Rio...dispelling the myth

We arrived in Rio on Sunday morning after our last long bus journey (only a 6 hour one left and then we're done with buses!) which was even longer than expected due to a huge tailback and a 'technical difficulty' with the door which occured in the middle of the night. Having had two recomendations to stay at The Mango Tree hostel in Ipanema (just one block from the beach), we were really looking forward to our stay there. Unfortunately we have been really disappointed with the hostel. Our minature room is damp and smells it! The humidity has been stifling and with no AC, a pretty inefficient fan and unable to open our windows due to the fear of the dreaded Dengue mosquito, we've been suffering a little.

Rio itself is a really interesting city. We're staying in the more 'upmarket' Ipanema beach area and have done a fair bit of exploring both here and along the infamous Copacabana beach. Both beaches have their fair share of 'Brazilian bikini' clad women and speedo adorned men who strut and preen themselves only too aware of the passing audience and enjoying every minute of it. At the weekend and on public holidays (of which there seem to be many - would you believe that St. George's Day is a public holiday here!) the beachside road is closed and the lycra clad, body-concious residents of the city match their running shoes with their swim wear and pound the streets in the middle-of-the-day heat.

Today we joined a tour of the 'Favellas' of Rio de Janeiro. Steeped in mystery these 'shanty town' like neighbourhoods are beyond the law and governed by the all powerful drug barons and thier large gangs. Assured that as a result these tend to be some of the safer regions within the city (virtually no muggings or robberies take place here as the presence of the police is so unwanted) we walked the alley ways, met local artists and visited a community school. It was a fascinating insight into life in the infamous favellas. Our guide, Alfredo was warmly greeted by name on every street corner and our presence seemed truly welcomed. The local government of Rio doesn't like tourists to visit districts like these as it doesn't portray the kind of image that they want outsiders to have of the city. The residents of the favellas and the company which organised the tour feel differently though. They encourage these kinds of tours which demonstrate real life and dispell the myths surrounding the lives of the people living there. Tourists inevitably bring money which is sorely needed by the poorest neighbourhoods of this city (where the minimum wage is bearly $300 a month). The community school that we visited today is supported by the tour company for 75% of its funding and local artists are able to sell thier work directly to the tourists, cutting out the middle men and thus support their families. Having watched the movie 'City of God' we were expecting the favellas to be a much more frightening places than those we visited today. Although I'm sure that for the police and those who get on the wrong side of the ruling gangs, these districts are dangerous and life can be short, many thousands of happy and peaceful Brazilians life thier day to day lives here without trouble. Therefore for us I guess the tour had the desired effect...the myth was dispelled.

We have now entered our final week in South Ameica and tomorrow we head north to a beach resort called Buzios. The weather report is promising sunshine and the hostel looks lovely (fingers crossed it will prove to be). Maybe I will finally get to the beach and will come home with my Brazilian tan.

Here's hoping!

Pro tennis and rain at the beach in Brazil

With the final (and easiest) border crossing by land under our belts, we have made it into Brazil - the final country in our South American odyssey. Our crossing from Puerto Iguazu in Argentina to Foz de Iguaçu in Brazil, just 30 minutes away by car, was uneventful compared with our previous day's journey to the falls and we had made it to the door of our hostel by lunchtime. Unfortunately the weather had really changed overnight and by the time we arrived, the rain was coming down by the bucket load and we were pretty much confined to the hostel for the afternoon. Hostel Bambu was not a bad place to be confined however. On arrival they invited us to join them for a communal lunch which was delicious and the staff couldn't have been more friendly or helpful for the duration of our stay.

The following evening we caught an overnight bus to Florianopolis which is the main city on the island of Santa Catarina in Southern Brazil. As we emerged from the station, bleary eyed from lack of sleep and keen to get to our lovely hostel we were greeted for the first time on our journey with a sign bearing our name. I don't know how many times we've exited a bus station or airport and made our weary way past the tens of signs bearing the names of those lucky people who've arranged transfers to their accommodation and wished that we were one of them! This time we were and it felt great.

Our host drove us the half an hour or so to our guest house (Pousada do Atoba) at the beach of Praia do Santinho and it was lovely to sit back in a car and not have to think about which bus to get etc. We arrived at the lovely guest house which is only a couple of minutes walk to the beach and were offered breakfast and able to check into our room straight away. This place is lovely. The hosts are helpful and friendly, the beach is beautiful and almost deserted and best of all we arrived to find out that there is a pro tennis tournament on all week in the resort down the road. We have spent our first couple of days enjoying the tennis (including a televised match between Gustavo Kuerten, who won the French Open a few years ago, and a Colombian player last night), running on the beach (trying to get back into shape) and generally relaxing. Unfortunately we woke to torrential rain this morning which hasn't relented all day. We've spent today making the most of our laptop by watching DVDs, catching up on what's happening in the world and hoping that the sun shines tomorrow.

After more than four months improving our Spanish to the point where we were more than just getting by, our short time in Brazil so far has already proved to be linguistically challenging. We are assured that Spanish and Portuguese have many similarities but our unaccustomed ears can't pick them out. We had forgotten what it feels like to arrive in a place so ill-equipped that we can't even greet our hosts or thank them in their own language. This final country will certainly prove a challenge but I feel that our short time here may just wet our appetite to return and see it at greater leisure.


We have been particularly moved by two stories in the news recently: the first being the horrific bus crash in Ecuador which killed several young British women and the second being the death of a British woman at Iguazu Falls in Argentina on the very day that we visited. These stories are particularly close to home and our hearts go out to the families and friends effected while we reflect on our wonderful journey and appreciate how fragile life is.

Una aventura en Iguazu

Waterfalls, butterflies, a road block and the Argentinian army...

We arrived from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu by plane yesterday afternoon and checked into our hostel (where we have a private ensuite double with air conditioning for $22 US a night!). After exploring the town yesterday afternoon (it didn't take long) we were looking forward to a day at Iguazu Falls today. We got up early as we'd been warned about a demonstration that is taking place here which has been partially blocking the main road to the falls and airport. We boarded a bus at the airport and began making our way out of town slowing to a complete stop as we approached the blockade (if my Spanish is correct, the demonstration is about schooling and social welfare etc) where we waited (thankful of the air conditioning on the bus) for about 15 minutes. Eventually our driver got out to investigate further only to return and tell us that if we wanted to continue to the falls we'd have to cross the blockade on foot and try to get transport on the other side.

