Iguazu Falls

Just had to post some photos of the Iguazu Waterfalls that border Brazil and Argentina. We went there a few days ago and it was incredible! There are loads of waterfalls all lined up next to each other with different levels and so much spray!!
We crossed over to Brazil and so saw the falls from both angles, and got soaked two days running! But it didnt matter because it was so hot (which is quite unexpected as its winter in South America now!)



My friend Lydia has also been travelling with us the last few days (she´s just arrived in South America) and its been lots of fun having someone else travelling with us too! Here´s a pic of Sally and Lydia infront of a colossal stream of water!!



Well this is the last official blog as we fly home tomorrow!!! can´t believe its over already - although at times when you´re lying in bed feeling sick it has seemed quite long!! Had an amazing trip anyways, and travelling with Sally has been a lot of fun!
Think there will be one more entry when I get back (of the out-takes!) so please have a look in a few days for the conclusion of Amy´s travel blog! (It will be worth it I promise I have lots of good material.....)

Bolivia

Sorry I´ve been so slack about blogging recently - there´s just been so much to try and fit in! Sally and I have been to Lake Titicaca (the highest lake in the world), stayed on the Isla del Sol (Sun Island) in the middle of the lake, visited La Paz, been to the Amazon Basin, Uyuni to see the incredible salt lakes and finally Tupiza where ´Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid´ was filmed!

I wanted to put up so many pictures but I´ve already been her half an hour trying to load this one - so you´ll have to wait a week and a bit until we´re home!

Here´s a photo of me in the jungle catching my first ever fish (a piranha!!)I was proud and sad at the same time as it then bit the guy trying to free it from my hook and so he killed it and fed it as bait!! V traumatic.



Right time for one more photo - this looks like snow but don´t be fooled - its actually salt! Bolivia has 12,000km of salt lakes, where they mine for salt and build houses and a hotel out of it!! We took the opportunity to get some cool pics!
(Sally and I are the people being held in the guy´s hand!)



So only 8 days left or something like that and then we´ll be back in sunny old England! Please dont let that put you off writing comments, we like reading them! and its nice to know that someone is actually looking at this apart from my mum and auntie!! (although thanks for your lovely comments you two!!) Hasta Luego xxx

Machu Picchu!

Finally here´s a picture of Machu Picchu! Us with our all male group!! Note Sally looks like she´s about to collapse!

This is when we arrived at 8am, we had to get up at 4 so that we could get there for sunrise and before the hoardes of people arrive on the train. It was definitely worth it - really amazing view and the trek was lots of fun as well. We got woken up every morning in our tent with a hot drink - more luxurious than home!!!

Llamas, Altitude Sickness and Guinea Pigs - you´ve guessed it we´re in Peru!

Well what to write? Sally and I, plus her mum for 10 days, have been relaxing in the sun in Huanchaco for the past week. Huanchaco is a small fishing village, located in Northern Peru. It´s been great - like a holiday within the holiday, as we finally got to laze around and read lots of books!

Here´s a photo of the village


And this is the infamous fishing boat (caballito - it literally means ´small horse´)that the locals use


We went to the Chan Chan ruins (the largest Adobe city ever built, its pre-Inca so v old and really well preserved!)


I´m loved worldwide!


After that nice holiday (definitely necessary as Sally and I have both been a bit sick recently) we had to say goodbye to Sally´s mum and travel to Cusco (where millions of tourists head to do the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu.)
It´s actually a pretty city/town, as my photography demonstrates, with cobbled steep streets - its over 3000 metres above sea level and Inca buildings


Credit to Sally for this one


Umm a few interesting facts - it´s really cold here at night we have been sleeping with 4 blankets! We´ve also both suffered from altitude sickness and have felt out of breath whilst climbing stairs (highlighted by the fact that we are easily overtaken by old Peruvian ladies). Oh and the reference to guinea pigs in the title is because in Peru ´Cuy´ or G.P is a popular dish!
Well gotta go and tuck into my cuy, xx

My official children´s home post

Some photos of the Salvation Army Children´s home that I volunteered at for three weeks - I better say now that it looks really lovely in the pictures, but don´t be fooled, it doesn´t have much money at all!!

