South America - Summary:
We travelled through South America for a total of 5 months and during that time I saw and experienced many weird and wonderful things. I came to learn that random is the norm and never ceased to be amazed by the everyday life of the locals. Health and safety was a term that would have given most of the locals a glazed look in their eyes if ever mentioned, as it surely didn't exist in most places, especially the electrics! I wanted to point out a few more things that entertained me along the way:
· Empanada ladies: These ladies were especially common in Peru and Bolivia and they usually sat below a tree with a large bowl covered with a cloth, selling either meat or chicken empanadas. I really miss seeking them out in the most random of places as not only were the empanadas dirt cheap, they were also really tasty!
· Gringo dog: (*Said in a Superhero voiceover*) Whenever you are most unsuspecting, whenever you least expect, you will find Gringo Dog! He will materialize out of nowhere, seek you out and run alongside you for the rest of the day while barking at cars, locals and other dogs!
· Lunch dogs: These dogs appeared without fail every time we had lunch or breakfast next to the road no matter how random or remote the location. They appear from behind bushes, out of the ground, out of the sky or when you blinked! It was almost like the scene in the Terminator 3 movie where the terminator materializes out of the vinyl floor!
· Dogs: Each dog in South America owns at least one human being - sometimes they own both husband AND wife complete with their litter of 10 kids or more!
· Roof Dogs: These special species of K9s were especially common in Peru and Bolivia. Their preferred locations were on roofs as they yapped or simply watched the world go by.
· Campsite dogs: Dogs qualifying for this position either had to be extremely annoying by yapping in a very nervous high pitched voice or be good thieves. Stealing Gillian’s shoes was extra points to qualify for this sought after category…
· Prayer places: The locals use these random little shrines for saying their prayers. They were positioned pretty much everywhere along the road and we saw them while driving along. Some were filled with photographs of dead loved ones or even car parts of the specific fatal accident!
· Mystery Silver bucket: These we found while wine tasting. It is placed in front of you for some unknown reason and rumors are that you spit your wine out in these. I’ve dismissed this ridiculous and absurd rumor and am thus still left with the mystery…
· Toilets: These vary from bad to very bad in most places and include (or not) no toilet paper, no flush, remnants of a much lighter previous inhabitant, no door lock, no door and no toilet seat, overflowing waste basket of toilet paper, complete with wildlife and skid marks!
· Coca leave chewing – Chewing coca leaves was common with the locals especially in Peru and Bolivia. Some of them took it to a new level with chipmunk cheeks and green juice running down their cheeks. For many it helps with coping with the hardships of everyday life especially in the Potosi mines.
· Parrilla/Asado/Churrasco: These terms refer to Argentinean barbeques or steak houses and never ceased to lure me in. I was like an alcoholic eying up a cold beer and I broke out in a cold sweat every time I saw the name displayed or advertised on a sign.
· Soap Operas – “The dramatic pause”: These intense moments occurred every single day in South American soap operas. Very dramatic music would be playing in the background while the camera focuses back and forth between the intense faces of the very bad actors – very funny to watch!
· Brazilian Bikinis: Not much to report on these, literally!
· Mobile Speakers: These were cars fitted with absurdly huge speakers on the roof or on the boot complete with a driver who very much likes the sound of his own voice. We saw many of these cars driving around either advertising or blaring very loud music.
Best food: Without fail the Argentinean melt-in-the-mouth steaks with Chimichuri sauce and a nice glass of red wine to round it off.
Worst food: The cremated lobster we had in the Galapagos. It was such a letdown especially after we saw the lobsters earlier that day at the fish market. In general though it would be Bolivian food as having chicken every day became boring very quickly.
Favorite country: Argentina was my favorite country as it had everything: good food, pretty scenery, friendly people and best of all, it was fairly cheap.
Worst accommodation: Maybe it was because our expectations were shattered by empty promises in our travel notes, but camping in Cafayate (Argentina) was pretty bad as it was dusty due to no grass, had cold showers and the promised water chute and pool were filled with tadpoles eating their dead mother.
Best City: Rio de Janeiro is definitely my favorite city as it ticked all the boxes. Beautiful sandy beaches, evergreen forests, high mountains, great vibe and to top it off the Christ Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain for great sunsets.
Worst City: Uyuni (Bolivia). It looked and felt like it should have been created for a scene in a Wild West movie - complete with deserted windswept arid streets. The only thing missing was tumbleweed and Clint Eastwood staring my way ready to draw his revolvers, backed by a soundtrack of “the good, the bad & the ugly”.
Best natural wonder: The Iguazu Falls from both the Argentinean and Brazilian side were very impressive with large quantities of water crashing down the 275 waterfalls! Torres del Paine in Chile was also a very pretty national park with huge towering mountains, glaciers and ice-blue lakes.
Best manmade sight: This can only be Machu Picchu which sat perched up high on a mountain with breath taking views. Even though very touristy it was still a spectacular place to see.
Highest place: While driving between Colca Canyon and Arequipa we drove over a mountain pass at 5000m and stopped for a quick photo. The highest climb however, was Laguna 69 which was 4860m and proved difficult for many of our group as the air was very thin and so the pace was slow.
