Bear and Jackie’s Travel Diary

We needed to be in Rio on 8 February for carnival! Shouldn’t be too hard getting from Quito in Ecuador? Not at all, around six days by bus! We are no strangers to long bus rides but 6 days is pushing the envelope. So, let’s check out flights. Prices for flights were insanely expensive!! Until we clicked the Business Class option. Yup, cheaper than cattle class!! Avianca had a Business Class promo option. All of the bells and whistles at less than the price of Economy, go figure! Turns out we could also trim another big chunk off the fare by flying via Bogota and chilling out in the lounge for 7 hours, don’t mind if we do! Wasn’t a huge fan of being dragged out of the lounge to have my rucksack inspected by the police! Yup, not customs, police! Guess they didn’t like the metal cage thing around my bag, haven’t used it since! Every item unpacked and checked, all shampoo and liquids tested, scary and thorough. Returned to find a somewhat concerned Mrs O waiting to board the plane. Gin and tonic madam, oh ok then. Quito to Bogota not so much to shout about, put us into the lounge around 3pm.

Eating and drinking are always fun. That fun factor multiplies dramatically when it’s free! Vintage Rum, champagne and buffet food on tap. 7 hours went past way too fast

Didn’t expect lie flat beds on the plane! 6 and a half hour flight not nearly long enough!

Cheers Avianca

HA HA!!! We appear to have arrived just before carnival! Somehow a crazy mate from Melbourne made the same error…

And then the heat got to us! Let’s grab some outfits and go out to play! Most photos not suitable for public consumption, we may need employment in the future! These are a taste of it

If you haven’t experienced this, nothing can prepare you! Think Mardi gras on steroids and add a few million participants. Night time was slightly more ‘spicy’. Loved it

Last day in Rio, stopped off for a bite at the famous Churrascaria Palace. A temple for all carnivores! Fishy stuff there too, but an all you can eat afternoon of fun!

Oh! They have salad too! Chips and other stuff as well.

Heard of it? No! Neither had we! Home now to awesome ex Mounties Brian and Janette, they kindly showed us around. Starting with the Ecuator

Pretty cool one foot North and one foot South! Turns out that North means left and South sun!!!

Enjoyed fabulous company, one or two rums, many views and serious eats!

Many thanks guys xxx See you in Oz xxx

Seven hours on a bus from Quito, two more in a minibus, then two hours in a motorised canoe to reach Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. Pure jungle, no Wifi, no phones. Heaven!

Off to a local village one day to see a spot of local life and cook some Yuka bread. Didn’t realise that we would be doing most of the work. Unreal though, plant out of the ground, peeled, grated, wrung dry and made into awesome bread in about an hour.

Then off to see the local Shaman for a dose of healing and blowpipe practice

No idea how long this fabulous Paradise will survive before the Government sell it to China. Impossible to believe that the short term profit from a few barrels of oil could destroy this…

Swimming at sunset and a few crappy photos!…

Met a couple of awesome Canadians here who talked us into our next stop…

Farewell and good luck Amazon..

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David Attenborough, eat your heart out. Spent an unbelievable 3 weeks on these beautiful Islands, enjoying our own personal wildlife documentary! Didn’t do the somewhat pricey cruise option and went DIY instead.

We quashed the myth that the Galapagos is only for the wealthy, or indeed the only way to see it is by cruise. We are living proof that the Galapagos can be done cheaply, freely and by land. We bought a one way ticket, which gave us the flexibility to Island hop and leave when we were ready. We spent the same amount of money as everywhere else in South America. Don’t miss out on visiting this magical, incredible place.

Santa Cruz

We flew into Baltra/Santa Cruz. This island is a wonderful introduction to the Galapagos. The island itself is beautiful, surrounded by clear blue water ,white sand and animal surprises around every corner. Massive choice of affordable accommodation and food options. Taxis cheap and easily available. Stay in the main town and most things are in walking distance, including the Charles Darwin center and fish market, both free to visit. We particularly enjoyed spending time animal watching at the local fish market, where the pelicans, sea lions, iguanas and frigate birds would come to try their luck at some discarded fish remains. It really was very entertaining!!!!

Highlights: Charles Binford Road for cheap eats and the freshest sea food!! Giant Tortoise Reserve and tunnels. Fish Market. General ambience of the island.

Isabella.

For $30 we jumped onto a speed boat and visited our second island. Isabella is far less commercialized then Santa Cruz with its own laid back vibe and natural, rustic beauty. Here we took a boat/snorkeling tour to Los Tunnels. A fabulous day walking over and swimming amongst lava rock formations. Snorkeling with sharks, penguins, sea horses, turtles amongst just a few sea animals to name. Also saw our first blue footed boobie.

