Both remembered Valentine Cards Another relatively early start and long drive. No guide today, only Miguel the driver, who doesn’t speak any English and we don’t speak Spanish except to get around bars and restaurants, where everyone speaks English anyway. First stop, an Inca site in Pisac, more excellent stones and lots of steps. Peru keeps you fit! Second stop at Moray where there are rounded terraces the size of large roman amphitheatres. Apparently these were an agricultural experiment by the Incas. We are a high altitude but if the terraces are done in circles then the heat is trapped so they can grow more. Clever little buggers those Incas. By the way, to get to these places we have to drive down very bad, bumpy roads so don’t bother if you get car sick. The ... read more

The drive from Puno to Cusco is about 10 hours with a few stops on the way. We had to drive through Juliaca again, the dreadful muddy ugly town but were soon out on the Altiplano, the flat agricultural plain surrounded by volcanic mountains. Our first stop was at Pukara, a tiny village from the pre Inca era. It has a tiny museum of ancient statues which are worth going to see. (If you ever travel through Peru remember to take loo roll and tissues as they are in short supply).The second stop was for lunch at a smart place which had a set price buffet which was very good for 38 soles each and extra for wine. All the coaches stop here and it must be a gold mine. On we drove stopping next at ... read more

It is a long drive from Arequipa to Chivay. The outskirts of Arequipa are a nightmare for traffic as the road is the main road to Bolivia and Brazil and is full of large lorries. Eventually we were in the volcanic countryside and on the way stopped to see Vicunas, Alpacas and Llamas. At least I now know how to tell the difference between them. On the way up the mountains we stopped at a cafe as we were about to arrive at the highest point in Peru and in order not to suffer from altitude sickness we were told to drink tea made out of coca leaves.. It is not a pleasant taste but we had it anyway and when we got out of the car at the highest point we did not have any ... read more

Our final destination on our Caribbean cruise was to Curacao the last of the Dutch protectorates. The buildings are definitely Dutch heritage and the place is pretty and clean with lots of pedestrian walkways. The two halves of the island are spanned by a high bridge for cars but pedestrians cross over by means of a floating pontoon which has to be floated to one side when big ships come in. If the pontoon is not available there is a ferry to take people over. Both sides of the island are full of shops and bars catering for the tourists and there is a very nice fruit market on the Punda side which has some great fruit for sale. Everyone wants to sell you some! We bought our souvenirs and then stopped by a water front ... read more

Kralendijk on the island of Bonaire is part of the Dutch Caribbean. We had a lovely Dutch guide who showed us the island travelling in an open top large lorry. The native plants are the Divi tree and the cactus which grow everywhere on this very flat island. Even some of the fences around properties are made using the cacti. It is hot but the NE trade winds blow constantly across the island. We drove to the National Park where there are flamingoes on the salty flat marshes. Salt has been an important production for many years. We also saw other native birds such as the Heron, Frigate Bird and a tiny little yellow sparrow like bird- sorry forgot it's name. There are also lots of wild donkeys on the island.The other plants which grow in ... read more