Favorite activities: Impossible to narrow it down to one so I have named a few:
· Ecuadorian Jungle: Floating down the river in a life vest with a cold beer was definitely one of the highlights for me!
· Dune Buggies: Racing over sand dunes in a souped-up V8 followed by sand boarding, BBQ and getting drunk on pisco sours before falling asleep under the stars in the Huacachina desert was a brilliant experience!
· Galapagos Islands: Snorkeling with the playful sea lion pups and seeing all the weird and wonderful animals on the islands was definitely a highlight.
· Lares Trek & Machu Picchu: Seeing the kids faces when we handed them bread as we hiked the Lares Trek was priceless. Seeing Machu Picchu was magical.
· Motorbiking Sacred Vallley: Zipping along the Sacred Valley near Cuzco with a 650cc motorbike was good fun.
· Zip-Lining: Zip-lining along 3km of wires strung between two mountains over a river was thrilling.
· Ghost Ride: Hitting high speeds on a mountain bike ride down the World’s Most Dangerous Road had our adrenaline pumping.
· Dynamite: Buying dynamite and blowing it up was pretty nerve wracking, but there is just something about blowing things up…
· Pucon Volcano: Climbing an active snow covered volcano and then bum-boarding all the way to the bottom was great fun to say the least!
· Torres del Paine: Being a tough hike made this even more memorable. I will never forget the breathtaking views.
· Hang gliding over Rio: Flying with the vultures high above the Rio with a beautiful view over the city and beach was one of the best things we’ve done!
· Amazonian Boat Cruise: Seeing everyday life on our Amazon boat cruise was a very special experience.
Worst journey: Our journey from the Pantanal all the way to Paraty took us 36 hours and 5 different buses to reach our destination. The screaming kids also didn’t help matters. Another occasion would be our taxi ride back from Laguna 69. The driver spent most of his time on the wrong side of the road while dodging potholes and stray animals. He overtook cars on bends and we could only hope and pray not to die a quick death!
Most challenging moment/activity: The four day Torres del Paine hike with very heavy backpack and terrible weather. We had everything from horizontal sleet to gale force winds blowing people over! Laguna 69 was also a tough hike because of the high altitude.
Funniest moment: When the dog at the Pucon campsite stole Gillian’s shoe and came back to steal a 2nd while were searching for the first! The beat boxing grey winged Trumpeter in the Ecuadorian jungle as well as the parrots mimicking our laughter was also very funny. The constant banter with the Tucan group especially entertained me! Taking silly pictures on the Bolivian salt flats was also great fun as we tried be be creative by taking many different photos with a variety of props.
Scariest moment: Seeing Paul fall down while swinging on a strangler vine and missing a sharp spike in the ground by a mere inch. It could have been much worse and he was very lucky to have missed it. Preparing and setting the charge for my over-the-counter dynamite whist in Bolivia. The crew from our Tucan Travel group wasn’t very happy with me especially after I stored the dynamite above me next to charging battery that later melted…
Favorite animal: So many to choose from but I would say the beat boxing Trumpeter was my all time favorite as it made such a funny sound as it puffed itself out. Also, Toucans with their colorful beaks, manatees with their round dog-like faces and the cheeky monkeys were great to see. Listening to the sugarcane rats’ call as they seemed to run out of steam was also very amusing!
Grumpiest moment: If I didn’t get a proper cup of strong coffee in the mornings. Seriously though, it was getting ripped off by a crooked taxi driver in Buenos Aires who slipped me a fake note!
Happiest moment: That would definitely be receiving my birthday cake on the Lares trek. It was baked in a hole in the ground using llama dung to fuel the fire at an altitude of 4250m! During the night it snowed as well so I woke up to my first ever white birthday! That was a very special moment for me.
Most disappointing moments:
· Not being able to see the Nazca lines after I hyped myself up for a plane ride over the Peruvian desert. Due to a plane crashing and killing 4 British tourists the aviation authorities cancelled all flights for a few days - we happen to be there at that time – typical!
· All of the horse riding excursions where we had to walk the whole damn time due to the companies compensating for inexperienced riders.
· The Navimag ferry trip down the Patagonian fjords. The bad weather caused us to miss out not only on the scenery but also on other trips which were highlights for our friends.
Earliest start: Getting up at 2:45 to trek the Colca Canyon (Peru) closely followed by 3:15 for the hike up to see the Torres del Paine towers. There were many more…
Most thrilling moment: Blowing up dynamite in Bolivia followed by the Ghost ride – downhill mountain biking along single track before finishing on the world’s most dangerous road!
Most painful: Having fresh ginger juice poured into my nostril to try and clear my sinuses as well as burning my arm on the zip line which took off a lot of skin.
Most entrepreneurial locals:
· The suicidal kids who hooked their tiny dug-out canoes onto our big boat and climbed over the sides to sell their wares.
· Kids posing with llamas or alpacas in Cuzco for pictures. All at a fee of course.
· A band busking in a random gorge in the middle of nowhere in Argentina!
· The empanada ladies in Bolivia
Most missed: I’ve missed quite a few things while away:
- Bacon
- Granary bread
- Heinz baked beans
- Full English breakfasts
- Proper croissants (Pret’s chocolate one being my favorite)
- Sunday Roasts
- Comfy bed with my down pillow
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