Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
04-11-2008
I’m home
Hola chicos and chicas,
I am sitting writing this final post in the Scottish Borders. I arrived home two weeks ago, to be greeted with a flurry of snow. I have been trying to continue wearing my flip flops but it’s freezing!
We spent our final two weeks travelling through Paraguay, to Iguasu falls and then finally back to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the last few days.
Our time in Paraguay was alright but a little bit uninteresting. The guide books say that there are more wild cats in Paraguay than travellers and tourists. Sure enough, we didn’t spot another tourist in the whole time that we were there. There wasn’t a great deal to see or do but we managed to fill our days, exploring and eating Paraguayan treats.
Iguasu falls were wonderful. I couldn’t quite believe how big they were. We spent a lovely day walking around the national park and even squeezed in an exciting speed boat trip which sped into part of the falls. We were soaking wet but luckily the sun dried us out very quickly.
The days flew by and before we knew it, it was Tuesday and time to leave. I felt really weird - a bit sad, nervous, excited and tired.
The journey home was long and I didn’t manage to sleep on the plane. I said goodbye to Alice at Heathrow and then hopped on a plane to Edinburgh.
Don’t tell anyone but I cried a little bit when I flew over the city! I had an amazing view of the Forth and the bridges.
It was great to see my family and catch up on sleep but felt very strange to be home. I have spent the last two weeks visiting friends and family in the UK and then on Wednesday, I visited everyone at HIS.
It was lovely to see you all and 3/9, you are so grown up! I will pop in again soon with some photographs. I am waiting for a parcel of things to arrive in the post from Bolivia so when I have everything, I’ll come back in and see you.
Miss Black xx
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03-01-2008
Off to Paraguay
Hello,
I have just spent over a week back here in Bolivia travelling with Alice. It was lovely to meet up with her again after three weeks of being apart. Bolivia was just as I had remembered it…cold, dirty, crazy and beautiful. I travelled to the capital, La Paz where I spent a few days getting used to the altitude(and a lot of nose bleeds). We then went back to Lake Titicaca, this time staying in Copacabana and strangely, once again, I became ill. Copacabana was lovely but I spent my time there, tucked up in bed.
Another bus journey later, we were back in La Paz and it was time for the trek up the Huayana Potosi Glacier(6088m above sea level). I was feeling better and the first two days of the 3 day expedition were great. We practiced ice climbing, using picks and wearing crampons. The final part of the climb involved getting up at 1am to climb for a final 6 hours, with the intention of reaching the summit at day break. We were two hours in and I had a very iffy tummy. I had to ‘go to the toilet’ on the snow and eventually, made the decision to give up and return to bed. The altitude had got the better of me and we didn’t make it to the top.
This was quite upsetting(as soon as we climbed lower, I was well again) but at least it means that I have a reason to return to Bolivia. Alice and I have made a pact to attempt it again when we are 40.
We are in the sunshine once again in the tropical city of Santa Cruz. This has really just been a stopping point for us because we are leaving for Paraguay tonight on a bus. Due to the bumpy, dusty roads, it might even take over 60 hours to get there! I hope not.
In two weeks time, we will be getting on a plane back to the U.K. I am very excited about seeing everyone but it also feels a bit scary to be leaving South America.
We are both looking forward to spending some time in a new country and afterwards, we still have Iguasu Falls to look forward to as well. We ghave a very busy two weeks.
I am really looking forward to getting rid of my horrible clothes and shoes, and having a final spending spree in Buenos Aires, Argentina before returning home too!
Have a lovely Easter holiday and I will be seeing you all very very soon.
Lots of love, Miss B xx
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02-16-2008
Brazil
Hello everyone,
I`ve just arrived back to Buenos Aires, having had an amazing two weeks in Brazil. I don`t want to put on too many photos of my time there - will save those ones for when I get back (although hoping I wont have to do a grand presentation!).
Brazil is an amazing country and up there with my favourites. I arrived at the centre at the start of Carnaval and my first few days were pretty crazy. There were over 500 people on the base, from all over the world and I found it all a bit overwhelming. However, I soon got swept up in the Carnaval activities and was lucky enough to be able to see Recife and Olinda in full swing(something which most tourists would never experience). I loved the dancing, the music, the costumes and decoration. It was so much fun.
