South/Cental America #15 - Costa Rica > Panama > Columbia

Photos: Costa Rica | Panama | Columbia

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1. La Fortuna
2. Monteverde
3. San Jose
4. Puerto Viejo
5. Isla Bastimento
6. Panama City
7. Colon
8. San Blas Islands
9. Cartagena
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Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Years.

I certainly have had a different year this year and I definately had a different Christmas and New Years but more of that in a little while. First and foremost a big congratulations to some of my best friends Glenn and Katie on their engagement. wish I was there to help celebrate.

Me, well another couple of countries have found their way into my passport and the legs keep on trudging along, 10 months or 300 days days have passed since I left my beloved shores of Sydney but I have hardly suffered.

After leaving school we crossed the border in Costa Rica and immediately felt the change of the people, economy and the influx of tourists, we took off for La Fortuna to glimpse one of the worlds most active volcanos, but only saw cloud. So we went to see a cloud forest near Monteverde, and only saw cloud, oh and rain. So no volcanos and no pristine forest, and after meeting an American girl Tanya it was not hard for her to convince us to go to the beach, 5 hours later we were sitting on the Pacific beaches of Costa Rica, long cresent baeches with palms supporting our hammocks and pina coladas watching sunset and I think we made the right move. Alberto was eager to talk to three Italian ladies we met and we all went horse riding through the jungle and finally along the beach at full pace with the sun setting on another day, loved it.

We then had to go and meet Cam (my brother) in San Jose, great to see him again and I am sure that we will be having some funny adventures over the next 5 weeks. We had one day in San Jose and managed to meet up with a local girl who in the space of 12 hours, bought us a coffee each, invited us around to dinner (we all cooked) and then took us out to some great clubs in San Jose...we came within a whisker of getting her to drive us the 5 hours to the next location, Puerto Viejo. San Jose I think has more Americans than most of the US, it was crazy how many of them have moved down there.

PV is a great town on the Carribean coast (yes we can not get enough of the beaches), great culture of the Garifuna people (rastas) and some great surf. The only problem is that the rain was bucking down and we had to wait it out....the three brothers (Alberto, Cameron and I) were joined by Ti from Sacremento and Marjolein from Holland so the waiting was not too bad. One of the best days in ages was spent cycling along the coast, we saw a lot of monkeys, some sloths (had been searching for them for ages) and went for a great body surf in some almost perfect waves.

Next up we took a bus, taxi, boat, boat combination to some amazing islands on the Carribean coast of Panama. Staying on a small island certainly has some advantages, no roads, beaches to only yourself and your buddies, invitations to multiple Christmas parties. Days on the beach after walking 15 minutes through the hills covred in lush forest with mud up too your shins and then appearing before a great break in the warm Carribean waters. Christmas Eve we went out to the bigger of the islands....and did not return until 4am.

So Christmas was a little shaky to begin with and then add in the island traditions and it was cornflakes a coffee and then the first of many rum and cokes thrown into our hands. The rest of the day was spent walking from house to house requesting food and trying to not accept more rum and cokes. It was a Christmas that was certainly different.

I got to celebrate 300 days on the road with a 10 hr bus ride across Panama (I hope that is the last big bus trip) and arrived in Panama City and immediately wished I was back on the islands. we asked around for some work through the canal, but none to be had so we visted the locks, really cool to see one of the modern wonders of the world as two super tankers passed through. Moved onto Colon, which is really a huge getto, one of the few places that I was worried walking down the streets during the day. We asked and asked again for a boat ride across to Columbia but ended up having to pay this crazy Swedish guy to take us over...

Well drama after drama unfolded on our little boat, changed plains, lost communication channels and well a great deal of fun. We finally set off and stayed the night in Portobella, arriving after a beautiful sunset and slept the night in a secluded bay. Woke early the next day and sailed for 25 hours straight, big waves and always into the wind made the going slow and somewhat upsetting to the stomach, Alberto turned a little green and slept most of the day. Yes folks this was New Years eve and at the stroke of midnight 2005 I was at the wheel of a 40´ boat sailing directly into the moonlight as my brother and great friend slept below, but it is a NY that I will never forget, very beautiful.

