I've been on the bounce, dear reader, since last sharing travel adventures with you and the journal continues from Cali in Colombia. After a relaxing stay in a quality hostel it was time to move on, and north is the plan. I booked on a bus to Bogota and for the first time on this trip I was the only foreign traveller on board. The journey was through mountainous terrain along winding roads, and the bus arrived in Bogota in the early evening. Bogota is the capital of Colombia with a population of seven million inhabitants at an altitude of 2600 metres. It's interesting to note three capital cities in South America are at high altitude and surrounded by mountains. La Paz is at 3600 metres, Quito is at 2800 metres and thirdly of couse is ... read more

My last night in Lima coincided with the final world cup qualifier for Germany 2006, played in Sydney between Australia and Uruguay. I watched the first game in Huacachina with a Uruguayan girl I met on an earlier tour, it was great fun and a predictable result. Of course I was extremely gracious to her in defeat. The return game started at 4:00am local time, and by coincidence there were up to ten Australians at the hostel in Lima. The place was absolutely jumping around 7:00am when Australia slotted home the winning penalty, as we started hopping about like mad kangaroos to celebrate a terrific achievement for Australian football. Congratulations to the mighty Socceroos and all the best for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Apologies for the free plug regarding our football team, but the ... read more

The journal left off in Rurrenabaque Bolivia, where I booked a flight on a twelve seater plane back to La Paz at the end of the jungle tour. The flight only took an hour but we struggled badly through lack of air. It was alright for some however, as I looked forward to the pilots and they had oxygen masks on. At least the guys in command weren't passing out! I was feeling pretty knocked around in flying back to altitude again and my back seized up, but help arrived in the form of a traveller on the plane who practices shiatsu massage and the adventures continue. I subsequently caught a bus to Copacabana, dear reader, which is on Lake Titicaca and I stayed overnight. I met up again with my Irish mate, and also met ... read more

I've been on the bounce, dear reader, since the last time I shared travel adventures and the journal now continues... Towards the end of my stay in Rosario I met an English lad in our dorm room and we became travelling companions for several days. He is also heading north so we organized an overnight bus to Salta in the far north of Argentina. We booked into a recommended hostel, and it was soon time to let our hair down at the local pubs and clubs for the weekend. We had a very enjoyable time and the nightlife was heaving in this beautiful northern Argentinian city. Salta is terrific, and proved to be quite the surprise packet with the amount of energy and nightlife on offer. I farewelled my English friend, as it was soon time ... read more

The last country on the itinerary during this wonderful trip to Southern Africa is Zimbabwe; formerly known as the bread basket of the region but now a country devastated by a collapse of the farming sector, chronic shortages of food and fuel, hyperinflation and massive levels of unemployment. Tourism levels have also plummeted in recent years due to instability and violence, but as a humble blogger I will leave further political comment to the politicians, and simply share as always my travel experiences. The previous journal left off in Livingstone, constant reader, on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. I farewelled most of the safari group, and went to the Zim border where I had to fork out a hefty 50 smackaroos in order to secure a visa for the country. Oh well, I lined up ... read more