We are only here for one day so it was now or never for us to see the waterfalls. We've heard so many great things about them that we weren't about to let a little demonstration get in our way! We managed to cross the blockade as there weren't too many protesters and all the passengers crossed at the same time which left them a bit short handed (it didn't go without notice though and we weren't very popular). And...without a clue about how far it was to the entrance of the national park, we began to walk! We were walking with a couple of girls we'd met on the bus and were offered rides by a couple of taxis who were quoting extortionate fares (attempting to capitalise on our predicament I'm sure) we which laughed at and continued walking...and walking, and walking!

Eventually we decided that the park might be further than any of us had previously thought and attempted to flag down any of the few cars that passed. Thinking it a bit of a joke we stuck out our thumbs and waved our arms as an Argentinian Army truck passed us. To our shock and delight, the truck slowed to a stop on the other side of the road and the men dressed in fatigues gestured for us to climb in (no easy feat as the Unimog truck is a long way from the ground!). The very kind military men proceeded to drive us about 10km along the road at which point they had to turn off in another direction - a short but interesting ride nestled amongst the artillery and food supplies stocked in their truck. The road sign at this point suggested that we still had a further 7km to the park entrance and the temperature was rising steadily (to 32 degrees with very high humidity as we're in rain forest territory). We began to walk but were confident from our first hitching experience and decided to try our luck again. Having been passed by several cars (not able to get through the blockade much of the traffic had u-turned) we were beginning to worry about how long it might take us to walk the full 7km when a man pulled over at the side of the road. He offered us a lift (we clearly looked like four hot, tired and very nonthreatening tourists) in his air-conditioned car right to the entrance of the park and wouldn't accept a penny in payment (it's so nice and unusual to have an experience like that - if only there were more people like him in the world).

Feeling pretty proud of ourselves for making it all the way to the falls without paying a penny extra, we said goodbye to our travelling companions and began our visit to the falls. This is one of those occasions when the hype really doesn't spoil the reality - Iguazu Falls is breathtakingly beautiful and jaw droppingly huge! We made our way around the various trails on offer but weren't able to do the boat rides (would you believe, the boat company staff were on strike!) which was a shame as I just wanted to get closer and closer to the water and spray. The park is also famous for a host of wildlife including an enormous variety of butterflies. It's safe to say that I've never seen anything quite like the butterflies here - there are so many...large, tiny, beautifully coloured. They swarm around you in certain areas and land on your hands, bags and even heads!

Knowing that our journey back to town might be an eventful one, we left the park in the early afternoon in search of transport. There were buses leaving the park and going as far as the back end of the traffic jam at the blockade, so we jumped on the first one and made our way there. It was about 1.5 kilometre walk uphill (in the searing mid afternoon heat) from where the bus dropped us to the blockade itself but this time there were many more people and absolutely no way through. Simon tried but was told and shown that there was no way he was going to be allowed to pass! We had to wait until they decided to let pedestrians through (and some had waited for 6 hours on the road). Thankfully our wait was only about 45 minutes at which time they raised the barriers enough to let us through (if we moved fast) to the other side where we found a bus to bring us back to town.

All in all a good (and very eventful) day out. Tomorrow we head across the border to Brazil where we will spend a day and a half exploring the Brazilian side of Iguazu falls and then on to the beach.

Happy Birthday Mum

We hope you have a wonderful birthday mum. We'll be thinking of you and we're looking forward to celebrating with you when we get home (soon).

xxx

Football and Tango in Beautiful Buenos Aires

Since the very beginning of this trip (4 months ago now) I've been really looking forward to our stay in Buenos Aires. Everyone who's been here seems to return in love with this city and I couldn't wait to get here to find out what they were raving about. I must admit, I've come away also in love! Described in books as the 'Amercian Paris', Buenos Aires is a wonderful melting pot of cosmopolitan city life and eclectic, bohemian neighbourhoods begging to be explored. We arrived after an overnight bus trip (this time on a completely flat bed) from Mendoza and checked into our hostel in the bohemian 'antique quarter' of the city called San Telmo. It was a Saturday morning and the coffee shops and antiques stores were beginning to open as we made our way towards the main square in the area where we sat and drank coffee amongst the throng of local stall traders setting up for the day. The San Telmo area is famous for it's Sunday antiques market and numerous antiques stores lining the streets. Throughout the day it filled with serious antiques buyers and many tourists browsing the bric a brac stalls and crafts. I indulged my shopping fetish by purchasing some hand designed and made clothes which will be perfect as we continue our travels in hotter climes (no longer any need for the thermals and gortex!).

The next five days in the capital went by really quickly as we packed in as much sight seeing and exploring as we could manage. On our first evening we signed ourselves up for a local football match between the well known Boca Juniors and another BA team. This was the first football match I've ever been to and although I won't be giving up my rugby season ticket in favour of the round ball, I did enjoy it. The Boca fans are notorious in their volume and abuse of the opposition - they didn't disappoint (I wouldn't have wanted to play for the opposition) as things were thrown on to the pitch and general abuse was hurled at the players! I was very glad to have picked up a Boca shirt on the way to the stadium and we all joined in heartily with the singing (not sure what we were actually saying), whistling and clapping - there was no mistaking our allegiance.

On another of the nights we went to a Tango dinner show. Very touristy I know but we couldn't resist. The tango dancing on the streets is wonderful but the dancing and singing at the show was just amazing. As devout Strictly Come Dancing fans, we were both keen to see a Flavia/Vincent style Argentine tango in all its glory and the show lived up to our high expectations with plenty of leg flicking and drama. Walking around the streets in Buenos Aires it is hard not to be drawn in by the artists, dancers and musicians who jostle for space (both physical space and silence) to demonstrate their particular art. On Sunday in San Telmo we came across an amazing classical guitarist playing flamenco style music with enormous passion. We were enthralled for quite a while as was the rest of the huge crowd he'd drawn. It's impossible to be bored in Buenos Aires.

Our remaining days in BA were spent visiting wonderful art galleries, strolling around the varied neighbourhoods, wandering through the infamous cemetary in Recoleta (home to Eva Peron's (Evita) grave), eating delicious steak and bizarrely meeting up with friends (it really is a small world). We randomly bumped in to a couple who'd been on our Antarctic cruise and had a good chat with them. The following morning we received a message at our hostel saying that another couple from the cruise were in the city and would like to meet for lunch, which was lovely. We also met up with Elisa (and her sister) who we'd had the pleasure of meeting while we stayed at Estancia Despedida on Tierra del Fuego. She's studying in BA and we met up for delicious ice-cream and a catch up.

All in all we had a wonderful time. Five days and nights is just not long enough in this intoxicating city (although our wallets would take a hit if we stayed any longer - resisting the fabulous shopping was exceptionally challenging!). We both agree that we'd love to come back, and I for one can't wait.

