No Espanol! Bus and Bike across Latino America

Gallery: Pantanal

steeve — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:36:00 GMT

Gallery: More Quito

steeve — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:02:00 GMT

Gallery: Monkeys

steeve — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 08:46:00 GMT

Monkeys of the Mirador!

They are all Animals!

steeve — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 07:40:00 GMT

After a few days following Che to his final resting place on a mortuary slab in a Hospital in the small town of Vallagrande we took a bus to Villa Tunari a small town on route Cochabamba. Our plan was to check out the Animal sanctuary Inti Yara Wassi and then pop to Cochabamba for a couple of days before returning to volunteer. However after waiting five hours in the cafeteria to be shown round and discuss possible jobs, whilst current volunteers covered in insect bites and some times animal bites drifted in and out, we some how got persuaded to stay for a month by the long term volunteer Wendy?

So our time at Inti Yara Wassi began, before I new it I was getting up at seven working through to six with no days off. My days consisted of carry heavy bags of food along poor wet tracks through the jungle to the Mirador, where I would spend a lot of the day cleaning the dirt and monkey crap from cages whilst constantly being bittern by hundreds of sand flies and mosquitoes. I had hoped to be walking a Puma but as the only one available was Rory a fast and powerful cat who a caused various injuries too many volunteers I had decided against this and instead was assigned the Mirador Monkeys.

This consisted of a group of caged monkeys which may be released into the wild in the future; various monkeys on ropes, which also could be released; a group of free Monkeys who permanently stayed around the mirador to protect the caged monkeys at night and were fed as a reward; and my favorites, a few certainly temperamental and some what viscous monkeys who could never be released.

The monkeys in the Mirador were all capuchins and due to their dislike of women mostly men worked there. However whilst I did my time, the mirador was managed by a tough long term lady volunteer from New Zealand called Pee who seemed to have a way with Monkeys and even had a look of a Capuchin. The other volunteers consisted of two cocky young lads from Belgium who had spent three weeks running pumas and a rather annoying dread locked hippy from New Zealand who was fortunately reassigned the next day to construction. I found that I not only had to find my place within the monkey groups but also the human groups who were a little weary of a 37 year old long haired, bearded, It manager from England, who arrived with a bicycle and chosen not to run a puma!

For the first week I certainly found Inti Yara Wassi strange and awkward and I felt maybe I had made a mistake. When the big man in charge asked us all to hold hands and chant " Inti Yara Wassi, Inti Yara Wassi " at the first volunteer meeting I certainly wondered if I had walked into some sort of cult. Also the craziness of working everyday with no days off and drinking every night made it seem I had volunteered into some sort of war zone rather than a tranquil reserve, in a peaceful jungle, in the heart of Bolivia. Certainly to some of the eco warriors at the reserve animal welfare was and is a war!

After a couple of weeks my feelings were to alter and my tales of adventures in the mountains on a bicycle meeting rebels with machine guns in Northern Laos, chasing my tent down the Andes mountains in Northern Peru were to win over the Belgium boys and even dedicated Pee. I also found the job was not all cleaning shit and carrying food; you also had the opportunity to get close to the monkeys. I was able to play with the free monkeys, take the roped monkeys for walks so they could get used to the jungle and my favorite dig for worms with the viscous guys. Unfortunately to my peril I found I was a little good at using a stick to dig for worms and made the Congo, a large hairy temperamental brown capuchin, rather jealous which resulted in him nastily sticking his teeth into my left hand. The pain reminding me that I was working with wild and not domestic animals!

The hand was to recover along with my opinion of the reserve which although a little disorganized, relying heavily on over tired long term volunteers, was doing a service not often found any where else in the world let alone the developing world. I also began to understand and find respect for the long term volunteers whose arrogance and lack of person skills had at first shocked me. How could I judge people who were willing to offer some times a couple of years of their short lives to such a worthy cause? Also where else would an ageing IT Manager in between jobs with no previous experience get such an amazing opportunity to work so closely with such beautiful animals?

