Hi Guys,
Long time no chat!!!.. I think we left you in Santiago on our first day and haven´t had any chance to check in until now....
Firstly, as some of you are aware, there are all sorts of political problems in Bolivia at the moment and there are violent protesters blockading the towns we are meant to be visiting... But please be assured, we´re both safe and having a great time. We have been living each day as it comes waiting for the UK Embassy to give a sign that its ok to enter, but we just found out about half an hour ago that its still a bit too dangerous to stick to our itinerary, so our tour leader has decided to take us on a detour and we´ll hang out in the Amazon Jungle for a few days.. Apparently swimming with piranhas and playing with Anacandors is safer!. ahaha.
What else.... ok, so our tour group is pretty cool. We are travelling with 8 others.. A german couple in their 20´s, a guy from England, and the rest are Aussies.. We are hanging out with the Germans, A guy from Aus and the British guy mostly - they are awesome value.
We´re writing this from San Pedro De Atacama... it took us 17 hours on a bus to get here and we are basically right in the middle of the desert.. Yesterday a group of us hired bikes and rode around the desert till we found some inca ruins then spent an hour and a half climbing a sandy mountain.. awesome fun. We also did some spontaneous canyoning-caving on a mini tour, and watched the sunset from the top of a sand dune....
Health wise we´re both fine... we´re at altitude at the moment, and apart from getting puffed out easily, we´re holding up pretty good (though Leah is trying to break a new record for hitting her head on stuff, shes fine!)
Otherwise, we spent some time star gazing at La Serena, checked out a local pisco sour factory (crazy cheap local alcohol.. its 12% and only $2!) and spent some time looking at the Vineyards and have tried a couple... so good!.
This morning started at 3.45am, when we were picked up to go check out some Volcanic Geysers (like blow holes).. No one told us it woudl be minus 10 degree so we were all freezing.. so what best to do in those conditions..... swim!!!.. Yep, you betcha we had a swim in a lake... the water was tepid at best, and freezing on entry and exit.. so much fun though.
One funny thing we didn´t notice when we booked this tour is that there is no transport for us, no big truck .... everytime we go somewhere, we´re catching public transport with the locals!!... Its kinda funny and we´re slowing getting used to the extra security precautions we have to take. (theres lots of them!!!)
The only complaint about this trip is that both sleep and food are not high priorities.. we basically eat on the run most days with food we buy from shops, and we have late nights (often travelling), or very early mornings.. but who are we kidding, this is awesome!!
Hope everyone is safe at home.. Apologies for not replying to individual emails.. The connections here are crazy slow, but we really appreciate it and love hearing from you.
Take Care and we´ll chat soon.
Katie and Leah
Sounds like you are both having a great time. I hope the weather is treating you kindly (... other than the minus 10 degree temperature). Don't forget if you want to send some nice wine back home, send it to work - we'll look after it for you ... after we make sure of the contents. Travel safely, Patrick.
ReplyDeleteWhat an experience! Your Spanish should be fluent by the time you both get home. Enjoy the jungle and NO Leah, you can not have a pet anaconda.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget Dad wants photos of the big, hairy spiders. Stay safe xx
Go on Leah ,as it was Dad's birthday yesterday I know he would love a pet anaconda.He just isn'nt allowed to bring it to visit us!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy.
Sounds like a lot of fun. Who needs sleep when you are travelling..!
ReplyDelete