After Carnaval finished, the base was only home to about 100 people and I was able to settle in. The new school (which we’ve raised money for, at school, over the last few years) opened on Monday and I was lucky enough to be able to help prepare for the opening(lots of cleaning furniture and painting) and was there to help out, during the first week.
I immediately felt at home, cleaning up sick and changing people who had the odd `accident`. I did struggle with the language. Portuguese sounds very different to Spanish and with the 2 and 3yr olds, it was very frustrating, not being able to communicate freely. When I spent a day with the 4 and 5yr olds they thought that it was really funny that I wasn`t very good at Portuguese. It was easier with them because they could understand my Spanish and helped me out as best they could! I`ll save all of my school news for when I come home(otherwise I`ll not have an excuse to pop into school and see you all!).
In fact, I`ll write another blog entry in the next few days. I have to go now and pack my bag - I`m getting a bus back to Bolivia tomorrow and will be meeting up with Alice again (when I eventually get there!). Sorry for the short blog entry - I`ve run out of time! Will write again soon
Miss B xx
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01-26-2008
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01-25-2008
a few more photos! (and even more to follow soon)
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01-25-2008
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01-25-2008
A long overdue hello from South America!
Hello everyone,
It has been aaaaaaageeeees since my last post, so I now have lots of exciting things to tell you about.
During the few days before Christmas, Alice and I travelled down through Patagonia to the very bottom of Argentina, stopping off at a few interesting places along the way. After filling ourselves with chocolate from Bariloche(yum) we took a bus down a road called ‘Route 40′. This bus journey was very long and the road was very bumpy.
We stopped at a tiny little village called El Chalten and after a good night’s sleep, trekked for 10 HOURS (I was exhausted) to view a beautiful mountain called Fitz Roy. I even paddled in the glacial lake at the top (it was so cold, I thought my feet were going to drop off). After El Chalten, we stopped off in a town called El Calafate and from there, we got up really early the next day to visit the Perito Moreno Glaciar.
It is quite complicated to try and explain what a glaciar is but I’ll try! It is a very large, moving mass of ice formed through the gradual build up of snow in high cold regions. A glaciar is so powerful that it can shape the surrounding landscape and it sounds like rumbling thunder when pieces crack and move.
The Perito Moreno glaciar is one of the most impressive things that I’ve ever seen.
We made friends with a boy from England called Jay and he decided to travel down to Ushuaia and spend Christmas with us.
Christmas was good fun but it did feel really strange not being with my family. I was a wee bit sad but Santa managed to find us and he gave me a cute cuddly penguin and a hula hoop (I’m rubbish) which made me happy. Our hostel played Christmas music and we even had a tree in our room with decorations on. Everyone in the hostel helped cook a big dinner and it was a lovely day.
Alice and I really liked Ushuaia and we ended up staying there for two weeks! We spent our time playing board games (I’m really good at chess again!), running along the waterfront and drinking a special drink from Argentina called ‘Mate’. Mate is made from Yierba which comes from a plant similar to Holly. The Yierba is poured into a special cup and water is added(usually hot). It is drunk through a special straw/spoon thingy called a Bombilla and tastes like really strong green tea.
Anyway, Alice and I love drinking Mate and now have our own equipment so we can have it whenever we want. I’m going to bring some home with me in my suitcase as it’s quite difficult to find in Scotland!
We went on a boat to visit the penguin colony on our final day in Ushuaia and saw hundreds of penguins swimming, sleeping, waddling and protecting their eggs. Our boat stopped and we were able to walk around the colony. We were very lucky and managed to see baby ones too.
To get back to Buenos Aires after New Year, we had to travel on a bus for 54 hours. I was glad to arrive and finally have a shower and some sunshine! We had a lovely few days shopping for clothes, eating good food and we even met up with some friends from home who were on holiday.
It was so so hot that we decided to head to Uruguay with Jay and have a little ‘holiday’ at the seaside. We spent a week in a tiny town by the sea called La Paloma. We also visited the capital, Montevideo and my favourite place….Cabo Polonia. Cabo Polonia is a tiny village set right on the shore and in order to reach it, you either have to ride on a horse or get in an enormous monster truck to transport you across the sand dunes. Alice and I opted for the truck because we were carrying a gigantic picnic, bucket and spade, bat and ball and all of our other beach things. When we were there, we walked to the lighthouse and saw sea lions on the rocks. Some of them were fighting and some of them were lazing in the sun.
