Hola once again!

Hope you enjoy the two new photo albums, it took us a whole day to upload them yesterday!

As you can see, a lot has happened since our last blog entry. We left you last in Ecuador and then made our way down into Peru.

We began our travels in Nazca, flying over the infamous Nazca lines. A word of warning if you´re planning to do the trip, do it early in the morning! Unfortuntely we didn´t take our own advice... a mixture of strong turbulence and tight twists and turns left us feeling rather green at the gills. It was still an amazing sight though and once we were back on solid ground, we were pleased we´d done it!

Next we headed to Cusco to acclimatise to the altitiude before we tackled the Inca Trail. Cusco is very popular with Gringos (named the Gringo capital of the world) but deservedly so as it´s a beautiful place. Also, being the Gringo capital meant Giles could sup on a much needed pint of English ale! After a few days we began the four day trek to Machu Picchu. Such a beautiful walk though mountains, rainforest and lots of Inca ruins. The second day was a little tough as we headed to the aptly named ´dead woman´s pass´at 4215 metres. Somehow I found the energy to run the last few metres to the top, competative, moi?! Fortunately we had a great group of Irish, Kiwis and Norweigans who made the whole experience even better. On the final day we set our alarms extra early (3:45am) to make sure we were the leaders of the 400 strong pack, which we were! Well worth it as we arrived to Machu Picchu before anyone else and just as the sun was beginning to rise. A truly spectacular sight and well worth hiking four days to get there. Highly recommend it!

Our journey continued to the lovely lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. We set off from the strange little town of Puno to our first destination, the floating Uros Islands. All the islands and the houses on them, were made entirely from reeds harvested on the lake. The reeds play such a vital role in the lives of the islanders, as they are also their main food source. We had a nibble on one, not bad, but don´t think they´ll make it onto Gordon Ramsey´s menu! We then travelled further to the Island of Amantani where we spent the night with our own family, the lovely ´Santiagos.´ We had breakfast, lunch and dinner with them and then danced the night away in the village hall. They made sure Giles and I fitted in with the locals by dressing us in traditonal clothes. Very amusing!

We then headed over the border into Bolvia. REMEMBER that it´s very important to keep your entry visa to Peru to enable you to exit the country, and not (as Giles and I did), throw it in the bin! Oops! After a small bribe and a coronary, the guards let us through!

Once in Bolivia, we made our way down to La Paz where Giles decided to tackle the ´world´s most dangerous road´on a mountain bike! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it!) I was ill in bed that day! An average of 26 vehicles per year disappear into the abyss, narrow dust roads and 600 metre sheer drops off the edge give this road its name!

Our journey then took us south to the magical salt flats of Uyuni. Stunning plains of white salt for as far as the eye could see. Beautiful lagoons of blues, greens and reds filled with flamingoes and surrounded by active volcanoes. Pretty spectacular! Topped only by us spending the night in a hotel made entirely of salt!

Our final stop on the journey lead us to back towards La Paz to a little animal sanctuary called ´La Senda Verde´. Run by Vicky and Marcello, it´s an oasis hidden deep in the jungle. Giles and I decided to volunteer there for a while to help look after the animals. We made friends with spider monkeys (my favourite!), howler and cappuchin monkeys, macaws and a mischievious goat called Cappucino! It was good to get our hands (and face and everything else) dirty and do some real work after all our travelling. Will miss the daily cuddles from Sambito and Wara, the lovely spider monkeys!

The last leg of our journey will take us to Argentina and Brazil. Can´t believe how quickly it has gone... We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and we´re really looking forward to catching up with everyone in the new year.

Until next time, it´s goodbye from me and it´s goodbye from him. Ciao.

xxxx