PS

Will this blog never end I ask myself? Even its unlikely anyone will read this, it seems to me the best place to put it. After seeing the film "Age of Stupid" in Bristol a week or so ago, I made the decision to cut the biggest aspect of my personal carbon footprint, by not flying again once I returned to Spain. So here I am, stuck! Well no. Fortunately there are many ways to get from Alicante back to the UK or most other places. The biggest drawback for me could be cost (ie. of train travel) since I have plenty of time, as a pensioner, but very little money. Walking or cycling are cheap. I have to get back to Bristol by 1st August for Fidel and Sharon's wedding. Perhaps I should start another blog......

thanks

sue..thankyou everyone who commented on the blog,much appreciated.I would reccomend this trip to anyone who wanted nature,diversity,and the wonderful warmth and curiosity of the s.american peoples......

"We were the fools who could not rest in the dull earth we left behind....but burned with passion for the south and drank strange frenzy from ill wind.The world where wise men sit at ease fades from our unregretful eyes,and thus across enchanted seas we stagger on our enterprise."



Sir ernest shackleton.1916,july.

LAST WORD

A final word now that no-one is looking anymore. The time here in Rio is almost at an end. We fly out on Sunday night and there is only the packing still to do. Mostly we have just been pottering about as its been very hot and humid the whole time, but we did make a couple of good excursions. One of these was up to the village on a hill in the middle of the city, Santa Teresa. We queued and waited (ages) for the ancient little tram, known as the "bondinho", where almost as many people hang from the outside as are inside sitting down on the little wooden benches. We went with Roman on his day off from college. At the top there is an old house which has been restored and opened to the public, with its own terraced gardens. The views all over Rio, sea, islands, mountains, the Pão Açucar and the Christ etc. All fabulous.
Then last night, Alamo and Roman took me for the promised game of football in the huge Maracana Stadium. It was a local derby between Botafogo (Alamo´s club) and Vasco. The stadium was not as full as it could be but still a good crowd and plenty of atmosphere under the full moon. A good game too, except that Botafogo lost!!
This morning I have been to the Jardim Botanico again, particularly to see an exhibition about the life and work of Chico Mendes. He was born and spent his life in the Amazon region of Acre, becoming a rubber tapper at age 15. He went on to be a strong union organiser and environmentalist, fighting to save the rainforest from destruction and for the rubber tappers and other forest dwellers to be able to make a modest living in harmony with the forest. However, in December 1988 he was murdered, as he had predicted he would be, and despite a 24 hr. police protection!! Now 20 years later this exhibition is to help continue to educate people with environmentally sound attitudes and to continue his struggle.
So ends my word. La luta continua! Although first I will go back to Spain to lie in my new hammock for a while.

HOME IN RIO

This may not be ´home´home, but it feels pretty good to be back here, in the comfort of the lovely flat in Leblon, with Roman and the family, where we have the luxury of a room each. Our 2 months on the road is at an end, and we are beginning to relax and chill out in a mere 33C as opposed to the torrid south at 38 - 40 C. I know we´re not supposed to grumble about the heat when you all, back in the UK, are suffering such a cold winter, but when you are melting like a blob of marg that´s been left in the hot sun, its hard not to have a little moan.

Enough of that for the moment, because this is also about the Argentine Iguazu, where we spent Wednesday. It was much more of a trek to get there that day, as we had to go over the Tancredo Neves Bridge between the 2 countries with all the border crossing formalities which that involved. When we eventually made it to the National Park itself we found it quite easy to get rid of the Argentinian Pesos we had saved for this as everything, especially the entrance fee, was so expensive. Once in we went on a little train to the start of the trail we had decided on - the low one with lots of jungly shade. Again the butterflies everywhere, especially hosts of yellow ones, and coatis (kind of racoon). These were much more in evidence on this side than the on the Brazil side. One tried very hard to get into Sue´s bag where it could smell her lunch pack. We saw others jump onto tables outside the cafe and snatch peoples sarnies and race away with them. We also saw a big lizard and several little ones, plus a cayman down in the river, and some lovely birds. After the jungle trail, which had several viewing points over a number of the falls, we got back on the train and went on to the trail leading to the Garganta del Diablo. This part was a little spoiled by stampeding hordes of tourbus tourists, who seemed to be in the mood for lots of pushing and shoving (perhaps on a tight schedule). In the end they passed. We went along a lengthy series of walkways, much out in the sun over the rapids, till we reached the huge "devil´s throat". We had seen this the day before, but not quite so close. Spectacular and overwhelming. No picture or film could convey the enormous power and magnificence on display. I wanted to go away and hide in a little hole and think about it, but no chance of that.
So the Iguaçu/Iguazu falls certainly provided us with a wonderful finale to an unforgettable journey.

SUE .We are going to continue with the blog for a few days longer.Hopefully,Roman will download lots of photos.Iguacu will stay with me forever,awesome,as will so many other aspects of our journey.It is good to be back in Rio though,just relax for a few days as we look back,remember ,and marvel at all the different aspects of this journey.

BIG WATER

We have now arrived back in Brazil after our very short visit to Paraguay. It was really not long enough to be able to make any sort of assessment, except to say that it arouses great curiosity.
It is a country on the edge of change it feels, with the new President Lugo just beginning to try and do some different things. There seem to be the usual extremes of wealth and poverty, especially visible in Asuncion where very posh shops and restaurants are just around the corner from the shanty town. So maybe a place to return to in a few years?

We had a bit of a shock yesterday at the end of our bus ride across Paraguay to Iguacu in Brazil, when the bus proceeded to leave Iguacu behind and gather speed across the countryside. We went to enquire of the conductor what was happening as we were supposed to get off there and a bit of a furore ensued. The upshot was though, that they had to turn round (it had been heading to San Paulo) and take us back. So here we are in this very hot place.