We arrived at the islands of San Blas and they are amazing, a chain of 360 islands scattered along the coast of Panama, some only big enough for two palm trees (prefect for the hammock). We sailed through to a safe caye (Holondaise), spent the day swimming, snorkling and collecting cocnuts. We planned on leaving the next morning but the winds had increase so we waited out the day by more snorkling and laying around in paradise...Hasse the captain refused to put the dingy in the water so we had to swim everwhere (remind you of anything Rob and Glenn). We waited another day and with the reports of continued winds of 60km/hr and 4 metre waves we gave up and fly back to Panama City and then within the hr we were on a plane bound for Columbia.

I never thought that this country would be so beautiful, so safe and the people so friendly. The place is great, I feel safer here that 80% of the other places I have been. The old town of Cartagena is amazing and we have been out and about checking out the sights and visiting the night spots to all hours of the morning. The women here are also challenging the Argentinians at the worlds most beautiful women competition...Cam has whiplash from walking down the street.

As they say in Costa Rica ¨Pura Vida¨ or The Pure Life, this is certainly summing up my time at the moment and I do not forget that I am exremely fortunate to have this chance in life.

Photos attached ::

Roland

& Los tres hermanos de pura vida - The three brothers of the pure life

South/Cental America #14 - Guatemala > Nicaragua

Photos: Guatemala |Nicaragua

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1. Xela
2. San Pedro de Atitlan
3. Rio Dulce
4. Livingston
5. Leon
6. Granada
7. Isla Ometepe
8. San Juan del Sur
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All,

Once again I hope that everyone is fine and looking forward to a break at Christmas...I for one certainly are, I really think this year I need a holiday.

Well James took off and so I was on the search again for a travelling buddy and convinced Tyler form the US to come on a 3 day hike through the mountains of Guatemala. It was an organized hike (through a non-profit company helping schools in the area) so no getting lost this time and we took off with a group of around 10 and wondered through the local towns, staying on the outskirts in tents and playing football all afternoon. Really nice to get to walk through the towns, see the people off the travel and also to stretch the legs inside of riding on the chicken buses that are buillt for american school children or the 4 foot Guatemalans. The final day we rose at 4:30am for a great view across the majestic Lago Atitlan for sunrise with lave pouring down volcan Fuego in the background.

Walked down to the town of San Pedro and set up there for a couple of days with some really cool people from the hike, spent the next couple of days chilling out, swimming in the lake, having mini-parties in each others hotels whilst over looking the lake. One day Tyler, Jense (Denmark) and I headed up Volcan San Pedro and I thionk we must have come close to breaking the record to the top and back down again (3hrs), we almost killed ourselves on the way up from exhustion and farmers on the way down from the hell bent run with little to no chance of stopping....but of course a lot of fun, and yes the photos are the same from the last summitt.

Then took off to Rio Dulce on the Carribean coast (4 hr journey turned into 10), found a great little place to stay in the jungle, almost lost my camera and someone elses when my canoe sank in the middle of the harbour (glad I can tred water with two cameras above my head, though my head was under when the other canoe arrive / camera is fine), swam in a hot thermal waterfall, and pleaded for someone to sail me to the Bay Islands in Honduras...no one leaving for 10 days.

With the weather reporting 10 days on rain out there I was glad and took off with some good Swiss friends to Livinsgton where for some reason I got myslef a very silly haircut that resulted in almost all of the locals laughing directly in my face for the next two weeks...I know I should be used to that but this really was about 80% of the people. Next up we travelled through Honudras, stayed two nights in the capital and ate and in a very memorible restaurant and visted some nice towns up in the hills. We then continued onto Leon a great little town in Nicaragua with nice colonial homes, churches and a great game of street basketball.

Continuing through the sweltering heat of Nicaragua (everyday 30-34 and humid+) to Granada and ended up in Gringolandia once again. A nice town and yes of course another colonial town, not as pretty as Antigua in my opinion but still nice to walk around. We found a free jazz concert at night, visited another lake for a swim and tried to reduce the heat as much as possible...normally by an intake of icecream. It is also the season for celebration and every morning a bad band plays out the front of the hoste at 7aml and wakes us all up, firecrakers go off at all hours, I think as soon as someone gets drunk enough to light the 3cm fuse and run.

Moving on once again....and now 9 months into the journey can you believe, to Isla Ometepe a great island in the middle of Laga Nicaragua, formed from lava flows by two volcanos about 200m abpart it is a really cool place. We caught the boat over and met up with another Swiss guy Alberto and we all took off for a collective farm on the other side of the island, stopping to by some moon-shine rum from a little old lady with a distillery in her kitchen...she gave us the rum in a plastic bag as she had no smaller bottles than 2 litres. Seems as though I did the Dutch tour of South America and now the Swiss tour of Central America, maybe I need to move to that part of the world...

