Las aventuras de Elena en Sudamérica

Le vol de Bruxelles à Madrid s'est très bien passé, aucune turbulence à signaler et nous sommes même arrivés avec de l'avance sur l'heure prévue.

Aucun souci pour me déplacer à la terminale 4S, j'attends maintenant une vingtaine de minutes à ce que la porte d'embarquement soit annoncée 😊

Stay tuned!

Wow.

So much history, so much architecture, so much randomness and so much laughter, that's the best I can do to describe my first day exploring this beautiful city, all I know is I am going to need a few more to get to see it properly. But today was only a starter and not too bad for a first day to be honest, I am quite happy with all I got to see in a day.

First off, as I got dropped off in the city centre it felt a bit overwhelming, loads of traffic and crowds so I just decided to walk a bit away from that rush and there, in a corner of a quieter street a museum caught my eye: it was not listed on my guidebook but what a beautiful finding! I am talking about the casa museo Sucre, a must-see!! I just went in and two young students let me in very kindly, free entry and offering a guided tour even though it was only me. I learned so much about the history of the mariscal Sucre, great friend of Simon Bolivar and first president of Bolivia. The place was just full of history and lovely, excellent tour very well explained, what a great start to my day!

Next, keeping up with the visits I went on to learn about the iglesia de la compañia de Jesus, same here, excellent tour, started as an individual tour but then gathered quite a nice group of two friends and a family. This is probably the most baroque church I have ever seen, gold everywhere, hard to imagine it like that so full of excess while people were forced to convert and believe in a church that supposedly was promoting vow of poverty..

After that I tried see the presidential palace but was put off by the long queue and decided to leave it for another day, visiting the Catedral primada de quito. Again, private tour extremely well explained with so many details illustrating the syncretism found in catholic churches from the colonial era imbued with indigenous traditions. In this cathedral are also found the supposed remainings of Sucre, after his body was identified many years after his suspicious assassination. I had to rush a little bit this one as Edison, a friend of Lourdes had agreed to pick me up around 3.30pm.

And then, the randomness began: I really got to experience the local day to day life hoping between shops looking for a small piece of leather as he needed to fix a part of his car's seats. On the way back home he also stopped for me to quickly visit the third and last church of the day: la basilica del voto nacional. Another impressive piece of architecture: apparently the biggest basilica in South America with 140m in length and inspired in Notre Dame de Paris, from the middle one can see on a heart shaped window la virgen del Panecillo that looks on the city. From there again, got a quick tour of the city by car and again, somehow I found myself caught up in a local district council sort of meeting on a new reform of the system of participation, extremely random as you must be thinking but another story for the memories.

After that, I finally make it home for a quick dinner with Lourdes full of laughter sharing the stories of the day before heading to Edison's house as he insisted I meet his daughter who is studying French, English and Chinese to practice the two first ones a bit with her, again a different experience but great exchange. Finally I am dropped back home and found some time to share this here before getting some rest for another day full of adventures tomorrow 😉

Stay tuned!

We made it alive!!

Today was Cotopaxi day: I was joined again by Lorena and Faustino to go up the famous volcano that had its last volcanic activity only a year ago, the second highest active volcano in the world. Although, I got to hear some of the craziest rumours about its last eruption: there is apparently a conspirational theory that is now emerging that says the government had sent some army planes to bomb the volcano and wake it up to stop some indigenous people on their protest march to Quito...

So, after a home made breakfast by lovely Mariana and a quick visit from Emilia (who is feeling a lot better than yesterday) and Marcia, we brace ourselves for the cold and take the road towards Cotopaxi. Again, Lorena displays her abilities getting us safely through the difficult road still damaged by the recent volcanic activity. We reach the Northern entrance to the park and there, we learn from the local ranger that I am technically not allowed in without an official guide for safety reasons but nice enough, he lets us in this time. The roads gets harder and harder and we even pass some 'crazy gringos' carrying their bike as it becomes almost impossible to ride. Soon, we start to see white patches of snow which quickly fully cover the ground and it is time to leave the car behind and continue on our feet.

The ascension begins. I didn't see it coming but conditions have worsen since we took the road and visibility barely reaches 5m ahead, we are surrounded by blizzard, almost as we were walking in the clouds, probably the highest I have been so far in my life (not on a plane). This means we have no idea how far we are from the refugio. To make things worse, the guides from the other groups ascending at the same time as us don't seem to have a better idea: it is the first time they take this path, usually getting there from the other side. We need to take a few stops to catch our breath as it is becoming increasingly difficult to breathe, I feel like I am bleeding from the mouth and the pressure is triggering a headache. We see a few people throwing up and still no sight of the refugio. I have no idea how long we have been walking but it feels like the target is nowhere near. Lorena threatens to turn back a few times but we wait for her and try to encourage her despite our own incertitude. Almost when I was wondering if we would ever get there, the guide I asked if he knew how far we were but had no idea and estimated another half an hour shouts at me that we are there!!

What a feeling, we did it!! The conditions are so poor today, it is as far as we are allowed to go (to be perfectly honest I am quite happy with it this time, the perfect excuse not to go further as I doubt we would have been able to do so without any incident). I am told we had been walking for approximately 2h!! It actually felt shorter than that. At the refugio, we warm ourselves up with a delicious Ecuatorian hot chocolate and some snack before heading back down. I even get the time to learn a few words in quechua blethering with the staff. Big deception of the day though: I left my passport in the car and there is the chance to get it stamped for the Cotopaxi, why?!!! Note to self: always carry your passport when climbing iconic places, it can be a nice addition to the hardly stamped European passport 😉

The way down is a lot quicker as we take the straight route down and the legs run by themselves, I get some great tips for visiting the Galapagos from one of the guides that kind of abandoned his group to blether with us (arguing the dangerous part is the climb up, once they have managed it, all that can happen is a broken leg). And so, we ride through the hell road again to make it home for a well-deserved lunch.

As we get back, we are welcomed by Emilia, Marcia and Mariana and a delicious homemade almuerzo. We then head to the park to have a walk with the little Emilia who seems to be recovering pretty well from her cold. We then all get some rest until it gets dark enough to go to La Ronda for some epic dinner accompanied by a karaoke session, great times as it is becoming usual in Ecuador!

Today I met up with Manuel, an old friend from Edinburgh that had been doing a masters degree in Science Communication at the University of Edinburgh.

I finally got to use the public transport and see how buses and taxis work here (surprisingly safe and reliable). Again, I saw first hand how the upcoming election is the hot topic for conversation currently with people using traffic queues to offer stickers backing the opposition leader to cars blocked in the jam.

I also got to taste the local market food and walk around the touristy mariscal district. And to keep up with the random experiences, we attended a seminar on the perception of feminism among indigenous and black communities at the FLACSO.

After that, we went to the natural sciences museum in plaza la Carolina since Manuel needed to measure some birds skins and I got to learn about birds from Ecuador -the third country with the biggest variety of bird species in the world!

Finally, when I got back home I was welcomed by Lourdes, Carmen and Marco for a family dinner cooked by the amazing Susana and getting to taste a new traditional dish (delicious, like everything I have been eating so far): locro.

Perfect end of yet another great day!

Today was the day I finally got to tick the equator off my bucket list after a failed attempt last summer when I was in Uganda.

Again, the day was brighten by the beautiful company of Lourdes, Susana and my two little primos Marco and Carmen 😀

We started off by a quick visit to the mercado del arenal in Tumbaco which takes place every Sunday and where you can find nearly every food you want -dead or alive. We then stopped for lunch to eat some delicious empanadas.

Next, we went to the Pululahua crater to enjoy the unique scenery of this very special place where, again, we were very lucky with the weather!

Then, we had the time of our life at the Mitad del mundo visitor centre. We got to play with eggs (putting them in equilibrium on the line of the equator), water (observing the currents going both ways on different sides of the equator), at the museum of chocolate and the planetarium.

To sum up, an amazing day again, in great company and very lucky with the weather, what else can I ask for?

Today was the big departure day for my adventure to the Galapagos. I was due to fly at 10.40am from Quito and arrive in San Cristobal for 1.10pm. However, since things don't always follow the plan, the flight was delayed from Quito and only left by 12.15pm, Latam airlines was quite nice about it though and quickly provided us all with a snack.

The flight to Guayaquil was pretty quick: just the time for a nap and one hour later, there we were! This huge city was nothing like what I expected: although those who were going to the Galapagos didn't even leave the plane, the feeling I got from it from the aerial view was very special. Guayaquil seems so different from Quito, so flat and almost built on the water, very stratified as if it was a recent city with straight streets. It would certainly take at least three weeks to properly get to know it!

Almost one hour after landing in Guayaquil the same plane was flying us to San Cristobal. It must have taken about three hours. The feeling I got as soon as I was getting out of the plane reminded me of that heavy and warm humidity I felt the first time I went to the Caribbean back in 2012 on my trip to Cuba. All of a sudden I was almost struggling to breath, which never happened to me in Quito, despite the altitude! My luggage took quite a while to come out but once I had everything with me, I took a taxi to the centre if town.

Immediately, I found my self trapped in my most feared tourist trap: as soon as the driver saw I had almost no plan and nothing booked yet he drove me to a hostel, went to the reception before me and became quite insisting, also offering to drive me around the island for 3h for $60... Everything I usually try to avoid when traveling. But, as usual, I didn't let that ruin my trip and just politely told the girl at the reception I would look around first and maybe come back. When the taxi driver saw me leaving the hostel with all my belongings (yes, he was waiting in his car to see if he would get his percentage) he looked confused, but I couldn't care less.

The main malecon avenue is wayyy too touristy for me, not my thing at all, I was almost thinking I should have stick with my original plan of going to Puerto Lopez instead but as I found some wifi connexion I was so happy to know I was not alone: as usual, my dad been looking for hostels for me and sent me a selection of them. I then went to the office of tourism to ask for directions but they were just useless, referring me to the ultra touristy avenue. They did give me a map though and I eventually found my way to the Posada Terito where the owners Teresa and Marco quickly gave me a room to stay. It is a lovely place still in the heart of the town but a bit further from the tourist traps.

After a much needed shower as I was dripping in sweat I went back to the malecon to see the sunset and meet the lovely ses lions napping on the rocks and benches. My next challenge was to find a local restaurant: it took a while after walking for a couple of hours along the malecon where I enquired in a few dive centres about their day trips, behind the pizza, burger and sushi places, back near the area of my hotel, I found a local place to eat my alnuerzo.

To sum up, although most of the day was spent in planes and airports, I am so happy I made it here (despite the initial ultra touristy anxiety), the few hours I spent out and about with the crabs, sea lions and pelicans were just surreal. I am looking forward to see what my next days on this island will look like!

What is becoming like a pattern in my trip happened again today: last minute change of plans.

As I was heading to the rental shop to hire a bike and cycle to the upper side if the island, I found out it had actually been raining so bad yesterday that part of the route was impracticable. I ended up in a tour shop on the malecón and a lady was telling me how bad the route was: she had been doing it the day before and wouldn't recommend it the owner quickly came by and tried to sell me a snorkeling tour to el leon dormido which I had planned to go diving to tomorrow. Not surd how he did but contemplating the few options left I just decided to go: I didn't want to be told tomorrow today was the lucky day and that I had missed the hammerhead sharks.

I thus quickly ran back to my hotel, got changed, stopped by the rental shop to let then know I wouldn't do it today and stopped by the dive shop I had been to last night to pay my spot for tomorrow.

And so unexpectedly again, a few minutes later I was on board of a small boat along with a lovely couple from Manta, the coast of mainland Ecuador, our guide, the captain and the boat handler: a small private snorkeling tour.

We had a first stop on a coastal beach where we were the only visitors and had a tour on the sand being taught about different species of mangroves and wildlife as well as history of recent events that shaped the biodiversity on the beach by our guide Alejandro. We then proceeded on to doing some snorkeling and getting used to breathing with the mask and snorkel, especially for Mery who didn't know how to swim. We quickly spotted turtles, sea lions, ray and fishes. It was magical to be so close to these animals I am not used to see apart from on tv.

After about 40mins snorkeling, we got back to our boat and headed to the famous lein dormido or kicker rock (depending on the point of view). We learned about the different birds leaving on these volcanic rocks and soon after that, got back in the water for more spectacular snorkeling: after just a few minutes we spotted a group of black tailed sharks, turtles and colorful fishes! Towards the end though, I started feeling a bit dizzy: when snorkeling, you feel the movement of the waves a lot more that deeper underwater when diving.

As we returned to the boat, we were served some rice and chicken but I couldn't eat much of it, I was almost feeling sea sick.. However, that didn't stop me from blethering and I took the opportunity of the interval between the swims to drop the hot topic of the moment to hear the opinion of the people here. It quickly became a heated debate, very unequal with only one supporter if Lenin and the rest supporting Lasso. But always in a fun and relaxed atmosphere I tried to ask some neutral questions to balance the debate and we all took it with good humour.

Finally, it was time for our third and last swim again in the same area between the rocks. You cannot imagine my happiness when after a good 15 minutes swimming around I spotted my first hammerhead shark ever!! My day was complete! Despite the dizziness still persisting I kept swimming and looking for more wonderful creatures: we spotted some more turtles and black tip sharks and... later on, a second hammerhead shark!! Amazing day!

After that, we then headed back to the pier, I lied my head as the sea sickness had gone worse and I threw up the little food I had tasted earlier but still I was going home with a 'buen sabor de boca' having made one of my dreams come true: seeing hammerhead sharks!

