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mrgazwilson - Gary Wilson

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Where Wilson has been!

Hello! Thanks for looking at my blog. I'm on a little jaunt round South America Dec 07 to April 08 and this is a record of how it's going that I hope will be interesting for you to read. I like messages from home so feel free to leave some here or send emails to mrwilson24_7@hotmail.com. This address can also be used to find me on Facebook and wall postings, photos, friend invites (if I know you!) etc are always welcome.

About my little jaunt:

I'll be spending the first 3 weeks in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, at the cleverly-named Stone of a Beach hostel, which should be a fun place to stay, if it's description is true. I'll see in the new year there and then head on down the road to Sau Paulo. After a week there I'll fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina and, after another week, I'll fly up down to Ushuaia on the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego. The plans get sketchy after that...I'm going to head up by sea/land to Patagonia, cross over to Chile, up through Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Columbia...hopefully! That's the plan and the entries on here will tell if this is how things work out. I believe you can subscribe to this blog and find out when I have made a new entry. May I suggest this could be a convenient way for you to stay up to date?

Over.

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Joined on: December 4th 2007
Last Login: May 8th 2008

Blog Entries: 22
Photos: 0
Recommended by 1

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by mrgazwilson, order by Date newest first.

By mrgazwilson
April 9th 2008

Caribbean coast, Colombia

South America » Colombia » Cartagena

The last week or so of my time in South America was spent on the Caribbean coast of Colombia in Santa Marta, Taganga and Cartagena. I have included all three in a single blog as I got lazy towards the end of the trip and I didn't do too much on any one day. It could have been a result of the warm and humid climate that makes you constantly sweat; or simply the fact that I had travelled the entire length of the continent in under three months. This last fact would not impress the travel snobs who believe you [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
March 29th 2008

Villa de Leyva, Colombia

South America » Colombia » Villa de Leyva

This was originally going to be a blog about Bogota, the Colombian capital; however I only slept there for two nights and I spent no time there during the day. My time was spent in Villa de Leyva instead; and hence it is the subject of this blog. The reason for my change of destination was that some of the people I met in Salento were heading to Villa de Leyva and so I thought I would do the same. Villa de Leyva is in the Colombian Highlands and it is about four hours north by bus from Bogota. It is [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
March 26th 2008

Salento, Colombia

South America » Colombia » Salento

Quito to Salento was a long journey that involved an overnight stay in Cali. I had to change flights in Bogota and the connection was delayed. On arrival at my hostel in Cali I found out that it was somebody's house and that the owner was decorating so I couldn't stay there. Instead, the owner called a friend of and I stayed at her house. The next day I got a bus to Armenia, which was also delayed, and from there I caught another bus to Salento. Salento sits at an altitude of around 2800 metres in the Zona Cafetera (Coffee [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
March 22nd 2008

Quito, Ecuador

South America » Ecuador » Quito » Quito

Arriving in Quito was a relief despite the fact that it took some 15 hours to get there. At one point in the morning, when Cusco airport had been shut for several hours and my flight looked no closer to taking off, I thought I was certain to miss my connection in Lima. Luckily the flight out of Lima was delayed as a knock-on effect of the Cusco delays and I was delighted when the girl at the airport told me it was delayed until 3.30 pm. I didn't have much time to celebrate my arrival that night because I had [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
March 21st 2008

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

South America » Ecuador » Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands were near the top of my list of places to go as I wanted to see the place that inspired Charles Darwin, so I didn't mind forking out some 1100 US dollars for my flight and four-day cruise there. That price, incidently, did not include the fee to enter the National Park (the entire archipielago). Whether or not it represents value for money depends on how you look at it. If I say that it is somewhere I really wanted to see then I guess it is worth the money; however there is no way you could say [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
March 10th 2008

Cusco, Peru

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco

My journey from La Paz to Cusco took two days because I made a stop overnight in the town of Puno on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca. The journey from La Paz to Puno was fairly short at around six hours, which included quite a while at the border. We had to walk over the river that represents the border on foot, which gave it a sense of occasion. On the Peru side there was a long row of tables with parasols and under each sat a local woman in traditional dress offering a change of currency. After the formalities [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
March 10th 2008

Trek to Machu Picchu, Peru

South America » Peru » Cusco » Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is one of the best-known tourist attractions in South America and it probably doesn't need much of an introduction. There are many ways to get there and I am describing the route that I took. I was recommended a tour company called Conde Travel by a couple of Swiss folk I met in La Paz and I am glad I took their advice. The tour I went on was not part of the official Inca Trail as access to that route is limited and permits have to be obtained well in advance; however I the tour I took was [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
February 29th 2008

La Paz, Bolivia

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz

La Paz sits at an altitude of over 3500 metres; making it the world´s highest capital and my stay here has extended my time at this altitude. I think my body is now well and truly used to this altitude. I can't say it is well and truly used to Bolivian food though as I have just had to get some antibiotics and diahorrea tablets for a stomach that has been dodgy all week. Hygiene is no better in the capital than it was in the south, which was underlined by a local woman we saw squatting on the pavement on [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
February 26th 2008

Tour of southern Bolivia

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Salar de Uyuni

This blog differs slightly from my usual offerings as I am describing an area rather than a single town. I took a three-day tour from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, to Uyuni, Bolivia and this blog describes the tour. A group of six of us and our driver set off in a 4x4 from SPDA at around eight in the morning and passed surprisingly quickly through Chilean customs - I guess they don't worry so much about fruit and vegetables leaving the country. After a journey of about an our we reached the Bolivian border, which sits at an altitude of [View Full Entry]

By mrgazwilson
February 22nd 2008

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

South America » Chile » San Pedro de Atacama

The trip from Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama was the longest bus journey I have taken in my life and lasted 23 hours. I expected it to be tough and I tried to buy one of the Executive seats that can recline fully, but I got on the bus and found out I had an ordinary seat. I had bought a bottle of Chilean red to open 'in case of emergency', but luckily the journey turned out to be a lot less painful than I expected and so the bottle didn't get opened until my second night in SPDA. SPDA [View Full Entry]