South American Adventure - Day Twenty Six, Monday 17th March 2014

Our last day – tonight we fly home to London.  Not to waste the last day – much to Paul’s dismay – I think it best we get up early, have an early breakfast, and go on a walking tour that I have found.  I don’t think he wants me to go “off into the sunset” again, so agrees to come with me.  I think he was ideally thinking of a day on the beach!

The meeting place is in Carioca Sqaure, under the Carioca Clock.  The concierge says that the quickest way to get there is metro, but we decide to take a taxi.  On a Monday morning, in probably rush hour.  After about forty five minutes in the taxi, we can see why he suggested the metro.  After sitting in stationery traffic, we make hand signals to the driver, pay him, and as far as possible think we are setting off in the right direction.  We are, and we get there with thirty seconds to spare.  Better than thirty seconds after they have left!  This is a free walking tour – but very much with tips expected at the end.  It attracts a lot of backpackers, and consequently there is around forty people on the tour. 

The girl that is taking it is very enthusiastic, has very good English, and her voice seems to carry a long way, so no problem.  We start just off the square at St Anthony’s Church.  In here, it has a line of photographs of the square from the 1600’s to present day.  As you would expect, it has changed considerably.  From a lake back in the 1600’s, through to the commercial centre and stock exchange that it is today.  Unrecognisable.  But good to see it change in small slices.  St Anthony is apparently the saint of marriage – you pray to him help find you a spouse.  Not heard of him before!

We then walked through some streets to the Colombo Bakery, one of the oldest bakeries and café in Rio.  Apparently, even our own Queen has taken tea here.  It was very old fashioned, and lovely inside, with so many cakes and pastries……..  But, we  were on a tour so couldn’t stop!  We then went through little cobbled streets that were the hub of industry in the 1800’s, and then into another cobbled street where the rich used to live – but only the facades of the houses remain.  Carmen Miranda had a house here – I can remember my mum once putting a bunch of bananas on her head and dancing like Carmen.  Her house is now a café.  I had a Carmen Miranda cocktail at the Copacabana Palace a couple of nights ago.

We then moved to the Imperial Palace, where we heard a little about the history of Brazil and Portugal, and King John 6^th.  This was his palace when he came over in 1808, but he was a little disappointed.  It certainly didn’t look much like a royal palace.  But in 1808 it would have been better than the ordinary!  We came out of another corner of the palace, which has been turned into a book and record shop, and a fabulous palace stood in front of us.  Tiradentes Palace far exceeds the Imperial Palace for grandeur and beauty.  It opened in the early 1900’s, and was a built on the ground of an old jail that housed a chap called Tiradentes who was a member of the Brazilian Independence Movement.  It now houses the Legislative Assembly of the state of Rio.

We then went past a Haviananas flip flop shop – never heard of them, but several people went mad.  Thought they must be good – presents bought!  We then walked on to the main square, that was circled by old and beautiful buildings – the Library, the Theatre and the Fine Arts Museum.  Fantastic.  We then went to the Selaron steps that we went past yesterday – this time we walked up a few, but were advised not to go to the top.  This is where the area changes, and you could get knifed for your camera.  Enough said!  We finished at the Lapa Arches, and then some of us went to lunch at a traditional Brazilian restaurant.  Most of our fellow companions were young backpackers from all over the world comparing stories.  Oh what it is to be young!

We went back to the hotel on the metro – a lot easier, and the station was just behind the hotel.  I then let Paul have an hour or so by the pool before it was time to pack and get ready for the flight home. 

We are both very sad to be leaving.  It was a wonderful adventure!

South American Adventure - Day Twenty Five, Sunday 16th March 2014

Today is the last full day in Rio.  After a relaxed breakfast, we have booked a tour with Eat Rio.  This is a walking tour, tasting typical Brazilian food.  We took at taxi to the Nova Capela Restaurant, which is where the tour was starting in the Lapa District.  Good start – the restaurant was chained closed.  We were slightly early, but soon Tom and Manuella arrived, follwed by two American couples and a German lady.  Tom is from UK originally, but is now married to Manuella and has set up the Eat Rio Tours.  They were as surprised that the restaurant was closed as well.  No problem.  That is what I like to hear!

We moved down the road five minutes, and arranged to have the same dish in a different restaurant.  It was a salted cod fish and other stuff ball, deep fried to give it a crispy shell.  This was cut open, drizzled with olive oil and then (optionally) a hot pepper sauce poured on.  It was delicious.  This was washed down with a traditional pineapple and mint drink.  Round one done – we set off to the next restaurant.

We then walked by the Lapa Arches, or the Carioqua Aquaduct, which were built in the 1700’s.  This was originally built to carry water to the part of the city that was inhabited, but this actual part of it has two storey arches that span around 270 metres.  Very impressive.  It is not used for this any more – in actual fact I don’t think at the moment it is used for anything.  We then walked past the Escardaria Seladon, a set of steps in done in mosaic by a penniless artist from scraps in the 1990’s.  They were done to improve the look of the steps.  He was found burnt to death on them in 2013.  Yuk!

We then went on to our second tasting.  We went to a fruit and vegetable market, and had a tapiocas.  I can remember this name, as I thought it was going to be a milk pudding!  It wasn’t.  It was made of a starch from a vegetable called Manioc.  After going through some process to get the starch, there are ladies on the stall with frying pans than turn it into tapiocas.  They fry it, then put in either a sweet or savoury filling, turn it in half like an omelette and you eat it like a sandwich.  It was delicious, if somewhat different to anything I have tasted before.

The whole of the fruit and veg market was buzzing.  Many of the stalls were cutting the fruit to let you taste it.  We had some mango that was so sweet – and so cheap!  Some of the fruits were recognisable, but some I had never seen before.  We then went on to have another drink.  This was made with pure sugar cane.  There were a couple of men with a machine in a van, and they fed the actual sugar cane into it.  A bit like a big juicer.  The liquid that came out was then mixed with other things – not sure what, and then you had it in the cup.  There was a squeeze of lime that went in last.  Another delicious drink.

We then went into the metro.  A very good system.  The station and the train were air conditioned – lovely, it was a very hot day again.  We went two stops, and then got off in another district.  We then had a weird soup.  I will explain it.  It contains cyanide, a plant that is an anaesthetic, a couple of other things that make it gloopy and a whole prawn.  They are selling it – so I am eating it!  Apparently the cyanide is cooked out, so it isn’t poisonous when you come to eat it.  Hope the chef hasn’t got the hump about anything!  It wasn’t too bad – very salty, and no matter how I tried to eat the prawn whole I couldn’t bear the thought of the crunch, so shelled it.  The shell was really soft, and very hard to peel.  Still did it though.  My mouth definitely went a bit numb, but I didn’t fall down dead (for the second day in a row!).  We also had a dish made of the acai berry here.  A very refreshing frozen drink type thing.  Made your mouth and teeth purple.  Went with the fact that I couldn’t feel them anyway!

We then walked some more to another market, and had a very alcoholic drink here over ice that came in either passion fruit or coconut flavour.  That made everyone happy!  Strong, but pleasant.  Out last stop was in a restaurant that had been converted from slave quarters before slavery was abolished.  We had Brazilian beer (think we might have already tried that one!) and then another traditional Brazilian dish.  There was a meat dish that was stew like with beans and pork rib, rice, a green kale like vegetable, and something else that you sprinkle over the top.  It was lovely – but by this time everyone was full to the brim.  There was live music here, and full of locals having a very social Sunday afternoon.

