Rob's next intended goal was another music festival at the Suwannee River Campground, near Live Oak in northern Florida the following weekend. However, I needed to start making progress north as I had a job lined up in Canada which started just before Christmas, and wanted to see more of the States and Canada bef ...
I had kept in touch with Eric, who I helped out in his café at the Magnolia bluegrass festival a couple of weeks before, and he was taking Sophies (his café on wheels) to yet another Florida festival. He thought he could do with an extra pair of hands, so, with the prospect of earning a couple more hundred dollar ...
Every November men all over the world decide to allow the hair on their upper lip to grow, partly for comedy value, but mostly to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer (www.movember.com). Although I never actually got around to raising any money, I decided to get involved and grow my "mo" anyway. It ...
At this point, the launch of the Discovery space shuttle from Cape Canaveral was being pushed back seemingly every day. Our plan was still to see it if we could, so we decided to drop in on another one of Rob's friends, Alisha, in Orlando for a night. She was working, so en route we stopped off at the Blu ...
The convoy arrived in to Miami in the evening. It was just as well we had Mike with us, because without him, it would have been a nightmare trying to navigate our way through Miami's maze of freeways on our own. We dropped him and his car off close to his house, and with just Bruno and Tootie in convoy, headed to our ...
Every year, around Halloween, Key West hosts "FantasyFest". This is billed as "Florida's premier masking and costuming celebration". Essentially, it's a fancy dress Halloween street party, in typical American style. People dress in costume even more extravagantly than the average American Halloween. There i ...
From Miami's iconic South Beach, we headed south of Miami, joining Highway 1. The highway runs right over many of the countless coral and sand islands that make up the Keys. It seems such a brash, very American thing to do, to build a highway right on top of these beautiful little islands, but I can't think of a ...
From Titusville, we headed south on the US-95, the interstate that runs the length of the US's east coast, from the Canadian border to Miami. In fact, whenever we joined the highway heading south, Rob would insist on playing "95 South" by the Duhks over the stereo. "95 South, 95 South / That is the way to my baby ...
Only a couple of weeks since I dipped my toe in the Pacific on Santa Monica beach, we had made it as far as the Atlantic seaboard. Well, kind of. Jonathan and Shell, a couple of friends of Rob's, were living in a lovely house overlooking the Indian River, a river (or is it a lagoon - not sure) separated from the ...
At the end of the festival, when leaving the campground, I managed to reverse Bruno into a tree. Ooops! Not much damage done though, Bruno is a touch old boy! We had a brief overnight stopover with a couple of Rob's friends just outside Bell, Florida, before continuing our journey South - our next goal being the s ...
Rob's entire purpose for embarking on a road trip across the southern states was to go to a couple of music festivals in Florida. So, 11 days after leaving Las Vegas, and after a long drive from New Orleans, we arrived at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park and Campground outside Live Oak, a small town in north ...
New Orleans, Louisiana; NOLA; Nawlins; La Nouvelle Orléans. A city famous for its long history, situated at the mouth of the Mississippi, famous for its Creole cuisine, famous for being the birthplace of jazz, for Mardi Gras, for Voodoo, and for Hurricane Katrina. For all these reasons, I have wanted to visit it ...
For the second time on our journey across America, we could have been shot and killed, all quite legally. Only in America! Tom and Kay, Rob's aunt and uncle, had suggested we dropped in to see a cousin of Rob's, Bryan, on our way East. Bryan was a mechanic and could have a look at Bruno's rear seat to see i ...
We arrived into Austin and found our way to our next temporary home. Rob had arranged for the three of us and the two dogs to couchsurf at the House of Commons, a housing collective close to the University of Texas campus. So, this was my first official couchsurfing experience (not counting staying at Rob's - who ...
Determined to turn the day in to a positive one, we had one more stop before we reached Austin. On previous road trips, Rob has travelled with two dogs as travel companions (as well as whichever humans have fancied jumping in for the ride), Nutz (a miniature pinscher) and Cleo (a basset hound). Cleo has pas ...
