The Galapagos - ´Paradise Found´

Straight in at number 1 - our favourite place of the trip so far, and potentially one of the most amazing places on earth. I do have a tendency to exaggerate at times, but if the Holiday Programme does another "Top 20 places to go before you die" it has to be the Galapagos at the top . All I can say is save the money, find the time and come here. We had just over 2 weeks on the archipelago, getting to 11 of the islands using all manner of transportation - speed boats, light aircraft, a pirate ship and some chilled out horses. I resisted the temptation to hitch a ride on the back of a Giant Tortoise as my fellow Shrewsbury resident, Darwin, once did . Our attempts to get a luxury class cruise at backpacker prices were thwarted by a massive lack of availability - it seems the really nice boats get booked up in advance by rich Yanks paying top dollar, funny that. So after a very frustrating afternoon roaming the streets of San Cristobals main port, getting nowhere fast and finding a lack of credible tour operators, we booked a boat called "Sulidae" - the oldest boat sailing the Galapagos but "full of charm and atmosphere" we were told as we parted with $900 each - ouch! Before the cruise we encased ourselves in neoprene and went for a dive with sharks off Kicker Rock. Bit of a shock as we submerged for the 1st time in 2 years to be gripped by quite a severe current, so we hung on to a rock wall for dear life, eventually turned a corner and spent time drifting around with Galapapos Sharks, Reef Sharks, Eagle Rays, Green Turtles and Sealions - like playful Labradors they are a joy to swim with - and we swam with them pretty much everyday. The cruise itself was superb, 8 days aboard ship (which indeed did fly the Skull and Cross Bones) sailing around the southern islands of Espanola and Florenana, before heading north to Santa Cruz, Rabida, Bartolome, Santiago, North Seymour and Baltra. In the main our fellow passengers were great fun, but isn´t it funny how certain national stereotypess prove themselves to be absolutely true. The crew were great, the chef even put together a cake for Nik´s birthday - what a place to turn 29! The wildlife is obviously the islands big draw, the creatures have no fear of man really, you can get unbelievably close to sea lions rolling around on the beach - coughing and burping in a very human way; to the iconic Blue Footed Boobie - sound stupid, look stupid. And I lost count of the number of times I nearly trod on a marine iguana, basking on black lava rocks, you only know they are there when they spit water at you. The list of endemic and native wildlife is endless and, thankfully, I won´t list it all here. Suffice to say, there is something weird and wonderful about snorkelinging amongst shoals of tropical fish and then to see a penguin dive below you, hungry for its lunch. After the cruise, we tried to recover from our sea legs by retreating to the island of Isabela - the largest but with only 2000 inhabitants - its a tropical paradise, long white sand beaches, active volcanoes and a amazing place to stay for a few days. We got a room above Beto´s Beach Bar, right on the beach - no phone, no TV, no internet, just very strong ciparinhas, excellent lobster and flamingoes flying past - heaven. So that´s the Galapagos - and here are some pics to whet your appetite before you call a travel agent and book a trip. http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stokes_richard2004/my_photos

