Our 2008 Odyssey

The Amazon

lopes_family — Sun, 7 Sep 2008 21:05:00 GMT

We flew from Lima to Iquitos arriving just before sunset which was a spectacular red colour. It was very hot and humid after Lima. The transport into the city was an old style American School bus from the 1960 with natural airconditioning (ie.no windows). This is a city of around 1/2 million people accessable only by air or river. The place is full of mototaxi´s which are 3 wheeled motor bikes with a bench seat for passengers. Our guide told us there were up to 15,000 of these vehicles in Iquitos and it seemed like we shared the road with everyone of them on our way to our hotel. The next day we headed off by speed boat down the Amazon river some 50 miles to our destination the Explorama Lodge. After settling in and lunch we visited the Yagua Village which is a short walk from the lodge. These people still live a traditional lifestyle and we were invited to watch their dancing and singing. Afterwards them men of the tribe demonstrated how to use a blow gun after which we were offered a try as well. Richard hit the target but didn´t managed to get the dart to stick. When you look down the barrel of one of these blow guns it is as straight as a gun barrel, and apparently they take around 30 days to make. Sonia and Madeline got to nurse a baby sloth which was a pet of one of the village children.

After dinner we went on a jungle walk in the arear surrounding the lodge. We managed to see a few spiders, scorpions and other insects as well as a huge whooping frog, the largest frog species living in the jungle. To be continued.

Lima

lopes_family — Sun, 7 Sep 2008 20:50:00 GMT

Arrived in Lima after midnight and took a taxi to our hotel in Miraflores. The next morning we ventured out into this tourist mecca area of the city. Went to the famous Larco Mar complex built into the side of the cliff overlooking the pacific ocean. A few people were braving the surf, it looked cold. Watched a couple of paragliders then took a city tour into downtown Lima. Here we visited the San Francisco Monastero which dates back to 16th century and is famous for its catacombs which is the burial place for an estimated 20,000 people. There doesn´t appear to be any real road rules but the traffic although chaotic seems to flow without to many mishaps. It is very smoggy.

Santiago, Chile

lopes_family — Sun, 7 Sep 2008 20:45:00 GMT

Arrived 25 August after a long and tiring flight. Great view of the Cordilleras as we came into land. Spent the afternoon getting over jet lag and exploring the city. Found it difficult to communicate due to our limited Latin American Spanish. Next day we went on a short city tour which took in various Plaza´s. Saw the changing of the guards at the Presidential Palace. Met some other travellers who spoke english. What a relief to find other travellers. Later in the evening caught our flight to Lima.

The Trip

lopes_family — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:08:00 GMT

Visiting Santiago, Chile then off to Peru for 3 weeks visiting Lima, Amazon Jungle (Iquitos), Arequipa and the Colca Canyon, Cuzco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and La Paz Bolivia then off to the UK for a couple of weeks then a few days in Egypt, returning to the UK for a few days before heading home via Hong Kong and Japan.

Regards

Lopes Family

Three days to go!

lopes_family — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:27:00 GMT

All the planning is done, all thge loose ends are tied up we just have to pack and get going.

Actually I don't have any news to tell i was just making sure this blog thing works