night, we breezed across the border to the wonderful country of Columbia. Before I go into ass kissing mode telling you how awesome this place is, I have to mention the bus trips. The route we have taken basically follows a mountain range up the guts of the country making for spectacular scenery but also white knuckle, WRC type rides. I shot numerous glances at the drivers to make sure they are actually holding the steering wheel and not a Play station hand console, trying to get bonus points by taking hairpin corners at something a little less than the speed of sound. They seem to have things under control but its a bit unnerving when you can’t change the song on your Ipod because your arm is flying from left to right like it belongs to Steady Eddy. We have one more big bus ride and by the sounds of things the terrain has flattened out somewhat. Knock Knock.
Ok, now I´ll pucker up and prepare to kiss Columbia’s mountainous, jungle covered, giant ass. Everyone we met who had travelled through Columbia speak off similar feelings and experiences, essentially they love it and yours truly feels exactly the same. Those of you of the more devious inclination who assume the reason being is that I and everyone else have gone all “Tony Montana” and have our faces buried in a pile of white powder are wrong. The country and especially the people are awesome. Two places in particular stand out so far, the spotless colonial city of Popayan and the tiny town nestled in a valley of the coffee region called Salento. 

Popayan is a very laid back city and on our arrival we were surrounded by people who genuinely just wanted to say hello and offer help. It was Easter, or Semana Santa and every Columbian in the region heads to Popayan to worship and watch the Catholic processions of Jesus in his various stages of demise and the resurrection. I have never batted for the Christian team but watching a large portion of the Catholic faith in absolute adoration of their man J.C was fascinating. Not being a big believer in these certain virtues of belief didn´t stop me from being a little in awe watching so many people who do bat for the same team. There may have even been a hint of envy.
Salento, the little town surrounded by coffee plantations has probably been our most picturesque stop so far. We rented a couple of horses and two local lads took us on a three hour ride along a river and through a few farms. Really bloody cool. Before Specky makes me sound like too much of a dick, yes mine did buck me off and yes it probably looked hilarious but it was either eject or try my luck with a barbed wire fence. I opted for the first and slightly hurt my elbow and pride. Along with benefiting two laughing locals and a wife who failed to show any concern for her pile of husband on the ground. Probably fair payback for the snake incident in Peru.
Before I sign of I have to make a digression. Yes I am married but I am also human, and I´m sure every male that visits Columbia makes the same observation, the women here are stunning! Plastic surgery has reared it´s sometimes fantastic but mostly freaky head here so silicone and collagen are abundant. But alongside the enhanced there are also the naturally beautiful girls and they are plentiful. Of course, then there are the girls who are the north side of voluptuous. Now people come in all shapes and sizes and we are who we are but it´s these Columbian girls who tend to forget that clothes also come in different sizes. 

Never in my life have I seen so much ass stuffed into pairs of jeans as they are in the Columbian city’s. Denim was originally made for gold prospectors and was renowned for its strength but Levi Strauss would wince with pain if he witnessed the lengths to which his hardy material was being pushed. I envisage these girls each morning using a giant shoe horn to ease each bum cheek into the poor pants that are obviously two or three sizes too small. As our friend Freddy Mercury told us, they do make “The Rocking world go round” but I´m sure getting dressed would become a much easier task for these lovely ladies if they just checked the little tag in the back with the numbers on it next time they went shopping.
We are currently in Medellin, the old stomping ground of Pablo Escobar the worlds first billionaire criminal. Despite his power and his ability to nearly bring an entire country’s government to its knees, when he died he was alone, barefoot and fat. His story is really interesting, a charismatic leader and heroe to some and brutal terrorist to others. South America is full of colourful characters and Mr Escobars life is definitely worth looking up.
We leave tonight for Santa Marta, our last two weeks will be spent on Caribbean beaches, can’t think of a better way to wind things up.
Adios Amigos

Sun, sand and smiles

From him

3 Weeks, 3 different spots that are basically the same. Mancora in Peru, Montenita and Canoa in Ecuador. All of them 3rd world coastal paradises. One thing I have noticed on my extensive studies of doing bugger all on Latin American beaches, is the attitude of the people. There is a noticeable change in the ” costeños”, they are quicker with a smile, seem more sincere in their greetings and engagements with gringos, and generally have a calm demeanor about them. The coast is a really easy place to stay. All 3 places had great accommodation, good cheap tucker especially seafood and as we discovered a couple of times, good places to get pissed.

After a week in Mancora in the north of Peru our next stop was Montenita in Ecuador. I went from surfing a world class left point break to a world class right point break ( mish those K3 fins are the business). Montenita the town is fully decked out for travellers and at first glance looks a bit “touristy”. We arrived just in time to see the place flooded with cityfolk from Guayaquil, these fellas know how to throw a fiesta. Come monday everyone went home, the hand brake got pulled on and life slowed back down to about 5kms an hour. We had cabin style accomadation with the mandatory hammock and $1 beers.

