tree_huggar

So I have arrived home in one piece, I apollogize for the last blog I was just rampantly writing to get it all out. I flew out of Buenos Aires :( at 8:30pm. I was questioned until I was blue in the face about my connection when I got to Seattle. Turns out you have to have proof you are leaving the US once you arrive. They also thought that my passport was fake.... seriously? Thankfully I had my BC ID with me. Ridiculous. I went through customs and got to my boarding area, only to have my stuff checked through again. Some would call the Argentinians thorough I would call overly paranoid. I boarded the plane and met a guy from Denmark, he was reading a book about Rum so I mentioned the gem book ... read more

I have been in Buenos Aires for 5 days and I could stay a few more months even a year. This place is amazing, there is so much to do, every corner has some history and the architecture of the buildings and apartments are right out of a period piece. Carvings and black metal balaconies cover most of the apartment facades. It´s so beautiful. There is shopping out of the nose here, but it is a whole other level of shopping. There are antique shops, I bought some cool black and white movie photos for 10 pesos (1 of Audrey Hepburn and 1 of Dracula from the original movie. I also found a picture of the Mona Lisa that was from the Louvre it seemed someone bought it there and then brought it to BA, I ... read more

I have finally arrived in Buenos Aires, what a trip. It took me a week to get from Cusco, Peru to Buenos Aires. ·3 days of altitude sickness, a hostel reminiscent of the movie Hostal, a 16 hour train ride, a 5 hour wait for a bus and then a 30 hur bus ride all in the last 48 hours have really taken a toll...well until I got here. I left off in Oruro, Bolivia. It is a nice town, a lot of people everywhere, they seem to fill the streets. Oruro seems like it can be quite the party town when Carnval comes along, but otherwise it is a quiter touristy town nestled in a valley. I found the market and bought some fruit and marvelled and the vast quantities of knock or stolen brand ... read more

So... I didn´t get the 6 pm connector bus to La Paz from Puno, because we arrived in Puno at 645, that´s because the bus broke down within minutes of leaving the neighbouring city to Puno. Everyone was shuttled off the bus onto another one passing by, thankfully we didn´t have to wait. I was afraid for my bag, because I didn´t see it go onto the new bus (it all was ok in the end). So I stuck with the Norweigan couple I met on my bus, and we decided to get a hostel together in Puno. Whew, because I had no idea where to go. We arrive about 50 minutes later in Puno. As we collect our bags we meet 2 Dutch guys and they join our entourage. Now there are 5. We start ... read more

So I have been in Cusco for 2 days I will come back to Mannchu Picchu I only have like 5 mintues. But just now as I was waiting for my pickup to the bus station I went to the little market. I was looking for a touque to keep my head warm. So I walked into this shop as I was passing I saw a kitten so I stopped to say hello. When I was in the store who should come bounding into the store with more spunk then Sly Stelone in Rocky (what 6?) then the kitten. The owner then came running as well, she was cleaning somewhere else. Anyways, I tell her I am looking for a hat and start looking through her collection. Then I ask about the name of the cat. ... read more

So here I am in Lima 25 hours later after leaving Guayaquil. Guayaquil is not a place for backpackers. There are no "hostels" so to speak and the downtown caters mostly to rich business people. I found a "hostel" just outside the centro about 20 min by taxi in the suburbs. The thing about Guayaquil is that ALL the suburbs are gated communtiies. It is a rich city the richest one in Ecuador. Ecveryone drives SUV´s or some sort of luxury car. Strip malls line the street and the shops in the mall are astronomically expensive. I did go to a place called the Malecon briefly with Jen before she left to go back home, she cut it early ..homesickness. It´s all good though I have been having a hell of a time travelling by myself. ... read more

I´ve finally made it to the Galapagos, I dream that I have fulfilled. It is such a great feeling. Unfortunately, that great feeling was hampered this morning from last night´s festivities (at least only until I got off the plane and smelt the salt air and the warmth of the equatorial sun): So where does one begin? Well it may seem like I party a lot, which I do do quite a bit, but you must understand something about Ecuador and South America. No one, I repeat NO ONE goes out until at least 11pm, and even then the bars only have a few people. Usually, keener gringos like myself and the people I go out with. So if you start at 11, that means clubs officially end at 3am but really they keep going ... read more

Hello All!! Sorry it´s been awhile, the jungle is very unaccomodating when it comes to internet connections. We do however, have power and hot hot hot water. Which leads to my next comment that the best shower I have had so far has been in the jungle! How awesome is that? So the cool thing about the jungle is that when it rains it rains extraordinarily more and more intensly than it does anywhere else. Imagine a helicopter droppinh gallons of water on you at one time....the sound is like thunder literally, and the quantity could drown someone stuck in a 6 foot hole, if they were my height. You can prepare for the rains by looking for low flying grey to black clouds. Once you have spotted them you have roughly 5 minutes to get ... read more