We're Home Safely

We arrived home safely last night. We encountered icy roads, blowing snow and high winds over the past two days, especially yesterday for the final 12 hours from Idaho Falls, but we took our time and avoided any trouble. It was a good thing that we delayed the trip home by a couple of days because we missed a blizzard and Interstate 15 highway closing by a day, and by travelling on U.S. Thanksgiving there weren't many cars on the road.
Another great trip in the books. We still love travelling in our camper van and look forward to many more adventures with it. Time now to catch up with friends and family.

Elvis is in the House

We played a couple of games of golf in Sun City and then drove to Bullhead City, Arizona which is across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada. This was supposed to be our launching point for our drive back home but with a cold front moving into the U.S. north-west and -20C temperatures and snow in Calgary we decided to prolong the trip for a few more days. On one of those days we golfed at a local course and discovered Elvis' new hideaway on the 11th hole.......we had been to Memphis in search of him last year to no avail.......this time we were not able to get inside the house, unlike the mansion in Graceland, and he didn't answer the door when we knocked but we were pretty sure he was hiding inside (see pictures above supporting our belief).

With no improvement in the northern U.S. weather picture, and in fact it was getting worse, we drove south to Lake Havasu where the temperature was still close to 20C and sunny. We had not been there before and wanted to see the reconstructed London Bridge in this city which was established in 1964 (only 46 years ago) shortly after Robert McCulloch, from Los Angeles, purchased 13,000 acres from the Arizona government for less than a million dollars. He then proceeded to build a waterfornt resort and retirement community which has now grown to 50,000 people. McCulloch was also the one who bought the falling (actually sinking) London Bridge from the City of London in 1968 for $2.4M and then had it shipped and reassembled in Lake Havasu (doubling his cost). After the bridge was put back together he dredged a channel to create an island to further showcase the bridge. Quite a story.

While we were able to avoid the slot machines in Laughlin casinos, we couldn't pass up the temptation of a fabulous slot canyon at the south end of Lake Havasu which had many good hiking trails. The 10 km Crack in the Mountain trail took us thru a very narrow canyon with one challenging 10 foot rock slide which I had to negotiate back up when I realized later that my sunglasses had fallen out of my pocket prior to the slide (I found them). The end of the trail was at Lake Havasu in a deserted cove with great views where we had a light lunch. We made the return trip along the ridge trail which bypassed the slot canyon and led us to a few more geocaches along the way together with some more stunning views.

Yesterday we played golf at Emerald Canyon, a beautiful track and challenging walk that no one else seemed to want to take on. It was a nice finish to our golf season.

This morning we drove 4 hours north to Mesquite, Nevada.........including a trip over the recently opened Hoover Dam bypass bridge........ where we will spend the night. It is still 15C and sunny here but it will get much colder overnight and as we head further north. In the morning we have an appointment to get the van winterized so that we don't have to worry about the water lines freezing for the rest of our journey home. If all goes well we should be back in Calgary on Friday, suffering the winter chills with everyone else.

Phoenix - too nice to leave

Since driving south from Palm Springs we have been fortunate to have the sun and hot weather following us all the way. We spent a few days in El Centro, just north of the Mexican border. There was a lot of agriculture going on in the area courtesy of the Colorado River where the water was being diverted through numerous canals. With 90+F temperatures the working conditions in the field were extreme and we were told that unemployment often reaches 30% in the summer when the majority of workers remain indoors and collect unemployment insurance.

Border security was very tight especially near Calexico (40K population) and Mexicala (800K) which were seperated by barbed wire fences and border patrol cars every 500 metres. It reminded us of the El Paso / Juarez border in Texas. Before heading east to cross over into Arizona, we drove through 50 km's of sand dunes which were very popular with the ATV crowd.

Our first overnight stop in Arizona was at Yuma where we played some golf and enjoyed the RV pool in the afternoon. The next day we drove on to Casa Grande where we found a great place to stay (Sundance RV) with another lovely pool area, some nearby golf and warm enough evenings to have a BBQ. It was at this point that we realized that many of the parks we had stayed in, not intentionally, were designated as adult parks (55+) and no one had asked us so far for ID to make sure we qualified!

We spent two more nights in Queen Valley, about an hour west of Phoenix. The plan was to hike Superstition Mountain but some locals convinced us to try Picklepost Mountain instead which was not far from the RV park. It was a very challenging hike..........4 miles up and 4 miles back down a steep mountain with a path only marked by cairns (small piles of rocks) and a few blazes. We got off the intended path several times and paid for it with some tough scrambling. The 360 view at the top was spectacular though and included a mailbox that had been repositioned by it's former owner followig several clashes with automobiles in it's original location. No chance of that happening where it is now!

From there we drove on to Scottsdale where we have just spent the last 5 days with Rhonda's uncle and aunt (Murray & Mavis) at their beautiful winter home. We had a great visit with them, did a little shopping, had some fine meals together, a game of golf and we hiked Pinnacle Peak which was close to their home. We also had a chance to hook up with our neighbour Lorne and his posse who were down for a boy's sports week-end.