Wine and birthdays in Mendoza

After a one night stop-over in Santiago on returning from Easter Island, we hopped on yet another bus to take us on the eight hour journey across the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina. Hailed as the wine capital of the country it seemed like the perfect place to celebrate my birthday and we'd agreed to meet up with Lou (who we met on the Navimag ferry) whose birthday is the day before mine. We were quite excited about the hostel we'd booked as the website looked fantastic and it boasted a pool and a wine bar on site. However, as with many things in South America, it was not quite as we'd imagined and although beautiful from the outside, was lacking in character and cleanliness on the inside. The town was far larger than we'd expected, a city rather than a Provencal village but its parks and tree lined avenues were very pretty and there were plenty of activities on offer.

On Lou's birthday we signed ourselves up for a full day's wine tasting culminating in a lunch of local produce at the final winery. We were collected at 9am (a little early for wine if you ask me!) and visited 3 wineries and a liquor distillery. We were guided around and shown the wine making process and then able to taste a white and red wine at each (we all agreed that it would have been far better to be given wines of varying varieties to compare, with a little more instruction involved as this was very much geared towards a quick taste and then back on the bus). At the final (very small) winery we arrived to find a table heavily laden with local meats, cheeses, breads and all sorts of other delicious things for us to enjoy (along with free flowing red wine to wash it down). It was a picture perfect setting and the food was absolutely delicious - a great way to end the tour.

The following day (my birthday) we went horse riding which was wonderful. We rode up into the mountains with perfect weather, great horses, mate tasting and an authentic gaucho - what more could a girl want! Lou's excellent spanish enabled her to find out all about the fascinating life of a gaucho and relay it back to me while we rode through the low Andes wishing only that we could stay longer. That evening we went to a wonderful restaurant in Mendoza where we tucked into delicious steak and the best red wine we've tasted so far. Even though I wasn't at home to celebrate with friends and family, I've got to admit it wasn't a bad way to spend a birthday!

From Mendoza the next stop is Buenos Aires where we will spend five days and nights. We're both really excited about this part of the trip as we've heard such great things about the city. I'll update again from there.

A little bit of Polynesia

After the worst bus journey of the trip so far (overnight to Santiago with a stomach virus that saw me unable to keep down food or water for 24 hours) and a full day and night in bed missing out on the beautiful weather in Chile's capital, we boarded a plane bound for the tiny island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island or Isla de Pascua) in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. Rapa Nui is an overseas territory of Chile and besides Spanish being the main language, we couldn't have felt further away from South America. Famous for its large monumental statues called Moai, Rapa Nui is a world heritage site which entices people with its mysterious history and culture.

We flew in from Santiago (a 5 hour flight) landing at night on the tiny airstrip which literally spans the width of one end of the island - coming in very low over the water to touch down and being only metres from the ocean on the opposite side of the island when the plane finally slows down enough to turn around. We were greeted by our hostel owner, Bicky, with flower garlands as we left the airport and treated to passion fruit cocktails when we got back to our cabins by the sea - a very good start to a relaxing few days.

The following morning and feeling much better, we rented a car for the day to explore the triangular island. Being only 24km long and 12km wide, we only needed a day to visit all of the major historical and picturesque sites. The weather was beautiful and choosing to opt out of the standard guided tours we managed to avoid all of the big groups as we visited the Moai around the island, getting them for the most part to ourselves. These strange guardians of the island stand for the most part facing in towards the island with their backs towards the sea, protecting the land and its people. Only a quarter of the statues carved were installed, while nearly half still remain in the quarry or Moai 'nursery' at Rano Raraku and the rest elsewhere on the island, probably on their way to their final locations.

One of the most impressive sights is the row of 15 Moai (the most standing together) which have been restored at Ahu Tongariki (Ahu being the stone platform on which the Moai are erected). All slightly different in size and detail they were re-erected between 1992 ad 1995 and stand in front of the quarry used to carve all of the Moai on the island.

After our first day's exploration we spent a further two days and three nights making the most of what the tiny island of Rapa Nui has to offer. We visited the picture perfect beach of Anakena, watched the entrancing Rapa Nui ballet (traditional polynesian dancing and music), enjoyed a traditional meal cooked in an umu (earth oven) where the food is buried under ground on top of hot coals and covered with banana leaves and I went horse riding.

We left in the island with shell necklaces presented to us by Bicky, our host, having had a wonderful time. Rapa Nui may be tiny and very remote, but it was well worth the effort to get there.

Pesca en Pucon!

After a long and very hot bus journey from Bariloche, Argentina, another border crossing and a few more stamps in our passports, we arrived in Pucon, Chile. With its reputation as the outdoor adventure capital of Chile we were not surprised to find the streets lined with agencies offering rafting, canyoning, hydro-speeding, kayaking, horse riding and the like. Having done our share of these, we were again really keen to do something a bit different (this is becoming a bit of a motto for our trip) and found ourselves negotiating a day of fishing on a nearby river. I must admit that I’ve never had a burning desire to learn to fish but was willing to give it a try and actually found myself strangely eager to don waders and get into the river for a fly fishing lesson. The agency owner managed to convince us that we should in fact try both fly fishing and ‘spinning’, which he told us was easier and much more likely to yield us a catch or two.

The next morning we were collected from our hostel and driven to the beautiful river outside town. Our fishing guide spoke very little english (“more line” and “stop” were about his limit) but rowed our boat or managed to keep us static in the fast flowing sections admirably. We began with ‘spinning’ which had a small, brightly coloured, plastic fish attached to the end of the line. With no finesse whatsoever, I unceremoniously dropped my plastic fish over the side of the boat and began to let out ‘more line, more line’ according to the guides instructions and within what must have been only 20 or 30 seconds I felt a tug on the line. “Fish, fish”, our guide assured me and told me to reel in the line and, sure enough, I’d managed to catch my first fish, a (very small) trout! Convinced that I had in fact had a fish attached to the hook before my line touched the water, Simon was less than impressed by my supreme fishing skills and I was beginning to think that I’d found a sport that I might be better than him at...I was indeed getting ahead of myself!

Over the next three hours Simon managed to catch five fish using both the spinning and fly fishing rods while I sat patiently with nothing but a couple of fruitless bites on the end of my line - that’ll teach me! Surprisingly I really enjoyed my first fishing expedition and although I’ll not be rushing out to buy a fishing licence on our return, I would definitely try it again.

