By jade on Saturday, September 29, 2007

Ok chicas... my last little tip for Buenos Aires is this little hotel in San Telmo which may or may not suit your itinerary.

I took a room here for the day on the way over and it had a nice vibe, lovely rooms and the owner (an ex-tango legend) speaks good English and has lots of tips for getting around. Ask for a day rate and see what he can do. The average price of a backpacker room should be about $8 US for the night.

El Sol De San Telmo.  Chacabuco 1181 1p (whatever that means)  Tel  4300 4394  email elsolst@yahoo.com

If you go to the cemetery first, I think it is on the oth ... Read More »

By jade on Friday, September 28, 2007

1. San Telmo: On a Sunday morning San Telmo sometimes seems close to being a tourist trap but the antique fair and the atmosphere still make it worth a visit. I live in San Telmo and if you want to avoid the crowds then come on a weekday. The fair is only on Sundays but San Telmo is worth wandering around on any day of the week. Some of the restaurants around the plaza are overpriced and not very good but stop in at Bar Dorrego on Defensa for a snack.
2. Recoleta Cemetery: Must be one of the great cemeteries of the world. Fascinating to wander among the tombs.
3. Teatro Colón: The c ... Read More »
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By jade on Friday, September 28, 2007

Beloved Buenos Aires
By Tina Blake
Buenos Aires  is a city of contradictions. She is old, but energized. She is poor, but extravagant. She is humbled, but proud.
She carries herself like an elegant European lady who dances unabashedly to Latin rhythms. Before tourists know what to make of her, she sweeps them off their feet in a dance as passionate and exhilarating as the tango she made famous.
Buenos Aires seduces visitors with open air markets, leather shops, and quaint cafes. Then, without warning, the city spins them into a world filled with opera, architecture, and high fashion. Tourists leave her embrace exhausted, ... Read More »

By jade on Friday, September 28, 2007

The first Girl on Top is on her way home.... hard to believe that it actually time for us to pack our filthy laundry and all our seeds, fabrics, monkey bites and pirhana into bulging backpacks and say hasta la vista to South America!  Kelly set off last night for the long journey home... with a last chance to soak in the culture and sights (and amazing steaks, leather, dancing and fashion) in Buenos Aries for a full day between Lima, Auckland and finally Sydney.

Kel... it was fantastic to have you with the team again this year. I know it was a hard journey at times, and that you had a little bit of searching and quite a lot of whatever it was that along for the ride those three tough days in Huayhuash.. ... Read More »

By Marayka on Friday, September 28, 2007

Well technically we fly out tomorrow, but it´s actually tonight at 12.30am! This morning I had to go to the Police station to report my lost airline ticket home! YES I LOST IT! Bit of a crazy place the police office. Firstly I had to go to the bank get some piece of paper take it back to the police station and get a report filled in. They then said I had to buy them a coke a cola for them to do the report there and then! At least it was just a coke! When they asked what I did for a living and I told them Delphinis Entranador (dolphin trainer), well then they wanted to see photos of course! Lucky I had dolphin pics with me. I´ve learnt that the photos are like money in this place. Wish I brought more with me because everyone wants ... Read More »

By Catherine on Thursday, 27 September 2007

After a final morning listening to the dawn chorus from the serenity of the hammock room at Ontorongo Expeditions lodge it was unfortunately - sob sob - time to head back to reality in Iquitos.

By Marayka on Thursday, September 27, 2007

Back in Iquitos the rat race today. Already I miss the tranquility of the Jungle. Not much to report today as most of it was spent travelling for one last time on the River and then packing bags for one last time ready for our flight home tomorrow. Can´t believe it´s almost over :-( Can´t wait to see you all back home though!

By Cathie on Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Orotongo Lodge 6.00am Catherine and Moises (our jungle guide) and I went in search of the endangered pygmy marmoset. We didn´t have far to go before we saw 2, the male and female who usually travel together. The jungle term is ¨the little lion¨. Incredibly small and cute with little faces and a large round fine mane all around.

After brekky we set forth for the big Ceiba tree, some of the few remaining in the jungle. It was massive and maybe 200-300 years old. It´s wood is used for boats as it is solid and won´t rot in water for many years.