Like Mancora the surf was quality but crowded. The locals are shit hot surfers and are adept to dropping in on you,but after a few sessions recognise your face and are more generous with their waves.
In amongst our busy beach schedule we managed to sneak in a boat trip to “La Isla La Plata”, in the Machalilla national park. The island is about 50kms 0f shore. Our guide was good but didn`t want to piss around in the beastly sun so we basically ran the length of the island. The brief stops we did have were good and we able to get within arms length of some bloody big seabirds. We also had about 30 minutes of snorkelling,which ended up being me snorkelling while everyone else sat on the boat. It was actually really good with plenty of coral and fish. Some 3rd world countries I have dived are pretty slim on marine life but Ecuador seems to be holding out well.

The town we stayed in where we took our tour was called Puerto Lopez and was full of charm and character. It was like the water had been laced with Prozac. The people were genuinely friendly and every morning the beach sprang to life when all the fishermen came to sell their catch to the markets and restauranteurs. It was like watching and olden day port in action, people trading and bargaining, kids and birds pinching fish out of bins. It was a reminder that basic methods, although left in technology’s wake, still work.

Canoa, our last stop on the coast heading inland to Quito and then on to Columbia is the epitome of Latin American beach life. We had a room overlooking the beach in a Swiss Family Robinson style house, again equipped with hammock and $1 beers. The swell was small but I had waves to myself for a couple of days and water so warm that I was sweating while paddling out. equatorial heat is quite stifling and the water albeit bath temperature is the best place to be. Specky was getting a bit bored and quite rightly so it was time to roll on.

Onwards and upwards to the land once infamous for cocaine and kidnappings. It’s sad to leave the coast, as I said from California to Peru I have spent a good 6 months cruising from spot to spot. Collectively its a region of the world I most like to visit. I don’t know what makes it quite so appealing, some of the places are far from postcard perfect and the heat and the mozzies don’t make for a great nights sleep. But thousands of miles from Waipuk and even more from Perth and I feel quite at home. Maybe its the spanish blood granddad swears he has or just that my family is part fish, but I have an affinity for this stretch of coast and its people and it will definitely be missed.

A hora vamos a Columbia

Adios Amigos

From her

Beach life has been treating Shaun and I extremely well.

After the glorious Huanchaco we set

off for Mancora another quiet beach town lined with palm trees with restaurants that served some of the best food I have eaten. I´m seriously not exaggerating when I say that.

Here was the last time our big group of friends that we have been hanging with since Bolivia were all in the same place. We have been so blessed to meet some awesome people who we get on so well with. Our last night we celebrated Irish Dave’s birthday, it started in drinking games and ended with me getting robbed on the beach. Pissed gringos are very easy prey for the locals as I found out. Someone ran past me and ripped my little camera off my arm, I quickly kicked of my thongs and gave chase but the little shit was a couple of seconds in front of me and I came to a t-section and didn’t know if he went left of right. Crap!

After Mancora we left for Ecuador, another little beach town called Montinita. After a torterous border crossing and arriving to streets of mud (it had pissed down pissed down the night before) and the first nights accommodation the worst ever, the place turned out to be a gem.

Shaun spent heaps of time surfing

and I spent heaps of time doing this!

The best thing about this place is that you didn’t need to move in a muscle if you wanted something, everybody came to you. You name it, they came in droves.

“Helados, Helados” (Ice cream”)

“Tatuje, Tatuje” (Tattoo)

Jewellery (don’t know the spanish word!!)

“Coco, Coco” (Coconut)

On the flip side, sometimes you feel sorry for these people. You see them constantly walking up and down a beach with sun so hot it would cook an egg for a meezly couple of dollars here or there. To top it off some of them are selling the worst products that you know no-one will buy. But they still do it, cause it earns them some cash and a couple of dollars goes along way in Ecuador.

Actually I have to say I`ve been loving Ecuador. I wasnt too fussed on coming here, it was more for Shaun to surf but I have fallen in love with the place. These people are just so friendly and welcoming and because of it, I`ve had a grin on my face most of the way.

I`m a little envious of them to be honest. Everything seems so plain and simple, nothing seems hard. No doubt they have their fair share of problems with 60-70% of Ecuadorians living below the poverty line, but the amazing thing is, you would never know it if and the best example of that was a little fishing village called Puerto Lopez.

We arrived here from Peru and the moment we stepped off the bus everyone wanted to help us. We couldn’t work out what the hell was going on. Not that Peruvians werent friendly, but these people were super nice. Here we visited another `Poor mans Galapogos`and again it wasnt much chop, but we were stoked we had stopped by just to experience the town. The best part was we discovered a fish market right on the beach front that happens every morning. No middle men here, just the fisherman and the locals bartering for their daily catch. Check out some of the snaps!

Sadly we said goodbye to Puerto Lopez and were on our way for our last beach stop for a while called Canoa. With a sunset such as the one below, need I say more.

We are now in Quito and have been here for a couple of days. We set off for Columbia tonight and are quite excited to visit another country. It`s always so exciting going into a new country, the anticipation is awesome.

Hope this post finds you well. We only have about 5 weeks to go and we will be home. Oh geez its going to be hard, very hard!!!

Some more odd snaps for you - sorry about the quality of the pics, I exported them a different way this time and it wasnt quite right!!

Oh me eating, that`s something new!

Local surfer about to hit the waves

La duce vida!