We left their home this morning with the intent of driving north of the city for some sight-seeing but after noticing the cooler weather to the north (higher elevation) we decided to stop in Sun City and enjoy a few more days of warm weather before deciding on our next route. The night time temperature at the top of the Grand Canyon is already dropping below freezing so a trip there to hike down to the bottom of the canyon to Phantom Ranch has been scuttled. We will play a little more golf in this area, enjoy the pool in the afternoon and do some more internet research before making any decisions.

Enjoying the desert heat

After leaving Paso Robles wine country we took a scenic drive over the mountains to the west coast. We stayed in Pismo Beach at a park right beside the ocean allowing for a morning walk along the several kilometre long (and wide) beach. There were lots of other people doing the same stroll but it still seemed basically empty due to the huge expanse of the beach area. It would be much busier during the summer season. We spent some time exploring San Luis Obispo including the 1772 Mission and were fortunate to be there at noon when the 200+ year old church bells rang out with a harmonious tune.

We then wandered through the Santa Barbara area, finding a few more wineries to visit. Two places we enjoyed, Fess Parker and Firestone, were featured in the hit movie Sideways. The hosts provided bountiful pours so we didn't have to drink out of the dump bucket like one of the scenes from the movie. We stayed in Lompoq and while looking for a golf course that had been recommended we drove into a private club by mistake. While speaking with the Pro to get re-directed he invited us to play his course (Village Country Club) for only $35 which we did. The course was lovely and the members were all very kind and sociable with us. We found out later that they have a monthly special for snowbirds ($550 per couple for unlimited golf). It would be a great place to return to if it was just a little closer to Paso Robles, but perhaps the 2 hour separation would be good thing!

With a day or two of rain forecast for the Los Angeles area we headed back inland to Palm Springs where we have been staying for the past 4 days in Palm Desert. We are staying at a 5 star RV park (Emerald Desert) which has a beautiful pool and hot tub, and a very friendly atmosphere. At a park dinner one night in their Clubhouse the first 4 couples that we met were all from Alberta which was quite a coincidence. On Sunday we attended the 46th Annual Golf Cart Parade (down El Paseo in Palm Desert) which was quite entertaining with the Hallow'een theme this year. Yesterday we golfed at Indian Canyons, an old style track, lined with mid-century modern homes. After the round we joined the Vancouver couple we played with for a drink in the 50's era Clubhouse with it's long bar that had been a frequent watering hole for Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and their golfing buddies. The Men's Locker Room still has a separate card room with it's own bar.

Today we are going to leave the RV park and drive south to explore the slowly disappearing Salton Sea which is below sea level so we expect the 25-30C temperatures we have been enjoying in Palm Springs will continue for a few more days.

Trying to Escape from the Negativity

The U.S. has state elections happening at the beginning of November. Unfortunately, 90% of the radio and TV commercials are attack ads, so rather than talking about the merits of the candidate the focus is on how terrible their opponent is. The ads often follow one another and the rhetoric seems to be escalating as voting day nears. It is no wonder that their voter turnout is declining since one is left to wonder why it is worth voting for any of the candidates with so many flaws. We have seen a little of this in Canada but it,s nothing relative to what is going on right now, it is downright nasty. so hopefully this particular trend will not proliferate up north.

After leaving Washington we drove to the Reno / Tahoe area. Prior to arriving there we came across many signs for Bunny Ranches in Nevada but we didn't see many rabbits in the area so we're not sure what that was all about :) Reno was looking tired so we continued on to the Lake Tahoe area. Between Reno and South Lake Tahoe we took the scenic highway to Virgina City and Carson City, old gold rush towns with many of the older buildings still intact or rebuilt to look like it was in the late 1800's. We continued driving up the west coast of Lake Tahoe (back into California) where there are several ski resorts (Heavenly and Squaw Valley being the largest ones) and some gorgeous vacation homes. We did a short hike at Eagle Falls that had some nice views overlooking the lake.

With rain in the forecast we decided to head further south in California. We left just in time, encountering some wet snow in the mountains (8,000 feet elevation) that turned into light rain as we descended into the valley around Sacramento where we were able to stay ahead of the weather front hitting most of the west coast. My navigator discovered a large wine area (Paso Robles) that we had not yet encountered so that has been our home for the past few days. There are over 200 wineries in the area specializing in Rhone style wines and Ports. Our storage space is filling up fast! The RV park that we are staying at (Wine Country RV) is well maintained with a great hot tub and is situated in the middle of many nearby wineries so we are enjoying life very much right now. After a full day of wine tasting yesterday we decided to ease up today with a late morning visit to SummerWood Winery (excellent) followed by a round of golf at the well named Chalk Mountain so we had a triple play today with wine, golf and a good hike. We are off to the hot tub shortly.

Tomorrow we have another golf game scheduled and then we will head over to the coast to San Luis Obispo which is about 200 miles north of Los Angeles.