Back in the office, the owner told us to come back later with a usb stick to collect the pictures the guide had been taking and I walked out with Mery and her husband who were looking for a place to get dinner later and I mentioned the lovely local place I had found near my hotel a few days ago. I showed it to them and they invited me to join them later so I could meet their lovely sons one ano four years old.

After some rest, as agreed I headed to the tour shop by 7pm for the pictures. A few minutes later I met Mery again who introduced me to her adorable little boys as well as her friend they were visiting and her two daughters. The children instantly made me their friends and we went for dinner all together, nice change from my two first nights in Galápagos. I then promised the children I would join them play at the park and somehow ended up in a really nice municipal park playing with them and other local children.

A perfect day with new friends to remember! 😀

After a loud night due to a campaign party organised by Lenin Moreno's team right next to my hotel, I woke up very early to pack and head to the harbour by 6.30am in the hope to find a ticket to Santa Cruz for 7am.

Big stress as I got there and was told the morning tickets were sold out and my only option was to either stay one more day on the island or take the 3pm boat. But luckily, I managed to get one of the two last tickets another man was still selling.

As I was waiting for my boat, I bumped into Daniela and Carlos from yesterday's dive who were heading to Santa Cruz to fly back home from Baltra. Daniela was super helpful once she heard I was planning on heading to Isabela and immediately saved my number to send me the contact phones for the tours that they used as well as giving me advice on Santa Cruz for the transit.

The boat ride was hectic to say the least, it is incredible how many people and how much luggage they manage to fit in those tiny boats that transit between the islands! After about two hours and another taxi boat, I was in Santa Cruz where I bought my ticket for the same afternoon to Isabela at the agency Daniela had told me about where they also kindly let me leave my backpack until 1.30pm when I was supposed to start queuing for the 2pm boat.

I tried make the most of the couple of hours I had on the island despite how busy and touristy it felt, reminding me of Arecife in Lanzarote. I had lunch where I quickly managed to get in touch with the headquarters (dad at home) to help me find a place to stay in Isabela and then walked to the Darwin Foundation which also had a 'centro de interpretación' to visit and soon it was time to head back to the harbour for the second transit of the day.

The boat ride from Santa Cruz to Isabela was very similar to the one from San Cristóbal to Santa Cruz and I spent most of the journey asleep. Once I arrived, no signs of the pick up team from the hotel my dad had booked so I started walking and jumped into a taxi bus that drove me to Paraiso Isabela.

Apparently they had not checked their emails. But I was quickly given a room and took a much needed shower after confirming to my worried family that I had reached my destination safe and sound.

In the evening, I walked around looking for tour companies to book my activities for the next day but what I found was closed shops everywhere. (I was told the next day it was due to a party organised by the opposition candidate this time, Lasso). Thus, I ended up coming back to the hotel see if they could contact anyone to sort me out for tomorrow.

I have no idea who I spoke to or which company but I was booked to go see the volcanos the next day, pick up at 6.45am.

What a complete day!

Today was a busy day as I planned on doing two different excursions: since my snorkel tour was not starting until 11am, I rented a bike in the morning to see the wall of tears first. I had been told at the hotel that the excursion was supposed to take about 4h but since the bike shop didn't open until 8am, I would have to attempt to do it in half the time, challenge accepted!

I am definitely cursed regarding the noise at night and this time, even though I tried to go to bed early for the busy day coming up, it was an american school group staying in my corridor that woke me up and didn't let me sleep enough.

So, a bit late on my schedule, at 8.30am I was renting the bike, it looked like the day was good and sunny. On my way I happened to bump into Carlos in the same shop, the famous dive guide Daniela had told me about in San Cristobal for the diving at isla tortuga and which I had been trying to contact unsuccessfully. He there told me a group might be going out tomorrow but needed confirmation.

I thus took the road to the muro de las lagrimas a nice and easy ride of approximately 8km from the centre of town. In 26mins I reached the place (not stoppong at the intermediary sights such as the turtle nesting site, a mirador etc. Worried I wouldn't make it on time). To welcome me was a big slow tortoise at the entrance of the site. As I got up the wall, I met Samantha and her mum, from Guayaquil who had been walking there since 7am. We took some pictures and talked a little bit, they were quite surprised I was traveling like this by myself and there was another mirador further up which they asked me if I was going to climb. I managed to convince Samantha to do it too since the views had to be stunning but the mum decided to stay there keeping an eye in their belongings as she was a bit more tired. Guess what, as expected, it was well worth it, the views on the bay were amazing, the walk wasn't too hard and definitely worth the effort! Finally, it was time for me to head back to the hotel for a quick shower and to get ready for the snorkeling trip to Tuneles.

The boat for tuneles was quite full: we were two couples from Ecuador, another one from Argentina, a girl from Chile, a girl from Germany, a girl from the island but who was living abroad and I, 10 in total, plus the guide, sailor and boat driver.

Tuneles is probably the most iconic landscape of the island: it consists of bridges made of lava that come out of the water and where one can find turtles, sharks, sea horses as well as blue footed boobies nesting on the actual bridges. We managed to spot quite a lot of marine life including a group of silver rays, turtles, white tip sharks and a sea horse, although I felt like we were probably too many and some times almost disturbing the turtles that were just going on about their day.

On my way back, I was happy to learn that my spot for the diving tomorrow at isla tortuga had been secured and we would be only three divers, meeting at the dive centre was scheduled for 8am 😀

Early morning again: today I woke up at 4.30am to pack everything and get to the pier by 5.30am to take the ferry back to Santa Cruz at 6am. The sun was still rising by the time I got there, a wonderful last sight of the island to remember.

The 2h boat ride went smoothly thanks to the fact that the sun was not out yet for most of the time. But as soon as I got to Santa Cruz the heat was stronger than ever and with all my belongings with me I was melting. I went for some breakfast and then left my backpack at the agency I had left it last time. It was very nice of them to let me drop off by bags there while I tried to enjoy this island quickly.

When on Isabela, people had recommended me to try get a boat taxi to las Grietas and enjoy a swim there if I had time. And that is what I did. What a great decision! After a short boat ride to a small island, and a short 10mins walk, I was at another piece of paradise: between walls of rocks, a small swimming pool had formed with almost still water since the salt there is filtered by the rock. I enjoyed a calm swim when it was still quiet as I arrived with a local guide and a tourist from Ukraine, barely ten other people were already there. The water was fresh and delicious after the suffocating heat. As soon as I was was done swimming, the crowed arrived as a few tours came, perfect timing.

I then headed back to Santa Cruz on the taxi boat and had an early almuerzo before walking the streets of this touristy island one last time as I waited for 12.30 to get a taxi to the airport. I tried see if I could find fellow travelers to share a taxi with since after 8am the buses don't run anymore but the mission was unsuccessful and I just gave up heading back to the agency where the staff encouraged me to at least try get the tariff down to $20, there is quite a way from the town to the airport in Santa Cruz since this one is on a different island: Baltra.

After a great chat about current politics in Ecuador and Spain with the driver that made the ride go by quickly, I still had another boat and a bus to take in order to get to the famous airport. Finally, by 1.30pm I was there, great timing to check in and wait in the well conditioned waiting area of the small airport.

And so, at 3pm on the clock, I was taking off for a direct flight to Quito, marking the end of my adventure in the Galapagos islands and what an adventure!

Looking forward to being reunited Lourdes and my adopted family from Quito again and to see what will happen next in the mainland😀

Finally, in my third attempt, I got to visit the Presidential Palace today!

As I woke up to yet another rainy day in Quito, I headed to the plaza grande hoping to finally get to visit the palacio presidencial and as I was expecting, for the first time, there was no queue at the doors and I was given a ticket for the guided tour at 12.30pm.

To make the best of my time, I decided to try and visit the museo de cera in the meantime. Again, extremely lucky, as I got in, I was told a guided tour had just started! A very interesting visit where I got to learn a lot about the history of Ecuador and its fight for independence. A memorable moment was when the guide locked us in a cell and tested us made asking questions and letting us out one by one as we correctly answered the questions to see if we had been listening to her.

Timing was perfect and the visit literally finished by 12.25pm when I had to show up at the entrance of the palacio presidencial to start the guided tour. They took away our IDs for the time of the visit which lasted approximately 45mins. We only got to visit the South ail as the rest was in current use. There, I could see another mural by Guayasamin, the artist behind the Capilla del Hombre I had visited yesterday and learnt about some rules Correa put in place since his first mandate such as the donation of every official gift made to the head of state and team members to the state, since it belongs to the people they represent. For more personal gifts I was also told he is selling them to raise funds to help the regions of the coast that have been affected the most by the recent earthquake. I also got to meet a fellow traveler from New Zealand during the visit who I helped out translating part of the descriptions. He had been travelling South America for the last 6months and was driving from Ushuaia to New York!

After that, I got a cab to the Olympic stadium to meet up with Susi, Marco and Carmen to go for lunch and then went home and helped them with their homework before heading back to Tumbaco and meet Lourdes for dinner.

Today was the big day, the outcome of a harsh and very musical political campaign but which didn't seem to be met with big enthusiasm.

Finding out the elections were happening so close to the dates I was planning on being in the country, I decided to extend my stay a bit longer to experience such an important event for the country. It was mainly curiosity to witness what I imagined would be a historic time for the country and its people whether or not they decide to keep backing up the current government or chose to take a u turn electing the leader of the opposition.

However, things happened to be a lot more different, I soon realised the idea of a vibrant and politically engaged society from the recent history of the continent was more of a myth than a reality. What I encountered, on the other hand, was a very polarised society: 10 years under the same rule, no matter how good it is, inevitably leads to discontent and a cry for change. But what kind of change are people ready to engage with?

In these elections, two extremes were opposing each other, pretty radical in their positions and with the same attitude of animosity towards the counterpart. This did not lead to a very constructive debate and people were divided in three camps: those who benefitted from the government and were ready to close their eyes about the blatant corruption; those who, on the contrary, have seen their commodities, freedom and economic liberty affected by the government along with those who initially believed in the current government and its ideals but quickly became disappointed with forgotten promises and evidence of corruption; and finally, a more marginal group of critical thinkers that stepped away from the biased hate speeches from both parts, unable to defend the corruption and incoherences in the current government but not ready either to back up the very conservative alternative and who thus voted void.

We started off the day doing some homework in Tumbaco with the children and I helped out Carmen with her music lesson project for which she had to craft a drawing made out of nature.

By noon, we headed off to the capital city with the children, Marco and Carmen along with Lourdes and Susi to pick up the children's mother, Carmen Helena who was voting in the same district as Lourdes. The atmosphere on the streets was not giving a hint it was election day: I felt that there was barely any activity and people were all quickly and quietly going to vote and waiting home to know the results. The most enthusiast people were probably the 'plastificadores' that laminate people's voting certificate, a requirement in Ecuador where voting is compulsory. If I had to describe people's attitudes at the voting booths it would be serious. I guess we could feel it was more of an obligation for some people than an voluntary participation.

We then headed to another voting school where Susi had to vote and I had the opportunity to follow her inside the classroom and see how voting was done (something I have never done myself this way). After that, we headed to QuiCentro, a mall, to grab some lunch since most street businesses were closed.

Next, we heard from some groups that a caravan of cars backing the change and coming from Puembo, Cumbaya and Tumbaco would be driving into the city taking la ruta viva. We joined them with waving flags of Ecuador and honking.

People were attached to their radios waiting the hear the first tendency results from the exit polls that would be revealed by 5pm. At 5pm, most polls were giving Guillermo Lasso the victory by a significant percentage and some people, convinced it was irreversible due to the big gap, started celebrating. The caravan was stopping at plaza Argentina to protest by the CNE, the national committee of elections as they were expecting fraud. As people started gathering, a rumour that the results were changing dramatically took away the initial enthusiasm turning it into indignation. People were determined to protest and immediately assumed the conflicting results delivered officially had been altered. A strong police force had been deployed and access to the targeted building had been previously impeached. People were chanting, arguing and waiting for the leader of the opposition to arrive on site and give a speech but his arrival was progressively delayed so that we never got to hear him.

After a while, I heard the other camp, backing the government was celebrating on the other side of the same street, separated by a huge deployment of armed forces. I decided to go check out how things were unfolding on that other side. After a 30mins walk to get to the other side of a same street, I was welcomed by a very different scenario: small clusters of people in circles around dancers coming from Esmeralda dancing the chocolate dance, around cameras retransmitting live on the news, single individuals waving flags of Lenin Moreno and la 35 and screaming their adhesion to the revolution and their support to other regimes such as the Cuban and Venezuelan one, groups of youngsters seating on the floor not doing anything special. It was quite dispersed.

To be honest, despite being a few thousand, I thought the crowds were quite small on both sides for what was at stake: a football game would have gathered more people than that.

To sum up the mixed feelings of the day, I have to say it was not worth staying to witness it. I mean, what I saw, heard and felt on that day did not make me feel it had been a happy or historic moment for the country. Despite being surrounded by some bias, I tried to always stay neutral but could not imagine any positive outcome no matter who the winner was. I knew from the way they were getting ready for the elections that whoever would win, the opposing side would not acknowledge the results and unfortunately, neither would their supporters. The way results were delivered as well, giving hopes to one half first and revealing an opposite result soon after, in favour of the current government's party made it uncomfortable and the aftermath reaction of the opposition was like a dejavu from what happened in Venezuela in 2013. I just hope both sides manage to forget about their differences and work together to reconciliate their people and build a better future for the country. Only time will say if they manage such task...

