Friday 28 May 2010
We are in NEW ZEALAND!!
Sooooo after leaving at 23.10pm on Wednesday from Santiago we have arrived safely and some what jet-lagged in New Zealand at 4.20am Friday. All very strange and we are not sure if we are coming or going. And wondering quite where Thursday went.....
Still the aim of the game today is stay awake untill a decent hour...although this does mean we will probably have been awake for 40hrs in total!
Update soon when we are more awake!
Charlie and Jo x
Still the aim of the game today is stay awake untill a decent hour...although this does mean we will probably have been awake for 40hrs in total!
Update soon when we are more awake!
Charlie and Jo x
Wednesday 26 May 2010
Mendoza and ciao ciao South America
Just a quick update to keep you all interested! We spent 5 days in the wine region that is Mendoza...here we mainly well...drank wine and ate steak good steak. Oh yeah and we did one trek in preparation for Kilimanjaro! We had a guide dog called Mike who led us up and down the mountain, a friendly chap. We are wondering if he will come to Kilimanjaro with us.....!
We are now in Santiago waiting to catch our flight to New Zealand, only 14hrs, which is nothing compared to the norm we have got used to of 22hrs on a bus. Although you do get quite a lot of room on the bus!!
We have both enjoyed South America far more than we ever thought and realised that 2months to explore this massive continent is really not enough!! It just means we might have to come back one day....!
Anyho next stop New Zealand, ciao ciao South America!
Charlie and Jo x
We are now in Santiago waiting to catch our flight to New Zealand, only 14hrs, which is nothing compared to the norm we have got used to of 22hrs on a bus. Although you do get quite a lot of room on the bus!!
We have both enjoyed South America far more than we ever thought and realised that 2months to explore this massive continent is really not enough!! It just means we might have to come back one day....!
Anyho next stop New Zealand, ciao ciao South America!
Charlie and Jo x
Tuesday 18 May 2010
Mountains and Lakes!
Just a little update for you all (after charlies essay last time!! hehe!)
Did the trek to the black glacier 2 days ago which was very cool (hehe - glad it wasnt hot!!) To be honest i think we were all looking at the wrong thing for most of the time as the glacier looked like rock, but when we finally got it it was pretty amzing!! Plus the views on the coach were unbeatable! I feel like i say that alot......but the views do keep getting better with every place we visit!
Yesterday we did a 17 mile bike around the lakes and up the mountians (well they could have been hills but they felt like mountains!) Everything looks like the Alps as all the houses are wood cabins! Think they secretly transported us to Europe when we were asleep on the bus!!
We followed this with a little stroll up to a view point....yep the views were amazing! The bike dude said it would take 40mins after the cycle ride....we thought we could do it faster so charged up in 20!! tehe Also managed to half that time on the way down! Us competitive!?!?! Must be missing hockey!;0)
Not sure on the plans today but think it has something to do with lake....mountians...walking....views and chocolate!!!!!
Like i said just a short one! Take care back there - hope it is warmer than here!
Love Jo ;0)
Did the trek to the black glacier 2 days ago which was very cool (hehe - glad it wasnt hot!!) To be honest i think we were all looking at the wrong thing for most of the time as the glacier looked like rock, but when we finally got it it was pretty amzing!! Plus the views on the coach were unbeatable! I feel like i say that alot......but the views do keep getting better with every place we visit!
Yesterday we did a 17 mile bike around the lakes and up the mountians (well they could have been hills but they felt like mountains!) Everything looks like the Alps as all the houses are wood cabins! Think they secretly transported us to Europe when we were asleep on the bus!!
We followed this with a little stroll up to a view point....yep the views were amazing! The bike dude said it would take 40mins after the cycle ride....we thought we could do it faster so charged up in 20!! tehe Also managed to half that time on the way down! Us competitive!?!?! Must be missing hockey!;0)
Not sure on the plans today but think it has something to do with lake....mountians...walking....views and chocolate!!!!!
Like i said just a short one! Take care back there - hope it is warmer than here!
Love Jo ;0)
Sunday 16 May 2010
Buenos Aries to Bariloche.....
Wow...so much to update!!
After experiencing the amazing falls...which we still cant believe we boarded a lovely bus bound to Buenos Aries. Although not one of the longest bus journeys we have experienced it was fairly eventful. We were stopped on more than one occasion...about 7 by the Argentine police. We are still not sure what they were checking but they did ask us if Jo and I were friends, which we nearly sarcastically said no however choose the sensible option at 2.30am in the morning and just smiled and nodded! He had a gun. We also stopped at 11.15pm at a lovely restaurant for a 3 course meal....which was surreal. We didn't quite expect dinner to be dinner in a restaurant late at night. Most bus companies serve you food on the bus so you can expect our surprise when they woke us up for dinner!!