Peru - The Amazon Rainforest

The Pros & Cons of the Amazon Rainforest I know it`s the lungs of the planet, and incredibly important in terms of biodiversity etc etc, but it`s not all upside you know. We spent 8 days in the rainforest along the Amazon, staying in a variety of accommodation that ranged from something akin to the camp in I`m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, to air con and a pool, and these are a few of the bad things that we discovered: 1. Mosquitoes. I knew there would be mosquitoes, of course, but I didn`t expect them to have such a high degree of cunning and ferocity. I started off by simply using a large quantity of Deet on myself, but all this did was rot my clothes and melt my skin, and they bit me anyway. By the end of the week I was reduced to wearing shorts under my trousers, two pairs of socks, hiking boots, a sweatshirt, a sarong tied around my neck, a headscarf, and my hands wrapped inside the ends of said sarong. I would then flail my arms around my face to protect the one remaining area of exposed flesh. This was, as you can imagine, quite hot. And they bit me anyway. They also launched themselves with gusto at my bare bits whenever I went to the loo or showered (all open air). I started deliberately dehydrating myself to avoid having to remove my pants, even for a nanosecond. By the end of the week I had enough bites to start conducting controlled experiments on a variety of anti-itch medication. Left buttock, anti-histamine cream; right buttock, antiseptic cream. I really needed a control buttock as well. I don`t know how people stand it here for any length of time. I would either have died fairly rapidly from Deet poisoning, or gone quickly mad and become known locally as the Crazy Flailing-Armed Woman of the Jungle. 2. Nasty surprises on the way to bed. On the first night, there was an Amazon Tree Boa wrapped around one of the wooden posts of the walkway linking our bedroom to the dining hut. On the second night, I was running my hand along the rail and came across a tarantula, just sitting there. On the third night, I was pleasantly surprised only to discover a bat and a frog. It does nothing for one´s blood pressure. 3. Deadly animals having innocuous names. Like the pink-toed tarantula, which implies that said creature is maybe a bit camp, more given to sashaying around drinking cocktails than leaping out at unsuspecting tourists. 4. The humidity gives one a terribly large and unwieldy barnet. Combined with the clothes described at 1 above, it`s a fashion disaster. Fortunately, Rich seemed not to notice that his wife had transformed herself into a sweaty, frizzy-haired German exchange student from the 1980s. 5. American tour groups. This commonly seen species has a tendency to wear fluorescent yellow trousers, exhibit an excess of self-confidence and shout loudly at all times, especially when trying to creep up on wildlife. 6. Piranhas. We went fishing for the little bastards, which resulted in losing a whole fillet steak as bait for the end result of 3 tiny bony fish for our lunch. I`m not sure it was worth it, except to remind them that we`re above them in the food chain. 7. Terrifying noises at night. We spent one night in a very basic camp in the middle of the jungle with nothing but a mosquito net between us and all the strange beasties of the night. Rich and I were on separate sleeping platforms and I felt really quite scared and very alone, lynig awake all night hearing things crashing and creeping about only feet from my head. My nerves weren´t helped by finding a tarantula in the shower hut when we arrived, and the guide saying cheerfully "It`s not the tarantulas you need to worry about, it`s the snakes". Going to the loo, a hut enclosed only on 3 sides, up a very dark track into the jungle, involved a lot of deep breathing and a shot of sugar cane rum for courage. And making Rich come with me to check the loo for creatures first. It was one of those experiences that you decide is fun only after you`re safely back in civilisation. However, there are a few good things about the Amazon jungle: 1. The medical necessity of having at least one gin and tonic a day (for the quinine, you know). 2. Sloths. They defy the laws of evolution by not being extinct, despite being equipped with precisely no survival techniques apart from letting go of the branch they`re hanging from and dropping to the ground when panicking, which is a dubious method of self-preservation. For some reason they also descend from their trees once a week to poo, burying it neatly with their tail, no doubt while a jaguar lounges noncholantly against a tree nearby, cleaning its claws, knowing it can just eat it whenever it likes. 3. Birds. We`ve never been particularly ornithologically-minded, but I fear we may have become a couple of twitchers after a week of seeing some of the most beautiful birds you can imagine. Rich took a particularly good photo of a hummingbird in flight, which is rather tricky to do. 4. Canopy walkways. We visited one of the longest in the world, which extends for 500m and is 100 ft above the jungle floor. Incredible, to stand there for an hour at sunrise and watch and listen as the rainforest wakes up, and macaws and toucans fly past below you. 5. The mighty Amazon, full of pink and grey river dolphins and weird and wonderful fish. 6. Ridiculous creatures, in addition to aforementioned sloths. We encountered a tapir, and a capybara, which is a giant rodent, like a huge guinea pig with webbed feet. They also have giant anteaters and porcupines that live up trees, though we didn`t see any of those. We had an excellent guide, Luis, who stayed with us for the whole week and who knew everything about everything in the jungle, having been born there. He also had an unfortunate and rude habit of addressing only Richard for the entire week, making me feel like the invisible woman character from The Fast Show. "Richard, look at this!", "Richard, let´s go!" - he never used my name once in the entire week, even though Rich would crowbar it into the conversation at every opportunity to make sure he knew what it was. The only time he acknowledged me was to say things like "Give your husband your binoculars" or "Show your husband the bird". Misogynist git. On balance, I suppose there are some things in the rainforest worth conserving for future generations.

