chrishoorweg

Dinner and Tango

chrishoorweg — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

After our long days of hiking we were looking forward to enjoying some city time. We had heard that Buenos Aires was the nicest city in South America with lovely European influences and we were certainly not disappointed!

Casa Rosa

We spent most of our days just wandering around the beautiful city and looking through all the lovely leather shops. Chris even managed to finally get himself a jacket. We saw the Casa Rosa, which is the parliamentary building where 'Evita' addressed her people.

Tango musicians San Telmo

We also saw many markets full of good quality handicrafts and antiques. What was also fantastic was walking through the streets of Buenos Aires seeing Tango perfomers as well as many fantastic musicians busking. We also had a nice lunch in the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires 'Cate Tortoni' where many famous people come to eat.

Tango in the street

Cafe Tortoni's tango stage

The eating in Buenos Aires is certainly the best in South America from what we'd experienced and also very reasonably priced. One night we went to a Tapas restaurant, where all they served were two options for dinner. One a vegetarian option and the other a 'normal' option. This consisted of 15 different dishes brought out over 2-3 hours. We had a bottle of wine to go with it and walked away with change from $20- not bad!!

Inside cafe Tortoni

THE steakhouse

Another great meal was the purported best steakhouse in Argentina (big claim given how many steakhouses there are here and how good they are). It was expensive by Argentinian standards, but certainly the best steak we've EVER tasted. Certainly worth the money.

Chris and his STEAK mmmmmmm

Antique Store

Of note as well was the suburb of Recoletta. This is the most swankiest suburb in Buenos Aires and houses the famous Recoletta cemetry where Evita is buried. We only got to have a look from the outside as we were more interested in the markets outside and were really hot! From what we could see though, the cemetry was pretty ornate. All the tomb stones were amazing and like religious shrines. (Don't worry, we're not people who normally look through cemetries, it is a tourist attraction!)

We spent a good 9 days in Buenos Aires relaxing and shopping and generally just enjoying ourselves. We were tired from our journey through South America and spent quite a lot of time reminiscing over what a great trip we had. We were also very much looking forward to coming back to Australia to see our families and friends for Christmas.

Next stop.....Canberra!!

Now, that´s one big chunk of ice!

chrishoorweg — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Showing distance from viewing platform on the left

After a belly full of dinner in Puerto Natales and a good nights rest, we headed to El Calafate to see the fabled Perito Moreno Glacier. Even though we have now seen many glaciers, this one really shouldn´t be missed. It is incredible and the fact that you can get so close is pretty cool too.

It is the most impressive glacier we´ve seen and certainly the most active in terms of how much ice continually crashes into the water below with a thunder.

Some facts; the Perito Moreno Glacier is around 32km long, with a 5km face of which 60 meters is visible above the water. It is approximately a further 150 meters under water!!!

We spent around 2 hours watching the glacier from different viewing platforms and seeing the massive chunks of ice carve their way off the face. We also took a one hour boat ride to get up close and personal with the glacier. It took us to within 200 meters of the face. From here we could tell how far away the viewing platforms were from the glacier and realised just how massive this thing is. A different perspective and totally worth it. By the end of the boat ride the weather had closed in and there wasn´t much more to see anymore, but lucky us, we were on the bus and heading back into El Calafate.

The face of the Glacier

We also took the time to go to El Chalten, a small town in another part of the Los Glaciers National Park. From here you can do a number of day hikes to see Mount Fitz Roy and also Cerro Torre. We had originally planned on doing a two night hike into the park, but unfortunately the weather closed in so we decided to hire a cabin for the two nights instead. What a great decision that was!!! We thought that we´d experienced winds in Torres del Paine, but the winds here were just incredible. At times we thought that the big bad wolf was outside, huffing and puffing to blow our house down!!!

We did a day hike to view Mount Fitz Roy, but unfortunately the clouds were settled in and we didn´t get much of a view at all.

All in all though, we had a nice couple of days here in a picturesque little village.

Infront of the glacier on the boat

Blown away by Torres del Paine

chrishoorweg — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Torres del Paine National Park

It was an early start to the day to catch our 7am bus to the park. We were greeted with absolutely amazing weather again and we thought 'have we really arrived in Patagonia?' Our bus trip was great as before we even started hiking we got clear views of the Paine Massif and saw an ostrich with a few chicks, guanacos and condors.

The park from a boat to Grand Paine Lodge

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine lies roughly at 52 degrees south and encompasses part of the Southern Ice Field. The park is made of granite peaks and towers that soar from sea level to upward of 2,800m. Although the park sits next to the Andes, is is actually a seperate geologic formation created roughly 3 million years ago when magma psuhed its way up, taking a thick sedimentary layer with it. Glaciation and severe climate weathered away the softer rock, leaving the spectacular Paine Massif and also the salmon-coloured, spherical granite towers.

On lago Pehoe

We decided to hike West to East along the trails which are collectively named the ´W´. We caught the catamaran across Lago Pehoe to Grande Paine Lodge, a refugio where we stayed for our first 2 nights. On the afternoon of day one we went for a short hike to a mirador on Lago Pehoe as we didn´t have enough time to do anything longer. It turned out to be a really lovely hike of about 4 hours and which gave great views of the park.

Corinne infront of the Torres, what a beautiful day!!

Glacier Gray

On day two we hiked along Lago Grey to the Grey Glacier. We were treated again with clear skies and hardly any wind. Most of the hike was through forests of Lenga and Beech trees and Los Notros bushes which have vibrant red flowers. In some sections the trees had a constant wind swept appearance. The foliage was only growing on one side of the trees in the direction of the prevailing winds.

We had a great view of the glacier from a mirador after about an hour and a half and then continued on to the face of the glacier. This was impressive as were the electric-blue icebergs which were floating at its base. We found a great little spot to sit and have our lunch, sheltered from the winds, which were pretty strong by this point.

All in all it was great hike of a total of about 23kms and 6 hours of walking. We spent the evening up in the little bar, sipping hot chocolate, overlooking the trail heads watching people coming back from their hikes. Looking rather tired.