I would certainly recommend, if you have a few weeks to spare and are in Bolivia, you volunteer at Inti Yara Wassi. The people may be strange but the animals are worth all the effort. Don’t always believe what you read in the papers and if that the Internet!

I recently heard that the park was to close and the owners were hunting for land to relocate the animals to. I really hope especially for the animals and also possible future volunteers, who will miss out on such an amazing experience, that the hunt, as I’m sure will be, is a total success.

Is it Raining! - The Pantanal!

steeve — Fri, 2 May 2008 06:22:00 GMT

Leaving Paraguay was not so straight forward as we had expected. The plan was to get a bus to the Brazilian border from Conception and then take another bus or two over night to the Brazilian town of Corumba.

However we should have realised that plans often do not come together as expected in South America. Firstly we had to wait several hours whilst protestors blocked the road which meant we didn´t get to the border until the evening which meant the immigration office was closed and we had to take a hotel overnight on the Brazilian side of town. The next day we spent several hours searching for the Paraguayan Imigration Office which no one seems to know where it is but do not like to admit this and send you totally in the wrong direction? In the end we had to take a taxi the few hundred yards up the road.

We eventually managed to to get our stamps and after assuring the owner of the bus company that I didn´t need to get any papers for my bicycle we found ourselves on a bus heading towards the Pantanal a lush and beautiful tropical swamp!

After changing to another bus we found ourselves in Corumba where believing ourselves the adventurous types we secured a three day camping trip in the Pantanal. This may have been a bit of a mistake as we spent the next three days being eaten alive by sand flies and the most evil mosquitoes I have ever seen, they even bit through your clothes and licked the deet from your arms. After the first day I counted over one hundred bites on my arms and back!

It was not really camping but more a large mosquitoe net covered hut filled with hammocks beside a piranha and camen filled river. The major issue being that the eating area was open to the elements and you spent the evening feeding on delious meals, prepared by a lovely local lady, whilst the mosquitoes fed on you.

I had expected the Pantanal to be filled with herds of wildlife but to be honest it was pretty well empty. However in the three days as we waded barefoot through rivers or on the back of horses or bounced around in the back of jeeps, we did get to see the odd monkey, forest dears, strange giant rodents and endless amounts of camen. We probably could have seen more but our group which consisted of Brahm a very excitable dutchmen, Phil a keen singer from Ireland and Sophia a Portuguese malaria expert were not not exactly a quiet bunch. Sandro often pleaded for silence as we crawled though the jungle only to be quickly broken by the flat feet of Phil on a large branch as he hummed a few bars U2´s "Sunday Bloody Sunday". When we did see something Brahm would over excitedly bound towards them that within a few seconds they were again lost to the under growth. For me this only added to fun as I laughed my way through the three days.

On our second day a hugh storm broke out which was to last until we were ready to leave. This didn´t stop the fun even though the boat trip was a bit of a washout we still got to float, or for me who didn´t get a rubber ring, swim down the river infested with camen and piranhas. Even though Sandro insisted they do not bite I´m sure one had a little nibble. The following day we sat hoping they would nibble as we fished for piranhas and what ever else existed in the river. We did managed to catch a few little ones but to be honest apart from Phil we pretty well sucked as fishermen/women.

By the final day I was a little sad to leave but was glad to get away from the evil mosquitoes. From the Pantanal was headed to Brazil and the so called death train, called this I think, because it used to derail a lot often killing those on board. After almost missing the thing due to a few issues in Imigration we found ourselves in a dirty but comfortable pullman class, very relieved we didn´t go first which was just arse breaking thinly covered wooden seats - Oh the pain after 24 hours being shaken around as the train clawed its way along rickety old tracks!

Paraguay why!!

steeve — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:51:00 GMT

We are currently in the sleepy town of Conception pretty much in the centre of Paraguay, after recently deciding to visit this country only because very few tourists actually do and also because when we told people we were coming here their immediate reaction was a stunned - Paraguay why!