Wine & Golf

We have spent the past 5 days at the southern end of Washington State in the Tri-Cities area.......Richland, Kennewick and Pasco, seperated by the Yakima and Columbia Rivers. The combined population of the three cities is 250,000 people and their main claim to fame, other than the wonderful wines produced in the area, is that the atomic bomb was created here (in nearby Hanford). The majority of all plutonium used in nuclear weapons was generated here but following the end of the Cold War the focus changed from the creation of nuclear weapons to the disposal of nuclear waste. A huge new plant is nearing completion, 9 years after it was started so there is obviously still a lot of nuclear waste that will need to be disposed of. Many of the people we have met down here work at "The Site" or industries supporting it. We passed by a recreational area called Atomic Bomb Park and a high school whose team nickname is the Bombers.

The Horn Rapids RV Resort has been our home, a wonderfully kept park with a nice hot tub that we have been using every day. We spent the first two days touring the many wineries in the area. Our favourites were Terra Blanca, Hogue, Kestrel, Mercer and Willow Crest. The van is now comfortably stocked for the next few weeks. Hopefully the glow in our cheeks after consuming several bottles is a result of the quality of the wine and not the soil from the Site! The past two days we golfed at Horn Rapids and Canyon Lakes (great track). Tomorrow we will play Columbia Point and then head out of town. The weather has been lovely...........18-20C with sunny skies but the forecast changes to cooler and wet starting Friday so we plan to head south and west along the Columbia River gorge with a close eye on the weather.

On The Road Again

Following two wonderful Thanksgiving week-end's, the first in Whistler with the Hevey family, and this past w/e with our young adults, we left home in search of warmer weather. Yesterday we had a beautiful 8 hour drive to Spokane, Washington, thru B.C. and Idaho, arriving in plenty of time to enjoy dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, The Onion (great burgers).
Today, we played golf at the recently renovated Liberty Lake G.C. accompanied by 20C and sun. Tomorrow we play at The Creek at Qualchan, another favourite. The price to play (at both courses) has risen to $27 pp, 20% higher than what we paid a few years ago, but no Canadian could ever complain about the cost which would be at least $100 for similar courses in Canada.
After our game tomorrow we're going to head down to the Tri-Cities area (southern border of Washington state) for some more golf, hiking and wine tasting.

We're Home

We made it home safely, surviving one final farmer's strike in the Cusco area, although it meant getting up at 5:30 am for an airport taxi ride (6 hours prior to our flight) before the roads were blocked to traffic. Since arriving home I have had 2 sleeps of 14 and 12 hours which has been a blessing.

Here are some things that happened while we were gone for 4 months:

- Canada won the gold medal count at the Vancouver Winter Olympics

- Alberta won the Brier (again) but this time it was Kevin Koe rather than Martin or Ferbey

- Jeff graduated from the University of Lethbridge

- we put our house up for sale, with plans to move into our Okotoks villa

- Rachel passed her PhD qualifying exam

- we missed a lot of bad weather in Calgary (a wet and cool spring)

- the golf season started 2 months ago

- the FIFA World Cup started with the 5 South American teams yet to lose a game.

And these are some of things that we experienced in S.A.:

- Civic demonstrations in most of the countries we visited leading to strikes and blockades that didn't have a significant impact on us but did add hours or detours to some of our trips

- some petty crime incidents (Rhonda's backpack), my pickpocket episode in Buenos Aries, a purse snatch that I witnessed and the drug bust that happened on one of our overnight buses

- Hostel life turned out to be enjoyable, and we will repeat it on future trips

- Rhonda experienced altitude sickness once we started to get near the 4000 metre level which could impact future travel destinations

- Mike developed a bad case of sciatica which will have to be dealt with now that we are home.

We had many highlights along the way, but the top ones were:

- Galapogos - the interaction with the wildlife was incredible

- Colca Canyon - an incredible 3 day hike with a great guide and staying overnight with a local family at the bottom of the canyon

- Mendoza - cheap and very good wine in a beautiful walking city

- Iguazzu Falls - witnesed at 8x the normal volume, from both the Brazil and Argetinian side

- Pantanal - the varied wildlife (including tour friends) that we saw during our 4 days of safari's

- Machu Picchu - the condition of the preserved ruins, and meeting our trekking daughters at the entrance.

Here are some other random thoughts about our trip:

- we had some wild bus rides, with a few minor accidents, but overall they were pleasurable and our timing was incredible when catching connected buses

- with very few reservations made ahead of time, our flexibility worked to our advantage in almost every situation

- our border crossings (about 10) were seemless

- the beef in Argentina and Brazil did not impress us, but the ladies became enamoured with Pisco Sours (Peru and Chile), and Caiparinas made with a liquor called Cachaca (Brazil)

- Caity's energy level (hang-gliding, mountain biking and late night bar hopping) injected some extra energy into us 2 months into our trip

- the stark reality of the Potosi mine tour

- the many Inca ruins and treasures that we saw throughout the Andes mountain chain

- the numerous Parades and costumes that we observed in many cities

- the Adventure Brew hostel in La Paz which had nightly activities and free micro-brewed beer for their guests

- the fun we had traveling with our daughters and Javier

On the downside, our Spanish didn't develop as quickly as we thought it might, Lin wasn't able to join us due to health issues, and my sciatica prevented us from completing the 4 day hike to Machu Picchu with our girls.