Today, I was meeting up with Manuel again for lunch. I took the bus by myself to town and headed to the Casa de la Cultura next to the Parque el Ejido as it was one of the last museums to tick off from my guidebook but my surprise was to be told there was nothing to visit as the museum was being renovated until May...

As usual, I just went with it and remembered Hugo had recommended me to visit the ethnographic museum Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño at the PUCE which was nearby. I thus popped by and enjoyed the temporary painting exhibition about the Amazon by Ramón Piaguaje too.

By the time I was done it was time to meet Manuel at the Martin Pescador for some traditional food from the coast and I got to hear opinions on the election results from a different point of view of someone who had voted invalid.

After that, I met up with Susi, Marco and Carmen as they were back home from school and helped them out with their homework and simply enjoyed their company as well. We then took them to swimming lesson but found out the teacher was striking as they hadn't been paid.. They still went in and had a fab time playing with other children. We then went for lunch at another shopping mall and as we were leaving, decided to pop by the CNE to see what was going on since many people were heading there with their white t-shirts and flags. We encountered a second hub of protestors burning tyres on a parallel street from that of the CNE and the social turmoil didn't seem to be cooling off. That day I ended up staying with Susi and the children in the city for the night with the idea to drop off Marco and Carmen at school the next day.

For once, I had almost packed everything last night so I calmly woke up in the morning as usual, not really realising that before the end of the day I would be in a different country.

Lourdes and I went for breakfast at the Arecife in Tumbaco for some encebollada and ceviche along with a friend of hers that happened to be cycling in the area and joined us.

We then headed back and talked with Sr Figueroa and the engineer who he was giving a hand today. Sr. Figueroa had cooked some delicious chancho as a farewell as well but we were so full from the brunch that we could barely eat anything else.

Around 3pm Lourdes drove me for the fourth and last time to the airport. I checked in and then waited until 6pm to board my flight to Lima.

I was in Lima by 8.30pm approximately, it was a quick flight but I could not enjoy it much as I was seated in the aisle and not the window as I usually try to...

Those who had told be Lima's airport was terrible were so right. That is where the annoyances started: Avianca would not let me check in my luggage until midnight. After that, I tried getting in the departure area to take a nap but travellers on internal flights were not allowed to get in until 1.30am and there were no seats where to lay so people were just napping on the floor.

I passed the time making a few friends and chatting with people which helped make it go faster. First, while waiting for midnight, I met a Peruvian woman from Trujillo who was a maths teacher but her school had been destroyed by the floods so she was visiting an aunt and friends in Lima, she had also been to Cusco and said the Machu Picchu was just amazing! Then, I met another lady who was also going to Cusco on my same flight. She was from Costa Rica traveling on her own but meeting up with a hiking group. We decided to wait together and help each other take care of our bags.

Once we finally got in the boarding area we still had about 4h to wait since the flight was scheduled for 5.20am. I found a space laying on a few seats and tried to rest a little bit when, at 3am, I got woken up by that Costa Rican lady who got mixed up with another flight from Latam flying to Cusco earlier but at that moment I also realised our actual flight had been cancelled!

We had to get out of the secured boarding area back to the check in desk (since no staff from Avianca was to be found anywhere else). Quite rudely be told that we were moved to the next flight at 6.40am with no compensation at all since the delay was below the 2h. By the time we got everything sorted again and back through security it was already 5am almost time to board although I still fell asleep for 1h.

A very long day and not the best impression of the people from Perú but hopefully it only gets better from here 😉

After about 25 days in that country and now thinking back as I am in Perú, I thought I would write a short summary on my experiences in that country as well as some tips for others who are thinking of visiting Ecuador.

First of all, I am extremely thankful for all the places I have visited, food I have tasted but especially wonderful people I have met so far! The only soundtrack I could think of for that first country I visited on my journey was 'Gracias a la vida' de Mercedes Sosa!

Quito on its own felt pretty safe: I never felt insecure walking the streets of the capital by myself and it is easy and safe to take public transport as well. There is loads to do in the capital but if I had to shorten the list to a top 5 of museums to visit (in order), it would be: La Capilla del Hombre and casa museo de Guayasamin; el museo de Sucre; la iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus y el Palacio Presidencial. The four last ones are very close to each other and if well organised, could be done all in one day.

Regarding the Galapagos, the best advice I was given was probably to fly in to an island and depart from another one. That way less time is lost returning to the same one as you'd probably want to see at least three of them. From my experience and in my opinion the best one I visited was Isabela, it was the most unspoiled one. It wasn't even in my initial plan but by talking to people I received some precious recommendations. If you like diving you have to get yourself to Isla Tortuga to spot some hammerhead sharks! Another two great activities there are to cycle to the muro de las lagrimas and to hike up Sierra Negra.

Other must-do's around Quito are definitely to climb up the Cotopaxi or alternatively take the TeleferiQo to the top of the Pichincha for some great panoramic views. If you like adventure, Baños should also be on top of your list!

And to wrap up, I know I will have to go back again soon since there is still so much left to see in the Oriente, the Coast and down South and I didn't even scrap the surface of what this country has to offer but I will finish with a short poem I wrote in Spanish on my way to the Galapagos:

Ecuador, perla de Sudamérica

Lo que es Uganda para África

Paraíso de biodiversidad y dotada de una variedad de paisajes espectacular.

Pero la que más grande te hace es tu gente, su amabilidad y disponibilidad,

Tu riqueza cultural y historia.

Desde las islas del Pacífico pasando por Quito, hasta el Oriente amazonico,

se respira vida, se ven colores,

se oyen las dulces melodías de tus pájaros,

se saborean los deliciosos sabores de tu rica gastronomía,

Ecuador, perla de Sudamérica,

desde ahora y por siempre,

tienes lugar propio en mi corazón.

Some more epic adventures!

Today, as I had been told, I was ready by the reception of my hotel at 3am to be picked up for the trip to the Rainbow mountain. Again, I learnt that the time given was to be understood as Peruvian time and the pick up came at 3.36am. This time I had started to worry they had missed me, I will get used eventually to Peruvian punctuality.

I was exhausted since I had barely slept 3h, waking up at 2am to be ready on time. My big surprised came when I did not see my friends I had arranged to do the trip with: there was another Peruvian couple and a family of four. We then headed to another hotel where people took extremely long to get out: we had been waiting for a Brazilian family of 9 composed mainly of elder women and who made us switch places for them. There I realised the group was split into two minivans and my friends had to be in the other one. The Peruvian couple was switched to the other van and I was asked to seat in the front next to the driver and the guide.

It did not stop there: as I was trying to get some rest, I was woken up by one of the old ladies behind me asking me in Portuguese to open the window for her. I just ignored her the first time but she insisted again and shook my arm. I was quite upset by that time, she actually thought I was a member of staff too but that wasn't a way to even treat the staff. We had to endure the wind in the front just so she had some air to breathe. I wouldn't have minded if I hadn't seen her smoke and cough at the first place we stopped!!!

You can imagine my relief when we stopped for breakfast and I finally saw my friends who were just in the same group but different van. Their guide Juan Carlos promised we would find a way to fit me in their van on the way back. We drove another 20 mins after breakfast to the point where we would start our trek.

There the group started to spread: some Canadians started walking ahead on their own not even waiting for the guide's instruction and then, due to the fitness level gap, we spread even more, the huge Brazilian group walking at the back. After a 20mins walk there was the option to hire a horse with a guide to ride most of the way. It was 8km in total, 16km with the return. When I booked the trip Margot already included the horse and I was quite happy with it to be honest. Julyenne and Lidia also chose this option.

My guide was Facundo, it was quite difficult at the beginning to get the conversation started but as Julyenne and her guide Mercedes caught up with us we started joking a lot and even got them to sing in Quechua, great times! A couple of times we had to get down and walk since it was getting difficult for the horses to carry us on narrow paths. The trek lasted for about 2h30 and at some point the horses stopped and we had the last slope to climb to get to the summit and view the seven colors of the mountain. As we got dropped off from the horses Mercedes told Julyenne she wouldn't carry her back as agreed because her horse was too tired, we had to argue a bit to make sure she would sort it out and maybe find another one but not charge her more as she intended to.

After a big effort, we reached the summit, it was a great satisfaction and an undescribable feeling! But quickly, the fog hid the mountain and in a few minutes we couldn't see anymore! When Andrea and Elizabeth reached us we went further up at the very top, Julyenne waiting for us a few meters away and that is when an extremely violent hail started: I felt like the wind and hail were breaking my skin and I could barely move my hand.

Soon after, Julyenne and I started our descent. We quickly reached Mercedes who was surrounded by fellow horse owners eating cob and pop corn. There she told us that Julyenne's horse had a blister on its back and it took a few arguments in quechua with her fellow gorse owners to decide what to do as we weren't giving in in paying her only for one way (it was more expensive that the return, she pretended Julyenne hired another horse to get back).

Finally the problem got sorted and we joined Facundo who was waiting further down. I was very lucky to have him as a guide as there was never a problem with him and by the end he was as talkative and me and even taught me some quechua. Lidia had a very fast horse: she stayed longer st the summit with the other girls but ended up passing us!

By the end we were exhausted even from the horse, it wasn't very comfortable to be honest but we made it back safe and sound! We looked for our van and waited inside for the others to arrive. Little by little people were coming back, exhausted but happy.

At some point though, a guy from the Brazilian group came looking for his aunt who was missing. We started to wonder where she was and whether anyone had seen her. And time passed by and all the vans and buses were gone but ours. She was missing.

Most of us were suspecting she had gone to the village by herself for some food. Her family was worried but none of us could understand how they let her go by herself. After mire than one hour since the last person from the group had arrived, people started to complain and we managed to get one van to carry everybody else to lunch. We ate around 4.20pm.

As we all finished eating we saw the second van arriving with the Brazilian group and luckily they had found the 61years old lady. It turns out she had returned before everybody but then tired of waiting decided to go back up and down again...

We started driving back by 5.30pm, almost the time we should have been back to Cusco but we had another 3h drive.

We made it back by 8.30pm, I had definitely missed any chance to go to mass for Palm Sunday. I stayed a bit with the girls at the Chaskis hotel laughing about the crazy day we had had and saying goodbye to Lidia who was heading to Puno tomorrow. We were all very exhausted after more than 17h of excursion and I quickly returned to my hotel. I was so happy I had postponed my trek to Machu Picchu!!

Waw, where to start to describe the past five days? It seems like it has been an entire month: so much happening, so many new friends, so many miles walked... I will try my best to give you a glimpse but me best advice is, experience it by yourself!

Today was the day, despite the rain, at 4.50am I got picked up at the hotel to start the trek. I was a bit tired having slept so little and had packed all my stuff, leaving part of my luggage at the hotel.

The pick up was quite hectic: by the time I was down, 4 minutes on the clock from the first phone call, the van had already left and I had to take a taxi with the guide to another hostel, pick up a couple and we then ran under the rain to the plaza de armas where he left us again as he went to pick up more people. A van came our way but was going to the rainbow mountain. Then more people kept coming and eventually the right van picked us up and we caught up with the guide at another hostel.

We eventually headed out missing one passenger though at around 5.40am. Our first stop was for breakfast (which was nit included but I just ate my packed breakfast from my hotel) and there I talked with Adri and Tomas, seating next to me who were a lovely couple from Paraguay and Czech republic, both living in Paraguay as well as with Andreas, a German fellow traveller who was on a similar route, having started in Colombia.

We drove further until the starting point of the trek, Challacancha at 3 600 m above sea level, where the van dropped us and we had to hand out our 'extra kilos' to be carried by the horses. I was fearing I would be lagging behind after how exhausted I felt from simply horse riding at the rainbow mountain but I found myself keeping up pretty well with the pace. We had a quick introduction before starting the trek where our guide Steven referred to us as a family. The group was quite varied: there was a couple from Ireland, an american couple, another american couple with the sister of the girl who was living in Cusco for a year and who they were visiting, the couple from Paraguay and Czech republic, a solo Brazilian traveller and a German one.

The walk to the camp site was alright if it hadn't been for the rain which made us all cover ourselves under our ponchos. By the time we got there, I had managed to chit chat with almost everybody and was feeling very happy with the group. We had some abundant lunch while the porters were setting up the tents and we then grouped in pairs to share the tents, I would share a tent with Fernanda, the girl from Brazil. Then, we were joined by an extra member, Jerôme from France, the missing one from this morning who had had to take a taxi since he had been waiting for his luggage that had been missing for a day.

After that, we climbed up to see the Humantay lake at 4 200 m above sea level and then came back down to our camp site in Soraypampa. Again it was raining quite a lot and feeling very cold due to the altitude. As we reached the summit, the view of the lake was pretty spectacular: very green from the first point of view and then Renzo, the guide from the other group that has started at the same time as us, the Pumas suggested us to climb a bit further since the views from the other side were very different. We followed the instructions and magically, on that side the lake looked much more blue. As I asked Adri to take a picture of me, the clouds instantaneously covered everything and we couldn't see through... We stayed for a while hoping it would clear out but it never happened and we eventually had to go back down as it was getting dark.

Back at the camp we were welcomed with the merienda: huge plates of pop corn and enjoyed some good conversation. People were impressed I had managed to remember everyone's name and we also tried to guess everybody's age. It turns out I was the youngest one and the group was quite varied between 23 to 45 but I couldn't really feel any difference to be honest as we all got along so well. Almost straight after the merienda we were given some abundant dinner with loads of carbs and trout for the non vegetarian ones. Then Steven gave us a quick briefing and it was soon time to go to bed for an early start tomorrow.