Lovely view from Grand Paine lodge to Los Cuernos

Day three we hiked along the shores of Lago Nordenskjold, up into the French Valley and then onto Los Cuernos Refugio. For both of us this day was the highlight of our trek, even though it was the longest. The French Valley was simply stunning. On one side sits the French Glacier, continually moving and breaking, the valley itself is highly vegetated with trees and flowers with a river running directly through it and to the opposite side is a very barren landscape consisting of granite and the Paine Massifs. Further afield you can see the numerous turqouise coloured lakes and snow capped mountains. It was incredible and made even better as yes, the lucky passengers had beautiful weather again.

Looking into the French Valley

Into the French Valley

Walking up the French Valley

After 26kms and 10 hours of hiking we arrived into our refugio at about 7pm absolutely exhausted and starving. That night we felt sort of comforted by the fact that we were inside and not in a tent for the winds were absolutely blowing. They were so strong it sounded like the roof was going to come off. The winds here can reach speeds of up to 120km an hour - those poor screaming campers!!

Day four and the lucky passengers got a real taste of the Patagonian weather! We started with drizzly rain interspersed with sunny periods but was pretty nice hiking weather. The morning started out fairly easy with few ascents and descents of not much more than 100m at a time. Within 2 hours the weather had closed in and we were now walking uphill head on into the wind, rain and HAIL!! Chris and I really enjoyed it as we thought you can´t come to Patagonia and not get knocked to the ground by the wind and be soaked from the rain. We arrived into our campsite just after lunch with the clouds settled in and not affording any views of the surrounding mountains. We decided not to press on and spent the afternoon with other hikers drying off in the refugio in front of the fire and chatting. Afterall, it had been another fairly hard day of hiking - 16km. We had a really great nights sleep in our tent and awoke to sunny weather. What are the chances?

The Torres del Paine Massifs, What a fantastic journey

Our last day in the park and we headed up to see the Paine Towers hoping they were going to be clear of clouds. Lucky us they were. Most of the hike was uphill and the last part was climbing over large boulders. This did get a little scary at times as the winds were so strong. We had to stop, hold onto the rocks and wait till it eased off. The hike down was easy and in parts it was far kinder on the knees to run. We made it down in time for our 2:30pm bus back to Puerto Natales.

Even though it was a tough 5 days it was certainly worth it and is definately one of the highlights of our trip.

The Lucky Passengers!

chrishoorweg — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Our trusty boat

Our four day trip on the Navimag started with clear blue skies in Puerto Montt, Southern Patagonia, and the weather continued to be very kind to us for the entire trip. So much so that the on board guide kept telling us that we were the ´lucky passengers´. They had not had a clear day for the past 2 weeks up until now and it is also very rare to get 2 consecutive days of clear skies in this part of the world. So, as you can imagine we were very happy.

Osorno Volcano from Puerto Montt

Corinne cruisin

The Navimag is essentially a cargo and passenger ship which runs between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales. The facililties on board are fairly basic but with everything you need. Our days were spent mostly on deck (as the weather was so fantastic) appreciating the views, listening to talks on the local fauna and flora, chatting to other travellers and drinking lots of hot chocolate.

Morning Mist

On Day one we travelled through the Ancud and Corcovado Gulfs. Day two we sailed through the Moraleda, Errazuriz and Pulluche Channels and into the famed Anna Pink Bay and through the night the Penas Gulf. Throughout the day the guides warned us of how rough the seas can get once we reach the open ocean or oceanic area. They recommended (often) that all passengers should take some sea sickness tablets to help with sea sickness. Chris was really looking forward to some big waves and hopefully some stormy weather. I wasn´t!! We decided to take our chances and not take any tablets hoping it was the right move. So when we hit the open ocean, around dinner time, Chris was sorely disappointed with the extremely calm water. I was thrilled that we were the lucky passengers, once again, and only scored an official 4 out of 12 for the sea conditions. We both woke up in the middle of the night rocking in our beds - a very strange sensation.

Be careful, or that's what will happen to us

Day three and the morning of day four were the most interesting sections of our trip. We passed through the Messier Channel and then through the English Narrow which was just stunning. We stopped in at Puerto Eden, a very small Chilean settlement with a population of about 200. We dropped off supplies and collected a few passengers. That afternoon we stopped in front of Pio XI, the largest glacier in South America. It is roughly 60 kilometres in length, over a kilometre deep with 100 metres visible above the surface of the water. We were lucky enough to see and hear large chunks of ice falling off into the water below.

Pio XI

Navigating through the English Channel

Our last day ended up being much longer than planned due to strong head winds. We were supposed to arrive in Puerto Natales at 11am but ended up arriving at 5pm. It didn´t worry us as we got to see more in the daylight. The most notable part of this stretch was the White Narrow, being only 5 metres wider than the boat. It was impressive seeing the Captain navigate the ship through such a small passage.

The White Channel. Narrowest point on the trip

Puerto Eden

We disembarked at 6pm and had to quickly get ourselves sorted in the hostel and then book our bus, ferry and pick up supplies for our 5 day hike in the Torres del Paine National Park. After a busy evening we were all set to go and were looking forward to hiking again after spending so much time on a boat.

Lakes and Steaks!

chrishoorweg — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Volcan Lanin

Nursing blisters and sore muscles we made our way to San Martin de los Andes in Argentina. The bus ride passed through some amazing scenery and past the mighty Volcan Lanin (3774m). The going was slow as we had to do all the usual stops at the border for passport and visa checks. However, we were quite happy to just sit, rest and take in the views.

Relaxing by the fire

We rented a gorgeous wooden cabana for only $36 a night with a warming open fire and to Chris´excitement our very own BBQ for all those steaks. We only did one hike in this area of the region as we needed to let Chris´blisters heal. The hike was only meant to be a short one, being 10km, but we decided to take a detour as indicated on the local map as being 14km total. It ended up being 26km - so much for resting those blisters!!