Peru - The Inca Trail - a survival guide

I think the last few entries have been a tad on the long side (what can I say, there´s been a lot to write about) so I´ll keep this one mercifully short.

"How to survive the Inca Trail"

A tribute to Ray Mears

1. Only 500 punters a day are allowed on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, so make sure you get a good group of like-minded people. Try to avoid Americans.

2. It´s 50 hard kilometers of trekking up hill and down valley. So a wee bit of luxury is allowed. Book with a company like SAS travel who wake you up each morning with a gentle rap on your tent door and a cup of tea...nice. Followed by brekkie and then 3 courses at lunch and dinner. Basically its non-stop eating.

3. As i said, its a long way and at times you climb mountain passes of over 4000 mts (with not a donkey in sight to help you), so take on the services of a local porter to carry your kit. No we´re not lazy, these guys regularly shift 25 kilos of kit and the aforementioned SAS travel pay them the best of all the tour operators in Cuzco. Every year the porters have a race along the trail - 4 days for Gringos - the record for a porter is 3 hrs and 40 mins. Superhuman.

4. Pack Imodium

5. The altitude can be a problem - shortness of breathe, head aches, indigestion. Keep all this at bay by chewing delicious coca leaves. Yes, your teeth will turn green but boy it perks you up.

6. The descent from Dead Womans Pass (named after a prominent breast shape in the mountain and not a regular female casualty spot) is vicious on the knees - so make sure you have a least 3 doctors in your group to diagnose a multitude of ailments. Apparently I have ´ITB´...cool.

7. The last night camp site has a bar and ´disco´ - make sure you drink enough to ensure no self-consciousness when dancing the YMCA in front of 40 or so bemused porters

8. Make an offering to the weather gods to ensure good weather and a cloud-free view of Machu Picchu at sunrise on the last day. Our guide Carlos is a believer and his prayers came good. See pics below in the Inca Trail album

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stokes_richard2004/my_photos