Today we went to the famous Iguacu Falls. The name is Guarani Indian for big water, and once upon a time they had this place to themselves. However, now it is the tourists, including us, who flock there. I am so lucky for this to be my second time, so I will leave it to Sue to tell you about it.

Sue:Iguacu is the nearest I have been to paradise.You reach the falls through rainforest,abundant butterflies,all sizes and colours,racoons hustling through the undergrowth,vultures wheeling overhead,lizards making a mad dash for cover as one approaches,and then there are these massive falls,all 275 of them,over a mile wide.Before this there are rapids for 3 km.You hear the falls before you see them,an enormous roar,it takes your breath away,the sheer power.I feel so priviledged to see them and experience such amazing nature.We are returning there tomorrow,this time to the Argentinian side,to get up very close to them,on walkways and in the forest.It will be difficult to leave.

We have decided to end our trip in style and been out and bought flights back to Rio,rather than take the bus for 23hours.Who can blame us.

RIDING HORSES / RIDING BUSES

Well I can tell you which is easiest..........definitely the horses! Went for a lovely all day ride in the most beautiful countryside above Salta. There was just me, Sue unfortunately still suffering in the tum, and a young guide who spoke sort-of English. He was great too and we got on very well. His horse was a feisty Peruvian, and mine was a very strong, quite old and a bit motheaten, ordinary Argentinian working horse. But he was very sure footed as we scrambled in and out of rivers and up and down quite slippery bits of mountain. We rode in the morning to a place in the hills where they cook the BBQ, and in the afternoon we rode back another way.
The countryside was pristine, being a huge old estancia, miles and miles of grassy hills and mountains. We did not see a road or a building the whole day, or another person. There were occasional groups of horses, mules and foals, and sometimes a few cattle. Lots of beautiful wild flowers and trees and many birds. The highlight was when we saw an eagle on a fence post and were able to get within a few feet to take photos before it flew off. We had taken the lunch with us, and Martin, my guide, got the fire going and prepared and cooked it all while I went off and took photos.

Now the buses. Yesterday afternoon at 3.30 we got on the bus for Clorinda, on the Argentine/Paraguay border. But by 7 pm bits had fallen off it. We were in a place called J V Gonzalez - not on my map - and there we stayed til 1 a.m. The driver had to get underneath along with a mechanic and they didn't seem to have hardly any tools. However it did get going again and we did arrive, but not till 1.30 pm today. We were entertained with 2 dvd's - The Mummy, and The Mummy Returns (twice), badly dubbed into Spanish, with an English subtitle only when the Mummy spoke.

Sue:gutted I couldnt horseride,but hopefully will make up for it in Brasil.Well we are in Paraguay.First impressions are that it is a very poor country.There are a large population of Guarani indians who appear to be extremely impoverished,some are squatting in the plaza over the way from where we are staying.Its saturday night and for the first time in s.america it is all shut down.We are used to it buzzing at the weekends,weird.And this is the capital city.So dont really know what to make of it,It is very hot and sticky,we are both fanning ourselves ,maybe it is good prep for Brasil.Leave here on monday for Iguassu,one of the highlights of our trip,the biggest waterfal in s.america.xzxx

DELHI-BELLHI

i have a dose of tummy trouble so will be brief.RE.the trip to Cafayte,I had an interpreter for this trip,a young man who could hardly speak English which made the going a bit hard,but I did ascertain that the old man and the llama ,that ros referred to were called Asterix and Obelisk for reasons best known to themselves.My interpreter kept pointing out various rock formations,such as the frog,and the Titanic with leonardo and Kate winslet at the fore.Obviously we werent on the same drug as he was,which brings me to the return journey.Our driver,who had been driving all the time as if his life depended on it,descided to turn on the passengers with coca leaves,and as several middle aged argentinian ladies,politely chewed,boisterous clapping and singing broke out,of local ballads.After about half an hour of this,they all descided that it was the two brits turn.Help.We racked our brains,then Ros eventually very bravely sang my bonnie lies over the ocean,and all the argentinians joined in with a resounding bring back,bring back my bonnie to me.And on that note,I am back to dry crackers and weak tea. love from Sue x

SALTA

Friends and rellies all, feels like we are on the last leg of this trip, south of Rio. We have bought our bus tickets for the Friday afternoon - overnight - to Clorinda, on the Argentine/Paraguay border, and Saturday morning should arrive in Asuncion, capital of Paraguay. Meanwhile we are having a rest day here in Salta after most of yesterday being in a minibus tour to Cafayate, through Quebrada de Conchas. That is an enormous gorge, 72km long and 1,500mt in the highest places. A sort of giant Avon Gorge I thought, and Sue, a mini Grand Canyon. The red of the great cliffs was the predominant colour, though there was plenty of green too from trees and shrubs and some very tall cactus plants like the ones you see in pics of the Mexican desert. There are many extraordinary shapes in the cliffs, formed by the action of wind and water over a period of hundreds of millions of years. It was all originally a part of the Pacific Ocean and shell fossils from that period are to be found in the river bed flowing through the gorge. This has given the river its name in this place, of Rio de las Conchas. This river is the longest in Argentina and changes its name several times in the early stages before becoming the Rio Parana and then Rio de la Plata (River Plate) and entering the Atlantic by Buenos Aires. We stopped a number of times to see better and take photos of the most impressive of the interesting shapes. One of these known as the Anfiteatro is a great hollowed out arena, very high on all sides and with incredible natural acoustics. The New York Philharmonic orchestra played in there some time ago, we were told.
In the gorge we met with an old man and his llama - photo opp! Also saw lots of goats clambering about. Earlier we had stopped at a small goat farm for morning coffee, where we saw the little cabritos, their mums being milked, and a big horned billy. I had a piece of delicious goat cheesecake with orange. Tomorrow its horseback riding for the day. Sue will be adding her own stylee notes later........

