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Dos cerveza por favor - Richard and Cath

Believe it or not we are finally leaving London for a more laid back outdoors type of lifestyle in NZ! I don't think many of our friends and family beleived we would actually do it after so long talking about it.... and quite rightly so.... I think there were a few times back there when we didn't really believe it ourselves! BUT, after 10 years in London, the jobs have been packed in, the flat is sold, and the boxes of our stuff are on the boat to Dunedin. We are taking the long route there though through Costa Rica, South America, a quick trip to Australia, and NZ for Christmas. This is a trip we have talked about doing for a long time before we 'settle' so decided to keep a log of it at least for ourselves (we are both getting on a bit now and the memory isn't quite what it used to be!). Richard (bushy) and Cath

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Joined on: May 1st 2007
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Dos-cerveza-por-favor, order by Date newest first.

By Dos cerveza por favor
October 5th 2007

5 days living in a National Geographic article

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department

The amazing colours of the mountains
We couldn´t take enough photos of these vistas!

After a few days of relaxation in sunny Sucre and a very drunken evening (ending up in a kareoke-discoteque with one of Richard´s friends from NZ) in the not-so-sunny Potosi, we headed for Tupiza to start the Southwest Circuit tour - part of which is the unmissable Salar de Uyuni. We decided to take a 5-day tour to cut down on the amount of travelling on the second day, and to also give us a chance to see Laguna Celeste. Our group consisted of our guide William, our cook Talia, and another couple Hayley and Ricardo from the US. It turned [View Full Entry]

Richard the giant shouts at midget Cath but she puts up a brave fight

By Dos cerveza por favor
September 21st 2007

Alligators, Caimans, Piranha, and thankfully no Anancondas!

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque

LUNCH!
My very own happy little piranha... or whats left of him... fried!

So, next on the list we flew to the Bolivian Amazon Basin. It was quite novel for us to be travelling by plane for once, and it was a bit like flying in a cigar tube with wings - only about 15 seats and you had to almost crawl to your seat it was so tiny! Mind you the views we got over the Cordillera Real range (including the mountain that Richard climbed) was awesome! It really is very dramatic scenery. Before we left La Paz, and also whilst in Rurrenabaque we managed to catch up with Claire from home and [View Full Entry]

By Dos cerveza por favor
September 16th 2007

Mountains, fights, death road and England nil

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz

The top of Huyuni Potosi
smiling...just!

Well I started the week in Bolivia with nice couple of days climbing a mountain called Huayna Potosi. A couple of our friends did it and said it was very rewarding so I thought I would give it a go...... Yes I found it very rewarding but it was bloody hard! At 6088 metres it is the highest I have ever been on land. I thought of my friend Julian Hazard who climbed Everest (a mere 2500 metres higher - well done mate) and at this height I was I was breathing like I was running. The climb was over 2 [View Full Entry]

By Dos cerveza por favor
September 9th 2007

The Inca Trail - Macchu Piccu, the lost city of the Incas

South America » Peru » Cusco » Inca Trail

Macchu Pichu

WELL WE DID IT! For me this was going to be one of the highlights of our trip, and it lived right up to and exceeded our expectations! It had been on my list for a long long time and it felt amazing to actually be doing it! Our group was a real mix of people which turned out to work really well and after a sleepy bus trip to KM82 we were up and off the bus and getting our packs sorted to start walking. I have to say, the porters are amazing! These guys are so zippy .... while [View Full Entry]

View of the surrounding mountains from MP

By Dos cerveza por favor
September 4th 2007

Cuzco and the Sacred Valley

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco

Inca stonework

We are back in our own clothes and have moved on to Cuzco. It sounds like the photos of the traditional dress were a hit. I also noted that one of Cath's friends is over the moon that she is probably taller than Jousta. We took the train from Puno to Cuzco which took about 3 hours more than the bus, but is a much nicer way to travel. We were sat with a couple on honeymoon that were on the islands with us and played about 500 games of "shithead" (card game). We won most of them, and they almost [View Full Entry]

By Dos cerveza por favor
August 25th 2007

Arequipa to Lake Titicaca

South America » Peru » Arequipa

Arequipa
Santa Catalina Monastry

Arequipa After our bus-fest and Nazca experience, we decided to chill out in Arequipa for a while and what a lovely city to chill out in! Good coffee, the best empanadas so far, beautiful views, and the mighty Clos in abundence! We took a hiking trip to the Colca Canyon which is a trek down into the second deepest canyon in the world at 3191m, the first being its neighbour Cotahuasi. On the first day we walked down about 1300m into the bottom of the canyon (narrowly avoiding the donkeys on their way up) and stayed overnight at the first village [View Full Entry]

By Dos cerveza por favor
August 14th 2007

Nazca Lines, Peru

South America » Peru » Ica » Nazca

Nazca Desert

So we have made it to Peru after some serious bus journeys. We got some dodgey looks from people on the buses as we tucked into our luxurious picnics of salami (bad vegetarian!), cheeses, bread, pate etc as our comrades-in-travel tucked into their long-distance-bus-issue dinner of rice and indiscriminate meat! Suckers! We decided to leg it down to the south of Peru to dust off our hiking boots, with a stop in Nazca on the way to see the lines. Luckily for us, we decided to give Pisco and Ica a miss... and so arrived in Nazca on the day Peru [View Full Entry]

By Dos cerveza por favor
August 7th 2007

Puerto Lopez, Ecuador - Manta Rays!

South America » Ecuador » West » Puerto López

Manta fish market in full swing

I have possibly just had the dive of a lifetime!!! After Cuenca we travelled over to the Coast. The whole reason for the trip was to see Humpback whales breaching.... its mating season and they are trying to impress the girls! First off we went to a town called Manta to check out the fish market on the beach. It smelt pretty bad and Cath nearly vommed but I got up early to go and see the market in full swing as I wanted to see what they were bringing in. They were not too friendly though, at one point I [View Full Entry]

By Dos cerveza por favor
August 4th 2007

Ecuador.... Baños to Cuenca

South America » Ecuador

El volcan

Baños Baños is a lovely little town set in a valley surrounded by lush, green mountains. However, looming over it in a threatening and rather frightening manner is the increasingly active Volcan Tungurahua. Our first sighting was on the bus trip towards Baños.... a conical peak spouting grey smoke and ash.....scarily impressive until you realise that you are actually driving towards it to stay at it´s base! On morning No1, Cath made the mistake of opening the curtains and showing hungover Richard what a beautiful day it was outside to goad him out of bed, with fancy ideas of hot spr [View Full Entry]

What? Oh yeh thats just a volcano erupting in the background...

By Dos cerveza por favor
July 26th 2007

The Galapagos Islands

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos

Land Iguana

Well.... where do we start? Sit back, this is a long one! We have just spent an unforgettable two weeks in the Galapagos Islands and I wish we could do it all over again. We took an 8-day boat trip around the islands and then spent another 5 days in the main town so Richard could get some dives in. On arriving we were met by our trusty guide Tommy, and taken to the "zodiacs" (dingys) to transfer to the boat. Everyone was quite obviously excited to be here and as we got off the bus we were confronted with [View Full Entry]