Pampas Tour 21st-25th March

Typical Bolivian transport, supposed to fly out on 21st, but flight cancelled, not due to the floods this time, but for maintenance! Flew out on Thursday at 6 am, woke up at 4:45-beast!

The plane was the smallest plane we’ve ever seen. It was a 19 seater with two propellers and there was no separation between the main passenger area and the cockpit, we could see straight in. A great view for take-off and landing. The flight was 30 minutes and really made us appreciate how high the Andes are. As we flew the Andes gradually became lower and lower and then we could see the cloud line. The clouds looked like a gigantic sea of white and the Andes were like a brand new land towering above the sea. Nothing short of fantastic. As we alighted, the heat hit us with avengeance, nothing like the hats and gloves weather of La Paz.

The landing was a bit bumpy due to the fact that we were landing on very boggy grass, mud spraying upp the side of the plane as we slowly decelerated towards the shack which was the terminal. Our luggage was unloaded from inside the nose of the plane. We were met by our guide and taken to Rurrenabaque to start our tour.

We had a 4 hour dusty jeep ride. There were 10 of us squished into the jeep, it was boiling hot and it broke down (on more than one occasion!). Finally, very dirty and hot, we arrived at the river to start our boat journey to our acommodation. On route we stopped several times to spot the wildlife. Within two minutes we had seen pink river dolphins and had run over an alligator that was floating down stream! We then stopped by some trees on the bank and our guide started to yelp. He attracted a whole troop of monkeys who were jumping up and down and swinging to get to us. Lou made a comment that it would be good if we were allowed to touch them and suddenly was given a banana to hold and fed several of them by hand. It was really good. We couldn’t stop ourselves from looking in every direction as it was incredible to be riding in a boat in the amazon.

Our hut was built on stilts as the water level was so high. It was basically a shack with beds, mosquito nets and a billion mosquitoes! We had come prepared with deet and long sleeved clothing/trousers, but nothing seemed to stop them from biting. After the first night Lou had 50 bites just on her left leg! We had spent the first evening hunting alligators in the pitch black by boat. We shone our torches and were able to see the reflection from their ‘cat like’ eyes. Scary but also good at the same time. We managed to spot quite a few, but on our return to our lodge we discovered that there were actually 3 by our walkway. We had a good night’s sleep, as we drifted off all you could hear was the sound of the jungle and the occasional alligator eating fish underneath us.

Our morning’s activity was to go searching for anacondas. Something that Lou was none too keen to do. We were given wellies and told to wrap up to avoid our friends the mozzies. A short boat ride to a swamp area where we jumped out and began the hour long trek through reeds and pampas to an island. The water came up to at least mid thigh (depending on your height-Lou’s bottom!) so in fact the wellies were useless! We were being bitten everywhere as we walked and kept slipping, nearly falling into the murky water. It was a personal battle. We searched the island to no avail, so our guide led us further into the swamp and started climbing trees. At last he managed to find a baby cobra by pulling off some dead bark. As he did so, he also revealed three huge beetles and a tarantula that started climbing over him and then disappeared somewhere amidst the water in which we were standing! (Not loving that!)  We were able to touch the cobra before that too disappeared somewhere! We trudged back to our boat, this time moving a little faster as we were already soaking wet.

That afternoon we went to a secluded area of the river to find and swim with the pink river dolphins. What an experience! Jonty was absolutely loving life and had a huge grin the whole time. All of a sudden though from the boat we heard a girly scream as the dolphin had become more friendly with him and brushed past his body!

We watched the sunset from a bar, whilst we had a beer and got bitten some more.

On our final morning in the amazon we were awoken at 4:30 to see the sunrise, we covered ourselves from head to toe and spent the first 20 minutes of the journey slapping each other to rid ourselves of the mozzies. Our guide had decided not to use the engine so we floated downstream at mozzie speed! As the sun rose they eventually decreased in number and we started to enjoy the ride and sights of the birds that were just appearing in the tree tops. We went ‘off piste’ into the plants and lilies and saw lots of new birds and scenery. We even saw 3 toucans in the trees!

