Paddington Bear originated from darkest Peru and was sent to London by his Aunt Lucy with a “Please look after this bear” label. Nicola, being a big Paddington fan, made sure Peru was first on the list when it came to planning our round the world trip. We only planned to spend 12 days in Peru enough time to do the Inca Trail and get to Titicaca to cross into Bolivia, but as we discovered Peru has so much to offer that the 12 days very quickly became more than 20 days. LIMA - SCARY CITY Our 11pm arrival in Lima [View Full Entry]

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Only a few minutes after arriving in Ecuador we knew we would like this country, partly it was the beautiful night view we had flying in to Quito, partly the friendly customs people and taxi driver, partly the lack of military presence after Venezuela but mostly it had to do with the tiny people in traditional dress with their smart green hats. They look so wonderfully cute. FIRST DAYS IN QUITO Our arrival was late in the evening and Quito was supposed to be a dangerous place, so we thought we had booked a hotel with a taxi pick-up, but unable [View Full Entry]

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After much delay due to minor Civil Unrest in Venezuela, public holidays in Ecuador and being 30km from the nearest phone for the past 6 days we are finally able to publish a Venezuelan entry. Despite missing a bag and its vital contents for nearly the whole time we really enjoyed our time here and would love to have more time to visit other parts of the country. Our trip started in Merida where we tried getting a basic grip on the Spanish language, visiting the wonders of the Canaima including the world famous Angel falls and doing a trek up [View Full Entry]

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It has been quite tough writing this entry as we have found it difficult condensing things down. The blog is both to inform you of our travels and to serve as a travel diary for us. We have added some headings to the text to try make it easier to for people to pick what interests them. Of course for the people with little time we hope the photos and their captions will keep you satisfied. Arriving in Caye Caulker for Lobster Festival After a gruelling 24+ hours of travelling, involving 5 separate flights and 2 hours of 40 degree heat [View Full Entry]

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As we are heading off to the internet café to post this entry we received news of the terrible bombings in London. This is really disturbing news. We hope that you and all your loved ones are safe and unhurt. We also hear that the Olympics has been awarded to London, well done on that! Picking off from where we last left you, we met Carl’s parents in Anchorage,they had been to see the big trees in Yosemite California. The next morning we started with a good breakfast at Gwenie’s Great Alaskan Restaurant where they serve Reindeer sausage, grits, biscuits and [View Full Entry]

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Its midnight, and after flying in from the arctic, we are now sitting on Cord and Leonie’s front door step waiting for Cord to return from work to let us in. A good time to do some writing. What is really amazing, is that this is the first time we have been under a night sky in 2 weeks. On arrival at Longyearbyen airport we were met by a stuffed polar bear and a very fuzzy haired Dutchman, called Jan, holding a Noorderlicht lifebelt. We then packed onto a bus to the harbour and as we rounded the corner we got [View Full Entry]

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Preparations The traumas that ensued after we started to pack up our lives and take a major detour via 14 countries included the following: *Reading travel guides and wanting to go everywhere and then trying to choose the places we want to go to most. Why is it that the place you want to go most is always the last place you read about? *Learning to Kayak in the wonderful British weather. Carl being told he needs to spend more time upright. *Getting hold of some neoprene socks. The full story will be published in a three-volumn epic once we find [View Full Entry]

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Itinerary Our Current itinerary is as follows: * Svarlbad (Norway)- 81 degrees North. Sea Kayaking and hopefully meeting up with Polar bears. * Alaska. Marais parents joining us for a trip round in an RV. Salmon fishing with the Bears. * Belize (with a short trip to Tikal in Guatemala) . Manatees at Gales Point, Blue Hole. Chilling zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. * Venezuela. Learning to Hablo Espanol. Angel Falls. Climbing Roraima. Avoiding getting mugged. * Ecuador (Including the Galapagos) . Diving, Darwin and Jungle trip. * Peru. Looki [View Full Entry]

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