Next day we climbed volcan Masera, it covered in cloud and us covered in mud, we did not see much besides the deep forest. Patricia and Markus left after 10 very fun filled days and Alberto and I continued on to another town in the hope of climbing the bigger of the two volcanos in the morning. But more cloud so we left for San Juan del Sur and we have now been here living on the pacific ocean for a week. We both took a week worth of Spanish classes and lived with a local family. So class from 8-12, the beach after that and then one or two lazy beers watching one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. The Spanish is still coming along and it helps that Alberto does not speak much English as it makes me practice.

Tomorrow we leave for Costa Rica were my brother Cam is meeting me in about 5 days for another stage in the adventure that has now become my life.

Roland

There is not much to be said about vocations, but if one day you change your tune and want to see the world.
remember this friend
who for you would risk his life
to help as best he can
when the moment comes.
A hug. Until it occurs to you - and until I reach where it occurs to you.
Che Guevara

South/Cental America #13 - Cuba > Guatemala

Photos: Cuba | Guatemala

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1. Cancun
2. Havana
3. Vinales
4. Trinidad ... and Australia
5. Havana
6. Tulum
7. Belieze
8. Tikal
9. Semuc Chepay
10. Antigua
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Hello all I hope that things are going for you as they are for me. First of all congratulations to Paul and Claire on the birth of their twin boys all are reported to doing well.

I have been moving at a rapid rate as you can see, the main reason is that I have a new travelling companion and those on limited holidays want to move a bit faster than I normally would. But that being said I have loved having James (friend from Sydney) around and we have had a ball.

So I flew in Cancun and all I wanted to do was leave again, so we booked a flight for the first possible plane out of there. We had a day in between and went for a great day trip out to Isla Mujers just off the coast of Mexico. Cancun is crazy, huge resorts filled with the package deal holiday makers, really is just the US on the Carribean.

Well Cuba, the last in the top 5 list and it was all and more than I thought it would be, the old town is amazing the heat is immense and the breeze if it exists fails to penetrate the tight allays. Every building stands like it is its last day ready to collapse like its neighbour, yet the people continue to walk into dark halls and climb broken stairs to their alloted homes. Men litter the street like the rubish that should be there, yet it is missing. Old Chevy's from the 50's cruise around in a very ironic sense, the american dream car in America's nemises. But the place has a great vibe, people are generally pretty cool, when you figure out the two tier tourist-local system and how to work it you can save a lot of money. There are plenty of people who see you as a $ but you cn have fun with their questions.

We were travelling with a great NZ couple Ross and Maryanne, we walked and walked around town taking in the sights and delights, we tried hard to find a cool night venue but ended up in guys lounge rooms with a band and a very interesting bar that the taxi driver recommended. We hired a car and headed out to the West, Vinales a cool town with huge limestone monoliths in the lush valley. We went for a great horse ride, swam inside caves, rolled our own cigars and went to a nightclub inside a cave that night. Then drove to Maria la Gorda a beautiful resort where I scuba dived over a 1000m sea cliff.

After a quick farewell James and I got another car and drove out to the east, driving many km's and covering some interesting driving conditions, we discovered that we both had the Jedi force that was need to get through a town and the patience to deal with some trying conditions. We drove through the centre of the island visting many towns and generally running a muck to Trinidad a beautiful colonial town. Lying on a perfect beach by day and partying to live music at night, eating in illegal restaurants ($5 lobster) - were I met a friend from Sydney's brother on his honeymoon - we had a ball. Driving along we found a town called Australia which was a bit odd, but made for some good photos.

We then headed along the coast to the Bay of Pigs, swam in amzingly clear water (30m) and then back to Havana for 3 more nights where we walked the streets, visiting a boxing gym, hanging out with locals, sneaking into the ballet and getting our own back on the hustlers.

Cuba is an odd country, hard to get around, hard to get some basic things. But the locals have it harder, $10 a month is the average salary plus food packages. You stay with families in their spare rooms and eat some occasionally decent food...but would recommend it to everyone especially before Fidel passes away, who knows what will happen after that.