Overall, it was a tremendous trip and exceeded our expectations in most areas. One of the best lessons we learned was how appreciative we should be to live in our great country with all of the natural diversity we have and the standard of living that we have become accustomed to. Many of the locals we saw live in tin roof shacks with minimal electricity or heat yet seem happy with their lot in life. The poor silver and zinc miners of Potosi work in horrible conditions that shorten their life span to an average of 48 years, and the Colca Canyon villagers who have to hike 10 km's up a steep mountain trail to get any provisions they cannot self-provide. We really have no reason to complain about anything.



That is all until our next adventure (currently unplanned) but in the meantime we look forward to having the opportunity to visit with and share more of our experiences with all of our family and friends. Adios

Machu Picchu

What a wonderful way to finish off our 4 month adventure. We took a scenic bus and train ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes along the base of the Sacred Valley and still fast rushing Urubamba River............earlier year rains had caused a 10 metre rise in the river inflicting much damage to the towns and railway along the way, leading to the closure of Machu Picchu for 6 weeks in February and March. Aguas Calientes itself was still undergoing extensive repairs to the roads and buildings throughout this hillside village which was built at the bottom of the valley below Machu Picchu. The next morning we got up early and caught a bus up the mountain, arriving at Machu Picchu just before the 4 day trekkers came through the Sun Gate on the Inca Trail to meet us at the entrance. Caity, Rachel and Javier were all in good spirits and relieved to have successfully navigated the 45 km trail (and cool nights in a tent). Their guide, Richard, then gave us a wonderful 3 hour tour of Machu Picchu. He has done this over a hundred times but he spoke passionately about this New 7th Wonder of the World and we appreciated his insights. Despite being over 500 years old, and only discovered 99 years ago, the buildings are in terrific shape due to the fact that the Spaniards never found them and plundered them like they did with the rest of the Inca ruins. It was a special place used by the Inca nobility and from the design, great detail was given to the positioning of their sacred places, and it was clear that their smartest minds were involved in the creation of this small city which was home to less than a thousand people (a small fraction of the 15 million Inca population). It was a spiritual feeling to just sit and fall into a trance in this mountain-top treasure. Richard then left us for a couple of hours to do more exploring on our own before meeting us for a late lunch back in Aguas Calientes.

Once there we had a wonderful meal topped off by a nice surprise when he told us that our accommodation for the night (3 rooms for the 5 of us) was included in our package.........this is still a mystery to us since he had booked us into a wonderful hostel that was much more expensive than the place we had made our own reservations for (and this was not supposed to be part of our package). We felt so guilty staying in this palace for 'free' that despite still feeling full from lunch, we felt obligated to have the $9, 3 course dinner which the hospitable manager was offering. I had the Peruvian version of surf and turf...... a spicy, trout appetizer followed by guinea pig, a national specialty down here (which we had all avoided until now). It was likely made more palatable by our pre-dinner outing down the street where we discovered four-for-one happy hour and played several card games during our six rounds of drinks. We all slept well last night, especially the trekkers who were pleased to be back in a bed for the first time in 5 nights.

Today we are having a lazy final day in Aguas Calinetes before taking an evening train and bus back to Cusco where the four of us will have a final sleep before beginning our journey home while Caity goes solo for her final 3 weeks and travels to places along the coast of Peru which we had previously enjoyed, prior to her arrival.

We will post some trip highlights (there were many) when we get home on Friday.

Cheers................mike & rhonda

World Cup Fever

The 2010 FIFA World Cup has just started in South Africa but it has already taken over South America. During our travels the locals have told us that everything would come to a stop when their country was playing..........no one would go to work, and with the 6-7 hour time difference, most games would be on TV during the morning so it would be unlikely that anyone would go to work in the afternoon after the games. Yesterday, we went to a pub in Cusco to cheer on Mexico (for Javier) against South Africa (it ended in a 1-1 draw), and the place was crowded with noisy Mexican fans, some of them wearing Mexican wrestling masks, and the pints were plentiful at 10 am in the morning. TV cameras came into the pub near the end of the game to capture the festivities. Hopefully we will be able to catch another game, with Peru playing while we are still here.

During the week there have been two day trips into the Sacred Valley to see Inca ruins which seem to be everywhere. Most were damaged during the Spanish conquest but it is still easy to visualize the cities that they built. It will make the preserved city of Machu Picchu (not found by the Spaniards) seem even more special when we arrive there in a few days.

We experienced another massive parade while we were in Cusco, this time celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi. Large statues from surrounding area churches (temporarily relocated to have their religious powers rejuvenated) were brought out of the main Cathedral by groups of 20-40 men and carried around the main square, with rest stops along the way using a separate platform carried by young boys trying to emulate their dads. There were well over 20,000 people in the square celebrating the event and we were fortunate to secure balcony seats at a restaurant just before the start of the parade where we were able to view the festivities for 4-5 hours. The parade was repeated the next day, expanding the route to other parts of the city.