The Navimag and the Lake District

After a few days in Torres del Paine National Park we embarked on a four night, three day ferry trip from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt on the Navimag ferry which winds its way through the Chilean fijords. This voyage is supposed to be one of the most beautiful ferry journeys and often the highlight of peoples trips. However, the Lonely Planet markets it as 'not a cruise' and with a shared dorm of 20 booked and advice on how much wine (plenty) we should take on board with us, it was with a little reservation that we boarded the Evangelistas on the Thursday evening. The Navimag ferry is essentially a cargo vessel that has been converted to accommodate the eager backpacker who is willing to pay. The utilitarian nature of the boat was apparent from the minute we set foot onto the vehicle loading bay where the lorries full of cows, sheep and horses sang out beneath our dorm. The journey itself was beautiful despite the drizzly weather but I found that having recently had the beautiful fijords of Whalesound all to ourselves and experiencing them by kayak had perhaps spoiled me a little. Cabin fever definitely took over by the third day and although we'd met some great people, the lack of space and confined dorms finally got to me. I was very happy, then, to arrive on Monday morning in Puerto Montt and step on to dry land.

From Puerto Montt (a large and not very pretty town) we'd decided to head straight to Puerto Varas, a smaller, prettier, alpinesque town set on the huge Lago Llanquihue and at the foot of Volcan Osorno. We stayed there for a couple of nights with a some friends we'd met on the ferry (Lou & Anna) and I got to go horse riding again. It didn't disappoint and we had a wonderful day riding (South American style) through dense forest and salmon rich rivers. Thanks girls for a fab day. On Wednesday we got a bus to Bariloche, Argentina - the chocolate capital of the country...very up my street! Again set on a large lake, Bariloche is a largish town with a reputation for great food, lively nightlife and good hiking. We didn't have long but enjoyed some walking, great steak, chocolate tasting, several hostels (don't ask) and a trip to a couple of the local hospitals (wait for our slot on Emergency 999!).

We are now in Pucon, Chile after a long and very hot bus ride yesterday (Saturday). The weather is beautiful, we're staying in a great hostel with a magnificent view of Volcan Villarrica and have had a relaxing day with a lie in and a leisurely stroll around town. There's lots on offer here in Pucon: rafting, canyoning, kayaking, volcano climbing etc But tomorrow we've booked ourselves in for a day of fishing (don't laugh), both fly and spinning? We've never tried it before and thought that this might be a good opportunity.

Tomorrow night we get an overnight bus to Santiago followed by a flight on Wednesday to Easter Island. I can't wait: Moai, sun, sea, sand, more horse riding and staying in one place (a pretty cabin with sea views) for four nights!

Torres del Paine en bicicleta

Having decided not to trek the traditional 'W' trek in Torres Del Paine National Park, we booked ourselves a 3 day, 2 night mountain biking/overland trip with Pablo of Sendero Aventura. We were exhausted when we arrived back in Puerto Natales on Sunday night after a long zodiac trip back from Whalesound to Punta Arenas followed by a 3 hour bus trip back to Puerto Natales (arriving at 11pm). However, we set off on Monday morning in the Land Rover (towing our mountain bikes on a trailer) with Pablo and another guide, Mariano to our first stop, the Milodon Cave. This cave is where Hermann Eberhard (in 1896) found preserved bits of skin belonging to an animal which is thought to be twice the size of a human and is now known as a Milodon. The largest cave is huge (30 metres in height) and very impressive. After visiting the large cave we got on our bikes and took a small, winding single track to the middle and small caves. Pablo and Mariano had organised everything brilliantly and thought of every last detail in the planning of the trip. Waiting for us at the entrance to the small cave, Mariano had set up a lunch stop complete with folding table and awning attached to the Land Rover and we enjoyed sandwiches and tea before moving on.

The trip had been designed so that we rode some sections, walked some sections and did some overlanding in the Land Rover (with it following behind as backup all the way). As one guide rode or walked with us, the other drove the Land Rover behind to the arranged meeting point or ahead to the campsite to set up for dinner. The trip was fantastic and we had a wonderful time. We rode small winding single track and old gravel roads (feeling every unused muscle in our out of shape bodies as we pushed against the notorious Patagonian wind!), walked a short (5km) section of the Sendero de Chile (an impressive trail stretching from the far north of Chile to the very south, a total of 9,700km of trekking paths) and took the Land Rover off-road to spectacular viewing points. We ate a home cooked lunch at a family run estancia and were treated to wonderful asado (barbeque) dinners and Chilean wine in the evenings. I was even reunited with the Trek 4300 - the same as my first mountain bike at home which was known lovingly as Tracy Trek. Deciding not to trek the 'W' made us a little worried that we may not get to see the spectacular torres (towers) that the park in so famous for. We needn't have worried though. The weather was very kind to us and the strong winds moved the clouds aside and uncovered the sun just in time for a spectacular view of the towers and the Paine Massif. We were treated to this beautiful view for two days as we made our way through the park and stopped at miradors and waterfalls, watched circling condors (and even one on the ground where we could appreciate how massive these birds are), saw the Grey Glacier and vivid blue icebergs on Lago Grey and finally made our way back to Puerto Natales. Again we returned tired but elated. Others will probably think that we missed out by not trekking the traditional routes to see the towers at sunrise in all their glory... perhaps we did. However, I've heard many a Patagonian trekker tell of their tough 4 day hike, a very early final morning getting to the viewing spot to wait for sunrise to find the towers covered in cloud only to descend the same way with the rain beating down and the wind blowing fiercely. We did it our way and enjoyed every minute, no regrets.

Whalesound...wow!

After leaving Ushuaia we made our way via Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park. With two weeks before we get Navimag ferry to Puerto Montt we had some time to kill and no plans. It seems that most people on our Antarctic adventure had the same idea and we bumped into many of them in our first couple of days in Natales. We spent some time catching up on news from home (making the most of the fast internet connection), catching up with a friend here and trying to decide how to spend the next two weeks. After considerable deliberation we devised a plan. Rather than trek the traditional 'W' route through the park, we would go on a three day mountain bike tour through the park, camping on route (with a handy Landrover backup with guide just in case the hills get too steep, the rain too hard or the wind more ridiculous than normal!). I know that I'd said no to bikes of any kind on this trip but I've given in just this once (the truth being that I just don't want to do any more trekking at this point). We had also heard about a mysterious place/company called Whalesound based on a small island called Carlos III where you can go and watch humpback whales close up by boat or kayak. Simon and I had both been really keen to get some sea kayaking into our trip somewhere and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