Next up to Tulum back in Mexico, staying in paradise - bamboo huts on the carribean - visited the ruins for free through the back entrance. It is an amazing place, Mayan towers right above aqua water, but very hot and again full of tourists. We took the bus to Belieze and straight out to the island of Caye Caulker...but it rained and then rained the next day so we took off a little disappointed bound for Tikal in Guatemala. James and I also discovered that we have an amazing skill at catching connecting transport and never seem to wait for anything. We were the first into Tikal ruins (6am), one of the most impressive Mayan ruins settled on top of a hill in very dense forest. We saw the sun rise over the towers, beams streaming through the rainforest...very amazing. We sepnt the morning exploring the ruins, climbing the towers taking many photos on a spectacular day and generally soaking up the atmosphere of a very spiritual place, it almost still feels livable.

In the afternoon we headed off to Coban only to get half way and stuck in the middle of no where for the night. Next day we found our way to Semuc Chepay a natrual land bridge over a raging river. On top though the water cascades through 10 swimmable pools, a bright beautiful aqua colour and nice and warm. It is truly an amazing place and you have to see it, after 3 we had the place all to ourselves and saw the sun set between the valley casting an almost spot light over the cascades.

We are now in Antigua, another nice colonial town. Today we climbed an active volcano, yes I got to see some lava finally. Antigua is situated in a great valley between 3 volcanos, 2 active at the moment. It is a very beautiful place, a very nice colonial town, bright blue skies every day and a lot of great food thanks to the hundreds of tourists...

James left this morning and as you can tell we have had an amazing time. Sad to see him go but I understand that some people have to work... I am off to do a hike through the hills around Lago Atitlan tomorrow and then on to some islands off Honduras for a weeks worth of scuba diving.

Roland

South/Cental America #12 - Ecuador

Photos: Ecuador

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1. Mendoza
2. Quito
3. Otavalo
4. Cotapaxi
5. Galapogas Islands
6. Riobamba
7. Banos
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I hope that all is well around the globe.... 7 1/2 months now and counting.

Well the last couple of days in Mendoza were great, I had an amazing day up at Punta de Inca, a fresh snow fall contrasted great with the hot springs. A great view of Aconguaga - highest mtn outside of Nepal and plenty of snow fights with some other tourists I met.

Flew up to Quito...nice enough place but way too many gringos so I got out of there pretty quickly. I took off for La Esperanza to climb a volcano - Mt Imbarra 5000m. A long day climb and the last 1km verticle in thick cloud. I thought this was one of the hardest things I had done until 3 days later...

But before that I went to the Otavalo markets and resisted all temptation to buy a tonne of local shirts, hammocks, chess sets and even really nice leather jackets for $70. So I headed back to Quito where I joined up with my tour to climb Cotapaxi volcano - 6000m. Setting off at 1am for the climb, laden with crampons, ice pick, full cold weather gear and roped into a guide and a swiss guy we set out under a perfect stary night. Well the climb was straight up and continued to go on and on, every bend promised to be the last but yet continued on. As sun rose over the horizon we could see forever...shame that only lasted 10 minutes as the weather closed in and before we knew it we were faced with 10m visibility and 40 knot winds making it about -20. Well after being blown over on a thin ice bridge the guide asked if we wanted to continue...really stupid question as I was always going to give it everything. Anyway after 5 1/2 hours of climbing we reached the summitt, took two photos in the freezing cold and walked back down again. So after two climbs I have a heart as big as Phar Lap and quads bigger than Arnie and I am happy to say that I summitted my first two mountains, a tough but great experience.

24 hrs later I was on a boat just shy of the equator. Yes I finally made it to the Galapogas, a set of islands that I thought was only obtainable in my dreams. Islands so amazing that it really does excel any words or pictures that I can share with you, so excuse but I will try. The only way to truly see the islands is by boat, I joined Merak a 15m sailing boat with my buddy Ziggy, 3 German and 3 Irish ladies, tough I know. The boat was great, the guide very knowledgable and a nice guy, the cook Omar was simply amazing and the food the best I have had the whole trip and the two boats crew were also first rate. But the islands....stopping off and seeing birds flying within arm reach, baby seals sitting on the beach and nibbling your toes, sea lions swimming so close to you that they actually kissed my goggles, iguanas - the ugly things - are everywhere you have to watch that you do not step on them, penguins - yes I am still wondering why they are there - swim around you, sea turtles that you can hang on to for a ride, sharks, millions of fish, dolphins riding the bow wave, whales......the list is endless. Also on the islands you can pretty much stand over lists on endemic nesting birds that really do not care that you are there. They are all so interesting, the differences are amazing betweeen islands and also between sections of islands - 15 different tortise species, 9 different finches, boobies (a type of bird) one with blue feet that nests on the lands and one with red feet that nests in trees and sea birds that can not get wet. Go figure.