Rob wanted to make a couple of detours on our way to Austin, our next stop. The first was to the middle-of-nowhere-America town of Johnson City, where he knew of an abandoned feed mill. It seemed that the intention of the owners was to turn it into a restaurant-cum-theme park, although they never quite finished ...
Western Texas is full of a whole load of nothing much at all. Pretty flat and pretty unimpressive. So, for Bruno it was time to start making up some miles towards the East. It was getting late when we made it to the surprisingly charming colonial town of Fredericksburg, parking for the night in Walmart's ca ...
After a short drive from Carlsbad Caverns, we crossed the state line into Texas and stopped for the night at the Guadelupe Mountains National Park. We arrived at the park just as the ranger was doing his last round for the night, so we thought better of trying to camp for free and paid for the campsite. Rob is ve ...
After the dunes, we continued through New Mexico towards the town of Carlsbad, which is famous for the Carlsbad Caverns, a giant network of limestone caves, disputedly first discovered and explored by Jim White, a local cow-hand, around 1898. We just made it in time to be allowed into the caves. The caves w ...
Our route from Albuquerque was south down the I-25, heading towards the White Sands National Monument. As we were getting a bit bored of the interstate, we decided to cut the corner and take a more scenic route. Having identified a road on our atlas, we turned off at Elephant Butte and headed down the county road ...
It was around lunchtime on Sunday 10th October that Bruno departed Las Vegas, heading east. On board was Rob, Szymon, Nutz (Rob's dog - a miniature pinscher ), and me. We headed over the Hoover Dam (which I had now been over three times!) and joined the I-40 East. The conversation was flowing and we were al ...
After another delayed Greyhound bus I caught up with Rob at one of Vegas' casinos. He was showing around a couple of couchsurfers that he was hosting. I had heard about CouchSurfing when I was travelling in South America, and although I signed up to the CouchSurfing website, I hadn't actually surfed any ...
Peter dropped me at the Bakersfield's Greyhound station, where I was ready to be exposed to my first taste of long-distance bus travel in the United States. Having used buses so much in South and Central America, I was interested to travel the famous American Greyhound, viewing it as a romantic way to travel acro ...
From the Canyon we headed back south to the Interstate, where we dropped of Jez who was continuing his journey East - where he was actually going to Memphis to meet his father for the first time! But we wished him well and left him on the side of the road, where he was planning on hitching a ride down the I-4 ...
From Zion, as the sun was setting, we drove to Flagstaff, Arizona, where we checked in to a motel - just like they do in the movies. But on the way we stopped in Kanab, Utah for dinner - and it doesn't get much more Small-Town-America than that! Deciding to snub MacDonalds in favour of a local burger joint - Big ...
One of the good things I didn't mention about Las Vegas is that, despite being in the middle of a desert, it is well located close to some amazing natural scenery and some of the USA's best National Parks. So, as I mentioned in my last post, I met Peter, a Hungarian, and he had hired a car and was planning ...
So, the next chapter of my adventure begins: Journeying across and around the high-fiving, yee-hawing, spontaneous-applauding land of big cars, fast food, baseball caps and unwavering patriotism - the United States of America. When I was first planning my journey all those months ago, some frie ...
And so, another chapter of my travels comes to an end. In 5 weeks I have covered seven countries and seen and done some pretty amazing things. The highlights have been the Mayan ruins of Copan, Tikal, Palenque and Calakmul, flying through the jungle on ziplines in Costa Rica, diving in Utila, snorkelling of ...
Having stayed so long on Caye Caulker, I only had time for one more stop before I had to catch a flight from Cancun. That stop ended up being in Tulum, a Mexican town on the eastern coast of the Yucatan peninsula. In Caye Caulker I had booked a fast ferry service to the Mexican border town of Chetumal - you ...
Featuring high on the list of places in Central America that I wished to visit was Belize, and particularly Caye Caulker. I had heard good things, and I was not disappointed. I stayed on Caye Caulker a lot longer than I intended to. And why not? A beautiful coral island 20 miles from Belize City, famous for ...
