Highlights

I recently had a mail from a friend (me Julie) asking what were the highlights of the trip thus far.  The scary thing was that I could only really think clearly back to Bolivia and had pretty much forgotten about the great things that happened in Africa.  So I'm adding this page to list what have been my highlights thus far.  The order is random and is as much down to when I remember things as opposed to one thing being better than another:

1.  Trekking in El Chaltan:  A small village on in patagonia on the Argentinian side.  The village was formed to stop Chile from claiming more land, but what a site for a village.  Nestled right in the foothills of the Fitz Roy range, the hiking is amazing.  You literally walk out of your front door and you are hiking, with glaciers, lake, waterfalls and mountains no further than 3 - 4 hours away.  The place is so pristine you can fill up your water bottle in the streams, that is unless your hand falls off from the cold first.

2.  Visiting Manu Rainforest:  Manu was totally amazing.  The diversity of animals is beyond belief.  I'm not sure what I expected from jungle but this was not it.  It was a unqiue feeling being in the bi-reserve as human incursions have been controlled for 30+ years so the animals are not afraid of humans.  This was probably the most amazing part.  Normally, where humans tread, the animals flee, here, where humans tread, the animals check you and then either do nothing, throw stuff at you or go on about their business.  This was an unbelievable trip.  Oh and there were some landslides too.

3.   Atacama Desert and Uyuni Salt Flat:  A desert with mountains, snow and lakes at 4,000+ meters is indescribable.  The star filled nights, the thermal springs, the vast and impressive scenery.  This was just a landscape to be truly admired.  And once finished with the desert you head to the salt flats.  Sitting on the roof admiring the view whilst cruising the flats was a great experience.

4.  Trindade (in Brazil):  Maybe it was just escaping Rio, maybe it was the lovely eco lodge, maybe it was the beach and jungle together or maybe it was the awesome natural rock pool on the beach, I'm not sure what, but Trindade was a magical haven on the trip and is certainly a major highlight.  Although, i'm sure it was not the constant rain that was the highlight.

5.  La Paz:  A protest every day, check.  The highest capital city in the world, check.  Insane traffic, check.  Lot's of noise, check.  Not a lot for a traveller to do, check.  I'm not sure why I liked La Paz, I just know that I did.  We relaxed here and didn't do a great deal, weren't hassled by the locals and just got on with things.  La Paz, love it.

6.  Riding the Death Road:  This has become a backpackers must do.  I very seriously contemplated not doing it.  I hate cliffs and this is a downhill dirt road of just clifss, you can see my concern,  However, riding down, admiring the scenery where possible and making it down safely make for an adrenaline charged day, what in there screams nothing but highlight?

7.  Coroico:  After the death road we stayed in an eco lodge in a small town in the Yungas (part of the Amazon).  We went to town and bought a feast at the markets, we swam, we sat in hammocks, we had a fire, we relaxed.  It was a peaceful oasis in a brilliant setting.  Like Trindade, not a tourist town, not much to do, but so very special.

8.  Seeing Hummingbirds and Fireflys:  Liz saw a hummingbird in Corioco, I missed it.  Thankfully though, there was one in our hostel garden in Arequippa.  Then there was one at the the start of our Manu trip.  Such a small beautiful bird, with insanely flapping wings it was brilliant to see.  Then also seeing fireflys in the Manu trip was bonkers.  They are awesome, little luminescent flashes of light flitting everywhere it was crazy to see this in real life.

9.  Snorkelling in the Galapagos:  Swimming with sea lions, sea turtles, penguins and blue footed boobies in the Galapagos Islands was so cool because the animals would swim up, have a look, decide that they weren't interested and then swim off.  Sometimes they would play, but mainly swim off.  it was totally fantastic.

10.  Isla del Sol on Lake Titikaka:  After the hustle and bustle of the tourist trail hitting Isla del Sol was a welcome change.  Tourism is a rather new thing here so accommodation is with the locals who have converted their houses into hostels.  The welcome is warm, the people are friendly and helpful and the setting is stunning.  Walking the length of the island to visit Inca ruins is an added bonus.  Another, small, quiet and peaceful place makes the highlights.

11.  Hostel in Sucre:  It had a huge bed, massive rattan chairs, tv with 20 channels in English, en suit bathroom, bacon for breakfast and a mezzanine level with sky lights and couches.  Enough said.