With plans laid down we headed back to Punta Arenas and were collected from our hostel there by our Whalesound guides on Thursday morning (6th March). To be honest, the allure of whale watching from a kayak had us both so hooked that we didn't ask many questions about the logistics of the trip and therefore had absolutely no idea what to expect from one day or hour to the next. We were collected by a pick-up with a kayak strapped to the back and driven an hour out of town to a small beach where a large zodiac style boat was waiting for us. As the sun shone and I added layer upon layer to my now clown like body I began to wonder what sort of boat ride this would be. At the time I thought that the enormous survival suits and oil skins were a little over the top but I hadn't realised that a 5 hour zodiac ride to the camp lay ahead. A five hours in which we would end up soaked to the skin and very cold but one with an unimaginable treat at the end. As the camp came into view we spotted the first whale ahead (the distinctive blow of water rising from the surface of the water) and made our way towards it. As we got closer we saw that hundreds of sea lions and albatross were in the same area: the sea lions going crazy in the water, jumping and flipping themselves over and the birds circling low overhead. As the captain idled the engine we drifted towards the frenzy and found that two very large (about 16-17 metres in length) humpback whales were feeding at the surface causing the commotion. It was a spectacular sight, the whales circled and swam beneath our small zodiac occasionally exposing their heads and huge mouths as they fed and the sea lions put on the most amazing show of agility as the leapt out of the water. We floated amongst the chaos for about 20 minutes seemingly unnoticed and certainly causing no disturbance to the whales, thus afforded an opportunity to get within centimetres of these truly amazing creatures. This was just a taste of what was to come!

We arrived at camp wet and hungry but exhilarated by our zodiac ride and first close-up whale encounter, ready for the next 3 days. The camp consists of several white pod-like tents raised off the ground on stilted platforms and connected by raised wooden walkways. Inside our tent we had low wooden framed beds with thick mattresses, sleeping bags and fleece liners waiting for us and our bathroom, which was a few steps along the board walk, contained a glass sided shower overlooking the trees and bay beyond.

The few days we had at Whalesound were magical. We spent our days kayaking and zodiac cruising amongst the whales and sea lions and our evenings eating delicious food in a spot so remote that whales sleep just a few metres from the shore (so close that as you drift off to sleep at night or wake with the sun in the morning you can hear the lazy breathing of the massive creature in the bay below). It's hard to do the experience justice in this short blog entry (in person I'll do a much better job I hope) but for me it was far more than I'd imagined. We paddled our double kayak to within 10 metres of a humpback that was three times longer than us; we paddled to the front of a carving glacier as the ice dislodged into the fijord echoing off the surrounding mountains; we sat in our kayak as hundreds of sea lions played in the water around us, leaping and dancing just for fun and we accompanied the resident scientist as he attempted to collect skin biopsies for DNA testing of the humpback whales. As I said, there are not words to describe this adequately. Luckily for me, memories last forever.

Off-road adventure in Tierra del Fuego

This is a belated post as it's taken some time to get the video uploaded. When we were in Ushuaia we went on a 4x4 off-road adventure day with a company called Nunatak. As part of the trip Sebastian (our driver/guide) took this short video.

Enjoy

Happy Mother's Day Mum

Here's a video clip just for you mum. I know you wanted my to smuggle home a real one but hopefully this is the next best thing.

Love you

S

Cruising the Lemaire Channel, Antarctica

I thought you might enjoy a little Antarctic experience. Here we are cruising through the beautiful Lemaire Channel through the brash ice.

The Coldest, Windiest, Whitest Continent on Earth

Is a two day crossing (make that four days if you want to get back home again!) of the notorious Drake´s Passage worth the effort?

Without a doubt.

Visiting the coldest, windiest, driest, iciest, whitest continent on Earth is not everyone´s idea of money well spent, but it is mine. I have always wanted to visit the mysterious Antarctic region but I´m not sure that I thought I would ever actually get there. A place confined to beautiful coffee table picture books and scientific expeditions, Antarctica can seem beyond the reach of the humble traveller. These past nine days at sea on board the MS Polaris have had their ups and downs (literally and metaphorically speaking) but making it to Antarctica has literally been a dream come true.

The first iceberg sighting was made as we approached the South Shetland Islands and it didn´t disappoint. As we got closer in the fading light of our second full day at sea an enormous tabular iceberg emerged. Reaching over 100 metres in height (bearing in mind that only an eighth of an iceberg is visible above water) it was a monster! This initial sighting was followed in quick succession by others which appeared on the dusky horizon floating majestically on the Southern Ocean. With the calmer waters came a good night´s sleep and an early morning wake up call and the fun began. Our first trip off the boat was a zodiac cruise around Enterprise Island and to the wreck of the Governor (a 1920s whaling ship) in Foyn Harbour. It was a great first cruise and a good taster of how many layers (more) I´d need to wear on our subsequent outings! That afternoon we made our first landing of the trip on Cuverville Island, home to a large Gentoo Penguin colony. As we approached land it was clear that there were thousands of penguins on the island, both adults and large chicks. Identified by their distinctive orange bills and a white flash above the eye, these little fellows were my first introduction to penguins en masse and they were truly a sight to behold.

The following morning we sailed into Paradise Harbour and landed the Zodiacs at the now unused Argentinian base of Almirante Brown. We walked up the hill to enjoy the stunning view over the harbour and were treated to a beautiful sight - after a few grey days of rain and snow, the sun was rising over the mountains and the cloud receding. Looking forward to a day of good weather, the steep climb up turned into a great snow slide down for many. We got back on board the Polaris and set sail for the Lemaire Channel, a narrow ice-filled channel that was a truly spectacular sight. The most scenic part of the journey it was a real treat to experience it in such good weather. Picture postcard opportunities presented themselves one after the other as we cruised through the ice the sun lit up the snowy peaks surrounding us. I didn´t think it could get much better than this until we reached the aptly named Iceberg Alley where the Antarctica of my imagination revealed itself. We Zodiac cruised for about two hours around the icebergs witnessing an abundance of wildlife including: Minke Whales, Humpback Whales, Crabeater Seals, Antarctic Fur Seals, a lone Adelie Penguin and the spectacular Leopard Seal. All of this as the sun slowly began to set over icebergs that were even beyond my imagination - turquoise in colour and carved into beautiful shapes. Truly overwhelming!

With the weather forecast for the following day looking a little less than perfect the expedition team even managed to squeeze in a third outing for the day to the Yalour Islands, home to an Adelie Penguin colony. A little smaller than the Gentoo and without the orange bill, these penguins are really cute but exceptionally smelly. As opposed to our landing on Cuverville Island where we were able to land away from the nesting sites, at the Adelie colony we found ourselves right in the middle of what had been their nesting site earlier in the season. The guano literally coloured the island red and smelled so bad that I was convinced the Adelie scent had permeated my clothes and skin! That said, it was a wonderful opportunity to see another species of penguin in such large numbers and to observe their amusing behaviours. Feeling exhausted we returned to the ship where we had a good nights sleep at anchor.