Leaving Calakmul, I caught the last bus East along the highway, to the coastal town of Chetumal, close to Mexico's border with Belize. I decided to stay for a night and visit the reportedly very good Museum of Mayan Culture. Wanting to continue my journey into Belize as quickly as possible, I was ready and ...
My next intended destination was the Mayan ruins (yes, more!) of Calakmul, in the middle of the Yucutan peninsula, and, deep in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, the most remote ruins I was to visit. The nearest town to the ruins is that of Xpujil, (pronounced "Shpooheel"), a one-road town halfway along the Highway ...
More Mayan ruins, this time Palenque in Mexico. I stayed in a place called El Panchan, a collection of accommodations between the town and the ruins on the bank of the Otulum river. As I arrived, I had to step over over dreadlocked youngsters playing guitars and bongos - I thought the place had a cool, hippy-ish ...
The journey from Flores, Guatemala, west towards Palenque, Mexico, is one of the more remote (and enjoyable) border crossings I have done (and am likely to do). From Flores, a local chicken bus takes you down single dirt tracks through small country villages, stopping at an immigration office before you arr ...
Skipping over much of Guatemala, I arrived in Flores, a town in the remote north of the country. It is the capital of the Peten province, and the closest significant town to Tikal, Guatemala's premier tourist destination and the largest and arguably most important Mayan archeological site. In what is referred to ...
I travelled to Antigua, Guatemala (a different Antigua to the Caribbean island where I spent Christmas) with Richard, a British guy I met in Copán, Honduras. We checked in to the cheapest hostel we could find, which it turns out may not have been the best idea; over the couple of nights we spent there we both were vict ...
After the last two dives in Utila, I took the afternoon ferry back to La Ceiba and a bus on to San Pedro Sula, Honduras' second city. I arrived too late to catch another bus out, so was forced to spend a night. Without any backpacker hostels in town, I found the cheapest hotel I could. It was nice to have a whole doubl ...
Utila is well known for its cheap scuba diving, and, apart from being a beautiful Caribbean island, not a lot else. There are a lot of dive shops on the island, and there is so much competition between them that they send their most attractive members of staff to the ferry dock to attract your custom as soon as you arr ...
From León, I was told that there was a 4am bus direct to the border with Honduras. I arrived at the station with plenty of time to spare - which was maybe not such a great thing as it was dark and deserted apart from a couple of guys setting up their stalls for the day and some stray dogs. They informed me that there w ...
From Isla de Ometepe I took a bus, a ferry, a taxi, another bus, another taxi, and a minibus to reach my next destination; Leon, the capital of Nicaragua until 1857. When I first arrived, I took a third taxi to my chosen hostel. Unfortunately, it was full. But a local middle-aged guy introduced himself as Mauricio and ...
From Monteverde I took the 4am bus to the highway, then another bus to Peñas Blancas, the border town into Nicaragua. It was a couple of km to walk to Costa Rican immigration, then over the bridge, and a bit further to Nicaraguan immigration and customs, from where I took another bus to the town of Rivas only half an h ...
After a smooth border crossing into Costa Rica - one of the more rustic crossings I have used - a rickety-looking wooden bridge over a wide river - and an overnight stop in San José, the capital (which included a couple of games of chess and one of Kings Cup (= Ring of Fire) with some peeps in the hostel) I headed for ...
From Panama City, the overnight bus was slow and uncomfortable. Central America seems not to have cottoned on to the idea of adequate legroom for people over 5 foot tall. I didn't sleep much; although I was just drifting off as we pulled into a bus stop and some people started getting off. With most buses in Latin Amer ...
And so, the next chapter begins: Central America. With only a little over five weeks before I'm due in Las Vegas, I have to be very selective about where I want to go and what I want to see in that time. With the countries all nicely lined up before me, like a big game of hopscotch with South America and the United Sta ...
So that's it. Another chapter of my epic adventure complete. Seven amazing months in South America. It's flown by. And with the exception of a few weeks in Buenos Aires, I haven't really stopped. Seven months seems like a long time, but it isn't even close to what you need to do this continent justice. I feel like ...
