Paraty

December 28th we were in Paraty, it was sunny out but we were told to expect thunderstorms by the afternoon. Our hostel had no water but as determined as I am, I showered in a mere drip of water! Paraty is a very beautiful city. It reminded me a bit of Halong Bay the way there were huge land protrusions coming out of the water everywhere and you could take a boat out that would take you to secluded islands were you could swim. Our hostel was right on the beach so it was really beautiful when you looked out. We had a day trip already booked on a 4x4 truck that took us to several waterfalls, a distillery and lunch. The waterfalls were pretty amazing and because it had rained so much, everything was very muddy and slippery, it was a test of your balance as to whether you could make it. They had a rock as well that you could slide down, a natural waterfall if you would, that was pretty cool! Paraty is rainforest, lush and green and humid! There was another family who was on the tour with us and they were really nice (rich). They were from Sao Paolo but the son was studying in Vancouver now at UBC (his name was also Marcel!). It started to rain right after the distillery as we were headed to lunch but the Brazilians assured us it would blow over so we didn´t worry to much about it . . . we were at lunch for about 2 hours and we begun to see lakes and rushing water where there at previously been road and dry ground . . . the building we ate in was from the 17th centure and as we sat there we understood the weird layout and structure of it . . . this wasnt the first time they had experienced this kind of rainfall! So we figured that the sides of our truck would roll down and all would be fine for our trek out of the rainforest and back to some proper roads, but oh no, we had the truck that was open air . . . so we put our mom´s into the cab where they would be dry and we roughed it out in the pouring rain . . . it was actually a lot of fun cause at that point you were so wet there was nothing you could do but laugh . . . plus you had to watch out for the Marcels´ . . . When we finally got back to our hostel at the end of the day we were all ready for a shower . . . fortunately there was water but parts of the city was flooding and the water wouldn´t drain from the shower! Always something . . . that was hostel was really nice though, new and clean, so no complaints from us! The next day it was 44C so we spent a few hours at the beach, then came back and showered as we had to get out of our rooms, we walked around downtown and then grabbed the 3:20 bus back to Rio. . . it was raining at this point and it wasn´t until we reached our hostel that we found out it would be raining for the next few days in Rio . . . and that this hostel would be the worst of them all . . .

Iguazu to Rio

Alright so how bad could the bus be right? We had booked semi~cama and the bus from Santiago to BA was pretty good really . . . We got up early and grabbed 2 taxi´s that took us right across the Brazilian border and dropped us at the bus station. There is a time change when you cross Brazil but we knew about that and were still plenty early for our bus. We saw a few buses come and go and none of them looked like the previous one we had been on but they weren´t the worst . . . then we layed eyes on our bus . . . let´s just say, we knew we weren´t in Kansas anymore! The bus was very old, when we turned to the right, the left side would make this loud rattling noise . . . the seats had lots of leg room and leaned back pretty far but you couldn´t recline it all the way as there was no foot rest to brace yourself from the weaving traffic (shall we call it). Our bus was the milk run and made a stop every few hours which was okay except we were sitting near the bathroom and let´s just say, I was glad I was sick and couldn´t breath! People got on and off at different stops we made and Rio Couldñ´t come fast enough! On the plus side, the countryside was beautiful! Brazil is very very green, everything looks like a rainforest. There are lots of police checkpoints that we went through however on one we actually had police get on the bus, collect everyone´s IDs and passports and run them through the computer, a family got pulled and the guy never got back on . . . not sure what that was about, the police kept updating us, but well, portugese is kicking our butts so we had no idea what they were saying! When we arrived in Rio the next day we felt pretty beaten! We then had to get on another bus which was 4 hours to Paraty where we would hit the beach! Fortunately we got 4 tickets for the 4 o´clock bus but 2 of us had to stay behind for the 8 o´clock bus which me and my brother did since, well, I am use to sleeping in bus stations and quite frankly I slept okay on the bus because, well, I can sleep pretty much anywhere (5 airports, 3 train stations and now 3 bus stations). The bus from Rio to Paraty was really really nice though (where were you on the way to Rio?) and unfortunately it was dark when we went at 8pm but we could tell it was really really beautiful. What was cool though, there was a lightening and thunder storm along the way that was happening on our side of the bus, I watched that pretty much the whole way there! When we got to Paraty, the place was deserted, except for some scray people sleeping in the bus station, we jumped in a cab though and made our way to the hostel, safe and sound!

