Barranquilla. Colombia 28-31/01/16

• How to get there: We flew from Medellin for £52 each and it took about an hour and a half to get there. A bus takes around 12 hours, probably more since they aren't very often on time.
• Arriving to Barranquilla: We already had a hotel booked for the three nights, Hotel Casa Ballesteros, which is quite old but it's a comfortable stay with a swimming pool in a good area of Barranquilla, like 2 km away from the centre. The only criticism we have for the hotel is that the housekeeping staff went through our travel notes and books since they were all moved and open.

Church in the centre

Getting to Barranquilla was exciting for Oliver, arriving to Shakira's hometown. We arrived in Barranquilla during the build-up to carnival which also gave us something to do during our time there.
The first day, we decided to rest after the flight and the taxi to the hotel since it was already night time by the time we arrived. We did go to a restaurant next to the hotel to try some Colombian food properly, which we have to say, is not our favourite thing of the country.
The next day we were ready to explore! And due to Oliver's obsession with Shakira, we went to Pies Descalzos foundation which is a school for children in need. There's nothing else there but the school, so we couldn't donate anything by buying a souvenir or something of the sort. We then, headed to the centre of Barranquilla, to do some sightseeing and instead found ourselves looking for carnival t-shirts to watch the "guacherna" (a carnival parade) that night.
The guacherna started at 8pm and everyone was on the streets dancing to the music, watching behind the fence how the groups involved in the parade did the dance routines. Some were balancing bottles of alcohol on their heads while dancing, some were dancing on really high platforms and some inside cages. The costumes were colourful and creative but taking pictures of them could cost a few pesos.
We left early and the next day we only did one thing: we went to see the Shakira statue that is at the Boca stadium. The statue has been vandalized and it doesn't look like it did before, however the powerful message remains for the citizens of Barranquilla.
We couldn't do anymore this day and the reason is the illness that everyone has been talking about, spread by mosquitoes. Yes, Oliver got zika and he felt so bad, that was the end of our sightseeing in Barranquilla.

Pies Descalzos foundation

Carnival market

Stuck in traffic with the trolley

Carnival night market

Carnival night market

Guacherna

Very tall people.

Girls dancing

We don't actually remember why they are glowing.

Shakira statue

Oli happily sat at the Shakira statue

Theatre in Barranquilla

Copacabana. Bolivia 8-9.1.16

• How to get there: From La Paz we took a bus for 40 Bs each. It was more expensive due to towns that were under riots. A normal ticket any other day is 25 Bs and it takes 3hs instead of 4.
• Arriving to Copacabana: The town is ready for tourists, so arriving there you will see plenty of places to stay at and many things to do. We stayed at "Brisas del Titicaca" a hostel on the main avenue almost at the bottom, close to the lake. We paid 60 Bs each for the accommodation with shared bathroom.

The colours of Copacabana are attractive to almost anyone arriving. The few streets that make the centre are always busy and full of life, with stalls on each side selling all kinds of souvenirs.

We arrived and went for a walk around the town, stopping at an office to buy tickets to go to Cusco. When we had that sorted for the following day we were ready to have over 24hs of fun in an area that everyone seemed to recommend.

In Copacabana everything is built for your enjoyment and so, we decided to join. We went to several shops, buying small souvenirs and went for Bolivian food, me hoping for a nice warm soup that would do my stomach a favour after so much travelling around some of the highest grounds on Earth and Oliver looking for alpaca meat, exclusive to this area of the world.

If you like the "beach" and the party and you're looking to have a bit of fun in a relaxed environment. For us a day was enough to enjoy it to the fullest without getting the urge of moving somewhere new.

Journey from Arica to La Paz. 07.01.16

The bus terminal in Arica is simply crazy, a roofless crowded area with walls covered in signs, the boleteria at the entry is where you pay the fee to use the station, and you have to! As you enter, people shout at you names of places they travel to along with the time of departure.

