I might talk about how old I am, what I look like, and what I do for a living. (I'll try to be truthful!)

BRAZIL

Sao Paulo 29 Jan - 1 Feb	Add your content here
Maresias 2 Feb - 5 Feb	My own little paradise for 4 days, a 3 km stretch of beach surrounded by a mountainous forest, no one that spoke english and of course let me through in the butler named Wilson, serioulsy he followed me everywhere. If i went to the beach for a sunbake, 2 minutes after i had sat down, the boy would appear with a chair and set up an umbrella for me, when i went to go for a wander, he met me at the gate with a push bike. I think that i could have handled that kind of lifestyle for a little while loneger, but Carnaval was beckoning me, so off i went on the economic travel form of the bus, when i could get me eyes off the driver and his ability to drive on the wrong side of the road around the scary bends.....i got witness some spectacular scenery, what a beautiful coastal trip, we went through some cute villages and the surf looked pretty entising....will take my surfboard next time.
Rio De Janiero 6 Feb - 15 Feb	Add your content here

ARGENTINA

Buenos Aires 16 Feb - 28 Feb	Very excited i was at coming here, so many expectations, the steak, the night life and the beautiful people...well it all lifed up to the hype. I loved this place and did i mention the shopping....spent way too much money. I ended staying longer then anticpiated. Got around the city seeing all the wonderful suburbs, San Telmo on the weekends comes to life with wonderful anitque markets and street perfomers, Ricoletta has great resturants/bars and is home of the famous cemetry in which Evita Peron grave is and many other famous Argentinans. Spent a day wandering around La Boca, the oldest part of BA, a visit to the stadium and caught a game of soccer there as well, so much passion and excitment, great atmosphere. I even managed time to fit in the occasional spanish lesson (which was my saviour in the future to come). Of course the hostel i picked was a mad party house, very large and always many things going on, and i got to feast like i was never to eat again, the cheapest meat i have ever incounted, plus very tasty. All in all i had a fabulous time and didnt want to leave, luckily i forgot to extended my bed one day and ended up being kicked out, so off i bused it across Argentina.
Rosario 1 Mar - 3 Mar	Add your content here
Mendoza 4 Mar - 7 Mar	Add your content here

CHILE

Santiago 4 Mar - 9 Mar

The business hub of South America, a concrete city full of business's and university's. I stayed in a awesome hostel called Casa De Roja, a half done up mansion, owned by an Australian and full of young party travellers.

San Pedro De Atacama 10 - 12 Mar

I was so happy to arrive at this quant little town, after 2 days on the bus going up to coast line, i had had enough of cramped space, cheese on bread and lack of sleep. Chile is such a arid country, the whole trip was just the jagged rocky cliffs of a coast line and then desert on the other side that ran all the way to the Andes, no farming or stock was sight along that whole journey, not too sure how anyone survives living in that landscape as there were plenty of villages. After a gorgoeus breakfast and quick walk around town to arrange tours and get bearings, a few off us decided to go sand boarding for the afternoon, 30 minute bike ride later, we met our dune, what a formidable sight. It takes like 10 minutes just to hike up, then all of an adreline rushing minute to surf it down, zig zaging all the way trying to keep the sand out of my pants...on the last run of the day another girl and i decided to race it down sittng down on the board, unfortunately we didnt hear the instructions of how to brake and ended up having the biggest/funniest stack of all time....head first.....board ended up 20 metres away....sand in every part of my body.....way too cool. :)