We are now in Ollantaytambo, which is the starting point for the Machu Picchu treks. There is a lot of reconstruction going on in this town of 2000 people which is slowly recovering from the damaging rains and mudslides earlier this year. In fact, the train route has been shortened and buses, sometimes running along the damaged track path, are temporarily in use with major road detours snarling traffic........but the show must go on. This morning Caity, Rachel and Javier started their 4 day trek while we remained behind wishing we were healthy enough to be on the trek with them (Mike's sciatica and Rhonda's problems with altitude over 3500 metres have sidelined us.) We have some local exploring to do in the meantime and we will be taking an early morning train on Tuesday so that we can catch up with them just before reaching the gates into Machu Picchu. At least we will all be together when we see the ancient city for the first time and get to experience it together.

We'll publish one more post after this final adventure for this trip.

The End is Near

We only have 10 days to go.........4 months has gone by quickly and we have been having a fabulous time but it will be nice to get back home to see our friends and family.
Rachel, and her boyfriend Javier, joined us in La Paz and we are now a travelling group of 5 gringos although Javier with his Mexican background looks the part and speaks Spanish which has shortened our conversations with the locals. Unfortunately, our good friend Lin from Brantford, Ontario is having some health pr0blems and has had to cancel her plans to join us for the Machu Picchu adventure........we wish her well.
From La Paz we headed west to Copacabana and Lake Titicaca, a huge lake (250 km´s long and up to 100 km´s wide) situated at 3500 metres above sea level with surrounding mountains making it very picturesque. The young ones spent an extra day there touring Isla del Sol (Sun Island) while we continued on to Cusco, Peru so that I could get my sciatica problem looked after by a doctor........she gve me some shots and set me up for some daily physio (electro therapy), and I am starting to feel a little better but the 4 day trek to Machu Picchu is approaching faster and is now at risk for me. I am still hopeful but every step is painful right now so reality is starting to set in for me.
We celebrated Caity´s 25th birthday last night in Cusco at a pub close to our hostal. She outlasted us all, hooking up with some California travelers at the pub and returning in the wee hours. Today, the rest of our group is off on a day trip to Pisac to see some Inca ruins and a market, and our next stop will be the Sacred Valley (an hour away) which will be the starting point for the 4 day trek (45 m´s) along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We are still on the altiplano 3-4 km´s above sea level so the nights are getting very chilly (down to freezing or below) and we are wearing multiple layers.......the hostels all have several thick blankets and electric heaters in the rooms (no central heating systems) so all of the extra clothes we have been carrying around for 3.5 months are coming in handy.
Cheers.

Mines, Salt and a grande Parade

While we were still in Potosi, Rhonda and Caity took a tour of an active silver & zinc mine while I rested, suffering from a bout of sciatica which has been getting worse since I had an awkward moment with my large backpack getting on a city bus and trying to navigate the cash turnstile. I wish I could have done the tour with them but they were equally glad to get out alive. Millions of people have died working in the mines since 1585, and many more will continue to perish from the toxic chemicals and poor working conditions. The miners work for $7 / day and live to an average age of 48, but despite the risk they continue working generation after generation to hopefully make a better life for their families. It is quite tragic and any developed country would close the mines, let alone run tours. Caity made it down to the 3rd level (of 6), while Rhonda decided to turn back rather than descend to level 2 down a ladder and already in very tight quarters. While the guide offered to take the remainder of Caity's group all the way down the mine they had seen enough and the tiny shafts, heat, lack of oxygen and dust in the air were too much to overcome. She was not feeling well for the next 24 hours and has promised to never, ever complain about any job again.

From Potosi we headed south to the Salar de Uyuni, home to the world's largest salt flats (over 12,000 square km's) where we signed up for a 3D/2N tour riding in an old Toyota 4x4 with 3 other German lads. The salt flats went on forever and a good pair of sunglasses was necessary to block out the brightness........it was similar to being on a frozen lake covered in snow with no clouds in the sky. Fish Island emerged in the middle of the salt flats and a walking tour around the island allowed everyone to stretch their legs after being in the cramped quarters of the 4x4 for hours. It was near this spot that everyone takes their crazy pictures, and we took our share led by Caity, our choreographer. Our tour extended beyond the salt flats and we were able to observe lagoons (flamingo's), steam geysers (strong sulpher odors), several volcano's and a thermal pool (with an outdoor change room) but the highlight was definitely the Salar. We stayed overnight in very basic rooms, with no heat, electricity or water except for the 2 hours after arrival where they humoured us with some solar powered energy. We played cards and dice games by candlelight. We rented sleeping bags to go along with the 3 heavy blankets they provided and wore several layers to bed to overcome the cold at night.