The night seemed very short this morning when we got woken up with the daily coca leaf tea. I was just mentioning to Fernanda how I really could do with one more hour of sleep when the rumour spread it was only 3am! I checked my watch and indeed, it was only 3am!!! It turns out the cook had his clock set wrong on his phone and the assistants had not noticed and were just waking us all up. I got out of my tent and they wouldn't listen until eventually, they went back to the kitchen and realised what had happened. What a relief, a few more hours of sleep, the only thing is the roosters had also woken up so it took a while to fall asleep again. Quite terrible at the time but we all ended up laughing a lot remembering the episode, Steven our guide, wasn't so happy though, he thought we'd be upset but it is a great story to remember in the end 😀

Today was going to be a sad day though: the group would split in half as some people were doing the trek in four days instead of five. We all walked together until lunch. Weather was getting better than the other days although we still had to take our ponchos out for part of the route. We crossed a few rivers this time and even had to take our shoes off once as it was pretty deep.

A memorable moment was when we stopped at a post where a lady was selling fruit, drinks and other snacks and I got to taste for the first time in my life the so called 'granadilla' similar to maracuya, passion fuit but sweeter, de-li-ci-ous!! We kept looking for it on the trees and a funny moment was when Jerôme and I, at the end of the group came across a huge plantation of them. We took one each and were followed by Fernanda, Colin and Tracey when we realised it was actually part of the refuge where the rest of the group was waiting for us and they were selling them.

A bit later on we arrived at Santa Teresa, where we would have lunch all together but then the four day people would head to hidroelectrica by themselves and the rest of us went to the hot springs for some well deserved relax. It was really sad having to say goodbye to Adri, Tomas, Jerôme, Andreas, Oliver and Lucas as like Steven would say we had really become like a family! It is crazy how quickly you make friends for life on the road, I really hope our paths will cross again.

The hot springs were great! We had a lift in the same van we had come to Santa Teresa from Lucamabama with great reggeaton. Once there, there were three different pools at 40, 30 and 25°C if I remember (I don't think it was very accurate but still very nice temperature). It felt amazing to finally clean ourselves and swim. In addition, there was a fresh water shower coming straight from the mountain. I took the challenge and the most epic moment of the day happened when I poured some over Rich: his reaction was priceless!!

As we headed back, again, we had some pop corn for merienda and before dinner, we decided to head to town to try some typical chicha, a fermented corn drink. We can distinguish places that sell them from a red flag they put outside the shop. Lynn had spotted one and so we headed to the chicharreria. She had told us the taste might not be the best but as we were handed our huge cups of chicha morada, we found it really nice and it was quickly downed. From talking to the lady we actually found out the one we had been given was non alcoholic due to the evangelist neighbourhood 😂 it was still more tasty than the real one and another funny story for the memories. On the way back, Rich and I joined some children playing basketball at the local pitch and we had a short girls vs boys game.

Back in Santa Teresa we had the last dinner prepared by our cooks and a short party/farewell to them. We were also with the Pumas, the other group that was walking at the same time as us but we clearly had more fun, dancing to the music as we could and cheering to our very talented Rich and Fernanda. Some people started retiring but Lynn, Fernanda, Colin, Tom and I stayed the latest chatting by the fireplace until we were close to midnight and Tom was actually turning 30. I took the challenge to team up with the cooks and find something to celebrate so he could blow some candles. I had fifteen minutes. It took some huge convincing skills to get them onboard, especially that they were pretty tipsy. In the end, we managed with some chocolate biscuits and matches and although it was small and improvised, I am sure he will fondly remember this birthday.

We then kept partying a bit longer with the cook and assistant cook as well as the other guide, Renzo and a couple of people from his group, of which one was also having his birthday tomorrow/tonight. Around 2am we all headed back to our tents.

Today was THE day, the end of our memorable trek to the Machu Picchu when we would finally reach the famous landmark and feel it for ourselves. I actually put the alarm for 3am packed everything, got ready, cameras all fully charged as it was the first place we had access to plugs.

4am on the spot Lynn and I were downstairs, soon joined by Rich and Amy and we went to pick up Fernanda who was at another hostal. Tom and Niamh would join us at the bridge. Colin and Tracy were getting the bus.

We walked for about 20mins in the dark with our headtorches to the bridge to queue until they opened at 5am. We were kind of at the head although there were already a lot of people. By the time they opened at 5am, the queue was several hundreds meters long. As the gates were opened, people started to almost race through the stairs hoping to reach the summit before the sunrise. It was a tough climb. I had to take some layers off and a few breaks, the steps were huge and endless. I eventually made it to the top before 6am where I found Lynn queuing despite Steve having told us to wait for him outside. We drove him crazy one last time as he arrived and saw us queuing but the rest would still take some time to arrive and we wanted to have a sneaky peak of the Machu Picchu without the crowd.

Three gates opened at the same time and the crowd started to flood the Machu Picchu. It was quite cloudy so we didn't really get to see the sunrise but the immensity of the place was breathtaking. We then headed back to catch up with the group and had our guided tour with Steven. We saw the most perfect wall of the world named by the National Geographic and got to learn some of the different interpretations of the place although none is confirmed.

Colin and Tracey had their entrance to the mountain between 7 and 8 since they were taking the bus from hidroelectrica and thus had to leave early. Rich, Amy, Lynn and I had had it for 9 to 10am since we were heading back to Cusco by train later in the afternoon. And the others were also taking the bus so did not do the mountain. We had also been joined since last night by three more people doing the two days trip, Belinda from Switzerland and Will and Maude from France. We all said goodbye after the guided tour and took a final picture with our beloved Steven who I had given quite a hard time, he got stressed too much with us but hopefully also enjoyed the trip as much as we all did.

I continued the day in the Machu Picchu with Rich, Amy and Lynn. We had some snacks before heading to the montaña that was another 2h climb! We kept asking people on their way down how long left we had but it seemed like the more we walked the more time we still had ahead. The path was quite dangerous and luckily we had a perfect weather going up: not rainy nor sunny, that would have been destroying! It was just fresh with some breeze and cloudy. Near the top, Rich, Amy and I bumped into Colin and Tracey one last time (Lynn was ahead with our new friend Sam, who had taken our group picture with Steven earlier).

Once I finally reached the top, to keep up with the pattern of the trip, the sky was full of clouds and we couldn't see anything through. Some people had been there for nearly one hour waiting to take the perfect shot. At some point the skies cleared out but as I asked Lynn to take a picture, same old story, it was too late. When Rich and Amy arrived tough, after the happy dance, I did the ofrenda to the Pacha mama like Steven had taught us at the Salkantay wishing for the sun and, no joke, almost instantaneously the skies cleared out and we had some pretty amazing views on the hidden city! We stayed there for a while until we were asked to start heading down at noon. That part is highly monitored since a tourist died a couple of years ago taking a selfie. The way down still took us about 1h30.

We then tried to go see the Puente del Sol but I learned from a guard that the access to it had been closed for a while and was officially reopening tomorrow, sad times. Since we were not in a hurry we laid on the grass sunbathing at the Machu Picchu for a moment since the weather had turned out so great. At around 2pm the skies were getting darker and the birds were singing which I overheard a guide say it was a sign the rain was coming. We then decided to start heading down.

This time, I did have my passport on me and Rich, Amy and I queued to add a new stamp on our passports. We then decided to walk the bus road down instead of the stairs hoping that would be more gentle on our knees. But the way was a lot longer, we ended up choosing the stairs for the last half and it took us longer in total than going up: around 1h30. Luckily, the rain wasn't too bad and we managed to get back to Aguas Calientes without the need to put our ponchos on, a first!!

Back in aguas calientes we negotiated our best deal and ended up going to the same place as last night for some cocktails and food. Rich, Amy and Lynn had their train at about 6.30pm while mine was not until 8.50pm! I walked a bit around town and went to the handicraft market. When it was almost time, I went to get my stuff from the Salkantay inn and got to the station for 8.20pm.

My train was nothing like the pictures I had received from the ones who took it previously and and it was so dark we did not really enjoy any particular view. They did give us some snacks and I fell asleep for a bit. Once in Ollayntaytambo, like I had been told, a lady was waiting with my name and many others on a white board. We could have left by 10.30pm but didn't do so until at least 11pm as she tried to get more people to fill up three spaces that were free. In the end I made it to Cusco, exhausted by 00.40am and still having to look for a place to stay since my previous hotel had told me they were fully booked. I had sent them an email the day before to know if there had been any last minute miraculous cancelation but never received an answer. I still walked there to get the rest of the luggage I had left and made it by 1am. I was extremely lucky and the guy at the reception actually found me a room. Happy ending to a long 21h awake day.

Today was my last day in Cusco but I still had quite a lot to do. I woke up earlier than I should have thinking my city tour was scheduled for 8.40am again when it really was for 9.40am. But it was great because that way I got plenty of time to pack, send the clothes from the trek to the laundry and enjoy breakfast st the hotel.

The guide today for the first time, was a woman. The group started off quite small from plaza de Armas but progressively some people started to add up. Today again, I didn't get to talk to everybody in the group but Ricardo, a solo traveller from Saõ Paulo ended up seating next to me in the bus and I practiced my Portuguese with him most of the ride (even though I could have done with a nap).

We started off by the Sacsayhuaman, an impressive set of ruins made of huge stones weighing more than 300 tones each and which is situated very strategically on top of a valley that looks on the city, very pretty panoramic views from there. Next to it there is also a Christ looking down on the city and I was told it was a gift from the Jewish community that had come here escaping the second world war and had offered it to the city to thank its people for their hospitality and welcoming.

Next, we went to Q'enqo, a labyrinth that was used for some kind of sacrifices with an altar made of specific stones that keep a cold temperature. It has the shape of a Puma seen from above and also has a kind of snake on the top where they would pour the blood of llama. But we were only shown pictures since access to the top is now restricted.

After that, we went to Puka Pukara, which is a temple of water and where we got to wash our faces with its water for eternal youth (its high content in iron is supposed to be good for the skin). After that, we stopped again at a place where we were taught how to distinguish proper alpaca and vicuña (the very best one) fabrics from fake synthetics many shop sell.

We were back in Cusco quite early around 2.30pm and I had lunch with Ricardo at the place I had eaten the very first day were they served very typical food. I had some ceviche and cuy.

After that, I took on the challenge to see the rest of the sites I had access to with my boleto turistico that was expiring today. Four of them were doable walking around the city so I headed to the museo de Arte contemporáneo for a quick visit and then the Museo Historico Regional but which was closing at 5pm so I had to rush through although it looked very interesting and interactive, definitely recommended if you are visiting Cusco, it tells all about the foundation of the city and its subsequent history. Then, I went to the Museo del Sitio del Qoricancha, a short underground museum about the momies from the times of the Incas. After that, I set to walk to the Monumento a Pachacuteq that was closing at 7pm. It was quite a walk on the way to the airport but I made it for the sunset and enjoyed some great panoramic views of the city!

After that, I headed back to the centre and had a last stroll through San Blas and then went for a hot chocolate at the museum of coffee. Around 8.45pm, I headed back to my hotel to pick up my luggage and clean clothes I had sent to the laundry and took a taxi to the terminal terrestre to take the bus at 10pm to Puno.

Today, after almost two weeks in Perú, it was time for me to say goodbye to this beautiful country and carry on with the journey to Bolivia. My last day in Perú had definitely not been the best but I want to remember it for all the wonderful memories and amazing people I met, overall it was a worthwhile experience and I am so glad I did not skip this country as I was suggested to do.

In the morning, I had planned on getting to the bus terminal with Omar who had his bus to La Paz for 6am. At 5.30am we walked to the terminal which was only a few cuadras away and like the lady had suggested to me yesterday, I negotiated there my bus to Copacabana. I managed to get on for 7am.

We had about two hours ride until the border control where we all had to get off the bus, get our passport stamped by the Peruvian authorities and then walk a bit further and get it stamped in the Bolivian office. It went quite quickly and we were soon back on the bus. A few minutes later, as we were entering Copacabana, a man dressed as a kind of policeman came in the bus asking for a 2 bolivares fee to enter the town. Probably one more scam but no one was in the mood for arguing. During the bus journey, I finally took some time to read through my Lonely Planet guidebook and realised that probably the best thing to do in Copacabana was to take the boat to the Isla del Sol.

As soon as I arrived to Copacabana, I confirmed what the guidebook had mentioned: Copacabana felt more like Argentina than Bolivia. It was full of Argentinians and other hippie tourists but nothing else really to do, it didn't feel like a place for me to stay any longer.

I headed to the harbour get my boat pass but the only company operating today was shut, I went back up the main street to get some bolivares and stopped for a juice, then finally managed to get on the 1.30pm boat. It was quite a long boat ride, almost two hours, on the rooftop, the view were wonderful but it did get quite windy. When we arrived, the view was stunning!!! I couldn't have made a better choice.

As I was getting down from the boat, a guy from Ecuador, Jose talked to me and quickly, I was joining his group. He was traveling with Martina, from Holland and Kun, from China. They had met from Cusco and proposed me to join their hostal hunt. There we went, a young child and a man were fighting for us proposing us the best deals. We went to both and in the end went for the one that was closest to the harbour since the way up was very steep.