San Martin de Los Andes Mirador

We had planned to ride along the Siete Lagos Ruta (Seven Lakes Route) to Villa La Angostura but changed our minds when we found out that the road is being resurfaced and the weather was turning for the worst. So we ended up hiring a car, which turned out to be fantastic, as we were really able to explore all the different areas. We drove to Lanin National Park skirting Lago Huechulafquen where we saw a bird (don´t know the type) catch a fish right in front of us.

View along Seven Lakes Route

View from Cabaña

After a few days of enjoying lots of steak and sampling many Mendoza Malbecs we departed San Martin and drove along the Siete Lagos Ruta to Villa La Angostura. There is a good reason why this drive is world famous. The scenery is truly spectacular. After seeing the condition of the road and having to take a 100km detour (as part of the road was closed - no signs by the way) we were even more pleased with our decision not to bike ride.

From Mirador hike in Villa la Angostura

Picture perfect view of Lago Nahuel Huapi

Villa La Angostura is a picturesque town on the shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi. Once again we hired a lovely cabana with views of the mountains and spent a few days exploring the area. We did two hikes, the first to a mirador and waterfall and the second along the peninsula which forms the Arrayanes National Park (a park within Park National Nahuel Huapi). A mouth full we know.

Hiking through the snow

Next stop was Bariloche, situated on the opposite side of the lake to Villa. We made our way to the National Parks office to find out which walks were open and hopefully free of snow. They told Chris they didn´t recommend us going into the park as the weather was unpredictable. Not content with this we went to Club Andino (the parks hiking specialists). They let us know of a number of hikes we could do which would take in very nice views. They said just go as far as the snow line. Perfect!

Enjoying the snowy view

View on hike

The hike that we did is part of the Nahuel Huapi Traverse ( a four day hike which we really wanted to do but couldn´t because of the snow). Not to worry as we got amazing views and had a lot of fun hiking in the snow!! Other people were doing it - honestly!

Mount Tronador

We thought we couldn´t come to this area without checking out Mt Tronador. Tronador is Spanish for thunder. It is named this because of the noise which is made from huge chunks of ice and snow breaking off the glacier. We spent about 15 mins there and in this time we saw this happen twice. We couldn´t believe how loud it was. What is also interesting about this mountain is its 3 peaks. One is in Chile, one is in Argentina and the third is international.

Mount Tronador

Unfortunately the weather closed in and we were unable to do the other hike we had planned to do. We had to expect this though being in Patagonia at this time of the year.

We are so excited as we are now heading to Southern Patagonia. First stop is Puerto Montt where we board our 3 night ferry journey to Puerto Natales through the Chilean fiords. Brrr!

Hope you are all well. Look forward to hearing from you.

Love C & C xx

Crampons, ice axes and an active volcano!

chrishoorweg — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Bus ride from Santiago to Pucon, luxury!!

After an overnight bus from Santiago we arrived early morning into Pucon, in the Chilean lakes district. An area consisting of numerous glacial fed lakes and the most exciting - volcanoes!! The time had arrived for us to try and tackle climbing the active Volcan Villarica, 2800m. We spent our first day checking out Pucon itself. It reminded us very much of the little towns in the Austrian Alps where the buildings are cedar clad. We went for a leisurely walk along the lake shore. We were convinced that the people we saw most definately must come from a very, very cold climate. As we were wrapped up in our puffer jackets they were in the freezing cold water - yes that´s right - going for a swim!! As you do apparently!! We decided not to - at least today anyway...... After a carb loaded dinner we headed off for an early night in preparation for our climb.

Volcan Villarica from Pucon

Geared up and ready to go!

The alarm sounded at the ungodly hour of 4am and we dragged ourselves out of bed and put on all our gear for our 430 pick up. We headed out into the dark and the cold to see that no-one else was waiting. Eventually people surfaced out of their rooms and let us know that we weren´t actually leaving till 5am!! How come no-one told us??

Onwards and Upwards

View from Villarica, a little steep!!

After a half an hour drive we arrived at the base of the volcano. We were given sliding pants, more on that later, ice axes and crampons. We loaded this all into our back packs and headed off up the volcano in single file. The climb started in a valley at 1300m with a gradual ascent. However, walking in the snow is no easy task and by the time we got to our first break an hour and half later, we were all very much feeling it! At this point we put on our crampons and continued on uphill for another 40 mins. The terrain was starting to get rather steep and icy. At the second break we were taught how to stop ourselves from falling off the volcano if we fell!! What?? Did we hear that right? Basically what you have to do is roll yourself very quickly over onto your stomach, lift your feet up so the crampons don´t dig into the ice and consequently flip you over in a backward sommersault, jam the ice axe in and pray!! After we all practiced this a few times we were allowed to continue. Yeah, we think!

View from Villarica

The climb started to get very steep from this point and very, very windy. It was rather disconcerting being almost knocked over by the wind and having to lean into the volcano to rebalance yourself. The guides made us all pause for a moment as they reassessed our path as the smoke from the volcano was blowing straight into it. Consequently we had to divert and go up a steeper section - this is when it got very scary. I kept telling myself I can do it and to not look down. So what did I do? Yep, I looked down, but only the once. After about 5 minutes I turnt around to Chris and said ´Í am really scared now´, to which Chris replied ´fear is probably a good thing honey´. I thought that is so sweet but also thought he is crapping himself too!! We both battled on past the really steep part and made it to our next stop, which was 400m from the top. The guides reassessed our situation and made the decision this was as far as we were to go as the wind was too strong and blowing the smoke dangerously towards us.

Not far from the top

We were both dissapointed that we wern´t able to see the molten lava inside the crater but were very happy at the same time not to go any further as it did look dangerous and we could smell the sulphur. The views were amazing with a number of lakes and volcanoes in the distance.

Now the fun part! Coming down! We took off our crampons and strapped on our sliding pants. A quick demo on how to stop ourselves using the ice axe and we were off. What took us over 4 hours to climb up only took 45 minutes to slide down. We thought it was a great experience but have decided that snow is there not to climb up but to ski down!

Sliding down!!

Chris´s volcano feet

Next stop San Martin de los Andes. Back into Argentina for more steak and red wine.