From him

Sorry to keep you hanging for the next edition of the amazing adventures of Specky and Shaun but things have been hectic for the last week. We have been holed up in a little join called Huanchaco about half way up the coast from Lima.

The capital city was a quick visit of about 3 days crammed with surfing, eating and sightseeing  Miraflores, the suburb we stayed in  which reminded  me of somewhere in Miami or Europe , complete with department stores and shopping centres. Specky was able to treat the twitch she had developed with a long-awaited retail fix. I’m running the show here so poor Speck is occasionally deprived of the odd luxury. She is coping well, mostly!

Beach at Miraflores, Lima

Coastline, Miraflores, Lima

We took a cab (of where there are multitudes) to Central Lima and were throughly reminded that we are still in Peru. Surrounding the Plaza de Armas and main square is a city like so many in South America business district, morphs to affluent suburbs in one direction , in another, slums that are constructed in the cheapest material available and often finished with whatever can be found. Car bonnets, old bits of tin, 101 ways to build a wall.

We met an Argentinean friend our mate Carlos  who lives in Lima. We had a meal and a chat along with a quick tiki tour around Lima.

Now Huanchaco is one of those sort of beaches where you could stay for months. It’s a basic looking place with the standard Peruvian hawkers and all the trimmings, cold beer, good cheap seafood. The bonus is the long left hand wave that breaks just before a pier and rolls  into life with big long sections of face which is glassy most of the day. We also took a day trip to “the longest wave in the world” at Puerto Chicama. It’s an awesome set up but it was quite small when we were there. So Huanchaco has been the spot and Specky has settled into beach life con much gusto and we don’t seem to be in too much of a hurry.

Pier at Haunchaco, Peru

Sunset at Huanchaco, Peru

Not a hell of a lot to report this time, I’ve pretty much just been surfing, I have more saltwater up my hole than flipper!! When I add eating, drinking, hammock swinging to the rest of my day, there’s time for buggar all else.

Next stop is Mancora which funny enough is surrounded by glass waves as well. There will be a lot more of the same going on there I think!

From her

Despite what Shaun says, there is really no excuse for our lack of blogging. In between sunbathing, surfing and eating I’m not sure why we couldn’t find time to tell you what we have been doing! Ooops!

The last time we blogged we were in Paracas, the poor mans Galapagos. Since then we have been through Lima, the capital city and then Huanchaco, a very quaint fishing village with very good waves.

Lima was a mostly a beautiful city, well what we saw anyway. Great architecture and a beautiful coastline. We spent a couple of days sightseeing including visiting the amazing Monestary of Saint Francis of Assisi. I think that’s one of the best historical places I have seen since being in SA. We also caught up with a good friend of ex Spanish teacher. He took us out for a meal and gave us the low down on Lima, always a good thing to catch up with a local.

After Lima we made our way on another 9hr journey to Haunchaco. Shaun has loved the surf and I have loved the fact that I could step out onto our balcony press 1 on the phone and order myself some very scrumptions food. It really doesn’t get any better than that.

View from our balcony, Huanchaco, Peru

While in Huanchaco we took a trip out to Puerto Chicama, a small fishing village which hosts the longest left hand wave in the world. It was such a beautiful spot, so relaxing and chilled. I sun-baked with Benny and Phoebes while Adam and Shaun surfed for Africa. I also did a spot of photography which the locals where very happy to be a part of – finally!

My guru husband surfer

Sunset at Puerto Chicama, Peru

Some local kids happy to smile for me

How cute is this man

Puervian Hairless dog

I’ve been really enjoying our coastal journey. Moving from beach to beach taking in the sunsets and enjoying the fresh air. We only have about 40 odd days to go until we are back to Perth and working again. Its going to be really hard after this slice of heaven!

Amongst an angry earth

From him 

 Peru so far is a real breath of fresh air. People are friendly and speak spanish clearly. Arequipa, where we are now is probably the best city we have visited. Food is cheap and tasty, much to my and more so Missy´s delight and accommodation is cozy. We start our day with coffee and breakfast in our rooftop garden listening to Cheese FM where I pick up helpful tips from Bryan Adams on how to “Love a women”, thanks Bryan for the insight.

3 days ago we left our homely little hostel to trek into the worlds deepest canyon and again we have been treated to some of South Americas incredible scenery. Looking from one side of Canyon De Colca to the other side and down is essentially looking into the deepest gouge on the surface of the earth. 4 kms deep and 120 kms long the “Big” equation comes into play again. 

The trek itself is demanding and whilst navigating your way down the rough and some times perilously narrow tracks you have to prise your self away from your deep concentration to realize the size of the giant hole your descending into. Of course throughout the trek 70 year old woman carrying untold kilo grams on their backs skip nimbly past without a bead of sweat on their forehead, just to remind you what a pansy you actually are. 

We stayed in one of the villages at the bottom of the canyon. After a cold shower by torchlight, a couple of luke warm beers and a feed of rice we settled into romantic little dirt floor room with its bamboo based bed. Missy is really enjoying her 5 star honey moon. 

