Blakes on Tour to South America


Well our trip is overīthe-, so it is time to let you know how it went. We have had a great time, and can recommend a 6 week break, after 10 years of working, to rejuvinate the batteries and give you new inspiration. I feel ready to go back to work and also feel more enthusiastic. After a week or so I realised how different I felt compared to during īnormalīlife. I had more patience and just felt more positive about everything. Not that I felt negative before, but I just felt good. Sounds a bit intense!

A few days after we arrived, we went to Iguazu Falls which was fabulous. It was warm,(it is autumn in Buenos Aires and the weather has not been great), and we stayed in a nice hotel right by the Falls. We just pottered and took India for walks around the various paths at the Falls. The atmosphere was lovely, as it is like a jungle around the Falls. As you can imagine, they are spectacular, and it was a nice environment in which to potter and relax. India has loved doing lots of walking and running around. She was facinated by the water falls, and enjoyed seeing all the butterflies and monkeys that were around the falls.

We came back to Buenos Aires for almost a week, during which Mum arrived. India was so excited to see her when she arrived, I think that Mum was very moved, Indiaīs face was a picture of comlete bewilderment and the thrill of suddenly seeing her Gran. We īdidīBuenos Aires, which doesnīt take very long. It is not the greatest city in the world, but is still ineresting to see.

Our second big trip was to western side of Argentina, near the border with Chile. It is in the Andes, but is quite Alpine in its appearance. We did some walks and visited some ski resorts (which reminded me of the Japanese ski resort that you took us to), and just looked at the scenery. Mum Meri and Antonio flew back to Buenos Aires, and then we picked up a hire drive and did a 5 day drive north (1500 km), through some incredible scenery, to Mendoza, where we met the others who flew in again on the next weekend.

The drive took us through the classic high plains, which were very dry with mesas and butes and dramatic cliffs, and then with big mountains with snow on top. We took millions of photos, which will probably be very boring when we get them! We have 7 films up stairs to develop. Mendoza is a lovely town, quiet french in its feeling, with big squares and wide avenues with big trees. We also visited the Moet vineyard in Mendoza, it was surprisingly clean compared to what we had seen in Argentina, and health and safety was being adhered to, which was very surprising to see.

From Mendoza we drove to the Acongagua National Park. We did a big walk into the foothills of Aconcagua. We can go for about 4 hours with India in the back pack so that is our walking limit. Meri and Antonio did a big walk and got to the base camp. Mum found that the altitude got to her and made her feel old, but really enjoyed her walk. We had a lovely picnic on the mountain, with a great view of the mountain and glacier above us.

We returned to Buenos Aires for a planned 5 day period. Mum left, which was sad, but I think that Dad was requiring some attention. It was nice to be back in a home, but we decided that another last minute trip was required, so we flew the 50 minute flight to Uruguay and Punte del Este, which is the beach resort area of Uruguay. We stayed in a lovely little hotel, right on the beach. We had one fine day, on which we did lots of walking on the beaches which was glorious. We woke up the next day, and it was chucking with rain. As there is not much else to do apart for be on the beach, we decided to fly back to Buenos Aires, earlier in the day than planned. We had a couple of days in BA, before flying to La Paz. We loved Bolivia, as it actually felt more foreign, and different, compared to Argentina, which is really quite īnormalī.

We had our own transfers which made life much more comfortable with India. The roads were paved for about half the journey and then the rest was down a very bumpy snaking path down a chasm in the Altiplano to the mountain town of Sorata. The journey to Sorata from La Paz was amazing, the Altiplano is a 4,000 meter very arid plain, and then suddenly we descended into a green chasm where the mountain sides where cultivated. It reminded me of the mountain area that we went to in the Philippines. Suddely we hit the Gringo Trail (backpacker/tourist route), it was funny seeing all the traveler types, and listening to their conversations. It reminded me how not into that we were when we were travelling. I think that they also saw James and I with an 18 month old child, and probably felt that their bit traveller experience wasnīt quite as intrepid as they thought! (Little did they know that we had private transfers arranged!). We did some walking around Sorata, and then travelled onto Copocoabana which is on Lake Titicaca, which has been one of James life time dreams to visit.

We loved Titicaca, it is very peaceful and just so amazing with the huge mountains in the background. We travelled to the Isla del Sol which is in the Lake and is supposed to be the birth place of the Incas. It was quite a basic island, which no electicity or running water. We stayed in a nice clean hostel, but just missed a shower that night. We again, did lots of walking which was very nice, and then caught a boat back to Copocoabana. For various reasons that boat journey back took 5 hours, which was a pain, as we just wanted to get back. It didnīt bother me too much, but James got very irritated about the situation! India enjoyed the boat ride so she didnīt mind.

We had a fullday in Copocobana, doing more walking and climbing of peaks. By the end of the day I was fed up with climbing and James was instructed that no more climbing was required on our trip. After a couple of nights we returned to La Paz for one fullday. There isnīt a lot to do in La Paz, and it only took us a morning to see everything. As the city is at 4,000 meters, and James carries India on his back, it was quite hard work to walk around. Having done the sights, we shopped in the afternoon. We now have a bag full of jumpers, socks hats and table cloths! James was very patient and even got caught up in the mood and went overboard on wacky hats!

We flew back to Buenos Aires on Tuesday morning and fly on Thursday. We flew into huge storms in Buenos Aires, and the president declared a natural state of emergency. There are floods everywhere, and trees all over the roads. We can now see the house behind Meriīs which used to be totally hidden by trees.


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