Dates: 27^th – 31^st January 2010

Plenty of beaches, all within city limits, urban energy, great shopping and fantastic nightlife combine all of our favourite things, that’s why we’re inclined to make Rio our second favourite city in the world (Cape Town obviously being the first

Just another day on Copacabana

Sunset over Ipanema Beach

The sweltering heat of Rio was overwhelming reaching well over 40 degrees, as we saw on the temperature gauges all over the city.

After checking in into our hostel, one block from the famous Copacabana beachfront, we wasted no time in hitting the beach to catch-up on some sleep after our red-eye flight.  Feeling refreshed, we were ready for our first Caiprinhia’s and so set out to explore the rest of Copacabana and the nightlife of Ipanema.

The taste of the first Caiprinhia

Dusk in the magical tropical city

The nights presented many surprises - like Charlie Chaplin

The joys of backpacker living

Finally feeling at ease with our Spanish we quickly realised it wasn’t going to get us anywhere in Brazil, neither was English – we had a new language to discover as well as many local delights like the many exotic fruits. Brazil has many types of fruit found nowhere else in the world – plenty of juice bars on every corner, we soon discovered our favourite: Acai, a purple palm-heart berry blended into a smoothie-type pulp served with granola – absolutely yum!

Phoebs tucking into some corn on the cob

Christus Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) stands towering over the city, blessing its people. We joined the flocks of tourists to the top of the Corcovado, where from the base the statue stands 38m tall. The city views were incredible, but the best was yet to come. Next, we took the cablecar up Sugarloaf Mountain, from where we had 360 degree views across the city and its bays. The angular shape, sheer steepness and smoothness of the rock left us in awe of how they managed to build the cablecar and restaurant at the top.

The sun shines over Jesus the Redeemer

The Redeemer stands 38m tall watching over the city

Phoebs strikes a 'redeeming' pose

The cablecar to Sugar Loaf (Pao Acucar) - named after its shape

Waiting for our cablecar

Long stretch of Copacabana as seen from Sugar Loaf

And the harbour on the other side

The beach is a way of life for Brazilians – the itsy bikini, speedos and Havaianas are clearly their national uniform. All three are readily available in every size, style and colour on just about every street corner. Ipanema beach was heaving with crowds on the Saturday – yellow umbrellas, yellow deck chairs and Carioca’s (what the citizens of Rio call themselves) selling everything you might needs – sarongs, bikinis, sun-cream, dresses, hats, ice-cream, Caiprihinia’s and even freshly grilled prawns. Clearly, no need to leave the beach, and that’s exactly where Phoebe and I spent the next couple of days.

Ipanema on a Satruday morning - not an open space in sight

Post by Kasia

Dates: 23^rd- 26^th January 2010

Flying over Iguazu Falls we were immediately awestruck by the sheer immensity of the waterfalls – from the top it looked like a massive crack in the earth, where tons of water drops to the earth’s core, leaving a haze of sea-spray which can be seen from 12,000 feet in the air.

'The crack in the earth' as seen from the plane

Straight after breakfast on our first day there, we headed to the Parque Nacional de Iguassu and to make the most of what the park had to offer, we took a canopy vehicle through the jungle and then got on a boat to experience Iguazu’s Nautical Adventure, apparently the best way to see the waterfalls up-close. We didn’t get to see much, because our boat ventured through the powerful rapids into the pit of the waterfalls – Devil’s Throat – and the power of the falling water made it impossible to open our eyes. Needless to say, we were completely drenched, by the time we disembarked at the base of the Lower Circuit.

The Iguazu Falls on a perfect clear day

Ready for our 'Nautical Adventure'

Getting close... the Devil's Throat on the Brazil side

...and closer...

... and closer!

The Lower Circuit presented a couple of really great look-out points right at the base of the waterfalls, where you could feel the intensity of the water… and get very wet.

Phoebs with the roar of the water in the background

The Upper Circuit allows you to walk about 650m along the edge of the waterfall, overlooking the sheer drop of the water. The volume of water, the velocity and the overwhelming roar were awe-inspiring. The place is very well-developed for tourists – even the butterflies weren’t tourist shy and we had a couple sit on us to ‘pose’ for photographs.

Sheer drop from the top

Kas relaxing at one of the look-out spots

Iguazu in all its splendour

The rest of our time in Iguazu was spent cooling by the pool in the amazing tropical heat and our last night we ventured out to allow our last  Argentinean steak indulgence.

Refreshing... relaxing by the pool at Marco Suites Inn Hostel

The last Argentine steak dinner - before...

... and after!

Post by Phoebs

Dates: 19 – 23^rd

Sushi & Champagne – that was our first dinner in Buenos Aires???

Sushi & Champagne for dinner - I think we were confused which country we were in...