The following day we were briefly rewarded with a swim in the oasis at the base of the canyon before the menacing climb out. This was hard work. Picture a never ending staircase, but one covered with rocks and loose gravel, and the odd snake. Missy found the best way to deal with these slippery customers was to dance her world famous Irish jig on them which I have to say looked utterly hilarious from where I was standing. (Don’t worry Mary it wasn’t poisonous).  Honestly when I reached the top I was half expecting St Peter to be there asking If I’d been behaving myself. Myself, Adam, and his wife Becky decided to give it a good push. I’m fairly fit, Adam played rugby league for the Newcastle Nights and Becky is no slouch, (she showed us both up in an under water lengths competition in the pool)  and we were all poked. As Eimear put it, the feeling of “being shagged by an elephant” came to mind. 

On our way back to Arequipa we were informed by our guide of the disasters that were currently affecting the region. A massive Earthquake in Chile (see Dave and Pam for first hand accounts) followed by Tsunamis, flooding in Peru, more Earthquakes throughout the continent. I tell you it’s not Bandito’s, muggings or corrupt officials you have to worry about here, it’s mother nature and her sometimes terrifying spontaneity. Just the other week myself and Irish Dave were about 20 meters from a bolt of lightning that struck a street corner. 

It’s pointless worrying about such things and I tend to push them to the back of my mind but I have to admit that on learning about the situation I did feel a little uneasy. Even the breath taking scenery with it’s looming volcanoes and mountains seemed to take on a sinister quality as we drove back to Arequipa. When nature surrounds you on a scale as grand as she doe’s here and decides to get restless, you are reminded that destiny is far from being in your own hands. 

Yesterday we left for another 14 hour bus journey where finally our destination was the coast. All the surf reports look promising and Missy is looking forward to spending some time studying her photography. She hasn’t even done any sunbathing yet and she already looks like she comes from Mirrabooka. 

Adios Amigos 

Love Shaun and Jeddah 

From her 

I love this trip because firstly I’m relaxed (like you wouldn’t believe) and secondly because I love landing is such beautiful countries. 

Peru, what a fabulous country! We arrived about a week ago from Bolivia. As you all know Shaun and I got slightly sick of the Bolivians so we were very happy to finally arrive in Peru. Our first stop was Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city and can I say its main area truly is a beautiful. The old buildings are in such good condition, almost like they are brand new. It’s impressive to say the least. 

After staying in Arequipa for a couple of days Shaun and I organized a trek to the Colca Canyon (3hrs from Arequipa) where we have been for the last 3 days and it was awesome. Surprisingly I use the word ‘awesome’ even though its one of the hardest things I have ever had to do physically. The Colca Canyon is the deepest canyon in the world at 4kms deep and it’s stunning, harsh, but stunning. There are many little villages around the canyon and in order for its people to buy anything, catch a bus, make a phone a call they have to trek through the Canyon to the closest  main town ‘Cabanaconde’. You should see these people when they walk, its like they are Olympic athletes’. They can climb the canyon in 47 minutes. Incredible!!! 

Colca Canyon

 

 

A local climbing up the canyon. Check out her sandles, they are made from old rubber tyres

We had another cracking group for our tour which always helps, Dave and Eimear (from our Amazon tour) and another Aussie couple from Sydney, Bex and Adam. 

3 Aussies, 2 Irishmen and a Kiwi walk up a mountain.

 The first day we walked for about 7 hrs down to the bottom of the Canyon.  It was incredibly hard as the path was made up of sand and loose stone, you had to concentrate constantly. Can you believe it I ran into a snake! Picture this! Im walking down a path and after looking up for a brief second I turn my eyes back to where Im walking to find a 1 metre snake slithering across the path inches away from my feet. My arms end up stretched out either side of me (don’t ask me why) and my knees are turned out and I’m dancing like an Indian screaming – very loudly! It felt like forever I was dodging this snake until it slid off the path. I stopped my little Indian dance and looked up to find Shaun absolutely pissing himself – nice husband! Mind you, I too started laughing, it was too funny. 

As we continued down the path we ran into a donkey lying on the path with dying eyes. The poor thing was grazing on the hill when a bull had attacked him (we could still see the bull on the top of the mountain). Man it broke my heart, this poor old donkey dying with no one to help and his fellow donkey friend licking the blood from it’s leg. In our home we treat our animals like a part of our family, here, an animal is merely an animal, it’s a hard concept to fathom. 

We finally arrived in our first camp, we were all completely knackered. We had dinner and went to bed in our very very basic rooms that consisted of a bed made from bamboo, a thin mattress and a sandy floor – I love my honeymoon! The next day the family that owned the accommodation wanted to dress someone up in traditional dress, I especially like the one of me and the chicken!! 

Me in traditional Peruvian dress (for that region)

With our tour guides

This was Shaun´s idea

The next day we trekked 2 hours further down the mountain to a beautiful oasis with a fresh water pool, a well deserved treat. Then after a leisurely swim and a protein packed lunch we started on a very long haul up the canyon. I can honestly say this was not any ordinary hill, it was mammoth. Our guide told us it normally takes tourists 3.5 hours but my husband Bear Grylls did it in 1.40 mins. Me on the other hand took my time and made it in 2.15m. Although it was hard I really enjoyed it in the end and it was such an achievement when we got to the top. 

