RIO DE JANIERO

Our final destination! We arrived and were able to chill out for the day as we didnt have the grand tour until the following day which was nice. We headed to the beach and just did some general walking around. We had a traditional dinner which is served buffet style and then your food is weighed and you pay based on the weight.
The following day we had THE tour of Jesus, Mount Sugarloaf, churches, cathedrals the whole works. Rio really sits in a perfect place. The city itself is not beautiful but its location is pretty perfect. After the tour we went out for dinner again and learnt that you cannot serve youself in the restaurants, the waiters will always do it for you.
The next day we enjoyed the beach. Dad and I went straight in and realised that although the beach is beautiful it is not always clean. The water was warm but had waves of freezing.
Later we all went in together but nearly lost Mum as it had a really strong pull in the water. After a few dumpings Dad and i retired to the beach and chilled out.
After experiencing Rio i believe it is a place for friend more so that family.
On the 16th we headed to the airport for the final goodbye. It was not even close to the emotional goodbye from Sydney as i was quite ready to get back to Santiago.
Upon arrival the experience of the airport was VERY different to how i first remember it. I could handle the men yelling at me and easily jumped in a cab for home. One thing that was a bummer though was that the LAN flight had some awesome movies and music running and it was such a short flight i couldn't experience it all! Cant wait to fly home to see the latest movies!!!

10th-12th Jan Iguazu Falls

On the 10th of Jan we flew into Iguazu falls. We arrived at our hotel which was the Sheriton and we could see the falls from the foyer. The hotel had a day spa section, pool and not to mention a short walk to the falls.
We spent the afternoon swimming and booking massages for the next day. It was very nice, we then had a lovely dinner before turning in early (After scrubs.) The following day we had our half day tour of the falls. Perfect weather for seeing the falls it was raining. It didnt fully begin though until we were standing on one of the look outs admiring the view and getting wet from the falls that we realised it was raining.
After some short walks we were finally starting to dry off until we began the longer walk and then the monsoon rains began. We arrived back at the Sheriton saturated.
The falls however were amazing in the clear and the rain. The following day we saw the Brazilian side of the falls and it was clear and you could see the panorama of the falls. From the Argentinian side you get to stand right next to them and hear the roar and see the volume of water rushing past.

Buenos Aires

The city of buildings from Paris, leather goods and shopping. We touched down in Buenos Aires and headed out for a suprise city tour. We got a good grasp of the city and were shown the usual but also a grave yard which was wall to wall with crypts, some amazingly decorated! After the tour we headed out again to check it all out.
The day was a stinker! The humidy was a killer but that did not stop us from finding the shops. We headed to the mall first but not just the mac squares of malls this had painted ceilings and amazing staircases. After chilling out there for a while we went and sized Mum and Jane up for leather jackets which now look smashing!
That night we went out and had steak that melted in your mouth and after being a vegetarian for the last 6 months but not by choice the steak was amazing! During the whole course of the meal Mum kept looking across at this man and claiming she knew him. We all dismissed it but we should not doubt the social circles of Kerrie M. So we left the restaurant and low and behold we run into this man and his fam and of course they know each other. So we had a good old catch up with them and went on our way.
That evening we headed back to our hotel, enjoyed a bit of decadent ice cream and then i stayed up and watched scrubs before crashing in bed.
We spent a good three days in Argentina enjoying the sites of Bueanos Aires, it is a pretty city but i would not call it my favourite.
After spending a solid week or so with the fam i was ready to have a little personal space so i took some time out and headed up the shopping strip and then chilled out in the park for some time. It was nice to just be and watch Buenos Aires buzz around me.
On our last night in Bueanos Aires we went to a dinner and tango show which was amazing! We had the best seats in the house, the show was incredible and the food even better! We got to feel just like royalty for the night.