I never quite got to do everything I wanted to do when I was in Rio the first time around, which is why I decided to return there to complete the South American chapter of my adventure. It is one of the most beautiful cities of South America, with the bay, the mountains, and of course, the beaches. For tourists, there ...
As it happened, Paloma, my Brazilian friend from Sao Paulo, had just quit her job - and was therefore at a loose end for a few days, so I invited her to join me on my journey to Rio, via the Costa Verde. Unfortuantely, the logistics and the weather meant it wasn't worth going to Ilha Grande - where I had originally wan ...
With over 20 million people in its metropolitan area, São Paulo is the biggest city in South America. The size of the city is best appreciated from the top of one of the city's high-rises, so one morning I headed up the Banespa Tower (the former state bank). Despite the city's haze / smog, the view is impressive - the ...
When I was passing through Brazil six months ago, I didn't have time to go everywhere I wanted - and so that is one of the reasons why I wanted to come back. Florianopolis was a place that other travellers raved about. The main draw is the Ilha de Santa Catarina, the island to which the town of Florianopolis is the gat ...
Many travellers skip over Uruguay - as I did first time around. But in my opinion they're really missing out. It's quite similar to Argentina, but the people are more laid-back. Drivers slow down for pedestrians crossing the street without even giving them a beep. (All over South America, people use their horns almost ...
A popular day-trip from Buenos Aires is across the Rio de la Plata to the Uruguayan town of Colonia, which was a brief stop for me on the way to Montevideo. One of the things that the guide books don't tell you is that the ferry across the river (or is it an estuary?) is much cheaper if you can book a week or more in a ...
After almost four months away, it was good to be back in Buenos Aires; somewhere familiar. The city has been the closest thing I've had to a home in the past six months, and it also feels good to have completed some sort of circuit around South America. Over the weekend, I met up with Chiara, a friend I had made all th ...
I have just arrived back in Buenos Aires, after a 27 hour bus journey from Bariloche. That makes it my longest yet, so when I booked it I decided to treat myself to 'ejecutivo' class, which is only a little bit more expensive and a lot more comfortable. I have taken buses in every country I have been to in South Americ ...
San Carlos de Bariloche, or Just Bariloche for short, in southern Argentina, is well known for its German and Swiss influence. It is surrounded by beautiful lakes and mountains and therefore feels very alpine. The city is famous for its beer and chocolate. I knew I was going to like this place!Nearby the city is the la ...
I caught up to the tour bus in the town of Chillán. Sergio, the driver and guide introduced me to my fellow travellers: Chloe and Lynne, and Claire and Gerard, all from South Africa. We continued South to the tourist town of Pucón, in the Andean foothills between the Villarica lake and the volcano of the same name; the ...
With only a week to get to Bariloche, about 800 km south in Argentina, my mission on my first morning in Santiago was to plan my route there. I had heard that there was a journey that can be made to Bariloche from Puerto Montt in Chile through the lake district - the Cruce Andina (www.cruceandina.com) by a combination ...
Getting back to Mendoza from Las Leñas gave me a bit of hassle. As I tried to board the bus, it turned out that there was a problem with my ticket: Someone had already boarded with my seat number. Apparently, when the road to Las Leñas was closed and I changed the out-bound leg of my ticket, the return leg magically di ...
According to the font of all my knowledge, Wikipedia, the definition of "flashpacking" can be thought of as backpacking with flash, or style. One school of thought defines the flashpacker as a rapidly growing segment of travelers who adhere to a modest accommodation and meal budget, while spending freely, even excessiv ...
With no time to waste I got the bus from Salta to Mendoza - a 20 hour journey and I think that makes it my longest yet. At least Argentinian buses are relatively comfortable, show movies (usually in English with Spanish subtitles) and provide food and drinks - although it's about equivalent to airline food, served cold ...
So I have found myself back in Argentina, where I left back in April. Coming back, it is surprising how contrastly different it is compared with Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador; vastly more developed, westernised if you like. No more three course meals for $2 or less. In general, it puts a lot more strain on those of us try ...
