South America 2007
In and around South America
Having lived through the worst summer on record in the UK it was time to throw in the towels and head south for sunshine, cerveza and the wildlife. In the next 4 months we will be taking in the amazing sights from Ecuador to Cape Horn, before heading to The Land of the Long White Cloud in time for New Year celebrations.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Che Muchachos 2007
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1
The trip begins
Arriving at 1am in the morning to find that the reservation at our hotel did not exist was not the best start. Maybe our Spanish was a l... Continue reading »
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2
Mosquerra
After an early morning flight from Quito via Guayaquil we landed on the Galapagos island Baltra. We were quickly transferred to our boat, GAP III,... Continue reading »
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3
Floreana
Overnight we had an insight into how travelling on the boat was going to be......rough. Somehow though Russ 'I get sea sick in the bath' Browne man... Continue reading »
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4
Espanola
We endured another choppy overnight voyage tempered by Ecuador's finest sea sickness drugs. On arrival in the morning we snorkelled in Gardner Bay... Continue reading »
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5
Santa Fe
Another overnight trip took us to the island of Santa Fe. The journey took it's toll: Not on us but a baby Petrel who'd broken a leg somehow and wa... Continue reading »
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6
Santa Cruz
In the morning we docked in the 'capital' of the islands, Puerto Ayora. Whilst our crew restocked the vessel with more bananas and water etc we hea... Continue reading »
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7
San Salvador
We set foot onto the lava formed island in the hope of seeing Fur Seals. We found three nestled in the shade of the midday sun but had the added bonus... Continue reading » -
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North Seymour
We sailed off to North Seymour over lunch and arrived by 4pm. Just in time to observe the breeding grounds of the Frigate Birds and Blue Footed Boobie... Continue reading » -
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Bartolome
After breakfast we braced ourselves for the 400 steps taking us to the top of extinct volcano that gave us views over Pinnacle Rock, surrounding islan... Continue reading » -
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Caleta Tortuga Negra
Our last day heralded a rude, early 6am start to ensure we witnessed the Blue Footed Boobies 'grabbing' breakfast. 'Grabbing' is an understatement... Continue reading »
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11
Cotopaxi
Having found our land-legs after the fantastic Galapagos trip, we were adjusting back to city life in Quito. We decided it would be a good idea... Continue reading » -
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Guagua Pichincha
Not content with our efforts the day before, although very much feeling the effects (still can't sit down properly), we were on a mission to beat this... Continue reading » -
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Mitad del Mundo
A couple more days to kill in Quito before we start our group trip and feeling the bite of biking and hiking, we decided to take it easy. A hair... Continue reading » -
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Otavalo
We met up the night before to meet our tour-mates. 12 of us in total including Rachel our tour leader. We seem a good bunch - We total 6 Aussi... Continue reading »
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15
Misahualli - Ecuadorian Jungle
We finally said goodbye to Quito and our friendly, if not a little paranoia inducing, cafe owners Carlos and Carlos (long story and one Russ will s... Continue reading »
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16
Banos, the adventure town.
After a fairly lengthy bus trip from the jungle through once again windy and unsealed roads we arrived in Banos. It's not actually named afte... Continue reading »
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17
Cuenca
We caught a local bus to Riobamba first thing in the morning. The bus was full, therefore only a few lucky ones got a seat which made the next... Continue reading »
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18
Mancora
We were now leaving Ecuador and apprehensively boarded the bus to cross into Peru which we heard could be a long and drawn out ordeal. Luckily we w... Continue reading »
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19
Huanchaco
After a nine hour bus journey we arrived at Huanchaco, home to two early Inca towns. It´s akin to a fairly run down UK seaside town to be honest an... Continue reading »
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20
Lima
On Friday we boarded a Cruz del Sur bus, which is by far the best bus company we´ve encountered so far. Great big seats that recline almost horizon... Continue reading »
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21
Nazca
We took another bus in the morning and set off for Nasca passing through Pisco where we could see some of the devastating effects the 8.1 richter s... Continue reading »
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22
Arequipa
Arequipa is a lovely little town at the bottom of El Misti volcano. Most of the buildings are built with the white volcanic sillar... Continue reading »
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23
Colca Canyon
We headed to the Colca region where we were going to explore the deepest canyon in the world. Apparently the Colca Canyon is twice as deep as... Continue reading »
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24
Machu Picchu
Sunday morning had finally arrived and we set off at 7am from Cusco where we would be dropped off at the check point to the Inca Trail. ... Continue reading »
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25
Sacred Valley
Instead of heading back to Cusco before the Sacred Valley (thus called due to the fact that it aligns itself with the Milky Way - apparently) we st... Continue reading »
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26
