http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America en-us Mon, 09 Nov 09 13:58:00 +0000 Mon, 09 Nov 09 13:58:00 +0000 hola from san carlos de bariloche2 days ago we flew out of buenos aires. silly me didnt realize there are 2 airports in b.a. and we went to the wrong airport. it costs us 80 in taxi fares to cross the city twice. luckily it was no charge to switch to a later flight.yesterday was pretty much a travel day. we got to bariloche around 3 p.m. and spent the evening unpacking at our very nice time sh http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-451820.html The main form of transport in south america is the road.. So the long distance buses are actually quite something the bus to Sao Paulo was better than most national express coaches and the one onward was like business class minus the champagne of course The first part of the trip meant following the coast for a couple of hours all the while eying up the near cliff like sides of the coast mo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Paran-/Foz-do-Igua-u/blog-451814.html When you are a female on your own in Lima you feel scared even when you are a hardcore solo female traveller people are looking at you all the time and that makes you feel unsafe but don't worry...they probably do just because you look different and you are on your own I had no problems and not one single male harassed me However you can see how anxious I was from the quality of the pictures http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/blog-451733.html I was not supposed to go to Bolivia at all I was supposed to travel from Peru' to Brazil BUT I did a very silly mistake I didnrsquot check whether I needed any vaccination coming from Peru' and guess what I needed a yellow fever vaccine which I didn't have When I checkedin in Lima they asked me whether my injections were up to date and when they explained to me that Brazil would DENY me en http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-451718.html So on Friday I went to this open market they have here called Feira de Sao Jaoquim. It's big with a section for fruits weavings meat Candomble stuff and random stuff. It stinks there. People men like to pee on the outsides of the portapotties.. Gross. They have this fair every day in the morning until afternoon. It's in the lower city. It has a pretty bad stigma since it's supposed to b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Bahia/Salvador/blog-451511.html Im still alive. Im in Rio. Having a great time. This city is incredible. I will make it short today and update with pics and more details soon. The bus car and motorcycle drivers are freggin nuts. I really cant describe it. If you drove like this in the states you would go to jail. But somehow it works and no one crashes. People know how to drive here. I love it. My Portugese still is p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Santa-Teresa/blog-451468.html Leaving Cusco was obviously nescessary but one of the most difficult challenges thus far It was an easy ride out of Cusco down hill and what ensued was a fairly problem free day though jam packed full of local attractions. We took refuge from the baking midday sun in the reasonably interesting Rumicolca ruins a pre Inca Huari Empire aqueduct. We had lunch a very reasonably priced bowl of chick http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-451455.html Last weekend some friends and I took a bus to Valparaiso a beachtown about an hour and a half way from Santiago. Its a really cute place famous for its hills that are covered in multicolored houses overlooking the ocean. We went for a jazz show ate Chorialla a mountain of french fries topped with beef egg and onions its ahmazing then danced it off until 5am http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-451448.html Landing on the Galapagos Islands for the first time is something that will stick in my memory forever. Maybe it was the tikihut airport or maybe it was the sea lions lounging on a nearby beach but something made this place very special. I was greeted by Nelly and her 4 energetic children Roberto 16 Analia 14 Ivan 11 and Andre 8. It was evident that this town was very small and it wa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Galapagos/San-Cristobal-Island/blog-451436.html After all the tourists and the hawkers of the last couple of weeks Isla del Sol is a breath of fresh air. There arenrsquot really any tourists here just your average backpackers who are a lot quieter than your average holiday makers that we got used to in southern Peru. Nobody trying to sell you anything either just the odd child asking you for a little something instead. Itrsquos a quiet p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Isla-del-Sol/blog-451393.html So I slept in today till about 11 then headed into town for breakfast. While waiting for my food to arrive I saw Marissa passing on her way to the internet cafe. She sat down to join me. Apparently last night Raul got tanked again and made it back to the room around 5 am again...this time he apparently walked in circles for an hour in the room until he finally crawled into bed...half this time Sa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/West/Montanita/blog-451253.html The chicken bus to Potosi only cost me 2.80. I felt somewhat over charged considering the the death trap on wheels which I was about to board would be lucky if it make it to the end of the street never mind Potosi. When I got on the bus a lady was sat in the seat which I had booked. Now under normal circumstances I would have let her sit there without a problem but the amount of times I have b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-451239.html Hey everyone just added photos to lots of my previous blogs so you can see what ive been up to plus a few here from Cartagena. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-451226.html Off to CuzcoAnd so our real circumnavigation of the globe begins. We're off to Cuzco in Peru to spend a few days acclimatizing before we begin our slightly unconventional trek through the Andes.It's a very early start. We're all packed up again minus some of the things we needed specifically for Africa and while this is the biggest excursion away from home during this trip it's also our third so http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-451188.html Back in Quito and having been away for 2 weeks it was time for our first trip to the lavanderia laundry. Having paid as much as 30 in India to have laundry done in hotels we decided to venture out to one of the lavanderias wersquod seen in town. We had a whole bundle of washing done for 5 and were quite satisfied with the result so this is definitely the way to get clean clothes in Sou http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Quito/blog-451187.html Nothing new this morning...same construction and sleep scenario. I headed into town to to check up on the civil strife in the states and low and behold as soon as I sit down the power goes out all through town...so I guess its time for breakfast.I head down the row and find Morritz eating at Tiki Limbo so I join him. I could only get eggs and toast since there was no pump for the water for tea http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/West/Montanita/blog-451077.html Well we have been blown away by Cuenca. We arrived 3 days ago after an arduous 11 hour bus trip from Quito checked into an interesting Hotel where we stayed in the loft and had a very chilly night.After a quick change of hotel in the morning we headed off to a Military Parade. We had timed our trip to Cuenca to coincide with their annual celebration of their Independence from Spain. 189 year http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/blog-451076.html Aaaahh Taganga... On a pas fait grand chose lbas mais quel bonheur de pouvoir se reposer sur les plages des Caraibes Taganga est aussi trs rput pour la plonge et offre des prix plus que raisonnables.Enfin aprs 2 jours on commencait s'ennuyer alors on a dcid de poursuivre nos diplomes de plonge sous marine. Nous avions dj notre PADI open water le 1er niveau en plonge. 2me ta http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/Taganga/blog-451037.html Aprs une journe de repos bien mrite je sentais plus mes jambes suite la randone nous avons pris la route de Maracaibo au nod du Vnzuela. Nous ne nous sommes pas attards a Maracaibo ce n'est pas une ville rpute pour etre sure et puis c'est assez moche. La principale richesse de la ville ce sont les puits de ptrole situs dans le lac. Le lac Maracaibo est d'ailleurs le plus grand http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Venezuela/Zulian/Maracaibo/blog-451034.html So after a long and gruelling journey over the border from Venezuela which included paying numurous officials off and queing for long periods in the raging heat we finally arrived in Taganga. Taganga is a little fishing village around 5 Km outside the town of Santa Marta. It is very popular for diving and just chilling out on the Carribean. We were particularly excited as it was our first trip to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/Taganga/blog-451000.html