Seven months ago, during the midst of our travels, we were writing about the amazing conditions we had whilst snowboarding in Valle Nevado, Chile. It was such a fabulous change from the holiday we'd taken to Flaine in Jan 2007 where'd we experienced record high temperatures (sitting outside your chalet in t-shirts at 2000m in the Alps in Jan!) and record low snow cover. So, this year was a real gamble - we'd booked another holiday to the French Alps in January, most people thought we were crazy, but wow, did the gamble pay off. We have just returned from the best snowboarding holiday we've ever had in the French Alps. The conditions in La Plagne were second only to our Chile trip. It snowed for two days before we arrived, so our first day on ... read more

Well, the end of our trip is definitely in sight now and it is getting harder and harder to keep Andi off the beaches! This is my last chance, the town of Lencois and the national park of Chapada Diamantina, an outdoor hiking mecca six hours inland from Salvador. When we arrived in the town in the afternoon we were fairly mobbed by touts and guides offering us tours and services. It is all very friendly, but it gets wearisome to not be able to just wander along and check out the places you´ve already chosen from the guide book. Still, using the well-honed technique of leaving Andi in a cafe with the bags while I ninja´d unburdened through the shadows, we managed to get a room in a lovely place (who´s name I have totally ... read more

Yippeeee!!!! Finally we´ve found some sunshine on the island of Ilha Grande (pronounced Gran-gee, Portugues is officially a crazy language!), about two hours south of Rio. The island is absolutely beautiful, not the most impressive beaches in the world, but the setting is just gorgeous, backed by impressive rainforest reminisant of Cape Tribulation in Australia. We didn´t have the best start on the island, as we arrived on the island at full moon when the sea goes mental and high tide engulfs all of the beach and some of the inland walkways. It was a blessing in disguise because it meant we couldn´t walk around to the hostel we´d book and found ourselves a much better located posada (guesthouse) for the same price that was absolutely lovely. We figured to hell with socialising in a hostel, ... read more

After yet another relatively successful 24 hour journey (the bus only broke down once!) we arrived in Puerto Iguazu, excited at the prospect of spending the next three days exploring Iguazu Falls. Iguazu falls straddle the Argentine / Brazilian border and consists of over 270 waterfalls, but all the facts and pictures in the world do not prepare you for how truely spectacular the place is. Niagra is a mear trickle in comparison, and at 14 times wider and almost twice as tall Iguazu is bound to impress even the most demanding travellers! Our first two days were spent on the Argentine side, where for the pricely sum of 5 pounds you can explore a number of walking trails which take you over, under and up close and personal with the various waterfalls. The first day ... read more

So, we left Santiago in high spirits; the weather had been kind to us and gifted us with a week of perfect snowboarding conditions, the price had been bargainous and the food marvelous. A real holiday within a holiday. Despite losing most of the feeling in my right foot (it still hasn't returned!) we headed down towards the Lake District in high spirits... Our first stop was the small town of Pucon. Bordered by a lake on one side and an active volcano on the other, the setting is supposed to be one of the most picturesque in Chile. It certainly looked promising as our overnight bus from Santiago brought the sunlit volcano into sight (just as we stirred from our slightly hunched slumber). The cone of the volcano is almost perfectly symmetrical, and the ... read more