Now that we’ve safely returned to good ol’ Blighty (quite a culture shock already), we thought we’d share some of the stranger things we managed to snap on our way around South America, Australia and South East Asia. Look closely…
Our Patagonian adventures and all those mammoth bus rides took their toll on us on our return to Buenos Aires. In a city that seems literally never to sleep, being tired can be a problem. Thus, when we turned up at our booked hostel, which smelled markedly of feet, armpits and sleep, it was with a great deal of effort […]
Buenos Aires is undoubtedly a fantastic city, and Argentina has certainly had a great deal to offer, but for those of us only here short term (less than seven days,) the city in particular offers some confusing and tricky social and dietary arrangements. Timekeeping and a daily schedule is perhaps the most flummoxing for the short-stayers. Residents of Argentina (and […]
For a nineteenth century Welsh immigrant arriving in Puerto Madryn after two months on a boat, the landscape of their new Patagonian home must have been quite a disappointment. The miles and miles of flat and featureless shrubland would surely not have been a patch on the Welsh valleys they left. Nevertheless, a small group did arrive in 1865 and […]
Two things are immediately striking about Patagonia: they have some of the slowest, most careful drivers in South America and the sky seems unusually big. The long and straight bus from El Calafate to the small hiking resort town of El Chalten allowed us to appreciate both as the sun went down. There are numerous trails to try from El […]
Perito Moreno Glacier in Southern Argentina is like nothing I´ve ever seen. Nestled in the snow-capped mountains of Patagonia, near the town of El Calafate, it´s one of only a few glaciers that are actually growing. This means the sounds are almost as impressive as the sights – groaning, creaking, cracking and sometimes sounding as though canons are firing in the […]
Buenos Aires looked spectacular from the moment we stepped out on the deck of the ferry and saw the skyline across the darkness of the River Plate. It didn’t fail to live up to expectations. European in style and architecture, but built on a typically American grid, Buenos Aires was formally introduced to us through a bicycle tour on our […]
For a very laid back and friendly nation, Uruguayans have quite a few obsessions. Like the other areas of South America with a strong connection to the gaucho culture, (most notably Argentina and Paraguay) agriculture, and in particular the production and consumption of meat, is both economically and culturally fundamental in Uruguay. In Montevideo, and we expect more of the […]
Montevideo, Uruguay… Colonia, Uruguay… Oh, and we went to the Museo del Fútbol at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo – the home of the very first world cup…
It can be tricky to write about our travels without making it seen like are gushing, moaning, worrying or gluttonous. The very nature of the tour we´re on calls for at least one, if not all of these characteristics almost every day. “Oh no, another 20 hour bus journey! Oh, but the sights are just spectacularly wonderful! Oh, but what […]
Brazil loves its buses. Not in the same way that Peru loves buses, with their cracked windscreens, dodgy sandwiches and terrifying overtaking. Not in the same way that Bolivia loves buses, with their cliff-hugging ruggedness, wild temperature swings and unfathomable toilet stops. Not even in the same way that Argentina loves buses, with (as yet unconfirmed) reports of their wine […]
We spent a while trying to work out how to write this post without making everyone jealous. We realised we couldn’t. You have been warned! We’re currently staying on Ilha de Santa Caterina, an island off the coast of Brazil and are very grateful to our friend, John Murray, who’s putting us up in some style near the fishing village […]
When you arrive at your destination for a tour and get out of a van-bus to see a bare-chested guy pointing a submachine-gun at passers by, you know you’re in an interesting place. Whilst this was the case as we arrived in Rochina, Rios biggest favela by population with around 250,000 residents, we were pretty sure we would be safe. […]
Everything they say about Rio seems to be true. Ipanema beach is beautiful, the climate is fantastic, the music is great and (some of) the people look amazing in swimwear. As we got over the long bus journey (26 and a half hours…) we explored only a small section of the city, from Ipanema to Leblon. We saw all the […]
There was a painfully recognisable fact in the departures lounge at Salta Airport in Argentina: the number if people on our flight to Puerto Iguazu totalled exactly 18 – the number of passengers needed to fill a plane the same size as that of our nightmare flight to Rurrenabaque in Bolivia last month. Out of the window we could see […]
The further we go,the more extremes we find in South America. Setting off from Uyuni at 6am last Sunday we shivered our way towards Tupiza in freezing temperatures. Typically Bolivian, the bus ran late and the windows were jammed open, necessitating hats, scarfs and hoods. After an hour and a half’s unexplained and unnecessary break in the less than enchanting […]
Bolivia can make you dizzy. The speed with which you can be spun around from despair at the infrastructure, facilities, occasional attitudes and cleanliness, to sheer awe at the scenery and natural wonder, can leave even the most hardy traveller reeling somewhat. Just over a week earlier, we had been in a warm, sticky jungle environment, teeming with life. In […]
Oruro seems to have a reputation for two things – folkloria and strikes. We have seen both here in our two rather long days with little to do except wait for the train to Uyuni. When we turned up on Sunday, a Carnival was in full flow, undampened by the rain and impending thunderstorm. These parades seem to happen rather […]
Rurrenabaque is full of travel agencies offering tours to the Bolivian jungle in the relatively untouched and pristine Parque Nacional Madidi. Of course, just getting to Rurrenabaque had been a crazy and terrifying experience in itself, but we knew that when we arrived we wanted to visit the jungle with help from a community based eco-lodge. After some shopping around, we […]
I´m no expert but there are certain things you don´t want to hear from your guide in the jungle – for example ‘uh oh…can you climb trees?‘ (as he draws his machete)… Our morning trek had started well enough – we´d spotted a couple of macaws, a capybara and were well on the way to finding a monkey or two. […]
