Salta and Iguassu Falls: The next week of our trip was a case of getting across the width of South America from Chile to Rio in time to spend a week on the beach before we fly home. We travelled via Salta, another pretty city and enjoyed some great steaks and red wines. We also hired a car for the day and drove to a gorgeous lake where we swam, lunched and sunbathed in the glorious sunshine. From Salta we got the bus all the way to Iguassu Falls. The Falls are amazing and much better than we could have imagined. [View Full Entry]

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San Pedro de Atacama looks like a scene from a Hollywood cowboy movie. It's a small town with restaurants, bar and tour operators - so incredibly touristy, and with a price tag to match. It's considered by Chileans to be the most desired place to visit in all of Chile. It also happens to be in the driest desert in the world hence how they try to justify the costs. A dingy little room, with cold showers costs more per night than a pad in Oz! Being out in the middle of the dessert, with nothing around for miles and rarely [View Full Entry]

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Our transport to Bolivia lived up to the Bolivian reputation, breaking down for 5 hours in the middle of the night and then stopping for a further 2 hours to have a good number of tyres changed. The tyres did not look in a good state at all - bald and with chunks missing. It's a wonder the bus, which also had a severe crack across the front window on the upstairs level, was ever allowed to leave Peru! Still we eventually arrived in the Bolivian Copacabana, a cute little down set on Lake Titicaca, one of the highest navigable lakes [View Full Entry]

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Our route back to city life from the Amazon involved taking a fast (12 hours) boat from Leticia border town via an island in Brazil to Iquitos in Peru, the only town in the world that cannot be reached by road; and then a flight on to Lima. You are told to get our immigration stamp into Peru on the Brazilian island before we our boat leaves. Upon arrival for our boat, at 4am, the immigration hut is closed so a group of us agreed there must be an office at the port in Peru. As the boat is about to [View Full Entry]

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Having spent a thoroughly enjoyable three weeks back in the UK sorting out our various jobs and meeting up with you all you lovely folk, we returned to Panama solely so we (mmm, wonder which one of us dreamt this up?!) could sail from Panama, via the glorious, sun-filled San Blas Islands and across the seas to Colombia. The San Blas islands range from a single palm tree with just about enough sand to support it to larger islands capable of being farmed for coconuts - yet still small enough to walk all the way around within 10 minutes. Under the [View Full Entry]

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We arrived over the Andes and down into Mendoza, capital of the wine region and home to many, many vineyards. The weather was cool but the sun was high and there was barely a cloud in the sky so what better way to be introduced to Argentina than on a wine tour! It was so much fun we did it twice! The best way to sample the vineyards is to hire bikes and cycle between them. Given my usual habit of falling off a bike when only slightly inebriated I was a might concerned but there was no other option except [View Full Entry]

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We flew via Bogota into Santiago from Costa Rica arriving at silly o'clock in the morning. Thankfully Chileans are a great bunch and we were able to check into our room at 6am and crash for a few hours before setting out on our first foray into South America. Remember folks this whole trip has been about exploring South America, it has only taken us 8 months to get here! The first thing that struck us was the cold! After many weeks in Central America we were at first very grateful for a cold blast of air but soon sought shelter [View Full Entry]

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We crossed another incredibly relaxed border on the from Costa Rica into Panama to reach Bocos del Toro. It's quite a pretty little route across a rickety old bridge, that doesn't like it should still be standing, let alone carrying coaches across it! Once into Panama, we took a short, speed boat trip through the canals and over to Bocas Town, Isla Colon. Bocas has a pretty, developed water-front, with restaurant and hotel decks jutting out into the water for the perfect view or paddle in the sea. The weather in Panama was much more in line with time of year [View Full Entry]

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Puerto Viejo is a Caribbean surfers beach resort, with an unprecedented number of tattooed women! We were lucky enough to be treated to great weather, despite it being the rainy season so tried out all sorts of activities. We cycled to nearby beaches through the very tropical countryside, we tried our hand at surfing again and we took advantage of the local trips including doing a Canopy Tour and White Water Rafting our way back towards San Jose. The atmosphere feels very relaxed and safe, even if it is a bit of a drugs haven. We were offered drugs every day, [View Full Entry]

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It became obvious within 24 hours that being on the beach and in the sea is the only place to be at this time of year so we headed for the well-reputed Corn Islands on the Caribbean coast. Listening to those around us, we flew to Big Corn Island and immediately hopped on a boat to Little Corn Island - and what a find Little Corn island is! It is a stunning, peace haven - palm tree lined white sandy beach, clear blue sea, perfect blue sunny skies and a scattering of beach huts spread mainly along the soutth side of [View Full Entry]

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