An unexpectedly nice place...

chrishoorweg — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Our flight to the other side of the continent was uneventful, saying good bye to the sun was very difficult that´s for sure!!

Plaza de Armas Santiago

Santiago, the capital of Chile, has been unexpectedly nice. We had read that this city was not much to look at. Well, we´ve had a really great time here, mostly because it feels safe.

We had a bit of a wander around and noticed that there wasn´t that many people about, until we got to an excellent little coffee shop and asked where everyone was. Apparently it was a public holiday, so no-one was working. We got to walk the city almost as a ghost town. Even though there was not many people around, it still felt safe with nobody harrassing you or trying to sell you something or get money off you. Normal life again!!

One dollar icecream. Too much even for Chrissy!!

Admittedly, there aren´t a lot of sights to see, however each neighbourhood has its own feel and flair. We are staying in a lovely suburb called Bellavista, which is an arty suburb with a Bohemian feel. It contains one of the cities Universities and has lots of restaurants and bars. The people are cool and very friendly. We´ve had a couple of nice bottles of wine with our meals and the food is very well priced and great quality.

From here we are heading to Pucon on an overnight bus, where we will try and climb Volcan Villarica in a couple of days if everything works out weather wise.

Will write when we can as we expect to be on the move quite a lot over the next few weeks, so may not be able to update often.

Till then ....xx

one havaina, two havaina, three havaina, four

chrishoorweg — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Shrimps anyone?

Arriving into Salvador on a late night flight from Rio, we caught a taxi into our hostel accommodation in the swanky suburb of Barra. This turned out to be a great choice for us, as it is one of the safest areas of salvador.

Barra is a beachside suburb at the head of the bay of Salvador. Our quest to find warmer water was successful!!! Yay. Needless to say we were very happy with that. The water was like a warm bath and the coastline is among the most beautiful in the world.

Pelourinho

Most of the guide books that we read said to devote a good week exploring the Pelourinho area(historical centre) because it is really interesting. We found that an afternoon was enough!! Unfortunately, we got harrassed a bit by two fellas. At first, one of them came up to us to 'offer' his guiding services. He clearly wasn't a guide, so we politely declined. He then got quite aggressive with us. Not really nice, so we walked away. Within five minutes another guy came up to us offering his services once more. Well, he started telling his life story and then when he asked for money off us, we declined, then he again got aggressive. This was all in front of the police mind you!! So we decided that it wasn't too safe an area for us.

The historical centre wasn't that interesting anyway. We read that up until only 10 or so years ago, it was neglected and was completely run down and very unsafe. So basically most of the buildings are in bad repair and not that nice to look at. the biggest single attraction is an art deco elevator that links the upper and lower city!! That should give you an idea.

Watch your step

Catch of the day!

As we didn't feel that safe, we decided not to explore the nightlife , unfortunately, which salvador is apparently renowned for. We did however sample a lot of the street side food stores or Bainas. These are run by large ladies who wear all white. The main staple of the food is seafood and a shrimp paste made with a local grain. It is really good and cheap.

Anima Hotel Morro

Our next stop was to go to some islands for our half time break. We decided on Morro de Sao Paulo and another island called Biopeba. Whilst here we really discovered the delights of Bahian food. Some typical traditional dishes are Moqueca (a seafood stew), Bobo ( a seafood stew with coconut and coriander, not too dissimilar to a Thai green curry without the curry!) and plenty of fresh grilled fish. The fruit is some of the best we´ve ever tasted, particularly the pinapple which was just so juicy and sweet. Mmmmm

Cheers!

Our little bungalow

Lobster lunch

Morro is one of the most famous islands in the state of Bahia. Most notably the second beach, as it's called, is one of Brazils top beaches. We didn't stay there though, as it is totally built up and the guide books warned of loud parties going on all night. We wanted a relaxing time and sleep!!!

Who has the football?

Lovin´ the combi!

So we decided on a boutique hotel on Fourth Beach. It was lovely and definitely a splurge for us. After our 5 nights there and eating as we did, we had put on all the weight we'd lost in Peru and Bolivia and also added a few extra kilo's!!! It was totally relaxing, with a long beach (about 5km's) and we were pretty much by ourselves most of the time! Paradise. Our bungalow had its own private jacuzzi which was fantastic.

View from hotel

Cheers!

Crossing between the islands

After our nights there, we went to Boipeba and stayed in a lovely guesthouse run by two American brothers. It was about half the cost of the other place, but simply lovely as well.

Paradise

We did some beautiful long walks, discovering little secluded coves and just reading a lot, sunbaking and of course swimming. Again, the food was amazing.

One advantage to Brazil, on top of everthing else, is that the flip flops (Havaina brand) are made here, so therefore very cheap. We have now got a pretty good collection going on.

One havaiana, two havaiana, three havaiana more!

Essentially, our time in Bahia was lovely and now we are completely relaxed and ready for the second half of our trip. Bring it on...

Hammock style

Till next time.
C and C x

When my baby smiles at me I go to Rio!

chrishoorweg — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Couldn´t help the title - can´t help singing it as well!!

We were wise this time and got a flight instead of hauling ourselves through another 24 hour bus ride. Our butts just couldn´t take it!

Us at Maracana stadium

As we were a week ahead of schedule we decided to head a little further north for a few days to a place called Buzios. The plan was to spend some time chilling out and swimming. The chilling out happened as the water was freezing. You would need a 5mm wetsuit to get in that water! We found out that at this time of the year a cold current comes through from Argentina consequently making the water a balmy 15 degrees. Brrrr! It was rather frustrating as the water was beautiful and clear and the air temperature was around 30. Chris was brave and jumped in but when I saw how fast he got out there was no way I was getting in.

Us with the big fella

The coastline is stunning with gorgeous protected coves, white sand and torquise water. Even though it was beautiful, we only spent 2 days here and instead decided to head back to Rio with the plan of finding warm water.

We originally planned to Stay in Ipanema, however, as we were a week early and it was a long weekend in Brazil, our hotel couldn´t put us up. We quickly looked up our trusty hostel booking site and found the only double room available in Copacabana and took it!!