Arriving back in Uyuni at the end of the tour, we took an overnight bus north to La Paz where we are now, awaiting Rachel's arrival in a few days. On the morning of our arrival we were warned by the bus assistant that the bus would not be able to drop us off at the terminal because of a parade going on that day...........and what a parade! It started shortly after checking into our hostel and we were able to watch the whole thing from the terrace balcony and bar on the top floor (it is also a microbrewery and everyone gets a free beer every night).........well we didn't actually see all of it........since the parade was in honour of Bolivia's 200th anniversary of independence they went all out. The parade started at 8 am but didn't reach the spot in front of our hostel until 9 am. The final group came through at 11 pm (13 hours later) so we managed to do a few things in between although it was difficult to walk anywhere in the city because of the volume of people out to see the parade and the many road closures. The colours were brilliant and the outfits (traditional dress and costumes) were amazing but by the end of the evening we could mimic the beat of their national anthem which was played non-stop by all of the groups coming through. The parade ended at a very large park where more people gathered and continued the party late into the night with fireworks going off all over the city. Caity was out after midnight with a young group from the hostel and upon her return was impressed with all the volunteers out in the wee hours of the morning dismantling all the bleachers and cleaning up the streets. When we awoke and looked out the windows everything was back to normal and you wouldn't have known anything happened the day before. Today there were free concerts and other acitivities happening around the city. They sure are proud of their country and their heritage.

I'm going to take it easy for the next few days, going for daily massage sessions, so that I can recover and get myself in shape for our 4 day trek to Machu Picchu. Unfortunately, that means Caity will have to represent our family on the Death Road bicycle trip (all day, all downhill) which I had been looking forward to doing wih her tomorrow.

All for now...............

More bus adventures

When we arrived at the Cochabamba bus station to catch our pre-booked bus to Oruro (the day before......we wanted good seats at the front for the scenic trip) we were handed our money back. There was a local protest and road blockade on the main highway so all the buses in that direction were cancelled with no indication of when the road would open again. Apparently this happens frequently in Bolivia so the locals seemed unperturbed. Cab drivers showed up and started offering their services for much higher rates, taking backroads around the blockade. While we and some German girls were negotiating a price with a driver, one of the bus companies announced they were going to try the detour and everyone then flocked to their counter. The ticket price was the same as with our first company ($3.50) but instead of a 3 hour ride it was going to take 4 hours and they were using an older bus since it was mostly a secondary, dirt road to get around the blockade. We made it successfully to Oruro with only one unplanned stop when the bus bottomed-out at a low point in the road..........everyone had to depart to lighten the load and then they placed rocks in front of the tires to raise the carriage enabling the bus to carry on with minor damage to the front fender.

As soon as we arrived in Oruro we booked into our hostel close to the train station and then went there to book tickets for the next day on the scenic train to the salt flats in Uyuni. The train only runs a couple of times a week and fills up fast. However, we soon learned that there was another protest and blockade happening in the south end of the country preventing the train from going there. Since our only reason for going to Oruro was to take the train, we quickly went back to the hostel to get our bags (the hostel manager was cool with us not staying the night) and being the flexible travellers that we are, we changed our course to visit Sucre and Potosi before Uyuni (which we were going to do after), hoping the protest would be over in a week so that we could catch the train on it's return trip to Oruro. Before taking our overnight bus to Sucre we had a fabulous dinner at one of the best restaurants in Oruro, Nayjama, which was highly recommended by the Lonely Planet and run by a celebrity chef with whom we had a good conversation while we were there........his English was good and he had been to Vancouver and Alaska checking out our seafood. We had chicken soup, kingfish and lamb (2 meals)........it was fabulous but the three of us still couldn't eat it all so we took our leftovers to leave with someone less fortunate before catching our overnight bus.

We had a good one day visit in Sucre, walking around the town, spending time at the market (note the clever use of an umbrella to prevent pidgeon-poop from contaminating the unrefridgerated meat), and visiting a Museum with indiginous artifacts.........their weaving skills were awesome but time consuming, taking up to 3 months to complete the more complex design items. This morning we took a 4 hour bus ride to Potosi. We had to pay a departure tax at the bus terminal which has been common in the poorer countries. It was only .40 cents but it's amazing to see how many locals flag down the bus one block from the terminal to avoid paying the tax.........we have seen this many times. I have tried to point out to the ladies that we could save 15-18% of our bus travel expenses by doing the same thing but they think that my financial thinking became permanently impaired after spending a couple of years as a Controller at Xerox.

The bus ride through the mountains and along the altiplano (plateau) was wonderful, passing many small villages where the locals lived in small, 100 year old stone homes, and the women did the family laundry in creeks and rivers. We are now in Potosi and have found a lovely hostel (the first hot water shower in a few days) so we are going to stay here for 3-4 days and explore the area. It is supposed to be the highest city in the world at just over 4,000 metres. Even though it is late fall here the daytime temperatures are still in the low-20's C but in the evening it drops to the 5C range, reminding us a little of life at home.