The next morning we woke up to worse weather (which made us feel very thankful for the perfect day before). We had been planning to visit the Ukranian Vernadsky Station on the Argentine Islands. Unfortunately though, they were in the midst of their annual crew change and it was not possible to tour the station itself. Very kindly they sent their radio controller, Eugine onto our boat to tell us about the station and answer our questions. It´s a shame we didn´t get to visit as I´m sure it would have been fascinating. We did land however at part of the original station, Wordie Hut, which was part of the British base B which later became Faraday. It has been left as a testament to how things used to be and was a real eye opener - the marmite looked tempting though, despite its age (I'm having some serious withdrawal symptoms here)! That afternoon in slightly less picturesque conditions we sailed back down the Lemaire Channel and on to our next landing site back in the South Shetlands, Deception Island. As our ship´s captain skillfully negotiated Neptune´s Bellows (a very narrow opening into what is in fact a volcanic caldera), Whaler´s Bay came into view. Whaler´s Bay was home to a succession of whaling and research stations and is now an open air museum with many well preserved remnants of years past. This was a fascinating stop and gave us an idea of the scale of whaling operations in the region.

Whaler´s Bay will also hold memories for us of a different kind. All week we had been gearing up towards a dip in Antarctic waters and were determined to beat the last Polaris Antarctic Swim Team record of 31 passengers/crew. Had the sun been out it would have been a less daunting proposition but we took the plunge nonetheless. We had to wade into the water and ensure that we swam with our heads fully submerged in order to count as an official swim team member. It was a pretty amusing sight for the onlooking fur seal as 39 passengers/crew stripped down to their swimsuits and entered the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean. Not an experience I feel I need to repeat but one that with hindsight, and dressed warmly, I think I almost enjoyed!

After a hot shower and back into a sensible number of layers we made our final landing of the trip that afternoon at Walker Bay on Livingstone Island. The conditions were pretty interesting: the wind was blowing fairly hard and we had quite a big swell which made transferring from the gangway to the Zodiac and back quite exciting. We all made it unscathed though thanks to the hard work of the staff and enjoyed a final stroll on land taking in some new species and saying goodbye to some old friends. Large colonies of both Gentoo and Adelie Penguins lined the rocky bay as we walked to Hannah Point at the end of the island. The glacial ice washed up on the beach made for a spectacular sight and we were even lucky enough to catch our first sighting of Southern Elephant Seals. These monsters can reach four and a half tonnes when fully grown and if the juvenile males we saw (at about two and a half tonnes) are anything to go by, they must be gigantic!

And so began our journey home. My only complaint about this trip is that it was just not long enough. I could have spent many many more days exploring this last wildnerness but am thankful that I am one of the few who have been here at all. We were blessed that our return trip on the Drake was less eventful than our first and we will leave with wonderful memories of Antarctica. I feel a trip further north coming on...anyone ever seen a Polar Bear?

Drake's Passage - an experience!

After a day pottering around in Ushuaia (I think it's fair to say we know this small town very well now!) we made our way to the passenger terminal at the port and boarded a GAP Adeventures bus bound for the MS Polaris: the Russian ice-strengthened boat that was to be our home for the next 10 days. As we approached along the pier, our little boat appeared dwarfed by the other vessels docked alongside her and it was at this point that I was both grateful for the small capacity of our cruise (65ish passengers) and a little worried at how much she might move in the swell of the Southern Ocean.

It's fair to say that Drake's Passage has a bit of a reputation for turning those with even the strongest stomachs and most hardy sea legs into whimpering, bed-ridden individuals begging for mercy as they are tossed around on the mighty Southern Ocean. With postcards for sale all over Ushuaia stating things such as "I've survived Drake's Passage", and even a Drake's Passage 'experiences board' in the local bookshop, I was more than a little concerned that no amount of Dramamine would keep me from my bunk! But, it was hard to believe the stories as we set sail along the glass like Beagle Channel, spotting Dolphins and sea birds and watching the sun set over the receeding mountains of southern Argentina and Chile.

With all the orientation stuff sorted we had a good dinner and began getting to know our fellow passengers over a drink in the bar. I had no trouble falling asleep that night with the gentle motion of the boat and dreams of what would await us in the mighty White Continent. However, I was woken up in the early hours of the morning by some fairly violent sideways motion of the boat which, considering the layout of our cabin and bunks, meant that we were tipped from one end of our bed (standing on the outside wall of the cabin) to the other (protecting my head from hitting the wall with my hands). I had followed instructions and taken my Dramamine (sea sickness) tablets before bed and thankfully in a lying position didn't feel sickness of any kind. No sickness...and no sleep! As the boat continued to sway from side to side at increasingly precarious angles and our belongings swam around on floor of our cabin I concentrated on trying to wedge myself into my bunk and make it through the rest of the night.

Our morning call by the ever cheery expedition leader brought no respite from the swell of the Drake, but determined that it must be mind over matter, I got myself out of bed and even (such a maratime amateur) into the shower. It was quite an experience trying to wash my hair at the same time as clinging onto the wall bars for dear life and probably not the best way to start my day. Feeling like I'd been through the spin cycle of the washing machine, I followed Simon upstairs to the dining room for breakfast. However, while waiting to be called I was overcome by nausea and retreated hastily to our cabin where Simon later found me clinging to the toilet bowl. I have felt sea sickness before but thankfully it has never progressed beyond a feeling of nausea. This time was different...feeling a complete lack of control I was sick before I'd even been to breakfast and had to lie down in my cabin for the next few hours before I felt able to try the vertical position again. The rest of the day passed in an uncomfortable haze of dramamine fuelled semi-conciousness, although I did make it to the brilliant and informative lectures given by our expedition team and the remaining meals of the day.

I had just about managed to adapt to the motion of the boat on day one of the Drake's Passage crossing when day two dawned. I could tell that the boat was moving alot more on day two by the angle reached by our waterproof jackets (hanging on the wall of the cabin) each time the boat swayed from side to side. I didn't make breakfast on day two either and was incredibly relieved when it was announced that lunch would be served to cabins (it meant that most people were feeling as bad as me). I did venture up for dinner where chairs and people were sliding from one side of the dining room to the other and many laps got a soaking from toppled drinks. I was relieved to hear that this is the worst crossing of the Drake so far this season and that I was justified in feeling a little under the weather. Thankfully as we entered calmer waters that evening people began to emerge from their short hibernation and the excitement at approaching Antarctica began to heighten.

Estancias, horses and planes!