Anyway we did eventually arrive in the busy busy city of Buenos Aries. Here we found the hostel we booked full but successfully managed to manouvere our [which have got heavier...] bags to another hostel. We spent the days exploring the city. Namely visiting the Botanical gardens, Evita museum, Evita's grave and Jo's walking tour [we saw a big metal flower!] The highlight of BA for both of us was a tango show. This included an hours tango lesson, tango show, 3course meal and all the drinks you can drink!! We can now dance 3 tango moves!
Finally we have now arrived [after an even longer bus journey 22hrs] in Bariloche. The time the meal was on the bus and the staff very friendly to the 2 English girls going to Bariloche in the off season!! Also no police checks!
Bariloche has a very European ski village in the summer feel to it..although its the start of the winter, there isn't any snow yet so this is the off season. It is very pretty though with big lakes and mountains. We have booked onto a 1day trek tomorrow where we hike to a glacier and near the border of Chile and Argentina. We are very much looking forward to being out in the fresh air, especially after the smog of BA!
Ok essay update over!!
Hope all is well back in England
Charlie and Jo xx
After experiencing the amazing falls...which we still cant believe we boarded a lovely bus bound to Buenos Aries. Although not one of the longest bus journeys we have experienced it was fairly eventful. We were stopped on more than one occasion...about 7 by the Argentine police. We are still not sure what they were checking but they did ask us if Jo and I were friends, which we nearly sarcastically said no however choose the sensible option at 2.30am in the morning and just smiled and nodded! He had a gun. We also stopped at 11.15pm at a lovely restaurant for a 3 course meal....which was surreal. We didn't quite expect dinner to be dinner in a restaurant late at night. Most bus companies serve you food on the bus so you can expect our surprise when they woke us up for dinner!!
Anyway we did eventually arrive in the busy busy city of Buenos Aries. Here we found the hostel we booked full but successfully managed to manouvere our [which have got heavier...] bags to another hostel. We spent the days exploring the city. Namely visiting the Botanical gardens, Evita museum, Evita's grave and Jo's walking tour [we saw a big metal flower!] The highlight of BA for both of us was a tango show. This included an hours tango lesson, tango show, 3course meal and all the drinks you can drink!! We can now dance 3 tango moves!
Finally we have now arrived [after an even longer bus journey 22hrs] in Bariloche. The time the meal was on the bus and the staff very friendly to the 2 English girls going to Bariloche in the off season!! Also no police checks!
Bariloche has a very European ski village in the summer feel to it..although its the start of the winter, there isn't any snow yet so this is the off season. It is very pretty though with big lakes and mountains. We have booked onto a 1day trek tomorrow where we hike to a glacier and near the border of Chile and Argentina. We are very much looking forward to being out in the fresh air, especially after the smog of BA!
Ok essay update over!!
Hope all is well back in England
Charlie and Jo xx
Monday 10 May 2010
Wow...they were even bigger!
Today we went to the Argentina side of the falls.....and went in a small speed boat into them. They seemed even BIGGER today!! Wow, amazing and like Jo said you cant even really grasp how big they are. Apparently the region has had alot of rain recently too so this has made them even bigger and wow amazing.
Hopefully we will update some pictures soon but not sure they will do them justice we recommend you all come and visit them!!!
Charlie and Jo xx
Hopefully we will update some pictures soon but not sure they will do them justice we recommend you all come and visit them!!!
Charlie and Jo xx
Saturday 8 May 2010
The falls were.....BIG!!!
Just got back from seeing the Brazilian side of the Iguassu Falls.....they were very impressive!!! Sooooooomuch water tumbling over them - i really cant grasp it! You have to see it to believe it!
We also went to a bird park and i think the birs were a little chilly as it is cloudy here and not tropical like it normally is for them! I hear the cries of sympathy for us from here!
Tomorrow we are going to Argentina to see the falls from there....different perspective and hopefully a boat ride right up close! Wohooooo!
Had our first South American steak yesterday....very tasty! And i think we are opening the wine tonight.....well it is saturday afterall!
Right, Charlie may add more but dont think there is a lot to say!
Hope the weather back there is nicer than here!
Fill you in on more over the next few days
Love Jo ;0)
We also went to a bird park and i think the birs were a little chilly as it is cloudy here and not tropical like it normally is for them! I hear the cries of sympathy for us from here!