Santa Cruz - Bolivia 6th Jan

So next stop was Santa Cruz in Bolivia. We flew in in the morning and immediatly were able to breathe again as we dropped back down to a liveable altitude. Upon arrival we were told come interesting facts about Santa Cruz:
It was only connected to the rest of Bolivia by roads in the 60s and only recieved power around then too. Not many people go there as it is not that widely known for its tourist attractions. The difference between La Paz and Santa Cruz was pretty amazing, leaving La Paz which was cold and wet and arriving in Santa Cruz and being wet but from sweating due to the 100% humidity.
We had another city tour at 3 which we all threw ourselves into!
We saw the usual but this time we also went to the zoo and saw some interesting animals including a rodent that is the size of a small pig and some big condors.
After the zoo we saw more churches and a tree that wraps itself around other trees highly amazing.
That night we all went out to dinner in a Irish pub of course being in Bolivia, we also checked out the main plaza at night which is where it all happens!
The following morning we headed flight to Buenos Aires....

The GRANDE Family Holiday - Bolivia

On the 4th of Jan we had an incredibly early morning start to cross the border into Bolivia. We stopped in a few different places to see more Inca ruins and churches but by this point i was a little tired and just wanted to nap.

We stopped and saw yet another cathedral at Copacabana just near Lake Titicaca. Inside the cathedral was a statue of the dark virgin Mary but also there was a section where you could pray for your loved ones it was a section off the church where there were heaps of people crowded in with candles. They were all lighting their candles and sticking them in trays on wax, if you candle falls it is bad luck. Outside there were lots of stalls with what looked like games and toys but they are used as prayer offerings, if you want a new car you buy a toy one and pray for it and it will come true.

After our stops we took a catamaran across the lake which was great. It is HUGE! We stopped at one of the larger islands and looked at the museum and garden they had there. We saw how the natives lived and worked the land as well as the different plants they used and still do for different remedies.

After the catamaran we took a reed boat to one of the other islands to catch our catamaran back. The reed boat is an example of what they used to use. Dad had a go at rowing from the front and even put on the traditional outfit, very cool.

We returned to the Catamaran and took it to the other side of the lake which took most of the afternoon. Being a teen i slept most of the way as i had to regain energy from such an early morning but i did see some of the sights of the lake and it was very nice.

We then had a bus transfer to the city of La Paz. It was supposed to only be 2 hours but in the end took 3 to 4 as there was a protest on the roads and the people had blocked all the main roads into La Paz so we had to take back roads for a long time. By the time we arrived at the hotel we were all tired and hungry.

The next morning we had another city tour!!! Very fun and exciting we saw the main square which included a cathedral (we were very surprised) but it was not too bad. We also visited a national park with a landscape that resembled the moon, the ground was made out of a type of sand. Unfortunately it was raining so we couldn't walk all around the park but we went to an artists place instead and learnt all about the politics of Bolivia and a bit of history as well. We also took a turn around the markets and met up with some Kiwis and had lunch which we now believe led to us all getting tummy bugs later.....

The GRANDE Family Holiday - Machu Picchu Day 2

New Years Day Jane and I returned to Machu Picchu to visit the Sun Gate. It was very different from the day before as there were no people there. We did the trek which was quite hard going in some parts as it was all upstairs.

Once we reached the Sun gate we got a brilliant view of Machu Picchu and we could see where the famous Inca trail goes. We took a break up there to "feel the serenity" and then we headed back down. That afternoon Mum and Dad took a nature walk at the hotel and learnt lots of fun facts about fruits and veggies. We were due to catch the train home at 2 but it was delayed and we didn't leave until 6.

We caught the train to Ollantaytambo and then we were driven to a village called Yucay in the Sacred Valley of the Inca's. We spent the night in a huge resort which even had a chapel. The next morning we had a tour of the Sacred Valley with our guide Terry. Terry was very laid back about pretty much everything. We went to the ruins in the Sacred Valley at 3, 250m which were interesting, there were big rock carvings in the mountains of faces and condors which had religious meaning to the Inca's. After that we visited a traditional Peruvian house and saw how some people still live. It was one room with fish, meat and vegetables drying in the sun and there was roughly 30 guinea pigs running around on the floor as they eat them.