Buenos noches.... familia Hevey

Welcome to Bolivia

After travelling through 6 counties, with each one escalting in price we were sad to leave such a beautiful country, but financially happy to leave Brazil where the costs of food, lodging, travel and entertainment had reached the point of being half the cost of what we pay in Canada.......an almost ridiculous level, relatively speaking :)
Fortunately, we are now in Bolivia where fellow travellers had told us it was a real bargain. After successfully crosssing the border using local transportation (blessed with our usual good fortune), we had some 2 hours to burn before taking an overnight bus to Santa Cruz so we decided to find a place to have dinner since we had been travelling all day. We found a spot close to the bus station where they had good looking food on a bbq in front of the restaurant. Each of us ordered the meat shish-kabob which consisted of a chorizo sausage, a small piece of steak and larger portions of pork and chicken. It was accompanied by a half plate of rice, a tomato salad and half a potato. We were hungry so we didn't bother checking the cost but found out at the end of the meal that the price was $1.50 per person! They didn't serve alcohol but they pointed out a place across the street where I purchased 3 cans of beer for .40 cents each.......I think we are going to like this country.
Our 12 hour bus ride to Santa Cruz cost us $11 each including movies. The only downside was that the bus was packed including a chicken on board in a crate (carry on luggage I suppose). The locals also purchased one seat for themselves and a child, some of them being up to 6 years old, so they brought their luggage on board and put in the aisle for the child to sit /sleep on. The aisle became a minefield in the darkness of the night.....it was quite the experience.

We then took one more 12 hour bus ride to the city of Cochabamba where we are now. Upon arriving last night at 9 pm we found a hostel close to the bus station and went to bed and slept soundly. Today we walked around the city, through a large market and then took a tram up a small mountain which overlooked the city and had a very large statue of Christ protecting the people (as we have found in most South American cities). During the day we had breakfast, market snacks, dinner (3 large meals and 2 one litre bottles of beer), took the tram, bought 2 bottles of wine and a bottle of rum (for our hostel room and travel), and bought 9 music CD´s and 18 movie DVD´s (mostly pirated)..............all together it cost the 3 of us $50.......and the nice hostel we are staying in, which has 4 beds in two rooms plus a bathroom is costing us $9 each. Sure glad we have another 2 weeks to spend in Bolivia!

Al the best..............mike, rhonda and caity

Back from the Wilderness

Since our last post from Isla Grande, a large no-vehicle paradise that had lots to offer including a 10 km hike on our last day to the other side of the island (a beautiful 2 km long secluded surfer beach), we have been without internet access at our last couple of stops. The first of these was at Trindade, a small village on the east coast, south of Ilha Grande. We stayed at a lovely hostel run by a Montreal lady and her Brazilian husband who spend 6 months a year in each country (he barely survived one of our winters and doesn't plan to try it again but was very much looking forward to returning to Quebec for a summer stay at the end of the month). Their hostel was on the edge of the rainforest and only 2 blocks from a gorgeous beach. Unfortunately, it rained steadily while we there so we had to forego the waterfall and rainforest hikes, along with more beach time. We had good visits with the owners and other travellers in between card games where Caity has been a dominating force.

With rain forecast for another day or two, and tired of losing card games to Caity we decided to head inland, taking several buses to reach the centre of the continent, and one of the world's largest wetlands, the Pantanal. We stayed at a lodge / farm deep into the reserve at a spot recommended by another backpacker couple, and it was a good decision. Our package included 4 days of safari's (walking, truck, horseback, boat, nocturnal drive) along with piranha fishing (nibbles only) and tubing down the same river! While tubing (floating with the current) we were observed by caiman (small aligators) along the banks who seemed more interested in working on their suntans than us (until one agressive creature approached us just as we finished our float). Our most impressive sights during our stay were a giant anteater (rare for it's size), a tapir (endangered species), an ocelot (small jaguar), brown howler monkeys (to the delight of Caity who took over as tour guide at that point), and many colourful species of birds including macaws, toucans, jabiru storks and flamingos. We met some great people while we were there (Netherlands, Ireland, U.S. family with 4 young children) and enjoyed the great meals and nightly campfires with them. With no towns anywere close to where we were, the night sky was brilliant with the Milky Way clearly visible to the naked eye every night and shooting stars crossing the sky if you paid enough attention. Our final night was filled with caipirinha drinks and was very entertaining into the wee hours of the morning..........Mike was the only one drinking cervezas that evening and the next day!

From the Pantanal we took a bus several hours south to Bonito where we rediscovered the internet. Yesterday we took a full day tour to a reserve at Rio da Prata where we hiked and then snorkelled for almost 2 km's down a crystal clear natural springs river that was filled with colourful fish that we are only used to observing in the oceans. It felt like we were swimming in an aquarium. Some of the tiny fish would actually peck at you, which was initially disturbing since we had recently been in a piranha river, but they were too small to do any damage and we became more comfortable as we continued down the river where the current carried you at a modest pace. Today we wandered around the small town of Bonito and enjoyed a caiman lunch. Last night, Caity was out with our Pantanal tour guide (enjoying a few days off) and he introduced her to piranha soup.

Tomorrow we will be leaving Brazil, taking several buses to get into Bolivia where we will spend the next couple of weeks, and join up with Rachel in La Paz at the end of the month.

Only one month to go!