ERRR...WHERE ARE WE????

This is what it feels like, but I think the answer is a little city called La Rioja. We have been having a very lazy day (for us) after deciding against a rather expensive all day tour starting 6 a.m. and ending just before we have to catch the next bus. Must be getting wise in our old age.
We have ambled about and managed 2 very interesting museums, an artesan market and a church. We also spent an hour or so in the park, where I was held in conversation with an ancient crone (as opposed to a young one like me) who was a kind of catholic jehovas witness. She was convinced I was Spanish, despite my very poor conversation skills, also that I was in bad company, since Sue was not wearing a hat despite the sun.

Sue:where are we,when is it,when were we,its all a bit like that now,and quite a lot of irrational giggling.We are off to a folklore festival in a minute before catching the night bus to Salta,where I really hope that we can get in a bit of horse riding.Carnival is at full blast back in Rio,so glad were out of it.Mind you,its baking hot here,a sort of no man place in the desert surrounded by mountains,where the entire population seems to be on very noisy scooters.much love

ALTA MONTAÑAS

Here we are again back in Argentina. We came through the Andes tunnel on the night bus, Thursday night. This was a mistake from the point of view of missing the views, but compensated for by a stunning night sky, with the biggest stars I´ve ever seen, falling like jewels down from on high to disappear behind the black mountain outlines. Then we had to spend hours going through the border controls inside a huge shed. We reached our hotel in Mendoza somewhat the worse for wear and were immediately confronted with a choice of tours by the receptionist. We had talked about what to see before, so went along with doing one of vineyards and bodegas that afternoon, and an all day one for Friday going up into the high mountains.

The bodegas tour turned out to be good, with 2 of them, including tastings, and an olive oil producer in between. We both felt unsure of the next day however, as it meant getting up at 6.30 am, having our bags packed to be stored in the hotel as we would not be back till 8.30pm and then catching a night bus again. Mad or what!! Next morning on the minibus we suddenly realised we were dressed for heat as it had been 40 c. the day before, and everyone else had jackets, boots and socks. EEk!!! Luckily our guide and driver took us back to the hotel to find our appropriate gear and set off again. Since we then encountered cold winds, fog and drizzel that was just as well.
Anyway it was a great trip. The first lot of mountains we went into, were up an unmade, narrow, mountain road known as "caracola" (the snail). Before long we found ourselves in low cloud and then more and more till nothing at all could be seen, with occasional places where large rocks had fallen in the road. Not getting the views was a bit disappointing for me. Once on the way down again we came out into sunshine on the road to Uspallata.

This was a green oasis where many plants and vegetables are grown. Each field is surrounded by huge poplars to protect the crops from wind. A stop for coffee and then on through a huge valley, known as the 7 colours, for the colour in the rocks. Beautiful! The road ran alongside the Rio Mendoza and an old railway, now disused. We stopped to take photos of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the whole Andes chain, and topped with snow. Then the high spot of the tour which was the statue of Cristo Redentor at 4,300 meters. Our minibus among many others crawled up a great red track winding above the normal road to reach it. At the top the wind blew mightily and cold. Stunning views all around though. This statue was made and placed there to celebrate peace between Chile and Argentina and the opening of the tunnel which makes passage between the 2 so much easier.

We stopped to eat lunch on the way back, about 4.30 pm so were well ready for it. A feast with everything all in including wine and the best steak we have eaten on this trip. Now I think I am feeling quite barmy as we even consider another such trip for tomorrow..... leave you to Sue


Our farewell from Valparaiso was suitably mad,we watched a brilliant mime artist control the traffic at rush our,watched by the police,in front of a large crowd,we were all roaring with laughter.
The wine tasting was very informative,and we enjoyed the glug at the end.
Off we went next day feeling very tired,but soon woke up.The first part ,in the fog was ,for me,terryifying.I couldnt make up my mind whether it was better to see the drop or not.Scmehow we got back down,to my relief.The oasis that Ros mentioned was part of the inca road,,which they referred to as a place of peace and silence.The next stage,going up to the highest staue on earth,was a unknown thing for me ,because I am a heavy smoker I didnt know how the altitude would affect me.However,apart from a small pain in my ears,all was fine,so now I am thinking of the possibility of further journeys,bolivia,peru,sometime ahead.
The range of mountains are where the famous plane crash took place,when cannabalism took place in order for survival of some of the passengers,one of which managed to reach the argentinian army.The highest mountainsAconcagua,is -35 in summer,and-80 in winter.The mummiried remains of a ten year old boy were also found here,he was part of an Inca sacrifice.
We have been in volcano and earthquake country now for a while,have seen one or two doemant volcanoes.
looking forward to some live music tonight,it might wake me up a bit.
However,all thetiredness has been worthwhile to see,and be among the wonderful Andes.

ps from Ros: if there are any inaccuracies in any of this it is down to my poor translating skills from the rapid spanish of our guides.
--

VALPARAISO

We have both fallen totally in love with this place. It's the most amazing hodgepodge of buildings on lots of different hills, all rising steeply above the harbour with docks and a narrow strip of commercial city with some parks. We have been staying about halfway up the hills Alegre and Concepcion in a lovely room with outside window overlooking the street and views (for the first time since the start of this trip). It's cheap too because of the shared bathroom. We have rambled about quite a lot over the 2 days of being here, helped by the fantastic little feniculars which rise almost perpendicularly. They are just like little old wooden sheds on rails, and I hope dear Jason can find a picture. This morning we went up one (and then quite a lot of steep walking) to see the Pablo Neruda Museum in his old house called "La Sebastiana". Inside it went up and up too, and was full of all sorts of "stuff" as he was a bit of kleptomaniac.



