When our bus from Iguazu Falls pulled into the Retiro bus station, we were met by my friend Cesar... it was an exciting reunion, since I had not been back to visit Buenos Aires in 5 years. That started off a crazy 2 weeks in the city, where we abandoned our sedate, beach bumb lifestyle (honed in Brazil) and actually went out drinking every night... way past midnight! ;) It was like we were 20 again (OK, maybe 25). It was great hanging out with Cesar and reconnecting with my Peruvian friends living in the city. Since my local friends don't [View Full Entry]

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After 5 nights in Fernando Noronha, we weren't ready to give up the Brazilian beaches just yet. We boarded a 2 hour bus from Natal to Pipa, a beach town described in the Lonely Planet as being an 'international' destination. (Still not sure what that means, but we did see the requisite Argentine hippies selling jewelry on the beach). We had read some blogs where visitors described seeing dolphins, which influenced our decision to stop in Pipa on the way to Recife. It ended up being a very good alternative to staying in Recife before our flight to Rio de Janeiro. [View Full Entry]

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We splurged on a trip to Fernando de Noronha, an island off of the Pernambuco coast of Brazil, and have absolutely no regrets... it was an amazing place and is home to the most beautiful beaches we've ever seen! I am not exaggerating... if you go to one place in Brazil, it should be Fernando de Noronha. Hmmm, I'm already regretting writing this, since I hope to go back one day and don't want to contribute to it becoming even more popular! ;) The photos speak for themselves, but here is a brief description of how we spent 5 fun days [View Full Entry]

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We were waiting to post our Salvador blog entry until we developed the rolls of old-school film. We finally accomplished that, so here is our lost entry from March... Salvador de Bahia We left Rio de Janeiro by plane (no 25 hour bus for us!) and headed to Salvador, a large city in Bahia state known for its crazy Carnaval, African influence and the historic colonial district, called the Pelourinho. Salvador has a reputation for crime-- especially robberies of tourists-- so we had our guards up. We weren´t robbed but we did get scammed out of US$4 when a fake bus [View Full Entry]

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Hola amigos! We finally managed to borrow a camera charger, so here are some recent photos from our trip. We´re really behind on the updates, so we´ll skip Salvador and head straight to Aracaju and the start of our latest beach vacation :) Aracaju Our stay in Aracaju was basically an accident, since the direct buses from Salvador to Macieo were booked and it was the most convenient in between point. The bus was scheduled to arrive at 4:30PM but we got in well after dark, since a ´forro´festival and an accident had traffic at a standstill outside of town. We [View Full Entry]

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We´re still in Rio de Janeiro, waiting for the Cannon charger to arrive in the mail and Jake´s cold to get better (he caught the bug I had during Carnaval). After 2 weeks here, we are feeling the urge to move on. We may just head to Salvador without getting the camera charger; who knows if it will ever arrive anyway? It seems we are in the midst of a mini-heat wave here in Rio. Yesterday the temperature topped 40 degrees celsius-- abut 104 fahrenheit! What better way to pass the time than catch up on our blogging in an air [View Full Entry]

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Bom dia! It´s been a long time since our last blog entry, but we have a good excuse. When our flight arrived in Sao Paulo from Johannesburg, we discovered someone had opened the side pocket of Jake´s pack and stolen our camera charger. That doesn´t seem like a big deal (we bought it in Vietnam for $6), but it turns out they do not sell Cannon cameras or accessories anywhere in Brazil! So we have not been able to use our camera or upload any photos. Bummer :( We bought a cheap, plastic camera that takes film (!!!), and have [View Full Entry]

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We had an amazing safari trip and have finally had a chance to upload the photos. I tried to include all the animal species we saw, but I may have missed a ´bok´or two...* Journey to Botswana From Cape Town we flew to Johannesberg and then boarded a Botswana Air flight to Maun. The last flight was delayed three hours, and we were surprised when we got to the tarmac and saw the plane... it was pretty small and generic (no Botswana Air logo or anything). It turned out we had to make an unplanned stop in the Botswana capital, Gabarone, [View Full Entry]

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We just got back from an amazing safari trip with Jake's family in Botswana and Zambia; we haven't had internet access in a while so we are way behind on the blog. Here's a short update of our pre-safari trip... so no cute animal photos yet. Sorry! Our South African journey continued as we set out in our little rental car from the Drakensberg mountains for Durban, one of the country's main cities. Durban is billed as South Africa's gem, their surfer's paradise.... but is actually reminiscent of Atlantic City, with its downbeat waterfront and overall sketchy vibe. Don't get us [View Full Entry]

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After exploring the shopping malls and seedy underbelly of Bangkok for a few nights, we said goodbye to Lauren (we miss u!) and boarded a public bus for the airport. After a comfy 4-hr flight, we arrived at the chaotic Mumbai airport for our stopover to Johannesberg. As we approached the airport, we could see shacks covering the entire city, extending right up to the edge of the runway. It looked like we were flying just a few feet over their roofs... an interesting first impression of India. Unlike most airports, Mumbai has developed a unique system for transfers where an [View Full Entry]

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