The Atacama Desert, in northern Chile, some say, is the driest place on Earth. But as anyone who has seen that episode of QI, it is in fact second to Antartica in terms of rainfall. But it is still pretty dry!Its dryness, the thin atmosphere, and lack of light pollution make it one of the best places in the world to pr ...
Uyuni itself is an unremarkable back-water town. It is the gateway to the largest salt flat in the world, the Salar de Uyuni. There are as many as 90 operators running identical 3 or 4 day tours, which makes it difficult to choose one. The competition between operators means that they tout for tourists in the town's st ...
I arrived in Potosí at 4am - not the best time to be arriving anywhere, and a couple of hours ahead of schedule (for a change). Thinking I would arrive in the morning as opposed to the middle of the night I hadn't reserved any accommodation. So I took a taxi from the bus terminal to the place that sounded best in the g ...
Although it is not ugly, no-one would argue that La Paz is South America's prettiest city. It is at its most attractive as you approach it, as the city's twinkling lights appear out of nowhere in a valley seemingly carved by the Big Guy Upstairs out of the flat, high altiplano.With only six weeks left in South America, ...
... that's what everyone says. I hadn't realised that "Bolivia effect" would be so quick-acting though. My latest complaint was caused by perhaps a combination of my intestinal parasites (who have become quite attached to me it seems), the altitude, something I ate, and England crashing out of the World Cup. No sooner ...
It´s been a while since I wrote. There are two reasons for this: 1. The lack of WiFi in Bolivia. 2. Last week, my iPhone died on me. Perhaps it was when I dropped it, perhaps it was using it at about 5,000m above sea level, perhaps it was the freezing cold temperatures, or perhaps it was taking down the extremely ...
From the disappointing Colca Canyon experience in Arequipa, and with Anita leaving me to continue her journey north, I had a choice; to continue on to Nazca to see the famous Nazca lines, perhaps made by aliens but more likely by some pre-Hispanic South-American culture, or to return to Cusco for Inti Raymi, the annual ...
No, not that one. The only thing that has got Anita and I through our 2-day trek in the Colca Canyon, just outside Arequipa, Peru, has been the promise of CAKE! The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu took it out on both of our legs, and with the gorgeous scenery dotted with Inca ruins replaced with a dusty and relatively ...
... and I've done some pretty cool things in my time. It's also probably the most expensive thing I've ever done, with all the hiking and camping gear I've had to buy or rent, along with the trek costs, porter tips and other unforeseen expenses. But it would be worth it even if it cost double. I've just returned ...
Mancora is a beach town in Peru, near the Ecuadorian border. Unless you surf, there is not much to do, only sunbathe and party. And by 'party' I mean drink enough alcohol to take down a llama and dance the night away at (and on top of) the town's many bars. I arrived planning to stay for two days, but ended up staying ...
Hello! I'm Gorilla, Steve's travelling companion, and I'm a bit of a philosopher. Steve has let me take charge of his blog for a moment to give me a platform to voice my random musings. The past couple of weeks have stirred up some thoughts which have been formulating in my mind for a while. And I thought "Why not ...
I'm falling so far behind on my blog! This was meant to be written over a week ago - I hope my online followers will forgive me!Last week, I was in the Oriente, Ecuador's slice of the Amazon basin. As my regulars will no doubt know, I have been on a few jungle tours already on my trip: in the Orinoco delta, the Brazili ...
As of course you know, bathroom in Spanish is "baños", but did you also know that Baños is a small town in the middle of Ecuador? Beautifully set in a corridor of mountains and volcanoes (one of which has been active in the past couple of days), the town is famous for outdoor pursuits such as white-water rafting and mo ...
Crossing the border into Ecuador, it felt like returning to a familiar place, having crossed it the other way three weeks previously. It also felt good when I busted the money changer trying to scam me out of a few dollars. It seemed to me as if I'd got one over on them, although actually I had just avoided them gettin ...