SUE: If I was young this is where I would want to be,fantastic murals,funky buildings, artisans and musos everywhere, lots of markets,and a lovely climate to boot.It feels like something fresh is happening on every twist and turn of the streets and alleyways.The railways up are practically virtical,with apt names such as the holy ghost fenicular.The place really comes alive at night,with cool tunes coming from little hideyhole bars,young people eating eachother everywhere and a lovely fresh breeze rising up from the sea below.It is a world heritage site,something that I support,as most of those sites are very straight.It has a special place in both our hearts as it was visited and spoken about by ros' sailor dad and my first husband ,Dick,who was in the merchant navy.Sad to leave,I highly recommend it,it brightens the world.ps.it also has great trolley buses.

MISCELLANEOUS

Various bits have escaped both our minds and the blog as we have been going along and we decided we should try and catch them before they get away for ever.
Beautiful blacknecked swans were seen in Puerto Natales in the Sound there. They are apparently in many parts of Patagonia but that is the only place where we saw them.
We also saw these ducks which looked quite normal most of the time swimming along. But a couple of times we saw them from the boat and they had to get out of the way. They did this by running along on the water flapping stubby little wings and looking hilarious. This is because they are flightless, known at Steamer Ducks.

We have been in "knitting heaven" for all you knitters out there. This is another Pategonian phenomenon, but best place of all was Puerto Montt. There were loads of stalls and shops with tons of all kinds of great hanks of wool and various people standing around knitting. All sorts of colours, mostly it seems with natural dyes, and stacks of huge wooden knitting needles. Also masses of hand knitted garments and objects of all kinds.


By the way, no train from Temuco. This was most disappointing. The train now runs to within a couple of stops of Temuco, and though the powers that be keep saying it will be restored, it just gets shorter. Sad.

A BIT MORE SANTIAGO

Just to bring things up to date. The current President is a Presidenta by name of Michelle Bachelet. She is, I believe, something of a socialist and the government is a leftish/centrish coalition I think. She sounds a very interesting person and is a single parent to boot. Last seen giving Fidel Castro a big hug - the first Chilean president to go to Cuba since Salvadore Allende. I am afraid I don't know much about the current situation here though, except that there are still various ongoing struggles of course. The one we have probably noticed most about is that of the Mapuche people who continue to fight for their land rights chiefly. Recently I read in the paper that an 11 year old girl, Relinutray Cadin and her aunt, have had to flee from here to Switzerland where they are seeking political asylum. This is because so many of her family, including both parents, have now been imprisoned (and are in solitary confinement) for the leading role they have been playing in this struggle. I am sure there will be more info on all this out in the net.

SANTIAGO & POLITICS

Sue and I have mostly been doing different stuff while here so far. This is my stuff.

First a bit of history.

Back in the 60´s a massive social and political movement of the people began to grow and develop. It involved hundreds and thousands of ordinary people, trades unionists, musicians, theatre people and artistes of all sorts, from the cities and the countryside. It was a movement for change from poverty and exploitation, from suppression and maintenance of inequalities.

This culminated in a great democratic victory for the socialist coalition led by Salvador Allende in 1970, when he became President. A message of hope also went out across the world, that a socialist government could come to power through the ballot box.

However, this was short lived, as a conspiracy was begun almost immediately between Chilean conservative elements, the military leaders and the American CIA. By 1973 these people and their allies had caused a great deal of economic instability and chaos in the country. In September of that year they siezed their chance and a military coup was staged. Allende was murdered within the Moneda Palace (the Chilean Parliament at that time) and the building was blitzed from the air. Many died alongside him and hundreds of thousands more were killed, tortured and dissapeared during the immediate days, and many more in the following years of the military dictatorship of Pinochet.

Soon after September 73 Chilean political refugees began arriving into whatever friendly countries would have them, including Britain. And that is how I and many others became aware of those events. So............
I wanted to find various places in Santiago where I knew things had happened and do a little pilgrimage.



I have seen the sports stadium where many, including Victor Jara (a hero of mine, with a beautiful voice) were tortured and murdered in the first days of the coup. A couple of years ago it was renamed for him, with his widow and daughters present. Then the museum of artist solidarity with Salvadore Allende. This contains many paintings and sculptures donated by artists from 1970 onwards, who wished to express solidarity in this way with that government. Last year it was finally rehoused properly into a lovely purpose modernised old building. I went to the Moneda Palace, which no longer houses the government but which has been restored. And finally, this morning, I made my way to the huge cemetary where Victor Jara is buried and there is a very moving and huge memorial to the "desaparicidos", built just a couple of years ago. While I was at Victor Jara´s niche in a wall I noticed acres of identical plain metal crosses, and discovered this is where many of the disappeared ones have been placed, without name or anything, as they were buried without anyone knowing (or wanting to acknowledge) who they were. I have to try and find out more about all that.
The best book I know to read on the subject, and in English, is written by Joan Jara, Victor's English wife. She writes about the years leading up to the 70's and what happened 1970-73. It is an extremely moving book, "Victor, an Unfinished Song".


Sue's Santiago:i didnt write anything in puerto montt because i was upset about the state of the street dogs there,including a young one that was obviously dying.Anyway,we are staying in a typical colonial part of Santiago,in the middle of a heatwave.The hotel looks very grand from the outside but is fading on the inside.I have been ambling around on my own ,trying to capture the feel of the place.One cannot escape what this country has been through in the recent past,even a few doors down,there is a house where people were tortured and murdered,and every thursday a vigil is held for them,and there names are read out.To me the significant thing is that they can do this now,freedom of speech seems to be returning.This address is londres 38.Ihave been to a museum on precolumbian art ,whis was amazing,with mummies,3000 years before the ancient egyptians did it.