I would really like to go back to Uruguay and I now think that it’s my second favourite country, after Bolivia.
Now, I am back in Buenos Aires for a week before I fly to Brazil! I feel a bit sad today because Alice got on a bus back up to Bolivia. When I get back from Brazil in three weeks time, I’ll meet up with her again in Bolivia too. I am going to have some Spanish lessons as well as some Salsa lessons this week to keep me busy. I’m also trying to learn a little bit of Portuguese. I wonder if anyone from old 2/7 can still remember how to count to 10?
I’m going to be visiting Recife during Carnaval and I’m really excited (and a bit nervous). I have a photo of my old class to show everyone at the centre and I’m sure they’ll be very pleased when they see how much money Ellie F and everyone from the class managed to raise for them too.
Thankyou to everyone who writes comments to me. They make me smile. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and holiday. I hear Scotland had(or has?) snow!
I hope you’ve all enjoyed your haggis, neeps and tatties tonight!
lots of love, Miss B xx
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12-15-2007
Happy Christmas!
Hello,
We are now in Argentina. It is really hot here because it is Summer and it doesn’t feel at all like December.
We spent a week in the capital, Buenos Aires and even saw the President! We left there to try and find somewhere cooler and travelled to Mendoza where we hired bikes and cycled around, trying lots of tasty wine (not a great combination!).
We are now in the chocolate capital of Argentina, Bariloche (and the chocolate is amazing). It is very beautiful here with sparkling lakes and snow capped mountains. We are going trekking to a glacier tomorrow.
We leave here on Monday to travel right down to the bottom of Argentina to a place called Ushuaia. This is the most southern part of the world that can be visited(discounting the Antarctic). It will be cold there and we’ll be able to see lots of penguins! Hopefully it will feel a bit more like Christmas there.
I won’t be able to get in touch for a while because Ushuaia doesn’t have internet. So…..
Have a very happy Christmas and a lovely holiday.
Thankyou to everyone who has sent me Christmas messages. It is great to hear from you all. I will try and get back to everyone individually soon.
Lots of love, Louise xxx
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11-28-2007
Bolivia
Hello,
Last week we went to a tiny little town called Torotoro to visit the National Park and look at dinosaur footprints. The footprints were amazing - scarily big! When I get to Argentina, I´ll put up some photographs. We also climbed down a huge canyon which was over 220m deep.
After Torotoro, we arrived back in the bustling market city of Cochabamba (because of the really good ice cream parlour mainly!). Here, we experienced our first day of rain. Alice slipped in her flip flops and we had to rush to hospital at 1 in the morning. We had to pay a lot of money to the doctor so he could take x-rays and then I had to get a taxi to a drive-in chemist to pick up the medicine to take back for the doctor! Alice is ok now but her back is still very sore.
We said goodbye to Alex, who is now looking after bears in the jungle, and took a bus to Sucre. The plan was to stay in Sucre, have some Spanish lessons and celebrate my birthday (Sucre is a beautiful city with lots of yummy restaurants). However, we hadn´t realised that the day we arrived also marked the beginning of violent political protests so we had to get on a bus and leave before the city was blocked and the riots started.
Eventually, after a lot of hours on various buses (not very comfy in Bolivia), we arrived in Uyuni and booked to do a 3 day trip in a jeep, visiting the Salt Flats and various other natural wonders. We left on Sunday and got back last night. The Salar de Uyuni (salt lake) was amazing. All you could see for miles around was white salt and the blue sky. I felt like I was on another planet. I think it is the most amazing place that I have ever been.
It is so white that it is hard to work out distances. This means that everyone takes lots of funny photos. It is hard to explain but we have some really good photos which I´ll put on soon.
We also travelled past some amazing Lagunas. One was bright red because of little organisms glowing under the water when the wind blew. We saw lots of Vicuñas(endangered Llamas) and pink flamingos.
I spent my birthday on this trip (mainly sitting in a bumpy jeep). I was very lucky to be in such a beautiful place but instead of a scrummy birthday tea, I ate fried eggs and rice. The place we slept in that night had no electricity so I was tucked up in bed very early!
