El fin

Hola todos!

Well, after 8 plane rides, 3 boats, 1 train, countless hours on a bus, and millions of steps, we have finally made it back to our humble home. Our flight from Santiago to Auckland was very long, although we slept through most of it, and then after a short flight from Auckland to Sydney, we hired a car at the airport and drove back to Canberra.

Although our trip is over, and we must now move on with our lives (i.e. work, mortgage, life in general), we absolutely loved our time in Latin America (especially Peru). For those people who have thought about traveling to Latin America, feel free to give us a call and we can do lunch/coffee!! This blog has only been a tip of the ice berg!!

Love to you all!! Thanks for reading!!

PS. I will be posting the best of the pictures on Facebook over the next few days. For those who don't have access to Facebook and would like to see some pictures, let me know, and I will arrange a private screening :-)

Último día en América del Sur

Hola Todos

This is it!! Our final day in South America!! After a years worth of saving and planning, and after an unimaginable number of steps (Dad - should have worn a pedomitor) we have finally reached our final day here!!

We lounged around the apartment for a while this morning, finally checking out at 11:30am (lazy I know). We decided to walk down to the market again for some last minute shopping. The weather, however, had other ideas!! It was pouring!!!! After walking around in the rain for a bit, hopeing that it would stop, we finally decided to cut our losses and walk to Bella Vista for lunch. On the way, a driver thought it would be really funny to drive through a big puddle while we were walking on the sidewalk, and we got drenched!!!!!! When we finally made it to Bella Vista, we were just glad for a warm place to sit and dry off!!!

We had a great lunch at a local resturant, which served all the locals favourites (anything deep fried and with no green veggies is a winner here). I had a beef casserole and Steve had a steak (naturally!). After lunch, we walked back to downtown Sanitago in the rain, grabbing some ice cream on the way (when in Rome), and yep, you guessed it, we decided to go see another movie at the theatre. The rain really put a dampener on our day. The movie was good though (Hambres de negro..... figure it out ;-)).

When we left the theatre we went in search of a light dinner, but since the Chileans eat their dinner at 9-10pm everynight, and it was only 6, there were very slim pickings! We settled for Pizza at the local joint. Nothing spectacular, but am starting to think that there is no way to try real Chilean quisine in Santiago.... we need to go further south for that!

We are now sitting in the hotel office waiting for our taxi to the airport. All in all, have loved Santiago (besides the rain) and would have loved the opportunity to see more of Chile! Next time!!

Will write my final post when I am back at home!!

Until then, see you all VERY VERY soon!!

No mucho tiempo

Hola todos,

Today we were up and about early, because we wanted to catch a tour at 10am. After making breakfast in our appartment, we headed out to find some coffee. We ended up walking unknowingly into a local coffee shop legend. This coffee shop, known to the locals as "Coffee with Legs", has no seats, and after paying for your coffee with a cashier, you walk over to the bar and hand over your reciept to a "hot" Chiliean lady in a very short skirt who will make your coffee. If you are a man, she will flirt with you a bit while she makes your coffee, and when its ready, you drink it quickly and go. An interesting way to sell coffee, but it seems to work here, and there are no feminists protesting out the front.

After our coffee (cuppacinos here are made up of a shot of coffee with whipped cream on top! Not great after breakfast. Have made a mental note to not order that again) we went to the main square where we joined a local tour group. Two things caught our eyes when we decided to take this tour: it was free (if you dont count tips) and it was in English. A double win in my opinion. Franco, our tour leader, lead us through the main square to the Presidential palace and the Opera Hourse, and along the way explainined the history of Chile up until the overthrow of the military dictatorship rule in 1990.  We then continued the tour on a lighter note, stopping at local stalls such as "Nuts 4 Nuts" and a local hotdog stand, which sells the best hotdogs in the entire city.  After crossing what Franco called the ugliest river in the world (he was not far off), we walked into Bella Vista, the restaurant/university district of Santiago, and concluded our tour at a local museum. All in all, it was a really great tour, with a great mix of history and funny local stories. And dont worry, Franco got a good tip!

After the tour, we walked back to downtown Santiago, stopping at a coffee shop along the way, and then decided to catch a movie at the local theatre! Such a Julie and Steve thing to do! We saw Los Vengadores (The Avengers). Good film!!

After the movie, we wanted to walk back to Bella Vista for some dinner, however, it had started raining while we were in the movie (according to Franco, it never rains in Sanitago. He mustnt have known that there was a Dwyer in town). Instead, we grabbed some more takeaway, and spent the night enjoying Latin American Television. The perfect last night in SA!! 

