Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in deep south-western Uganda is home to about half the world's current population of 700 critically endangered Mountain Gorillas (of Gorillas in the Mist fame). The national park is bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda (not the most stable area in Africa), so it was with some trepidation that we made our way from London to Kampala for the highlight of our four day "express" visit to Uganda. Arriving at the village of Buhoma after a ten hour drive from Kampala we were pleasantly surprised to find that our "tent" was actually a [View Full Entry]

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Once called the "Pearl of Africa" by Winston Churchill, Uganda is a country of great contrast. Even though we only spent four days there, during our extremely quick visit we covered a lot of ground and got to see a number of different parts of the country due to the 12+ hour drives we had to and from Bwindi. Unfortunately our visit was not without a certain amount of stress and frustration (something I think we're going to have to get used to in Africa) - in transit from London at about 30,000ft I was reading the Lonely Planet section on [View Full Entry]

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Ok - our last stop was supposed to be three relaxing days in Costa Rica....or at least that was the intention. As it turned out, we had a couple of nice days at the beach, but the hassle of getting to and from Tamarindo made it less enjoyable than it could have been. The highlight was watching a sea turtle lay about 60 or so eggs on the beach...very cool. Anyway, we are now in London and are about to run out the door to catch our flight to Uganda. As usual we are running very close to the line, so [View Full Entry]

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Arriving at Machu Picchu, "The Lost City of the Incas", was not only the fulfillment of the 45 kilometre Inca Trail (see previous blog) but also the opportunity to live out a dream that I have had since I was a teenager and first became interested in the South American civilizations of the Inca, Maya and Aztecs. Machu Picchu was 'rediscovered' by the American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1915 after a local boy led him through the jungle (via the Inca Trail) to the site that had been hidden from the outside (at least Western) world for several centuries. Numerous theories [View Full Entry]

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How can I describe the three day, forty-five kilometre high altitude trek that took us from the 82 kilometre marker near the village of Ollantaytambo to the ancient and mysterious city of Machu Picchu......bloody hard!! Seriously, hiking the Inca Trail was definitely one of the hardest things I have done physically and mentally, but being the ancient history buff that I am, walking the roads that the Inca used to accelerate the distribution of information, food and valuables across their empire, seeing the ruins scattered along the trail and finishing up at one of the foremost archealogical [View Full Entry]

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Leaving the highlands of Peru, we flew out of Cusco to the small town of Puerto Maldonado to our last stop in Peru - the Amazon Jungle and Basin. From Puerto Maldonado we took a mini-van for about an hour and a half across a rough dirt road through the verges of the jungle to get to the dock at which we boarded our motorized river canoe to make the roughly two hour trip upriver to our eco-lodge bordering the well regarded Tambopata Reserve. The Tambopata river is one of the major tributaries that flows into the Amazon, so while it [View Full Entry]

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Cusco, once imperial seat of the mighty Incan empire, is now home to a population of 300,000 and is the bustling, jumping off point for tourists heading to the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu and other Incan ruins in the region. At an altitude of 3,500 metres it was ironically found to have the highest levels of ultraviolet light on earth by a study in 2006 - interesting given the Incas fascination with the sun. Rising to prominence in the 11th Century, Cusco became the capital of the burgeoning Incan empire and with its fertile valleys, abundant glacial water supply and central [View Full Entry]

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After another long bus trip (which I guess we better get used to) we arrived in Puno, a relatively small town best known for its preservation of Aymara and Quechua traditions and as a jumping off point for the islands of Lake Titicaca. Along the way, we passed a high altitude lake that was absolutely teeming with pink flamingos - this was quite a remarkable sight given that during our entire trip in the Galapagos we had only seen one lone flamingo. Legend has it that Puno was also the place where Manoc Capac and his sister / consort Mama Ocllo [View Full Entry]

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Nestled in a valley, encircled by snow covered Volcanoes, Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and at a height of 2,300 metres (7,500 feet) it can quite literally take your breath away when you first arrive. An interesting combination of modern city, geared for tourism, and colonial charm, Arequipa is my favourite amongst Peru's cities so far. During our brief, but enjoyable stay, we visited the majority of Arequipa's attractions - the Plaza de Armas (a mainstay in Spanish colonial towns); Convent of Santa Catalina, the Cathedral and the highlight - the very well done Museo Santua [View Full Entry]

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Departing Arequipa we set off for the Colca Valley, site of the world's second deepest canyon which at 3,182 metres (10,607ft) is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, and home to the majestic Andean Condor. Passing through the arid landscape, we reached the highest point of our trip at almost 5,000 metres above sea level. Being at that altitude rewarded us with amazing views of the surroundings including the incredibly imposing Misti Volcano - the presence that volcano has on the region is truly remarkable. After arriving at our eco-lodge, the Mamayacchi hotel (named after a local girl w [View Full Entry]

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