Cusco
We arrived back into Cusco late Thursday night looking forward to some relaxing times and a rugby semi final......or so Russ thought. Instead Russ... Continue reading »
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27
Lake Titicaca
An early morning bus again took us to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Puno was apparently named cleanest Peruvian city but it looked like they... Continue reading »
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28
La Paz
We awoke at 5.30am to start our journey into Bolivia. However despite aiming for a 6.30am bus Bolivian bus strikers ensured that we enjoyed an 8 ho... Continue reading »
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29
Salar de Uyuni
After our overnight train journey we were ready for the salt desert that is Salar de Uyuni. This vast area used to be salt lakes thousands of... Continue reading »
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30
Potosi
We arrived shaken from the 'road' into the small mining town of Potosi which was once the richest city in South America due to its abundance of sil... Continue reading »
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31
Sucre
Bus journey to Sucre - It wasn't best and we should have known it right from the start. Our bus was 'parked' with bricks as it later appeared it di... Continue reading »
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32
Santa Cruz
A short flight took us to Santa Cruz where spent one night. A small insignificant town. A nice feel to it with a large plaza but we didn't see mu... Continue reading » -
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Corumba - Pantanal Wetlands
We landed in Puerto Suarez on the Bolivia/Brazil border in searing heat. Quite a change from the cool Andean air we'd been used too.
We trans... Continue reading »
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34
Bonito
Staying in amongst the wildlife we made our way to the small town of Bonito. Here we had a bbq by the lake, Russ played beach soccer with the local... Continue reading »
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35
Asuncion
We crossed the border into Paraguay so we could take in another country. We arrived at the capital Asuncion and checked into our very colonial look... Continue reading »
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36
Iguacu Falls
We started out tour of the Iguacu Falls national park by visiting the Itaipu Dam which was the largest dam in the world until China got to work on... Continue reading »
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37
Curitiba
We took the overnight bus and arrived at 6am to the small town of Curitiba. The Portuguese inflience is evident in most parts of town. We visited t... Continue reading »
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38
Sao Paulo
We arrived late Sunday afternoon and quickly set off for the Morumbi Stadium to see Sao Paolo play Gremio in the Brazilian Football Premier League.... Continue reading »
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39
Paraty
Paraty is a lovely colonial town where the Portuguese engineers designed a novel way of keeping the streets clean. The sea walls have holes in so t... Continue reading »
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40
Rio de Janeiro
We arrived in Rio on the Thursday afternoon and the weather was far from picture perfect - rainy and windy. We were staying in Flamengo that... Continue reading »
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41
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires and back to Palermo. We rented the same apartment we had done a year ago, so it was great to have our own place complete wi... Continue reading »
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42
Viedma and El Condor
We caught an overnight bus from Buenos Aires to Viedma, 14 hr ride south. We arrived here on the Tuesday morning and found a little place to sta... Continue reading » -
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Puerto Madryn
We arrived in the middle of a storm and decided that instead of getting a taxi to the peninsula that we'd stay in Puerto Madryn. We were persuaded... Continue reading »
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44
Ushuaia
A short flight from the warm air of Trelew delivered us safely into the cold environment of Ushuaia. We weren't exactly prepared for conditions as... Continue reading »
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45
Torres del Paine
We set off from Ushuaia in a blizzard and hoped that the weather would improve as we headed north. Not least because we were soon going to be campi... Continue reading »
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46
El Calafate
Next stop was El Calafate to see the famous Perito Moreno glacier. We'd stopped overnight in Puerta Natales and this was most welcome aft... Continue reading »
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47
El Chalten
At El Chalten, a few hours north from El Calafate, we got the chance to do yet more hiking but more importantly actually walk on a glacier.Continue reading »
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48
Bariloche
Bariloche is the 'Lake District' of the south...but much better. It's a fully fledged ski resort in winter and boasts crystal clear lakes with beac... Continue reading »
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49
Pucon
After Bariloche we headed back into Chile and settled into three days at the picturesque village/town of Pucon. Also similar to Bariloche it has a... Continue reading »
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50
Santiago
We fell off the bus in Santiago (ref previous entry) sometime after 6pm on Christmas Day. We dropped out bags into the hotel and went to one of the fe... Continue reading » -
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Valapraiso
Despite the hangovers we caught a local bus out to the old port of Valparaiso. Historically this was a bustling and important port as ships stopped... Continue reading »
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52
Santiago
The last day!!! Unbelievable how quick it now seems to have come round but at the same time as we look back at all the blog entires, it's amazing h... Continue reading »
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