The entrance (you can also see a kiosk where I frequented many an evening to buy chocolate and coca cola)


Yes that is the children´s home:


The patio bordering the home, where I spent a lot of time sitting, watching boys play ´bolitas´ (or marbles - it´s like the craze in Argentina and apparently Peru as well!) and making friendship bracelets for all the kids:


Me and some of the girls (note the bike which they taught me to ride - it was v traumatic):


Some of the younger boys (a brief moment when not fighting and actually appear to be getting on with each other)


The birthday party of the officer´s daughter (she was 15 which is a special birthday in Argentina) - it was actually like a wedding and lasted from 9.30pm until 6 in the morning!


It´s really interesting hearing about Sally´s time at the children´s home in Peru because in some ways I can identify with it and in other ways my experience was very different. My children´s home was much smaller, and being run by the Salvation Army, not the state, meant that they could take only 20 children rather than packing as many children in as possible. And it was really obvious that the kids had a lot of respect for the officers who ran it (who were brilliant), but at the same time it´s sad to think that they will be moved on to another appointment sometime and then the kids will have to get used to new people and potentially big changes could be made to the home. I was also surprised that the kids went home at the weekend to stay with someone in their family, and that the main reason for them being there was because their parent couldn´t look after them as they worked during the day. (there were other reasons too). Hmm it was definitely an interesting experience and I learnt a lot - realised that things are very different in Europe though!

Well anyway there´s some of my thoughts...better go!
x

Sally´s figured out how to use the blog!

Hola from Ayacucho, high up in the Peruvian Andes! I´m coming to the end of the three week project staying in a house with local and international volunteers and working with over 40 boys in the local orphanage. Ayacucho means ´The Soul´s Home´in Quechua, the indiginous language and the town is really pretty and colourful with lots of traditional markets and panpipe music. It´s bizarre that (cold!) water and electricity comes and goes to our house but we can pick up Wi-fi in the bedroom! On our days off we´ve been on some amazing trips into the mountains, really off the beaten track.

Working with the boys has been fun but hard work! Due to their backgrounds and huge number they are often completely out of control. Quite a few of our activities have decended in chaos and trips out involve trying to stop them running in front of trucks and climbing onto the roofs of three storey buildings! On the other hand, in smaller numbers they can be very sweet and always want to play. I´ve also enjoyed taking few older boys for english classes every morning. They find it hard but are keen to learn so they can get jobs when they leave the home.

It´s been great getting to know a place and people for more than a couple of days but I´m really looking foward to hitting the gringo trail again with Monica. (he he only kidding - in fact Amy´s hair usually looks great! Sorry if she´s had to use the blog as an outlet for her hair anxieties, but I had to ban her from describing it´s problems to me after about a week!)

Lots of Love, Chao, Sally x

Quilmes - home to the Salvation Army children´s home and the biggest brewery in South America

Hopefully this picture has worked and you´re seeing a pretty picture of some beer bottles with Quilmes written on them - if not google ´Quilmes cerveza´ and you will!

This is only going to be a quick post, (I´m mainly doing this for you Sophie to say that my blog is a lot better than Greys Anatomy!)and will properly update when I can charge my camera battery (note to anyone travelling South America don´t be so stupid as to forget to take an adaptor)in a week.

My volunteering at the Salvation Army Children´s home is going well - the officers working there are really lovely, and there is another volunteer who is German and speaks English which is a huge relief! My spanish skills have really been tested (and mostly failed) as noone else speaks english and I´ve had to rely a lot on the international language of....pointing and exaggerated gestures! No I find that I understand a lot of what they´re saying and can pretty much follow a conversation, but am so bad at communicating what I want to say!

Umm meant to write more but got carried away looking for the beer picture and now got to go - sorry! more soon x