We then had lunch (not guinea pig) which was a HUGE spread of everything you could imagine it was great!

After lunch we headed to Pisac another village with HEAPS of art and craft markets. Here we bought up on bright cushion covers, jewellery and ornaments. At one point i was leaning over viewing jewellery when a familiar face comes up beside mine, Katie Rose one of my best mates just happened to be there too with her tour. A very pleasant surprise as i didn't expect to see her until Feb. The people you run into.

The GRANDE Family Holiday - Machu Picchu

The next morning we had an early morning, 5:45am transfer to be exact to the train station where we caught the 6:30 train to Machu Picchu. the train trip took around 4 hours and we saw some great scenery. I slept through the majority of the first 2 hours but after that saw some mountains and greenery.

We arrived and were whipped into awake mode by our guide Darwin. We were a part of quite a large tour group and we did the walk of the ruins. It was pretty spectacular being on top of a mountain looking at ancient ruins that are still standing perfectly. Machu Picchu certainly has a atmosphere around it. Towards the end of our tour it turned very wet, we headed back to the restaurant where we had a great lunch and then we chilled out in the bar with some other Aussie travellers. We returned home to the town of Aguas Calientes around 6 or so and got ready and went for our New Year's dinner which was delish! We then chilled out for New Years but unfortunately we were in a Nature hotel so we didn't have a TV to view any fireworks but it was pretty good.

The GRANDE Family Holiday

After showing Mum, Dad and Jane the main parts of Santiago, taking them on the public transport system and running them around the city we left on the 28th for Lima, Peru. We arrived in Lima where we visited the main square, one of many to come and saw the Cathedral and Government house. It is an interesting place, probably the most exciting was the cab drive in and out of Lima, it was pretty mad, the lanes are there but no one uses them and they don't waste ANY time. It was here we got our first go at bargaining and it was great fun!

We only stayed one night in Lima, on the 29th we headed for Cuzco. Flying in at 3,310m it took a bit more energy to climb stairs etc. Dad suffered the most from the altitude but once he took some pills he recovered pretty quickly. Cuzco has so much history even just in it's streets, you can still see bits of ancient Inca ruins. Here we got good at bargaining for arts, crafts and alpaca jumpers. Dad had to get used to getting chased by children and being called Santa Claus and after all that being asked for money. The following day in Cuzco we had a city tour. We saw the cathedral and main square. We also travelled up to an ancient ruins site where we saw our first Inca constructions. That night we got ready to travel to the great Machu Picchu.

We also visited an factory full of Alpaca jumpers, beanies etc. We learnt the difference between the wool and then Dad and I got to trying things on...

Deciembre 2007

Well December was a very busy month!

It began as all months do just running on from the last one but then we got really busy. We had orientation in the first week which involved moving newbies in and getting them settled at their institutions, explaining where to go and where to avoid etc. At the end of a very busy week we had the repair day at my institution! The day was long but we get a lot done from painting rooms to repairing clothes lines and laying carpet!. We began at 10 and finished at 8.

Just before Xmas we had the big B'DAY for Nile and Virginia which went off. We had a BBQ here at the Volunteer house and had a really nice afternoon chilling out.

After the first week it was all work work work and then the fam arrived on the 23rd. BUT exactly two weeks before that I had come into contact with one of my favourite children who had chickenpox. And so on Xmas day i woke up covered in spots. A very merry Xmas for me.

I spent Xmas eve with the children as Xmas eve not Xmas day is the big event here so we had a HUGE dinner and played games all night. Xmas day i spent with the Fam a little spotty but not too bad. We had a lovely lunch at the hotel and then i dragged the fam out to the volunteer house for a visit and by that night i was pretty much stuffed. Luckily i had the next two days to recover before flying to Lima to begin the tour.