So, from Bogota, heading South, I arrived in San Augustin, a small town in the Colombian interior. After the overnight bus, perhaps I was a little grumpy, but I didn't take kindly to being hassled by tourist-hawkers the moment I stepped off the bus. There is nothing that turns me away from buying something more than be ...
In Bogota, I met up with Lucy and Hester, two British girls that I met in Medellin the week previously. I suggested we go out to a restaurant that had been recommeded to me by a former Bogota resident friend of mine (cheers for the tips, Tony!). It turns out that Hester had become friendly with (aka hooked up with) a C ...
I left Cartagena by minibus, heading for the small seaside town of Taganga, 5 hours away. With less legroom and luggage space than the long-distance buses, me and my fellow travellers were all crammed in with our knees up by our ears and our backpacks stacked in the aisle.Taganga is a growing on the backpacker circuit ...
Continuing up through Colombia, my next stop was Medellín, the country's second biggest city where I spent last weekend. Travelling up from Cali was a pleasure with Etienne, a Frenchman living in Dublin. We talked about many things as the bus winded its way through the mountains. He plays and writes music, is pla ...
The Pan-American Highway winds its way north from Quito, up, down, around and through the Andes. Sitting on the right side of the bus, peering over the precipice, while the driver cuts blind corners and negotiates the switch-backs at speed, is an adventure in itslef. At the border town, Tulcan, the only other gringo on ...
Somewhat surprisingly, Quito is a very attractive city, built into the Andean slopes. The people are really friendly and this is the first place I've been where things are noticably cheap; the bus from the airport in to town for instance was only US $0.25.After some confusion between the Amazonas Inn and the Travellers ...
Today, I am leaving the Galapagos Islands, where I have spent the last two weeks. It's the kind of place where I could stay longer and do many more things, visit every island, and spend a small fortune on tours and scuba-diving trips, in search of the perfect photograph of a sea-lion, iguana, frigatebird or booby. ...
Hi. My name is George. People sometimes call me Lonesome George. I grew up with my family and friends on Isla Pinta, in the Galapagos Islands. Our ancestry goes back generations and generations. A long, long time ago, around the eighteenth century, strange two-legged creatures started arriving and began abducting m ...
Anchored in a nice spot well sheltered from the southern swell and close to the dinghy dock. Sea lions and manta rays swimming round the boat. Awesome!
Last night, at around 2 am we crossed the equator. It is tradition for seamen to give a gift to Neptune (or Poseidon, depending on your particular inclination) - the best we could muster was a can of Panamanian Atlas beer. With Brad dressed as Neptune himself (with devil's trident and jester's hat - the closest things ...
Sailing continuously today. We've sailed more on this trip than I had expected. Although saying that, the wind is dying as I write; we're considering turning on the engine, but are reluctant to do so as people are about to try to get some sleep. I'm on watch until 21h00. We are due to cross the equator between 1 and 2 ...
Two nights ago, after my last post, and towards the end of my night watch, the lightning show that had been keeping me entertained arrived, and with it came some pretty heavy showers. Unfortunately, after my Atlantic crossing, I sent my wet weather gear home, so I was a little unprepared. Thankfully I was soon able to ...
No log entry yesterday as I was experiencing iPhone power problems. Yesterday morning, the wind dropped and we had to turn the engine on. Which in a way was welcome, as it gave us the opportunity to charge the batteries and generate some water.The dilemma we have been facing is whether to head direct to the Galapagos o ...
A full day sailing with a constant, gentle breeze. It's so nice to get back out on the open water, with the engine off, relaxing, listening to music, playing Trivial Pursuit, chatting, or just watching the world go by. We encountered some wildlife today - just giving a taste of what can be found around the Galapagos; a ...
In the morning, after a quick swim, we set off from Isla Contadora, heading south, unsure whether we would stop for one more night in the Las Perlas archipelago. Judging from the wind forecasts online, we may be motoring a lot of the way to the Galapagos. And by our calculations, we only have enough fuel to get us half ...