The flora in the jungle is amazing. Brilliant colours, endless varieties of any species. We happened upon a humming bird´s nes ... Read More »

By Marayka on Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Just when we thought all the walking was over. Another big hike, this time in the 100% humidity of the amazon rainforest. But wow what an amazing walk. There was so much to see that the 1 hr walk took 4hrs.... Or perhaps we were just slow. Either way we saw so many insects, beautiful flowers, learnt about many different medicinal plants and hugged a giant ceiba tree. The highlight for me was a hummingbirds nest, made entirely from spiderwebs and fixed to the back of a leaf! Low and behold eggs inside too! So cute. That night tarantula h ... Read More »

By Catherine on Wednesday, 26 September 2007

We finally got our opportunity today to see how our legs fared at sea level, after our twelve days at altitude, when we hiked for six hours to see one of the last remaining ceiba trees in the area around the lodge.
The lowlands sections, particularly with the heat and almost 100% humidity, were reminicient of Hinchinbrook that I walked in easter this year with a fabulous group of friends from work.

Probably the most interesting and special finds for the day was the hummingbird´s nest f ... Read More »

By Marayka on Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Piranha fishing this morning. Heaps of fun. We caught them so easily and I also caught an Oscar. I guess Piranhas are always hungry. Of course all for lunch. Tasty but very little meat on them. Went to a local village this afternoon and greeted with an anaconda dance......! Check out the photos! Can you believe they sold coke a cola in the village in the depths of the Amazon!

By Cathie on Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Orotongo Lodge Can I take one of these chefs home? Actually maybe I should stay here as the ingredients ie the vast array of fresh fruits and different vegetables are bonito and so exotic dahhling. After breakfast was fishing for lunch.
Pirahna fishing to be exact (they were crunchy, not very fleshy and very tasty). A simple piece of bamboo, a bit of line attached and a hook with bait and the Pirahnas were biting. The biggest one was the size of a big outstretched hand. BBQ´d. Lucky no one fell in. The wooden boats needed bailing out often.

I slept after another excellent lunch. Lima beans, rice, Pirahna and some exotics from the jungle – new flavours and textures bombarding our taste buds every day. L ... Read More »

By Catherine on Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Yes that is the head of a live anaconda that the dancer is swallowing into her mouth!

By Marayka on Monday, September 24, 2007

A speed boat ride on the amazon river to the depths of the jungle! Hammocks and the tranquil noises of the jungle were calling me.......

By Cathie on Monday, September 24, 2007

Iquitos - Otorongo Lodge 8am Breakfast at Ari´s Burger on the corner of the Plaza but before then...digital photos need copying onto CD´s, buy supplies for the team at the mini supermarket and more money needs to be got. Will have to return in
4 days to pick up DVD x 6 for girls.

A fast boat this time took 2.5hrs to get to Otorongo Retreat hidden amongst the jungle way down the river. In comparison to yesterday the fast boat would take 20mins to get to monkey island. Otorongo is where you find primary rainforest – just a 1.5km walk from the lodge. The long bamboo thatched roof mosquito proof bungalow was nestled back from the water amongst the palms. There was no electricity so we all had kerosene ... Read More »

By Catherine on Monday, 24 September 2007

Since this clearing was done by hand it will apparently regenerate in 7-8 years once left to "rest", despite the exposure of the frgile forest floor soils. The lodge is working with the local villge which owns and cleared this land to establish fish farming instead as a source of protetin and income.

By jade on Monday, September 24, 2007

Ok... so let me start off with the fleeing of walking out of the plane to the tiny strip of palm tree and plane-wreck adorned tarmac at Iquitos airport. It{s like opening the oven door to check on an angel cake, baking that little bit close to the sun.

It{s like falling into a giant vat of warm peach nectar... hot, sweet, sticky and sort of verging on the sickly, if you forget to relax in the goo of jungle syrup^that is Amazon air. That first step between the mountain earth in Huaraz and the jungle dirt here in Iquitos might as well have been a moonwalk - the difference in worlds we have traversed in a single day feels more like space travel than a simple transit in the same country.  Coming from the An ... Read More »

By Catherine on Sunday, 23 September