Peru - Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

After our horrendous bus ride from Lake Titicaca to Arequipa, marked by me vomiting the whole way and finding out to my horror that the plastic bag I had had a rather large whole in the bottom - boy was I popular on that bus! We arrived into Arequipa, one of the large cities in Peru and possibly the most attractive. Loads of stunning colonial architecture, everything appears to be carved out of a brilliant white stone with small holes in it so it resembles nougat. The highlight is probably the 600 year old convent, not Nik or my usual hang out I´ll grant you, but it is more like a small town than a relgious building. Until 1970s the nuns there lived in total seclusion from the outside world - but the builders who developed the convent over hundreds of years had obviously been to the Greek Island as all the outside walls were painted in very tasteful pastel shades. I was going to have a go in the confessional, but the priest had something planned in a couple of weeks time so I gave it a miss. Once we´d rested up and I´d had my first solid food for 3 days we decided to move on to the Colca Canyon - twice as deep as the Grand and full of Condors. So instead of picking up a tour in Arequipa (with a horrendous 2am departure) we caught the ´local bus´ to the town of Chivay which sits at the eastern entrance to the canyon. After a hilarious haggle to get a hotel room ("how much for a room?" "how much do you want to pay?" "um don´t know" "Ok 70 soles" "no that´s silly" "OK 30" "Right 40" at which we realised we were increasing the price, the Spanish still needs some work), we found a guide to take us on a 3 day trip (the haggling got better this time). Miguel, the guide, a funny bloke of totally indeterminate age - picked us up at 5am (everything starts early here) to catch a bus to the Cruz del Condor (the Beckham´s new son´s full name I believe) to await the arrival of these majestic birds. It seems we had perfect weather for it (ie lots of thermals) as 10 Condors were on patrol that morning - so we spent a very happy 2 hrs watching them soaring and glide above and below us. Our reverie was only slightly spoilt by a group of German tourist comparing the size of their zoom lenses at high volume. From here we began our very steep descent into the canyon - a drop of around 2000 mts - along extremely narrow paths, making sure we got out the way when a donkey train came steaming past us, carrying literally all the supplies that each village in the canyon needed - water, food, toilets, doors, microwave ovens (not sure why cos there was precious little electricity down there) everything. After a very gruelling and knee crunching 3 hrs we got to our lunch stop - never has the veggie soup you get everywhere in Peru tasted quite so good. Unfortunately we´d chosen the tour that was headed for the village of Tapay, this involved getting off my arse again and climbing up the other side of the canyon for another 3 hrs, this hurt...a lot. But Miguel kept my mind off the increasing pain in my knee by talking constantly about football - he was an addict and I did my best to feed his habit with stories of Spur´s magnificent history...no not even he was fooled but he did promise to support Spurs form now on, good lad humouring me, this did get him a decent tip though. Finally we arrived at Tapay, a village of 70 families about as cut off as you can be from the outside world. Despite its small size it can boast a large colonial style church, beautifully manicured plaza and the valley´s best folk dancing team. We stayed in a thatched hut but slept like dogs - we even managed a hot shower thanks to the solar panels at the hostel. The next day was mercifully short and downhill - we strolled across rivers, along irrigation canals, dodged crazy looking dogs but did get ambushed by 2 guys drinking rum at 10am. It was obvious from their manner that I was not allowed to refuse a shot of the rough stuff - funnily enough my knee felt fine afterwards. We ended the day at an 'Oasis' at the bottom of the canyon - which sparked much questioning again by Miguel about the Mancuanian band of the same name - he was simply obsessed with all things English. We collapsed by the pool and chatted to the 1st Gringos we´d seen since the Condor look out. We then did what all good boy scouts do, find wood and burn it. Alas I managed to find wood that was destined to become a hut, shame it would have burned just lovely! So we had a 30 min fire before dinner - by now it was very very dark and after a few (very pricey) beers it was time to retire, at 8pm. Mind you we did have a 4am wake up call to look forward to, as the 3 hr ascent of the canyon is not advisable during the day - it gets far too hot, people get confused and fall off the side. So instead we did it in the pitch dark, following each and every one of Miguel footsteps. It was a tough climb, but once the sun started to light up the canyon it became strangely enjoyable. By the top, we were fit to drop and the breakfast in the town of Cabanaconde was sublime - its amazing the joy a fried egg butty can bring to a man. OK that was rather long, here are some photos if you can´t be arsed to read my ramblings http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stokes_richard2004/my_photos

