http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/traveltheworld/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from traveltheworld en-us Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:43:25 +0000 Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:43:25 +0000 Weeks 1416In readiness for our trip to the Pantanal we were encouraged to pack day bags full of deet suncream and clothes to keep off the mozzies although none of us were prepared for the onslaught of mozzie bites and monsoonal rainfall that we encountered. Having driven as far as possible by truck we all transferred to the back of 4x4 jeeps to be taken by our host to Fazenda Boa Sorte a wor http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Lapa/blog-242420.html Rio CityRio is an amazing city with its great diversity from 37 white sand beaches lush green peaks skyscrapers and largest slums in the world. It is a city that buzzes day and night it's energy puslating rhought the city streets and with carnaval around the corner there was no let upOur hotel was based in Lapa with its colonial buildings bars and samba clubs. Lapa apparently had its best da http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Lapa/blog-247097.html Weeks 1314We set off to see the Igazu Falls from the Argentinian side and they are truly aweinspiring. The falls split Brazil and Argentina and are within 2100 sq km of national park. First viewed by Europeans in 1542 they are formed where a hard basaltic rock plateau ends with softer sedimentary terrain which was then eroded. The River Parana divides before reaching the falls with hidden rock http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Pantanal/blog-238691.html Weeks 12 13Buenos Aires is one of South Americas most sophisticated and appealing cities with 3 million inhabitants in its centre and a further 10 million in the suburbs. There are numerous elegant older buildings and the districts barrios range from the cobbled streets of San Telmo to the rough neighbourhood of La Boca with its colourfully painted metal houses to chic Recoleta and trendy Pale http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-236836.html Weeks 1112 Ushuaia boasts an incredible location between the Beagle Channel and jagged glacial peaks and is the southernmost city in the world as well as the gateway to Antarctica. Between 1884 and 1947 argentina incarcerated many of its notorious criminals and political prisoners here and on nearby islands but its prisons are now converted into museums. As soon as we arrived three of us Russe http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Ushuaia/blog-236819.html Weeks 910The route to El Chalten was spectacular and we were awed by the scenery as we drove down through Patagonia we saw our first glaciers Piedras Blancas and Rio Blanca and glacial lakes that were milky green due to the suspended sediments. We finally drove into El Chalten a small village at the northern entrance to the National Park Les Glaciares which incorporates the Fitzroy range arg http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Calafate/blog-233068.html Week 8Santiago is the political economic and financial capital of Chile set in a wide plain ringed by the Andes and is now the 6th largest city in S. America where nearly 40 of Chileans live. Our base for the next couple of days was La Casa Roja an international backpackers hostal set in a large rambling mansion around several courtyards and boasting a car swimming pool Sky TV etc. That night http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Araucania/Pucon/blog-227309.html Week 7 Leaving Potosi and heading south to Uyumi along a dirt road we were treated to aweinspiring scenery in canyonlike country with fascinating rock formations deep valleys adobe mud walls villages and what appeared as dry lakes and river beds with various coloured minerals and salt deposits. At one point we drove through Pulacayo a town at the site of a 19th century silver mine where w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Salta/Cafayate/blog-227297.html Week 6La Paz is the highest capital city of the world at 3600m lying at the bottom of a steep canyon and ringed by snow peaked mountains. Our Hotel Continental was in the heart of the city along a road lined with bowlerhatted women selling a variety of clothes and food stuffs. In trying to get our bearings the first day we managed to get lost in the maze of bustling street markets. That night we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Yungas-Road/blog-226822.html Week 5 Our first day in Cusco was spent buying necessary supplies and getting organised for our four day trek with Pachamama travel. Our weight allowance was 7kg plus our own daypack which was sufficient for all essentials including rainwear and warm clothes. We set off for the Inca trail at 6.00am which was late compared to some of the early morning wake up calls weve had. Our first stop by bus http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-225196.html Week 4An early start from Mancora as we set off southwards to Lima a long 10 hour drive through scrub and desert landscape with corrugated type hills that reminded me somewhat of the terrain around the Great Wall of China. Brief toilet stops punctured our long journey and we rolled into Huanchaco at arund 6.00pm a surprisingly well appointed hostel in what at first seemed to be a nondescript c http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/blog-219721.html Week 3 There were also plenty of bird species in the jungle anhinga black vultures parakeets pacific parrotlet and cobaltwinged scarlet macaws three foot bright red with yellow patches on upper wings and toucans white throated black billed mountain toucan butterflies memelaus morpho male is bright blue spiders... In fact our host brought in a tarantula one evening they appare http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-218368.html Weeks 12 Ecuador lies on the equator tucked inbetween Peru and Colombia. With 13 million population and 168000 sq miles Ecuador has four provinces Galapagos Coast Andes and Amazon. According to a local guidebook Ecuador is one of the 17 most biodiverse countries in the world with 16000 plant species and over 1630 bird species and over 600 species of marine fish. There are also 12 peaks http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Quito/blog-215060.html http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-212965.html