What a lovely tour. I think I have remembered everything we had to eat – so much.  No idea about the names though.  Meeting local people, and trying food that we would not have even known what it was let alone order it.  A really good idea.

After the tour we got a taxi to the base of Sugar Loaf Mountain.  We were going up for the sunset.  A really good time to go – there was no queues for the cable car at all.  Sixty one reais each – around £17.  We rode the first cable car, then took some pictures from the first stage before getting on the next cable car to get to the top of Sugar Loaf.  The views from the top are stunning – 360 degrees around the whole of Rio.  We got up to the top at around 5pm, so half an hour or so to wait for the sun to go behind the mountains behind the Christ statue.  We had a little walk around the park area at the top – Paul saw a monkey at the point when I had lost him, so I never got to see one.  There were a few people up there, but nowhere near as many as during the day.  And I think this is the best time to come.  You get the views in daylight, and the magical rays and colours that the sunset brings.  I think the sun should have set a few inches to the left, so that it was right behind the statue.  Instead it went down behind a hill full of electric and power pylons.  Nice!

No waiting to go back down either.  We thought we would try and walk back to the hotel – didn’t look that far when we up the mountain.  As long as there was a way through a couple of other mountains, Copacabana Beach would be right there.  After walking about half an hour, and not really knowing where we were, we decided it would be beneficial to grab a taxi.  I think that was the right choice.  We would have got back to the hotel about midnight!

A quick drink when we got back.  Paul bumped into a Restaurant Manager that he had been talking to last night when he thought I was not coming out of the favela.  He was glad to see me too!  Who doesn’t know where I have been?

South American Adventure - Day Twenty Four, Saturday 15th March 2014

We decided to get up early to do the Corcovado Tour to Christ the Redeemer.  We had a super breakfast by the pool, and had already found out that there were direct vans to the Corcovado just a couple of blocks from our hotel.  We walked to the Praca do Lido just along Copacabana Beach in time to buy a ticket (51 reais, about £15 each) which includes the entry ticket and return transport, for when the first van left at 8.00am.  This was meant to avoid the crowds!  It took around 45 minutes to get to the top of the mountain, where we disembarked and got the elevator to the bottom of the statue.  It was an absolutely glorious day, with a clear blue sky.  It was amazing – and what a feat of engineering.  His middle finger on his right hand still needed a little patching up from a lightening strike, but his thumb, which was chipped last month, seems to be OK now.  Seems it happens quite a lot, but he is a long way up and probably the thing nearest to strike. 

It was OK when we first got up there – no queues, but after being there half an hour or so the place was packed.  Everybody wanted to have their picture taken in the pose.  The views over the city of Rio were amazing – the flight path was actually below our view point, and we could see planes landing from above.  It was quite hazy, and just as we were leaving there was a real haze hanging over the city.  Not sure if that was pollution or heat mist.  We got back to where the vans left from – no queues again yet – and headed back to Copacabana.  Lovely few hours.

The beach was packed when we got back – miles and miles of beautiful sandy beach, with miles and miles of people on it.  Looked like Benidorm.  Copacabana Palace have a little area with sun beds and a beach service.  A piece of haven in the middle of hustle and bustle.  We have a small interlude by the pool, before I go on an adventure on my own.

This afternoon I have booked a “Favela Tour” – a tour of one of the shanty towns.  Instead of going in a car and just looking, I have booked a walking tour, run by a guy that lives in the favela of Rochinha.  This is the biggest favela in South America, and houses around 300,000 people.  Paul has decided that it is not his cup of tea, and opts to stay by the pool!

It is about half an hour to walk to the meeting place of the tour – further down Copacabana Beach.  Dembore is the tour guide, and he also lives in the favela.  There is another English couple, an Israeli and two Austrian ladies.  We start by getting on a bus.  We have to travel the way that the people who live there travel.  We get on an already full bus, and it stops probably ten more times and picks up more people.  We have to feel the “heat” of the people, so Dembore says.  Quite right – it was rather hot.  But everyone is so friendly.  Paul seems to think that will be the last he is going to see of me – he thinks it is extremely dangerous.  I think it will probably be safer than walking along Copacabana Beach!

We take the bus right to the top of the favela – it is a huge expanse that occupies the whole of a hillside.  We have gone up and up – almost as far as we did this morning to Corcorvado.  We can see the statue across on another hilltop from where we get off the bus.  The noise and the traffic are constant.  There is one main street, seven not main streets and about 500 alleyways.  The houses are built into the hillside, and don’t look too steady, but apparently some have been here for over one hundred years.  Sometimes, another storey is just added to an existing house.  Building regulations?? I don’t think so.  In actual fact, this is a bit like the Vatican City with a law all its own. 

They were originally illegal housing, but the government couldn’t get rid of the people.  They moved them on, but they just kept coming back.  In the end, they let them stay.  But they didn’t have anything except what they built.  No water, electricity etc.  The drug dealers started here to make money to pay for the info structure of the community – not sure that it is quite the same now.  There are, apparently, a lot of drug dealers.  They have put a police presence in the favela for show for the World Cup.  I saw a few with machine guns just standing on the streets.  There have been a couple of occasions when there have been shootings.  This is what gives it a bad name.

But this is such a strong community – considering how many people live here, Dembore seems to know most of them.  They all stop to have a chat, and to talk with us – albeit we can’t chat back as no-one speaks English.  All the businesses are run by people in the favela.  99% of the families living here are working – many of them are taxi drivers and work in the hotels.  That is quite an impressive record.  Everyone here is happy – and I don’t feel threatened at all.  This is not how it is portrayed to the outside world.  Not sure I would like to live there though – it is very basic, the little alleyways are only inches wide, and the steps!  If you live at the top, you could walk up two hundred steps to get to your house.  Imagine going to the shop, getting back home and realising you have forgotten the milk!  But, those that don’t have much are usually happy with their lot.

There are little motor bike taxis buzzing about – they only can work in the favela, and the busses are full to the brim.  For all those that work, they use them to get in and out.  As it is a Saturday night, there are barbeques on the street – and music!  Everywhere.  Couldn’t go and have a quiet lie down here.  Apparently the noise won’t stop until about 6.00am tomorrow morning.  We then stop off at the house of the man that runs the tours.  The tours are paying for a DJ Project called Spin Rochinha that is training young adults to be DJ’s.  This gives them something to do to perhaps earn money, and if they are busy they don’t have time to sell drugs.  One of the guys turns up for his training – he comes over two hours each way from another favela.  We stayed there chatting for ages – then Dembore suggests we go and get dinner at a restaurant in the favela.  Everyone agrees – not sure that Paul is going to be happy eating on his own tonight!  I sent him a text just to let him know I was still alive, and not to cash in the life insurance just yet.

We went down the road a bit to a little restaurant – only pizza etc on the menu, but I hardly expected gourmet food.  It was good enough – everyone had at least two drinks, food, and we all split Dembore’s dinner between us and it came to less than £10 each.  Bargain.  The party was getting into real swing now – so much so that I had missed at least two calls from Paul.  Tried to ring him, but then he didn’t answer.  Oh well!

We walked down and out of the favela onto the main road.  We went on an overpass to cross the road, and looked back at the hillside full of lights from the favela.  It was a really lovely afternoon and evening, with some really lovely people.  I decided on a taxi rather than a bus to get back – I am sure Paul was worrying.  When I got back to the hotel he gave me a big hug.  He (weirdly) had been reading a book where a guy was in the middle of a drug shoot out in a favela in Rio.  He had tried to ring several times, I hadn’t answered, and he was really worried.  Oh dear!  Next time he will have to come with me!