The afternoon activity was fishing for phiranas. The guide gave us ‘crab style’ fishing lines and raw meat-nice! After 2 minutes of trying our guide caught one and shouted “Bolivia uno.” Lou responded with a reasonable sized fish and hollered “Inglaterra uno.” The phirana’s teeth were very impressive and each time someone caught one we all jumped so that they would not get our ankles! Jonty caught a big one, but decided to knock it out and off by hitting the side of the boat as he reeled it in! The ones we caught were eaten for lunch – apparently they tasted fishy!

On our way back to the ranch we stopped at another group’s hut as they had an alligator that was lying on the mud by their walkway. The guide jumped out and said “its okay” and beckoned us forward to touch the alligator. Bravely, or stupidly, Jonts got off the boat and crouched beside it. He looked very nervous, especially when it started moving! Scary stuff! We arrived back at our hut to find another group in their boat there. They had caught an anaconda and gave it to our guide, who in turn gave it to us to hold!! It was about 2 metres long and very very muscular. As we left the hut in which we had spent 3 long days, we were given a necklace that our guide had made from the seeds on the plants around the river, in addition to the pods, they also had alligator teeth and spine on them-interesting!

Our boat journey back to the point where we would get the horrendous jeep journey back was good fun. We saw more animals, including a bird that is 1.6m tall and has a wing span of 2 metres! His nest could be seen from a long distance, it was huge. We also saw some howler mokeys and lots of turtles.

The jeep took about 2 hours longer than anyone else’s to get to us, but the good news was that the radiator was fixed! The wiring however was absolutely shot to pieces and 2 hours into the dusty, bumpy journey smoke started to pour in through the tape deck. It was okay though as the driver put his hand in there to stop it! He had to stop as there were sparks coming out and his hand was burning! We had to get out, again while he tried to fix it, this was at sunset-just when the mozzies come out to play, oh well another 25 bites won’t hurt!

The trip into the Pampas was an amazing experience, despite the mozzies we absolutely loved it.

Next, we are off to Lake Titicaca. The highest navigable lake in the world! We hope there are no mozzies! 

La Paz 17th to 21st March

We awoke in comfy beds and had a wonderful hot shower. It was St. Patrick`s day and at the train station we had met some Paddys who informed us of a brand new hostel opening today, run by two Irish guys. We decided to head over, watch the 6 nations and eat the full Irish breakfast they had on offer. We got there just in time to see the French nab the title from the Irish and the watched the Welsh wake up after their four previous sleepy losses to beat England. We had several beers and enjoyed the Irish music and cheerful surroundings-we could nearly have been at home.

The next day, we had a wander around La Paz, which like every other Bolivian town, is full of market stalls. The traffic is manic, fumes everywhere, however it doesn`t seem to affect the locals who are very helpful and happy. We had pancakes for breakfast-something Lou had been after for a while now, we even managed to get lemon with them by using the international squeezing with the fingers sign!

The markets have everything; your classic sweet stalls, DVDs, jumpers, hats and gloves. They also have electrical stalls, such as phones and hair straightners. I was not tempted by them though as the wiring in Bolivia is dodgy, they even have the fuse boxes in the showers. 

From the markets we bought some very warm hats and gloves in preparation for our inca trail. Lou also bought a wrap made from baby Al Paca wool, very soft and haggled down to a good price and a ring made from coconut for 30 pence.

We had a day excursion to the “Lunar Valley” and one of the mountains that overlooks La Paz. The Lunar Valley was made of clay rocks that are supposedly shaped like the rocks on the moon, some very impressive structures and it was a enjoyable morning walk. We then drove up to the mountain, past the snow line and were dropped off at 5300 metres, higher than the whole of Europe! We then climbed even higher, through the altitude to the 5400m peak. What a view, we could see Lake Titicaca from here and also the whole of La Paz. The city is built in a huge bowl shape, with the smaller districts built up into the surrounding mountains. The altitude made us breathless going up but as soon as we got to the peak we were fine and were able to throw a few snow balls.

Next stop, the amazon and a Pampas tour for 4 days.