After having a nice sleep in yesterday we have come to our next destination, Paracas, the call it the ‘poor mans Galapagos’. As its name suggests, it really is the poor mans Galapagos, hence we are leaving tomorrow, off to Lima, capital of Peru. We are staying fairly close to the beach and Shaun is VERY excited. 

 I’m just loving all these new places, time passes ever so slowly. 

A few other random pics 

 

 

 

A few mozzies never killed anyone!

From her

Sorry for the delay in posts folks, its been busy times!! 

Since we posted last we had just finished our Salt Flat tour and were in Potosi doing the tour of the mines. After that we headed for Sucre which was not to bad, we managed to party with the locals one night and had a ball. 

Our next stop was La Paz, our 3rd big city in Bolivia and by this stage we were becoming a little tired of going from city to city. Shaun had always talked about doing the Pampas tour from La Paz, a tour of the wetlands in the Amazon Basin. Being the wet season it wasnt an ideal time to go so we started to investigate but to no avail. God love the Bolivians but they are bloody hopeless most of the time. They´re  never really forthcoming with information and when they are you wonder if what they are saying is true. 

As it turned out I heard this couple in our hostel talking about the tour so I went an asked them if they were thinking of going. An hour later Shaun and I had booked our flights to Rurrenabaque (where you start the tour) with our new Irish friends Eimur (Eems I’m sorry if I have spelt this wrong!) and Dave. I guess that’s one of the best things about travelling, you never know whats going to happen second to second and you just go with it. It’s invigorating. 

So off we set to the jungle and what a trip it was. Our plane was delayed so we were too late to start our tour on the day we arrived. We checked into a hostel and at about 10.30 we had started to drink with Eimur, Dave and their friends Benny and Phoebe who came on the tour with us too. What a cracking day. We eventually decided to head out for lunch only to be bombarded with water bombs and ink. Something we might have failed to mention is that since we landed in Bolivia a month ago its been carnival. Carnival consists of water bombs, coloured foam in a can and big fat water pistels. Its been a bit of a nightmare as you can’t step out of your hostel without getting done and of course gringos are a prime target. But when we were in Rurrenabaquethe kids there had been even more inventive by putting ink in the water balloons. As you can see from the picture of Shaun below, he got done big time. 

 

The next day we left for our tour. After a 3 hour jeep ride and 3 hour boat ride we had landed at our very basic accommodation. One room filled with about 8 beds as hard as a rock with a mozzie net with numerous holes. When we had arrived out our camp we saw a big alligator head at the edge of the river and our guide introduced us to Federico. We walked past Freddy many times that night as we were in and out of our boat and he was always in the same position so we were convinced he was a prank. Finally our guide said ´he is real´and got some food from the kitchen. He lent over the walkway and dangled this food in front of Freddy and out walks a 2 meter alligator. It was sooo funny, the further he came out of the water the more we screamed “oh my god”. We loved Freddy, he seemed like such a gentle creature. 

Shaun patting Freddy

The next couple of days we spent searching for all the animals you see in the Amazon. alligators, sloths, piranhas, pink dolphins, Howler monkeys and Anacondas. We saw all except an Anaconda – thank god! You can see by the picture below I was none impressed with walking around in reeds higher than me, in smelly swamp water with a hole in one gum boot. The things you do for your husband. 

Totally loving Anaconda Hunting

Anyhoo it was an awesome 3 days and my husband Shaun Irwin loved every second. The guide thought he was the ducks nuts cause he was just so into everything. 

After our tour we went back to La Paz for one night and have now come to Copacabana which sits on Lake Titicaca, on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The name sounds glamoures but trust me when I say it’s not, this place is a god dam hole. We are off to the Island of Sol tomorrow which is meant to have a few Inca ruins on it which should hopefully be interesting but then we are out of this joint. We are off to Peru, another place with a different culture, different food and hopefully some people who will let me take their picture. 

Over and out 

Some more pics from the jungle 

Relaxing on the boat

 

Shaun swimming with the Pink Dolphins. Man I have never smelt anything more revolting than when het got out the water. It was gross!

Shaun with a Anconda skin

 

Our crew on the boat, ready to set sail.

From him 

Its been a while since our last post and a lot has happened.´First of I have to say Bolivia is a strange place. Like the rest of this continent it`s geographical differences are from one end of the scale to the other. Giant size sub-zero mountain ranges drop away to steamy jungles in the amazon basin. Along side nature, human development in areas can vary from cosmopolitan cities to villages were they are lucky to receive a couple of hours electricity in a day. 

Due to one of Bolivians big bully neighbours it is completely land locked and of course earlier colonialists have all but scraped the country clean of its once abundant resources and exports. These similarities it has with the other countries are not the reason I use the word strange. The majority of the people (by no means all) are not what I would call friendly. 
Most places we have been ,except Rurrenabaque, the people have acted with a distrust and sometimes disdain towards any travellers. Black ,white, young, old most Bolivians seem to not give a shit about foreigners and although tourism contributes massively to their economy you get the feeling they would rather we were`not  here at all. 
My opinion doesn´t count for much and they definitely have their reasons. It is by all accounts a very poor country. The United States and Europe have meddled in Bolivian affairs since the fall of the Incas, the country is 80 % indigenous with a very staunch left-wing president currently at the helm. All these things are factors that ultimately seem to leading the majority of the country to negative psyche. You have to think that unless the people can collectively change their attitude towards the rest of the world they will continue to struggle. 
I´m sorry that was probably a bit deep, but I have been around and I haven´t really got this feeling from any other country.