Highlights: Visiting Los Tunnels

Santa Christobel

Finally our last but certainly not least island. As you arrive on the island via boat you are greeted with a massive colony of sea lions. We absolutely loved this island again not only its beauty but there were sea lions everywhere. To make our time ever more magical was that it was sea puppy season, so we spent our hours playing and swimming with these amazing, agile creatures. Three totally glorious, magical weeks in animal paradise.

Highlights: Swiming with baby sea lions in their natural environment, without a doubt an experience of a lifetime, unforgettable!!!

Tuna for Dinner? Watch it coming in on the boat, grab a chunk for $6 a kilo and clear a path to the frying pan

Nothing can prepare you for the proximity and abundance of wildlife

This guy spent hours stomping around the pool, even jumping in to get rid of other iguanas or people!

General Galapagos behaviour!

Fish market with resident Sealion and assorted critters!

 

Unforgettable experiences.

Our 5 week stay in this crazy place is coming to an end. It more than served its purpose of providing us a cheap, relaxing place to stay over Xmas and New Year. New friends made, colossal amounts of fun had!!

Xmas dinner was a predictably raucous affair. Roast chicken replaced traditional turkey, Pisco replaced mulled wine and the veggos provided Polish mushroom dumplings. Yummy

We saw in the New Year from Aqua, one of our favourite bars. Michelada Inferno is beer, mixed with lime juice, salt, Worcester Sauce and chilli! What could possibly go wrong?

A lighthouse overlooks Mancora’s crazy, surreal environment. Where better to enjoy sunset and a sandstorm? The 3 story white building is our Airbnb.

Mrs O taking some time out to knock up a few bracelets. No idea when we will get these in the post, nearest post office is hours away!

When you are blessed with miles of virtually deserted beaches, we decided to go for a long wander and take in some of the swanky end of town. Rude not to blow the froth off a couple whilst we were there

This one has a thong Xmas tree!!

Sunsets here have been consistently awe inspiring to enjoy as the heat of the day subsides.

Back on the bus next for the long run to Guayaquil in Ecuador. This will be our launch point to the Galapagos Islands, a massive, dream bucket list must for us both. Can’t wait

40 minutes in a Tuk Tuk into the middle of the desert and you find….

WTF? A bubbling hot spring! Not a soul here when we arrived. Our Tuk Tuk driver dropped us off and waited for us.

Loving Mancora xx

Mancora is one of Peru’s top resorts Think desert meets beach, bung in a few restaurants and hotels. Add a sprinkle of Mad Max and you are here

Food here is crazy and awesome. Cheaper to eat out than DIY. AU$80 for a turkey? I think not! Will be grabbing a chook.

Put a few lights up in our pad



Have knocked up a spot of gravy, even if a few of the ingredients look unusual!

Have vegetarians joining us for Xmas dinner, may be a touch awkward.

Bloody oath mate!

Peru Hopping!!!

Spent about a week traveling by bus from Bolivia to our new home in Mancora near the Ecuador border.  Many hours on buses, some awesome places and people, much fun had.

Bus gets on a raft to cross Lake Titicaca!

Isla del Sol

Unbelievable hostel in Arequipa! “Youth Hostels are for Youths Mum!” Not this one

Started looking like Coco the Clown’s demented dad so time for a trim!!

Dune Buggies around the Oasis in Huacachina. Surfed down the dunes on snowboards, too much fun

Jackie not convinced by the Nazca Lines! Kinda pleased that we didn’t splash out on a flight for a better view! Never forget what the Greenpeace dickheads did here!!

Eating again

Jackie’s mates in Paracas

Crazy, desert meets ocean

If you have to spend 19 hours on a bus, grab a bottle of port and hop on one of these puppies!

In Mancora now, Peru’s answer to Manly! Mad Max meets Sydney.

OMG!

This 3 day 2 night adventure blew our minds. The scenery was spectacular. Time to show you some wacky pictures!!

Salt walls on our hotel and coca leaves for brekky!

Highly sensible behaviour here, walking through super heated sulphurous steam!

An ‘island’ in the Salt Flats full of giant cacti

Lakes full of flamingoes, canyons full of llama surrounded by volcanoes

 

We had a heap of fun on our last night in the Salt Flats, slurping beers with new friends in hot springs under a sky full of stars, magical. 3 weeks above 3000m most of Bolivia above 4000. Looking forward to seeing the sea in a couple of weeks!