On Wednesday (13th Feb) we hired a car for our drive to the first estancia (ranch) that we are staying at (for two nights). The scenery during the drive was magnificent and we also managed to make a stop at a little town called Tolhuin which is reputed to serve up the best baked goods on Tierra del Fuego (we sampled and we agree!). We arrived at Estancia Viamonte at about 5pm and after a little confusion, finally found our way to the guest house. Set between rolling hills and the open ocean, its white buildings with red roofs made for quite a sight as we approached along Ruta 3. This estancia is owned by the descendants of the first European settlers of Tierra del Fuego and houses so much history of times and people past. We were welcomed in to the family and treated to wonderful hospitality throughout our stay. The guest house, Seaview, was beautiful. It had a very English feel on the inside which was enhanced by the tea and biscuits we were served when we arrived. Our room, with an enormous and extremely comfortable bed, was on the front of the house with views of the sea through the trees. What a treat it was to stumble across this place and manage to make a booking at such short notice. On Valentines day it was 10 years exactly since we got engaged and I can’t think of a more lovely place to have been. Our two days at Viamonte were spent walking along the empty beach, watching the men round up the sheep and sipping gin and tonic in the evening, with the owners, before dinner (at which we were served up delicious food in great quantities). After saying our goodbyes at Viamonte (along with promises to post out jars of marmite to the owners as soon as we get home – not the easiest thing to buy in Argentina!) we headed on to our next estancia, the more remote, Despedida.

An hour and a half down an unpaved road (in a Corsa!) brought us to Estancia Despedida. Again, this estancia was quite a sight to behold. Nestled at the bottom of a hillside it was another collection of white buildings with red roofs and with very few trees the area had a wild feel to it. As we pulled up outside the guest house (which we had all to ourselves) we were greeted by Maria Laura, the resident chef, and shown around. The house and bedrooms were beautiful, Vivina and Eduardo (the owners) have paid so much attention to detail - lamp stands crafted from sheep shearing machinery and coat hooks cleverly made from branding irons – creating a warm, welcoming and personal guest house where we spent a blissful two days and nights. We were treated to wonderful food, much of it home grown and all of it home made, a barbeque with the family, fantastic horse riding and Simon even got to see Tierra del Fuego from the front seat of a small plane! I spent both days on horse back and, a very sore bottom aside, I loved every minute. Simon (allergic to horses and unable to participate) was treated to an entirely unexpected opportunity to take a small plane flight over the island. The pilot flew the plane over us as we were riding on the hills and Simon even got to take the controls for a while, what an experience! As we left Despedida we explained that a fortunate stroke of serendipity has brought us to them. The more we travel in this continent, the more we find that it is the opportunities that come out of the blue that always prove to be the most rewarding and successful. We could not have asked for greater hospitality from our hosts…what a wonderful two days this has been.

We are now back in Ushuaia for the night. Tomorrow we set sail for the white continent in search of icebergs, whales and penguins. This afternoon I set off in search of dramamine! We are away for 10 days and will back date posts when we get back to South America.

Catching up…Chile to Argentina and a whole new continent on the horizon

Our overnight ‘cama’ bus from San Pedro to La Serena on the Chilean coast about two thirds of the way to Santiago was great. Tur Bus have excellent coaches and our seats were very comfortable. We had even managed to book the front seats on the top deck so we were treated with spectacular views of the countryside as we made our way south on the Pan American Highway which virtually hugs the coast as it winds it way between the sea and the Andes.

We arrived in La Serena at about 9.30 on the morning of Thursday 7th February and checked in at our hostal which was really lovely. Close to the bus station and only a short walk from the centre of town it had many rooms set around sunny courtyards with friendly staff and a really nice atmosphere. I really liked La Serena. It was quite a small town but very pretty and laid back. We only spent a couple of days there, wandering around town and down to the beach where we ate a meal on our last evening overlooking the sea. It was a very relaxing place to break our journey to Santiago.

On the morning of Saturday 9th Feb we caught yet another bus for the six hour journey to Santiago. During the day and with great views the journey wasn’t bad at all and before we knew it we were in a taxi on our way from the bus station to our hostel in Chile’s (very European looking) capital city. With only one afternoon to spend in Santiago on this visit (we are going back later in the trip) Simon was determined to visit the Patagonia clothing store (earlier in the trip he lost his lightweight down jacket and with a trip down south on the cards he needs something warm to wear) so we set out to find the out of town mall. After lots of head shaking from our hostel manager at the distance of the mall from central Santiago, we hopped on the subway to the end of the line and picked up a taxi there. It actually wasn’t too far and was well worth the visit. Those of you who know me well will be aware that two months of shopping deprivation is a very long time and this mall was certainly a great antidote. It was probably the best mall that we’ve ever been too, fantastic shops, great prices and beautifully landscaped. We indulged in a little retail therapy, Simon left a happy man having picked up a new down jacket and as we sat back in the sun sipping our Starbucks Frappuccinos I must admit that I felt a little restored! Our stay in Santiago was fleeting and I’m already looking forward to going back.

The next day (Sunday 10th) we flew from Santiago to Ushuaia in Argentina. Known locally as La Fin del Mundo (the end of the world), Ushuaia sits at the tip of Tierra del Fuego, an island to the south of Patagonia and is one of the most southerly settlements in the world. Along with it’s beautiful surrounding mountains, lakes and glaciers, Ushuaia is also the start and end to most Antarctic cruises. With the enormous cruise liners and smaller expedition style boats come many travellers and tourists needing places to stay, eat and drink (and also a whole heap of marine style souvenirs if today’s Princess Cruises disembarkees were anything to go by!). The town is actually quite a nice place to while away a few days which is just what we’ve been doing. After yet another bumpy approach and clap-worthy landing (you’ll get bored reading about them soon: I know you all think it’s just me but the woman behind me gasped louder than I did and even Simon was quiet as we tossed and turned in the turbulence and seemed to fall out of the sky as we hit thermal after thermal!) at the tiny airport in Ushuaia we got a taxi all of about a kilometre to our hostel which was situated just outside of the main town (about a 20 minute walk away). The hostel was great. Lovely rooms, clean bathrooms a kitchen so that we could cook for ourselves and really helpful staff. We dropped off our luggage and headed straight for town…we were on a mission. Some of you will recall our ramblings about how we’ve heard that if you turn up in Ushuaia, you can sometimes pick up discounted tickets for trips to Antarctica…not sure how many of you thought it was a real possibility and I’m not sure that I even did. However we went straight to the Tourist Information Office and were directed to a couple of agencies who sometimes sell such tickets. The first (and we’d been told, most likely) had nothing that worked date or price wise for us and we left feeling a quite deflated. While trying to find another of the agencies that had been plotted on our map for us (to no avail: it had clearly been plotted in the wrong place) we stumbled across a sign outside a hostel come tour agency that said Last Minute Antarctica. Not feeling too optimistic, in we went. We regurgitated the question again…We would like to go to Antarctica, do you have anything available? To our surprise and delight, they did! We are booked to set sail on board the MS Polaris (a GAP Adventures boat) on Monday 18th February for 10 days. We saved a lot of money in the process and feel both very proud of ourselves and extremely excited about the prospect of visiting somewhere so remote and different to anywhere either of us has ever been before.

