Once again, a huge delay…sorry folks! But internet access has been really hard. Internet café’s aren’t nearly as common as South America, and when you can find a wireless signal, they charge you a prime rate, as much as $12 an hour. So important emails and banking have had to take priority when we’ve had access, but we haven’t forgotten about keeping friends and family in the loop. Sorry for the delay, and potentially less photos, but we hope you understand. Chapter One: The good Spain Where do we start with Spain? Spain was a rather interesting place [View Full Entry]

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Sorry this took so long everyone...yes, we are alive and internet has been a pain, especially when it comes to uploading pictures. We now have our laptop, thanks to Jason's mom hauling it all the way across the Atlantic for her European Christmas visit, so we will try to catch this blog up to date soon. We'll start with Morocco...our first visit to an Islamic country. We arrived in Morocco via ferry that crossed the Straight of Gibraltar from Spain. There are these huge passenger boats that take people back and forth between Spain and Morocco all day long. Morocco was [View Full Entry]

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Well, we confirmed the rumors. There is definitely rain in the Amazonian Rain Forest. Our trek began with a short bike ride on which the British traveler who was with us crashed into a tunnel wall (for the record, it was pitch black in the tunnel) while we were going through it. He broke his finger and started going into shock. Jason had to administer first aid until the ambulance arrived, and Tracey had to prop up his legs to keep the blood flowing in the right direction. Trust us, you dont want to be treated by the "paramedics" here. These [View Full Entry]

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We just spent a very relaxing four days in Vilcambamba, known as the Valley of Longevity. We didn´t really find out the secret, but the local residents are known for their inability to kick the bucket, living very long lives. Considering that they have their very own spring water that is heavily marketed with a pretty old man as the poster child, we assume the secret is the water, although we´ve also heard they have a very healthy diet too. We stayed at El Jardin Secreto (secret garden) after reading from several other travel blogs that it was a nice place. [View Full Entry]

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No photos here....just tried to get the heck out of this place as fast as we could, and it wasn´t fast enough. So fellow travelers beware, and be very prepared if you must cross the Peruvian/Ecuadorian border here. We decided to cross here because we thought it would be the fastest way to get from Peru, to Vilcambamba, Ecuador even though other border crossings aren´t as notorious. Unfortunately, the travel schedules weren´t accurate, and scams and thieves definitely abound here. We had to spend the night in Tumbes, Peru on November 14th. We arrived at the airport around 6pm, only to [View Full Entry]

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We did it! We conquered the Inca Trail and made it some of the most beautiful ruins we have ever seen at Machu Pichu, a lost Incan city built around 1450. The trek was a difficult four days long. Although the ruins were truly incredible, we really feel that the four day journey to the ruins was the most impressive part. When people call this a very spiritual journey, they are surely referring to the determination you find in yourself to push through this trek as well as the breathtaking ruins Day 1 was a basic 12km hike up and down [View Full Entry]

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Well, Bolivia was a blur...for a number of reasons! Time constraints was the first limitation, because we had to be in Cusco, Peru in time to pay for our trek to Macchu Picchu, so we only had about 9 days for Bolivia. It was a shame to have such little time, because it is such an affordable place, in addition to having amazing scenery and good, hearty food! Since we didn't have much time, we had to pick and choose what to do. We decided to start with a 4 day jeep tour of the Salares de Uyuni, the world's largest [View Full Entry]

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We left El Calafate on the 22nd. Before we left though, we had the chance to go on a less advertised tour. It was probably the single most enjoyable day we´ve had so far, because we got away from the crowds and really got to see some neat things in nature. We went into the Patagonian step, which is arid desert region, and the views of the mountains and glacial lakes were pretty amazing. There was also a lot of geological formations there, including an interesting one they nicknamed a Mexican hat. Two kinds of rock form in the same boulder [View Full Entry]

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We arrived a couple of days ago in El Calafate. A note to all non-Argentines...avoid Aerolineas Argentinas, Argentina´s national airline. They have fabulous planes and service, and while they give citizens great fares, they are inflated tremendously for everyone else! If you can, take LADE airlines, uniform prices for all, but limited routes and dates. Yesterday we went to Perito Moreno Glacier. It is a spectacular site, and the sound of the falling iceberg chunks into the water is an impressive sound...sort of like very close-range thunder. There are lots of people, so you don´t quite [View Full Entry]

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Between the dates of October 12th and 14th, we stayed at Tracey´s former host family´s house. The visit was great! Her former host mom Coty treated us to home cooked meals (with vegetables!), a comfortable bed, and best of all, a loving house. We had a dinner party with some of Tracey´s old friends and Coty´s family and were able to learn more about the last 9 years in Argentina since Tracey left. While some things are a bargain here (unbelievable steak, wine, public transportation, etc), some things are nearly as expensive as they are in the United States (clothing, eating [View Full Entry]

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