Happy Birthday Carolyn

Even though we gave you a call today, we wish you a Very Happy Birthday.
Love from us xx

And more photos

Chris and I on the red beach (copper and clay) of Rabida Island

Male frigatebird attracting a female on North Seymour Island

One of the sharks photographed while snorkelling

Sally lightfoot crab

More Galapagos

Yellow tailed surgeon fish...


Doughnut sea lions

Chris at Cormorant point, Floreana Island.

More to follow!!!!

The Galapagos Islands

Where do you start describing such a magnificent place...

Despite working on South American time with travelling (the plane leave when the plane leaves!!!!), our first encounter with the creatures of the Galapagos islands was seeing a land iguana at the side of the runway!
Then when we were waiting for the zodiac to take us to the boat, there were about 5 sea-lions laying out on the benches by the harbour just soaking up the sun.

Our accommodation was… interesting. The 7 member crew could not have been more helpful and they kept the boat lovely and clean, but our room still leaked a bit, but that’s not important…. Let’s start with the animals…
The first island was North Seymour and our first encounter with the Magnificent Frigatebirds. The males puff up their red chests to attract a mate and while we were there, this certainly worked! From here we headed to beaches with the lovely Sally Lightfoot Crabs… lots of Iguanas and more importantly, a newly born Sea lion - the mum hadn’t even gone to wash it in the sea, so it was about an hour old.

We have been to red beaches, brown beaches, beautiful white sandy beaches, but the main attraction was at our last island - Espanola, where I saw lots of my Blue Footed Boobies, and they were doing their dance!! We also saw some fully grown albatrosses and their chicks (the chicks are bigger than their parents).
I could write about our experiences for pages and pages…. But the photos are what people also want to see.
To summarise… the Galapagos Islands are unique in so many ways. The animals who inhabit them are unafraid of humans and I hope this long continues. The fact we could swim a few feet away from sharks, sea turtles and sea lions is proof of this. The people who visit these islands need to remember to keep their hands to themselves and also their feet in the paths, that will ensure the place will remain the same for generations.
I’ve had a great time - and when the sun shone on the ocean, the colour of it was just amazing. Now I’m just waiting for the room to stop rocking from side to side… but after 8 days on a boat it will take some time.

Galapagos - here we come

After a tearful (from me) farewell to our travelling companions for the past 45 (for some 20 ish) days, Chris and I headed out of Peru (we never did find Paddington's family) and into Ecuador.

After one night in Quito we are in another airport about to start our Galapagos adventure.

We'll not have access to internet etc until next Tuesday, so we'll see what we can update along the route.

Now, it's sea level, beaches and alot of wildlife to see.

The Nazca Lines

An overnight bus brought us to one of the still unsolved mysteries of South America, The Nazca Lines.

Discovered when some bloke flew over them, nobody is quite sure how, or why these giant pictures where created. A massive tourist attaction, the only way to see the lines is from the air so Jude and I jumped in a plane and had a little look.

It's bizzarre to think why someoone could be bothered to create these pictures. I like to think it was to do with spacemen but who knows.

The Humminigbird is very clear from the air because it is so very big on the ground. Jude was temporarily distracted from these lines by the plastic bag in the seat pocket in front. Deliberatly skipping breakfast meant there where no major problems with any of the 5 passengers onboard. Tight twisty turns and the occasional drop in altitude all added to the experience.

Canyons and Condors

A relaxed morning in Cusco after Macu Pichu allowed everyone a bit of time to recharge. Arequipa is a 2 hour flight south in-direct flight from Cusco and is one of the main tourist towns in Peru. We didn't have much time to explore the town itself the second deepest Canyon in the world was waiting to be explored. OK so we toured the canyon by Minibus but what spectacular views.

For those interested, the canyon was formed by an enormous shift along the Andean Fault line, between two big volcanos and not the usual Glacier/river thing which formed the likes of the Grand Canyon. The deepest canyon in the world is close by and called Cotahuasi Canyon but it was not very accessible so we settles for second best. An evening of hot springs rounded off a relaxing day before an early start for a spot of bird watching.

The Andean Condor is a member of the vulture family and with a wing span of close to 3 meters seeiing these birds flying on the thermals along the Colc Valley was amazing. Apparently a dead donkey in the area meant there where more birds than usual about (close to 20), it made for a spectacular display. I also got a chance to ty out my new camera (long story) but I have to say the pictures turned out quite well !

The roads where long and all credit again to our driver for getting us through the high altitude drive (4900m above sea level). Saturday night is Party night in any city and Latin fest 2008 called to our group. Starting at 1:00am (sunday morning) we where reminded that night time in the Andes is very cold, even when you are dancing your socks off. An 8:00pm train Sunday night meant we could stay up late. some managed better than others.

And there's more

The Quarry on MP

The whole on Machu Picchu

And Closer

More from Machu Picchu

The Creme de la Creme - Machu Picchu

Words cannot describe this place.
Chris, Ina, Sean, Daniella and I arrived here at 6:30am and I first thought the place was quite small... ha ha ha then we started to go from one side to the other and it's colossal.
In total we spent 10 hours here and although we didn't make it up to the sun gate (that was another 1 hours hike up a constant gradient) we did make the most of this mind blowing place.
I'll not bang on about it, here are the pictures...