South American Adventure - Day Twenty Three, Friday 14th March 2014

We have to say goodbye to Iguazu today.  What a bun fight in the reception to check out – there was several people all checking out at the same time, and some people were just not polite.  If they weren’t the next in the queue, shove and then you are!  Just not my thing – let them get before me.  What goes around comes around!  Our driver from yesterday was there waiting to take us to the airport.  What a lovely man he is.  He said that there is one direct flight to Rio and one to Sao Paulo, and they virtually go at exactly the same time.  Must have been a man that set that timetable up!

I got to the front, eventually, and none of the tours were on the bill, neither was the transfer to the airport.  Well done for sorting that out and going over and above what they had to.  On the way to the airport I complained to the driver that we had seen no jaguars or pumas.  He got his ipad out, and showed us a video that he had shot the other day of a jaguar out the back of the hotel by the pool.  He saw it in his car headlights, stopped the car, wound down the window and got about a two minute video with his iphone.  Who needs a Nikon!   Just a shame that we hadn’t seen one in the flesh.  Never mind – always next time!

We got to the airport and most of the people we had seen in the reception were now in the queue to check in.  Oh what joy.  It was only a small airport, but not as nice as the other small airports we have used in the past three weeks.  We had to check in at one of the self service check in machines – had to get help in the end.  Just getting used to Spanish, now the Portuguese element has thrown a spanner in the works.  We drop the bags off at the TAM checkin desk – and the girl charges me excess baggage!  First time this trip.  Probably got a jobsworth – 55 Brazilian reals, just over £15.  Not too bad.  Looking at all the check in counters, ours was sending people over to the excess baggage window all the time.  Just picked the wrong one.  We got to the gate in loads of time though – but must have been daydreaming as we nearly missed getting on the flight.  That’s the trouble when all the announcements are in foreign.  They called it in English to start with, and then all the other announcements were only in Portuguese.  When we looked the Sao Paulo flight was boarding, and our gate was closed.  A quick run and we made it – just!  Paul had to check with the air hostess that we were on the right plane – they just pointed in the general direction of about three planes and we got on one of them.  It was OK – it was the right one.

We took off, and saw the falls in the distance with their mist wafting high into the air.  We could the see the helicopter buzzing around – on the Brazilian side only.  They are very what is mine is mine and yours is yours.  The helicopter is not allowed to go into Argentinean air space, the boat on the Argentinean side is not allowed on the Brazilian side of the river and vice versa.  What a palaver.  What is the matter with sharing? 

The two hour flights went quickly, with only a bag of cheesy biscuits. Not even a box with a proper biscuit in.  I can tell you quite a lot about the in flight catering on Latin American flights now!  We met all the same people at the baggage carousel that were in the hotel reception again – still pushing in.  How rude!  One lady was actually videoing the baggage carousel and the people standing around it – I don’t think I would want to see her holiday video when she gets home.  It is probably six hours long and very boring!  The bags arrive, and we go to the exit – will there be someone there or won’t there?  Yes, there is!  Yippee. Doesn’t speak a word of English though.

That didn’t stop him telling us what everything was on the way to the hotel.  A bridge that was still in construction was definitely nearer to meeting in the middle than when we passed it three weeks ago.  Back to where we started on 20^th February, and on the final leg.  How it has gone so quickly.  The carnival in Rio has been and gone whilst we have been away, but the stands are still in place, and all the signs are still there.  There is a broken down float at the side of the road – not sure if it has been abandoned, or waiting for next year!  Another hot day – it is forecast for 32 degrees this weekend.

We check in to the Copacabana Palace.  Magical from the outside (although it reminds Paul of the Grand in Brighton and the bombing of Maggie Thatcher) and magical from the inside.  The only trouble is it is full of people.  And children.  It is heaving at the rafters.  We went to the pool to get a drink and decide what we are going to do for the next three days, and it is packed.  Oh dear.  I am used to space – here they have packed in as much as they can.  When we got back up to the room there was a lovely bottle of Moet Champagne on the table – with a card welcoming Mr Ballard.  Must have delivered it to the wrong room – sorry Mr Ballard, your loss is our gain.  Will enjoy that!

We went for a stroll along Copacabana Beach – it was completely dark now and the moon almost full.  The beach was transformed to a sports academy – football nets virtually the whole way along or volleyball.  There were hoards of youngsters and older people playing football – in an organised manner, not just higgledy piggeldy.  Can see some of the future Ronaldinho’s here.  We walked all the way along – people were displaying their wares, there was fast food places and candy floss for sale.  A glorified Blackpool – but with better weather.  All of the hotels had the same bland look from the outside – huge and impersonal.  I think we have the best of the bunch.  We stopped to have something to eat at one of the pavement cafes – pleasant enough but nothing special.  It was good to people watch.

When we got back to the hotel, the card that came with the champagne had been changed to one that said Mrs Bridget – must be for us then!  Won’t feel so guilty now!  

South American Adventure - Day Twenty Two, Thursday 13th March 2014

Another of the benefits of staying at the Hotel Das Cataratas – they offer a complimentary guided tour of the Brazil side of the falls before the park opens.  So, after breakfast, we met the guide at 8.15am and just had to walk outside of the reception to start our tour.  The Argentine side of the falls are far bigger, far more spectacular, but you can only see the full extent of this  from the Brazilian side.  The Argentines have the show, but the Brazilians have the view.

How peaceful and pleasant it was this morning.  Yet another morning with not a cloud in the sky.  We walked across the road, and started on the tarmac trails that run alongside the falls.  To start with, you can see the smaller of the falls – the ones that we were walking over on metal walkways yesterday with the rest of the world!  Whenever I wanted to stop and take a picture there was no-one in the way – no-one barging past – heaven!  The guide gave us an overview of the river and how it had evolved, but as there were about twenty people in the group (and we were at the back, of course) it was hard to hear everything.  Didn’t really matter.  The spectacle was there before us, in all it’s glory.  And at this time in the morning, the rainbows were glinting in the sun as it came up over the thundering water and shone onto the spray.

All the way along the water was gushing over the edge of the eighty or so metre drop.  It was a completely different view to yesterday – and in the peace and quiet at this time of the morning was perfect.  The walkway went right up to the Devil’s Throat.  This time, the walkway was down at the bottom rather than at the top – so getting wet was the only option again!  But a completely different perspective.  A better one I think.  At this end, there is an elevator that takes you back up to the road, as the trail had been going gradually downhill all the way.  It is then a half mile walk back to the hotel.

If you only have one day here, then I think the Brazilian side would be the way to go.  If you had two, like us, then do the Argentine side first and then the Brazilian side.  And if you can, stay at the Das Cataratas to enjoy the falls virtually on your own.  You could have walked as soon as it was light – another benefit only applicable here – until it is dark.  It is so much better without other people!

When we got back to the hotel, we had a driver waiting for us to take us for our helicopter trip over the falls.  Another perspective!  The heliport is just outside the National Park Entrance, so not far.  The trip lasts ten minutes – long enough to get a really good view.  There were several people in front of us – the helicopter takes seven people – but at ten minutes a trip only we didn’t have to wait long.  We were all strapped in, and took off over the rainforest.  It was massive, and went on for miles.  Apart from the roads and the river, there was nothing but trees for miles.  The view was fabulous – and there was another rainbow shining in the middle of the falls.  It went over them a couple of times so everyone could get a good view – and a really good view of the hotel from the air.  It was all over too quickly. 