We entered Paraguay via Puerto Iguaçu argentina and Ciudad del Este about a week ago. As the only thing Ciudad is famous for is smuggling and maybe the odd nock off, we just stayed the one night and took the bus the following day to the Capital Asuncion.

Unfortunately by this time it was Easter weekend and Asuncion known as the quite slow passed capital of South America had almost ground to a halt. For the three days we were there the streets were eerily empty and all we could find open were the odd diners and of course the drug stores. If you have ever seen the movie The 'Omega Man' or the recent movie 'Legend' you get a better picture.

Luckily we got a nice deal on the Plaza Hotel and were able to spend the weekend watching premiership football on fox sports and drinking fine Paraguayan largers in our air conditioned room. Only venturing into the 46 degree day time and 30 degree evening heat only to eat in the fantastic diner bar Lido and confiteria Bolisa, where slightly rotund, motherly waitresses served up succulent dishes and paraguian snacks. I can certainly recommend the pork medallions in a wine, mushroom and garlic gravy or the traditional snack sopa paraguay, which is like a savoury cheese and onion sponge, at first strange but it actually works.

We left the crumbling colonial architecture and somewhat militarian high rise blocks of Asuncion on Monday. After refusing to pay the fifteen dollars the conductor wanted to take my bicycle we took the bus to where we are now the sleepy but picturesque town of Conception. We had hoped to take a sleepy boat ride up the river but our timing was out and it would mean waiting a few more days in Asuncion. Although it is well worth the visit, if just for the food, a week may be just a little too long.

The last two days in Conception have been enjoyable but not exactly faced paced. The town just as Asuncion has a historic nineteenth century centre, a bustling market and a small harbour on the river. However the only things that move at any real pace are the mopeds and the odd horse and cart that pass you in the street. Paraguay is certainly a lovely place to visit but don't expect to be partying as in Rio or Buenos Aeries.

Tomorrow if possible we will get a boat up the river into Brazil and see some wild life in the Pantanal. However as we are not too sure if the boat will arrive or is actually going in that direction plans could change, nothing is ever certain in Paraguay?

New Trip!!

steeve — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:27:00 GMT

I have now been travelling throughout South America for over nine months, however if you view my journals you could be forgiven for not believing this (I could never be called a prolific writer).

My latest travels began in Ecuador where I flew into Quito on the 31st May 2007, where after a short period of acclimatisation I began a fun but some what arduous cycle through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, ending in Cordoba Northern Argentina on the 10th November. A trip which saw me rapidly lose the two stone of extra weight I had accumulated whilst sitting behind a desk for the past four years maintaining the computer systems for other professional cyclists as the IT Manager of British Cycling.

A journey which would also see me cycle over 4000m and do it another eighteen times peeking at 4850m where I constantly felt sick and my head felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer from the inside trying to get out. I would also chase my tent down a mountain; watch endless items of equipment fly past me never to be seen again; break endless parts of my bike due to the vibrations of stony river bed roads; camp alone on the peaks of mountains or beneath the ruins of ancient cultures; cycle fifty kilometres in wrong direction at 4000 metres due to my inability to distinguish East from West.

I am still travelling but now using both bus and bike and have been since I met my Girl friend Katrina in Buenos Aeries on the 12th November 2007. I plan to log my cycling adventure as a separate trip (

I have now been travelling throughout South America for over nine months, however if you view my journals you could be forgiven for not believing this (I could never be called a prolific writer).