We searched for a bus to take us to Tacna originally, but as we changed aisles, all the stands that sold tickets to Bolivia stood before our eyes, each messier than the last. We walked past the sellers that shouted "La Paz" while looking for a cheaper option and just at the end of the aisle, a humble company caught our eye, ran by a woman with a baby and what looked like her husband. She quickly sold us tickets for the following morning for 10.000 CLP each and told us to be there 10 minutes before departing.

Next morning we woke up still a little nervous about climbing over 4000 metres and headed to the station. We arrived at 8:30 am, half an hour before leaving and gave her our passports for the lady to register us. As minutes went past, a couple of travellers from Belgium told us we had to pay the fee at the entrance of the terminal, and came back to find out that we still hadn't been registered at 8:55, panicking a bit about our passports, we hurried them up as we put our luggage into the bus. We got our passports just in time before leaving.

As we were pulling out of the station, Anna, the girl from Belgium told us she hadn't yet got her passport back, so we asked the driver to stop and find the woman to give their passports back! Just in time!

We finally left, the journey was fine, steady going up. However, after reaching lake Chungara, altitude started being an issue, head spinning, stomach feeling feeble and heart beating faster. The border crossing was soon upon us, and even though Oli was okay at this point, taking pictures of the view, I wasn't really keen on it in my state.

We crossed into Bolivia feeling a little hungry and decided to eat once heading to La Paz. First bite and altitude hit me abruptly, I felt bad, then worse and then... then it was gone, I ate, laughed and talked until I fell asleep.

I woke up to the voice of one of the workers, hoping he was telling us we had arrived to La Paz. Him and the guy sat in front were arguing and after a few seconds of waking up, I finally started to understand what was happening: We were being dropped off at El Alto, due to what apparently were riots at the entrance of La Paz. It took me even longer to realise he was saying "they are breaking the glasses" (meaning the windows). He gave us 3 Bolivians each and told us to take a minibus into the capital, and so we got off the bus.

Our time in Bolivia had a pretty interesting start. We walked about 6 blocks and crossed a couple of roads before getting on a minibus that charged 1.50 bolivians the seat. Our luggage occupied three seats and we occupied five, we were a bit short, but we paid the extras from some cash the other guys seemed to carry.

We entered La Paz, our eyes proved the rioting that had been going on at the border crossing, broken glass, police everywhere. But as we entered, the beautiful view of La Paz from the top arose.

Copiapo. Chile. 02.01.16

• How we got here: We took a bus from Santiago which cost us 16.000 CLP per person for a half bed with Pullman Bus and it took just over 11 hours to get here.
• The bus left at 20:00 and arrived at 7:15 the next morning, they have pillows and blankets but they don't provide it. Bring some drink, but don't bring food, they give you breakfast in the morning.

Arriving to Copiapo: It doesn't look like the type of place that would attract tourists and there is not much to do here, we didn't know and booked a hotel in the centre of Copiapo (Il Riposo) for 45.000 CLP, but if  you can just take a bus to Bahia Inglesa immediately after you arrive.

What to do in Copiapo: As we have already said, there is not much to do in the centre, it looks dusty and the number of homeless people is even higher than in other towns. However, even though it didn't give a good first impression we gave it a try.

It is and looks like a desert, the air is dry and the sun, constant. There are some nice mountains surrounding the town though, we saw someone hiking one of the smaller ones, which was topped with a cross. At the bottom of this mountain there were some run down houses, and what looked like an old railway line.

We walked back to the town to find a free museum (which was closed at the time), a nice church and a square that had some kind of charm.

As a town, Copiapo might be your place if you're looking for a mild temperature in the middle of nowhere, that leaves you close enough to some really interesting spots in the region. When you arrive you won't know in which direction to turn because there's so much around this area.

Montevideo 5-7.12.15

Woke up on a bus in Tres Cruces bus station.
Montevideo looked less colourful but more relaxed than Brazil. It doesn't mean to attract attention like other cities do, however it's still appealing. Maybe because the rush for sightseeing is gone.