We got back to the heliport, and the driver was waiting to take us to the Bird Park – just across the road.  This, he said, was also paid for, so they have taken forgetting us at the airport seriously.  Unless this all comes on our hotel bill!  The Bird Park is meant to be one of the best in the world – not having been to any before I have nothing to compare it with.  I don’t really like seeing any animals caged, so this was not a totally comfortable experience.  They all seemed fairly happy – with some species not in cages at all.  It seems they can fly off whenever they want, but seem not to want to, so it can’t be all bad.  It does seem to be quite good – many of the areas have natural trees and it is all in natural light, so I suppose if they have to be caged this is as good as any.  There is also a butterfly house – a huge amount of butterflies, and massive!  And an alligator or two – not sure how they fit in to the “Bird Park” scenario.  And plenty of little nibbly crawly things that decided as we had arrived they would have lunch!

The driver waited and took us back to the hotel when we finished the mile or so walk around the different species.  Another part of an afternoon by the pool – someone’s happy!  We ate tonight in the A La Carte restaurant – with “breathtaking views of the falls”.  Unfortunately, all the outside tables were booked, and we sat inside with only a breathtaking sound of the falls!  It was pitch black, so they were very hard to see anyway.  The food, though, was excellent.  As one would expect!

South American Adventure - Day Twenty One, Wednesday 12th March 2014

An early start after a really good nights sleep!  We have got a tour booked this morning for the Argentine side of the Falls. The way through the grounds to breakfast there is a coati (racoon like creature) going through one of the bins to see what he could find.  What he didn’t want was just being thrown to the ground.   After a lovely breakfast we meet Arlete at 8.30am in the reception.  This is through one of the few companies that have access to the National Park in their own vehicles, so we are right ready to go.  There is a whole bus load of Japanese ready to get on their bus in reception – and another bus load just behind them.  Am I glad we have got a car!

We have to go through border controls again – the opposite way this time.  Arlete seems surprised we do not have a Brazilian paper in our passports – we would have had trouble with the next flight without it.  She has a few in her bag, so fills one in for us to get stamped on the way back.  It is quite quick, and then across the river.  In the daylight, we can see both ways up the river.  On the right hand side we could see to Paraguay.  The Brazilian side of the bridge had the colours of the Brazilian flag along the side, and after the middle it changed to the colours of the Argentinean flag.  Couldn’t see that in the dark last night.  We then had to go through the drive through Argentine passport control – we are going to have so many stamps in our passports!  From there it was straight to the Park on this side.  The driver left us at the main entrance, where there was a big map of the park so we could see where we were going. 

The first stop was a fall called The Devils Throat.  There was a fifteen or so minute walk to a little train station, where we had to queue to get on a train.  The queue was quite long, so we didn’t get on the first train.  Whilst we were waiting for the next one we were entertained by a family of coatis climbing up the trees opposite and pinching the fruit.  Fascinating!  The train took about ten minutes to get to the start of the walkways to get to the Devils Throat – so named because the sound it makes is like a throat noise.  It is the biggest of all of the falls.  It is about a kilometre and a half to walk along metal walkways to get there.  There is a lot of water to cross – this part is shut if the water is too high.  A few months ago parts of the bridge were swept away by the amount of water coming down the river.  It is all repaired now thankfully.  Once we get to a certain point, we can see the spray wafting high into the air that is coming from the falls. 

We also pass a little alligator in the water, and a huge catfish, and some lovely birds in the trees.  So much more here than just water!  As we near to the actual falls you can hear the water thundering down into the river below.  Deafening!  The walkways at the end are pretty crowded, and everyone coming back is soaked.  When we get to the end I can see why.  The mist and spray that comes off the water is fine when the wind is blowing away from you, but when a gust comes in your direction it is a wet gust.  All the water comes with it.  It cannot be avoided.  Does nothing for the hair!!  Or the camera.  Everything gets soaked.  Oh dear!  But hopefully got some good shots.

The camera does dry out eventually on the walk back to the train station.  There was a lovely condensation blob on the lens that I think may have upset some of the photos – not sure when it arrived.  Stopped me taking another hundred or so on the way back!  When we arrived at the station there was about a hundred butterflies flying around in the same area – they are so colourful, and there is so many of them, everywhere.  The train takes the ten minute journey back to the start, where we continue our walk to the Adam & Eve falls, and the Bossetti falls.  It is all on metal walkways, and really easy to see all of the falls.  That is, unless there are people in your way!  Everyone seems to want to take a “selfie” with the falls in the background.  It takes around an hour to go all around these.  The views are spectacular – with a lovely rainbow at the base of be Bossetti. 

We walk back via the Sheraton Hotel – and spy a toucan flying right overhead.  Arlete arranges for us to have a quick show round of the hotel – it is undergoing some outside painting at the minute, so has a lovely green coat on.  The rooms are very nice – and the ones facing the falls have a spectacular view.  I would say the rooms are better than the Das Cataratas lead in rooms, but the whole standard of the place is not quite there.  Second best if the Das Cataratas is full!

We then have to do the reverse journey – about an hour – through Argentine and then Brazilian border control.  At least we have our pieces of paper stamped now!  When we get back to the hotel we just go and have a quick word with the Tours people that should have arranged our transport last night.  They were very apologetic – boils down to they forgot!  They have arranged for a free helicopter trip tomorrow to make up for it.  Sounds fair enough!

Time for a chill out by the pool.  As soon as we get to the pool, an attendant is bringing us towels, followed by a waiter who takes the drinks order.  This is what you pay for here – and what was missing last night – service!  A lovely couple of hours recharging the batteries.  Cold towels come next, followed by nuts.  Ha!  I could get used to this.

There is a barbecue for dinner tonight.  Not just any old barbeque.  Soup, salad, ten sorts of meat with all the accompaniments and pudding.  So, not going to starve here then.  It is priced accordingly for a five star Orient Express Hotel, but you are paying for so much more than the food.  Apart from check in, the service has been exemplary.  We ate around the pool, the food was good, the service was excellent.  I love it here.

South American Adventure - Day Twenty, Tuesday 11th March

A really easy start to the day today – nothing to be on time for this morning.  We had a voucher for a “Welcome Coffee” when we arrived, so decided to have that whilst looking at the map and deciding what to do.  The Sheraton is right at the back of Salta, built into the San Bernadino hill.  There is a cable car that takes you up to the top of the hill for a view over the whole of Salta.  It is a really cloudy morning, so not much point.  There is a swimming pool on the second floor, which gives a fairly good view over the city, so that is good enough.  It is about eleven blocks to walk to the main square, along very Spanish looking roads and houses.  The graffiti on the walls is very artistic – albeit a bit weird.  About half way there, there is a puff of red smoke up ahead, and a lot of car horns.  It seems there is a protest of some sort – no idea what.  There are marshals, and all of the protestors are in cars with stickers on the side.  It gridlocks the whole place.  One of the cars conked out and had to be pushed.  All very peaceful and well behaved, as far as I could see.

We could see the main square in the distance by the large pink dome of the cathedral.  It wasn’t far to walk at all.  The main square was beautiful.  The buildings all around were all old, with pavement cafes most of the way round.  The middle had a large statue and waterfall and grassy area.  There were hundreds of birds – some chap was selling bird food, just like Trafalgar Square used to have.  Children were running about, and it had a really good feel.