 
On a much lighter note we have just finished a week-long trip into the jungle which so far has been my highlight of the trip. Rurrenabaque, the small town in the jungle is a gem. Really hot and humid but the people really climbed the friendly scale and the town is dotted with tropical bars and restaurants. 
Pure luck and quick thinking on Smudges behalf teamed us up with two couples, Benny and Phoebe the Aussies and Dave and Eimur the paddys.We basically laughed the whole trip, except for poor Eimur one night was tormented by every bug and bat in the Amazon and everything was just “awful”. 
We travelled 6 hours from Rurre, 3 by 4 x 4 and 3 by boat up the Beni river to our very basic lodgings on the banks of the river.We spent the next 3 days trekking through wet lands looking for Anacondas,viewing crocodiles from our canoe at night-time, swimming with pink dolphins and fishing for piranhas. Our lodge even had a resident alligator that would show up every day much to our delight. 

It was sometimes hard going with the mozzies and humidity but being constantly surrounded by such diverse wild life made it worth while.
We are now in Copacabana on the shores of the worlds highest lake, Titicaca. To be frank its a shit hole. We have couple of months to go and I am really looking forward to hitting the coast. Once we are there we are following the coast all the way to Columbia, the surfing is gonna be good. We head to Peru tomorrow to trek into a 4km deep canyon then its beach time, my surf board is beginning to think its a giant hand bag. Stay safe everyone.
 

Hasta Luego.

Think big!

From her

Hello all, greetings from Bolivia.

Well I have to say that the 3 days crossing the Altiplano (means high planes) has introduced me  to some of the most amazing, jaw dropping landscapes I have ever seen.  We spent 3 days in a Toyota 4×4 going from one lagoon to the next, one volcano to the next, salt flats, desert, you name it, we saw it. Flamingos too!! It really was breathtaking but I´m afraid that my words wont do it justice so I hope that some of the pics I took below will help you see what I mean.

(Im sorry but I had heaps more pics to post but this crappy internet wont let me! Apologies)

When we arrived back poor Shaun got soooo sick. I had to be a dutiful wife and look after him, which I was, even tho it was not pretty! Can you believe I even handwashed all our mud, salt and sand ridden clothes from our trip. Now thats dutiful! Bolivia is a pretty poor country and even the laundries don’t have washing machines.

We are now in Potosi which is the highest city in the world. Can I say that at 4060m its hard just walking up the street with a backpack on. It was a city back in the hey day that was full of silver and it has some amazing structures to show for its previous wealth. Unfortunately back then  Spain pretty much raped and pillaged them and all stocks are now depleted.

However the mines are still in working order(for other minerals), if you could call it that! We had the pleasure (not really, Shaun pulled me along!) of a mine tour. It was horrible! These men work in the most appalling conditions you have ever seen. They constantly chew coca leaves to keep them alert and dull their hunger as they can’t eat down the mine because there is so much contamination from the Silicon, Arsenic and Asbestos. To top it off there are big holes everywhere in the mine, I´m suprised it didn’t come tumbling around  our feet, I was fretting the whole way!  These men have a life expectancy of 40-50 years which gives you a good idea of what the conditions are like. Remind me to never complain about work again.

When you look into an eye of a Bolivian you don’t see alot. There not a particularly friendly bunch and hate having their pictures taken which sux! Alot of the women still wear their traditional dress which is strange but amazing to see. They live very simply and they work hard! If only some of the lazy arses that live in the Western World could see the hardships of these really poor countries. I´m sure that would change their perspectives.

We are off to Sucre tonight, another Bolivian city. It’s a pretty big city so hopefully I can find some non camera-shy subjects.

All my love xxxx

From him

The tour from San Pedro in Chile to Uyuni in Bolivia is anxiously anticipated by most travellers.Through the accounts from previous participants I can sort of see why. Tales of drivers so drunk that passengers had to take charge and drive,grumpy drivers that don’t stop for photographs, bad meals, bad accomadation. You really begin to question taking the journey at all.
Now I´m not saying that the said events didn’t take place or that some tour operators aren´t less than satisfactory. But,I also think that some of the things written in the “little book of complaints”,which is free to flick through at the tourist office, are nothing but petty whinges from primadonna  gringos .What I´m trying to say is although the transport and accommodation is basic if not rough,the tour is truly amazing.
 
I now know how jack felt when he climbed the beanstalk. We have spent the last few days in the land of the giants. Where your judgement of distance goes completely out the window, where it takes an hour to drive past a volcano, where your eyes play tricks on you under the guise of reflection. This is a place that defines big, and redefines you, ego and all, as small.
Melissa went spastic with her camera and some of the shots definitely do it justice. But unless you actually stand in the middle of one of these plains and realize that walking to the foot of one of the mountains in the distance will take a day if not more,it is impossible to describe.Without sounding over the top that is,and your probably thinking it’s too late for that Shaun.
If you thought those descriptions were dramatic hold on to your britches because the salt flats are almost beyond my vocabulary.
12000 square kilometers of blinding white severely flat sparkling salt. In some parts the layers are 9 metres thick. Driving over this bitumen smooth surface knowing that essentially it’s what you put on your chips is really quite hard to fathom. You have to begin to wonder if the guide slipt something into the coffee at breakfast.
 