Estoy muy cansado

Hola todos. Today was our first day in Santiago Chile. A few things you must know about Santiago before I continue with my storey: firstly, smoking is everywhere, including in restaurants and cafes. We had to make sure we were put in the non smoking section to ensure that we wouldn't breath in the filth. Secondly, driving, although much better than in Peru, is still very hectic, and there is nothing wrong with waiting for the green light to walk, even though the locals dont and instead face the inevitable honks from cars. Finally, although I can understand the Chileans better than the Argentinians, they still speak very fast and have found myself just agreeing with them even though I have no idea what they said. Not always the best tactic, but has worked well so far. Ok, on with the storey of our day. We woke up late due to the time difference (I think we are now 14 hours behind Canberra), and after making breakfast in our awsome apartment, we went out wandering. After getting very lost (I still blame the maps for being very bad) we found the plaza de armas (the main square) and the tourist info office, where we got a better map. We then walked to Santa Lucia Park, which is full of very old colonial buildings and cannons, then wandered around the craft market for a while. Really cool stuff, but we didnt buy anything yet. We grabbed lunch at a restaurant near the university, then went in search of the archeological museum, which turned out to be one room within another museum! what a disappointment. On the way back to the main square, we stopped in at our apartment to check trip advisor on the iPad, but ended up falling asleep for several hours. Apparently all of the sleep deprivation we have encountered during the tour of Peru has caught up with us, as we are so exhausted! After we woke up, we ventured down to the national theatre to see if there were any shows on on the next couple of nights (there wasn't) then walked back to Santa Lucia for some dinner. Our dinner was so amazing!!!! A lot of restaurants here sell a lot of really basic dishes, like chicken and chips, but this restaurant had fancy Chilean quisine, which was so so good. After dinner we headed back to our room for an early night. I wish we were more interesting today, but alas, am just to tired and am ready to come home. 2 sleeps left!

Beinvenidos a Santiago, Chile

Hola todos. I write to you from Santiago Chile! After catching a 3 hour flight from Lima, we arrived here and caught a taxi to our hotel at around 6:30pm. Our hotel is in Centro Santiago! The plaza de armas ( the main square) is just around the corner, as well as all the museums/monuments we would want to visit. Talk about prime location! Our one bedroom apartment is on the 11th floor (Katy- no way am I climbing all of those stairs!) and is so stunning!! We were so jazzed when we opened our door and saw how much $100 a night costs in central Santiago. A lot apparently. And this place is apparently expensive. After dropping off our bags, we went to the supermarket downstairs to buy some breakfast makings for the next few days and grabbed some Chinese takeaway for dinner. We are looking forward to exploring tomorrow. There is a free tour around the square tomorrow morn that we are thinking of catching. Sounds like fun to me. Stay tuned. Hasta pronto!

Secondo tiempo en Lima

Hola! The day we left the jungle was just a boring travel day. Boat, plane, bus to the hotel! When we got back, we were able to have a good shower for once, then headed out to dinner with the group for our last night together. Dinner was at the same restaurant we were at for our first night of the tour (the annoying woman strikes again with her complaining), which was really nice, then the majority of us caught a public bus with our tour leader (now that was an experience) down to the Miraflores district for ice cream and a drink at a local pub (dad - the best band was playing at this pub. You would have loved this guys guitar!). It was a nice ending to a fantastic tour through Peru. We are sad to be saying bye to our tour group (well most of them) but I'm sure we will stay in touch with a couple of them at least. We are off to Santiago, Chile in the arvo. Don't know much about what to expect, but am excited to be seeing yet another new city. Will write again when we are there. Until then, Hasta pronto!

Refugio amazonas

Hola todos. I'm back in the world of electricity! After my last blog we caught a plane from Cusco airport to spend two nights in the Amazon Jungle! Catching a plane with 11 other people was a real pain, and by the time we had all checked in we were just in time for boarding. When we arrived in the jungle, we were taken to the office of Rainforest Expeditions, our local guides for the next couple of days, and had to quickly pack a small bag with everything we needed for the next few days. We then left our giant backpacks (which are getting heavier by the day) and caught an electric canoe out to the Refugio Amazonas, our lodge. This was about a 3 hour boat ride up the river, and Along the way we were stopping to looking at a myriad of different wildlife. Was getting so exhausted though, as the jungle is very warm with 90% humidity! When we got there we got told our room number and got to drop off our stuff. When we were given our room number I was a bit concerned that we didn't get given the key, however when we got to the room we understood why... The door was a curtain, and there was only three walls!! One wall was completely open to the jungle, complete with our own hammock set up, looking out into the trees. This room also had no electricity what so ever, instead utilizing primitive things like candles for light, and a very cold shower. It was by far the best room we had stayed in since arriving. Just amazing. After a bit of down time, we went out to climb this giant tower to see the jungle canopy and some birds, then went back to the lodge for dinner and then ventured out on a small boat to go Cayman spotting in the dark, which are practically South American alligators. Very cool. The next day was made up of a combination of walks through the jungle, where we ended up getting very wet (Then don't call it the rainforest for nothing. Lucky they supplied gum boots!), and naps in my hammock. In the arvo we took the boat out to a plantation across the river, where they grow all of this amazing fruit and veg. We also got the chance to see several exotic birds (our local guide was crazy about the birds). Really fun day. After dinner, we also went for a night time walk with our torches to find some wildlife. We were not successful unfortunatley! The next day we got another boat to the office, picked up our bags then caught a plane back to Lima, and the real world. I really loved the jungle! Need much more time to explore!