Bolivia - Cycling ´The World´s Most Dangerous Road

After a spot of high altitude training in Chile´s northern-most national park, Lauca, of which the highlight was Nik spotting a rare Puma (see blurred pics on link below). We left Chile for the last time on this trip - or at least tried to by bus. Rarely for Chile the promised bus failed to come, and after 4 frustrating hours trying to wave down a Bolivia bound truck, we cut our loses and hitched back to the Pacific coast at Arica with 2 Lan Chile pilots. Their driving was so good down the appallingly steep road, that we also trusted them to fly us to La Paz the next day ( to be frank this also saved a killer 12 hrs bus journey) La Paz, the world´s highest capital city, makes your head spin. Not just from the altutide, but after the relative sanity and safety of Chile, Bolivia seems a world away. In La Paz, the rich are mega-rich and live in the depths of the city - more air and warmer climate. While the poor (there is no middle class) live in shacks which literally cling to the side of the crater in which La Paz exists. Ever year or so, a serious landslide will take out a few neighbourhoods - then they go back and start building again. We felt a bit trapped in the city - after so long away from big urban centres - so we seized the chance to ´get out of town´and experience what is allegdedly, the world´s most dangerous road on a mountain bike. The road really does exactly what it says on the tin. It`s a dirt track cut into a mountainside, which drops about 3 kms vertical over 65km of ´road´, with an 800m vertical drop into the gorge below, and waterfalls crashing down onto the road in places, with the result that sometimes bits of the road just crumble away. Crash barriers have not yet made it to that part of Bolivia, and every year 30 or 40 buses and trucks simply fall off the edge. Some of the cheaper biking companies have lost 7 mountain bikers so far between them, so we paid as much as we could to ensure the best bikes with the best brakes, and lived to tell the tale. The tales the guides love to tell of how some tourists met their maker on this road are not fit for publishing as my mother will read this - I´ll keep those stories for when we get back. But for added reality, they were pulling the crushed cab of a truck out of a 200m gorge the day we cycled past. At which point Nik and myself were very pleased we failed to hitch hike on a Bolivian truck a few days previously. Lots of photos at http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/album.jsp?aid=768a5498cf4b272b7af2 -password = photos - the best ones are 807, 817, 828, 837, 839, 860 and 862. In La Paz we spent a fortune on soft fluffy alpaca jumpers, which will be very handy in the tropics, and went to a football match, the local team are called ´The Strongest´not a translation but their real name - and quite frankly to run around at 4000 mts they deserve the name. Funnily enough their home record in the Copa Liberadores (SA verion of Champions League) is really quite good. From La Paz we moved on to Lake Titicaca - birthplce of Inca civilisation. From here Nik and I took it in turns to get hit by the lurgy. Obviously, being a bloke, my illness was far more spectaular and appalling - 4 hours puking on a Pervian bus with no loo - superb. Latest pics for your enjoyment - scroll to bottom for new ones http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stokes_richard2004/my_photos

Bolivia - Salar de Uyuni

This trip was always billed as one of the highlights of our 6 month holiday. Several friends had been to the Salar - a 10,000 km sq salt lake - and told us how amazing it was, so we hoped it would like up to our high expectations. Just about every tour operator in San Pedro offered a trip to Uyuni (and as every other dwelling appeared to be a tour operator, that's a lot of choice) We went with Colque Tours on recommendation from our hostel - amazingly only $55 each for 4 days. Believe me this is really cheap for Chile, but as we were to find out, there were no airs and graces on this trip, it was pretty rough and rugged. Our bus climbed out of Chile into Bolivia, and immediately you felt you were in a completely different part of South America, with the added altitude (we were always at 4000 mts +), the totally barren landscape, and Bolivian border control being somewhat relaxed compared to the rigors of Chile. After a brekkie of coca tea (to try to fend off altitude sickness) we met our traveling companions for the next 3 days in the back of a Toyota Landcrusier. We had our fingers crossed we'd all get on as we were to travel and live at very close quarters. We got lucky - 2 Norwegian students with unpronounceable names (we called them Thor which they liked), Eric from Belgium and Irish Blon (who also works in media in London so we knew a few people in common) - all a brilliant laugh, apart from one of the Norwegians Olympian snoring on the 1st night. So with our driver and guide Felipe, we set off on a 3 day adventure across Martian like terrain, passing volcanic lakes of green and red with 1,000s of Flamingoes feeding, boiling hot Geysers spitting molten mud out of the centre of the earth at 4900 mts above sea level (we were careful not to get too close the edge and go the way of some unfortunate tourists in the past - a nasty way to die), and a pleasant dip in hot springs before lunch - all this on the 1st day, which included a puncture (and no spare!) which an impromptu game of Boules to pass the time. We spent the night in a hamlet called Villa Mar - an odd name as the sea was a life time away from the inhabitants. We did get drawn into a game of football with the local lads, who quite literally ran rings around us Gringos, as breathing was hard enough there without chasing these 14 year olds around. We kept the score to a respectable 2-1 , and then bought the post-match Cokes before collapsing into bed. Bugger all sleep - not entirely due to the Norwegian snores, but the altitude just made for an uncomfortable night - dry throat etc. Day 2 was all about rocks, and more rocks. From Inca fortresses and rock paintings, to bizarre rock formations shaped by years of erosion and a huge Canyon with an implausible river running thru it. Our 'luxurious' accommodation for the night meant a room to ourselves -but no electricity until 9pm - but it did make the sunset over the Salar (salt lake) all the more impressive. But it was the last day which was the real treat - driving the 4WD over the endless white of the Salar - formed after the ice age and truly the most unique landscape you could ever see. Felipe even managed to get the Landcruiser into 4th gear for the 1st time in 3 days as we sped across the salt towards Fish Island - on all tour parties intineries and so popular some local entrepreneur has even built a burger bar. We put our sudden craving for meat to one side ( it had been veggie soup and rice for 2 days) and climbed to the top of the island amid enormous 12 mt high Cacti and took it all in. After a visit to the Salt Hotel - everything, tables and chairs included, made out of salt - and passing the local salt miners literally sweeping up the stuff into lorries (not a fun job and until there is a world wide salt crisis, not well paid) we ended our tour in the town of Uyuni - our 1st taste of a Bolivian town of any size, and with power supply. For the other 4 in the van this was the end of the line, for us and Felipe we were back in the 4WD for a 12 hr trip back to Chile. All in all an incredible experience that no trip to Bolivia would be complete without. Photos tell the complete story: http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stokes_richard2004/album?.dir=c919&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//uk.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