BOLIVIA

Ulyuni (4WD Tour) 13 - 16 Mar	Ulyuni (4WD Tour)
La Paz 17 - 20 Mar	What an urban sprawl, first thing i noticed was that there is no flat ground, it is all up and down, which is challenging at altitude (3660m), making walking to dinner feel like a 20 minute run. I didnt feel safe in this city for one moment, eyes were always on you, but there were great places to explore, awesome street markets from fresh fruit to dead llama fetiouses. I picked up a stomach bug here that set me back for a couple days but it didnt stop me from mountain biking it down the most dangerous road in the world (so they say, and i can verfiy that its pretty damn scary). It starts off on bitumen, foggy and raining, cause of the early morning and altitude, first hour was great fun, flying down this mountain, no feeling in your face or hands and limited vision of about 10 metres in front of you. Finally we hit the dirt track and an up hill bit that knocks the breath out of you. As the sun breaks through the rising clouds we start to noitce the drop off on our left side, suddenly everyone takes it down gear, more control over speed now, plus there is more on coming traffic, which we must give way too. Four hours later we stop for lunch and a brake pad check. Another two more hours till we reach the bottom, by now i have dryed into a mud cake, my arms arms are suffereing from all the vibrations, but the adrelian still keeps my energy levels high, every time a bump sends you off course and close to the edge or you take that corner a little too fast, cause your watching the beautiful scenery go by...brings you back to reailty. I dont think that i stopped smiling the whole way down, very cool.
Rurrenabaque 21 - 27 Mar	This is a great little gate way to the Pampas Wetlands and Jungle. Located on a Rio Beni (river) and accessed by a scary plane ride over some spectacular sights, this unique town thrives on tourists for its survival. The main street is just made up of tour guide offices and then the odd hostel/hotel. Taxi's are motorbikes, that cruise around town all day and Mostquito Bar is the place to go out at night, great happy hour and cocktails, just got to watch out for the gang of locals on the prowl.... So off i went on a 3 day pampas tour, the wetlands were at there highest they have been in the last 50 years, buildings, fences and cattle were floating every where. Luckily our accommodation and the local pub were still above water. The days were spent filled with wildlife spotting, some highlights include; swimming with pink dolphins & one actually touched me, they were so so playful (before this i never knew they existed), also got to see colourful birds including the famous tucan, plus there were plenty of monkeys, all different kinds. Then at night off we went aligator hunting, but the only thing i caught was hundreds of mozzie bites, not pleaseant. We did get to witness two quite big aligators, they were residents at our campsite, one was called Pedro very friendly (see photos). It was a special experience being so close to all these amazing animals, especially in their natural environment.
Copacabana (Lake Titicaca) 28 - 31 Mar	Wonderful little hippy town situated on the bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. Lots of bohemia coffee places with great live music and great food, loved the trout. Ended up spending my birthday here, went out for dinner and had a great meal, wine and danced till late with many a dreddie/musician europen traveler. Took a tour (2 hour boat trip from Copacabana) to the Isla de Sol (Island of the Sun), birth place of the ancient Inca's. The place is dotted with many small villages and walking tracks. It was still at high altitude so the 3-4 hour trek from north to south was not as easy as anticipated. Quite streunous but worth the effort for the great sights along the way.

PERU

Cuzco 1 - 12 Apr	This place is the ultimate tourist town of Peru, i have never been hassled so much in all of my life. You cant step out the front door before being accosted about free drinks, resturabts and tours. Besides that is where the famous Inca Trail is done, plus all the Inca ruins that you can get your hands on. Also i did a day of white water rafting in the scared valley which was a huge higlight.
Arequipa/Nazca 13 - 16 Apr	It was a rushed bus journey from Cuzco through these places to Lima, as i had a booked flight to LA to get. But quite enjoyable, Arequpia is the called the white city, amazing architecture and wonderful resturants everywhere. Visited the famous Saint Catalina Convent and lost a whole day surrounded by those walls, is a city within a city. Another day another 8 hour bus we arrive in this dusty town called Nazca, not much interesting to report here, most people catch the flight over the nazca lines then disapear just as quickly as they came. Make sure that you dont eat breakfast the morning of the flight, very deadly consequences, lots and lost of turbulence.
Lima 17 - 20 Apr	It was hard to get an over all impression of this place as i arrived on a bus and then went straight to Miraflores, which was the suburb i stayed in the whole time, was feeling tired, just wanted to chill out at the beach, no more tours for me. Instead i went shopping, lol and i did venture into the city centre, very beautiful plaza. I certainly noticed the difference in the appearence of the peruvians here to the southerns, certain more spanish and western looking, not so indigoues.

Emma Best 2005