Went to an exhibition of freda kalo art.Today I went to the main square,where I seemed to get immersed in Amnesty international,a demonstration about womens aid from violence,a charity for animals and a peace vigil.So Ros is rubbing off on me.Also heard some great music including a rap pair,who had just got married and performed in her wedding dress.Bought a load of rugs which were begging me to buy them,and a plastic bag with London tower bridge to carry them in..Ilike it here,it feels like its waking up from some kind of nightmare.People wander round with placards saying hug me,and everybody seems fresh somehow,although there is undoubtedly appalling poverty here.love to all.

PUERTO MONTT

This was a place for which we had no expectations. Yet we both loved it. Arriving early in the morning of the first day of sunshine since before leaving Puerto Natales helped no doubt. We left all our stuff at the funny little B&B we had found in our Handbook (Leticia) and wandered off to have coffee and look at artisan stuff. There was masses of this a short walk along the water front. We both indulged. Then wearily we turned our minds to picnic and decided to go on a wee boat across to an island. We got on the boat without asking too many questions and promptly set off on a tour around the island and back again! Unexpected but very nice. We even saw a sleeping seal on the loading platform of a fishing boat.


Puerto Montt still has many of its little, higgledy piggledy wooden houses going up the hillsides. But Temuco, where we are now, had all the wooden stuff burned down after a great earthquake in 1960. The result is a quite ordinary, modernish city centre, full of shopping malls etc. This morning we have been to the municipal market which is full of handicraft and artesanal stalls, as well as meat and fish around the edges. However, apart from a few things much of it is pretty standard and looks almost mass produced (tat for the most part).

I feel we are following backwards in the way of Brian Keenan and John McCarthy, the Beirut hostages of early 90's, who came here a few years ago to realize a fantasy they had whilst imprisoned together. They wrote an interesting book together of the trip "Between Extremes", which I read and now keeps coming to mind.
During the bus ride yesterday we passed some lovely green countryside, not entirely dissimilar to the English Lake District. A sad fact is though that millions of araucania trees have been felled in the past 30 odd years to produce much of it. Some of this has been replaced by the wretched eucalyptus. Ah me!

Tomorrow we shall be in Santiago.

THE FERRY "EVANGELISTAS"

We got off this ferry at 9 a.m. this morning after 4 nights and 3 days at sea. Still slightly rocking.
We sailed at about 4.30 a.m. last Friday and I was up on the top deck soon after, lapping up the excitement, the adventure of it. Still dark of course but saw a wonderful sunrise as we repeated the thrill Hamish had had the week before (without any of the responsibility) as we raced towards the narrow gap and into the narrows itself. There were a few others out with the cameras going and i do have one vid as well as stills. The rest is already a bit blurry but a number of highlights for me. First the glacier Amalia. Everyone almost crowded on the decks for this and as we rounded a corner there she was, sending a freezing, howling, ferocious breath down on us. Thank goodness for 3 hats and all the other layers.


The second day Sue and I and a number of others left the ship at dawn in the rain, in a little local boat for the island of Puerto Eden. This is the home of a small number of indians who were originally the sole inhabitants all along the coast and islands. They are boat people and still make their own boats and canoes, but they are now extremely poor and it seems the government is trying to do something for them. We went ashore and walked quite a way along a wooden walkway as no roads. This took us some distance round and then we seemed to be lost. The ferry was hooting for us all to return and eventually we did, rather damply and looking forward to breakfast.
That evening we went out into the Pacific and met with some swell, which made many a little queasy, including me as I stared into my spaghetti as it slid about the table. Nuff said. An early night did the trick and by next morning we were back in the channels and all calm. Now we are up on deck again and waiting for whales to appear. They were very reluctant to oblige till eventually a distant spume. This was repeated a few times during the afternoon and finally two whales came quite close and showed more of themselves. One a Humpback and the other a Blue Whale, the biggest mammal on earth. Stunning!


Sue says: we also had black and white dolphins leaping beside the ship, albatrosses gliding in the wake, and lots of seals. As we approached the glacier the noise of the ship hitting ice was extraordinary, and the glacier was many colours but predominantly blue. The glacier is moving and makes a cracking noise. The ship later went past Nossa Senhora Stella Maris, Our Lady Star of the Sea, protector of seafarers the world over, and the ship acknowledged Her with 3 blasts of the hooter. I can't really describe the feelings I had on seeing those whales except nobody should be hunting them anywhere on this very beautiful planet.


We finally docked this morning at Puerto Montt after saying goodbye to new friends made on board. The Full Moon shone low over the town as we docked. Is it really a month since the last Full Moon in Uruguay? I have just bought my first rug so we christened it on the grass with a picnic. Also we have been seduced by a drink called "pisco sour" which many of you may be
familiar with. By the way, we are back to heat and having to strip of the layers again.

PUERTO NATALES

Here we seem to be having real summer now, or else a heavy dose of global warming. For the last 4 days its been warm (25 C), long periods of sunshine, otherwise cloudy and humid. Since our day in the Park we have visited 2 local museums, one of which, this morning, felt quite wierd. It was in a big room within the Silesian College, and just contained stuffed birds and animals of the area. Taxidermist heaven. The work had clearly be done a long time ago and many of the creatures were a bit worse for wear (as well as being dead).