With the Antarctica trip booked and sorted we then had to work out what we wanted to do in the mean time. Reluctant to travel too far away from Ushuaia due to the difficulties in finding transport back (this time of year is really busy and buses and planes get booked up well in advance) we decided to spend a day or two in Ushuaia and then head out into the countryside on Tierra del Fuego to stay in a couple of traditional estancias (ranches).

Yesterday we went on an organised 4x4 off road Land Rover tour to the lakes outside Ushuaia. The trip was great with a visit to a Husky breeding centre, some exciting off road driving and a fabulous Argentinian asado (barbeque) for lunch. Our guide was fantastic and provided not only lots of information but some added fun along the way (look out for the video, which I’ll post soon, of our driverless Land Rover experience!) and the others on our trip made the whole day a real success.

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile – The budget buster!

We left the beautiful ‘white city’ of Arequipa, Peru on Friday 1st February bound for Arica: Chile’s northernmost town. We could only get the bus as far as Tacna, a border town in the south of Peru from where we had to get a taxi across the border to Arica. The border crossing from Peru to Chile was very civilised and afforded us our first glimpse of the stark difference between Peru and Chile. Even in Arica (a town so close that it has at times belonged to Peru) we noticed immediately a wealthier population who meandered their way through the pedestrianised shopping centre with ice creams in hands or sat at pavement bars sipping expensive beers. Our hostel in Arica was lovely – the Lonely Planet doing us proud again, and although there was not much to see in the town itself, we had a relaxing day or so there.

From Arica we booked an overnight trip with ‘Turbus’ (Chile’s most reliable and most expensive long distance bus company) to San Pedro de Atacama. Although a great bus, a night of ‘semi-cama’ (reclining seats) never encourages the deepest of sleep and coupled with a few enforced stops where our luggage was searched at ridiculous times of the night, we were very relieved to finally arrive in this desert Oasis. Our hostel (Soncheck) is only a couple of blocks from the bus stop so we had arrived and checked in within a matter of a few minutes. Another Lonely Planet special, Sonchek is a great little place with several rooms, all made out of the red desert ‘adobe’ with thatched roofs, set around a sunny courtyard.

We had arranged to stay for three nights here and therefore needed to organise some tours pretty quickly to ensure that we could fit everything in. With a recommended tour operator provided by our hostel hosts we set about quelling our hunger first and after a wonderful hot shower headed straight out for breakfast. This was to be our first insight into the spiralling costs of visiting San Pedro (a subject which has pervaded a lot of our discussions while here). With a (delicious) breakfast of pancakes for me and fruit with yoghurt and honey for Simon, along with two coffees and two orange juices setting us back close to $20 (£!0) we were made starkly aware that our three nights and four days here were about to blow our budget beyond recognition! We had been warned that we would find Chile (and especially San Pedro) expensive after a couple of months in Ecuador and Peru but I must admit that I hadn’t really taken it on board until now. Rather than eating on a rotational basis (I eat lunch while Simon has to wait until dinner…) we’ve decided to stick our heads into the sand for a few days and hope that we can redeem our finances next week while in Ushuaia, Argentine Patagonia (more on that later).

There is a fairly long ‘must see’ list when visiting San Pedro de Atacama and with it firmly on the gringo trail (and more recently catering to wealthier tourists via swanky upmarket resorts) there are a myriad of tour operators and excursions to choose from. We’d narrowed it down before we got here so we weren’t too distracted while shopping around for the best deals. In the end we stuck with our recommended operator and wangled a bit of a discount for booking three tours with them. We signed ourselves up for a late afternoon trip to Valle de la Luna (The Valley of the Moon), an extremely early morning trip to the El Tatio Geysers and a full day outing to the Altiplano lakes and the Salar de Atacama (Atacama’s salt flats).

The Valle de la Luna is a beautiful landscape of interesting rock formations set among mountains and sand dunes. Best viewed at sunset as the light casts its final shadows we set off from San Pedro at about 4.30pm in blistering heat. Unfortunately Simon and I have a slight aversion to large tour groups (and this was a big one) and we felt a little herded from one mirador (view point) to the next which slightly destroyed the ambiance of what could and should have been a really magical place. Sadly in SP there really is no other way of seeing these places than with organised groups unless you have your own car. The next morning our alarm woke us at 3.45am for a sunrise trip to the El Tatio Geysers a couple of hours outside San Pedro. The desert at that time in the morning is very cold indeed (a real contrast to the extreme heat of the day) and I was more than ready for the sun to rise when it did. Having never seen geysers first hand before, I was pretty impressed with El Tatio (although I know that others in the group were a little disappointed having visited Yellowstone Park in the the US or the geysers in Iceland) and really enjoyed the trip even though I ducked out of the opportunity to swim in the hot springs (a little cold, no changing rooms and very green water…need I say more?).

Today we had a full day’s outing to the Salar de Atacama (the third largest salt flat in the world – after Bolivia and Utah) and the Altiplano lakes which was great. The salar was not as I’d imagined at all as it was very lumpy and grey/brown in colour. Having seen photos of Uyuni in Bolivia, I was expecting a shiny and crisp layer of glaringly white salt. In the middle of the area is a salt water lagoon which is home to both Chilean and Andean flamingos. This was a fabulous sight as we watched them feeding and flying between pools. The Altiplano lakes were breathtakingly beautiful and also home to an abundance of interesting wildlife. We watched Guanaco drinking from the turquoise waters and a wild fox posed for photographs as we wandered by. All in all a good day out. On the way back to San Pedro this afternoon we stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn and had the obligatory photo taken. With a photo at the equator and now one at Capricorn under our belts, will someone please let us know the easiest way from Chile to the Tropic of Cancer so that we can complete the trio!

Tomorrow afternoon we leave San Pedro de Atacama. I really like this little town but for us it’s been prohibitively expensive and we daren’t stay any longer. We catch yet another overnight bus (saves on the hostel bill) to La Serena, Chile’s second oldest city. On the coast with lots of sandy white beaches and a beautiful town too, we’re looking forward to seeing what it has to offer.