Hello everyone! Well, we can officially say, WE LOVE BRAZIL!! Let us just set the scene for a moment . . . The landscape is green, lush and basically a rainforest, the beaches are strips of white sand with warm, inviting water and the whole atmosphere just kind of tells you, ¨grab a drink and kick back for a while¨. The drink of choice, of course being 'caiprihinias'...what else....We obliged. Our first taste was the really cute town, Paraty. It is an old colonial town on the beach surrounded by lots of little islands. The whole atmosphere is charming and many hours were spent wandering around and having the occasional ice-cream. It was a beautiful antidote to our 24 hour bus ride. Oh, we didn´t mention the 24 hour bus ride??? How negligent! Brazil is a ... read more

Okey dokey... now were into interesting times.... We were pleasantly surprised by the buses in South America. Talk about luxury....picture first class in an aeroplane. we had a double decker bus, with fully reclining individual seats, so it really felt like you were floating. However we then had to get onto a truck to head to the ranch.... talk about a juxtaposition! But on to the ranch we went...yaaahhhooooo! A bit of info about the ranch.. it only has 3 hourts of generatedpower (from 6pm til 9pm), so candle light was the go. It was a fully functioning cattle and sheep farm, run by gauchos. Juan Miguel and Susannah, the owners of the property, were fantastic hosts. Not only did we eat fabulous (again) traditional food, but they allowed us to spend time in their house ... read more

Ola, As you all probably know, Argentinians are mad keen soccer fans! Or as some may say, fanatics... So, a soccer/futbol game was on our list of priorities for our stay in Buenos Aires. Boca Juniors and River Plate are the two top teams here...and alas neither had a game this weekend...however considering the support and fan base, we probably wouldnt have been able to snaffle tickets anyway. We were however lucky enough to join a tour group going to the 'Racing v's Belgrano Cba' game. 'Racing' are in the top 5 fav teams of BA, however they are currently bottom of the first division table, and under threat of relegation to Belgrano Cba, a 2nd division team... so boy, oh boy were we in for some excitement. We werent being picked up until 1pm, so ... read more

Well, we left off at the end of the Inka Trail (and our crazy train ride), but this wasn´t the end of the day . . . After a ride back to Cuzco in our minivan (with beer in hand and eighties music playing), we saw that Cuzco was ready to play. The streets were filled with families, people in traditional dress, people in costume and all sorts of bits and bobs. No matter how tired we were, this was not a time to go to bed . . . (ahhh, an actual bed, our own shower . . .) So, after a short breather, we all re-grouped and headed out for a celebratory meal. The meal itself was really lovely, and it started with the traditional pisco sour. This is really yummy, and really alcoholic! ... read more

Preamble.... So, a lot of people had warned us about this amazing, yet difficult experience. To be honest, the night before we set off, there were butterflies in our stomachs and a slightly raised anxiety level amongst the group... However we pùshed through and at another early hour of the morning, we put on our packs, gathered up our walking sticks, put a smile on our face and off we went. 47 kmts ahead of us.... Day 1: The trail begins at the 82 km mark. It is by the river, and the scenery is spectacular. There was a bounce in our step. Gliding through the first check point, Thinking we were on top of it all... the first casualty hit... Sams loss of sunnies...hmm... makes for a good start. Amys fear of heights was challenged ... read more