Rebecca and Edouard

Better late than never. Here is the last episode of our year and a half long jaunt around South America! Our final destination was the much anticipated Colombia the 4th largest country in South America, after Brazil, Argentina and Peru, its size roughly equivalent to the combined area of France, Spain and Portugal. For many, Colombia is synonymous with Cocaine, kidnappings and corruption. The country does have more than its fair share of problems, but we had only heard stories about how beautiful the country is and how wonderful the Colombians are, from travellers we’d met on the road so we were really looking forward to seeing this country for ourselves. After a long border crossing with huge queues on the Ecuadorian side and a short steep hill on entering Colombia, we arrived in the Colombian ... read more

On the 27th September, after a very busy three weeks in France, with a side trip to Spain, we flew back to Cayenne in French Guyana. We had a nice surprise when the airline company had to make a change to our flight which meant that we got to spend a night in a relatively posh hotel in Martinique before taking a connecting flight to Cayenne. It was very nice winding down in the hotel pool after the long flight and then going on to a complementary evening meal. Only problem was, with the time difference and the fatigue from our rushing around in France I was pretty much falling asleep at the table over dinner. In the short time we were in Martinique we didn’t get to see much of the island, which seemed very ... read more

We are now back pedalling in Peru after two weeks with our good friends Elie and Mathieu and a long side trip back to France. I´ve got a lot of catching up with the blog to do so here is my first effort describing our time with Elie and Mathieu and our journey to Cayenne. Last time I wrote the blog (quite a long time ago!) we were awaiting the imminent arrival of our friends. Well, they met us as planned in Arequipa and we had a fantastic two weeks together in Southern Peru. Our first trip after a day in Arequipa was to the Canon del Colca which is the second deepest canon in the world. It’s a very picturesque area with small typical villages with stone houses and dusty streets in the cultivated but ... read more

Hola du Perou, Nous y attendons avec impatience nos Amis Elie et Mathieu qui nous rejoignent pour 15 jours. Nous avons passe 3 mois fantastique en Bolivie; quelle diversite, quelle gentillesse, quelle richesse culturelle... Nous en avons pris pleins les yeux et le coeur! Nous nous etions arrete a Concecion, ou nous nous sommes bien repose apres le parc Noel Kempf. Nous voila de nouveau sur la route. Le paysage est valonne avec de nombreuses estancias, c'est sympa. Nous visitons la derniere des missions jesuites : San Javier, la plus belle des eglises pour Rebecca. Le village est paisible et l'hotel avec des hamacs a l'exterireure est bien reposant. Ensuite nous rejoignons le croisement de route pour, Santa Cruz d'un cote et Trinidad ( capital de la region Beni dans l'Amazonie) de l'autre. Nous partons pour ... read more

On crossing the border from Quiaca in Argentina to Villazon in Bolivia we entered a different world. Quiaca had been in sleepy siesta mode (it was 3pm) and in contrast Villazon was a hive of activity, the streets full of shops and stalls spilling out onto the pavement and people everywhere. We pushed our bikes up the main street, dodging the street sellers pushing carts of bananas, bread and empanadas and feeling a little overwhelmed by the crowds and the sudden change of pace and culture. I stopped to buy an orange juice in the street and was served by a child no older than 8 years old, normal in Bolivia. Like most border towns Villazon didn't hold much attraction for us. It isn't really a typical Bolivian town, more a huge market for Argentines ... read more