12.  Dino World Sucre:  From the very shifty (not the real world I intended to use) to the old school dinosaur models complete with roaring and screeching sound effects, this place should have been piss-weak world incarnate.  But, to see thousands upon thousands of dinosaur footprints conserved on a quarry wall was truly amazing.  We loved it.

13.  Spitzkoppe in Namiba:  A mini mountain range in the middle of the desert with no running water, toilets, anything doesn't sound to crash hot, but this place was simply amazing.  The colour, size and shape of the hills were amazing and the peacefulness found wandering around and camping were perfect.  Brilliant.

14.  Devil's Pools Victoria Falls:  Catching a boat to the edge of the world's largest waterfalls, then swimming across the Zambezi to jump in a rock pool ridge on the edge of the falls is just insane.  Then add to the mix little fish biting you, a look over the edge and then some beers and food and you have an amazing experience.

15.  Perito Moreno Glacier:  an hour or so outside of El Calafate is one of the few glaciers in the world that is still growing.  We signed up for the ice hike tour, but were a bit sceptical after a horrid day trip to Torres del Paine the day before.  The trip though was awesome.  We spent the morning checking out the glacier from the viewing platform and that was good in itself.  It is massive.  We were evening lucky enough to see some section calve from the main ice-sheet.  Then in the afternoon, we caught a boat across the lake, saw some larger sections calve during the ride, strapped on some crampons and walked around on the glacier for a bit over an hour.  It was stunning.  So stunning that I put heaps of photos up.  We even had scotch on the rocks, with the rocks coming off the glacier itself.  Truly an amazing day.  In the top 5 experiences on this trip.

16.  Wineries in Maipu with Mr. Hugo:  We went to Mendoza to check out the wineries and along the way everyone had recommended hiring a bike from Mr. Hugo and riding around the wineries.  So we did.  We bumped into two dutch girls we met on the bus from Santiago and spent the day with them.  The sun was out, the wine and company good, all in all a fun day out.  And then when you got to return your bikes Mr. Hugo gives you unlimited wine to drink in his garden whilst hanging out with everyone else who rode that day.  Very, very good.

17.  Boca Juniors:  Seeing football was high on the agenda on the trip to SA.  The first time we were in BsAs the football season was in hiatus, so it looked like we would miss a match in Argentina.  However, we had to go back to BsAs to get a replacement card for Liz so it turned out we could see Boca Juniors at La Bombonera.  Our friends had already got tickets which were quite expensive, but we managed to get some tickets for about a third of the price.  The reason for the price difference was evident when we got to the ground.  Our friends tickets were in a special section for foreigners.  Our tickets were with the Ultras (hooligans).  For our purchase price we got bus to and from, entry, beer and pizza afterward and security.  Crazy.  The match wasn't too good as Boca were thumped, however, the atmosphere was amazing.  The place almost took off when Boca scored.  Truly a different experience, right down to the streets being blocked off by riot police and being held back for half an hour after the match to the non-nutters could get away before the us and our Ultra guards hit the streets.  A different experience to say the least, but one which sports fans should experience.

18.  Snorkelling In The Dark:  We went on a sailing trip to the San Blas Islands off Panama, which in itself was amazing.  Not to mention crayfish dinners, snapper lunches and dinners and crayfish octopus and conch dinners.  But the real highlight was snorkelling in the dark.  Why you say?  Well, on  the first night kayaking back to the boat we spotted some bio-luminescence, so on the second night, I put on the snorkel and swam around creating my own spotlight as I did. It's absolutely crazy.  These little gold lights lights all over the water.  An amazing sight to see.  I loved it.
I'm sure there is more and I will add as soon as they come to me.

19.  The Panama Canal:  This was one that Liz and I were looking forward to.  We love watching Mega Structures and although built way before TV was invented the canal is a mega structure.  We were lucky enough to see a container ship and a tanker go through.  They take less than hour to go from sea level up to the level of the lake which is 30+ meters.  It is amazing.  You watch these boats slowly but surely rise up, it is a wonder of engineering.  Probably not for all, but we were very happy to see this in real life.

20.  Snorkelling in Bocas del Toro

21.  Zip line in Monteverde

22.  Night Walk in Monteverde

23.  Riding scooters on Ometepe

24.  Tikal

25.  Chichen Itza

26.  Snorkelling in Cenotes

27.  Snorkelling in Caye Caulker

28.  The luchadores in Mexico City