fromthebottomup

I had always planned to end my travels with some quality beach time. A chance, I thought, to relax and reflect on the last few months, or, if the latter proved too arduous, at least to drink beer and, in between football matches, sit in the sun. I also thought it would be nice to keep the gang together for as long as possible. As we travelled west through northern Colombia it felt as though our travels were leading to an inevitable conclusion on the beaches of San Andres and Providencia. San Andres and Providencia are Carribean islands about 800 kilometres north of Cartagena, due east of Nicaragua, whose claim for jurisdiction was recently dismissed by the UN in favour of Colombia's earlier claim and many years of administration. My mind´s eye pictured a stereotypical Carribean ... read more

Almost from the start of my trip a sense of communal expectaction had been building in South America about the World Cup. As early as March the lead news story on Argentine tv had been the replacement of the normal run of the mill strikes and protests about the state of the economy with demonstrations in favour of the inclusion of Carlos Tevez in the Argentine World Cup squad. (Tevez is very much the people's hero, seen as the local boy who made good but remained true to his roots. Messi may be admired and respected but Tevez is loved.) In Peru the conversation was more analytical. Having failed to qualify themselves the locals wanted to know what I thought of England's chances and who the dark horses might be. By the time I got to ... read more

We'd decided to take a road trip to Punta Gallinas while were still in Quito. The attraction for me was simple - Punta Gallinas is on the tip of the Guajira Peninsular. This makes it the northernmost point in Colombia and so in the whole of continental South America. By a happy accident this would allow me to dovetail my trip with a pleasing symmetry - having more or less started my journey at Ushuaia, at the very bottom of the continent, I would now be able to complete the journey from the bottom to the top. If this were not incentive enough Punta Gallinas is a seriously remote place where the desert of the northern Guajira peninsular runs all the way to the Caribbean Sea. It would take 2 days in a 4 wheel drive ... read more

Our plan for Galapagos was to divide our time between the island of Santa Cruz (5 days) and a boat trip (8 days) around the western and northern circuit of islands (Santa Isabela, Fernandina, Bartolome and Genovesa). In theory this would give us the best of both worlds - a chance to organise our own trips and diving whilst based on Santa Cruz and to maximise the diversity of wildlife we would see whilst we were on the boat. But first we had to get there... After an enjoyable morning basking in the bright sun of Alausi (and in my case the afterglow of the Championship play off final victory) and marvelling at Alausi's transformation from sleepy backwater to bustling market town we boarded a bus to Guayaquil. On the map it looked like it would ... read more

I've said before that people don't come to South America for the cities. That remains the case even when, like Quito, they have been recognised by UNESCO with World Heritage status for its old town. (Quito's tourist literature proudly boasts that it was the first city to be assigned this status). However, despite such august plaudits, to me, nice though Quito was, it was really just one in another long line of South American cities. I'd arrived late on Friday night, meeting the pick up from the hotel at the airport and finally making it to my hotel at around 1.30 in the morning, so my first chance to get a look at the city was Saturday morning. At first glance it seemed small and a little provincial (particularly after Lima), although undeniably pretty in places. ... read more