Ipanema beach

Copacabana is justifiably the most famous city beach in the world. It really is stunning with 4.5km´s of fluffy white sand, bluffs at each end and beautiful people everywhere in tiny swimsuits. What scenery. The only thing detracting from the beauty of the beach is the concrete jungle behind it. It´s a bit of a dive and unsafe at night. During the day though it was totally fine.

Ipanema beach sunset

Ipanema from above

After a few nights we were able to get into our original hotel in Ipanema, so we changed camps. What a difference this made to our experience. Ipanema is a lot nicer with cafes, bars and live music. The beach is better too, with cleaner water and less dodgy people. Amazing what only a couple of hundred meters makes!! Copa and Ipanema are separated by a rocky point.

We spent a day on each beach sunning ourselves, however, the water was still freezing!! So swimming was pretty much out of the question, sunbathing and getting sunburnt was not!!! (After living in England for so long I think our skin has forgotten what sun is!)

We spent a day going up to Corcovado with Christ the Redeemer looking over with his arms stretched out over the city. From here we could appreciate why Rio is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Surrounded by lush green mountains, perfect white sand and islands off the shoreline. Truly amazing.

We were also able to catch a local football match between two Rio teams, Vasco and Botafogo, at Maracana stadium. The stadium is impressive. Holding 100,000 people at capacity; it would be a fantastic venue to watch a packed out event.

Vasco supporters

The game we were at had 23,000 people, however it sounded like over 60,000!! The fans certainly are passionate. Each teams supporters end had drums, flags and occasionally let off flares in their teams colours. It was a spectacle that´s for sure and one we won´t forget for a while. We were almost tempted to stay in Rio for a few more days to come back to Maracana, where Brazil were going to play Uruguay in a friendly match. Instead, we watched it on the telly in a bar in Salvador. It looked like it would have been amazing to be there!!

The happy couple

Our efforts to find warmer water culminated in being told about the state of Bahia, the capital being Salvador which is in the North East. We have decided to go there and then find a tropical island to rest our weary travellers feet.

Geez that´s a lot of water!

chrishoorweg — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Iguazu Falls

27 hours later we arrived fresh as daisies in Puerto Iguazu - NOT!! We couldn´t believe that we had just spent that amount of time on a bus. We could have flown to Aus easily in that time. However, we were certainly well and truly rewarded for our brave or some might say crazy efforts.

Second Falls

The Argentinian side of the falls were spectacular. Can´t really explain it in words - best to try and let the photos do the talking. We had a great time getting up close and personal to the falls via pathways through the jungle. Chris took me on a speed boat ride for my birthday present. They took us right underneath a number of the falls and consequently we got absolutely soaked. It was brilliant! We then went over to the small island in the middle to dry off and whilst there went for a small hike to see the flora and fauna.

Spot the speedboat!!!

At the top of Devils throat

The second highlight of the day was seeing the falls at the devils throat. From the viewpoint it was like standing on the edge of the world. Sounds a little corny but it really is the best way to describe it. The immense amount of water pounding over the edge was so loud you had to shout to hear each other. Chris and I thought it made Niagara Falls look a little like a garden fountain. Don´t get us wrong, they were amazing to see as well, but just didn´t compare to this.

Devils Throat

We also got to see the falls from the Brazilian side. It was worth seeing from both sides as from here we got an overall perspective. We spent the night in a lovely spa hotel which was only a ten minute walk from the falls. A treat for my birthday. It was very nice to have a bit of luxury.

Devils Throat from Brazilian side

Gecko

Next stop - Rio baby!

Gaucho country - yee haa!

chrishoorweg — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Main square Salta

San Pedro is a tiny little village in the Atacama Desert which is surrounded by some spectacular scenery. It was a cool experience just being here in the driest desert in the world. We had a couple of days to recoup from Bolivia and then were off again heading to Salta in Northern Argentina. We were relieved to get seats for the next bus, only 3 leave a week, and so we endured a 14 hour bus ride to Gaucho country. It wasn´t that bad really. The only annoying thing was that Chris left his head phones on the bus and we have´t been able to find the right adaptor since - so he is without music (all of you know what this means for me!:)

Riding amongst the tabacco plantation

Salta is a beautiful colonial city with gorgeous weather and buildings. We spent a few days looking around, chilling out having coffee on the main plaza and eating copious amounts of the glorious icecream and not to mention the steaks and Argentinian wines! Yep, we were in heaven!! We thought, yes, we can justify eating continously for 2 days as we had lost a bit of weight travelling through Peru and Bolivia. We did pull ourselves away from the cafes to go on the gondola to get a good view of the city.

Giddy up

So, as we were in Gaucho country we thought it was only right to go horse riding. Chris did try and convince me that he needed another cowboy hat as he had done in Vegas but I convinced him otherwise! However, that hat has come in handy for a few dress up parties.

Our guide

We spent a day and night on a ranch owned by a lovely Argentinian man who was very hospitable and fed us so much barbecued meat and red wine for lunch that it was hard work getting on the horses in the afternoon. Surprisingly, or not, we had a new found confidence and were galloping around everywhere! It was great fun. After a very peaceful nights sleep we met up in the local village with an organised tour company to go to Cafayate and explore the surrounding mountains and canyons. As you all know Chris and I are not too keen on organised tours and this reminded us why! The scenery was fantastic, however, being shuttled around with 20 other middle aged tourists is not our idea of a good time. He he.

Road side views

The wineries we visited were fab. We tasted some very nice malbecs and of course could not leave without purchasing a few bottles.

Devils Throat

Overall, our time in Northern Argentina was thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing. We look forward to our return later in November for some more steak, wine and mountains of a different kind.

Cafayate winery

Salt plains, 4WD and brrrrr.........

chrishoorweg — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Transportation for 3 days

Some of the frustrating things about travelling in South America, is the Bus or train timetables!! Particularly in Bolivia. For us, we wanted to get the train from La Paz to Uyuni to start a 4WD Salt plains tour. Unfortunately, the train only runs twice a week (the other option, is to do an overnight bus which we´ve heard is a nightmare), so we had to rush La Paz a bit. We only had a day and a half, so unfortunately didn´t get to see a whole lot. If we hadn´t of left when we did, we would have had to stay for another 5 days.