Uyuni to La Paz 15th-17th March

This is an entry that amuses us greatly!

What should only be an 11 hour journey, turns out to be 26 hours!

We had booked the overnight train from Uyuni to Oruro (8 hours) and were then to get the bus from Oruro to La Paz (3 hours). Having finished our tour to the salt plains early afternoon, we spent the day of the 15th wandering round the town`s markets and sat in a bar playing board games. Our train was to leave at 01:22, so we had to amuse ourselves until then.

We arrived at the train station at about midnight, only to find out that the train was delayed. Not by a little, but until 7:30 in the morning, when it might not actually come at all, but we would be given some information on its arrival. Our carriages were actually sitting at the station, but we were waiting for an engine. We had to make a decision about whether to stay in the carriage, the station, or risk booking a hostel and missing the train altogether. It had been a long day and after a lot of blank thoughts from the two of us, we got our sleeping bags out and spent our first ever night on a train station floor, along with 30 other travellers. 

Bad news, not only had Lou awoken to a fat Bolivian lady sitting on her head, but the train was to be delayed even further until 14:30. The good news was that we had had one of the best sleeps for the past week and our belongings were still there. We had breakfast back in the bar that we had spent the whole of the last day in, we even sat in the same seats! We went on the slowest internet in the world to pass the time and then decided to have some lunch before we boarded. The pizzas that we ordered took so long, that we had to cancel our order and rush to get to the train station. The even funnier thing was that on our arrival, we discovered that the train would be another hour and we could have eaten! So we returned and were brought a pizza with anchovies, capers and olives-the worst Pizza in the world seeing as we thought it was cheese and tomato!

At 3:15 we boarded the train to find three extremely drunken Bolivian men, one of which had been sick in our carriage-perfect! The journey was actually very good, we watched two films and arrived an hour early! We grabbed a taxi across Oruro in the hope to catch the last bus to La Paz and were glad to see one sitting in the bus terminal. The bad news, however was that it only had 4 seats and there were still 6 of us.  Jonty volunteered to have the floor and read with his head torch on, lighting up most of the bus! Then laid down in the aisle to have a good sleep! We arrived in La Paz at 03:00 and got a taxi to our hostel. (Every taxi journey in Bolivia seems to cost 10 Bolivianos) What a trip! We love Bolivia!

Tupiza to Uyuni March 11th-15th

Horse riding day! Having decided to have a day of horse riding we booked up the activity in our group of 6 that had formed since we met at the bus station.  In classic Bolivian style we were taken to our horses and let go. Lou had the white stallion and Jonty had the smallest horse in the world!! A funny sight, especially as his feet were too big to fit in the stirrups. We set off on the trek which would take us through mountains, canyons and cactus´s. The horses seemed to know the route which was lucky as we were not given any instructions on how to work the things! As soon as we were in an open area the horses would accelerate and Lou`s in particular would launch off in to the Western scenery. As she could be heard screaming “No No No!!!” Apparently they didn`t speak English!

We spent the next 3 hours trotting or galloping or holding on for dear life. Jonty found it very cool galloping across the Andes. Lou was not impressed at the guy who kept whipping her horse from behind.  Lou`s horse decided to give up towards the end of the trek and had to be dragged home by some local boys who found it very amusing!A good experience, but the aches and pains the next day were not so good, especially as we had a 7 hour jeep journey across the infamous Bolivian roads.

Our 4 Day Trek to the Salt Plains

In our group of 6 people, we set off in a jeep accompanied with a cook and a guide/driver.  The first day was pretty grueling because it was just getting to the national park which took 7 hours. However we did see every kind of scenery imaginable, there were mountains, marshes, harsh rocks, vallies, canyons and even desert, what a country. The whole 4 days would be spent between 4000 and 5000 metres high. We spent the night in a very decent mud hut, there were no washing facilities but the food was very good! Lou had opted to be vegetarian for the 4 days after hearing than llama and horse were on the menu. It turned out that the vegetarian option was actually nicer than the meat eaters and everyone was very jealous!