The site itself (with Waynapicchu in the background looming over the place)

Chris and I on the top of Waynapicchu

Chris making me scared. It's very far down.

Children from the Lares Valley

Just some of the children we met along the way.

The Lares Trekkers

The group after the walk.

The Long Walk

It didn't really sound too bad... a 3 day trek in the Lares Valley and then a train journey to Machu Picchu... the first day was great. Collected from the hotel at 7:30am (30 mins late) and then headed to a market to buy some last minute essentials.

After a lovely drive through some fantastic mountain passes we were all dropped off at the side of the road and we began to walk... and walk... and walk.

After a few hours we reached our location for lunch and we were in for a treat. The lovely chefs on the trek had prepared a 2 course lunch. Soup for starters and then trout with some rice and salad for main. Once this had dropped, we had the option to go to some hot springs and we all took advantage of this.

When we had enough of the brownish water we all continued on our way and meandered up the side of a valley, following the river to our campsite for the evening, but that was after encountering some of the locals. What was lovely about the trek was seeing the local people in their remote locations - and I mean remote. We would walk for about 2-3 hours without any people, buildings, only Llamas and mountains and all of a sudden you had about 3 children sitting on the side of a hill in their colourful Peruvian clothes (probably watching the Llamas) and when you gave them what you'd bought - we'd toy cars (our nephew Josh just loves them) and some hair bobbles for the girls, their eyes lit up. Of course the parents of the kids we later met liked getting to coca leaves and bread too.

The second day of the trek was tough going - walking up to nearly 5,000mtrs, but the views we got were fantastic and even with us getting wet from the clouds, it was (in hindsight) worth the breathlessness and pains in the legs. That night - being so high was freezing - literally. It dropped to -15 degrees and when the ice formed on the top of the tents and on the mountain we'd just climbed, we pleased we packed so many layers.

The final day was an easier day - all downhill and only really 3 hours walking. We then caught a bus to Ollayantaytambo and then a train to Aguas Calientes (hot water) which is the town built for visitors to Machu Picchu.

On arriving here I felt like I'd arrived to Thailand - you are surrounded by extremely tall mountains and at night you think it's pitch black when the sky is higher than you think.

Chris and I enjoyed the Lares Trek - it was great to see the scenery of Peru and meet genuine local people, but apart from that, I didn't think it had a purpose. You walked from and to the same point and then went by train to the main attraction which is Machu Picchu. But on the group we had some great people and the porters, chefs and guides who helped along the way were fantastic. Next stop - Machu Picchu.

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma

We had some chocolate cake to celebrate.
Lots of love, from us xx

White water rafting

Today Chris and I, plus the majority of the group went White Water Rafting.

We got to see so much of the countryside and also some of the Inca ruins. The rafting was good fun and we all got suitable soaked - some people jumped into the river and went down the rapids. I didn't understand that this was an option... when asked 'who wants to get in and swim' I didn't see the temptation in this! But when we rowed on, it looked like it would have been lots of fun.

After lunch in the sun, we got back on the bus and were taken back to the hotel.
We had a good day which was relaxing - especially as the sun was shining!!!

Some of the inca ruins on the side of a mountain.

Lake Titicaca

The crossing from the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. And now we are in Peru.



This place is cool. From our hotel in Puno we got tuk tuks (or their equivalent) to the port to catch our boat to the islands.

We stopped to buy our 'families' some gifts to thank them for our stay and then made our way to the island of Taquile.

This is the place where the men knit and the better they are, the more suitable a partner they are. It's a lovely place but it was tough ignoring the children who were trying to sell their woven bracelets, but our guide said that if we bought them, then they would continue making them rather than go to school - or continue making them during their classes. Instead, there was a central place to buy the unique woven goods and the money went directly to the person or family who made then.

From here we headed to a place called Lacuna Chico where were we to spend the night. At the harbour, the families were there to meet us and there was also a band who played the entirety of our procession to the local school.

The guys then had a game of football to pass some of the time and then Chris and I took a long walk up the side of the mountain to where we were staying - I needed new lungs!!!! But after being shown to our room, we were introduced to our family. To say I was nervous was an understatement, but when we were brought into the 'kitchen' to meet the family, all nerves went.
We didn't take any photos of the room, but there was an 'onion' stove in one corner - which could have 4 pots on it, beside it sat our 'mother' Lucy, her sister-in-law Lucile, her mother-in-law Rosa, her daughters Ophellia and Cassia and her husband Juan. Then her father-in-law came in too.

In total, 9 of us were in this smokey room and sat on 2 beds and a small bench. It was similar to a room I saw in the Folk Park. But despite the language barrier, we all had a good time smiling and laughing at the children. Then Chris brought in the i-pod and we were able to show them pictures of our families and the children loved seeing them.

After our meal, Chris and I were dressed in the traditional clothes of the people, and went down to the school room to have an evening of dancing. It was great fun and after the long walk back up to the house, we were please to get to bed - after shedding all my layers of skirts!

7:30am
Juan's Papa, Ophellia, Lucy, Cassia, Juan, Rosa and me. Lucile must have been hiding and Chris took the photo!!!

This is the Uros floating Islands. We'd an hour here and they are just something else.