Iguazu Falls

So December 24 we got up and headed to the airport. There was a terrific thunder storm going on in BA and we figured the plane to Iguazu would be small so we weren´t even sure the flight would take off . . . but we headed out anyway. When we got the airport, a bunch of flights had been cancelled, including an earlier flight to Iguazu but when we got to the counter, despite the fact the guy didn´t speak any english, we managed to figure out our plane was still going. We were supposed to board the pland at 11:15 with take off at 11:45 but they finally posted our gate at about 11:15, we went through security at that point, which was basically ´we don´t bother you, you don´t bother us´ and found our gate. Finally at about 12:30 we were on our way! We landed in Iguazu and the humidity hit us instantly. It is rainforest there and you were sweating just standing there. Not all of our travellers are use to ´hostel´ living, so there wasn´t much anticipation as we boarded a bus for our next hostel. The first stop we pulled in everyone looked up and saw the huge swimming pool, recliner chairs, bar by the pool and looked back down so as not to get their hopes up . . . then I announced we had arrived . . . they all told me that wasn´t funny . . . then I said I was serious, well that certainly perked them up a lot! In Lonely PLanet they describe that hostel as resort-like and that it certainly was. The drawback was that we were 6 people in a room but we had our own bathroom and AC (you learn to be grateful for small things!) We hit the pool right away, as we were all soaked anyways, and fortunately happy hour was starting then as well so we were all set! We made all of our arrangements for the next day to go to Iguazu National Park. That night they also had a huge ´Christmas Dinner´ at the hostel and brought over everyone from the sister-hostel in town and had a huge meal with a ´Brazilian show´ afterwards. I was getting sick at that point and everyone was tired so we excused ourselves for that part . . . The next day we hard an early start, breakfast at 7am, the bus picked us up at 8am and we were at Iguazu by 8:30. It was going to be another scorcher but fortunately there was still tons of cloud cover at that point. Once in the park, we got on a huge truck that tooks us about 30 minutes through the rainforest, explaining things about the wildlife, trees and orienting us with information about the park. Afterwards we did another 20 minute boat ride along the river that the falls pours into, with Brazil on our left side and Argentina on our right side. At the top of the river was Iguazu Falls . . . there is an island in the middle so they took us to the one side and then the other side so we could get tons of pictures, next we were instructed to put away everything we didn´t want to be soaked . . . and then we drove straight into the falls . . . it was crazy, the way they could only do in South America . . . there´s no way you could ever do that with Maid of the Mist . . . the water was warm and it was so hot out so nobody really complained . . . just one wet poodle! The Argentina side of Iguazu is setup really well with tons of trails bringing you out to different parts of the falls and then you hike to the top and can go right over the falls and look down. Last, we got in a paddle raft and went along the river, watching for wildlife. We saw some more monkeys, SA crocodiles and birds. At our hostel we saw a toucan but we didn´s see any other in the park but tons and tons of butterflies everywhere! All in all it was a very long day but it was really fantastic! Although I was extremely sick at that point and then I got stung by a bee, I would still recommend it! That night we headed back to our hostel and awaited the next day when we would have to cross the border and grab another 24 hour bus to Rio de Janeiro!

Santiago to Buenos Aires

Wow, you know they tell you the bus ride is 24 hours but to actually sit, on a bus, for 24 hours . . . that´s another thing! The first 6 hours of the bus ride was amazing! They played movies for us but we looked out the window mostly. The Andes are really really amazing! The colours of each of them would be different, some green, some blue and some like brown, almost like sand as if you were in Egypt. We did some crazy roads that weaved back and forth and went up them and then a few tunnels that went right through some of them! There were some resort-type lodges that we passed that had groups there that were doing white water rafting and the way these places were positioned, in the valley surrounded by the Andes, it was absolutely gorgeous! The border of Argentina-Chile is setup also in the Andes and fortunately there was a shelter over us as it took over an hour to cross the border. We arrived in BA and (since we enjoyed that bus trip so much) bought tickets for the next trip from Iguazu to Rio do Janeiro and although I say it and it sounds easy, it wasn´t. English isn´t that commonly spoken here in BA, not a lot of bus Companies here do that route and naturally, the one that did and had space would only take cash AND of course the bank machine wasn´t working for any of us . . . sometimes I think I am a bit of a magician the way I can create money out of no where . . . by the time we made it to our hostel, we needed showers in the worst way and were exhausted. The last 2 we were meeting up with were at the hostel already and we found out then that my brother had been in an accident when they had been in Uruguay but other then a lot of skinner pieces of arms and legs, he wasn´t seriously hurt. He apparently was going to go to the hospital, but it closed at 530pm so they just continued on. We went to a tango show that night (Tuesday) which was awesome. It was dinner and a show and the dinner was great and the tango and gaucho´s were fantastic! Tango is ridiculous . . . you really have to see it to believe it and there was one couple that were amazing! Yesterday we did a BA tourist bus which was very handy. BA is made up of like 8 neighbourhoods that are huge and so the bus took us through about 4 . . . saved us walking a lot of km . . . and then we could get off and walk where we wanted to. We really wanted to see where Eva Peron is buried and it was in this graveyard that was like a city! Alright, I have to cut this short, have to eat and run to the airport. It´s thunder storming here today and we have to catch our flight to Iguazu . . . can´t wait!