Day 2 meant an early rise, and our first sighting of some Inca ruins. We explored the ruins, which were at the foot of a snow peaked mountain. It was an excellent feeling. After the morning here we moved on to many different, yet impressive view points before stopping at our first natural thermal pool. We wasted no time getting into the thermal pool and then just relaxed, hoping the aches would soon go away. The thermal pool was at the edge of a small desert with more mountains in the distance. As you can imagine, we really made the most of this experience.

We then spent the next hour and a half driving to the Laguna Verde-which was a good view, but after being shaken up like a fizzy drink again and only viewing a laguna that we had already seen dozens of, we would have preferred to stay in the thermal spa!!

The final stop of the day was to view some Geezers, it was very windy and so the sulphurous smell hit us as soon as we could see them in the distance. The noise up close was surprisingly loud. They boil at about 120.C so we decided not to jump in!

We spent another night in a mud hut. For an organised tour, it was surprising that our guide had to argue and persuade his way into getting us a room for the night. It did not fill us with confidence. Still, the food was excellent again and we had a good game of cards.

Our third day included a stop at Laguna Colarado, which was full of flamingoes. They were absolutely everywhere! We then drove through the valley of the rocks and had a good clamber to the top of some impressive structures. They would have fitted well in Cornwall. The valley of the rocks went on for miles, the huge craggy rocks were too good not to climb. We had a great hour stop.

We drove on to Uyuni and found a hostel that could accommodate us (great organisation again!). This hostel had twin rooms which was a pleasant surprise, but pitch black luke warm showers. We were informed when we booked the tour that this hostel would have the only showers of our journey, so we were really looking forward to them. It was a little disappointing to say the least. My teeth were chattering for a while!

We booked a train for the next evening to Oruro, as we thought the train would be a better experience after the last overnight coach.

Our final day of the trek was what we had actually been waiting for for the past three days! It was to get to the largest salt plains on earth. As we approached we could see the horizon becoming lighter as the sun reflected off the flooded plains. We spent an hour crossing the watery plains until we reached the Salt Hotel. (A hotel made of salt!) This was an interesting hotel which we wished we had stayed at so that we could have experienced the sunrise. We had a lot of fun taking photos, creating stunts. Jonty amused all and sundry by doing a head stand in the middle of the flooded plains and collapsed it several times, thus getting soaking wet and covered in salt from head to toe. Still, he wouldn´t be a Taylor otherwise!

We were impressed by the salt plains, and only wished that we could have experienced them without so much water on them to see the contrast to the spectcular view that we had.

Argentina to Bolovia 8th-11th March

We arrived in Salta where we were able to walk to our new hostel. On the way it was noticable that we were closer to the Andes. The people here look Andean and are very friendly. The hostel was very quaint and colourful. We used Salta as a break between travelling. We ate well, slept well and prepared ourself for the border crossing. We had spoken to two girls and it took them 7 hours!

Our transport was overnight, arriving at the border at 7 in the morning. It was a journey from hell! Neither of us slept well as our seats were broken and some vulgur man kept spitting and hacking up phlegm all night!

The Argentinian customs was very official, with guards in uniform. We obtained our stamp and walked the 200 metres into Bolivia. Here the control was a little more relaxed to say the least. Some boys in t-shirts and jeans stamped our entry passes and waved us on! Bolivia should be fun!

We bought tickets from another tracksuited bloke to get on the bus and were charged some kind of bus tax by a policeman that wanted some pocket money for the weekend! We had some seat problems, in the fact that someone was in our seat! They are very possessive of their seats in South America and do not like to be moved-so we were! We eventually left the bus terminal and drove 200 metres where we had a pit stop! Apparently our tyres needed to be changed, so six mates jumped out, got their pick axes and mallets and started to attack the bus! We were in stitches as they tried to get the tyre off the wheel frame using a pick-axe, especially as he kept missing and the axe was bouncing off the tyre!