Salt ´factory´ - tummy bugs start here!

La Paz is the highest capital city in the world at 3680m and is built within a canyon, approx 5km from rim to rim. A lot of the houses are unfinished without exterior paint. This gives the place a bit of a run down and shabby appearance. We later discovered that if the house is not ´finished´then the owner doesn´t have to pay tax on it!!

We wandered around and experienced many of the colourful markets.

Jumping for joy

Our next main attraction was our Salt plains tour from Uyuni to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. This tour was causing us anxiety, as we´d heard many stories of drunk drivers, poor food if any and cars breaking down......

We researched as much as possible and found a company with the least amount of complaints, paid our money and crossed our fingers.....

Blow me a kiss xxxx

Toñito tours proved to be quite good. We ended up with a group of 4 Aussie girls in their early twenties sharing our jeep, so there was plenty of talking going on!! They were a good bunch of girls who´d between them had seen large part of the world!!! Impressive for there age.

Trickery, good girl.....

Rock formations

The trip was well worth all the effort. The scenery was some of the most dramatic and interesting we´ve seen.

The Salar de Uyuni is a massive salt desert, with white salt as far as the eye can see. We had lots of fun taking the usual trick photography shots.

Cactus Fish Island

In the middle of the salt desert, there is an island ´Isla de Pescado´ or Fish island to you and me. It is a volcanic island, with remains of coral and most importantly and famously has giant Cactus growing on it. It was amazing to say the least.

From there we saw other rock formations and picturesque lakes with perfect reflections in them, in particular, Laguna Verde was the most impressive for that reason.

Laguna Colorado

We stayed at Laguna Colorado on our final night, which was pretty cold (-10, we were happy that we´d brought our lovely sleeping bags!!). Laguna Colorado is a red lake, fed by a natural hot spring. It has Flamingos as well as a massive amount of brilliantly white Borax. We hope our photos have been able to capture how amazing this part of the world is.

Reflection of mountain

We had our transfer into San Pedro with a Chilean driver, who quite happily announced ´welcome back to civilisation´. Cheeky bugger. However, we did sit back and enjoy the paved roads! Incredible what you take for granted.

Vicuñas

Jumping Laguna Colorado

A big lake way up in the sky.....

chrishoorweg — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Festivities Puno

We arrived into Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca (highest navigable lake in the world 3820m), late in the afternoon. We were not particularly taken by this little city so we were happy to have been here whilst the ´Lady of Mercy´ festival was on. Many types of traditional dance were being displayed including Aymara.

Traditional hair style Puno

Mother and child Puno

Floating Uros Islands

The next day we went out to the floating islands of the Uros people. Although they were very touristy it was still very interesting to learn about how they make and sustain the islands. For those who haven´t been her they make the islands out of the reeds that grow in the shallows of the lake. They then replace the reeds from the top. It was rather disconcerting as it was rather spongy under foot.

Boat docked

Lady of the Uros Islands

Boat ramp

Instead of staying here longer we decided to head to the Bolivian side of the lake, Copacabana, as we had heard from many travellers that it was much nicer. They were absolutely correct. It very much reminded us of Greece and Croatia - very mediteranean. We headed out to Isla del Sol (the island of the sun), the Inca creation site and birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology.

Cactus Isla del Sol

Tadar!

We checked out all the ruins and then hiked from the north of the island to the south. The views were stunning and the water so blue. Acclimatized now, we got up the hills fairly easily. We were going to stay the night but felt we had seen and experienced it enough and wanted to move onto La Paz so we could connect with our train to Uyuni.

Us at Puma stone

Isla del Sol Lake Titicaca

Bus ferry!

Chris chilling

A white city, a brown town and Condors

chrishoorweg — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Coffee break Arequipa

After an overnight bus from Cusco we made it into Arequipa at around 530am!! We thought that we were to arrive at around 7, but we were early.

We took a taxi to our hostel and were dumped on the street outside. After 5 minutes of ringing the door bell, we were feeling a little exposed and wandering what to do? However, after a couple more minutes whilst consulting our Lonely Planet, the door opened and we were shown inside. Phew!!!

Main square Arequipa

Arequipa itself is a lovely town, built mainly of volcanic stone (sillar), hence the name of the white city. It has a great backdrop consiting of a volcanoe (El Misti 5822m) and a number of big mountains, such as (Chachani 6075m and Picchu Picchu 5571m).

We really enjoyed the vibe of Arequipa. Compared to Cusco it was very laid back. We had a great day wandering around the Santa Catalina Monastery in the city, which we pretty much had to ourselves.

After deciding not to climb the big mountains, I (Chris) decided that going into the Colca Canyon was a good idea. (It is the deepest canyon in the world and there are Condors to be seen). Of course I wanted to get there!

Colca Canyon

Getting to Cabanaconde entailed a 5.5 hour bus ride, which took us over one of the highest roads being 4800m. A very scenic drive, where we saw wild Llamas and Vicuñas.

Street scene Cabanaconde

Cabanaconde is a very small adobe village, although it does have its Plaza de Armas!! We arrived at around lunch time and found ourselves the best hostel in the place (there was only really two to choose from!) For those that don´t know, Adobe just means that the houses are made from mud, hence looking quite rustic.

Corinne in Cabanaconde

We were planning on hiking into the canyon to visit the Oasis, however Corinne wasn´t really feeling up to it, so we decided that we´d only stay the one night there intead of two and go see the Condors in the morning on our way back to Arequipa.

Condor in flight

The Condors were amazing. They really are huge animals with a wing span of around 2m and seem to effortlessly glide on the thermal currents. We spent a good hour and a half watching them take off and cruise around. we were surprised as to how close they got.

Flight of the Condor

Flight of the Condors

After our bird watching we headed back on the local bus to Chivay, where we spent an hour waiting for the next bus to Arequipa. Although the birds were great, we were thinking at the end of the 11hr round trip if they were worth it!!