Gallery: Ecuador_Banos

steeve — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:16:00 GMT

Gallery: Patagonia

steeve — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:42:00 GMT

6 June 2007 - Latacunga

steeve — Wed, 6 Jun 2007 19:00:00 GMT

I have now done two days cycling and reached Latacunga. The first day was an experience, (35 miles) getting out of Quito was quite hard as most of it was uphill with a cloud of diesel fumes from all the trucks and buses that past by. I made it however and then had a long descent into Sanolqui. Although after that it was pretty much uphill all the way to Machachi. I decided not to stay in Machachi but go on to a Hacienda in Alosi a couple of kms away. I thought this would be okay even though I had spent the last 10 miles feeling light headed and rather sick. However I was wrong! The Hacienda was another km after Alosi up a steep stony dirt track which is the last thing you need after 35 miles cycling at altitude mostly uphill. By the time I got there I just want to sleep, but spent the next twenty minutes trying to get the price of a room which if you had seen the place you would have thought it was worth all the effort.

I spent the rest of the night eating, drinking and chatting to a middle aged German chap who had come to Ecuador alone even though he was married and had two children. I think he might be separating?

Today was not too bad even though I spent four hours climbing to 3000 metres, most of the time riding 100 yards and then having to stop to get my breath back. However once I was at the top it was down hill all the way to Latacunga which took an hour and a half to do the same distance. I would advise anyone going down hill at 50 miles an hour on an 60kg bike including gear to be careful when you try to stop as it can be like stopping a drag car especially if a large truck is overtaking you at 80miles an hour.

I have mostly be travelling along the Pan American highway which isn't the best cycling but this has given me a chance to get used to the hills and the altitude which has been tough. Tomorrow I will ride to Banos which should be more fun as I will get off the PA Highway and ride the Ecuadorian B roads which can just be a dirt track.

Anyway I have had my $1.50 chicken dinner (took 20 minutes to order and 10minutes to eat, I need to learn some Spanish) and I'm off back to my $10 dollar hotel room to drink a beer on my balcony whilst breathing in the diesel fumes of the buses and trucks that pass by -Latacunga what picturesque city.

1 June 2007 - Still in Quito

steeve — Fri, 1 Jun 2007 19:00:00 GMT

Woke up this morning feeling lousy - sore throat and a head cold I thought I was going to feel like this all day but it has worn off. I again had doubts as to whether I would be able to cycle at this alttitude but by the afternoon I felt better.

I am in the old town at the moment which is lovely - all small side streets and shops in people’s door ways. The people are really wee especially the women, smaller than me! the Thorntons would walk tall throughout Ecuador, well at least Quito. Some of the old women are so small and cute I´m tempted to squeeze one in a pannier and bring her home, I´ll have to check customs to see if this would be okay. I sure she could keep the flat clean and cook lots deep fried chicken.

I have tried a little Spanish and managed to purchase un onion, un tomato, un chilli, un garlic and three metres of string. Off to sort out a guide book and a stand for the bike.

Gallery: Ecuador Quito

steeve — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:00:00 GMT

Quito

31 May 2007 - Quito

steeve — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:00:00 GMT

Hello!! I have made it safely and the bike is up and running, I took it to a bike shop today and got it serviced. The chap spoke no English and as you know I speak no Spanish but we muddled through. I then got lost on the streets of Quito which has traffic like Bangkok but in a smaller area. A lot of beeping occurred and a few hand gestures from myself. After three hours I made it back to the Hostel tired and a little delirious from the altitude sickness and diesel fumes. I have decided to stay another day to get used to the altitude which makes the smallest climbs feel like your climbing Everest.

The place is lovely and the people are very friendly, generally they leave you alone but are always keen to help if you ask, it feels a little similar to Cuba especially when they keep talking in Spanish even if though you have told them you only speak English. The city is built literally up the side of a mountain which takes around three hours to travel around by bike.

I am looking to travel south towards Banos the day after tomorrow which should take about three days. The weather is interesting 0 degrees at night, 13 degrees and raining in the morning and between 18 and 25 degrees in the afternoon once the Sun has come over the mountain. I knew the nights might be cold but this should make camping interesting, I might stay in a few log cabins until I drop towards the tropics.

To be honest I think once I get over the stony jet lag and altitude haze I am going to really enjoy this.