We got to twin rooms with private bathroom and after settling, we climbed to the mirador on top of the island to see the sunset. It was spectacular! On the way back, we stopped at a place for dinner and were joined by a French and German girls that Kun, Jose and Martina had met before. We had some warm soups since despite the beautiful sun we had seen during the day, the island quickly got very cold due to altitude. It was actually mind blowing to see such a mix of landscapes: the immensity of the lake made it feel like we were on the coast, at sea level and then in the background we could see snow peaks, very clearly this time (no clouds, a first in my journey!).

Back at the hostel we sang for a bit since Jose was traveling with his guitar and played some music and then went to sleep as it was getting quite cold and there was no heating.

Today we woke up around 9am and got in touch with Kun who had arrived earlier yesterday in La Paz and was staying at a hostel nearby. After getting ready, we arranged to meet up with him and moved lur stuff to his hostel as well since Martina was leaving for Medellin early in the morning at 3am.

We then headed out to the city for lunch and ended up in the mercado Lanza tasting some local dishes and fresh juices and choosing our caseras.

Then, we went to plaza Murillo to do the walking tour with Bolivia by Foot. We had been told it started at 2pm but no one was there. I asked some locals who told us they were definitely coming later. By 2.30pm we finally saw them. We had been told the wrong time. We were not too big a group: a French guy, and Australian girls, a Spanish guy and the rest of the Isla del Sol team, Kin, Jose, Martina and I. We had two guides who switched between each other and were translating in Spanish for the Spanish guy, the rest of us had it in English.

We learned a lot about the history, politics and culture in La Paz. We went back to the mercado Lanza, to the witches market, to San Francisco cathedral and the prison of San Pedro. It took a bit more than three hours and turned out to be really interesting but the best days to be in the Bolivian capital are Thursdays and Sundays, when you can see the cholitas wrestling and one of the biggest street markets of the continent, el 16 de julio. So I decided to stay until Sunday.

In the evening, I went back to the hostel and tried to plan the next days. I was really keen on doing the Death Road trek on bike but ended up cancelling since my parents got too worried about me doing it...

Today, I was planning on attending the city tour of El Alto, starting at 2pm from the Bunkies hostel so I headed out in the morning to explore a bit further the city until then.

I made my way to el Prado with the idea of going to the yellow cable car line but actually ended up absorbed by some street performances of traditional dances from all across the country and organised by the government to promote the culture. I ended up spending the entire morning there.

Then, at 2.30pm, the tour brought us to el Alto through the red cable car to explore the biggest market on the continent, the 16 de julio. We also enjoyed some spectacular views from a mirador after walking along the real witches market and learning a bit more.

After that, I stayed in El Alto to attend the famous cholitas wrestling contests that usually take place on Thursday and Sundays. It was goid fun, there were actually more locals than tourists! The only disappointment was that I was expecting the cholitas to fight with each other rather than against men...

I then came back down and headed to the train station to get my bus that might be leaving earlier from la Paz to Uyini.

Today we had breakfast at 7am at the salt hotel but I got up around 6am for a 10 bolivianos hot shower and the water was surprisingly actually hot!

We took the road around 7.30am heading to the Red Lagoon (Laguna Colorada) and visited other lagoons on the way, Laguna Cañapa and Hedionda. We stopped for lunch at Chiarcota where we ate outside despite the strong wind and then crossed the Siloli Desert. We saw some spectacular landscapes on the road. We spent long hours in the car, admiring the different sights and stopped regularly for pictures until we reached our hotel for the night around 4.30pm. We were split in rooms of four but Rosalie and I had a four bedroom for ourselves since the place was not full.

Dinner was served pretty early since a very early morning was scheduled for tomorrow at 4.30am. There were no shower in that place but it was so cold due to the altitude that no one really complained about that. We went round the few houses that were surrounding the place where we were staying and bought a bottle of Chilean wine to split between the whole group with dinner. We were quite surprised when we found out about the tradition of the guides to offer a bottle of wine to the group on the last night so when Gregorio brought the Bolivian wine we were almost regretting buying the other one but as soon as someone tasted it, we didn't at all, ours was much tastier. By 7.30pm the guides were already in bed. I stayed up having some tea and blethering with Vivian and Marie a little more, laughing about all the anecdotes we all shared about our Bolivian experiences so far. The sky was very pretty at night in the desert: like in the isla del sol, we could actually see the milkyway.

In the morning, around 7am, I headed out to the station to take a bus to Potosí. Four hours later, I was arriving to the famous mining city, which once was the richest in the world. A strong contrast with today's reality.

I took a taxi directly from the bus station to the old town as I had been reading the whole section on Potosí from my Lonely Planet and could pinpoint the specific street where to find the tours to the mine. I found the Big Deal, the only one supposedly run by ex-miners and which works like a cooperative, helping some of the miners' families through the revenue of the tours. I really wanted to go with them for their ethics but they had no one else yet for that afternoon and we had to be at least three. A group of five soon came in but they were hesitating, I tried to help Veronica, the girl from the agency to convince them and soon a group was formed.

I walked around the centre to get a feel for the city while making time until 2.30pm, when the four hours visit was scheduled. It was quite lively and busy with people eating at the local markets and small shops, it was also the lunch break for a few schools around so many children in their school uniforms.

At 2.30pm we went to the miners market to buy them a few presents, coca leaves and some juice. The group was formed by a Canadian guy, a Dutch couple and two Spanish guys, Carlos and Ramon who had all met in Uyuni and come to Potosí together. We split the group in two for the Spanish speakers and non Spanish speakers who would have their tour in English with a different guide.

Then, we went to a barn and were given some protective equipment: a helmet with its head torch, a onesie and some boots as well as a bag to put the presents we had just bought. We had a quick tour of the refinery where the silver and other material exploited were filtered. Then, we headed into the mines. It was a bit late in the working day since most of them had started at 3am but there were still some miners inside. We had to bend a few times since the tunnels were pretty low in some parts and very narrow. Contrarily to the coal mines I have visited in Belgium, they had no rails nor horses to carry the pieces of stone, it was all carried in wheelbarrows. All miners were chewing coca leaves and had the distinctive ball on the cheek. We stopped to talk to a few of them to hear their stories and hand them in some of the juices and coca leaves we had collected. We also stopped by an altar made to el Tio, the protector and God inside the mines. Our guide made an offering and made us taste some of the 96% alcohol they drink and share with the pacha mama to ask for minerals as pure as that alcohol.

It was a very interesting visit and contrary to the old mines I have visited before that have now become museums, a very real experience since we could actually see people working in it as they have been doing for centuries, in the same harsh conditions as when it started, probably worse now since the big findings are becoming more scarce. I really enjoyed the visit despite the fact that it was a difficult one. I read some blogs online where people said they might not have done it if they were to do it again but it was Guayasamin's work in the capilla del Hombre in Quito that had sparked my interest in the topic and I wanted to see for myself this hard reality and what is left now of this city that once was the richest and among the most populated ones.

At 11am, I had a flight scheduled to Santa Cruz de la Sierra to then take the bus from there to Asunción since it seemed buses there were not leaving directly from Sucre despite a road on google maps.

I took a taxi at 9.15am to the airport to make it by 10am there and wait for my flight on time. The flight was pretty quick, less than one hour (instead of a 12h bus journey). As soon as I landed in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, it felt like I was in a completely different country: people there speak guaraní instead of aymara or quechua and it is a lot lower than all the other cities I visited in Bolivia, with a much more tropical climate, very warm. People here are very different themselves: there are a lot less indigenous people and from the chat with the taxi driver who drove me to the bus station, the white people are quite racist towards them and the rest if the country too. It felt more like Miami (or how I imagine that place to be since I have never been there) than Bolivia. It was very weird, didn't like that feeling much.

In the bus station I went straight to the area of buses to Asunción but it seemed like they were being sold at their higher price due to the upcoming bank holiday. One company tried to get me to go to Argentina instead in a supposedly much more comfortable bus (quite tempting after the terrible reviews I had read online) but it was pretty obvious they were blatantly lying about the distances and duration, that journey seemed much longer on the map.

I decided to go to the centre first to get sone wifi connexion and double check with Adri and Tomas about the journey. Quite happy I did so, the Argentina route was way longer than they had tried to convince me it was at the station. I then went back and bought my ticket for the traditional journey with pretty low expectations despite the bullshit the vendor was still telling me to convince me although I had no other choice so was going to buy it anyway. By this time I was pretty exhausted from all the hassle and the heat but wanted to see the most possible from this city.

Since the bus was scheduled to depart at 7pm, I went back to the main plaza, tried unsuccessfully to get wifi again to get in touch and confirm to Adri and Tomas my departure. Then I decided to walk around and picture the streets around the centre. I walked through some artisans markets and climbed the tower of the cathedral for the panoramic views. Then it was time to head back to the station.

As I was expecting, no sign they were intending to depart any time soon and I was told we would leave at 7.30pm instead. Good start! We actually didn't leave the station until 7.51pm to be exact! But that was not the worse. The must must have been older than me, the door couldn't open properly, the seats barely reclined and the A/C did not work. And I was embarking for a 20+h journey in that thing...

Today, since Adri had quite a lot to do for the wedding but wanted me to see her beautiful country she decided to stay home working on the preparation details while Tomas and I went mountain biking in Altos, a district about one hour away from Asunción along the lago Ypacarai. I had my compensation for missing the death road in la Paz, this was really nice although quite difficult too since there was no road, and the way was very sandy, the bike would get stuck quite often in the sand if we didn't push on the hands and cycled as much as possible in low gear. It was also very warm (hard to believe winter is coming). The views though were stunning! We made a few stops to eat some mandarines from the trees and passed some well fed cows and pigs.

We cycled about three hours. Tomas then told me about a zip line that had recently been inaugurated and in which he had been partly involved. It was situated in a recreation area where people come spend their days off in family around a bbq playing football or paintball. We sorted some things for the wedding since they will be bringing part of the guests here after the event and then I even got the chance to have a try on the longest zipline of the country (just before they were closing)!

On the way back home, we had a terrible encounter as we happened to arrive at the aftermath of a road accident that had just happened, we were the first ones to stop. A drunk motocycle driver had just crashed with a cyclist whose brother was desperately calling for help. We quickly called the ambulance and mire people started to gather, helping the injured. There was a lot if blood, the shock must have been quite brutal, the bike was broken and in the middle if the road, the motorcycle had landed ten meters away. We tried to immobilise them both, keeping their heads still to prevent any spinal injuries until the ambulance arrived. Luckily, a doctor who was passing by came to help and she asserted the situation of both, despite the terrible head injuries they seemed to be safe, it was heartbreaking trying to calm the brother of the injured cyclist who was telling us they hadn't seen it coming at all, they didn't even know what had happened. The motorcycle driver, lying further away seemed very drunk and unconscious rather from the alcohol than a potential head trauma. It broke my heart when the ambulance finally arrived and they tried gather information on everything and I heard the cyclist was only 23, the same age as me...

They took him first to hospital and then we waited a bit longer helping the other man until the firemen came to take him to closer hospital.

Back home, Adri was waiting for us since Tomas and her had their dance rehearsal scheduled. A friend of them, dance teacher was helping them prepare their opening dance. It was great fun watching them learn the steps and rehearse. After that, we all went to a delicious restaurant in town, (passing by the famous congress that has recently been burnt by the angry population). Paraguayan food is definitely underrated, they have delicious meat!!!

Sad day as I was leaving Asunción before the wedding but still I tried to make the mist of it: I decided to take the bus to Cuidad del Este first and then another one to Foz do Iguaçu because the direct ones only leave at 7.30am or 00.30am from Asunción and I wanted to spend a bit more time with Adri and Tomas.

In the morning, Adri drove me to the historic centre as we were completing some duties as well checking a few more things off the to do list. We went by the tourism office to ask for some maps to prepare the welcome packs of the guests who will be coming from abroad. Then she dropped me off to go visit the museum from the old train station. Back in the days, Paraguay instead of sending its people to Europe to learn, actually brought a few professors to teach here and professionals to transfer their skills (paying them a huge salary, more than ten times the average) and these are the people behind most of the notable buildings of the city I was told there.

By the time I came out of the museum, contrary to the past two days that had been very warm and dry, it was raining cats and dogs! I still kept going with my itinerary since I didn't have much time and headed to the casa de la independencia passing through the plaza de la democracia and some artisanal markets. After that, I went to see the congress and take some pictures of uts broken windows and burnt façade from the recent protests to the attempt of the president to run a second mandate, which due to the political history of the country which suffered many dictatorships, is unconstitutional. After that, I walked further to see the beautiful Palacio de los López (from outside, it cannot be visited).

Then, Adri picked me up again in order to meet up with Tomás and have lunch all together. But by the time we reached his office, the rain had worsen a lot. We switched cars for his which was bigger since we feared Adri's might get stuck in the rivers of rain that were filling the streets.

In the end it turns out that the traffic got so bad and the rain reached such level that we only had time to stop at a fuel station to assess the situation (see whether or not we could safely cross a road with the car to get to the bus station) and buy some empanadas to take away. After some hesitation, and with a lot of courage, praying for the car to get through this, we managed to cross the road/river and make it to the station 15 minutes before the bus departure!

