The Galapagos islands were the next destination. In a word, the archipelago is a freaky reality for 10 days of the land based Gap tour. This freaky reality involved close encounters with all things wild and alive…turtles, sealions, fish, frigate birds………..with no fear of humans and a playful, novelty instinct that lead to great photos and plain fascination. Sealions ply the promenade of Santa Cristobel’s main town as though it is (and it is!) their home, defending at times proudly (especially the ‘alpha’ males) or just plain comically with waving fins or aggressive nudging, the slab of sand/ rock/ concrete where they live. Our first day involved travelling from Quito, via Guayaquil, and plunged straight into the action with a wet afternoon downhill bike ride, with rain, roads and fog……and resulting in early carnage for one ... read more

After the long haul from Copacabana, and settling into bustling Cusco for a night, the Gap tour started. It was a bit light on information regarding track condition, viability of hiking Lares even in such recent heavy rainfall, and so decided to continue as planned. The Sacred valley was the first stop on day two, passing the well known and altered name site of Saqsaywaman (said ‘Sexy Women’) and breezing along a muddy road to a village where handicrafts were made and sold to Gap tourists, evidently amongst others. This was part of their commitment to sustainable tourism by supporting communities and encouraging traditional crafts. Looms spun and knick knacks purchased, the muddy road veered towards some ruins where we did a meanderin acclimatization trek at over 3000m for 90 minutes with plenty of stops for ... read more

Salta was our home for several days, an excursion arranged to Cafayate travelling through the renound Shell Gorge, competition for Colorado or central Turkey (and I guess many other places) scenically. The early starts continued for 2 days, first being 7.15am and the departure day at 6.20am with early breakfasts both days. On the way we passed an amphitheatre (natural) with some spontaneous gigs happening amongst brilliant acoustics, the Devils throat so called for it’s shape carved out by erosion of 90 million years or so, and of course Cafayate winery visit for sampling the local cabernet sauvignon and Muscat varieties. Average in my untrained palate. The town was alight with market and song in the main square so I elected to browse there and the artesian markets, buying lovely earrings in the ‘Chaman’ ( a ... read more

The flight up to Trelew from Calafate (southern Patagonia) was on time, a miracle given I flew the government owned airline of AA. I sat next to an Italian lawyer, the 3rd met in one day, and for her the coincidence of sitting next to a healthcare worker on her inward leg it was an uncanny coincidence! We swapped emails and invites. An enthusiastic greeting by Eben Ezer shuttles was welcome after a lax biosecurity passage despite the signage, and I was made to feel at home with old wallpaper, furnishings and hospitality at ‘Hi’ Patagonia, 1 block (3 mins) from beachfront on Puerto Madryn and 10 mins south of town centre. Not only a run down of the available tour options was given in excellent English, but specific directions to a heated pool 5 minutes ... read more

Leaving the southern climes of Ushuaia on a typical delayed AA flight, being back on Terra Firma proper, and in need of a good nights rest without the hammock effect was a great follow on from West Antarctica, forever engrained in my head as a white icy kingdom which was largely barren of flora (except mosses at Deception Island) and immensely rich in birds and sea life. Southern Patagonia is similar, in that the vast steppes east of the Andes are protected by rainshadows and near El Calafate where I flew into there is only 300mm rain/ year at best. Only 10km seperates this with Chilean territory above the only glaciers outside the polar regions of the world, Los Glaciers Park. Nothing is harvested here, only just enough grass to feed cattle, sheep and odd much ... read more