Yesterday, we had to get up at 4am to drive to the geysers. They were incredible! The ground was covered in bubbling holes of boiling hot water and mud, and steam was shooting out everywhere. It smelt like rotten eggs. We were 4900m above sea level and it was very very cold (at last feeling like a normal November!). At 5am, we arrived at the edge of a hot lake which had a special area where you could swim. It was a natural thermal bath. Although it was still icy cold outside, it was worth taking a dip in the boiling hot water. Then, we ate pancakes and yoghurt so it was a fantastic end to the trip.
We travelled back in the jeep and arrived back in Uyuni late last night, and took a train here to Tupiza. We are leaving again tonight to go to our last stop in Bolivia - a city called Tarija. Here, we are going on a wine tasting tour (maybe even more than one) before getting a bus into Argentina.
The weather is getting hotter here which feels really odd. I miss the cold. Let me know what is happening at school. Is it very exciting now that Christmas is nearly here?
Will write soon with photos. Lots of love,
Miss Black xx
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11-16-2007
The end of Peru and the beginning of Bolivia.
Hello,
Sorry that I haven´t written a post for so long. I´ve been very busy.
Lake Titicaca was very beautiful but I was really ill so I couldn´t really enjoy it. We visited an island called Amanti where we stayed with a lovely Peruvian couple. They looked after me very well but all I could really do was sleep and try to get better.
After visiting the islands, we took a bus to Cusco, the Inca capital of Peru. Cusco is a very beautiful city with lots of exciting things going on. I would like to live there.
From Cusco, we did the Ínca trail, walking to Machu Picchu. This took four days and it was very hard work. We camped in tents and had to wash in wee streams because the toilets were horrible! At night we ate yummy food and played cards with the rest of our group. We made lots of new friends.
We arrived to see Machu Picchu emerging from the clouds, at 6am on the final morning. It was a fantastic sight to see and really quite magical. Machu Picchu is one of the new seven wonders of the world and although it is amazing, it was very busy when we go there, full of tour groups (and Llamas!).
It was very sad to leave Cusco but exciting too because we were travelling to our next country. We are now in Bolivia. Our journey here was really fun. We had to get a bus to the border where we then had to get off and walk under a bridge into Bolivia. Once our passports were stamped, we had to get back on the bus. We had to cross the lake again on a boat. Our Bus had to go over on a special boat too. It was a bit scary!
Eventually we arrived in the crazy city of La Paz. It´s tucked away high in the mountains. Here, we met up with our friend Alex from Edinburgh. We spent a few days here doing lots of shopping! We also took a trip down the world´s most dangerous road on mountain bikes. This was very scary but I loved it. I was going so fast! The road is 64km long and mostly downhill, along very twisty and narrow paths. We even had to cycle underneath a waterfall.
Our friend Alex has a tent so we decided to go away for a few days, walking the El Choro trek. The trek was really hard work but it was lovely to be away by ourselves, camping under the stars. We began the trek at 4900m above sea level so I was very out of breath. We descended 3250m from barren mounains, into the humid jungle. I couldn´t walk by the end of the third day. I was exhausted. The whole trek was 56km long and a lot of it was uphill.
My favourite part was building a fire on the last night. Luckily I was a Girl Guide when I was younger and could remember how to do it. We managed to cook pasta and scrambled egg and then even boiled some water to have a cup of tea!
We did some more shopping yesterday (poor Alex did not enjoy it as much as us girls!) and then took an overnight bus here to Cochabamba. I think we may be the only tourists here. It´s an exciting place with a gigantic market - you can buy ANYTHING here. We are leaving tomorrow to travel to Parque Nacional Torotoro to explore some fossilized dinosaur tracks.
Unfortunately, the computers here will not let me upload any photos. When we reach Argentina, I think it´ll be easier.
Hope everyone is happy and looking forward to Christmas (or is it a bit soon to mention that yet?). The shops here are beginning to put up their decorations and I have even heard some Christmas music. It feels so strange because it is still very warm here during the day.
Thankyou for your comments. It is lovely to hear from you.
I´ll write again soon.
love from Miss Black xxx
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