In Buenos Aires, everything was trendy – fashion, boutiques, cafes, bars, restaurants and even our hostel. We stayed in the uber-chic and trendy Borges Hostel in Palermo Soho.

The uber-trendy Borges Design Hostel in Palermo

Our first day started with a delicious brunch at Mama Rucha in Palermo happily watching the world go by before heading to the famous Recoleta ‘barrio’.  We spent the afternoon at the Eva Peron museum – we were both surprised by what she managed to achieve in such a short lifetime and were inspired to watch the Evita movie again. Then we ticked off all the sights – Casa Rosada, Plaza de Mayo, Ave de Mayo, the Obelisk…

Christopher Columbus Column in front of the Casa Rosada

Plaza De Mayo

Recoleta Cemetery - where Eva Peron lies buried

In order to learn to tell our Syrah’s from our Shiraz’s we attended an expat wine-tasting event hosted by Vinos Aires, after which we ended up at a crazy bar called Sugar and diverted a little from our wines (whiskey, rum, gin etc)… let’s just say the rest stays on tour.

Surprisingly, our team won the blind-taste competition at the VinosAires wine-tasting event

The next day was met with a fragile start (read: we only left our hostel at 2pm… when in Argentina, do as the Argentines) and visited the vibrant working class ‘barrio’ of Caminito in La Boca – lots of markets, brightly coloured houses, live performers and tango dancers in the street. After a brief siesta, we ventured to the famous La Cabrera Parrilla that evening – steak, red wine – Phoebe was in her element, I settled for the chicken and the sides.

The famous Little Caminito

The colourful houses of La Boca

Trying our hand at the sultry Tango

Meal for 2!!! at La Cabrera

Phoebs tucking in...

After the previous night’s dinner, we certainly needed a more active way of seeing the city – by bicycle. We were led through the modern (and ultra-hip) barrio of Puerto Madero, the aristocratic neighbourhood of Recoleta   (Paris, London, Madrid and Barcelona – all rolled into one), the city’s pristine parks, Recoleta Cemetery, where Argentine royalty rests in peace and then to the cafe culture of San Telmo. The afternoon was all about indulgence – a little (too much) shopping and some delicious Argentine ice-cream.

Exploring Buenos Aires, by bike (the 8-laned Ave de 9 Julio was somewhat hair-raising)

Cycling under the 'decorative' cranes in Puerto Madero

Ultra-modern Puerto Madero by day...

...and by night

The pristine parks of Recoleta

When in Buenos Aires – there’s one night-time activity not to be missed – the Tango! We were mesmerized by the seductiveness and elegance of the Tango show at Cafe Tortoni, the city’s oldest and most famous Tango cafe.

Elegant, sexy, sultry... Tango!

Post by: Kasia

Dates: 15^th – 17^th January 2010

A 4×4, a grumpy Bolivian [our tour guide and driver who didn’t speak much (any) English], a German, an Italian and the four of us – dishevelled after a hair-raising overnight bus journey from La Paz – only a beer at 11am could lighten the mood.

On our way to the salt flats we stopped at an abondoned train graveyard where we got to act out our very own great train robbery scene on a deserted train and did what our parents always told us never to do… played on the tracks.

Acting out a scene from the great robbery

Playing on the train tracks

We continued our 4×4 journey and soon our eyes were dazzled by the vast expanse of white salt and the distorted horizon. Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat, formed thousands of years ago through a series of geological transformations – originally it was part of a massive lake which is now in part Lake Titicaca. Testimony to this is Isla de Pescado – which used to be a massive coral reef submerged underwater when the Salar was still a lake. Now it’s a cluster of dried coral formations which provide a nutritional bed for the thousands of cacti which now stand tall on the island adding to spooky feel of the landscape. Then it was time for… Lights, Camera, Action – the reason why we came here.  Our props finally got to see the light of day whilst we spend the next two hours snapping away and posing in all sorts of crazy positions to maximise the unusual perspective of the dramatic scenery.

Lunch, cooked by our driver, was a delicious meal of llama steak and salad – he remembered to bring everything except for the salt As if things weren’t salty enough, our accommodation for the evening was, in the most literal sense – The Salt Shack – the walls, the steps, the floors, the tables, chairs and bed bases – everything was crafted out of salt!

4X4 adventures

Never ending expanse of salt

Isla de Pescada

Will my wish come true if I can blow Kasia off my fingertips?

Reaching for a new high

Behind the scenes...photography in action

Table and chairs built purely from salt

Our 5.30am wake-up call was well rewarded by a spectacular sunrise over the salt flat as we continued  south to Reserva Fauna Andina Eduardo Abaroa – a remote region of high altitude deserts. Surreal wind-blasted rock formations, ice-bound volcanic peaks, half frozen, mineral-stained lakes made it feel like we were on another planet. We saw 100’s of pink flamingos and herds of vicunas as we drove through the altiplano between snow-capped peaks reaching altitudes of 6000m.

