Blogs from Lima, Peru, South America - page 178

Hello All First day in the capital of Peru today, after a hell of a long journey to get out here. Was flying for 14 hours in total, Heathrow to Amsterdam to Bonaire ( small Caribbean Island ), and then on to Lima. Was freezing in Amsterdam, so when I got off the plane at Bonaire was taken back a bit by the immediate heat, it was baking! The airport there was small, and Pink in colour, called Flamingo Airport. The whole Island was surrounded by a small Indigo barrier reef, great to see from the air. the flight to Lima from Bonaire was 3.5 hours, and the flight was cool, seeing lots of rainforest near Colombia from the sky, and then an absolutely awesome sunset as we landed in Lima. The airport is very modern, ... read more

After arriving in Peru and doing some sight seeing in Lima and down the West Coast Mel and I travelled to the Amazan jungle where the problems began. On a boat travelling down the Maldonado River I suddenly had my first ever epileptic seizure and was out for 15 mins in total. As you can imagine we were very concerned and when we returned to civilisation I had a brain scan and was told to return home to have brain surgery but not to worry! Yeah right! Anyway we can joke about it now because when I returned home I saw 2 doctors who both confirmed that there was nothing wrong with my brain (no snide comments please) and that Mel and I could resume our travels. We then spent the next couple of weeks with ... read more

After so many alterations of plan, we finally made a decision to travel on New Year's Day! 48 hours of traveling by land, with a measly amount of money... I'm proud to say, I MADE IT!!! A year back, I couldn't imagine myself traveling alone by bus even in my own country. Such gutsiness caused a bit of hysteria from my family members, and respect from friends... To note, this is also my first time to travel with a Colombian which laxity almost drove me nuts. A couple of days before the travel, neither one of us had concrete step-by-step plan. When asked, Julieta would simply say 'Relax, everything will just be fine!´ I was doubtful and were crossing my fingers...but then again, she was right, everything turned out right!!! ... read more

If there was a place, in South America, that I wouldn´t class as Beautiful or interesting, it would be Tumbes! - me Yesterday morning I was in Cuenca in Southern Ecuador. Cuenca was a pleasant place, and I stayed a couple of days, I met a very nice couple from California and went for dinner and drinks with them (for some reason most of the people travelling in this part of South America are couples in their thirties). I made up my mind that I had to leave early in the morning to keep my options open when arriving in the next town, Machala. I couldn't find much information about this city on most of the usually travelling sites and thus I assumed that there wasn't much in the way of tourism there. Being quite ... read more

Hola Amigos! Getting to South America proved way more difficult than expected. My only real prep before leaving work was to get a travel book, which I hadn't read and buy an iPod (essential). The first obstacle to overcome was quitting my job. Much harder than I thought, 6 years is a long time and the offers to stay where tempting. The second obstacle was booking the Round The World Ticket, the plan was simple leave work then on Monday morning book the ticket. A week went by still no ticket, my time was mostly spent in bed or lounging around watching daytime TV, can´t beat a bit of mid morning Property Ladder. Many friends (and relatives) where questioning if I was actually intending on going?!? I didn't have a good answer. With new found enthusiasm ... read more