Yesterday Sue took a day off and I went for a hike up the local hill, Cerro Dorotea (Dorothy Hill). It was quite steep and long enough to make me feel very unfit, but the views over the Last Hope Sound and the town were beautiful. Only the heavy cloud obscured the more distant snowy mountains. At the bottom I was fed with homemade bread and jam and cup of tea by the local farmer, a sweet woman who kept me chatting for some while too.


Sue:All the chileans seem ever so sweet,and a lot of them are very small,which makes a change for me.They always stop if you want to cross the road,very polite and caring.However,this town feels as if they have seen better days,and every thing is getting a bit rundown,and many former hotels are either up for sale or are closed.I guess there are less tourists than before,and it is a very short season.Most of the houses are made of tin and wood,sort of cobbled together.Very little is thrown away,and many of the shops are half empty with an odd selection of wares for sale.We are now preparing for our big boat trip,starting tomorrow,so will be out of touch for a few days.We have our sea sickness pills at the ready as we have been warned of rough seas.

TORRES DEL PAINE

In addition to meeting Hamish our other reason for coming to Puerto Natales was to visit the National Park "Torres del Paine" (pronounced pinee) which is famous for its glaciers, lakes and hugely exciting snowy mountains. Paine is the Tehuelche word for blue. They were the indigenous people who originally inhabited this area. We were picked up by our minibus at 7.15 am., luckily being the first so able to take the front seats, later people being quite squashed in the back. The first stop was at the Cave of the Milodon...


This was a prehistoric ground sloth, rather like a huge bear with a tail. It lived between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago. The cave is massive, 96 ft. high and 230 ft. wide and very deep. Sue says she managed to get herself lost, but found again without too much trouble.


We went on to the park which is 2 hours drive from Natales, where we saw all sorts of things including several herds of guanacos, condors, eagles, waterfalls and lakes. The mountains of course were the most imposing presence of all. Especially some called the Cuernos (the horns). These were surrounded by even higher, snowcovered peaks, the biggest of which is Cumbre Principal at 3050 meter Also we went to the Grey Glacier, though could not see much of it from where we were. We walked to the Grey Lake, and then out on a long spit right across the lake. Floating there were huge chunks of glacier which had broken away just in the last week. These had blue areas which looked as though they had been dyed. However, it seems this is caused by some sort of effect from the sun in conjunction with the freezing ice. If you want to know more on the subject go to: www.luminous-landscape.com and then on to What´s new.
That was all on Sunday, a full day out not returning till 8.00 pm. Monday was a chill out day of looking round the town, visiting the local history museum, which was excellent with lots of information on the indians who inhabited these parts of Patagonia over thousands of years.

Sue:we have found a really nice place to hang out in and eat good veggie food,listen to cool music and drink very nice vino.It is run by an english girl,who fell in love with a chilean goucho and has stayed here.There is a good book exchange shelf too.We are over half way now,and havent fallen out yet,a few dissagreements,but nothing important.I am really looking forward to getting to Tomuco,where Ros informs me there will be loads of beautiful rugs for me to drool over .
In between we have a fantastic sea voyage to take .

Ros again: we are missing your comments dear friends and rellies, tho do understand that you have many preoccupations with horrid weather, bills and other mundane facts of life back home. However, hope you are enjoying all this nonetheless.

CHILLY CHILE

Lots to catch up on, but yesterday was another of those "high excitement" days again, so i`ll start with that. We had not heard from Hamish, el Capitano, for a couple of days. We were filled with a fine mix of trepidation and anticipation since we had heard how difficult it was to navigate in the waters leading through the fjords (Chilean archipelago). The Seabourn Pride had not managed to get through these narrows and alongside here in the last 3 years. Would Hamish in his first trip as captain manage it??? WELL HE DID. In his own words it was a minor miracle as various factors were against him aside from the navigating and the strong winds.

Sue and I rushed down to the waterside at 8.15 am. and spotted a white glint in the far distance across the bay and against the background mountain. Could it be a ship? Run a bit nearer and get the binoculars out. Hmmm...yes, maybe it is. There was a good sign in the line of coaches parked nearby, obviously waiting to take the cruisers off on tours. Another look in the binocs. and yes, definitely. A bit of jumping up and down and shrieking. Fantastic! It was all going to take a while so we rushed away again to get our dirty washing to do on board, + bag of other things, and back. Phew, already almost alongside, so more jumping up and down and waving to make sure they knew we were there and waiting.

Finally we were on board and big hugs from Gail and Hamish and up to their (rather posh) cabin. They ordered a late breakfast of bacon and egg sarneys for us. What a treat. And plates full of fresh fruit. Yummy. Hamish was very tired from the long morning - beginning 2 a.m. for him and only tying up at 9.30 (he did have pilots on board of course). Also, it seems the whole fjords thing was quite gruelling as well as exciting. He described some parts as like shooting the rapids, and in one place they were rubbing alongside ice.


Even our day was not without some problem as Hamish had to take the ship out into the bay again, so Sue and I had to leave on the tender with Gail and go for lunch in town, instead of having it all on board. It was a lovely lunch tho. and great to hear all about everything from Gail, who had also taken us around the ship. When we got back to the jetty there was the ship still in the bay as the wind was up and now too rough to bring her back in. But we did go off in the tender again for a last hour or so with Hamish. A few hours later, when all the passengers were back on board and the tenders stowed, we finally stood in the freezing wind and waved goodbye. (I do hope Jason has a pic of the ship for us).

Sue: yesteday was brilliant,I was so pleased for Ros and very proud for her,for Hamish managing to bring the boat in.For the readers that dont know,Hamish is ros third son,and Gail is his new wife. We are now in Puerto Natales, having crossed into Chile three days ago.Weve been slumming it recently so We havw just booked into a better hotel as we are here for the next five days before sailing,ourselves,up the coast of Chile. I like buying weird things,and proudly bought back a rattle/bracelet,which Ros reckons is made from sheeps toenails or something,so I had to smuggle it, plus a penguin head skeleton, and a weird bone Ihad found,through the customs,into Chile, as everything organic is banned.

