South America

So we arrived in Rio from Paraty and caught a public bus to the hostel which we had pre booked on a recommendation from some friends called The Mango Tree. Great place right on Impanema Beach which was fantastic!! The weather was not great though so we decided to go take a walk round one of the shopping centres to see how good the shopping in Rio really is.

The next day we made an emergency trip to the Bus station again to change our tickets to Sao Paulo to an hour earlier as we were worried we were cutting it a bit thin to make our flight home and as much as we wouldn't mind staying here a bit longer... we do miss u guys!!

After we changed our tickets we headed for Sugar Loaf Mountain and caught the Cable car right to the top and the view really was great! After that we headed for the famous Copacobana Beach to go catch some rays... The weather wasn't too great but we managed to catch a patch of sun nevertheless!

Today we watched Newcastle smash Portsmouth which was great and then we spent the rest of the day spending money we don't have at a HUGE market called the Hippie Market with so much really good stuff for really good prices...

Tomorrow we off early to the bus station and catch our bus to Sao Paulo then its a few hours in the Airport and we on the way home!

See you all SOON!

CIAO!

Our journey from La Paz to Bonito we knew was going to be long, tidious one, but in the end it was´nt all bad. We took two flights to get to the Bolivia/Brazil border. We then took a taxi to the border, crossed, took a bus to the border town, then another bus to get to the bus staion to try buy tickets to Bonito. It was closed so then we walked ten blocks to get to a hostel and finally we could rest and take a shower. The next day we got tickets and we were off to Bonito in the Pantanal.

Scenery on bus to Bonito

We loved our time in Bontito. We stayed in a really nice HI hostel with a grea swimming pool. We firs arrived at 8pm after a long bus trip to a barbeque prepared by the hostel. We joined in and it was all delicious. We spent three nights there, instead of the original, one that was planned because of how great the place was. We went on a canopy tour the one afternoon where we climbed along the tree tops with harnesses attached along ropes and moving stairs with great views. It was very tiring but an experience that we both thoroughly enjoyed.

The next day we had another tour organised. We first went to see a place where there was a massive hole in the ground and famillies of macaws lived there. The forest was spectacular and the birds, beautiful. Afterwards we spent 3 hours snorkelling down a clear river. The river was full of amazing fish and we really had such a good time. After that we had a great lunch back at the farm and then went home.

The next day was spent tanning and relaxing at the pool and poolisde hammocks until we got on another bus to begin our next journey to Paraty. We spent 6 hours on our first bus to get to campo grande. We then waited around for our next bus to Sau Paulo. It was an hour late and thus making us late for our following bus which was a bit of a disaster because we then missed a bus we were suppose to get onto and on the end we arrived in Paraty at 4am at a dark bus station with bergies and dogs sleeping at. We then had to prowl the streets looking for accomodation and by about 5.30am we found something we could afford, had a much needed shower and went to sleep.

After spending 2 nights on buses to get to Paraty we decided it was worth it. What a great place with little shops lining the streets, plenty of cafes and eateries, and abundant Brazillian charm. We spent all five days we were here exploring beaches, shopping and enjoying the local treats. We also enjoyed a yaught cruise around the many islands and beaches surrouning Paraty. Unfortunately for us, since money is rather tight, we had to make food at home instead of enjoying the local cuisine. We were however thus able to afford a few bottles of wine!

Tomorrow morning we head for Rio de Janeiro!!!

We flew from La Paz airport around midday to Rurrenabaque. This is where our Pampas tour in the amazon began. The aeroplane we took was one of those propeller planes and could only hold 19 people. We even had to bend to get into the aeroplane. It was quite an experience, especilally when the plane free fell for at least 2 seconds because of the high altitude La Paz is at. But anyway we arrived safely on a grass runway after only 35 minutes.

We were greeted by such high humidity we could barley breathe. We checked in with our tour operator and then into a close by hostel. We went straight to a swimming pool and celebrated with a few cocktails. We enjoyed a lovely meal at an Italian restaurant and then headed home. Needless to say we did not sleep well as it was so hot we were constantly sweating and had to take cold showers through the night.

The following day the tour began. We were placed with a lovely young couple from Ireland and two older men from England and Belgium. The tour began with a three hour car trip on a very dusty road. After lunch in a local village we got onto a wooden canoe with a little 15hp motor for another three hours. The boat journey was great as we saw so many birds, aligators, dolphins and turtles along the way. The river was infested with caimans, aligators and the most adorable turtles and capybara´s (large rat like creatures).

