Aquarianj

We headed out to Puerto Natales in Chile from El Calafate in Argentina. Border crossings in Patagonia are quite common and so we expected this to be a well organised experience, given the bus company does it every day. What was meant to be a 5 hour bus ride (tolerable!) turned into 7.5 hours as we wasted time at both the Argentine exit point, and also the Chilean entry point. I´m not quite sure why this happened, but the bus driver sat for at least 45 minutes at each point waiting for something, while other buses came and went before we did! It meant a very frustrating day, and we were glad when we reached Puerto Natales. The scenery on the way did not disappoint - more Patagonian steppe, sweeping landscapes, and finally huge snow capped ... read more

We flew from Esquel to El Calafate in Argentina. Calafate is the jumping off point to get to places like Perito Moreno Glacier, into Puerto Natales (Chile) and also out to El Chalten - and I did all of these! We stayed in some small cabanas in Calafate and checked in. It being Thanksgiving in the States, Jess wanted to do something special to celebrate. As nowhere seemed to have roast turkey, we booked into a steak restaurant for dinner. However, we had arrived close to lunchtime and so opted for a ´light lunch´of pizza. It turned out to be patagonian lamb pizza and amazing, huge chunks of beautifully marinated, cooked and seasoned lamb, and smothered with cheese. I like these 2 ingredients seperately and never thought to combine them - wow, what a combo!! We ... read more

Santiago reminds me of the old computer game Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego. It was a game designed to teach school kids about geography and used to play it on an old Apple that had green type on a black screen. I remember Santiago seeming so exotic and far away! In reality it is quite a European city and it is really easy to walk around and explore which is nice. I arrived at around 7am and headed straight for my hostel in the upmarket Providencia area. I wasn´t able to check in until the afternoon so had a shower, and after some chatting and gmail checking headed off to explore the city. A girl called Elodie that I met at our hostel accompanied me and showed me the way into town, ATM´s etc ... read more

The first thing that struck me about Quito is the gorgeous view - high up in the Andes, it is surrounded by moutains, some still capped with snow. Shortly after I realised how modern it feels in comparison to parts of Central America I have been in. Roads are good, everything is spread out quite nicely, the standard of housing seems to be quite high, cars are all really nice, and no chicken buses to speak of! It's a funny city - big and sprawling, it has 2 distinct parts - thecolonial Old Town, where all the beautiful colourful buildings and churches are, and the New Town, which includes the 'Mariscal' which has many restaurants and hotels, and is also sometimes referred to as Gringoland. The Mariscal is also supposed to be dangerous after dark, so ... read more

We we very glad to finally arrive in Nicaragua after 2 long days of travel. As we crossed the border I immediately noticed the condition of the roads improved markedly from those in Honduras. Interestingly, Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America, with 50% of the population living below the poverty line. The country has a history of dictatorships and civil war and has only been promoting tourism since the 1990's. We arrived in Granada after lunch, and went on a quick walking tour of the city to orient ourselves. It has an old colonial town, with gorgeous multi- coloured buildings - similar to Antigua in Guatemala. It also has lots of horse drawn carriages that you can take a ride on around the town. There is a main street lined with restaurants and thankfully ... read more