Being the rainy season we were also fortunate enough to see half of the expanse with a 10 cm layer of water covering it. This is when the coffee really kicks in because from horizon to horizon you are basically standing on a giant mirror. Trippy man!
 
When you look at a map and see the area we travelled in relation to the rest of Bolivia is so small it’s almost frustrating. I suppose what we think is big and what really is big is a concept we will never be able to grasp. Not through our eyes anyway.

Dusty shoes and a dirty nose!

From him 

I think we are both feeling a little sucked in. We are in a place that survives solely on tourism and there is a bit of predator prey equation going on here. As for the locals, good on them really, gringos have been plundering their countries resources for hundreds of years and some retribution through remuneration is long overdue. Still you can’t help but feel a little surrounded by vultures. 

We are 2440m above sea level staying in a tiny town called San Pedro de Atacama surrounded by one of the driest deserts on the planet. Try to imagine an expansive earth were you are surrounded by a landscape that is  burnt and parched along the same lines as inland Australia. But it also contains otherworldly geographical formations you can imagine and some you can’t. 

If there is a god and he (or she) can extend can extend his holy hand down to earth he is holding a hair dryer on full over this place. The only word to describe the Atacama Desert is harsh. Beauty is present and I am sure the surreal picture it boasts to everyone who passes through is captivating but to live here is an entirely different story. 

Back to the vultures, I don’t want to sound bitter and I suppose and when a spot is this isolated its fair game. But when you have to walk around with your bum muscles clenched so the next restaurateur or hostel owner doesn’t bend you over a cactus and get his or her share of pesos (they don’t care about mortgages). This can make for a slightly irritating stay. 

This of course is an  but when you are travelling your sphincter does inexplicably contract and you tend to guard each dollar with a fervour you could only wish for when at home. However Smudge has taken care of our disgruntled situation here. San Pedro has a shortage of water and the flush on the toilet is rather lack lustre, I also think she has been eating cork. Toodle poo Hostel La Ruca. 

Adios Amigos 

Watching the sun set over Valle De Luna

 

 

Nothing like you have ever seen before as far as the eye can see

 

Dont cry for me Argentina

From her

You know when you see those really dorky people wearing those stupid ‘I love New York’ t-shirts, well quite frankily, I want one that says ‘I love Argentina!’. Seriously this place rocks and Im very sad to say goodbye.

We landed in Salta, Northen Argentina, 4 days ago after Puerto Iguazu, the place with waterfalls we mentioned in our last post. The day we arrived we met Sofi, Domi, Juan and Qui Qui some Argentinen locals who couldnt do enough for us. We ate dinner with them that night and then next day they took us out to Purmamarca a small ‘Pueblo’ town in the north of Argentina. It was a beautiful little place that really gave you a feel for these towns surrounded by the ‘Que Brada’ – the foothills of the Andies. As Shaun says, mountains that are not quite mountains!

We walked around and took in everything the locals had to offer which besides loads of knick knacks were great views and a real sense of the land.  We then set off for the ‘La Salinas’ which were salt flats 40 minutes away. To get there we literally went up 4170m (proof below)

in about 20 minutes which gives you a nice little headache but it was well worth it when we reached the other side.  I dont know if anyone has seen salt flats before (Rach I know you have!)  but they are incredible. Its pretty much white as far as the eye can see and really does take your breath away.

Other than that we have been hanging around in Salta meeting some incredibly cool people and looking around this great city. Salta is the ‘pearl’ of the north,  a nightlife to die for with very friendly locals who are extremely proud of their culture.

I dont want to rub it in but we are having the time of our life!

From him

As a human the concept of suprise more often that not comes at the negative end of the scale. An unexpected bill, a job redundancy, maybe even a kick in the balls from a small kid who is yet to learn the tenderness of that area. If I’m wrong and your the type of lucky bugger who is constantly blessed with pleasant suprises, good for you (wanker!).

My rambling does have a point – Argentina! This country was somewhere we were going on he way to somewhere else, so I thought. Argentina is one of my pleasant suprises.

We have just spent the last couple of days with some young girls from Buenos Aires who we met at our hostel. They meet standard criteria of the archetypical ‘ B.A. Chicas’, fun loving, beautiful European looking(not as beautiful as your wife tho!).  It is the welcoming kind ‘come meet our country attitude’ that really grabs you. They took Missy and I to some great little spots, introduced us to ‘Yerba Mate’ (sort of like raw tea) and Fernet (sort of like nothing I have ever tasted before). Along with Argentinas geographical diversity its the people that make this country unique and we can only hope that this accommodating atitude pervades the continent.

Muchas Gracias Sofi, Domi, Juan y Qui Qui. Habiamos un tiempo muy bien.