The actualy islands are all fomed from volcanic eruptions so extent cone after cone rise out of the water creating some fantastic scenery even without the animals.

I stayed out on the island with Ziggy for another couple of days and did some dives, easily some of the best I have ever done. Diving with hammerhead sharks, sting rays, eagle rays, schools of Barracudas ..... again very very cool. As I said I could go on all day, so if you want more info just ask and I will be happy to oblige. It is expensive but if you get the chance please do not hesitate to fly out to the islands, you will never forget it. It reallly is like living inside a 24hr Discovery Channel.

So that was number 4 out of 5 off the list..only Havana to come now.

I am now back on the mainland, after a quick stop in Guayaquil, I headed back to the mountains and have been on some very scenic bus rides and went on the Devil's Nose train ride were you get to sit on the top of the train and travel through the countryside and eventually down a couple of swtichbacks into a canyon. Everyone, and I mean every single one of the locals run out of their homes to wave as you go past, I think secretly the govt pays them 10c each to do this as part of the journey.

Next up off to Banos where upon arrival I met up with Mat and Phil that I met some days before and within 10 minutes of getting off the bus I was abseiling down 8 waterfalls, the final 3 where 75, 68, 71...a great days out getting very cold and wet but canyoning was fun. Spent the rest of the time finding a jungle trip that I convinced the other two to come on.

So leaving the next night we set off for the jungle..the amazon that is. Arriving at the last town in Ecuador we caught a 3hr bus ride to now where and then a motorized canoe another 3 hrs. Waking up the next morning to find ourselves on a beautiful lagoon. Over the next couple of days we tried to hunt down a anaconda (no luck), fished, saw monkeys, pink dolphins, plenty of birds, went for many swims...and one day paddled down river for 5 hrs, then up an impassable stream for 1 hr before hacking out a campsite for the night, really in the jungle this one. Plenty of mosquitos and other bugs but good fun.

I am now back in Quito and I have to say that I am quite sad to be leaving, My time here in South AMerica has been amazing, I would like to thank everyone that I met for making it such a wonderful experience. Highlights would take too long...for those that live here one day I promise to be back and I hope that we can all meet again soon.

Again photos are on the link below...also added some extra photos to the Mendoza lot.

I am soon meeting up with my good friends James from Sydney in Cancun on the 18th for the trip to Cuba and beyond.... I will be in touch.

Roland

South/Cental America #11 - Argentina

Argentina
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1. Salta
2. Santiago del Estero
3. Cafayate
4. Tafi del Valli
5. La Rioja
6. Mendoza

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All,

I hope that everyone is well back home, I am sure that you are all missing me. This installment sees the 6 months anniversary come around and I for sure can not believe that it has been that long, but thinking back over the time it is also hard to fathom how much I have squeezed into what really is a short period of time.

I settled into life in Salta quite easily and I think that I must have been ready for the rest, I thought of it as a half time break on the year tour. As I said last time I found a great Spanish teacher and settled into 3 hrs a day 5 days a week, my Spanish thank fully has improved immensely and I have been told that I am doing all right as I can have conversations with taxi drivers…seems that anywhere in the world people struggle to talk to their cab drivers. I moved in with a great family that was very kind to me, I do not know how they managed to remain so patient and I am sure that they are still laughing at some of the things that I said as I tried to converse in my new language. I miss them already, hopefully one day I can see them again.

So I actually got into a routine of swimming, class, lunch, siesta, reading, internet and dinner. Sat in the great plazas having a beer or a coffee, sorting out my gear, wandering around town etc. Salta is a great town and should not be missed if you are coming to Argentina.

One weekend I went off to visit a friend from the Pantanal, Laura is living in a argricultural city, Santiago del Estero, about 6hrs south of Salta. Arriving late Fiday night we went out to a local dance night (pena) in a basketball stadium, many locals dancing to folklore music that was a lot better than it sounds. Saturday morning we managed to stumble across the local zoo and though she protested to heading on the condition of the animals I managed to convince her to go in…also given that it was 10c. Well you really do have to feel sorry for the animals that are subject to this treatment, but this little backwater town did have 2 Bengal tigers (you could get to within 30cm of them), 7 lions that looked to be breading (that is not right then but they had a cub), baboons, pumas, chimpanzees and other local animals. Crazy to think how they afforded them all in the first place. But that being said I did manage to get some good photos given you could get so close…in fact close enough to feel in real danger at times.