 After a good 45 minutes of entertainment, we started our journey through desert, mountains and cactus-very similar to the american wild west. We were aware that the Bolivian roads were infamous for being bumpy; however nothing could quite prepapre us for this rollercoaster of a ride! It was a dirt track, suitable only for quad bikes, but this is their main road. We drove very fast and very near to the edge of every cliff, narrowly missing several other buses and the truck that had capsised into a nearby ditch. We will think about taking the train from now on! Bolivia, we think, will be a great adventure in itself. We are off horse riding now and on a four day trek to the salt plains tomorrow. To be continued…

Buenos Aires 3rd – 7th March

Buenos Aires is a really, really cool city! There is plenty of food, wine and things to do. It is very European in terms of the layout- lots of alfresco eating and architectured buildings.

We arrived to a real traveller´s hostel-dirty and smelly! After the first night, we had already decided to move to another hostel as Lou´s bed was soaked during the night. Heavy rain had seeped through the ceiling and she had to abandon ship! The new hostel was more modern, clean and friendly. (It just stank of smoke! Everyone in Argentina seems to smoke.)

We spent our days, wandering the streets, having picnics and eating out! Great steaks! Excellent wine-especially at only two pounds a bottle.

Went to a tango show- witnessed some Argentinian culture. One of the highlights was the Evita museum. We knew nothing about her really, but the free tour taught us a lot about their history and the reasons for why the Argentinians behave as they do. She was very controversial and they either loved or hated her. A good history lesson.

 My lost property watch finally stopped working! Now on a mission to replace it-we are clueless about what day it is now, let alone the time!

Overall, we loved Buenos Aires, a good decision to have this diversion-we weren`t even coming to Argentina when we left the UK. We are now off to Salta (where?) to try and cross the border into Bolivia and do some biking/trekking.

Feb 28th -March 2nd Water, water everywhere!

The waterfalls in Foz du Iguaçu are completely amazing. The pure volume, power and relentlessness of the water is  more than the eye can behold. It is probably the greatest thing we have ever seen.

 There are 2 sides to the falls, Brazil and Argentina. And unlike when Steve and I crossed Niagra, Jonty and I did not forget our passports and nearly get arrested! We started on the Brazilian side which gives a general overview of the falls. You meander along a walkway that reveals the falls, they start few and gradually build in size and volume. Suddenly, you turn a corner and see the ´devil´s throat.´ WOW We spent about three hours wandering around the falls trying to take it all in. We finally left and returned to our hostel (Bambu) where we had our first home cooked meal for 2 weeks. The hostel was bustling, friendly and full of English. They helped us to plan the next day`s tour to the Argentinian side.

 With our passports in hand, we joined the other 13 characters from our hostel and crossed the border into Argentina. Our first stop was at the 3 borders where Argentina meets Brazil and Paraguay. This is a natural border where 2 rivers meet in a Ý´shape – it`s pretty cool.

 We entered the Argentinian national park and set off on a safari truck into the jungle. Big spiders! Millions of butterflies everywhere of all different sizes and colours. We were dropped off at a walkway that took us down to the boat. We jumped in, donned our lifejackets and put all our stuff in a waterproof bag. We zoomed down the river, right up to the devil`s throat. The view from down there was even more impressive than yesterday, it was far more intense. Then drives thought he would have a bit of fun and take the boat under one of the smaller waterfalls. Not the best day for Lou to wear her contact lenses! We were soaked, but laughing as it was unexpected. We then shot off down stream, turned a corner to a much larger falls, the pressure caused a lot of spray. Drives decided to approach this and attempt to get underneath. The engine was roaring, but the sheer power of the falls pushed us back. We were absolutey soaked and thought it was brilliant! What an experience. It was 40.C today, so cooling off was much appreciated.

We then went on a number of walkways overlooking smaller waterfalls-these were still massive. The water leading up to them is deceptively calm, we would hate to have been the person that discovered them in a canoe! We took the electric train-very dull-to the Gargantua-the big one! There we saw a toucan!

The walkway took us to the top of devil`s throat. The thunderous roar was impressive to say the least. We could not believe our eyes and just stared at the beast for a very long time. There was a lot of spray, but it would clear and the depth and cascade was a sight that we will never forget. No picture or words can ever do this amazing sight justice. We would recommend it to everyone.  What a day! Relentless.

Off to Buenos Aires now. Argentina, Argentina!