There, I bought my ticket to Ciudad del Este for 1.40pm. It was the best bus I have taken so far! A nice reward while looking at the rain outside. The journey took about 6h and I had a nap for the first half and then decided to start reading the book Adri's mum wrote on her personal story: El golpe de 1989, una historia en mis recuerdos (Gladys Davalos, G.). I cried during most of the reading, what an emotional book and what a talent to tell such a difficult personal story in such an intimate way! It really gave me an insight of what that period was like but also what this whole family went through and understand where this powerful love of Adri for her country comes from, her life is so directly linked to the nation's history. I couldn't finish the book on the bus but as soon as I got to the hotel I finished the 200pages. I am not sure it is available outside but if you are interested in the topic, I would definitely recommend it!

Once I arrived at Cuidad del Este, I found out there were no more buses to Foz de Iguazu so I had to take a taxi instead. Had to negotiate the price a bit since I didn't have many guaraníes left and gave the driver all I had. We had to stop twice for both border controls but it went quite quickly (despite the 1h time difference between the two countries) as I never had to queue. At the hotel, they were waiting for me and I was quickly given the key to my room and enjoyed a well deserved rest after the intense reading.

I am starting to realise it is not for nothing this travel diary is called Elena's adventures in South America, I am really full of anecdotes by now of things that probably only happen to me but thank God, up until now, all the crazy situations only end up in good stories to tell.

Today, I was intending on getting, the other side of the story and go to the Argentinian side of the falls. However, the lack of local currency in cash did cause more issues today. I could not get a bus or a taxi without them. I had to then walk the 2Km there is to the airport, hoping the cash machines would be more useful than yesterday at the park. However, sane story happened, none of the three cash machine would accept my card. Luckily, I had brought some euros and just ended up changing them for reais at an exchange business. That was me with some of the logistics sorted. Now I had to get to Argentina.

I asked for the journey details at the information office of the airport where I was told to take a first bus to a shopping mall and from there take a second one or alternatively walk the borders, it was a 15minutes walk I understood (but I think the info got lost in translation, I like to believe I understand Portuguese by now but I think it is not fully the case yet as this story will tell). So I took the first bus and then, not seeing the other one approaching, decided to embark on the '15minutes' walk, guided by my map. The short walk turned into more than one hour walking along the road. Then, I had to reach the town's bus stop and from there, get another bus to the falls. After a while, I eventually got there and again, was told they only accepted cash. Since I didn't have pesos on me yet, I had to walk a bit further and find a cash machine. Here, they did accept it although the novelty was that for every 2 000 pesos you take out, you get charged 94 on top of what your own bank does. First, I thought that was the specific bank that did that so I just went to another one until I overheard other foreigners talking about that famous fee. I had no choice so just took what I thought I would need approximately and went back to the station, bought the return bus ticket and they also, like any good Argentinians managed to convince book a boat trip on the falls that was a must.

As usual, the bus coming in 10 minutes, arrived after 25 minutes and so when I finally made it to the park it was 2.30pm... I had been told to expect spending a full day on the Argentinian side and half a day on the Brazilian one, but I guess it is part of travelling and circumstances alter plans unexpectedly...

When I got there, I followed the instructions I had been given and went to the attractions office get the actual ticket. There, I was told by the lady that because of the time, I would have to chose between taking the train to the devil's throat or the boat inside the falls. I could not believe my ears, I did not want to make the choice! I was starting to feel that everything had gone wrong today but the staff, seeing my desperation were very nice and supportive, they told me to think about it while heading to the next train stop where another staff member would meet me. The best plan I could think of was to do the boat earlier and rush back to the train. When I net the other guy by the train, he told me we could potentially do that, advance the boat session and then I would have to be very quick to get back for the last train at 4.10pm.

Challenge accepted! He gave me directions on how to get to the boats the fastest but I only had like 30mins, he said it would be hard but feasible if I did not stop and went on a good pace. I walked as fast as I could through the crowed in opposite direction to actually make it in 16 minutes! Ouf, I could breathe a little bit!

The boat was so much fun but they should maybe have put a disclaimer beforehand recommending people to bring flipflops and their swimsuits. Everyone got fully soaked. ! We went right under some smaller falls and had a shower on the boat! I was not expecting that at all but it was really good fun. Luckily they had provided us with waterproof bags to put or bags otherwise everything would have got ruined. The only problem was then spending the rest of the day on my soaked clothes (that was alright, they quickly dried with the wonderful weather) but especially wet socks in my trekking shoes (these never dried and the day was still going to be long and eventful)'

As soon as we were out of the boat, I took the same way again and made it back to the station to catch that last train to the Devil's throat. It was a 20minutes ride there and then there was a train on the water and surrounded by some kind of mangroves or other trees growing on top of the falls. But when I finally got there... I was left speechless by the beauty and power of the place, it was just spectacular! I think I had heard people who had been here during my journey telling me I should go and that when you see Iguazú, whether or not you believe, you end up admitting the existence of God or a supreme being. It cannot better describe the scene. The amount of water is so spectacular, that the melody of the water falling just sounds like an ode to life! It is probably the strongest feeling I have had of all the places I have been so far and the wonders I have seen, non has impressed me as much as this one. This was maybe due to the low expectations I had from the disappointment of what has been done in Niagara but I think the contrast between these two places is the best illustration of what is happening to our beautiful planet: nature itself is so wonderful but little by little what is destroying it are human enterprises...

Soon, it was time to take the last train back at 5.30pm and I was the last one to walk from the Devil's throat this beautiful evening quite quiet (we were not that many left in the park at that point) and I tried to enjoy the moment, feeling so grateful and privileged for what I had just witnessed! <3

Back to the entrance, I tried doing part of the upper trail but it turns out they had all been closed by now, a guard later told me it is for security reasons since that is when the big cats (pumas and other wildcats go out for food). It was okay though, I had seen the most spectacular part and enjoyed the main attraction at the falls, quite an unexpectedly successful day considering how it had began.

Outside, I was hoping the bus would be on time to be able to catch the last bus to Brazil and not have to walk. Quite some people had gathered so I was hoping it would be there soon but as usual I had to step back and hope for the best, adapting to the South American punctuality. In the meantime, since I had my passport with me, I imagined like in all big landmarks it they must stamp passports and so I filled my beautiful passport with one more stamp, memory of one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Eventually, the bus came and I was ensured by the driver it would make it on tine for the bus to Brazil. At an earlier stop, a guide from the falls told me I could get off and wait for it there. So I did and another Malaysian guy on the bus who was also going to Brazil followed me. Soon the bus to Brazil arrived and it stopped at the Argentinian border control where most people got off and the bus waited for us but then at the Brazilian border control, no one got off except for a girl and we almost missed it but as soon as I realised, the driver gave us a ticket to get on the next bus and we got off (it didn't wait this time). The control was done really quickly and then the three if us ended up waiting indefinitely for the next bus to come as the guards had ensured there was another one coming. I had started to suggest walking since we were actually really close to the other stop where we needed to change buses but unfortunately they only took it as a joke and preferred to wait. The South Korean girl who was the other one waiting asked us if any of us could walk with her to her hostel as she needed to get her backpack from there before heading to the international bus station as she was hoping to get a bus to Asunción which was leaving at 1am. From her description her hostel was quite close to where I needed to get my second bus so I offered to help her out. She said it was in a residential area quite dark and dodgy to walk alone after the horror stories she had been told about tourist safety in Brazil.

Bu 8pm, the bus finally arrived but that is when the nightmare started: instead of taking the expected route, it turned left and ended up bringing us downtown where I had never been and could not locate anything. I double checked a few times to the driver to make sure he would be back closer to where we needed to go later to which he said yes every time until I asked him a third time and he told us that actually, no, we should get off and take another bus. We got off and then with our map in hand asked some people for directions at a fuel station to know where we were. Very sure of them, they gave us some directions, quite straight forward. We double checked at another shop after a while and again, they gave us the same indications until, looking carefully on the map, we realised we had been walking in the opposite direction we intended to go! We decided to go in the mall we had reached anyway and get dinner as well as wifi to see the exact rout and how long we would have to walk back. The three of us had some food, by the time we were finished it was already 10pm. It was decision time again as we had to decide what to do. Google maps was saying we had a 54min walk to go or a 14min drive. But the South Korean girl was refusing to get a taxi, fearing they would charge too much. Buses were not reliable either since at the stops it was not indicated which one was passing by nor a timetable. We ended up seeing one heading to the terminal and took it. There, we looked up the timetables for the 120, the only line we knew and the girls seemed to know from there the way to her hostel. So we did. We finally walked her to her hostel and there she was also told which bus to take to the station. The other guy from Malaysia would go with her since he was staying near the terminal. The issue was their stop was on that street whereas I needed to get back the way we walked to get the 120. They didn't want me to walk alone and insisted I wait with them and take the 120 from the terminal but time was passing and the bus was not showing up. I was fearing that by the time I make it to the terminal, the last bus would already be gone. So at 11.20pm, I decided to walk to the main road by myself as I didn't find it dodgy or anything and I didn't want to miss the bus. At the stop, I had to wait more than 30mins for the bus to show up (I had started to fear the last one had gone but at 00.30, one came). What a relieve. Late but safe and sound, I was back at the hotel after a stressful day where, believing my watch, I had had walked more that 25Km in total!

Today, after breakfast, Verônica, Daniel and I went to the botanic garden. It is apparently a popular place among pregnant women to go for shootings and it was actually full of them dressed up for the photo sessions. We walked around trying to spotting monkeys and we quickly did! It was amazing, the only time I had seen them in the wild like this it was deep in the Ugandan forest in Budongo. Here, in a urban area, in the middle of the city, we could see them in this hidden gem which has a big protected area too where visitors are not allowed so they are basically in a small jungle. I really enjoyed the place since it was full of colorful flowers and the jungle trail really made it feel like we were in a tropical forest, it was the so called mats atlantica.

After that, we headed to the avenida Paulista, actually parked the car next to it since on Sundays it is cut to traffic and becomes an open air art fair. It was full of all kinds of artists singing, dancing, performing and surrounded by small gatherings of people. There was also lots of different stands selling food, clothing or any item really.

We took a break for lunch at the museum of art of São Paulo on that same avenue. They had a delicious buffet of local dishes. And we then continued our stroll on the avenue and walked back to the car. The very special thing about São Paulo and Brazil as a while is how diverse its people are: walking on the streets we see faces that could be from all over the world and they are all Brazilians embracing their diversity and living in peace with each other, a great example for the world. People were telling me that the Brazilian passports are the most falsified ones because there is not really a stereotype of specific look to be Brazilian. They is something that really impressed me.

Then, we drove to San Andres, outside the city where Verônica lives to meet her parents and lovely dog and so she could pick up some clothes to for the rest of the stay since we decided it would be more convenient for me to stay at Daniel's for the entire stay as it is more central. Her mum was a bit sad about it but I promised I'd come back one day with my twin sister! She had prepared some dinner for us and I had a delicious lasaña and chicken there. We chatted for a while with her parents who were both really nice too and then it was time to head back to São Paulo since Daniel was working tomorrow.

I am definitely quite unlucky with the flights taken so far. I had decided to fly to Rio to avoid getting there after daylight but in the end it actually took me longer to fly than it would have by bus...

Sad times this morning as it was time for me to say goodbye to my friends and best hosts one could dream of. We had breakfast together, Daniel, Verônica and I although I was sad I had missed his parents to thank them one more time but leave for work very early in the morning. We set up uber on my phone (I had bought a local sim card yesterday with Veronica to be better connected while in Brazil) and booked one for the airport.

My flight was at 12noon but I was at the airport well on time just after 10am. I was patiently waiting reading As memorias postumas de Bras Cubas, one of the most important and famous books of Brazilian literature that Veronica had given me when I realised the flight had been canceled. We were all going to be transfered to terminal 2, from the terminal 1 and be put in a LATAM flight departing at 2.10pm.

Because it was more than 2h delay, we did get some compensation: they provided us with a meal voucher and we thus had lunch at the terminal. The second inconvenient apart from being delayed was that the arrival was to the other airport of the city. That was a big disappointment since I was looking forward to landing in Santos Dumont since apparently the plane comes through the bay and we get amazing views on the Christ and Pao de açucar. It was also a shame because I was staying very near that airport whereas transport from the other one took more than one hour and instead of arriving early in the afternoon, I arrived almost in the evening and thus lost the day.

By the time I got to the hotel I was pretty tired and just went for a walk around to buy something to eat and then rest. But the little I saw of Rio was definitely very beautiful, very different from São Paulo and with a much more Caribbean touch.

Today, I had set my alarm at 5.45am in order to get ready to go see the Christ Redeemer but it turns out it was a cloudy morning. I checked the forecast for the next day and it looked a lot better so I decided to postpone that mandatory visit. Then, I slept a bit more and only left by 9.30am because I wasn't feeling too well and the museums I was going to visit didn't open until 10am anyway.

I started off by visiting the Museo de Amanha which is on the Praça Maúa. There were quite a few school groups of lovely children all in their uniforms. The museum was very interactive and quite interesting about the world, and where we are heading. The other great thing about this place are the beautiful views on the bay, worth the visit just for them.

Next, I went to the Museum of Art of Rio, MAR since there was the option to buy a combo pass for both, even if this one was not in my plans. There was loads of contemporary art that I didn't really get but the most creepy thing, I am still not even sure if it was part of the exhibition was, when at some point I was going from one room to another and in the corridor, some keys were thrown from underneath a wall and then a hand (a male hand with fake nails) came out of the bottom of the wall 'looking for them'. No one talked, it was just the hand and I was alone, I looked at it for a while and then kind of approached the keys to the hand with my shoe, it was just really weird!

