Month: February 2006
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Oh God
There’s a whole lot to catch up on isn’t there? The jungle, leaving South America, and New York. But you know, I’m feeling kind of lazy at the moment, so I’ll describe things in the way of a five year old. That might make for less typing: The jungle was dead brill!!! There were big…
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Nowt like a failed stereotype to make you think – New York
Funny things stereotypes. They give you expectations. And then you find they often don’t match reality. New York is quiet… almost restful, after the jungle and Lima. There aren’t horns going off everywhere, people are polite and helpful (though they are in Peru also, I just can’t understand them so much) and the traffic isn’t…
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Ouch…
I thought a handy idea would be to carry some samplers of aftershave. Then if I wanted to smell nice I could just use that. Small and light. These samples tend to come in small glass vials. And in a rucksack, small glass vials aren’t so clever. They were safely inside my washbag, but sadly…
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La Cucaracha!
Sounds kinda sweet in the song. But not when one of the b*stard things turns up on your neck. And talk about big… I’ve seen plenty in France and Spain, but this one looked capable of carrying off a small child. Other wildlife I’ve met today includes a gian ant-eater. Comedy looks and big wet…
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The Motocarro (tuk-tuk)
Just a couple of days ago I was in Santiago, a city with a gleaming underground system purchased from the French. If you want to get a feel for the Santiago Metro, try travelling on line 1 in Paris. The trains are almost identical. The main difference is that the system is much much cleaner,…
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In the Amazon Jungle
I’ve just realised, in reading back through the various postings that I’ve missed out on fair chunks of the history of South America that I want to post. But I’m not going to do it here. Stuff like that takes a little more preparation because otherwise you can be exceptionally misleading. But I’m dying to…
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Sanhattan! Capital of Chile
If I’d woken up and been told that, due to a bout of amnesia I’d been flown to Madrid, then I could easily believe that’s where I’d landed. Seriously – Santiago is a smart, modern city with efficient public transport, occassional traffic jams, and lots of foreigners trying to make a buck. It feels like…
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Worms!
For a panicked moment I thought maybe I’d picked up worms. Perhaps from a cat, dog or llama I’d been playing with. Then I remembered, I’d earlier eaten spaghetti. And I’ve not long had a nasty bout of food poisoning. And it takes a while for the digestive system to work properly after being thoroughly…
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Another high altitude desert – San Pedro de Atacama
I must like them, because I think this is about my third. No more deserts from now, however. My tan is suitably well developed (at least on exposed skin – need to work on my back now) and I think I now understand what dry empty places are about. The Village of San Pedro de…
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Sick boy – Arica, Lluta Valley, Lauca National Park
So in Arica, looking for something to do, I found the offices of Raices Andinas (or something like that, maybe the other way round – I don’t have my notes on me) and booked myself on a four day expedition of the local national parks. And this was a fascinating trip indeed, although in the…