On Sunday we took off to a community project that Laura is involved with, 3 hrs in the back of the corn delivery van in one of the coldest experiences in my life. We arrived to a warm welcome and the other members set about helping the local community to go through there government grant to buy 40 new goats, where will they keep them, what will they do with them etc. Really very interesting to see how they go about an aid project with consultation and implementation, I think this is the first time I have actually used my degree for something. The photos of the two boys are from this day and I have to say that I am very happy with them.

Back to Salta for my final week….after a sad farewell from my new found family and friends I set off down through Cafayate, one really really beautiful town. The road is absolutely amazing and the whole time I was thinking I have to get back out here with my camera, so getting off I sorted out a tour, found a hostel that includes a free wine tour (what more can you ask for), as you know I am partial to a drop of vino so I set off straight away...returned just in time for the canyon tour. The guide was crazy but very informative, the landscape was amazing, huge canyons carved from ancient rivers, contrasting colours and odd rock formations the last stop was inside a natural amphitheater and where our guide pulled out a guitar and sang with the most beautiful voice, under a setting sun, purely magical.

Then took off to a mountain retreat, Tafi del Valle, a great little town nestled in the bowl of surrounding mountains. After getting off the bus I almost immediately took off on a bike and cycled and cycled around the valley, about 50kms in all and felt totally exhusted but I could not have asked for a better way to see the area. Great to get out mountain biking again, down through some crazy little towns where I do not think they see too many gringos cycling past.

Next up and off to La Rioja where I unsuccessfully attempted to get out to a NP, so with a day to kill I sat in the park and read, saw the town and entertained some locals in an internet café. Note to all, Argentina has the best English newspaper, Buenos Aires Heald, easily the best way to keep up with news abroad....free plug.

Caught the overnighter to Mendoza, this bus saw the end of my high expectaions on Argentine busses and arrived nice and early, 2 hrs late, no sleep and a bad back. Found myself the best hostel in town and explored the city with a eye on the clock. Come 5 pm my good friend Carli from Australia arrived, for a fleeting 6 day visit. It is great to have a buddy here especially when they bring two packets of TimTams and a packaged from Mum. Carli and I have spent the past 4 days catching up and have been seeing the sights, hitting the night life to a couple of hours after sunrise and been on tours to San Raphael, the wineries (in which there are hundreds) and horse riding in the Andes where we got snowed on.

Mendoza is a great oasis in the desert, very green from nearby springs at the base of the Andes is really is a cool spot to visit. Where else can you find amazing canyons, more wineries than you can poke a stick at, 30m high sand dunes, world class ski resorts, a pumping town all within 40km of each other...if only it had a beach I think it would be the ultimate paradise.

I am moving in with some buddies from the Salt Plains Tour in Bolivia for a couple of days before heading up into the Andes and then over into Santiago de Chile for a flight up to Ecuador.

See the link below for the photos of Salta - Mendoza, I will update this page from now on so check in for any updates.

Roland

South/Cental America #10 - Bolivia > Argentina

Photos: Bolivia | Argentina

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1. Oruro
2. Potosi
3. Uyuni
4. Tilcara
5. Salta
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All,

I hope that everyone is well back home, thanks to all that have written to me recently it is great to hear of everyone´s news.

Well Oruro was ok, a nice place to wander around for a day, problem was that I was there for two and all of the sites I went to see were over 400km away. So I went out to some hot springs that turned out to be a luke warm pool and returned to Oruro where I found the onlt other Gringos in town and we sat and had a couple of beers in the sun with the federal police who happend to be a little affected by the beer followed by dinner at a Chinese restaurant aptly named Jackie Chans.

Headed off to Potosi and whilst falling in love with the views from the bus I stepped off to find myself at 4000m and a little light headed. Wandered around town and noticed that everyone just wanders and goes no where, crazy people just love to freeze. Paul re-joined me in the morning and we sepnt the day checking out the gorgeous colonial town that has prospered from the imposing hill (Cerro Rico) that towers above. Over the past 450 years the Spanish and now the Bolivans have taken out enough silver to build a bridge between there and Madrid Spain...and enough dead slaves to build the same bridge (8 million died working with mercury and in the mines).