We went into a museum just off the main square (just after I lost Paul, after I stopped to take pictures and he followed a policeman who was showing him where the museum was).  It was the MAAM – we had heard about this as in 1999 three mummified children were found at the top of a volcano.  They were here in this museum.  It was a really important Inca find.  They used to drug the children and bury them alive – to cut a long story short – and these three were found in fairly good shape.  But not alive of course!  It is amazing that we are still finding things from hundreds of years ago, and horrific to find out what is done in the name of religion.  Archaeology is still a good business to be in.

After a short walk around the main part of the town, we sat at one of the pavement cafes to have lunch.  This is where we realised that we had come out with only a handful of pesos, a few dollars and no credit card.  Not used to having to pay for things!  We did a deal with the waiter – who gave us somewhere in the middle of the official rate and the black market rate for our dollars.  Ha!  Seasoned travellers or plonkers!  It was a very pleasant way to spend lunch, although the food wasn’t.  Oh well – ambiance is king.

We slowly made our way back to the hotel, and spent an hour or so reading by the pool before having to get a taxi to the airport for our flight to Iguazu.  It was again a really old battered taxi that took us the thirty or so minutes to the airpot – 80 pesos, about £7.  We passed the bus station – I could see Paul thinking “Why don’t we go by bus” – not!  Driving into the airport was like driving into a country estate – lovely green grass and trees all along the perimeter.  Lovely little airport – very kind check in man that yet again did not give us any excess luggage charges.  And a good cup of coffee at the café.  Can recommend departing from this airport.  Let’s just hope the bags depart as well!

The flight has actually had a slight schedule change, and is leaving ten minutes earlier than originally planned at 1905.  And it leaves bang on time.  As we take off and go through the clouds, the tops of the Andes are still standing proud as we come through the top of them.  Magical – seeing the tops through a mass of white cotton wool.  The one and a half hour flight goes very smoothly and quickly – we have another box containing biscuit snacks, a lemon biscuit and a chocolate biscuit.  Last time on Aerolinas Argentinas, so last box!

We arrive, and the bags do too.  Unfortunately, the transfer didn’t.  Everyone on the flight got their transfers – we were the only ones left in the airport.  And the only ones that spoke English.  The telephone number of the hotel didn’t work from my mobile – a bit of déjà vu here!  Someone came that spoke English, and we organised a taxi that would take US dollars – didn’t have enough Argentinean for the trip to the Brazil side where we are staying.  But saying that, it was only $50 so not enough to break the bank.

We load the cases, and start the trip.  We quickly pass the turn off for the falls on the Argentinean side, and then pass a whole row of hotels with neon signs advertising their wares.  After about half an hour, we come to the border point.  They have been taking notes from Macdonalds – this one is a drive through.  Our passports are stamped to leave Argentina, and we go over the no mans land – the Iguazu River.  One side it is Argentina, the other is Brazil.  Once over the other side, no-one seems bothered to stamp our passports, we could have driven straight over.  Not sure how that would work when we come to leave!  The taxi driver takes our passports and parks and takes them in to get them stamped.

Another ten minutes or so down the road (he is a bit of a speedy Gonzales, who knows where the speed cameras are!) we are at the entrance to the National Park where the hotel is situated.  This is as far as the taxi can go – we then have to transfer to a National Park vehicle for the last twenty minutes to the Hotel Das Cataratas.  On the way, a skunk crosses the road in front of us.  The driver informs us that there are many animals in the park, including Jaguar and Puma.  Paul’s eyes light up.  Chances of seeing either of them – nada!!

The receptionist checks us in like a robot, and doesn’t seem too bothered that the transfer didn’t arrive (the one that they had arranged).  She blames someone else and quickly goes on to something else.  Not impressed so far!  But, this hotel is in the place you want to be.  They can perhaps not offer the service one expects for a hotel of this standard as they have the monopoly on the location.  The room was nothing special – but the views……….  And the noise of the falls thundering right in front of the hotel, and the fact that you are right there.  That is what you pay for here – hopefully my impression of the hotel will improve.  But you can’t get away from location, location, location!  And sitting having a campari and Brazil Nuts and being bitten by horrible little insects is second to none!

South American Adventure - Day Nineteen, Monday 10th March 2014

We are leaving the Explora in San Pedro de Atacama this morning – far too early.  Three nights is not enough – we could have done with one more.  At breakfast we say goodbye again to new found friends – some flying today at various times and some staying for an extra night.  Christian from Guest Relations has arranged a lunch box for us, as we are taking the bus from the San Pedro de Atacama Bus Station to Salta.  We have a transfer at 9.00am for the five minute journey to the bus station!  Overkill.  The bus station is so called because it is where buses call in and collect passengers – the similarity there ends.  There is a board with a whole list of departures for the day in chalk – a small room with chairs and a little shop where you can buy drinks and snacks.  The transfer drops us off, and we are in loads of time for the departure.  Buses come and go, but none so far to Salta.  9.30am comes and goes – apart from no-one speaking English – and we haven’t a clue what is going on.  There are a lot of back packers here, so I am sure they are waiting for the same bus as us!  A couple more come in – none with Salta on the front, and none saying Pullman which is the company we have booked with.  The bus station is right next to a football pitch with a small seating area.  Completely in sand, with no markings.  If you can play on this, grass must be a doddle!

At 10.00am a Pullman bus pulls in with Salta on the front.  Yippee!  At least we aren’t stranded.  Everyone in the bus station gets up – it must be a full bus.  Paul was not keen on this option to start with, and I can tell by his face he isn’t impressed so far!  Out luggage is loaded, and it seems we have paid for first class – what else?  I am glad to see the odd child that was getting on was not in our section.  Eventually everyone is loaded, and we set off – an hour late.  Manyana!  We get a few yards down the road and stop.  For about fifteen minutes.  No idea why, and as no-one speaks English no chance of finding out.  The bus started its journey in Calama about an hour earlier, so must have been held up there before even getting to us.  Doesn’t seem as if they are keen to make up for lost time!

We start off again, and a chap comes out with a couple of packets of biscuits.  Then he comes round with a Fanta.  I didn’t think we got anything on the bus – perhaps this is the first class treatment!  We leave San Pedro de Atacama the opposite way to which we came in.  The volcanoes and rolling mountains are on our left, and we continue on this road until we come to some more salt flats and lagoons on both sides of the road.  The border to Bolivia is only five kilometres away at one point, so we must be skirting that.  It is about two and a bit hours before we get to the border with Argentina.

This seems, as first glance, to be a much more efficient border control that the one we came from Argentina to Chile when we left El Calafate to get to Torres del Paine.  It seems there is only one office, which both countries share.  We all get off the bus, and get in the queue to leave Chile.  Once we have had our documents stamped, and I got a wink from the official (or he has a tick) we then have to get in the next queue to get in to Argentina.  This happens to be the man sitting next to the one that just checked us out of Chile.  Once we have then been checked into Argentina, we have to go back outside where all of our luggage has been taken out of the bus, and pull it into the same office and put it through a x-ray machine.  Then we have to drag it back out and load it back on the bus.  We left our lunch box on the bus, and wondered if it would have been confiscated by the time we got back on!  The luggage now has to be segregated, as there are two stops.  Jujoy and Salta.  Salta goes on first, because that is the last stop.  Once all the luggage as been reloaded, we had to hang around as one lady had an Australian passport and they seemed to want some visa money from her.  Her husband then seemed to lose her completely, so we had half an hour or so extra for this.  Not sure if it got sorted out or we left them behind! 

