Summing up our South American trip of a lifetime

6 and a half months on the continent....

How time flies - only seven months ago we were celebrating Christmas with family and friends in the UK, and now the time has come for us to return home - albeit only for a short while.

So what can we say to summarise our South American adventure. It's not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination - we've had such a huge variety of experiences but always within the warm embrace of everything that is Latin America. For starters, one can´t fail to notice the thousands of stray dogs or that cheese and ham sandwiches are not only common but the staple diet of most of the locals in Argentina and Chile. The fact that the buses are the fastest vehicles on the road takes some getting used to and if you ever need your shoes cleaned then rest assured there will be a shoe-shine boy on hand to help you out. Bolivia and Peru have some of the friendliest people in the world even if they sell chocolate bars that have invariably melted and then been resolidified ready for sale.
And then there is the ever-present, majestic and towering Andes - they literally stretch the full length of the continent. Snow-capped peaks have been a daily fixture here. It really is a great continent.

Living here for so long has given us ample opportunity to advance our Spanish from "Beginner" to a very optimistic "Intermediate", we have devoured books (Spanish fairy tales and English novels) and of course kept ourselves busy by writing this blog. Altogether, our time spent in buses is a mathematical challenge that is not worth starting and the number of meals out we have had is equally gauling. It has been a fantastic experience all round, and though we now look forward to returning home, we have truly had the time of our lives.

But before we go, we (read Phil here) thought it only fitting to answer three simple questions about our trip. We supply the responses in list format as can be seen below. Of course, we realise that this will appeal to only the most mathematically minded (?) / list fanatic of you out there - whilst others will have no interest whatsoever! Your call.

What are our top 10 favourite places in South America (incl. the frozen continent)?

• 1=. Antarctica Antarctica (Multiple blog entries)
  
  
• 1=. The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Galapagos - the trip of a lifetime (Multiple blog entries)
  
  
• 3. Rio Carnaval - the biggest party in the world Rio
  
  
• 4. Bolivia (a bit general but we loved this country - the people, the scenery, the food...) Tupiza Triathlon - Bolivia (Multiple blog entries)
  
  
• 5=. The Amazon Jungle and Pampa´s (from Rurrenabaque in Bolivia) Amazon
  
  
• 5=. Torres del Paine, Chile Torres del Paine
  
  
• 7. Chepu, Chiloe, Chile - a little known fabulous place Chepu
  
  
• 8. Cusco, Peru including the Inca trail and Inti Raymi festival Nailed (Multiple blog entries)
  
  
• 9. North Argentina Cachi (Multiple blog entries)
  
  
• 10. Buenos Aires Buenos Aires - the highs and lows (Multiple blog entries)
  

What were our top 20 additional experiences and memories?

A rather loosely worded heading where we have tried to capture the most memorable days or moments from our trip. You will see that wildlife features highly - definitely our first choice in terms of travel.

• 1=. Lazing with the penguins in Antarctica. In particular our first encounter with the feathery fellows - where they came right up to us and were pecking our legs.
  
  
• 1=. Swimming with sealions - Galapagos. In equal first place this was truly brilliant. They would come up to within centimetres of us, have a good look then twist and turn away.
  
  
• 3. The Antarctic ice fields. Whales within 10m of us, seals basking on the ice and sheer wilderness as far as the eye could see.
  
  
• 4. Swimming with dolphins - pink and bottlenose. Add to that seeing 300 common dolphins.
  
  
• 5. The Sanbadrome! Biggest party in the world.
  
  
• 6. Manta Ray. 1m above our heads.
  
  
• 7. The Glacier at the end of Torres del Paine. The most impressive view of our entire trip.
  
  
• 8. South American Markets! San Telmo, La Paz, and Copacabana to name but a few.
  
  
• 9. Kayaking in Chepu, Chiloe. Thanks Fernando and Amory!
  
  
• 10. Trip to Cachi, North Argentina. In particular the "Parque National de los Cordones"
  
  
• 11. Rio Carnival blockos. You just follow the big truck bashing out the tunes.
  
  
• 12. Blue footed booby spotting. Again, the tameness of the Galapagos Islands is unreal. Add in some land iguanas, frigit birds and hatching turtles and this was an awesome day.
  
  
• 13. Swimming in the Antarctic! Freezing.
  
  
• 14. Caiparinhas in Florionopolis. They were good and there were many and the company was even better!
  
  
• 15. Caimans in the jungle At night, in a boat, we were up to within centimetres of these big guys.
  
  
• 16. Rafting from Argentina to Chile (near Bariloche).
  
  
• 17. People of Peru Whether we were just lucky, we don´t know but the people of Peru were invariably great to us.
  
  
• 18. Tupiza Triathlon. More of a biatholon but still amazing scenery and some downhill madness thrown in.
  
  
• 19. Diving with Hammerheads. They are pretty damn big.
  
  
• 20. Arriving at Machu Picchu. 4 days after starting, we arrived damn knackered to see one of the world´s most famous cultural sights.
  

Some other close contenders were "Marius Crusteaus" - our best (but most expensive) restaurant with out of this world seafood, Corcovado, cramped buses through the Sacred Valley, the standard of buses in general, tracking wild pigs in the jungle, joaquina beach (Florionopolis), nights out in Sucre, Equadorian music show, 500 year old preserved Inca child sacrifice in Salta.....the list goes on and on.

What were our top 10 dislikes?!?

Finally, as a reminder that life is not always as plain sailing as we might have chosen it - here is our top 10 nuiances of South America!

• The 24 hour bus journey from La Paz to Lima. This was without doubt the hottest, smelliest, loudest and generally most uncomfortable trip of our South American adventure.
  
  
• The lack of any vegetables in Argentina. Plenty of steaks but literally no vegetables. Also, the steak sauces were not good.
  
  
• Altitude fatigue. We didn´t suffer too seriously but being out of breath can be wearing after a while.
  
  
• Untimely illnesses. Our 10 day stomach bug was not pleasant but far worse was the bout Chloe had just before and during the Inca Trail.
  
  
• Parilla in Colonia. Our worst meal arguably ever. The 'meat' we were served up was indescribable - picture innards on a plate and you get the idea.
  
  
• Israeli group travellers. Without wanting to offend the people of Israel, the groups of Isralies in South America were invariably rude and arrogant.
  
  
• Nasca town. Another worst - this was the nastiest town we passed through.
  
  
• Bad pillows. Next time we are taking our own.
  
  
• Hostel breakfasts in Argentina and Bolivia. Picture here, stale rolls with butter and jam if lucky, and coffee without any milk.
  
  
• Car drivers and their constant use of the horn. Its a latin american thing that we most certainly did not grow to love!
  

A fond farewell

And that´s it from us - we really hope you have enjoyed reading our blog. Tune in to our African edition in October!

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