We arrived at our lodge late afternoon and had some dinner. The lodge was made of wood only and was surrounded by trees and animals. A volley ball court was in the centre were all the guides gathered every evening. After sunset and a few beers we went for a night drive on the canoe to see the aligators at night. What a scary but lovely experience as we all turned our torches off and kept quiet as we drifted under the stars whilst listening to all the Amazon creatures.

Our night sleep was again, not so great as moskitos and heat prevented it. The next day we set out o search for snakes and other creatures on the pamapas. Whilst exploring the area we were luckily enough to find an anaconda. Another group found a cobra and one member got bitten by one. Luckily he was okay! After that we went back for lunch and a rest in the hamocks overlooking the river.

We then headed out for some piranha fishing which prooved most enjoyable and we all ended up catching quite a few. At dinner we even enjoyed eating the pirnahas, both grilled and in fish cake form. mmmm delicious...

After another bad night sleep and some nice breakfast we headed out on the boat again, this time to search for a place to swim with the pink dolphins. Apparently the aligators are afraid of the dolphins so making a perfect swimming opportunity for us. After feeding Pedro, the "friendly" aligator we all headed into the water rather aprehensively as it seemed to us that the aligators were every where and not at all afraid of the dolphin, never mind the piranahas, happily swimming beneath us.

After that very daring swim we headed back to base camp for a quick shower and lunch and then we were off. Back on the canoe and then the land cruiser, all the way back to Rurrenabaque. What a great trip, great food and something we will always remember.

We slept that night in Rurrenabaque and then headed back to La Paz on the tiny aeroplane and away from the scorching heat. Next up we fly to Santa Cruz and the train to the Bolivia/Brazil border, then on to Bonito for another nature adventure in the pantanal.

Until then, ciao!

So we boarded the bus to Copacobana in the early morning and headed towards Lake Titicaca. It was a beautiful if rather odd journey with a lake crossing on a wooden ferry...

Arriving in Copacobana we checked into a really nice place where some of our Isrish mates were also staying. Had a spectacular lunch of trout with wine and checked out the town. There´s only one main street with everything on it and some really great restaurants. We tried most of them...

On our second day there, two of our mates from Bolivia, Marc a Brit and Christina the Canadian found us at a restaurant and we made plans to meet up the next day. We were enjoying it so much we decided we´d stay 3 night instead of the 1 we initially planned.

We spent a lazy day on the shores of the Lake together, took a Pedalo out and arranged for a Bus to Cusco. That next morning after two taxi shuttles, a bordercrossing from hell and a money change we intercepted and boarded the bus on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere...

A flat tire and a very long bus ride and eventually we arrived in Cusco in the dark and got a taxi straight to our hostel. We immediately went out for some dinner as we had not eaten anything other that chips and chocolates bought from vendors along the way. Marc and I decided to try out the local cuisine and both got llama steaks!! They were really really good!

The following day(friday) we set out to buy tickets for the train to Machu Picchu as we had decided we had neither the time nor money nor energy to do the 4 day trek to the ruins. We managed to find some "cheap" tickets $35 each way compared to the usual $57 on the Sunday.

Sunday arrived and we set off for the train station at 6am for our 7am train... 4 hours later through some amazing scenery we arrived at the town of Aquas Calientes (Hot Waters) at the base of Machu Picchu. We grabbed a fast lunch, bought our $40 entrance tickets and caught the $14 bus UP the mountain to the entrance. The rip off $124 was all forgotten as we laid our eyes upon the site of this ancient Inca City.

We walked the entire circuit around the ruins and took as much in as possible. 3 hours later we ventured back to the town at the base and went to soak in some hot springs that were unfortunately on everyones mind that day. We then caught a quick chinese dinner and jumped on the train back.

Now... the train we had on the way home was the faster more expensive train but only went half way back as there were no other seats on the full journey back so we were to catch a taxi the rest of the way. About an hour into the journey and the lights changed and this weird music came on and a guy that looked something like a Peruvian jester came bounding down the aisle with a toy furry llama with him. After he finished this act and we were all in histerics we were told over the speakers that it was a traditional dance of the people of the region. Well that was not the end.. the train now stopped and two of the train hosts, one guy one girl began a fashion parade down the aisle to the beats of Benni Benassi, showing off local Alpaca clothing which could be bought after. We were in tears we were laughing so much. It really was the craziest train journey ever!

