Rich n Di

From Chiapa De Corzo we dropped down from the hills into a vast and hot frying pan of a plain to an overnight stop in Cintalapa. A gentle climb out into the hills the next morning was topped off with a gorgeous downhill roll through protected forestland with glimpses of the Pacific Ocean far below. We emerged in Oaxaca state, on a coastal plain, and took a bus to avoid a stiffling slog along a flat and busy road. The following day saw us back on the bikes and heading for the hills once again. As we climbed, the woodland was changing; thinning and drying out - tall, thin candelabra cactus spiked the hillside and later, crops of agave cactus crept into the scenery. We passed mezcal factories - at first just a few wooden vats ... read more

Hola amigos and bienvenidos to the mexican leg of our cycle jaunt. We start off in Cancun and, oo it ain't 'arf 'ot. Except in our room in Casa Mexico Tipico, where it is just about sub-zero. We are staying with Hilda, her family and Pepita, the chihuahua. Hilda's mother is a music teacher and we are entertained by a parade of young pianists, percusionists and guitarists. All is not harmony, however, and I fear at one point that someone has stepped on Pepita, but it is only the violin class warming up. We liberate our bikes from the cardboard that has encased them for the past month and take them for a test drive around the Cancun hotel zone. This purpose-built resort, set on a sand spit in the caribean, has luxurious hotels and beautiful ... read more

The Galapagos Islands. What images do these words conjure up? A land of giant tortoises? Jagged lava rocks covered in prehistoric marine iguanas? Comical seabirds so fearless that you can almost touch them? But this place is so much more; so special, unique and wonderful. Not a static zoological curiosity, but genesis happening before your very eyes; a living tableau of creation and survival. Entire islands are born from the sea in outpourings of magma from far below the earth´s crust. The newly created lands are carried imperceptibly along, the raw, black lava fields being oh so gradually cloaked in vegetation until finally, after eons pass, each now ancient and eroded island slips away beneath the waves. (A rather romantic version of tectonic plate theory.) Born from the sea devoid of life, the islands are colonised ... read more

Greetings, dear readers. It has been some time since we shared our news, but we´ve been having a bit of a traumatic time lately and have been a little distracted. Uruguay has been a bit of a challenge it must be said. Firstly, it was closed for the week-end - no boats across the river from Argentina - and so we waited in Monte Caseros until the Monday morning before making our way expectantly to the jetty for the launch across the river. Due to wind, inclement weather or possibly an extended mate break, the boat couldn´t immediately cross from the Uruguay side, but eventually did appear, bobbing along and looking very small. We were soon hauled inside the tiny wooden craft; us, the bikes, 28 sacks of flour, one or two passengers and the ship´s ... read more

We breezed into the province of Misiones in our little jam packed car, travelling up the western fringe of this outcrop of Argentina, with the River Parana forming the national boundary. From our lodgings in Paso de La Patria, we strolled beside the river, watching the sun set over Paraguay. That evening we ate our customary steak and chips dinner to the background of a news report on the 26th anniversary of the Falklands war. It was a national holiday - for those who weren´t already on strike - and possibly not the best day to be English in Argentina. This province has a rich heritage of Jesuit missions - hence its name - and we visited the impressive ruins at San Ignacio. A huge complex, where the indigenous Guarani people were housed, educated and encouraged ... read more