We took a tour of a working mine and it was a step back in time, 2 tonne carts coming flying at you with 10 year olds pushing them through bare rock tunnels, crawl wholes leading every which direction as someone pushed for a bit of luck. We were inside for about 4 hrs and the last spot to visit was two guys 4 floors down and working with hammer and chisel in 40 degree heat for 10 hours per day, 6 days a week. We went back outside and got to blow up the dynamite that we bought from the local shops...oh also tried the miners drink of choice - 96% alcohol, and they drink 800ml straight every Friday to applease the mountain devils.

Off next up to the strange but interesting Uyuni, a town built on the idea to send through a train line and now the tourism that has opened up with the worlds largest salt flats. We took a tour over 4 days, first day was amazing as we crossed over the dead flat endless white expanse that makes you loose all sense of perspective but makes for some great photos. Stopped by an island on the flats and then headed onto to camp where guys from the 4WD attempted to play football at 4300m. Off the next day passing mountains that looked like they had been groomed, past many lagoons full of Flamingos (I too thought they were African) and then past some great rock formations. That night at 5000m it was minus 25 outside and minus 9 inside, so cold that the toilet froze solid...Next continued through the altiplano through some great geysers, swam in hot springs (natrual and hot ones this time) and ended up at Laguna Verde a nice green lake at the base of a volcano...on the way back the fun began.

Almost into camp we heard a rattle in the axel...looking at it the back axel had shifted so without a blink Emilio the driver jumps out runs up the hill and pulls out a tree, we attempt to drive down the hill when the drive shaft breaks, again he jumps out with the sort of look that this happens way too often. So under he goes, re-joins the drive shaft and then uses the tree against the bumper to hold it is place....ingeneous, Mac Giver eat your heart out. The next day all was fixed somehow over night andwe drove back to Uyuni stopping and crazy towns and the train cemetery.

Next night caught the train to the border and then finally back in Argentina...you notice the difference staright away. That night was Paul´s and mine last night travelling together and we went out for a great steak that my taste buds have been watering for (thanks Rach - Solar de Covento), then a couple of wines and we hit Barney Gomez to all hours...plus a trip to a pool hall that could only be descibed as the lonley hearts club. The next day Ida (a Norweign friend) and I travelled up to Tilcara, a town set in amazing multi-coloured hills. I went for plenty of long hikes and visited the correctly named hill of seven colours.

I am now back in Salta were I have settled in for 3 weeks of Spanish lessons in one of the best cities that I have found in South America, my teacher is cool and I have a great deal for one-on-one teaching for 3hrs a day.

Roland

South/Cental America #3 - Argentina

1. Puerto Madryn
2. Bariloche
3. San Martin

Photos: Argentina

All,

Well I guess all good things come to an end.....

After three weeks of glorious sunshine in some of the harshest environments in the world the weather finally turned against us and has now pretty much rained for the past two weeks. Since leaving the non existent Orca’s (only showed up for 2 of the past 18 days) we have been in Puerto Madryn, Bariloche and now in San Martin waiting for a bus to take us to the coast and Mar del Plata.

So how did we get here? Well after waiting for 5 hours for a big fish we ran into some guys (Dalius and Jay) that we met in El Chaiten and they offered us a ride in the Green Hornet’ their two seater mini-van. Well Jay was heading off to Buenos Aires and thus made room for us. After saying good bye to Mark and Eugene after a couple of restful days in Puerto Madryn, Dalius swung by the hostel and drove us straight back across the country to the beautiful lakes district and the main town Bariloche....only problem is that we arrived at 4am, so after some amazing flexibility shown by Matt and his koala like ability to sleep in any situation (he fell asleep around the gear stick with two 80 litre packs balancing on him) we managed some rest.

Bariloche and the lakes district are the ski towns of Argentina and in fact the best in South America, the great towns all have fantastic buildings modelled on Swiss chalets, wood work everywhere and the wealth floating around ski towns is always a welcome comfort compared to the other towns in S.A. 1t is here that we embarked on some Spanish lessons, from 8:30 – 12:30 and then 6 – 8:30 for 4 days we plugged away at the lessons making many mistakes but learning a lot, if only we could remember something. In the afternoons we had some activities organised and went to the museum, rode the green tube of death, almost killed myself on a downhill toboggan ride, went to an atomic plant and went for a rock climb one day with Dalius who had all of the gear in the car.