This week we will be visiting glaciers,caves,hopefully horse trekking,before we sail.Sue.b.The thermals are the best pressie ever.Hugs and kisses to all.

USHUAIA and EL GLACIER

Yesterday the weather took a dive and we had some rain, overcast skies and lower temperatures so took a museum day. All the museums have smallish displays on various of the indigenous groups which occupied the area until the white man arrived, whereupon they were fairly rapidly wiped out. They trod lightly on the earth, living very simply in shelters of wood, barks and skins. They hunted, fished and gathered. There is some interesting information in Bruce Chetwins "In Patagonia".

We went to the Museo del Fin del Mundo where there was also stuff on the early white visitors and settlers from Magellan onwards. Later I went to a very big museum set in the old prison buildings, partly a prison museum and partly the maritime museum with lots of info. on early maritime explorers, continuing with those who went into Antartica. The most interesting prisoner to me was an anarchist, who's name, shamefully, I have now lost. Will insert later.

Today being much brighter, though windy, we decided to take the chairlift up to the Glacier Martial above the town. Sue has a bit of vertigo, but swallowed her fears and bravely got into the seat at my side. Luckily it moved extremely slowly, rising above the trees at about 3cms per min. Finally we reached the top to be rewarded with stunning views of the bay and distant town.


Now its back to packing and preparing tomorrow's bus picnic - limited by not being able to take fruit, veg, animal or dairy products into Chile. However, we are excited about the move on to Punta Arenas and then Puerto Natales where hopefully we shall see Hamish and Gail.

SUE`S ARGENTINA

so farewell Argentina for a while,hello chile.Argentina was nothing like I imagined,although its a wealthy country there is a lot of poverty around.It is a vast country and very sparcely populated.The people have been lovely,and there are a few things that I forgot to mention,e.g.they have red phone boxes and post boxes exactly the same as ours,which is strange.Patagonia must be one of the last widerness left,miles and miles of savannah,which took us many days to cross.There hasnt been any rain for four months and many cattle are dying as a result.The situation is quite grave.We saw lots of pink flamingos in Patagonia,a bird I have always associated with Africa.Guanacos ,a sort of large alpaco survive there too,they were the main staple food for the yamana indians .Now we are at the end of the world,there is only about 4 hours darkness at night.All over argentina,around 6.pm.the dogs go walkabout.These are not street dogs,are wellcared for,and dont seem to fight.there are a lot of german shephards,all seem quite soppy.There are loads of young people taking a gap year and travelling from allover.We were invited to a hostel last night ,after having met up with travelling companions,who cooked for us.It is so great to see so many mationalities chatting and eating together,in harmony.All politicians should be made to go on the road.

THE END OF THE WORLD !

Here we are at last. This evening it still felt a bit unbelievable as we wandered along beside the Beagle Channel looking at the shipping against a glorious background of pointy, snowy splodged mountains. This, of course, is Ushuaia. Southernmost city of Argentina and of anywhere.

We arrived Friday night after 14 hours on the bus, with 4 sets of boundaries and passport checks, with all the queueing and bureaucracy, as we passed from Arg. into Chile, and then back again. This was punctuated by an exciting, though short, ferry crossing as we went across the Straits of Magellan to the island of Tierra del Fuego.


Arriving at 10.30 pm when we had thought it would be 6.00, with no accommodation sorted, we made straight up into town (and up means up steep hills) dragging our trolleys, to a house suggested in my out-of-date guidebook, to find it closed down. So we finished up in a hostel dorm with a couple of strange blokes (don't know what they thought of our invasion).
But alls well that ends well and next morning we found this nice little B&B, which is very friendly as well as cheap and comfortable. Sue will now continue the story....

Actually the little house is a hippie house with joss sticks and a laid back feeling. So its good. Today Ros and I went on a 8k.walk through tierra del fuego national park. This was pretty ardous for me as it was through a beech forest, up and down. Have you ever tried to negotiate beech tree roots,wearing new varifocals.

Crazy,I am completely knackered,needless to say ros is as fresh as a daisy and we even had to take a walk this evening. Anyway, despite all the keep fit, I am so glad to be here.It beats housework anyday. However we saw some great birds of prey, and the forest felt very primevil, very Tolkein. Tomorrow apparently we are visiting an old penal colony, variety being the spice of life and who knows what else so i am off to bed.xx

RESTING IN RIO GALLEGOS

We arrived here exhausted at 7.30 yesterday morning and had a very chilled day catching up on food, sleep and washing of all kinds. Reason for this being a totally fantastic day on Tuesday 20th (also coinciding with lovely granddaughter georgia's 16th - congratualtions darling, and of course the world celebrated Obama inauguration, which we have since been trying to catch up on.)


The fantastic 20th for us consisted of an almost all day boat trip up the Ria Deseado in a sort of rubber dingy with motor and 10 other passengers, + driver and guide. The sun shone from first thing and a light wind blowing and off we set with our life jackets on and water/windproof jackets. First we saw birds, these were of various water and seabird, but most moving for me certainly was the albatross, with huge wings in a great arc. This was the blackwinged albatross, I think. We arrived at a little rock of an island then, heaving with sealions. They looked quite tawny in the sun, except for the ones emerging from the water, which were black. Amongst them were a number of enormous males, magnificent with their huge shaggy manes and wonderful mannerisms. Also they had great bellowing voices, and each seemed surrounded by an adoring harem.