Entrance to Monastery

Another interesting thing we did in Arequipa was to see ´Juanita´ the ice princess at the Museo Santuarios Andinos. She is a frozen Inca maiden who was sacrificed on the summit of Mt Ampato over 500 years ago. Considering how old she is, she looks great!! You can see most of her facial features, nails and hair.

Santa Catalina Monastery

All in all, we had a very nice time relaxing in Arequipa, sampling some of the local dishes, including llama. We also found a good burger joint, which helped settle our upset tummies!! Nothing like a good ´ol burger to put things right!!

Next stop, Puno, Puno, Puno...... (for those who have travelled these parts do you recall the crazy bus touts calling out?)

We hope you are all keeping well. Keep the comments coming.

Lots of love,
Chris and Corinne xx

Santa Catalina

Creative Corinne shot

Inca Trail Trek - Day 4

chrishoorweg — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Early start on final day

In the pitch black we packed up our things, had a quick breakfast, put our head lights on and started our final trek to Machupicchu. It didn´t take us long to reach the Sun Gate for Sunrise. Absolutely spectacular! We sat and watched the sun come up behind us and over Machupicchu mountain before descending down to the ruins themselves. We all felt really proud of ourselves for making the journey and earning the right to be at such an amazing place in the world.

Llama

Solay showed us around the ruins with fantastic explanations. We then took our own time to appreciate being here and to soak it all up! We were really lucky to have such a clear day and to have the ruins almost to ourselves for a couple of hours before all the tourists arrived.

Llama at Machupicchu

Machupicchu

Us at Machupicchu

House with Huaynapicchu behind

Corinne relaxing at Machupicchu

Houses Machupicchu

We reluctantly headed down to Aguas Calientes for lunch and then our train back to Cusco. We were certainly ready for a shower and a rest but felt rather sad to be leaving. What an incredible and amazing 4 days.

Inca Trail Trek - Day 3

chrishoorweg — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Scenery Day 3

Again, our guide woke us with hot chocolate. We were in for an easy day of walking as we had done the hard part in the first 2 days. In total we walked only 5.5 hours before we stopped for lunch and set up camp for our 3rd night. Firstly we walked uphill to the ruins of Puyupatamarca ruins at 3640m and then downhill to Winaywayna - elevation 2650m.

Typical Lunch

After lunch we checked out the ruins of Winaywayna. We were really lucky as we had the place to ourselves. The other trekkers had not arrived to camp yet. We had a really relaxing afternoon drinking a few beers and chatting. In the evening we thanked our porters as this was the last time we would see them. Another early night as tomorrow we would be woken at 4am to reach the Sun Gate for Sunrise.

Winaywayna

Chris at Winaywayna

Us on terraces Winaywayna

View from tent third night

Inca Trail Trek - Day 2

chrishoorweg — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Uphill to Dead Womans Pass

The day was off to a fine start when Solay brought hot chocolate to us in our tent. With a full belly of pancakes and porridge we set off uphill for 500m to the infamous ´Dead Woman´s pass´at 4215m. The push uphill from our camp was challenging but we made it in about 45 mins. It was rather chilly up here and all the layers were quickly put on. To celebrate, Solay brought out some Peruvian rum, and we all had a shot to warm our bellies. After a quick break, we then descended to 3500m to our lunch spot. This was hard going on the knees as it was very steep. At this point we were very happy that we had rented trekking poles in Cusco.

Us at Dead Womans Pass

Trail and Scenery Day 2

Scenery along the way

After a much needed lie in the sun, we headed uphill again climbing to 4000m where we passed the ruins of Runkuraqay. We then descended again to Sayacmarca ruins at 3580m. They think this is where the Incas would have stopped and rested overnight on their pilgrimage to Machu Picchu. It was then a short downhill walk to our campsite. We had a great night playing games round the dinner table and then headed off to bed as 8 hours of walking up and downhill at altitude had taken its toll.

Porters at sunset

Inca Trail Trek - Day 1

chrishoorweg — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Before we head off

An early morning pick up of 4am - but hey we didn´t mind as we were so excited. Drove through the Sacred Valley and had breakfast at Ollantaytambo - pancakes and eggs, yummy! Back into the bus for another 40 mins arriving at the Trail Head - KM 82 at 2750m. A quick group snap, stamps in the passports, packs on and we were off.

Trail head

Hit the track at 8:30am, crossing the Rio Urubamba, and had a very nice 4 hour walk to our lunch spot at Wayllabamba (3000m) stopping at Llactapata ruins along the way. They think this place was used for grain storage as it is located between two valleys and is always windy, therefore good for drying. We were expecting a sandwich on the grass so you can imagine how shocked and excited we were when we saw the dining tent, individual wash bowls with soap and a tarp layed out for our packs! Impressed? We were! Lunch consisted of 3 courses finished off with sweets and hot tea.

Fresh faced half way through the first morning

Llactapata Ruins

Oh my, how were we going to get up after this? Before setting off again, our guide, Solay, taught us how to chew coca leaves to help with altitude sickness. It tasted kind of strange at first but rather sweet. We were warned that the afternoon hike was going to be challenging and Solay kept saying ´positive thoughts, positive attitudes and always smiling.´

Llamas on the trail

The next 4 hours were challenging, 700m all uphill, and Chris and I chewed those coca leaves like they were going out of fashion. They really did help - it was a strange feeling as our energy was renewed and we were able to keep pushing on up the mountain. We arrived at camp, Llulluchapampa 3750m, at about 5pm and got into our tent just before it started to hail. The last people arriving an hour later ( a little wet). We were totally exhausted but felt exhilarated at the same time. Corinne felt a little dizzy and nauseaus but after a lie down, some gatorade and chocolate she was back in full form. The terrain was fairly varied going from trees and grasslands to cloud forest and spectacular ravines.