After Thursday night's frivolities, nothing much happened yesterday. We discovered we could sniff some free wifi from a restaurant ashore, so we could check email and weather reports without leaving the boat. Claire left us in the afternoon to catch a flight to the mainland. Brad and Jay tried out the new wakeboard wit ...
Ghost is preparing to cross the South Pacific, so Brad and Kat have been stocking her up with the necessary provisions for her six month voyage. Although "necessary provisions" doesn't just mean food, water and fuel, but also includes equipment for scuba diving, water-skiing, wake-boarding and kite-surfing, as well a ...
Argentina was starting to get a little chilly, so I have jumped on a plane and flown back to the tropics. A slight diversion from my original plan, but I hav been given an opportunity that is just too good to turn down. I have arrived in Panama City in fact, where I will meet Brad and Kat, an Aussie / British couple I ...
Today, I leave Buenos Aires and fly to my next destination. Although I'm sad to leave, I am very excited about the next chapter of my adventure. There is no doubt, it will be one of the highlights! I've had a great time in Buenos Aires; it's been really nice to settle somewhere and live like a normal human being. ...
So, it's been a couple of weeks since I last wrote, and it is therefore time for a status check on my 5 goals while here in Buenos Aires:GOAL #1: Find somewhere to live for a monthI've been living in an apartment in Villa Crespo for just over a fortnight now. It's makes a really nice change from backpacker hostels, and ...
Having been on the road now for four months, I have arrived in Buenos Aires with the intention of staying for at least a month. But "Why Buenos Aires?" I hear you say. Essentially, it's because I can; I don't have anything to rush for, and I haven't heard a bad word said about Buenos Aires from any fellow travellers th ...
From Bonito I caught a bus heading south towards Foz do Iguazu - my longest bus ride yet at 17 hours with three changes (only one of which I was expecting!). Foz (for short) is the Brazilian border town where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. It is home to one of Brazil's top tourist attraction, the spectacular Igu ...
My tour group left the Pantanal under another cloud of confusion. As we were heading in different directions, we received mixed information from our tour guides and the hotel staff as to when we would catch our respective buses. But eventually, after a couple more hours of waiting around, Frank, Sarah and I caught the ...
I have just finished a three-day, two-night tour into the Pantanal with a company called Ecological Expeditions. I tend to be sceptical that anything with 'Ecological' in the title is likely to be (not so) clever marketing. But I didn't have time to ask for their green credentials, or do much shopping round, so I booke ...
My plans have always been somewhat flexible, although I have a general idea of where I'm heading. In Paraty, I had a tough decision to make - whether to stay and enjoy the beach life, to wait and see if I could get on board a boat heading south, or head inland to Iguazu Falls (which are apparently very worth seeing) an ...
Battling through the Rio rush-hour traffic, I just made the 9am departure for Paraty, a small town to the south of Rio, in the Costa Verde. The four hour bus ride was pretty spectacular itself; hugging the coast with lush green forest on one side, and beautiful beaches, bays and islands on the other.The colonial town i ...
I write to you from Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro - where it's 34 degrees and there's not a cloud in the sky. For the first time in weeks, I am actually enjoying the weather and not cursing the heat and my high proficiency for perspiration. On my iPhone, I am listening to a playlist consisting of Duran Duran's "Rio" (a ...
... so they say, is the Carnaval in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, and is one of my must sees / must dos on my journey through the western hemisphere. Well, originally I had intended to go to the Carnaval in Rio, it being the more famous, but I understand it to be more touristy, less participatory, and more about the samba ...
As I mentioned in my last post, I feel I have been spending far too much time travellig between places and not enough time relaxing and taking in each place. So for four days, I have been chilling in Olinda, a town outside of Recife, which is a perfect place to stop in for a few days. It's a really pleasant small seasi ...
From Belem, my next stop was Sao Luis, a 12 hour bus ride away. So, after my first full meal in days, I headed to the bus station and bought my ticket on the 19:00 departure which would get me there in the morning, and save me a night's accommodation. Long distance bus travel in Brazil is generally pretty comfortable, ...
