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We had four truly amazing months in South America. The fact that four months really isn`t enough time just goes to prove what an incredible continent it is to visit. We`d have loved to have spent more time in Argentina and Peru and to have visited Columbia. Yet we packed so much into our time here that those things really weren`t possible. The scenery and activities here are truly awesome and so diverse with incredible wildlife, beaches, desert and mountain scenery. Every country we visited had something special to offer and we had incredible memories everywhere but some just stood out that extra bit so here they are. The Whitney, South America awards:
BEST COUNTRY
Can we cheat a little bit here? We'd rather not say a country but a region and thats Patagonia, stretching all the way north to the lake district. Every place we visited here hit the button for us 100%, whether it was the Torres, Ushuaia, Bariloche or whatever.
BEST TRIP
A truly hotter than hot category. How can you pick a winner that isn`t the Pantanal, the Salar de Uyini trip or The Angel Falls amongst others which all get special mentions. However this just has to go to the Galapagos Islands trip. Damned expensive it may have been but do you really care about that when you experience what we experienced. No quite frankly! Can you really beat snorkelling with playful sea lions, sharks and turtles or sun bathing aboad your luxurious boat as it cruises in the sun with huge birds gliding a couple of feet away from you? No you can't and this was truly the trip of a lifetime within the trip of a lifetime.
BEST CITY
Cities weren't top of our to do list and they aren't what South America does best but we were mighty impressed with Beunos Aires. Wonderfully stylish, great shopping, top notch bars and restaurants and CHEAP.... cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap cheap!!! Need we say more?
BEST SCENERY
Another category where picking a winner is a bit unfair but what we saw on the Salar de Uyini trip in Bolivia just took the breath away. It wasn't just the salt flats themselves which are the worlds largest and which were truly awesome but also the amazing desert lagoons we saw on the first day which featured spellbinding colours and were dotted with flamingos. All amazing and totally surreal.
BEST WALK/TREK
The Inca trail didn't quite do it for us mainly due to illness and the weather but even if those issues hadn't been a factor we doubt whether it could have matched the four magnificant days we spent hiking the Torres Del Paine in Chile. The scenery here is unique and jaw dropping and there are spectacular views everywhere you go. This hike would also win the award for most shattering physical activity too as it sure took it out of you carrying rucksacks and camping equipment on a very hilly course but it was all worth it.
BEST BEACH
Special mentions for Punte del Este, Uruguay and Porto Seguro, Brazil but our favourite beach wasn`t actually on the ocean at all. Instead it was the beach on the lagoon of the Canaima National Park in Venezuala. This was a total paradise surrounded by palm trees and with a huge waterfall at the other side. A magical place which we had all too short a time at.
BEST GUIDE
We had a number of them given the amount of trips we did and they ranged from the bad (i.e our guide in the Amazon jungle who turned up to take us out one morning looking like he'd drunk his own body weight in beer and snorted half of Columbia) to the top drawer such as Roberto, our informative and interesting guide in the Gran Sabana. Our winner though is Gabriel in the Pantanal who found us every bit of wildlife going, spoke about 5 languages and had the most infectious laugh ever. The man was a total star. Gabriel also provided.....
BEST MOMENT
Just at the end of our trip in the Pantanal where we thought seing a large Anaconda wasn't going to happen for us, the legend that was Gabriel plucks out a 4 meter monster from the Rio Paraguay (see above photo). Just seeing one of those creatures was cool enough but to have it wrapped around you was one special experience.
BEST HOSTEL/HOTEL/POSADA
Despite travelling on a budget we stayed in some pretty nice places and not too many ropey ones we're pleased to say. One place stood out though and that was La Morada hostel in Bariloche, Argentina. This was a fabulous place in the hills overlooking this lovely lakeside town. The views here were so special of the lakes and the mountains you could stay here all day and look at them which is pretty much all we did. In addition it had superb facilities and communal areas and like everything else in Argentina it was bloody cheap too.
BEST PARTY
Partying didn't really feature on this trip as we really didn't have the energy, inclination or budget to be honest although we consumed a fair amount of alcohol with dinner most nights. However, we did let our hair down at the carnival in Porto Seguro, Brazil a bit. The music was cheesy latino and not quite to our taste but the atmosphere was fun and the capirinha drinks lovely!
Travelling being travelling, it doesn't always go according to plan and it's hardly likely too in third or near third world countries. Besides, the mistakes and miseries are half the fun looking back on them even if you're not exactly rolling in the aisles at the time. Besides, no one wants to read about the good bits do they? So here they are, our top 10 of nightmare events, c*** ups and Victor Meldrew moments.......