Well with classes over we took off for a couple of drinks on the Friday night and managed to have the best steak in the world (Albertos – after 9 different individual recommendations ), followed by a trip to an Irish pub (why are they in every town?) and then back to the hostel for some interesting card games. That morning we decided it was time to go and after 3 hours sleep we were back in the green hornet with a new passenger (Fiona - from Scotland, sorry Jon she does not know you) and heading up through the lakes district and San Martin. Well fitting three was a struggle so 4 was even harder but the car makes for an exciting ride, and luckily enough Fi is a physio......

Well San Martin is even more beautiful than Bariloche, shame that it has the same weather. With the following rain pattern and reports of it hanging around, we took a trip to the hot springs (Matt had been hanging out for this for about a month after I mis-read something and promised another place with hot springs) we are off to the coast where a promise of beach side living 35 degree days and a strong desire to get rid of the pasty white skin, piles of jumpers and get into the surf again has us wanting to drive the bus ourselves.

But at the same time it is a little sad as Dalius is off to BA and then blazing the way for us in Brazil, Fi has left for Santiago, but by the looks of things we may be meeting Dalius and Jay somewhere in Brazil, if not we are meeting up for a ski on 15th June and then meeting Fi in Ecuador, so all good.

Weather a side though we still love it over here, any time you can order 6 schooner size G&T’s for $14 is good by us. The locals are great; there is still millions of Israeli s running around just to let all chocoholics out there know this place has to be No. 1 for chocolate in the world.

All for now, speak to you soon when we are sitting on the beach drinking pinna-coladas.

South/Cental America #2 - Argentina/ Chile

1. Ushuaia
2. Punta Arenas
3. Puerto Natales
4. Torres del Pain NP

Photos: Argentina | Chile

We last spoke whilst we were down the bottom of the world, well after another couple of nights and some incidents that saw me almost employed by the hostel, arrested – literally in cuffs and in the back of the police car and also a crazy experience with some mountain bikes (broke down 10km out of town) we made our way back into Chile and caught up with a fine girl by the name of Alejandra, a friend of a friend from work. Well Ale showed us around Punta Arenas and we had a great time having a chat, seeing the sights and trying to understand each other. (Hola Ale)

Well it was sad to move on but we have now made our way up the coast a little to Puerto Natales, a funky little town that has boomed with all of the people going to Torres del Paine NP. In fact the tourism trade seems to be the only one. We sat around and had a great sunset, went to an eatery that served something other that hamburgers and hot chips and my stomach loved the change (thanks Rach). Oh also Rach everyone in all of the hostels have been copying down your notes, they are a lot better than LP or Footprint.

Torres del Paine....find $2000 get here, enough said, full stop.

Well someone out there is looking out for us and we managed to get 5 full days of sunshine and that makes a huge difference when walking, ask my two brothers sometime about the other side of the weather... The walk is 90km over 5 days, we did the track that is called the W’ as it is shaped like a W. The park is amazing and huge mountains rise out of nothing, some over 3km above where you are standing and are seriously vertically straight up. All covered in snow and a glacier or two.

Highlights have to be that amazing glaciers and mountain views with milky lakes in front of massive glacial fallouts. We went for a glacial trek one day with a tour guide and managed to walk through tunnels, climb the cracks and even do a bit of ice climbing. The blues in the glacier are amazing (photos one day soon) and we loved the experience though it hurt the budget it was one of those things that we can not do in Oz and the guides let us do a lot to technical things that other companies elsewhere would not. At the base of the glacier was a beautiful lake that had hundreds of icebergs floating throughout, a first for either Matt or I.

It is amazing to be walking along or asleep at night and here the crack of thunder, look above you and see massive amounts of snow coming tumbling down in a frozen waterfall. We then trekked off and found our way into a massive valley with huge peaks surrounding every view, we sat in awe of the place and could not believe the scope of these peaks, truly humbling experience.

This morning we hiked up to the base of the Torres (towers) and sat in the sun looking at some of the most amazing rock formations on the planet, you sit at the base of three towers that are over 1800m above you, straight cliffs tower above and you feel very small indeed. Well after 40mins of many photos, some of them a little more revealing that others we headed back down and now about to go out to dinner with a couple of people we met on the walk....steak and beer is calling, I can here them from the computer.

We are off tomorrow to see the Moreno glacier (the one that just exploded) and then onto Mt Fitzroy for more hiking, followed by a dash across the country to try and spot an Orca beaching itself to get a seal on the sand, only place in the world this happens, and only in March.

I hope all is safe,