We had heard mixed reviews of Lima from other travellers along the way, but we had to fly there to get to the Southern Peruvian coast, so we decided to spend a couple of days checking it out. We stayed at a hostel in the trendy area of Miraflores and it was lovely! There were tonnes of nice restaurants, lots of shops and a generally clean, cosmopolitan feel. We had been told that Lima could be dirty, smoggy and dangerous, so Miraflores was definitely a pleasant surprise. We spent the first evening wandering around and had an early dinner at a Lebanese place (!) and booked seats on a double-decker bus tour for the next morning. I had heard about the bus tour from a cousin (thanks Rachael if you're reading this!) and had been looking ... read more

We were picked up at about 5:30 am on our first day of the Inca Trail. A bus took us to km82 past Ollayantambo which is the "official" start of the Trail. We had a delicious breakfast at a cafe within steps of the Trail and watched the dozens of porters that would be accompanying us and the other groups on the trek. We had 22 porters alone for our group of 16 trekkers! We discovered that most other trekkers, in addition to benefitting from the porters that carried our food, tents and other necessities, had also reserved the services of a personal porter to carry their sleeping bag, clothing and toiletries, so that they only had to carry a day pack. I hadn't made that request so the three of us had to carry our ... read more

Our 3-day Land Cruiser trip to Salar de Uyuni was a blast aside from the effects of altitude (to which Chuck seemed immune as ususal, except for feeling mildly tired as he jogged up a ridge to get a sunset photo!) We crossed the Bolivian border early in the morning and were assigned to our Toyotas. We were lucky because we ended up with only 4 people and a driver, so all our luggage could stay in the vehicle rather than being wrapped in a tarp on the roof. Some vehicles had eight people in them! Our destination on the first day was the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. A factor that added to the novelty of the trip was the drama that ensued after a recent increase in the park admission from 30 ... read more

Before coming to Argentina, we had never heard of Salta or Salta province before. However, many people we met while travelling recommended that we check out the chill atmosphere and the cacti. It was on our way North to Peru anyway, so we figured we’d spend a couple of days there. Unfortunately when we arrived, it was pouring rain so we did not get the best first impression. We spent our first day exploring the town and visited the Museum of High Altitude Shrines, which had some Inca child sacrificial mummies. I actually found this quite upsetting even though they showed no signs of having died in distress. There was a disclaimer before entering the chamber so they did give me the opportunity to opt out, but my curiosity got the better of me. Chuck was ... read more

Here is a selection of Rachel's photos, again mainly to prove that Chuck was there too!... read more