Rio has turned us into beach bums

Rio de Janeiro has turned out to be everything we expected and more. We stayed in the Ipanema Beach area for 3 full days and spent every afternoon on the beach which was packed on the week-end (as were all of their other fabulous beaches......Copacabana, Botafoga, Flamingo, etc). We had cloudless skies and 30C temperatures all the time. There were many vendors selling food and drinks (caipirinha's for the ladies, beer for me) so you hardly had to move from your beach chair and umbrella. Volleyball games were plentiful along the backside of the beach including volley futbol which has similar rules except that instead of using your hands and arms, you can only use your feet, legs, chest and head. These players have amazing skills and we watched many games with long rallies even when they were playing two a side. If this game ever makes it to the Summer Olympics then Canada is in big trouble for years to come.

We tried to get our excercise in during the mornings (while Caity slept, recovering from a 5:30 am bar party return with some Calgary friends she hooked up with down here). One morning we walked around Rodrigo Lagoon (8 km) which has a walking / running / cycling path all the way around and was popular with the locals who in general seem to be in better shape than other parts of South America that we have been in.........I suppose constant time in your bathing suit provides some sort of incentive. We were unable to climb / ride to the famous Christ the Redeemer statue which overlooks the city because the April heavy rains had forced them to close the paths and use scaffolds to surround and support the structure so that it would not tumble down the mountain into the city (over 200 people had died in mudslides from the same mountain a few weeks before we arrived). On our last evening we took the cable cars to the top of Sugar Loaf mountain for a great view of the city at night.

Having enjoyed our beach time but ready for a few less speedos and thongs we then took a bus 150 km's south and then a boat to Ilha Grande where we are now...........more nice beaches and a lot fewer people since it is mid-week and the fall season (alhough the weather is still sunny and 30C). Today we took a boat tour of the island stopping several times to snorkel and at a couple of secluded beaches. We decided today to ride the weather wave and stay here for an extra day (4 nights in total) since we have a wonderful and cheap 3 bed room at our hostel. Tomorrow we plan to do some hiking on this island which is very large and hilly (along wih some more beach time). Sorry to hear about the weather back home!

Iguazu Falls

We have just completed 3 spectacular days in Iguazu Falls and we were fortunate to see it at it's best. Upon initially arriving on the Argentinian side of the falls we were disappointed to find out that we could not get all the way to the final trail at Devil's Throat because of the recent rainstorms in the surrounding countries (Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay). As we soon discovered, the closure was justified and extremely necessary. The volume of water entering the falls had increased by 800% and was actually passing over many of the tourist walkways including a couple of spots that were still open to us. There were many places where the spray was so intense that we got totally soaked even when we put on our golf rainsuits. We were glad that we had not signed up for a tour because the noise from the falls was so loud that you could not hear anyone talking very well. The pictures posted only cover a small portion of the many different waterfalls we saw and were able to walk over.......they cover several kilometres. It really made Niagara Falls seem very small to us.

The following day we went over to the Brazilian side which provided more outstanding views (and another soaking), including a walk to the top edge of Devil's Throat which was not possible from the Argentinian side.....where we could see the walkway partially submerged in the rushing waters. If anyone has a chance to visit Iguazu Falls we strongly recommend seeing it from both sides.....the overall view from the Brazilian side is a little better but there are more trails to the upper and lower falls on the Argentinian side so you get a completely different perspective.

We also stayed at a wonderful hostel in Puerto Iguazu (Hostel Inn) which had a large pool to relax around (and dry out) at the end of the day, and active evening happenings with huge buffets and bbq's ($7-10 pp) attended by most of the backpackers (60-70 young people) with great music, entertainment, and atmosphere. We shared our 6 person dorm with a nice couple from Ireland and spent our evenings with them drinking lots of Argentinian wine and caipirinhas (Brazil's answer to the pisco sour or marguaritas).

To top off our trip to Iguazu Falls, there was a drug bust on our overnight bus trip back to Curtiba. We found it a little odd that they not only tagged our large backpacks stored underneath the bus (normal procedure for claiming at the other end) but also our daypacks which we carried with us onto the bus. A couple of hours into the trip (at midnight) our bus was suddenly pulled over to the side of the road with approximately 20 federal police officers standing by. No other traffic was stopped leading us to believe this was a targetted search resulting from a likely tip. Most of us were sleeping at the time and awakened by the officers checking our passports, bus tickets, and on-board luggage while other officers checked the stored bags. With everyone now awake and watching what was going on outside, we noticed a duffle bag being opened filled with suspicious looking book-shaped packages (probably cocaine). Several were taken away to a nearby building for inspection and shortly after the officers came back on board and checked everyone's tickets to see who was sitting in seat #24. Fortunately it wasn't one of us (several rows ahead of us), and a gentleman (probably a 'mule') with grey hair was led off the bus and didn't return.........we were on our way shortly after.

We spent the next day taking a bus tour of Curitiba, with several interesting stops along the way: Botanical Gardens and Oscar Niemeyer Museum (the architect of the above eye-shaped structure) and a walk through a park which was supposed to lead us to the next bus stop but instead turned into a 5 kilometre adventure (up and down hills) which found us back at our starting point an hour and a half later! We took another overnight bus from Curtiba to Rio where we are now and will stay for several days relaxing on Ipanema Beach.

Ciao (that still seems to work in Portuguese).