We arrived in Rio to gorgeous sunshine that we were quickly on the beach sipping caiparinhias enjoying the Brazilian way of life!! All around us were bronzed, muscular men parading themselves in speedos...you think it would be heaven but it has to be said most of them were past it and should really have been wearing a little more!! The sea was cold but nice to cool off in and Steve and Fergus enjoyed a good bit of body surfing on the waves; well Steve did Fergus just ended up being thrown about by the waves and then once back on [View Full Entry]

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Iguazu Falls is an amazing place in the world; we would both put it on the list of our highlights so far, it is truly beautiful. The falls lie on the border of Argentina and Brazil so we spent 2 nights on the Argentinian side and then 1 on the Brazilian side. It has to be said that the Argentinian side is probably the best but they both have very different view points. On the Argentinian side we started by walking on the lower walkway, looking at the falls from above. As soon as they came into sight we kept stopping [View Full Entry]

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Arriving in Buenos Aires we realised early on that it was going to be very, very hot. Being back in Argentina we were trying to adjust ourselves to the crazy tactics of eating at about 11 at night and then partying till at least 5 in the morning - not a problem some of you will be saying, but if theres 1 thing we have realised its that we are not as young as we used to be! The first night we waited till about 9 before venturing out and eventually sat down to eat at 11. This was after scouring [View Full Entry]

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After 4 days on the Navimag Ferry sailing through Patagonia we arrived in Puerta Natales and were ready to face the national park of Torres Del Paines. The Navimag had givenme and Fergus many, many hours to decide what route to try and take through the park to maximise our trekking, but minimise the potential ear ache from Pauline and Helen (sorry girls!). Anyway we decided to try and take on most of the famed W walk and then add on a bit extra on the end. After purchasing all our food and supplies for the next 5 days we went [View Full Entry]

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After New Year in Valparaiso we made our way to the Chilean lake district, further south. We stayed in the town of Villarrica at a hostel run by a very abrupt German lady and her husband. After exploring the town and nearby lake we decided that we would hire bikes to go on a ride in the nearby countryside. After looking at the routes suggested by the hostel owners we picked one that was 39km long but not only that it had ´hilly´in the description. I was a little unsure it would be suited to me but Steve said that he [View Full Entry]

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On the 30th we arrived in Valparaiso on the coast of Chile. We had booked ourselves into a plush hotel for the New Year celebrations and were much looking forward to a cold shower after travelling on a sweaty night bus. When we arrived at the hotel it has to be said we were not looking our best, that the lady in reception gave us a rather funny look as if to say we were in the wrong establishment! However as soon as I plonked my credit card down she seemed happier to invite us in!! Our room was fantastic, it [View Full Entry]

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After a lovely christmas we headed to Puente del Inca for a couple of days to try and do a bit of walking. Puente del Inca is a tiny little village that is about 4 hours away from Mendoza, very close to the border with Chile. When we arrived the wind was whistling around the bus and we only had shorts and T-shirts on as it had been so hot in Mendoza. We quickly grabbed our bags and headed for the nearest hotel but unfortunately it was full. So the next stop was a refuge/hostel that used to be the old [View Full Entry]

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We checked into a lovely hotel for Christmas in Mendoza city. We had air conditioning, a TV and our own bathroom with hot water- fantastic!! It was very hot but despite the heat we hit the shops to continue our christmas shopping for each other! Later that day we had a well deserved dip in the jacuzzi on the roof terrace of the hotel, oh yes!! Christmas Eve meant more shopping but this time for myself, I had been dying to get a skirt for about the last 2 weeks, having got fed up with wearing the same trousers and shorts [View Full Entry]

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After a great few days in San Pedro we caught a bus to Antofagasta (on the coast of Chile) so that we could then pick up a flight to Santiago. On the first night in Antofagasta we went out for dinner, finding an eat as much as you like chinese and as they were playing Oasis at full volume, Steve was in his element! We went back to the hotel and dropped of to sleep, however at 5 o´clock in the morning we both awoke as we were being shook about in our beds........it was an earthquake. Now never being in [View Full Entry]

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Hello there! Well......after we finished the salt flat tour we crossed the border back into Chile, we are now in the middle of the desert in a small town called San Pedro. We had read about a couple of good hostels that were a little out of town and decided to walk round to one of them on our arrival. However.....when we eventually found the place it turned out no one was in to sort us out a room and would not be for another 3 hours. The lady who answered the door kindly said that we could wait but after [View Full Entry]

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