We walked along the street watching pedestrians carrying a tea that was new to our eyes. We stopped for breakfast in a bar that caught our eye for its name: Las Palmas. (later on we would find out that Montevideo was founded by Canarian families)

We waited for our host to contact us to go to her house, but we didn't receive any signs, so we just decided to venture ourselves to the outskirts of Montevideo and find it ourselves.

We stayed after Paso de la Arena, before Santiago Vazquez, an unnamed area. We took bus 494 on to paso de la arena, and we asked there to a couple of young ladies who again were carrying the already mentioned drink. They told us it was "mate" gave us a sip of it and advised us to get a taxi to the house we were looking for.

After going up and down this country road, we managed to find a kiosk where our host, Karla, worked. She welcomed us in and told us where to install our tent. The garden is a beautiful open space with plenty of room for her kids and her 5 dogs to play and they were all happy and friendly.

We had lunch/dinner with the entire family. She made pizzas on a barbecue and they were delicious. We ate all we could and then sat down to talk in the garden, where she had a bench swing from which at sunset you could start seeing the fireflies. At this very moment we realised we were having a unique experience in Montevideo that no one else would be able to repeat.

We slept in the tent and woke up to the sound of the morning birds. The children had spent the night at a friend's house so we had all morning to chill before going to the football match, that would make Peñarol league champions. Before the match we bought our bus tickets back at tres cruces to go the following night to Buenos Aires.

Our last morning in Montevideo we made cheese sandwiches for breakfast and went for a walk near the house, where we appreciated a beautiful piece of nature before the kids had to go to school at midday. And in the evening we went rowing and to watch them play football after school before the last goodbye that night.

We didn't do any of the typical sightseeing in Montevideo, but we did see some stunning places and enjoyed a unique experience with our wonderful hosts.

Check our blog on the rowing school in Montevideo to find out what we did there and the blog on the football match if you want to know more about our experience there.

Transatlantic cruise

This Pullmantur cruise cost £108 per person and sailed from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.

The £108 includes food and drink (not including alcohol), 8 nights accommodation in an inside cabin and on-board entertainment. 

The cruise has 14 decks, including restaurants, bars, swimming pool, jacuzzis, spa, gym, library, shops, casino, climbing wall, theatre and sports court.

The reason this cruise is so cheap is because the cruise season has finished in Europe and beginning in the Caribbean and South America and the cruise relocates for this period.

We found this deal on HolidayPirates.com which I highly recommend for great travelling deals.

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After saying goodbye to Yvonne's family over a coffee in a shopping centre near the port, we walked to the big cruise ship and was greeted with a long queue still four hours before departure.

Once on board we found our room on deck 6, refreshed ourselves and then went for our 3 course dinner included in the price. We sat on table 277, with other 5 people also residents in England.

After dessert, we made a routine of going up to deck 11 and have more food at the buffet. There is food available all day!

After buffet breakfast the next morning, we were chilling at the pool area when we saw lots of dolphins swimming next to the cruise! It was a beautiful moment but we didn't manage to photograph them.

Our dinner table of 7 was the same throughout the cruise. We had Henry from Scotland, who works as a flying attendant, Joss from Guildford, a full-time traveler, Helene and Conrad, a young couple soon to move to Denmark and finally Dave from Manchester who is the life and soul of table 277.

This group kept united the whole cruise, always doing things together, playing cards, sunbathing and eating (mainly eating).

The crowd in this cruise is different to the usual. We have hippies, backpackers and families... young faces in general and the atmosphere is relaxed, spontaneous and happy. Everyone is friendly: there are hippies outside of their circle, people that just talk to every set of people, and even people that sit with someone new every day at lunch time.

There is nothing I can say about this cruise that would make it any less amazing than it has been, and with information of a return cruise in March, who knows?