We are home now and back to real life :( The best thing about arriving home is there is no where like home. Being back in Victoria, Canada we are appreciating all the little things and realizing how lucky we are to live here.
243 days, 10 countries, 3 continents, 77 buses = 583 hours = 24 days, 17 boats, 14 flights, 73 hostels, 2 home stays, 14 nights in tents, 15 nights on boats, 800 km hitch hiked, 9 dives, 2 episodes of food poisoning, 2 episodes of bed bugs, hundreds of friends, 18,000 photos and videos, and 1 million unforgettable memories.
This is our best of's list for the trip:
Fun facts:
Cheapest beer - Panama (40 cents/can)
Cheapest hostels - Peru/Bolivia
Cheapest street food - Cuba (30 cents for a personal pizza)
Nicest locals - Colombia/Cuba
Cheapest taxis - Panama city
Fastest talkers - Chile
Things we won't miss:
- ranging shower temperatures
- wearing sandals in the shower
- checking the sheets and deeming them clean when there are only a few black hairs :|
- living out of a backpack
- night buses
- stray street dogs
- constant noise
-altitude
-altitude
Things we will miss:
- meeting fellow travelers
- interacting with locals
- doing what we want everyday
- living for cheap
Favourite countries - Bolivia and Colombia
Favourite capital city - La Paz, Bolivia
Favourite continent - Antarctica
Most expensive country - Brazil and Argentina
Best food
Argentina: Steak and Wine.
Colombia: Empanadas
Worst Food
Peru: White rice, white bread, white pasta.
Bolivia: Breaded and fried alpaca steaks.
Best activities in every country:
Peru
- Inca trail
Expect heat and cold for this hike
Try not to be too frustrated by the number of people you are sharing this place with
If you are coming in from sea level don't attempt this climb, it is
5822 m altitude in sub zero temperatures. Altitude sickness is common on
this trek despite what the tour office will tell you.
- Lake Titicaca
The locals are the best part of going to the Island of Amantani.
-Volunteering
Don't worry kids i'm actually an electrician.
Such an amazing experience. A good way to kick off the trip and
build up some travel Karma.
Bolivia
- Biking the death road
This experience is a must!
Beautiful vistas.
Heart pounding drops.
Don't become a statistic! One tourist a year manages to launch
themselves off the cliff faces. They don't call it the death road
without reason.
Another climb over 6000 m
Forced smiles
This picture taken at 5990 m at 7 am we have been climbing
for 6 hours.
- Salt flats
At the train cemetery where we could have spent an entire day.
Nothing
Wind swept rocks.
A red bacteria in the water against the blue of the sky.
Flamingos!
Volcanic steam vent.
- Rurrenabaque (jungle)
Hand lining for Piranha.
Sneeky monkeys!
In dry season the river seems to have more crocks than water.
Looking back at this I will probably tell you that this was a bad idea.
Argentina
- Hiking in Patagonia (Fitz Roy range)
Stunning landscape.
Our friends we shared this adventure with.
- Perito Moreno glacier
You could spend 2 days here just watching the glacier calve.
It is so hard to get scale but this glacier is 74 m tall.
- Horseback riding in Bariloche
Argentina has beautiful fit horses.
I said SMILE!
We spent two days exploring the Argentinian side of the falls.
This is the viewing platform for the Brazil side (we did not visit)
Chile
- Climbing Volcano Villarrica
This Volcano erupted in 1964 and 71. There are a number
of similar volcanoes in the region that have erupted more recently.
If we were to do this climb again we would roll the largest
snowball into the smoking crater. Don't ask why.
Our little rental car. Send us a personal message for the off roading
capibilities and 4x4ing review of this vehicle.
Pretty much sums it up.
- Hiking the "W" trek in Patagonia
It is beautiful and it is a must. The logistics are somewhat cumbersome
and doing it on the cheap we spent around $500.
That being said it was still well worth it.
Torres del Paine
Amy really wanted to go out onto the floating icebergs.
Antarctica
- The most amazing place we have ever been to!!
Leopard seal showing off his teeth.
Big glacier, little Zodiac.
Swimming with penguins.
Uruguay
- Biking in Sacramento de Colonia
- Carnaval in Montevideo
So much booty! and not the pirate kind.
- Cabo Polonio
Brazil
- Beaches!
Seeing Familiar faces was sure nice.
Colombia
- Lost city trek
Like we had discovered it ourselves this ruins seems to just
appear out of the jungle.
These ruins were discovered by treasure seekers in the 70s
The FARC/ELN had control of the area and even took 8 hostages in 2003.
Thats why there is a remote army base in the area.
-Coffee Tours
Picking Coffee.
Enjoying the fruits of our labour.
- Wandering the streets of Cartagena
Homemade coconut wine cups on the old spanish wall.
Panama
- San Blas Islands (Sailing from Colombia to Panama)
The snorkeling is amazing here.
Ive heard of mermaids but this........
A nice Mahi-Mahi for the BBQ.
We are only given a certain number of days on this earth
but I am certain that the ones spent on a boat don't count against us.
- Bocas Islands
Sloths Everywhere
Crazy spelunking in neck deep water with bats flying over your head
wondering if any poisonous snakes have fallen into the water from
a hole in the ceiling.
- Diving in Coiba national park
Sharks and moray eels galore. An amazing dive. Do take your time with
choosing a tour company for any dive. Your gear is your life!
Mexico (Yucatan)
- Diving cenotes
A professionally led dive, great gear, great standards.
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This is an advanced dive requiring good spacial awareness and buoyancy.
- Mayan ruins
Cuba
- Tobacco tours in Vinales
Hand picked, hand rolled, hand smoked.
Tobacco drying in a barn.
- Walking the streets of Havana
A lady lowers a bag on a rope to receive her produce from below.
An old chev with a straight 8 diesel engine.
The Visibility here is near unlimited.
Stay tuned for the trip videos to be released.
