Blogs from South America - page 5333

I am now at the self proclaimed "End of the World" as Ushuaia is literally the southern most city in the world before hitting Antarctica. We arrived after about 14 hours on three different buses. The first bus left Puerto Natales at 7:30am and we went along in a sleepy daze for two hours when we stopped in the middle of nowhere, another bus pulled alongside, and our deaf yet touchy bus guy pointed that we should depart, switch our bags to the next bus, and get on it like a sketchy drug deal. So off we went. We were on this bus for several hours, including a brief ferry ride and the border crossing into Argentina. I keep coming and going from these countries so often that I will have 6 or 8 Argentinian stamps ... read more

Hmmm - not sure how to explain this, but it´s probably something to do with the 6 hour hike up a mountain we did the day before...we got to the airport here in Ushuaia this lunchtime for our flight to El Calafate to see the big glacier there. We had spent some of the previous evening and this morning deliberating over whether paying a lot of money for a 10 day boat trip to Antarctica was something we wanted to do, and having spoken to a number of people who¨d done it we were a little unsure whether to go for it. In the end, we decided it´d be best to stick to the plan, and maybe come back later (as if). When we got to the checkin, however, the flight was delayed "for at least ... read more

Hallo allerseits, die Zeit rennt! Inzwischen haben wir unser Bergfest schon lange hinter uns, aber ein bisschen Zeit bleibt uns ja noch. Mit ein wenig Schadenfeude verfolgen wir die Wetterverhaeltnisse in Hamburg und Finnland aber keine Angst, Schnee hatten wir hier auch und nass geworden sind wir auch oft genug. Aber immerhin faehrt hier die Muellabfuhr regelmaessig und Anzeichen von Vogelgrippe und Schweinepest haben wir auch noch nicht festgestellt. NP "Los Glaciares" Von Puerto Natales sind wir mit dem Bus nach El Calafate gefahren, eine grausame Stadt, die nur von der nahegelegen Touristen- Hauptattraktion, dem Perito Moreno Gletscher lebt. Diesen haben wir uns am naechsten Tag natuerlich angeschaut. Dafuer mussten wir eine teure Busfahrt und Eintritt bezahlen aber es war das Geld Wert. Man sitzt einfach fuenf Stunden vor einem 60 Meter hohem und etwa fuenf ... read more

Jordan and I are back in Rio after our short trip to Ihla Grande and have met up with old Gav Wilson today. The amount of stuff that he has brought with him is an inspiration to us all and something to maybe work towards (he only has a small day back). I guess I should start with a few words about Carnival and the whole experience: street parties, skol, and more skol. Everywhere you went you could easily find a guy with a cooler full of skol willing to sell. For 2 Reals, it´s hard to complain. For the most part we just wondered around going from street party to street party, and would eventually end up in Lappa where there was always thousands of people roaming the streets. Down Hippie Alley - named ... read more

Through the Panama Canal. Uo at six to see us through the Miraflora Locks. What a triumph the canal is. Sailed across the Gatun Lake with endless dense jungle to watch for birds. Went ashore to the Gatun yacht club and then in a bus (seeing howling monkeys on the way)to an open water bus and drifted round the islands. Snail Kite. Turkey Vultures. Very sleepy three toed Sloth and finally a much more mobile Two Toed Sloth. Late back to the boat but the tender waited for us. Down to the Atlantic where it was as rough as we have known and now lurching off to bed.... read more