After that, I had my first failed attempt at booking a uber. I got really confused as it asked me to move the pick up point to another street, which, not knowing the city, I started asking around but people just kept sending me different ways. It turns out it was the street where I literally was standing initially but I missed it. Then, I asked for another one but it kept moving around and picking other people up as it was approaching. I lost patience and canceled it again. Then I booked another one and finally was successful at it! I still got charged a cancelation fee for the two others and in total it took me longer than the public bus would have taken me but it is part of learning to get used to the service I guess.

After loosing all that time, my next destination was the botanic gardens. I had heard that the one in Rio was bigger than São Paulo's. As I entered, I was already welcomed by very small cute little monkeys, worth all the trouble I went through to get there!! I walked the proposed itinerary and got another overview of the threes that make up the Floresta Atlantica. But the best was still the monkeys; at the exit, I saw other ones, bigger ones feeding on the trees and very playful, it was great to watch!

Then, I decided not to go to the Pao de Açucar either tonight because it was still looking very cloudy and I knew I wouldn't have the best views, plus my flight tomorrow was late enough to have time to see the sunset before departing. Instead, I took a bus (first on the wrong direction, I was really disoriented but thanks to google maps, quickly realised my mistake and got off after one stop, and people were very helpful indicating be how to get on the right one) to the world famous Ipanema beach and walked all along until I reached the morro and watched the sunset from there, then, I kept walking along neighbouring Copacabana which was still busy with people playing beach volley and vendors selling everything and anything. I also met a few people selling tours which I considered but they were heading to the Christ too late for what I was planning. A bit later, I took a bus back to the hotel.

Today was a very atypical day, or maybe not for those who know me and how impulsive I can be sometimes...

I will tell you the story of how I ended up running a half marathon in Brazil, it is a short story actually, which spans in less than 24h!

It all started in the morning as I was having a late breakfast at 9.30am since I had arrived so late last night and a man came to me speaking some words that I initially didn't understand, then one of the staff ladies came by and I kind of understood he had asked me something about a race. Quickly I came back to him and asked some more information about the race. It was actually a half marathon happening tomorrow 6.40am organised by Asics. He had come up to me since he thought I might be running it too due to the Polar watch on my wrist. I had no idea about it but now I was feeling keen to run it, despite the lack of training. It could be a fun and different way to see the city. I asked if he knew whether it was possible to still sign up but he told me the online registration was closed. He told me to still try go to the place where they collect their number before the race and gave me the name of the street.

I first asked my dad for advice, despite the Death Road experience, but surprisingly, contrary to what I expected, he told me to go for it and try sign up if I could. I asked at the hotel how to get to the street the runner from the morning had told me about but he said it was a huge street and I had no number or reference to ask for. I thus checked online the departure point of the race and decided to try go there and see if I could find someone who could help me sign up. After a bus ride and a long walk following google map's indications, I eventually got there and found some people setting up the road for the race.

Then, as I was going to cross the road and speak with them, a man came up to me and asked if I was running tomorrow. I said I wasn't signed up but would like to. He made a few phone calls and initially was told the registration was effectively closed but after that he gave me someone else's contact and told me to go to the place people were collecting their numbers and see the guy he gave me the contact who would help me sign up. Then he offered me to join them to the finish point since it was closer to the place I had to go to. So I went with him and a few of the set up guys in the van to the finish point and could see as well part of the route I'd be running tomorrow.

Then he said they were having lunch just opposite the street at a buffet and asked if I wanted to join then I thought, if I don't I'll probably start walking and skip it but I needed energy for the run so I ended up having lunch with some of the organizers of the race. After that, I took a bus to the registration place. It took me a while to find it but eventually, I got there. I signed up and then, the next challenge was to find some running shoes since I only have hiking boots and flip flops with me. Asics was selling some with 20% discount for the runners but still, they were pretty expensive, nothing under 400Rs. I was then suggested to try a shopping mall nearby. There, I actually found a shoe shop that was having liquidation discounts and after trying a few different pairs, found on reasonably good quality/price. I decided to do the walk back to the hotel so I could get used to them before the race. It was already dark when I left the mall but it didn't feel unsafe walking the forty minutes back to the hotel. On the way I grabbed some food to take away from a street stall and ate it as I got back home before having an early night to rest as much as possible before the 4am wake up.

A very different day but which allow me to go to normal places locals go to, tomorrow would be a different story 😉

This morning, my legs were still sore from yesterday but I had no choice and get through the pain since it was my last day to visit Salvador de Bahia. My plan was to do some sightseeing in the morning and the relax a bit on the beach in the afternoon.

First, I headed back to the Pelourinho for a quick visit to the information centre which today was open although the lady there was not helpful at all! I asked her if any museums were open today despite it being Monday and she just told me that, no, none around would be open, not even churches but I told her about the ones that were closed yesterday and she replied that Sunday and Mondays are very quiet and most things are fechadas. Then I asked her if she could suggest some places I could walk to but again she couldn't come up with much except the lighthouse where I had been yesterday. I just asked her to give me a map of the city and I would figure out the rest by myself.

Actually, on the same main square, I entered in the museum of African heritage and guess what? It was effectively open! I visited it and enjoyed some beautiful paintings and learned more about the different African cultures that influenced Brazilian culture due to different migration spots and routes.

Then, the cultural house was also open but I was the only visitor and a guy was setting up the paintings on the walls, that was a quick tour. I also had the chance to visit the memorial to the Bahiana, the traditional women from Salvador which, again were strongly influenced by their African roots. After that, I took the famous elevator Lacerda that links the upper part of the city of el Pelourinho with the lower part. But, unlike what I expected, no scenic views at all: it was a closed lift without cristal windows...

Then, I walked around the famous mercado modelo and had lunch on the first floor with beautiful views on the harbour and from there, took a bus to see Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, the main church of the city, people of Salvador are very devote to him. I tied some of the famous bracelets on the fences of the church making wishes as people usually do. Then, as planned, I wanted to try enjoy the beach but unfortunately there was no direct bus from here to Rio Vermelho or Barra where I wanted to go. I had to take two busses and got stuck in peak time so by the time I made it to Rio Vermelho, it was sunset time. I walked along the beach walk and then stopped for dinner on a terrace on the main place, then headed to the hotel for some well deserved rest, it had been quite a walk with my sore legs!

I was so excited for today!! I'll share here the story on how I found out about the unique place that is Lençois de Maranhenses. It was pure coincidence: it was actually through a youtube channel called GeographyNow, one of the only ones I am subscribed to but an excellent educative channel about Geography. In one of the special episodes, Barbie, the host made a top 10 of his favourite places to visit, one of them (unsurprisingly once you see it) was Lençois de Maranhenses, which he had been told about when doing the Brazil episode. Since I heard about that place, I was fascinated and since I planned on coming to Brazil, it was always in my itinerary (one of the very few places I knew I'd go to before traveling). And what a discovery! Everything in life happens for a reason and I believe I was just meant to come across this magnificent masterpiece from nature!

Early morning again today, I got up around 5.30am to pack what I needed for the three days trip and leave the rest in São Luis. I had breakfast and soon around 7.30am, a bus came to pick me up. Everyone there was speaking Portuguese and many people were quite old I thought. No backpackers on thus trip, it was quite different from what I had done so far. We had a 4h ride to Barreirinhas, the city from where the trips to Lençois depart. The bus dropped everyone at their hotels, everyone was quite scattered in different small pousadas for the majority, there were a few bigger lodge kind of hotels but further from the centre of the town. Mine was actually very well located and 10mins away by walk from the centre. I was dropped off at about 1.30pm. I had less than one hour to grab some lunch and be ready for my first excursion to Lagoa Bonita, in the Lençois.

Around 2.30pm, an open 4x4 came to pick me up, as well as another couple from my hotel. There was only one other girls already there, Camila also traveling alone. We then picked up another two couples an another hotel and another one at another place. We had about one hour drive in a bumpy road without asphalt crossing a river at some point in a very interesting boat with out any power engine but pushed by another small one moving on the sides of it. During the drive I made good friends with my seat neighbours, Camila, the solo traveler from São Paulo and the older couple from my hotel, Tereza and Etel, he was from Bahia and she was from the South but they now live in Paulo. They were truly lovely, I was actually the only foreigner, the rest of tourists were all nationals which was great for me to practice my Portuguese (I actually got complimented on how good it was 😁).

And then, after approximately one hour drive, we arrived in what I can only describe as paradise, another masterpiece of nature! It was love at first sight for me. I already had high expectations which is not always ideal but the place actually surpassed my expectations. It was mind blowing, breathtaking: contrary to what you'd expect, the sand is not hot so we left our flip-flops on the car and walked barefoot on the dunes. When you get high enough and have a panoramic view on the extensive dunes with their lagoons which were actually at their best: we were at the perfect time for visiting, during rainy season but we were extremely lucky it actually didn't rain during the visit. We walked until we reach lagoa bonita where we stopped for a swim. The water was delicious! It was still water very pure because filtered by the sand and there was enough of it to be able to swim. I felt like in heaven! 💖

We continued our walk and reached another lagoon where we also had the chance to swim for a bit and then walked to the top if a dune and appreciated a wonderful sunset which the guide told me was actually quite rare for this time of the year when the sky is usually clouded and we don't get to see it properly but we had been fully blessed today. This again felt like a place where you cannot deny God's existence. It is just a miracle of a place quite difficult to understand how this lagoons happen to be there.

As it was getting dark, we drove back to Barreirinhas and dropped people off hotel per hotel. During the trip, I had also asked our guide for some advice on what to do the next morning since I had the morning free in my schedule but didn't want to waste it in Barreirinhas. He told me about a half day trip people do on a buoy in a small river and I asked him try sign me up in the same group with Camila who was also doing that tomorrow morning.

When we got back to our hotel, Tereza, Etel and I agreed on meeting up for dinner and she would let me know through whatsapp when they'd be ready because they had been told about a place which makes the best cachorros calientes in town. We went there but it was unfortunately closed. We then decided to go to one of the pizzerias next door. I had a great time with them, a very friendly couple. We shared a pizza and had some caipirinha. Then, as we were about to leave, talking to the waitress who was also the owner, we found out her husband was Italian and had fallen in love with this place. Tereza got really excited since her grandparents came from Italy and they had been visiting the country last year. Etel had loved it so much that he is currently learning the language. We waited for him to be done with the last pizza of the day and talked with the chef. They had moved here about seven months ago after living on Italy for about eight years. They used to visit Brazil on their holidays and the husband had fallen in love for the place. Seeing my enthusiasm for the place they gave me their contact details and told me to get in touch if I ever considered moving here 😉

It was a wonderful day in wonderful company, I can only wish for many more like this!

Today was my last day in paradise, the scheduled trip was to Rio Preguiça. The first stop was to the small Lençois in Vassouras where we were welcomed by a group of small monkeys looking for food. Some people had brought bananas in order to attract them for a great picture but it turns out they are so clever and quick that most times they managed to grab the bananas without giving anytime to the people to even see it happening.

This was my last sight of the Lençois for the trip so I didn't stay too long with the moneks, although I really enjoy seeing them close.(not too much though, I don't have the rabies vaccine) and decided to rather walk on the dunes and admire this fabulous landscape.

Then, we got on the boat again until we reached the small fishing community of Mamdacaru and climbed the Farol Preguiças from the military for a beautiful panoramic view on the surroundings.

Finally, our last stop was at the Cabure beach which has the particularity of having still water from the river on one side and salty water from the ocean on the other! I was looking forward to see the meeting of the water but was actually disappointed because the boat didn't really leave us anywhere near it or brought us there as I expected. We were about 7km from that point and we arrived by a restaurant for lunch but as we arrived tons of men came by trying to sell their 30mins quad trip to then meeting of the waters. I decided to walk to the ocean to see it for the first time in the area but was very sad to see so much rubbish on the sand. The beach was unexpectedly dirty and I didn't like that sight at all despite the beauty of the place. Then, as I was walking along the beach came a guy in his quad who became very insisting on bringing me to the meeting of the waters for a very good deal but he was so insisting that he made me not want to do it. After a good 15mins I managed to get rid of him and kept walking and I actually bumped into Edgar, one of Camila's friends from last night so I went for lunch with him and we sat on some hammocks on the water until it was time to head back to Barreirinhas.

We made it back by 3.30pm and the bus back to São Luis was at 4.30pm. I walked a bit around the village to get a last glimpse of it and even had the chance to have a shower at the hotel despite having done the check out earlier in the morning as they had a shower in the toilets on the ground floor to get rid of the sand before the 4h bus journey back.

On the bus, as I got in, I was greeted by my friends from yesterday, Cleide and Esther who I had met on the trip of the buoy on the river. They were staying in São Luis until Tuesday and we decided to meet up tomorrow to go on a trip to Alcantara by ourselves since they had enquired about organised trips but which were ridiculously expensive knowing that the boat drive there was only 15Rs. Then, at the mid way stop for people to eat or use the bathrooms, I bumped into Charlotte, from last night as well and she told me she had her flight to Manaus at 3am and was planning on going to the airport, drop her luggage there and head back to the city to pass the time. I told her she could just leave it in my room and I could go with her for a drink before she heads to the airport. She was actually really happy to have someone to kill the time with and especially being able to speak French or English to me as she told me it had been pretty isolating being surrounded by people she couldn't communicate with. We walked to beach and had a drink at one of the beach restaurants then walked back to my hotel and I helped her get a taxi to the airport since no uber were working.