Sand blasted rock formation

Amazing colours of the sand dunes

Mirror reflections across one of the lakes

Incredible rock formations

Pink flamingos

We set off before dawn, at below zero temperatures the next morning, to get to the geysers when they are most active and visible, and to the hot spring before the hordes of unshowered tourists arrive. The icy morning air didn’t not stop us from stripping down to our bikinis and jumping straight into the hot springs – we hadn’t showered for three days.

Gases!

Bathing in the hot springs at sunrise

Enroute back, we dropped off Christian (the German) and Giuseppe (the Italian) in Chile. One foot in Chile, can we call this country no. 12?

One foot in Chile

Dates: 12^th-14^th January 2010

Getting ready for the World's Most Dangerous Road

Upon arriving in La Paz, Richard and I were on a one-track mission: to find the best way to do ‘The Worst’s Most Dangerous Rd’ – a 64km stretch of undulating, narrow, rocky road, against a cliff face, which drops 3 500m in altitude over the distance – as you can imagine that means pretty steep.  We quickly stumbled upon Madness, signed our lives away in the 3-page disclaimer and even convinced Chantelle to do it with us.

Descending 3500m in 64km - all Downhill Madness!

The truth behind the namesake - Death Rd

Our next feat of bravery was finding a restaurant for dinner in the centre of La Paz – we managed to find a place called the British Indian Curry House (British curry is finally getting the recognition it deserves) which dared its patrons to finish ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Vindaloo’. There were tears, there were sighs, there was sweat  – but our hero(ine) of the night  Phoebs managed to finish her ‘Death Curry’ and got the T-shirt to prove it.

Sweat & tears - The World's Most Dangerous Vindaloo

Got the T-shirt

The next day, Richard, Chantelle & I had a early start with breakfast and a safety briefing early in the morning, and then we were driven to La Cumbria – the starting point of Death Rd at an altitude 4 700m. The first half consisted of racing down a very steep (but tarred) road – reaching speeds of up to 70km/hr – I thought that it would terrify me, but the adrenalin made me want to go even faster.  When the tarred road finished, the tricky party begins – very winding, very rocky and very narrow, but the incline and speed never subside. What makes the experience extra dangerous is the spectacular scenery – it is really difficult to keep your eyes on the narrow and winding road.

The tarred part of the road - easy...

Riding through a waterfall

Chantelle & I enjoying the spectacular scenery along the way

The valley at the end of the road

After we reached the end, we were attacked by the world’s most dangerous mosquitoes at the Mosquito Bar (funny namesake) and indulged in a celebratory beer, followed by a fantastic lunch and relaxing afternoon by the pool at a hotel in Coroica.

Relaxing in Coroico, at the end of the road

We topped it all with the world’s most dangerous bus ride – from La Paz to Uyuni, not one of us could sleep a wink until well after 3am, as we unfortunately witnessed a horrific bus accident. Even looking out the window was scary – driving through the desert landscape, there was no actual road in sight, probably great preparation for what awaited us in the salt flats…

Colourful streets of La Paz

Parting shot - leaving La Paz at dusk

Post by: Kasia

Dates: 10^th-12^th January 2010

After almost a month in Peru (and need for another stamp in our passport) we were very excited to explore a new country – our next destination Bolivia.

Bolivians still live a very traditional lifestyle apparent through the long plaits, bowler hats and brightly coloured local dress of the Bolivian women, but for us spoilt western girls the ‘lack of luxuries’ – no flushing toilets, slow service, bland food, no toilet paper – was a little hard to get used to.

We headed to the “coastal town” of Copacabana on the Bolivian boarder of Lake Titicaca – named after the more famous beach in Brazil.  A perfect town to explore the deep blue and mirrored waters of Lake Titicaca situated 3,812m above sea level.

Main street of Copacabana leading to Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

Stalls outside the Cathedral selling trinkets for the famous Virgin Mary

Peddle boats

We spent a day boating around Lake Titicaca and hiking across Isla del Sol (“Island of the sun”) – one of the lake’s largest islands.  A few moments into our hike, across rocky and hilly terrain, we were completely breathless – not just from the high altitude but also due to the breathtaking scenery.

Mirrored waters of across the bay of Isla del Sol

Bright blue waters of Lake Titicaca

Breathtaking views from the hills of Isla del Sol

One of the many beaches of Isla del Sol

Spectacular scenary and reflections

Strolling through the rural villages we saw firsthand how the locals lived and farmed, ancient ruins dating back to the Incas who believed that the sun god was born here.  The island has no motor vehicles or paved roads – just lots of farm animals roaming the paths – donkeys, pigs and llamas.   We even stumbled across two playful piglets on the beach, which greedily ate our lunch!

Rural houses of Isla del Sol

Feeding one of the piglets

Playing with the piggy

Post by: Phoebs