The last couple of days on the boat were, to say the least, uncomfortable. The medicines that the boat's nurse (come cook, come dishwasher) had given me hadn't done the trick. Phillipe, my Parisian hammock neighbour, was suffering from the same complaint, and we left the boat wondering how the Brazilians on board seeme ...
If you haven't realised by now, I'm a great believer that half or more of the fun while travelling is to be had in the adventure of getting from A to B, rather than at the destination itself. Which is why I write to you, my beloved internet followers, from onboard the boat from Manaus to Belem. It is a four-day (or may ...
After four days exploring the sights, sounds, and smells of the amazon rainforest, I have returned to civilisation (i.e. a place with Internet access).Staying in hostels, although at times they can be uncomfortable, dirty and unsafe, are a great way to meet people. So, while staying in Hostel Manaus (which is ok despit ...
Ever since I first studied it in Geography, I have dreamed about coming to the Amazon rainforest. Something about the lush green vegetation, the tropical wildlife, and the remote wilderness I found very alluring. Learning about Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, I imagined it to be a small community, deep in the mi ...
... and there's not much going on. Not much conventional nightlife anyway. Saying that, we have just been on a trip down the river and spotted some river dolphins and toucans - the latter being much smaller than I had envisagened. Earlier, on our voyage downriver we passed monkeys in treetops (capuchan possibly), stopp ...
My flight from Puerto Rico to Caracas was delayed for over 5 hours, which meant that when I arrived, the only option for getting in to the city was by taxi. Almost certainly unwisely, I let the first guy that harassed me in the airport have the honour of taking me in to town. If the alarm bells weren't ringing when he ...
As all good things must come to an end, on Monday the boys had to leave the Caribbean and return to the ice and snow of the UK and the prospect of work. So, for now, the partying is over, and it's time for me to get on with some serious travelling.I have spent the last couple of days in San Juan, Puerto Rico; a short s ...
So, what happens when you give 5 British lads a yacht for a week, most of them novice sailors, ply them daily with the sweetest rum punches, and set them loose in the oh-so-picturesque anchorages of the British Virgin Islands?Well, I'm glad to report that it went (relatively) without a hitch. That is apart from a few s ...
Happy New Year to all my online followers!Time has flown since I last posted. I write from Antigua's airport as today I fly to the British Virgin Islands, where four friends and I are chartering a yacht for a week.My three weeks in Antigua have been truly amazing. Over Christmas, I booked myself on a scuba diving cours ...
Merry Christmas one and all!I have been in Antigua, on my own, for over a week now, Vittoria's skipper and crew having gone back to their respective homes for Christmas. I've been keeping pretty busy, exploring the island and its 365 beaches; one for every day of the year, as the promotional literature will tell you. I ...
When I last wrote, we were in Deshaies, our final stop in Guadeloupe before setting sail across to Antigua. In the afternoon, I went ashore to run some errands. I was using the ATM at the Post Office just as there was a power cut, and my card was swallowed! Nightmare! The post office was closing, we had no idea when th ...
After 21 days at sea, we sighted Desirade, an island off Guadeloupe, on Wednesday morning. We first made landfall on les Isles de la Petite Terre for a quick swim before heaing to the marina at St Francois on the southeast corner of Guadeloupe. We had a day of much needed washing of clothes, and ourselves, and go ...
For your enjoyment, this is the rather lengthy account of my, and Vittoria's, passage across the Atlantic. ----Day 1: Weds 11/11 1800: 27.81666667,-15.76666667Depart Puerto Mogan, Gran Canaria.c. 2,660 nm to go After a day of provisioning and final preparations, we set off. With our Captain's eagerness to get some mil ...
I can't write for long, as we are making the final preparations for our long voyage. I leave you with a final couple of pics On board Vittoria, including my berth for the next 3 weeks. There is no internet in the middle of the Atlantic, so expect radio silence from me for the next 3 weeks. If I haven't surfaced again b ...
... until I lost all of the text.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain. How apt.
"It is a dangerous business, going out of your door. You step on to the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." - Tolkein