Were heaind back to Chile tomorrow to start our expedition across the Atacama Desert. By all accounts this sounds like it will be an adventure. We can only the jeep makes it driving at altitudes of 4500m on rough terrain. Then again I suppose I could do what I do best and walk.

Signed Ray Bivowac

Out of the city into the juggle

From her

Well I can honestly say we have done Buenos Aires. Feels like we have walked the planet over the last 5 days, it’s a massive city.
It’s a pretty city too, the streets are lined with beautiful leafy green trees that make for great shade is this incredibly hot city! The streets are constantly lined with people and traffic in a city of 13 million.

The people are friendly and the food is fabulous! Talk about a place to eat meat, I almost became a cow. A piece of ‘lomo’ which we think is equivalent to Sirloin is $6.50 and it just melts in your mouth. On every second corner is a ‘Parilla’ which means grill. They serve up  any type of cut along with chorizo sausages served in a bun. See there is a little bit of Australian where ever you go.

We’ve been to 4 main parts while in Buenos Aires. La Boca,  a place where Buenos Airea basically began, Tango was created and houses painted in all colours of the rainbow.

Palermo which is filled with nothing but beautiful green parks. Recolata, where all the wealthy ‘Portenos’ live and die. The graves they buried in resemble a small mansion.

San Telmo, a cool little area with quirky shops and a street market that stretches as far as the eye can see. It sells all sorts of stuff and some very cool antiques which unfortuantely would not fit into my backpack.

But besides all the things we have seen my real love for Buenos Aires and I guess most these latin American cities is the way they live. Obviously I don’t truly know whats its like to live in this city but from an outsider point of view I love it. They just seem to stop and enjoy life. They finish their work in the evening and head to the closest bar or café for a nibble or dinner and talk and laugh. It seems they are not in a hurry and don’t have a schedule or routine they abide by. 

The other thing I love is how food comes to you! Its everywhere. It lines the street and its cheap. Probably not always a good thing as the more you get out of the direct city it looks like these Argetines probably enjoy their food a little too much!

We are now in Peurto Igazu which took 19hrs on a bus! It was long but I have to say it was the most comfortable ride ever. They feed you and there are heaps of ok movies to keep you occupied – so not so bad.

The reason we came here was to visit the Igauzu Falls. Until today all I knew was that they were big waterfalls, they are not big they are are BLOODY HUGE. They are amazing, never seen anything like them. Well worth the bus ride.

Shaun and I are having an awesome time. Meeting a few people here and there and just chilling out. Its all good peeps.

Until the next time, take care and stay safexxx

From him

Two feelings overpower any other feelings I have about Argentina. Number one, its leaps and bounds ahead of its neighbours. Chile and Brazil are probably arent far behind being on par but from what I’ve seen and read (Yes I am a closet nerd) Argentina is back on the move.

Feeling number two, is that of slowly digesting a small heifer. The steak I’ve eaten here has oblierated any other of its competitors world wide – South Africa, NZ, Aussie. Not just in taste but the way it is cooked, the price and of course the shear size of the piece of meat thats plonked in front of you when you order from the Parilla (Grill). Dave you are gonna love this place, lucky Pam works for Qantas because you’ll probably need your own row on the way back.

At the moment we are on the boarder with with Brasil at the Igauzu Falls, mother nature at her brutal best. Staying at an old Casino that has been cleverly converted into a hostal. Its on 5 acres and it has a huge pool that is definetly the draw card.cWe are fairly well jungle people at our new location. The air is thick and the forest surrounding the hostal is full of weird squeals and squawks.

As of tomorrow we are heading Chileward back to the desert so if you would please excuse me Im about to strip down to my undies and go and find a vine to swing on.

Adios

Disclaimer – please excuse any incorrect spelling, this post was done in a little bit of a hurry!

Buenos Aires

From him

Buenos Aires, good air, it should be bloody hot and muggy air but I dont know how that would translate.

Its a step up from Santiago with a greater city boasting 13 million inhabitants. I use that term rather than residents because some of the people really only inhabit space that certainly doesnt qualify as residency. Sure this is a vibrant happening city but its not without its third world shadows. That being said I really do like this place. It may come as no suprise for most but when I do go away I prefer grit and grime over prissy ordered beauty any day!

Today we did a tour (I never do bloody tours!) of a neighborhood called La Boca, which literally translates to ‘The Mouth’. Its history is as colourful as its buildings and it was basically the focal point of Argentina’s new world beginnings. This being the case it contained of alot of Italian heritage. Sort of a shanty town with shady trees lining the street and nooks and crannys with cool little plazas and bazzars suppling artisans and nick naks (if your into that sort of shit). But along with its shady streets comes its shady characters. More than once I had to watch Specky’s back, as a lot of you know her camera resembles a small rocket launcher (honestly locals duck for cover when she gets that thing out) and the value of something like that could feed one of the homeless families for months.

Like any latin american city and I think Buenos Aires more than most it is largely nocturnal and the ‘Portenos’ (BA Residents) know how to party. At Jonsey’s recommendation we are staying at the Millhouse which is choc o block full of young Antipodean piss heads and its a cool spot. Pity Im an old married prick who cant handle his piss.

Still got few more days here, will let you know how it goes.

Adios