We had another amazing 3 course meal and got to meet our fellow trekkers a little better. There was another married couple about our age from the Napa Valley, California, very cool, 2 girls from New York who were just lovely and a 64 and 62 year old couple from Alberqurque, New Mexico. They were interesting to say the least. We thought at one point they were going to sell us vitamin supplements. They had very strong opinions on practically everything to do with nutrition and were somewhat hard to take at times (apparently she has been reincarnated 20 times!). Oh well, it takes all types for the world to go round. However, if we´re that fit at that age we´ll be happy! Time for bed I think - sleep is much needed after 9 hours of walking.

First Camp site

Cusco and Surrounds

chrishoorweg — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Plaza de Armas Cusco

After our amazing week in the Amazon and getting our camera gear wet, we arrived in Cusco. Wow, what a pushy city!!! Too many street touts trying to sell you everything from finger puppets to different tours. By the end of two days, we were well and truly ready to head into the mountains for our Inka trail trek.

Girls on Parade

Apart from the harrassment, Cusco is actually a beautiful city. It has the customary Plaza de Armas (in every city or town). Very nice cathedrals and some great small hikes to do in the surrounding area. This was especially good for us to prepare and get acclimatised for our trek.

Corinne with Inka Kola

Our first day was mainly spent trying to get our wide angle lens sorted out!! As it turned out, the Amazonian rain, well and truly ruined it! Bummer. So after a good day of stressing and trying to find a ´reputable´dealer in Cusco (there aren´t many), we were able to sort it out with a second hand lens. (Sigma 18-50. f 2.8 for those techno people).

Boy on Parade

Cactus near Sacsayhuaman

We also saw a religious parade on the main plaza with school children as the main focus. Their brightly coloured clothing and head dresses were spectacular. As it turned out, there seemed to be some sort of parade nearly everyday we were there. Not surprisingly, Sunday had the biggest celebrations.

We did a day hike to the four ruins around Cusco. This entailed catching a local bus to the furthest one and then walking for approximately 4-5 hours back into Cusco.

Lady with Llama

The first ruins were Tambo Machay, Puca Pucara, Qenko and then finally Sacsayhuaman. (Sexy woman!) The ruins were a great introduction to the Inka culture for us and the final ruins were certainly the most spectacular. Admittedly, the altitude got to us this day and we did find it hard work walking up hill to our hotel at the end of the day!! Not too bad really just a slight headache and short of breath. Cusco is at 3326m and the furthest ruins of Tambo Machay are even higher at 3700m.

Our last night was spent meeting the rest of the trekking group, who were all Americans, made up of two other couples and two girl friends. More on this later!!

Off to the trail we go!! Woo hoo.

Keep the emails coming. We love to hear from you all.

Oh, by the way, my rash cleared up after about a week. I think it was heat rash, combined with mozzie bites!! So no weird jungle fungus Chris.....

C and C xx

Piranhas, toucans, gum boots and funny rashes!!

chrishoorweg — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Hola from the Amazon,

Local transport Iquitos

Arriving into Iquitos, we were met by our guides and transferred to our little red boat for our 3 hour journey upstream on the Amazon River to Muyuna Lodge. Iquitos was a really interesting city. Only accesible by boat or plane it has developed over time through the production of rubber. A population of 600,000 surprised us. Not many cars about so the main form of transport on the roads were little motor bikes with carriages attached to the back - very noisy.

Early morning on the river

A day out on the boat

Journey to the markets

Wow - the humidity and heat were hard to cope with at first but then our minds were taken straight off of it when we saw the mighty river and were greeted with friendly hello's from the local village people. Chris and I couldn't quite believe we were actually here.

Front of lodge

We arrived at the lodge, had a lovely lunch of barbecued cat fish and local fruits. Very excited, we set off into the jungle for a hike to learn about the medicinal properties of the plants and in the hope of seeing some monkeys! Well, all was going great, we swung like Tarzan and Jane on massive vines, saw a tree rat (very cute) and Chris spotted a tarantula!

Hammocks at our Lodge

All of a sudden the wind picked up and it truly felt like the trees were roaring and then the heavens opened! Our guide started to run and we thought it sensible to high tail it too. Inexperienced and should we say foolish, we didn't take our wet weather gear out with us as the thought of putting on any more clothing scared me (I even told Chris not to bring his jacket - woops!!)

Juvenile Hawk

The jungle floor quickly started to resemble a creek and our gum boots were now full of water. Testing out the water proofness of our (all weather) camera bag failed miserably. First day in the jungle, we arrived back dripping wet and one of our camera lenses full of water. On the upside, the insect repellent Chris bought worked a treat and we didn't have any bites! Secretly we really enjoyed it.

Chris with Piranha

Over the next week we had 3 activities a day - including bird watching by boat before breakfast, various hikes, piranha fishing, swimming with the pink dolphins in the Amazon (major highlight), excursion to see the prehistoric birds and the giant water lilles and a trip to a local village.

Giant water lillies

Corinne with Anaconda!!

This was fascinating. We were welcomed by an anaconda that had been caught that morning. It was really cold round our necks and slightly slimy - very cool!! As you would imagine, the local people live in very simple huts and eat two meals a day, which consists of fish, locally grown vegetables and fruit, rice and berries from the jungle. To our surprise they had two little classrooms, pre-school and primary.

Corinne with local village school children

The children were just gorgeous and sung us a song. So Chris and I and 2 other Aussie girls sang 'Home among the Gum Trees' as the kids looked on with rather perplexed faces and then possibly out of politeness gave us a big clap! It was great fun. We then played soccer with the littlies and then had to stop as we were all absolutely dripping with sweat and exhausted.

Chris tired after a days exploring

In true Chris fashion he got really sick. Our guide brewed up some local medicine made from tree bark (can't remember the name)and Chris managed to force it down - only just! Not long after that he started to feel much better and is now on the mend. We are now slightly concerned about the strange rash that is now on both of his arms. I say off to the Doctor if it's not gone in a few days (even if I have to drag him there myself)!!! Don't worry - the rash appeared before the local medicine was ingested, so hopefully no strange jungle disease.

We are now in Lima airport waiting for our connection to Cusco.

Hasta Luego Amigos,

Lots of love,
Chris and Corinne xx