Thats not the end either... we arrived at the town and all got off the train most poeple still laughing... and were swamped by taxi drivers offering a ride back to Cusco(clearly this happened alot). After some haggling we got a ride and began the journey... what we were told in cusco was a 2 hour taxi ride the driver ensured us it would only take an hour and 10 mins. Thats fine we thought.... He proceeded to hurtle at around 140km/h down streets fit for about 40km/h dodging rocks, llamas and overtaking 2 busses on a blind rise and we named it the Death Cab. Laura in the front was praying and pleading with the driver to slow down but to no avail, he kept it up the whole way home! Nevertheless we arrived home and passed out!

Laura and I had been doing some shopping round of some Jungle tours to do from Cusco but they were all too expensive so we decided we´d head back to La Paz and do it on our way back through Bolivia to Brazil. We booked a bus ticket for the night after Machu Picchu.

The following day we did some shopping, had dinner with all our mates, Irish, British, Canadian... the lot... and boarded our night bus to La Paz. Before you leave the driver takes a photo of everyone on the bus so that if there is a crash they can identify your body... not very comforting as u about to leave...

We went overnight for 14hours direct to La Paz which in Bolivia and Peru means stopping at every town on the way... Arriving we went direct to the tour operator we had spoken to prior to arriving and booked our jungle tour...

So tomorrow we fly to the town of Rurrenabaque and go on a three day amazon tour...

Ciao

We arrived in Tupiza around lunch time and immediately set off with our new friends to find a hostel. With checked into the HI Hostel close to the station and got a really nice room with private bathroom for the night which we decided we deserved after all the busing and it was only around R100 each.

We immediately booked ouselves onto a 4-day salt tour with the rest of the gang for the next day... although not before we had managed to get the cheapest deal of everyone... haha, typical South Africans!! After a great pizza and salad late luch we started looking for a pool as it was around 40 degrees, and later crashed in anticipation of the tour leaving early the next day!!

Laura and I were in a different car to the rest as space was limited to 4 or 5 per car. We were with a very nice Belgiun couple, Hubert and Cami and a British girl Abi. Luckily the couple spoke spanish and english because the drivers on the tour only speak spanish.

Day 1 was more about getting to the sights than seeing them so we spent a long day in the car seeing some AMAZING scenery on the way. The first night was spent in a small village in the home of one of the locals. We set off the next morning at 5am as we had an even longer day today and lots of sights ahead.

Day 2 was the day of flamingos and lakes... We saw a red lake, blue lake and green lake and countless flamingos, swam in hot springs, it was simply stunning!! Photos do not do it justice... That night we slept with all the others in a hostel in the middle of nowhere especially made for the tours on the edge of a red lake, Laguna Colarada.

Day 3 we set off at a more reasonable 7am and headed towards the Salt lake of the Salar de Uyuni. On the way we saw smoking volcanos, more amazing lakes, steaming geysers, more flamingos and unbelievable mountains. We crashed that night in a salt hostel on the edge of the Salar where the furniture was all made from salt, beds tables etc etc. Our first shower of the tour that night was very welcome!!

Day 4 the most anticipated of all we set off at 4.30am to catch the sunrise over the salt lake... it was really special! We then headed for an island in the lake where we were to have breaky, a crazy island full of cacti and surrounded by blinding whiteness as far as u can see! We took all the crazy photos, saw holes in the salt with salt crystals in the water below, a salt museum, a crazy guy doing yoga and finally arrived in Uyuni, exhausted! We had arranged to meet all the others at a hostel there as they had decided to join us on the train at midnight that night to Oruro. We met up, bought tickets, had some beers, slept for a bit and jumped on the train.

7 hours later we arrived in Oruro and immediatley caught a 3hr bus to La Paz. Arriving in La paz mid morning we headed for our hostel Adventure Brew(called this becuase it has its own micro brewery on site.. HAHA!) We got a dorm for all 6 of us which was great! We went out that night to a club for the first time and the next day was not much fun! A hangover at 3500m is not cool!!! We booked ouselves on the bike ride down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road for the following day and chilled the rest of that day.

View from La Paz Hostel

7am Saturday and we were on the bus to the start of our 65km down hill adrenaline rush. Mich you were so right, its is absolutely amazing! A small dirt road with a 400m vertical drop on the side doing around 40kmph, traffic coming both ways on the single lane and the most insane scenery! WOW! We went from 4700m at the start to 1100m at the finish. At the bottom we had hot showers and were served a great lunch by a South African in a wildlife rehabilitation park. Small world. We then set off on a 3 hour trip back up the Worlds Most Dangerous Road in the bus back to La Paz. No surprize after our free beer at the hostel that evening(yes we get a free beer every night) we crashed yet again.

Today we are doing the blog and checking out some of La Paz´s sights and tomorrow catching the bus to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca.

Ciao