Tomorrow we are going to Argentina to see the falls from there....different perspective and hopefully a boat ride right up close! Wohooooo!
Had our first South American steak yesterday....very tasty! And i think we are opening the wine tonight.....well it is saturday afterall!
Right, Charlie may add more but dont think there is a lot to say!
Hope the weather back there is nicer than here!
Fill you in on more over the next few days
Love Jo ;0)
Thursday 6 May 2010
Ihla do Mel = Seaside!!
Wow, we have just returned from 2 days on Ihla do Mel....white sandy beaches, no cars, hammocks and wild dolphins! It was tough..... :-)
We spent the days walking along the coast. We walked to an old fort that they had built to protect themsleves against the spanish and spent another day on a boat dolphin watching, saw lots of dolphins although hard to capture them on camera!! All in all it was a relaxing 2 days with the exception of me getting attacked by midges and Jo red ants :-(
Now we are travelling back to Curitiba and then onto Foz de Iguau. Here we will see the falls from the Brazilian side before heading over to Argentina to see them from that side. We are looking forward to arriving in Argentina to get back to speaking our very basic spanish!! Portuguese is a hard language to understand and learn!
Hope all is well in England :-)
Charlie and Jo xx
We spent the days walking along the coast. We walked to an old fort that they had built to protect themsleves against the spanish and spent another day on a boat dolphin watching, saw lots of dolphins although hard to capture them on camera!! All in all it was a relaxing 2 days with the exception of me getting attacked by midges and Jo red ants :-(
Now we are travelling back to Curitiba and then onto Foz de Iguau. Here we will see the falls from the Brazilian side before heading over to Argentina to see them from that side. We are looking forward to arriving in Argentina to get back to speaking our very basic spanish!! Portuguese is a hard language to understand and learn!
Hope all is well in England :-)
Charlie and Jo xx
Monday 3 May 2010
Sunday 2 May 2010
From Sao Paulo to the Seaside (kinda!)
After Cusco we were hit with the big big city of Sao Paulo. After the culture shock we enjoyed some time and partying in Sao Paulo with Felipes (a work collegue of mine) brother in Law, called Beto and his gf Camilla. They looked after us brilliantly. We had full use of his appartement, 2 laptops and washing machine for 2 nights. While Beto worked we spent the day exploring Sao Paulo. We sat and had a picnic lunch in a very nice park - Parque do Ibirapuera. It had lots of ducks and a big lake! In the evening after work we were taken to an Irish bar on one night, where our non-glamorous and lack of high heels look stood out a little bit!!! Dam...we both knew we would forget something! On the other and our final night in Sao Paulo we sampled some traditional Brazilian food and went to the top of one of the highest skyscrapers in the city. Great night views of the city. Thank you Beto, Camilla and Felipe!
Following Sao Paulo we boarded a bus to Curitiba and arrived at what can only be described as a faulty towers hotel. The website was very deceptive! We decided to just spend one night there before before catching a train to Parangua. It is quoted as being one of the most scenic train rides in Brazil and they werent wrong about that. It was lovely with some amazing views along the way. And they also even handed out peanuts!!! Its ok though, I survived....we had all the windows open, we didnt pay extra for the air condition carriage!
On arrival in Parangua - the last bit by bus. We found ourselves by the seaside..well kinda. It smelt like the seaside and there was a small beach. Jo was very happy! We decided to book ourselves into a hostel and then make our way to Ihla do Mel (or honey island) tomorrow (that being Monday). Parangua is very quiet this time of year though, all the shops are shut (although this might be because its a Sunday?) and there doesnt appear to be many open restuarants....hopefully we will find some dinner!
Bye 4 now!
Charlie and Jo xx
Following Sao Paulo we boarded a bus to Curitiba and arrived at what can only be described as a faulty towers hotel. The website was very deceptive! We decided to just spend one night there before before catching a train to Parangua. It is quoted as being one of the most scenic train rides in Brazil and they werent wrong about that. It was lovely with some amazing views along the way. And they also even handed out peanuts!!! Its ok though, I survived....we had all the windows open, we didnt pay extra for the air condition carriage!
On arrival in Parangua - the last bit by bus. We found ourselves by the seaside..well kinda. It smelt like the seaside and there was a small beach. Jo was very happy! We decided to book ourselves into a hostel and then make our way to Ihla do Mel (or honey island) tomorrow (that being Monday). Parangua is very quiet this time of year though, all the shops are shut (although this might be because its a Sunday?) and there doesnt appear to be many open restuarants....hopefully we will find some dinner!
Bye 4 now!
Charlie and Jo xx
Saturday 1 May 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)