Chile - San Pedro de Atacama

We wave goodbye to La Serena, our splendid Chevvie Pick Up and the sea (for at least a month), and board the night bus north to Chile's desert region. The Atacama desert is apparently the driest on earth and therefore I suppose the driest place on earth - apparently parts of the desert has never had any rain - I feel thirsty already just thinking about it. Alas Chilean long distance buses, unlike their Argentinian counterparts who force whiskey down your neck, don't allow booze on board.

16 hours and several dubbed Tom Cruise films later we reach San Pedro de Atacama, our base for the next week or so. It appears like a oasis in the middle of countless miles of empty desert and red rock. Fortunately our hostel owner meets us from the bus and despoists us in a lovely room - out of the midday heat. San Pedro has a stunning location, at about 2000 metres but looking up to the Altiplano which acts as the border with Bolivia (of which more in the next blog). There are 3 large extinct volcanoes and 1 still bubbling towering above the hostel - snow capped and amazing at sunset. The town itself is all single storey whitewash houses, which helps in the heat. You feel like your walking around a Spagetti Western at times, the Church is right out of a Fist Full of Dollars. No one runs around, it has a very calm and tranquil feeling, which is good considering the altitude. It is however a town absolutely based on tourism - we've driven passed many villages and hamlets in the middle of nowhere and wondered what keeps people there - usually a bit of agriculture etc. But I can safely say San Pedro would be a mere spec if it wasn't on the tourist trail. It's a balance - you want a charming town to stay in but its also nice to have broadband internet and a decent red wine too!

We chose to visit San Pedro's famous "Valley of the Moon" - and as an added bonus we're due a full moon - what could be better? Well as you will have seen from previous entries, we're not having a huge amount of luck with the weather when we choose to gaze skyward. So in the middle of the driest place on earth, the full moon is inexplicably covered by a piece of the cloud the size of London - arse! It is still a beautiful location though, we hiked up an enourmous sand dune as the sun begins the set - and gazing over the valley of the moon you do get a sense of a lunar landscape so real that NASA could have faked numerous moon landing here in the 60s. As we perch precariously on some rock at the end of the dune, the sunset is dramatic with the cloud at least. Then all goes very dark - a bit of worry as we are clinging on and the wind is wipping up. But then as the moon comes up and clears the cloud - its like someone has turned the lights back on, throwing up long and very bizarre shadows across the moonscape. We scramble down to the waiting coach and get handed a glass of red wine - how very civilised.

Some new pics: http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stokes_richard2004/album?.dir=49de&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stokes_richard2004/my_photos