Schrader

After our amazing journey through the Lares Valley, to Machu Picchu, we made our way to La Paz, Bolivia. The first day Justin was not feeling well so we spent the entire day at our hostel, relaxing and trying to feel better. The next day we took a bus to Lake Titicaca, which is about 3 and a half hours from La Paz. We were a bit confused as we had to get off the bus and then take a little boat across the lake as our bus was put on a ferry and sent on its way. As it turns out the road to Copacabana does not extend all the way from La Paz, hence the boat ride. We stayed in an amazing little hotel that overlooks the lake. We felt like we could breathe ... read more

Well, we are back in Buenos Aires again for our final night and are heading to Peru tomorrow. We have been in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina the last couple of days visiting Iguazu Falls. We arrived on Saturday and checked out the small town there. It is incredibly different from BA, lots of trees, no pollution, and a slower pace of life. Yesterday we spent most of the day visiting the falls and walking around the different trails there taking tons of pictures. It was a lot of fun. The falls are absolutely amazing!! Then in the afternoon we attempted to get a cab driver to take us to the falls on the Brazilian side without visas, but it was going to be too expensive. After hearing today that it is "prettier" on that side, we rethought ... read more

We have been in Buenos Aires since Saturday. We´ve mostly been walking around and getting a feel for the city. It is broken up into different neighborhoods, each with its own character, and we have managed to visit most of them. On Sunday we went to Recoleta and walked through the market and then through the cemetery (where Evita´s grave is located). We also went to a Boca Juniors soccer game. It was fantastic. Even though they were having a bad year, the atmosphere was still amazing. In the hard core fan section they sang, waved flags, played music and jumped about the entire game. Above us was the opponents section (Gimnasio) and when they scored the entire section of our stadium was shaking and we thought it was going to fall on us - luckily ... read more

We now speak fluent Spanish...or maybe not. We did take three days of intensive lessons, our brains now hurt. Valparaiso is a very beautiful city, especially when it is sunny instead of rainy. It is right on the ocean and is very hilly (muchas cerros), a bit reminiscient of the bay area in California. We stayed at a great little bed and breakfast - La Nona, very friendly, very helpful. Jasmine took some great photos just after sunset one night that we will post as soon as we get back to the states. We also tried a pisco sour, the very famous Chilean drink - very sour, one was plenty. Also, just in case you enjoy beer, Chile is not the region for you. Stick to the wine. We almost missed our bus this morning that ... read more

Just arrived in Santiago, Chile after a long day of travel. Denver, to Toronto, to Santiago. A bit of a mix up as our hotel had us getting in at a different time, so we got to wait and be harrassed by taxi drivers for two hours in the airport! Our driver was very nice, a bit of a language gap - Justin practiced his spanish and proved to have a lot to learn. Have not seen much of the city yet, but it seems nice. Surrounded by mountains, although you cannot see them well due to massive amounts of pollution. We will be in Santiago for a few more days. Not sure what the plan is yet. We were going to go snowboarding but have learned that there is not enough snow. We are just ... read more