We then started to make our way through the mountains.  I could not believe how the scenery changed from one minute to the next.  The mountains were sand, then they were black volcanic rock, then they were covered in the yellow grass clumps, then they were copper red, then they were sand coloured again.  At points, they were like sand dunes, then they were gravel, then they were hard rock.  Amazing.  I took pictures all along as Paul had gone to sleep – at least he can see the replay!  The snow capped tips of some of the mountains were always in the distance.  There were dust storms over the ground near to the further mountains, that was pushing the dust up into twisters.

We then started the hard climb up through Andes.  The roads twisted and turned, and the scenery just got more and more amazing.  There were birds flying along the side of the bus, and llamas and donkeys on the sides of the mountains.  Then came the cacti.  I have never seen anything like it!  There were a few to start with, and I had to look twice.  They were growing on the sides of the mountains, and were about ten feet high.  Some higher than that.  A few to start with, and then the mountains were covered with them.  Some must have been higher than twenty feet.  Paul even stayed awake at this point.  We then went past more salt flats.  These were completely different to the ones we had walked in between. It looked as if the ground was completely covered with snow – really thick.  There were a couple of diggers scooping it up into huge piles – will have to look on the packet where my salt comes from next time I buy some!

Once we had gone through this region we started on the downward slope.  We passed a sign saying that we were at 4170 metres – not sure if that was the highest point or not.  Not long after this, going down the other side of the mountains, we could see the cloud below us.  What a weird sight.  It was like cotton wool stuffed between the rocks.  Not as nice when we actually drove into it though.  It was like going through thick fog – and with the roads very narrow and several hairpins in a row I was glad I was not driving.

We got our of the bottom of the clouds, and the mountains had changed completely again.  They were now covered with green vegetation, and there were trees appearing.  Don’t seem to have seen any trees for weeks!  There were waterfalls coming down the mountains, and it all seemed to be a different land.  Once we had travelled about two thirds of the way down, we stopped at a village called Jujoy, which is meant to be one of the prettiest villages in the Andes.  It certainly seems that way, although we are still covered in cloud.  I think the mountains must stop the clouds moving from this way, and maybe always have a cloud covering.

Once we had got to the bottom of the mountain range, and six o’clock was on its way we thought we were nearly there.  6.00pm was the scheduled arrival time at Salta, although we had had several delays.  6 o’clock came and went, as did 7 o’clock.  Paul predicted 7.30pm – one hour late and half an hour extra at the border.  7.30pm came and went as did 8.00pm.  It was now pitch black.  Every time we saw some lights, like a town, we got all excited only to sail past.  We were sitting on the driver side, with the drivers compartment similar to an airline cockpit.  The only window we could see out of was to our left, which had none of the signs on.  If we could have seen how far it was to go, we would have had a better idea.

8.30pm came and went.  Now we were getting fed up.  It has been a fantastic bus journey – whatever Paul says when we get back – and it was now taking too long.  At last we saw a huge amount of lights ahead – that must be Salta.  It was.  We arrived in the bus station (and it was a proper bus station – it was huge) at just gone 9.00pm.  Then it was a bun fight for the cases.  Two poor chaps were trying to unload them, and everyone was crowding round to get theirs.  We eventually got them, and walked out to the front where there were taxis waiting.  I had booked the Sheraton for just one night – but the taxi driver didn’t speak English.  I would have thought Sheraton was the same in any language.  I got the reservation email out to show him the address.  He still didn’t understand.  I don’t think he could read.  Paul showed him the Sheraton logo – the penny then dropped.  I knew I brought Paul for a reason!  It took ten minutes or so to get the hotel, and about 20 pesos - £3 or so.  Bargain!  A quick drink in the bar and drop – it is really exhausting sitting on your bum all day!

South American Adventure - Day Eighteen, Sunday 9th March 29014

Another six kilometre hike this morning – are we mad or what?  There was hardly anyone at breakfast – most of our “group” had decided on the trip at 6.00am start.  Just left us – and two guides.  Are we that bad?  Has our reputation preceded us?  It seems that there have been timing issues this morning.  All the mobile phones have changed time to one hour prior – this should have been the weekend that the clocks went back for summer time ending.  Apparently, because it has been such good weather the government have decided to postpone it for 28 days.  But the phones still all changed, so some people didn’t turn up until an hour later.  Some got up an hour earlier because they had set their phones to alarm.  Just trust the untechnological wrist watch!

We met our guides Danelo and Maria, and drove the twenty minutes or so to the start of the trek.  We had put on the factor 50, got the poles and hopefully were ready.  When we stopped in the front of a big mountain and said that was the way up I thought he was joking.  No.  That was the way up.  “This is the hard part” says Danelo.  I remember what the easy bit was yesterday, so I dreaded to think what hard was going to be like.  Perhaps that was why they sent two guides – to pull us up on ropes!  I was not proud at all – I accepted help right from the start.  I gave up one of my poles and let Danelo yank me up.  I wouldn’t say it was a sheer climb, but it seemed like it to me.  It was about forty metres straight up.  Because of the extra help I had, I got to the top feeling only slightly breathless. 

It was a great view from the top.  From here we went along inside the mountain range to a sheer face that had rock art on, that was around five hundred years old.  A llama, a face, a cross – nothing dramatic but amazing that it had survived that long.  This was a place, apparently, where shepherds used to camp out at night.  From here we could also see the sulphur rising from the two active volcanoes in the region.  One of them last erupted in about 2009 I think he said.  He also said Chile was a place where there is about fifty earthquakes a day – only little ones though.  Haven’t felt a thing!  We walked along the trails, and came to quite a sandy top.  There were bike tracks up here.  Danelo said they carry the bikes up – my god, bad enough me getting up let alone carrying a bicycle!

We then climbed a bit more – and yes, there had to be a track in the middle of the mountain with a sheer drop to the left that was only a shoe size wide.  Always has to be one!  We came out at the most amazing place.  It was as if we were walking along the top of the world.  We seemed to be higher than all the surrounding mountains, and we looked into a huge deep gorge that looked similar to the Grand Canyon.  We took a break here – the sun was beating down on us but from up here there was a beautiful breeze.  Wow – it was really a long way down!  Then Danelo said that’s where we are going.  Then he laughed.  I thought he was joking.  He wasn’t.  That’s where we went.  It was a bit tricky, but we made it.  The rock and sand made it very slippery, but I suppose it could have been worse if it had been raining.  There was only one bit that was a sheer drop of about three feet – Danelo put his leg up and said to use that as a step.  So I did.  Not sure if he knows how much I weigh!  We got into the gorge and there was a lovely flat trail.  The only downside was that the breeze had disappeared as we were now in between two high walls, and it was pretty hot down there.  We actually saw another person – mountain biking.  Because this bit is quite flat, it is ideal for bringing bikes into.  Don’t think I will bother though!  But over the two days of trekking, this is the first unknown person we have seen – can hardly say it has been crowded.  We worked our way like a snake in and out of the way the river used to be in years gone by.  All that is left now is an empty trail, with magnificent rock formations either side.  At one point the rocks looked as if they had faces carved in them like Mount Rushmore – but it was just an illusion.  High up in one of the crags was on owls nest – not much wildlife here! Some of the way was like going through caves where earthquakes had knocked huge pieces of rock to the ground, leaving a cavernous entrance and exit.