Today, I was heading to Belem but my flight was not until 3pm so I decided to still enjoy Sao Luis in the morning. I packed everything early in the morning and took the bus to the litoral and walked along the long beach until it was late enough for lunch and I stopped at one of the beach restaurants and tried some of the famous carangrejo. Then, I took the bus back to the hotel and booked a uber to the airport.

The flight to Belem was pretty quick and I arrived at the airport of Belem by around 4.30pm. As usual now, I booked an uber and enjoyed the ride getting to know the city and people's mentality by talking with the driver. He was pretty exaggerated and even frightened me a bit about the safety of the place. We passed by a huge youth meeting point were young people were meeting for drinks and more and to be fair, they did look a bit suspicious, we can feel there is a lot of drug consumption among them but not to the point of completely avoiding walking outside as he was recommending me to do.

When I arrived to my hotel, the welcome was quite funny, it really felt like a small family business where the lady at the entrance did all the admin and then her husband and another young guy from the staff came by to help with my luggage and show the room but they had just blinded themselves with a light bulb that was too bright as they were doing some maintenance work. I dropped off my stuff and took a shower then as I came down to the reception they started talking to me and I asked for some recommendations on what to do and see in this city. Immediately they went above and beyond to help me out and the final decision was that the lady's father would show me the Estaçao das Docas where I could eat dinner and try the most typical food. He also made me try some tradicional Açai which people there usually eat/drink with their fish.

Sadly, I can't most any pictures for this post because that evening, when I checked my phone, they had all disappeared, it seems like the SD card got damaged so if any one has any tips on how I could recover them, please comment! I would really appreciate. For now, I have removed the card from my phone.

Today, since my flight to Manaus wasn't until 5.21pm, I had plenty of time to still see a bit more of Belem although not the museums since it was the unlucky segunda feira when they all close. I got up quite early, packed everything and as I was walking out of the door, the owners asked me again what my plan was. I said I would go to the Estaçao das Docas try to book a half day tour and the owner immediately helped contacting a friend who was head of a captain's cooperative and who could potentially take me to a nice island opposite Belem and visit a chocolate factory. The plan sounded good and so I agreed to meet that guy at 9am.

At 9am, a small speed boat came to pick me up for a private tour to ilha do combu. The views were surreal, again, I felt like in the middle of the forest, navigating along the mangroves. The captain showed me the traps for shrimps and told me about some of the birds we saw. Then, we stopped at a chocolate factory, a filha do combu where people were making completely artisanal chocolate, delicious!

After that, we headed back to Belem and there I took a taxi van to ver-o-peso and from there, walked back to the hotel for some exercise. At the hotel, it was still early to head to the airport but the owner had offered to drive me to the airport and on the way show me some ceramic factory where he had to go for some order. I even got the chance to have a shower before leaving despite having already done the check out and then headed to the airport.

At the airport, I took advantage of the free time to try contact agencies for the tours in the Amazon in Manaus since I didn't want to waste a day looking for tours and most likely most agencies would be closed by the time I arrived there. It was also good to book it beforehand since that way they would pick me up from the airport. With very little time, I emailed some companies I had gotten in touch with a few days back for general information but they were not replying anymore. I tried a few other ones who had whatsapp numbers and luckily came across one that almost immediately replied. The deal was done and they would pick me up at the airport.

When I landed, I actually found out another company had replied and would be picking me up as well... what do I do now? I thought. But, since the flight had landed earlier than expected, I decided to get out at go with the one that was there or if both would be waiting, trust my gut feeling and chose the one that seemed the most reliable one. Luckily, only one was waiting for me. He was also picking up another two guys from my flight, Ruben and Evie from Israel, they would be on the same 4 days trip with another two people.

Today, after breakfast, we set out to the forest again thus time for a walk. We first took the boat for about twenty minutes and then arrived on land. Almost at the beginning Manolo spotted the first snake and Matias our guide even handled it while he told me about the species. We also saw a tarantula and other spiders and got lots of information about different tree species and their use by native people for survival and everyday life as well as about some medicinal properties of the plants surrounding us. At the end of the trail, we also had a crafting demonstration where Matias made a fan out of a palm tree leaf in just a few minutes.

And again, while we were on the boat back to the lodge for lunch, he managed from the helm to craft me a crown and a cricket for Luisa. At lunch, we were once again surprised by the cooking skills of the cook.

In the afternoon, after a siesta after lunch, we set out for some pirhana fishing. Evie was the first one to catch one. Then we tried tried and tried but nothing. Luisa was hilarious, she didn't see the need for this and was pretty scared of the fishes so at some point she gave up on fishing and decided to stick to reporting. The next one to catch some pirhana was Ruben. Meanwhile, Manolo and I were still unsuccessful. I was starting to loose patience. We tried everything: Matias tried to pour some of the blood from the pirhanas we caught to attract others but no chance. We changed spots and again, only Ruben and Evie caught fish. I told Luisa to try one more time as I knew she'd be more successful. In less than a minute, she got one! We couldn't believe it... We went to one last spot and almost instantaneously, Ruben and Evie caught more pirhanas, a few were too small and we put them back in the water. It wasn't even funny anymore for Manolo and I who had not caught any. At some point, I thought that was it but it was just my line being trapped in the trees underwater. Then, finally, Manolo caught his first pirhana and a little bit later, I caught mine too, we could now head back to the lodge!

On the way back, we were delighted by the sighting of a few dolphins while watching the sun set over the river, spectacular!

After lunch, it was not in the plan, but we insisted with Matias to go again look for alligators, he was quite reticent at first since it is quite repetitive for him but eventually conceded after Evie, Ruben, Manuel and I insisted. Luisa was not so keen, she didn't understand or attraction to such risk and so she decided to stay in the lodge despite my insistence.

And what a great decision! We hit the jackpot!! We saw a few crocodiles but didn't take them out of the water this time since Matias had to drive the boat but the best finding ever was that of a sloth of the brach of a tree which was accessible to us. Matias took it for us to handle it and take some great pictures and that is when we realised it was carrying its baby as well! It was lovely! Looking around so peacefully and slowly, amazing! We kept thinking about how Luisa would regret not coming when we would tell her about it but she had actually been worrying the whole time, happy to see us back.

Today waking up in the middle of the forest I was still a bit tired since I had been kept awake by the snoring symphony of Matias and Ruben whose hammock was next to mine. So I stayed on the hammock until about 8am while Matias was preparing breakfast for us. Not sure how he managed but it was great: pineapple, orange, coffee, eggs and some kind of bolinhos had magically appeared on our table. We had breakfast accompanied by a bob marley soundtrack and then packed all the stuff.

Before leaving, we got the chance to craft some fans with palm leaves that would be useful for the rest of the day. Then, we said goodbye to the forest and got on the small boat with the canoe attached to it. We kept watching for wildlife around and, as we jumped in the water for a swim and a much needed 'jungle shower', we were greeted by some playful dolphins at the distance. It was a group of at least five of them performing some synchronized dance for us, a wonderful farewell to the forest!

Then, we got back to the lodge for another delicious lunch and we all packed out stuff while Matias also tidied the boat and put the hammocks back, etc. At 1.30pm, we took the return boat and picked a few more people from the lodge next door as well (which made me be very thankful for the agency and group I had come with; those seemed to always be drinking and smoking, we never saw them do much). We had a long boat ride of more than one hour to the road where we switched to a van at Armenio's stand and I was surprised he was waiting there for us and greeted me calling my name, he had remembered it and where I was from and everything! He offered me some coconut water and we talked for a bit before another one hour drive to the port where we had to switch again to another boat, for a much shorter distance this time. And where we finally recovered signal on the phones. On the other side, Davide was waiting for us and dropped us all at our respective hotel again. Or rather, sorted it all for us since none of us had it booked.

Then, I tried to see a bit of the city but unfortunately, as Davide had told me most things close early on Saturday in Manaus but I still walked around and ended up in a small square that was holding a flowers market. Then, I headed to the opera theatre to see if they had anything going on tonight and at least enjoy the most emblematic monument of the city but unfortunately, the current representation had been at 5pm and was finishing soon...

I went back to the hotel see the sunset views on the city from the rooftop and then, after some rest, decided to go back to the main square for some dinner. Worst service ever, actually, after waiting for more than half an hour on a pizza I left that place and ended up having a great time chatting with some locals while eating some churrasco at a more popular place on the street. It was getting quite late so I had to excuse myself to leave the conversation and head back to the hotel for some rest before an early rise again tomorrow morning.

Today we had a lazy morning and got some extra sleep to recover from the long day yesterday so in the afternoon, Marivi, Eduardo, Victoria and I, went to the historic centre of Bogotá and walked around the main square and emblematic buildings such as the cathedral (which was closed), the presidential palace (where we saw an helicopter landing on the rooftop, probably carrying Santos in it due to the heavy military presence in the area at the time), the chorro (a small square where the foundation of the city is thought to have taken place), etc.

That area of the city is so different from the rest of it: it looks like a small colorful village from the past in the middle of the big modern city. Another thing I noticed in Bogotá is the great public transport infrastructure and the well developed cyclist network. It felt like I was ending the journey almost where I had started it, in Quito, the two capitals are quite similar within their own identity.

For lunch, we went to a lovely place where they served very typical food from Colombia and I got to taste the famous bandeja paisa, delicious!! It was very funny too because they had a girl dressed in typical clothing with a very exaggerated accent going around the tables chatting to people while they were waiting on their food to be served. Another big contrast from the most recent places I had been is that there was a lot of foreign tourism.

Then, after lunch and walking some more around the historic places and feeding some pigeons, we stopped for coffee at a hat museum/restaurant where they dressed is up in old fashioned attires, great fun!

Today, we all headed to the airport early in the morning to fly to our respective destinations, Victoria and I for Cartagena de Indias, her parents for Venezuela, Barcelona. We were all a bit nervous hoping they would have no trouble going there, seen the circumstances but I was relieved from my recent experience there knowing it should be fine.

The flight to Cartagena was pretty quick, and the plane itself was great, brand new with individual screens on each seat, big contrast from my most recent flights. It actually felt like we were some of the only tourists, most people on the plane, wearing suits and formal attire, probably flying there for business, not leisure.

When we landed though, as much as I felt like a gringa in my shorts at the El dorado airport in Bogotá, I felt like a winner landing in Cartagena. I was the most appropriately dressed for the weather: it was extremely hot and humid, one could feel the water coming out of the pores of the skin as soon as we got out of the plane. There, we took a uber to the hotel we had booked.

However, check in was not until 3pm and it was barely 9am so we decided to get changed and leave our belongings in the airport and head out to explore the city. We were staying very central, inside the walled old town. But it was soooo hot that we decided to make time until lunch visiting museums where at least we could get some A/C and shade. We started off by the museo de la Inquisición, in a small square next to our hotel. Then, opposite to it on the same square, visited the museo del oro until it was finally socially acceptable to go for lunch, past 12noon.

We went to the restaurant we had been recommended at the hotel. It had very typical food and I enjoyed some delicious seafood rice. That was great! Great food and especially good A/C to pass the hottest time of the day.

After lunch, we walked around and looked for tours to the Rosario Islands on the bay. We first got information from an agency then headed to the pier to see if they had any better deals but the tours were different and after listening to a man for about half an hour about tour deals, we decided the first agency had the one we were most interested about.

We had a break for some coconut lemonade in a place with good A/C and then went to book the tour, that was tomorrow sorted!

Then, we arrived just in time to still join a free walking tour of the city that started at 4pm to 6pm. It was very interesting and informative, I really enjoyed it! (And luckily, by then the heat was a bit more bearable).

On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped at another museum which was still open, in the franci-colombian allianza. And which was exhibiting some contemporary art from French artists. Then, after searching on TripAdvisor, we decided to have dinner at a place called La Mulata. Again, food was great!! I had some octopus and a juice of corrocho, a fruit typical from the region, very nice too!

Today, we had another early morning flight at 7am so got up around 5.30am to get ready, pack everything and take a uber to the airport.

We arrived pretty early in Bogotá and took a pre-booked taxi to Victoria's home where her parents, back from Venezuela late last night were waiting for us to head to Zipaquirá to visit the UNESCO heritage of the cathedral of salt. We had lunch there and did the guided tour of the site as well as a tour of the town on a touristic train.

After that, we headed back to Bogotá to meet Eduardo, Victoria's brother and his wife, Joe as well as a friend of them from Venezuela who was visiting. We had dinner at a Spanish restaurant, where we shared some delicious tapas, which, once again, made me feel like home.

I don't think I am really aware of it yet as I write this from the airport in Medellín while waiting on my flight back home to Madrid first then Brussels but today was my last day in South America.

We were having breakfast at home with Ernesto's family, his two brothers and parents as it was the first formal introduction of both parents so I helped out set everything and serve the massive breakfast, more like a brunch where we had some delicious hot chocolate, Colombian tamales, scrambled eggs and traditional soup. Everyone enjoyed the food and the great conversation. After that, we headed to the old town once more (with my luggage already in the car) to show the city to Ernesto's family. We had the chance to see the cathedral open and finally being able to visit it from the inside unlike last time. We walked around like my first day in Bogotá and soon, it was time for me to go to the airport to take my flight to Medellín at 6.15pm but I was required to be there about 2h in advance as I was heading to Brussels.

The flight to Medellín went pretty quickly as I spent most of it updating my travel journal on the last few days and when I arrived since I had the time, I still waited to check my luggage would effectively be put directly on my next plane without the need to re check it in. At the luggage control, they were very thorough like last time in Manaus but again, I had plenty of time and it didn't take too long in the end.