About Us
This is a blog dedicated to chronicling our journey through South America. Our travels begin in Quito, Ecuador, where we are attending school at Simon Bolivar Spanish School for the first couple of months, and traveling locally. The next major stop is Cuzco, Peru where we will hike the Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, as well as take in many other less famous treks. A ferry ride across Lake Titicaca will take us to Bolivia, and a journey across the great salt flats of the Sal de Uyuni will bring us to Chile. Pausing to enjoy the largest swimming pool in the world (near Santiago, Chile), we’ll continue to the Southern reaches of the continent and the area known as Patagonia to explore one of the most amazing areas of natural beauty, and hike in places like Torres del Paine and Tierra del Fuego. Our last planned stop will be in Buenos Aires, where tango is part of the national psyche. We hope you enjoy our posts, and feel like you’re right here with us!
In case you’re inclined to meet up with us at some point, here is a very rough idea of the major cities we’ll be near (but subject to change):
June 28: Quito, Ecuador
Aug. 25: Lima- Cusco, Peru
Sep. 21: La Paz, Bolivia
Oct. 21: Santiago, Chile
Nov. 22: Patagonia, Chile and Argentina
Dec. 22: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Dec. 30: Buenos Aires
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m loving being able to keep up with you guys this way. I’m not having success with the Twitter address yet. Glad you’re there safe! I loved the mention of the knife (which sounded smaller when Deeanne described it) and the line about being able to take the best nap you’ve ever had on the clouds…that clicks. Cuídense, amigos míos.
A-ha. Ok, now I think I get what you’re doing and I’m so completely jealous.
I have a good friend from when I spent a year in Argentina who lives with his family (wife and two very young kids) in Buenos Aires. If you’d like to have someone show you around for a day or two, let me know and I’ll get his contact info for you. I believe he speaks a teeny bit of English but his family does not. So fun!! (Not that you’ll need any English, it’s just an interesting fact.)
Sara
Hi Sara! It’s so good to hear from you! I was completely jealous years ago when I heard you and your dad were traveling in Patagonia; it’s been on my life list since right after Kenya! And yes, I would love to have the contact information for your friend; hopefully my Spanish will be so good by January (when we’ll be there) that I won’t have any need for English anyway! Wishful thinking anyway… Email me at deeannerenee@gmail.com and we can be in touch.
Looks like you’re having a blast! A great idea to have the blog with updates and photos! Much fun to vicariously enjoy! Hope all is safe and well — Laura says hello!
F
Thanks for the note. Hope you and Laura are doing well; look forward to seeing you guys when we get back.
G.
Hi you there… You meet my friend Kevin in Quito. I am expecting him in La Paz, Bolivia, and now, i am expecting you. Do not forget to pay me/us a visit when you get here.
Cristian
Cristian, thank you for the invitation; we will definitely come visit when we get to La Paz!
Hello guys
Hope you´re having a fab time in Cusco. Just wanted to give you a quick update on the Andean express and lake titicaca.
First of all, we absolutely LOVED the andean express. I know it is hugely overpriced (I think around USD200 per ticket), but I think it´s worth it. Fabulous old coaches which make you feel like you´re back in the 50´s, a lounge area and a fantastic ´viewing carriage´at the back where we spent most of the time. And the food is fantastic (lunch and afternoon tea included in ticket price, although maybe not such a bonus for you veggie people!). So, if you wanna spoil yourself a bit (and I think you should), you should defnitely go for it.
We did a trip to the Uros and Tequile islands. A visit to Uros is defintely worth it, just to see how the people make a living on those floating islands..although I have to add that if all Peruvian tourism were to end tomorrow, I wonder how long it would take for them to move to the main land. Anyway, the trip out to Tequila took 2,5 hours one way on the boat. On the island we basically walked up to the main square, had some lunch and went back to the boat for our 2.5 hour journey back to Puno….although it was interesting to see how the traditional Quecha people lived there, in hindsight I don´t think I would´ve done it.
But I wanted to tell you about this cusco hiking trip we heard about from one of the travellers we met on the boat. He said a hiking trip to the Choquequirau ruins is definetely worth it. You leave from a villiage called Cachord (or something like that), which you can reach by taking a bus from Cusco towards Aburcay )or something like that!). Instead of going through an agency (which costs cUSD200 per person), they hired a mule and a porter person on their own and the whole trip cost them around USD200 in total. You have to then arrange your own food etc, but he said it was amazing. Four day trek there and back . There are designated capm sites (he said they charged 1 soles per tent) and they saw basically no other hikers or tourists. Maybe it´s something you could consider doing.
Anyway, i´ve subscribed to your email updates and we look forward to following your journey.
Enjoy
Cecil and Jeanne
Hi Guys,
I LOVE your pictures and posts. I think your new calling is working for a travel magazine. Patagonia is one of the top places next on our list! That and New Zealand. I guess we’ll have to do both! I am so glad you guys are having the time of your life. Are you sure you’ll be ready to come back in January?
On a different note, would you two ever consider doing Whitney again with us. Antonio and I have been talking about it and were curious if you two would consider doing it again? Just a thought.
Lori and Antonio
Hey Guys!
So glad you’re enjoying the posts and pics. Patagonia is lovely and wonderful, and parts of it do remind me of New Zealand for sure. It’s just more immense and hard to reach. Of course we’d climb Whitney again with you guys! We’re always up for a hike, climb or outdoor venture. Let’s do it! We have to apply for a permit via a lottery system in February. Here are all the details: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/wild/whitneylottery.shtml
Hola Amigos,
I am loving your blog. I am sorry I haven’t called yet. I will try to get you some info about our family in Argentina. They are way out in Entre Rios. Let me know if you are going there. It’s were the Universidad Adventista del Plata is.
Chao, chao! -Laura