Where in the World are the Bullivants?

After leaving our big tour and spending time in Rio de Janeiro for Carnival, we decided to extend our stopover in Bogota.  In total, we spent 5 nights here – not enough to do everything, but enough to get a feel for the city. Continue reading →

Brazil, the last stop on our big road trip.  Our first stop was Iguazu Falls, from the Brazilian side.  They do not have the vast waterfalls that we saw on the Argentinian side, but the panorama of the waterfalls was incredible.  Unfortunately, it was raining a little – so I stood under overhangs and under trees while Laurence ventured out into the wetness (including when we were meant to be in the waterfall spray – who really knows where all the water was coming from apart from everywhere) and took the wonderful photographs that we have today.  A truly inspiring sight to behold. Continue reading →

We took  a short bus ride (which ended up taking 1 1/2 hours) to Itaipu Dam, a huge hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River between Brazil and Paraguay.  A spot where Laurence had very much been looking forward to. Continue reading →

We took a short boat ride over to Colonia (three hours by boat from Buenos Aries) – just to have a look around.  It was a lovely and sunny day and a breath of fresh air compared to the big city vibe of Buenos Aries.  After a short bus ride “showing us the sights” we settled down to wandering the cobblestone streets, looking for a place for lunch. Continue reading →

Argentina, such an immense country, so diverse.  We started near the top of the country and worked our way down one side, zig-zagging in and out of Chile.  We then worked our way up the eastern coast towards their capital city, Buenos Aires, and eventually Brazil. Continue reading →

Chile is an incredible country and I wish that I had more time for it.  It is beautiful.  I recommend that anyone wanting to come to South America come to see this wonderful place.  We wound in and out of Chile and Argentina for a few weeks, but more time would have been great. Continue reading →

Bolivia…I read Marching Powder (a book that you all should read) in Central America and a number of people told me that this was their least favourite place in South America.  I think that if you could get rid of all of the dust that insists on going into my eyes that I might like you better.  Please also consider the food that you serve and the wine that you make, oh, and the people who serve you should be nicer (a lot nicer). Continue reading →

The Inca Trail was a massive undertaking.  I recall living in Hamilton and ‘helping’ a friend train for it.  He had weights in his backpack and we walked around the streets at night.  I can say that I completed this training, not even anything close to it.  Nevertheless, I had completed two hikes in South America and three in the past year.  I was ahead of my normal game; however, I was scared of what affects the altitude may have on my non-hiking ability and me.  As for Laurence, I was pretty sure that he would make it – a stubborn beast that can make himself do anything if he has told everyone that he is going to do it. Continue reading →

Hmmm…Peru….what to say….I think that you have a rubbish problem.  Our first 5 days in the country and we saw more rubbish on the side of the road, sections of the motorway, and hills that looked like a rubbish dump instead of the dessert region that it should have been.  However, I cannot say that this was the first country that we have been to where we have seen a lot of rubbish, and from what we hear, it is not going to be the worst. Continue reading →

We have made it to South America – the original aim of our trip.  Here we will spend 4 months travelling down and around to Brazil.  We are very excited to have commenced this leg of our trip, however, we are aware that it may be the hardest of all.  We are camping for half of the time we are travelling for and we have not brought or bought sleeping mats (they would have been too heavy to carry for 5 and a bit months and they are too expensive to buy in Quito – about $40-50 USD for one).  The other part of the travel is that we will have some very long travel days – some over 12 hours and, I am sure, some that start at ungodly times of the morning. Continue reading →