Well, I made it to Tahitit albeit 12 hours late but was promptly picked up by the Hostel owner along with a nice British couple (Deb and Tom) and taken to Fare Suisse. Now this accomodation was one of the cheapest I could find in Tahiti and it was fantastic (but still $70 a night) - Beni (the owner) actually gave me a private room for the first two nights and it was so clean and lovely. The temp in Tahiti was hot and muggy so a change from Sth America. After settling in I headed out to see a bit of Papeete - not knowing the exchange rate or time difference with Aus i headed into town. After purchasing a can of sprite I eventually found an internet cafe and called home (21 hours behind ... read more

Hey - I made it to BA all on my own - lol. So glad I made the extra trip across to Argentina as Buenos Aires is a great place.......I have spent two days walking everywhere and even my new Havaianas (Thongs to those who dont know!) have given me blisters.......Anyway, yesterday I went to La Boca a surrounding suburb (I suppose you´d call it) - it has very colourful houses and lots of restaurants where you can give Tango a go (no I didnt - those of you whom remember my dancing days on any nightclub floor will know why - lol). After that I went shopping........Last night I went to Cafe Tortino´s to see a real Tango show - it was interesting enough. Today I call the train out to the Zoo - couldnt ... read more

Hi All, Well I have made it tothe end of the tour and am now in Lima. Let me fill you in on whereI have been the last few days. After leaving Nazca we headed up north to Ica, here we spent the day (very hot day it was too) driving over someof the biggest sand dunes in the world - bloody hot sand - I burnt the bottoms of my toes :( The dune buggies were great and we also got a chance to slide down themon snow-type boards, i did the first two then that was my limít - and not because iwas scared but b/c the sand burnt my stomach - ouch!!!! We then spent the rest of the day at a hotel with the use of their pool - soooooo relaxing (via ... read more

Hi again, Well we left Arequipa after spending a lovely day there, lots to see, firstly Juanita wasnt there but there was another mummy there in her place - she´s off for safe keeping in Jan, but the museum was very interesting anyway (sorry werent allowed photos in the museum). I visited Catalina Convent - no way I am becoming a nun the beds were all about 4 foot long.........The next day, yet another early morning we set off for Puerto Inka, now this place wasnt in the Lonely Planet guide and when you see the photos you will know why, I think its used by just the tour companies and the locals, it wsa a real pity we didnt get to stay and extra day here it would have been just soooooooo relaxing, but no ... read more

Hi all, Just got back from two days in the Amazon..........little disappointed that I didnt see more animals but it was an adventure. We flew to P.Maldonado and then took a boat 3hours down the river to the lodge we were to stay at. The first night there was NYE and it was a struggle to stay awake till 12am but a small group of us did...........Wow - NYE in the Amazon (probably wont do that again........) Next morning we went on a 10km round trip to a lake and took another boat ride, this time it was a canoe. Total number of animals seen..............hmmmm.................a turtle, a caimen (type of alligator), many birds (macaw, ducks and amazon turkey and no it wasnt on my dinner plate...... etc), some fish and two monkeys. Again, see the photos. ... read more