Some recent advice I got at a baby shower was that I shouldn´t scream during labour, because if I did the baby would go up rather than down. Instead, it would be better to put a trap over my mouth and expel the baby from below, rather than from above. I can´t quite imagine how the baby might come out through my mouth so I think I will try and follow their advice. A couple of nights back, James and I joined a few others and walked the red light district (or one of them) in El Alto. We carried hot [View Full Entry]

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Punta Arenas was the furtherest we got to the end of the world. There's more further south... but no more time for us to explore it. Punta Arenas is the world's southern most city after Ushuaia (further south in Argentina) and is the capital of Chilean Patagonia. Its a departure point for Antartica... but we'll be saving that trip for a much later date! It seemed to us that one of the main things to do in Punta Arenas is to visit the penguins and Jason had a particular fascination with seeing the creatures... so that's what we did. There are [View Full Entry]

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We arrived on the Chilean side of Patagonia, got out our hiking shoes, packed our backpacks with our tents, gas cooker and sleeping bags and left the hairdryer behind for five days in Torres Del Paine National Park. Our time spent in southern Chilean backcountry was great and we enjoyed hiking beside tall mountain peaks, glacial lakes, glaciers, pristine rivers and lush valleys. We walked for 5 days - which I think is an impressive feat for a very unfit pregnant woman! Admittedly it was made a lot easier by the husband who could carry most of the weighty objects as [View Full Entry]

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Argentinian Patagonia is amazingly beautiful. We´ve just spent the last few days in the town of El Calafate and visited the famous Perito Moreno Glacier. We went from dry, desolate steppe to rainforest near the glacier. We were able to get on a boat and go nice and close to the wall of the glacier which is about 60m high. The glacier itself is enormous - 30km long, 250 sq km area and is sourced from the world´s third largest reserve of fresh water, the South Patagonian Icefield. It is one of the few glaciers in the world that is not [View Full Entry]

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After nearly a week in Buenos Aires we´ve decided we could potentially live here... we like it! Although we might have to leave every January since its so stinkin´ hot! Today its supposed to reach 36 degrees which being the temperature of the inside of our bodies seems a little unbearable for us kiwis from the mild climate of NZ. But the Self family who have generously provided us their home to stay in also have a pool! So we will survive and are eternally grateful. But back to the city... its a city that is nothing like any of the [View Full Entry]

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After a long and ardous semester of teaching the Christmas holidays have finally arrived and in less than 24 hours we were out of the country on our way to Iguazu Falls... James and Jason via land and Julie and Sara (the preggies or affectionately called the fatties by Bolivians) via air. We reunited 3 days later in Puerto Iguazu... happy that James and Jason had made it through Bolivia and Paraguay´s roads to reach us in time for Christmas Day. James and Jason came across better roads than expected during their road trip and only had a short patch of [View Full Entry]

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Over the last couple of weeks the political situation in Bolivia has spiced itself up and has got us all wondering about the future of Bolivia. There's been talk of autonomy in the east and even the possibility of a civil war. The situation has turned worse recently because the government of Bolivia decided it was about time to change the constitution, something which they have been promising since before they were voted into government. President Evo Morales, Bolivia´s first indigenous leader, and his supporters approved a new draft constitution for Bolivia which allows for the Presidents i [View Full Entry]

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Thursday was Thanksgiving day... which we wouldn't normally notice if it weren't for our American friends who seem to think of it as second to Christmas. We are starting to enjoy this tradition especially since it involves a yummy feast (very similar in taste and quantity to what one eats at Christmas)... and if you're lucky you can catch a few feasts during the week! This week we managed 3 feasts! And on that note, in the spirit of thanksgiving we would like to say that we are extremely thankful that we will soon be parents!!! We are expecting a little [View Full Entry]

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After over two months of blog-silence its difficult to know where to start, although the process of writing a blog is great for making oneself think what have we been doing with ourselves?? Well, its that time of year when there are no holidays... which makes James rather sad and me too... since we don't have the opportunity to venture out into the unknown with our trusty Landcruiser Legend. But we have been up to a few things and these are a few of the highlights since the last blog. We went to the brothels! Two times a week staff from [View Full Entry]

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Just realised that it has been over a month since we have wrote a blog... which would be about the time we got back into life in La Paz. So.... the million dollar question (yep, million dollar) is what have we been doing? For starters we back in La Paz, a world of... a million billion dogs on the street that poo in exactly the wrong spot, people throwing non-biodegradable litter out the car/bus window, men that publicly pee in the corner or on a wall, drivers that drive up your bum when you are trying to reverse into parallel park, [View Full Entry]

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