1) ILLNESSES (stomach illnesses more to the point)
Number 1 and by a very long way. In fact all the other miseries pale in comparison to this and unlike the others they sure aren`t even funny now. Jo ended up in hospital in Bolivia (the worse moment of the trip) and endured a truly miserable time for the last two days of the Inca trail and Stuart was laid low at the end of the Galapagos trip and also upon our return to Brazil. These are the moments where you truly wish you were at home and there is no escape from them in South America it seems.
2) GETTING ROBBED AT GUNPOINT
It makes a good story to tell for sure but it damn well wasn't fun at the time. Getting a gun pointed at you never can be even if he did only run away with about 16 quid. Makes you want to join the hang them, flog them brigade.
3) BUS JOURNIES
To be fair, we rode on the best buses we've ever seen here, particularly in Argentina where we even got champagne served to us on one. However, can any bus journey ever be good even there when it goes on for 33 hours, starts at 3am and involves two changes? Hardly. Things took a decided turn for the worse when we left Chile and journies in Bolivia and Peru in particular were utterly miserable. I guess when we spent as much time on buses as we did we were going to have some rough moments. It was just from Chile onwards though that they seemed to be ALL rough moments in particular our Planes, Trains and Automobiles special when we travelled from Quito, Ecuador to Puerto Columbia, Venezuala. Hours and hours of unremitting torture.
4) ATM's & MONEY PROBLEMS
Much of the trouble we had here wasn't anything to do with South America at all but with the very British and very useless Barclays Bank. This collective bunch of retards managed to deny us access to our money with mistakes by them on both our cards that cost us considerable money, time and anxiety with their constant misinformation on the phone. Communication is still ongoing with them so they can compensate us properly for how they treated us and it's proof once again that the British banking system is capitalism at it's absolute worst.
However, we had our problems with South American banks too. ATM's in parts of Chile and Argentina weren't exactly plentiful and were very erratic in terms of actually giving you money and in Bolivia they were non existent. Brazillian ones worked fine but charged you an arm and a leg in fees but Venezuala took the biscuit here. Not one damn ATM give us any money which meant queing up in their awfully busy banks to get any money and we only found out we could do this by chance. Additionally all tourist operators wanted dollars to pay for trips and would charge you an extra 20% or so if you had the temerity to pay in their own currency. Grrrrrr....
5) LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES
A handy hint to anyone wanting to travel here. Learn some of the lingo first, whether it be Spanish or Portuguese! The frustration here was immense at times and guess we only had ourselves to blame but you do get a tad irritated with the locals sometimes. You say 'No Espanyol' to them or 'no entiendo' (I don't understand) when they start jabbering on but it doesn't stop them. They seem to think if they say it enough times you will instantly learn Spanish and it does your head in.
6) INCA TRAIL FACILITIES
For one of the worlds best known tourist spots, the facilities on the campsites here were an absolute disgrace. You can only imagine (actually it's best you don't) what Jo had to go through when she got horribly ill on the last two days of the trail and she was forced to use the disgusting toilets time and time again. As for the 'treat' of the hot shower on the third night Stuart reckons it's the only time he's felt dirtier coming out of the shower than he did upon entering it. Truly grim.
7) MOSQUITO'S
Would someome mind telling us what exactly is the purpose on the planet of these horrendous things? Stuart got eaten alive in the Pantanal and we were both feasted on constantly in Venezuala. We're itching just thinking about it.
8) OUR CHRISTMAS DAY MEAL
This really was one of the times when we wished we were home. A storm knocked out power in many of the restaurants where we were staying in Bolivia and we somehow managed to find ourselves in the worse restaurant we found on our entire trip. They couldn't even make a pizza taste nice,the wine could have stripped paint and we returned back to the hotel before 10pm thoroughly sober and pissed off!
9) GETTING A TAXI TO THE WRONG AIRPORT IN BEUNOS AIRES
Given that we are two pretty organised people we're not quite sure how we managed this little fiasco. We'd like to blame the hostel staff who didn't ask us which airport to book a taxi too and assumed it was the international one but this wouldn't be so much passing the buck, instead rather caterpaulting it. Stuart would like to point out that he remained entirely calm when we realised the mistake we made. The previous statement was a lie.
10) OUR HAIR
Given our lack of confidence with the language we didn't risk getting haircuts and as a consequence we've arrived in New Zealand looking like we've been dragged through a hedge backwards.
Bubbling under: Arguing over who is going to update this site; the lack of wine in many places; getting harrassed to buy things; etc etc etc
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