The final place of the expedition was another larger island where the penguins nest and breed. First we had to get ashore which was quite a feat from a rocking boat onto slippery rocks. All managed safely. The island was the highlight as we were able to spend hours just sitting amongst the lovely rockhopper penguins, with their red eyes and little yellow eyebrows sticking out. Made several vids on the camera kids, so fun when we get back.


However, the adventure was not quite over, as we all had to get back into the boat and the wind had really kicked in. The boat was anchored a little way off and our boatman had to fetch it by canoe, clever fellow. In it came and we were all tightly gathered under strict instructions to get on a fast as possible. Some made it, Sue being the last, who went, partly flying, as the boat parted from the rocks. She was in safe hands thankfully, of a couple of strong blokes who had proceeded. But the rest of us (me, 3 men and the guide) then had to go at great speed back across the island to a slightly calmer cove to await the boat again.

All aboard and off we roar. Look after your bags was yelled at us, as a few people were foolishly fumbling for cameras. Whoosh went the wind and the boat and the first set of waves came aboard! This was total adrenalin for all. White knuckled and screaming we continued for what seemed at least half an hour. Wow!! One of the Latvian lads in the group rated it the most exciting experience of his life. And i think many of us agreed this was close at least.


Sue says:what a day that was. I had a close shave especially as i cant swim, but loved every moment, probably the closest I will ever get to white water rafting. The climate and terrain is rapidly changing now as we approach the end of the world. Windy, cooler and many trees and vegetation like northern europe. Most of the houses are made of corrugated iron and brightly painted,and there are many more indigenous people here. The young people here are also different,a mixture of punk and goth which is interesting. We have been travelling with Shannon, a young irish girl and Anne, a swiss girl. We parted company yesterday, so girls, if you get to read this and we dont meet up again, it was great fun to be with you both. Sue b. well done.

love from Sue.xxx

SUE`S EMAIL

I haven't been able to get into Virgin bloody media for the last week, so if anyone has sent me any emails could they please now use the comment spot on the blog until I manage to get into my website. We are meeting up with other backpackers now, Latvians, Israelis and are travelling together currently with a Swiss and an Irish girl.

We are now in Puerto Deseado, but nothing exciting yet. We will do a trip tomorrow to see sea creatures and a different kind of penguin - rockhoppers. They are in the pic which is in our last blog. The ones we have seen already (yawn...sorry) are Magellanic.

PENGUINS AT LAST (by accident)

We have been busy again. One last day in Buenos Aires in which we went into the richer northern part to investigate the cemetary where Evita lies, in a relatively modest family tomb, compared with many others there.

We also managed more art, at the Museum of Modern Latin American Art, with work from the best of all over the continent. Cool building too.


The overnight bus then brought us on a 17 hour journey south to Puerto Madryn, in Patagonia. We felt very confused for about 24 hours after all that, but a nice place to be in right on the sea. It is also much colder, especially evenings and early morning, finally beginning to justify the ton of thermals and other winter wear we have lugged with us.

Yesterday, we went to Wales (Gales in the Spanish language). Very quaint and greener than other parts so far.
But best of all we took a taxi to some fossil beds which are over 40 million yrs. old. We arrived to find the place deserted, with staff gone to lunch. No matter, it was most enjoyable to wander by ourselves in the silence of the hills. The trail was well marked so we didn't get lost and saw all sorts of interested remains, including of a penguin, from many millions of years ago. Awe inspiring. What a planet!
Today, we got picked up by the wrong minibus, and thus ended up amongst thousands of penguins, rather than orcas, whales and other sea creatures. It was wonderful though, especially when Sue got all feisty with them at the office and managed to get our money back!!


Sue says:this blog should be called ros wandering south with sue blundering on behind,the womans a genius at map reading which is just as well as I havent a clue. The last bus trip from buenos aries was different to say the least. For a start we all had to play bingo, and dinner was mashed potato and pink blancmange...The penguins were delightful and hilarious, they make a sound like a donkey. Also saw An armadillo, guinea pigs, short eared hares, emus and babies and guanaco which are a member of the llama family, so wildlife at last.

Yes, the fleeces have come out of the bag, the nights are getting shorter, and you all feel a long way away. Anybody who is having problems sending a comment, please go to Fenellas comment on the porto allegre blog as she gives instructions. Off for a nice argentinian merlot now.xxxx

BUENOS AIRES

Hi everyone, lots of computer probs. at the moment, so hope its going ok now!
Today we have been almost all day walking about this fantastic and exciting city. We went to the Plaza 25 Mayo and first saw the huge, pink, government building.

Then wandering further down the square we saw that the second half was virtually fenced off. This is the area of political protest, and most especially the place where the Mothers of the Disappeared do their march every Thursday. These are the mothers of children who disappeared during the Dirty War of the 1970's. There are also many other disappeared and murdered ones (by the police) who are commemorated in this space.


In the same place there is a permanent encampment of veterans of the Malvinas/Falklands War of 1982. These are protesting at the neglectful way they have been treated ever since by all ensuing governments.


After all that we lightened up a bit by walking several k into the San Telmo and La Boca districts. Lots of stops along the way to look at antiques and bricabrac on stalls and shops. Finally the huge Boca Juniors Football stadium appeared. This is Maradona's club and the place of great Argentinian footballing passion.

In the same area are the pretty painted houses of La Boca - really a very old, run down, poor port area. This little corner has been done up and turned into a tourist trap. Nice though, with tango going on in the street outside various restaurants.

Wearily we came back on the bus.............. now for Sue:

This morning was very sobering and sad.We stopped and spoke to the veterans and said we were English,I think they were pleased that we spoke to them.I felt very emotional about the war.Now we are totally tangoed out and looking forward to travelling on to pastures new.xxx