As we were in a gorge that we climbed a long way down into, I was dreading the bit at the end where we would have a long climb out.  I tried to put that bit to the back of my mind and just enjoy the bit I was on.  Fortunately, the gorge ended and was replaced by a tree lined avenue.  It was a really lovely hike.  Apart from the first bit, the rest was a piece of cake – that’s how I remember it now!  It was hot, but not too hot.  It was hard in places, but not too hard.  Perfect!  The car was waiting for us just down the road with cold juice and beer.  Ha!  I can put up with this.

We went back to the hotel for lunch, and met up with the rest of the group that had had the 6.00am start.  We had a lovely two hour lunch – this is what holidays are all about.  Talking American politics, Cuban politics, Colombian politics, the state of the world etc etc…..

We then had a trip out to the Atacama Salt Flats.  There were six of us on this trip – plus two guides again.  We are getting a reputation!  We first of all stopped off in the small village of Toconao.  We had a look at the old bell tower – very similar to the one in the Magnificent Seven.  I expected Yul Brynner to be in the church opposite!  We walked down a whole load of back streets and little footpaths, looking at various fruits and vegetation, then we came out on to an expanse of desert.  In the distance there was a dip, and in it was a pool of water and trees and dense green vegetation.  An oasis in the desert.  They do exist.  Or have I had one too many camparis?  We then drove on, past the famous Alma Observatory which is high in the mountains, onto the Flamingo National Park.  We were here for the sunset.  We first had a little video about the Park, how it was set up and what we were expected to see here.  There is a mass of salt – although it isn’t flat, it is extremely bumpy.  There is a flat path all the way past the lagoons though, for about half a mile or so, so the wildlife can be viewed.  There were some flamingos, but they were about 400 yards away.  Plenty of other little birds were feeding in the shallow waters though.  We were keeping our eye out for lizards – a couple quickly shot in holes so we really only viewed their tails.  Paul saw one shoot under a rock, that he lifted up, and managed to get on video.  I bet he wondered where his roof had gone!

When the sun went down, the mountains turned the most beautiful reds and browns.  It really cast a fantastic colour show on the mountain range – and even the volcano with the puff of sulphur escaping from the top.  We drove the forty five or so minutes to get back to the hotel – where we had dinner with the usual crowd.  Our last night here, so the last night we are all going to be together.  Sad, but I am sure we are all going to keep in touch.

South American Adventure - Day Seventeen, Saturday 8th March 2014

We had signed up for a six kilometre hike to the Luna Valley this morning.  At the presentation last night, we had been told it was an easy flat hike.  Seemed the perfect start to our time in the desert.

After breakfast, we met the five others that were going on the trip and Andreas, the guide.  Andreas suggested that I bring my walking poles – couldn’t see the point on a flat six kilometre hike, but I went back to the room and got them anyway.  Paul already had his. He suggested that I took a hat , but apart from my woolly one that I haven’t yet worn I haven’t got another one.  The temperature is going to be well in the twenties today, so I thought the woolly one inappropriate!   I hoped this group weren’t going to be too fast – not used to trekking with a group.  Oh well – it is only six kilometres so they can’t leave me too far behind!  We got in one of the Explorar vans, and drove the fifteen minutes to the start of the hike.

We started on a flat rock surface, that was very similar to entering the siq in Jordan to get to Petra.  High rocks either side that offered some shade at this time in the morning – the sun hadn’t quite come up over the top of the left hand ones.  The rock formations were amazing – and interspersed were sand dunes that were completely flat.  I was, as usual, back marker.  At least I could take pictures and go at my own pace.  After a couple of kilometres we came to a dead end.  Not quite sure what was going on, I heard one of the others say that Andreas was trying a new route today.  What?  He hadn’t been here before?  Oh well – have to go back to the beginning and start again.  No.  We went back a few yards, and he decided to climb up the top of the right hand mountain.  He cam running back down.  Glad that’s not the way I thought to myself.  Unfortunately, it was the way.  My god, am I glad I bought my poles.  It was steep, sandy, rocky, and excruciatingly difficult.  It just seemed to keep going up and up.  By this time, we were in full sun.  What had I signed up for today?  Not this!

We eventually got to the top – I have never seen anything like it.  How I ever got up I don’t know.  At least I was up – and perhaps the rest will be flat.  No.  Don’t be silly.  There may have been a couple of flat sections, but I think my mind missed them.  The rocks were now like giant cactuses, having to put your feet on the end of the rocks rather than down in between them.  How much more of this is there?  Some of the rock was really soft, like walking on a carpet.  Paul pointed out that he hoped there wasn’t a hole underneath so we went right through.  Thanks for that!  “Only just around that pyramid shaped mountain” said Andreas.  Oh good I thought.  Wrong.  Round and up over that pyramid shaped mountain was the entrance to a huge arena in the middle of a circle of mountains.  It must have been a mile across.  At least it was flat.  We all had a group picture taken here – looking really happy because we thought the end was near.  Wrong again.  We had to walk across the arena – but at the other end there was only mountains.  I had a feeling that we were going to have to go over them to get out.  Right.  “Over that black mountain, and then only another kilometre and a half the other side” says Andreas.  The black mountain was the biggest one there.  Bugger!

“It is extremely easy – nowhere near as hard as it looks.”  Ha!  I said I am taking a picture of that, and will tell him when (or if) I manage to get over it whether it was extremely easy.  As I thought, it wasn’t.  Climbing over that was one of the most scariest things I have ever done in my life.  The trail – if you could call it that – was probably a shoe width wide at most.  You had to balance on the cactus type rocks to traverse it, as well as going up.  To the right was a cavernous drop.  I taught Andreas a new phrase at that point.  “Really easy my arse.”  He thought that was funny.  He was now carrying my camera bag, and yanking me from one rock to the next.  Oh my god – how I got up that mountain I have no idea.  I was exhausted, hot, scared and thinking that if I fall down now I am going to die.  When we got to the top Andreas said he had never lost anyone before.  Always a first time!  He kept calling me his favourite – felt like he was Bruce Forsyth on Strictly with the no hopers!

When we got to the top was the finish – no!  More up and more down and more round the corner.  The sun has now been shining directly on my head for over three hours – that is going to be my excuse for any crazy things I do in the future.  Paul was not happy – I could see him thinking that the Caribbean would have been a much better option.  I am tending to agree with him!  My legs have now gone to jelly.  The Gatorade comes out of Andreas’ bag – refills the salt apparently.  I don’t argue – it is an excuse to stop to drink it.  As we go around another corner there is a little cave under an overhanging rock – and it is in the shade.  I did contemplate having a kip, but as it was rocks for the floor I thought I would be swapping one form of hell for another.

When was this ever going to end?  As we walked up a huge sand dune Paul spied a road in the distance.  Hope!  Did we go straight to it?  No.  Was it flat to get to?  No.  Even a flat surface in the distance is actually lots of ups and downs in reality.  After nearly four hours hiking in the direct sunlight the Explora van comes in to sight.  I have never been so pleased to sit in a car.  I have never sweated as much (you really didn’t need to know that) and been so exhausted.  Or I don’t think so.  Might be like having a baby and forgetting the pain.  I have been to Annapurna Base Camp, so it might have happened at some point in that trip.

There were cold drinks in the van, that were gladly received by all.  Two of the group fared better than the others – but as usual I was always at the end.  The end of my tether!  The drive back to the hotel was only twenty minutes or so – and we had the joy of picking what we wanted to do tomorrow when we got back.  Ha!  Another six kilometre trek.  Are we mad or what?  But the upside was that we cancelled this afternoons excursion and spent it by the pool.  Excellent recuperation.  And by the time we got back to the room we had a bottle of win delivered from the Excursions Desk for the rubbish information that they gave us about the trek.  Thank you very much, but I think we would have probably done it anyway, but been a little more prepared mentally.

We had dinner with the other five people on the trek – even if we were slow they are still talking to us.  Karen & Jim from New York, Stefan from Germany and Lilian and Michael from Colombia but living in Miami.  Lilian was kidnapped by Colombian guerrillas in 1999 for four months – fascinating people you meet on holiday!  We then had a little lesson on astronomy.  There is a giant telescope and observatory on the hotel site, and we saw a blazing star, the nebulas around Orion’s belt, the moons and the bands around Jupiter and all the craters on the moon.  Amazing end to the day!

South American Adventure - Day Sixteen, Friday 7th March 2014

We woke up this morning overlooking the Straits of Megallan – not a bad view – and the sun was shining!  The day started off with a bonus – the hotel had an egg station, and the chef was from New Zealand, so it was easy to convey what sort of omelette we wanted.  There was a bit of controversy over what time we were being picked up – our flight was at 10.40am, and when we arrived last night the hotel gave us a printed itinerary which said the transfer to the airport would be at 8.15am.  The guy that checked us in said that the transfer would be at 9.00am.  Hmm – what time do we go for?  The airport was about half an hour away, so for the two hour check in 8.15am would be about right.  He insisted that 9.00am was the up to date time, so we plumped for 9.00am.  At 9.00am on the dot the transfer arrived!  Phew.

We made our way to the airport.  On the way, there was a  replica of the ship that Ferdinand Magellan sailed over to Chile on when he discovered the water channel that was ultimately named after him.  It looked surprisingly like the Golden Hind – same era I suppose.  When we arrived at the airport, the queue for LAN was nearly out of the door.  No problemo, said the guide, and then scuttled off!  Up to us then!  An American couple behind us was on the same flight, so hopefully they wouldn’t go without both of us.  There were self service check in machines that we were supposed to have used if we hadn’t checked in online.  I tried – it was all in Spanish – and it didn’t like my name, my passport number or my booking reference.  Just hope I don’t get to the front of the queue then have to go back and try it again. 

The check in man was very helpful and checked us in – and didn’t notice the excess luggage kilos.  We have a connecting flight in Santiago – 35 minutes from landing from Punta Arenas to taking off for Calama.  Once we had given the luggage in, he asked me to sign for the baggage.  Never had to do that before.  Was this a sign that this was going to be the last we saw of it? Hope not! There was a later flight, but what is the point if the earlier one is sold as a connecting ticket?  He assured us that there would be no problem at all – I believed him!  We had time for a quick coffee (the second worst that Paul has ever had!) before we realised that the flight was delayed.  This is the first flight that has been delayed, and the only one that we really needed to take off on time.  Delayed for 35 minutes would you believe.  I saw the same check in man, so decided to see if he could change the flight now.  No problem he was still saying – it will arrive at 2.20pm.  How?  He is going to put his foot down!  OK – so the next flight takes off at 2.45pm.  We have now gone down to 25 minutes connection.

The flight actually takes off at 11.25am.  Que sera sera – whatever will be will be.  Nothing I can do about it now, so no point in speculating.  This flight is really full.  I have a very nice young man sitting between me and Paul who speaks a little English.  Quite pleasant.  We take off and the scenery soon changes from the green spaces to hills and mountains.  We leave the coastal waters behind, and head north for three hours to Santiago.  Paul takes his ticket to the air crew, and tells them to hold the plane – we will run!  They say no problem!  I have never had a plane that takes so long to disembark passengers.  Everyone seems to be taking their time, getting their bags down from the overhead lockers, putting their jackets on etc etc.  One person out every ten seconds or so.

Eventually it is our turn, and we run up the ramp.  The first chap we ask sends us in the wrong direction, but I notice the gate number on the overhead screens.  Backwards, down the escalator and along to gate number 30.  Some foreign gibberish comes our way when they scan the boarding cards, and we are the last on the bus to get to the aircraft, and they shut the doors and start reversing before we have hardly chance to put the seat belts on.  This was not a full flight, but someone else was sitting in our seats.  We are then shown to two empty rows, so we get three seats each.  The bonus of being last on!  Not sure about the luggage though.  Did they have it marked up for a short connection?  I don’t think so.  Oh well – have to see when we get there.

The flight was just under two hours.  The scenery now had really changed.  We had flown up the spine of South America with some good views of the Andes.  Now we were in the desert region, with nothing but sand for miles and miles.  I could see an airport below, but it had lots of construction vehicles all around.  As we landed, I could see steam rollers seeming to be laying out a runway.  The terminal building was nothing but a shell.  It was like the holiday in the Carry On movie that they rolled up to that had a half built hotel.  We walked off the plane, through a walkway made of red and white plastic shields, past all the workman knocking and painting, and past the back end of the luggage carousel.  The first lot had come off the plane – ours wasn’t on the trolley that I could see.  I was confident that if it wasn’t first off it didn’t make it.  We walked around to the front of the carousel and waited – I couldn’t help but think this was a futile exercise.  It was!  We were the last people standing, watching an empty carousel chug around.

We went to one official that didn’t speak any English.  I saw the Explora driver waiting for us – and he spoke English.  Good.  He could translate for us.  The first time ever I have arrived and the bags haven’t.  Could be a good few days in the hot desert, trekking, with jeans and shoes on.  I had the baggage receipts, so thought they would be scanned and the computer would tell them whereabouts the bags were.  No.  Had to fill in a form, and tell them what was in the case.  I am sure it will be on the next flight.  But still had to fill in the form.  I got a copy, and they said they would let me know when and if it turned up.  I could see the look on Paul’s face – he had already asked me why I booked such a short connection.  Why exactly?  Wish I hadn’t now.

We set off for the one and a quarter hour car journey to the Explora Hotel.  The landscape was amazing.  We went over mountains, past desert, past rock formations that looked as if we were on the moon and a huge volcano.  Wow.  What varying scenery we have had on this trip.  Just out of nowhere, we turned off the road and was transported into a little town that looked as if it had come straight out of a spaghetti western.  The little houses looked as if they were made of mud.  I expected Clint Eastwood to come around the corner at any time!  We turned into the hotel, and drove around the stables and onto a little courtyard at the front.  We were met and taken in to get the keys to the room – it looked like the High Chapparal (for those old enough to remember it).  The rooms were very authentic, and looked like we were staying on the ranch in the TV programme.  We had a wander, and found a beautiful pool.  I took a picture of an enormous caterpillar – but it turned out to be a bean.  I could have sworn I saw it move!

We then had a “presentation” of the hotel and all the excursions that are on offer.  It actually boiled down to only a couple for tomorrow, as the others were all booked.  Bit like Centre Parcs – you have to be first in the queue to get the ones you want.  JP – where are you?  There were a couple of nice ones – so as long as the bags arrive with our trekking boots we will be OK.  If not – massage and pool I think!

Dinner was very good.  The restaurant was lovely, and the food good.  The unfortunate thing about this hotel is that it follows Awasi – and that is never going to be easy.  I think it is going to take several years to get anything that comes up to the standard I feel!  But, the bags arrived at about 10pm, so full steam ahead.