Typical South American Bathroom

You know, it´s sometimes the things people don´t tell you that you need to watch out for . . . for instance, using a bathroom in South America. A smart traveller, upon arriving in the doorway of the bathroom, will survey the floor and the consider the possible *water* damage to the bottom of ones pants . . . a smart traveller will then take the time to roll up their pants. If both stalls become available at the same time, scan them both really quick for which ones the biggest, this becomes important later. Once a stall has been chosen, check quickly to see if there is any toilet paper in there, this also will become important later. You see there isn´t any in this one (maybe the other one had some?) but a smart traveller has some in their backpack for just these moments, so you pull it out. Once in the stall with the door *securely* fastened, you notice there is no where to put your backpack, but wait, how fortunate, there is a window in your stall with a hook, so you carefully place your backpack there. As you turn around, noticing how extremely small this stall is, and begin to assume your *squat* position, you realize that your rolled up pants are starting to unfold down your leg. At this point, a smart traveller realizes they are going to have to perform the *keep-pants-rolled-up-pull-pants-down-hold-tp-maneuver*, a very dangerous trick that is only for professionals. . . . so you stick the TP under your chin, one thing out of the way. You roll back up your pants, a little more securely this time, you feel everything is falling into place. Until you are done though, one should never feel overly confident, since as you are beginning to sit, the impossible happens . . . . your knees hit the door (you were right, stall was small!) and the stall door that you thought was securely fastened flies open!! There´s nothing you can do at this moment but you hope in the kindness of a stranger to close it and then you continue. To leave, you carefully stand up so you knees merely touch the door with no force, remove the TP from under your chin, grab your backpack off the window hook and leave. As you leave (tagging the next person to do exactly the same trick as you just did) you can´t help but smile and think how fortunate you were to have had the window in your stall and the TP in your bag . . . .

Santiago

Santiago is a wonderful city! It´s very clean, the architecture is beautiful, there are parks at what feels like every corner and it´s very safe! It was Sunday yesterday for our walking tour so a lot of things were closed but at the same time, all the local markets came out and as I keep forgetting, Christmas is only a few days away so people were deffinitly buying! We walked for about 5 hours with our recommended walking tour in-hand. We walked by the President´s house, government buildings, courts, and tons of historical buildings. Although Chile has had several earthquakes over the years, Santiago was never that badly affected so many structures and buildings are still standing that are very old. Today we are headed out to catch our bus that leaves at 10:30am, we drive through the Andes to a city called Mendoza where we arrive at 5:30pm and then take another bus overnight to Buenos Aires where we will arrive at 8am and meet up with the last 2 of our group! We are very excited to do the bus trip, although it´s very long, we have met a few people that have done and it and really loved it. Plus, it´s hard to get sick of the beautiful mountains and Andes. See you all in BA!

Puerto Montt

We pulled into Puerto Montt early Friday morning. It was a little overcast but the forecast predicted 25C so we were optimistic. . . we had a tour booked that took us past Puerto Varas to a lake between two volcanoes. One was Osorno Volcano and because it had only snowed the week before, it was beautifully capped with snow. Osorno is 2652m high and although it´s next to another volcano, the other one had errupted in the 70´s so Orsono looked much higher. Inbetween the volcano´s is Petrohue National Park and there is a lake that runs through that park which is run-off from the melting glaciers. The water is so beautiful, an emerald green and the lake is therefore called Lake Esmeralda. We did a one hour catameran ride around the lake and got tons of beautiful pictures. One of the weirdest things there though was a huge ring around the sun that was a greyish colour and then almost a rainbow around that ring. Although the landscape was beautiful, it was the strangest thing to see there and you couldn´t help but stare (as much as you could) and most of us took pictures. The ring is due to the whole in the ozone layer that exists and affects South America. In North America we hear about the hole, but it was really bizarre to actually see it. After the boat ride we got back on the bus and went to Petrohue Falls which is the same emerald water but after the last volcano erruption there is volcanic rock all through a certain area and the falls is where the water crashes over this black, yet pretty and sparkly, rock. It was really really beautiful . . . and at this point it´s about 30C with a beautiful blue sky so we were enjoying ourselves. The guide told us that it rains about 260 days a year and that was their first day of warm weather so far this spring. She said the snow the mountain received the week before was very out of the ordinary, actually the whole cruise, all the ports said that the weather in their areas was quickly changing and unpredictable. After the falls we went to have lunch at a real farm, overlooking Orsono volcano. This was a very rich farm (they had the best of both worlds, farming and tourism) where we enjoyed a wonderful salmon lunch with some *pisco sour* that we quickly realized we had a love for! After we walked around the farm where they had a whole bunch of Llama´s and Rheas. They had this little dog that would bark at the animals which sent the Rheas into a tizzy and would cause them to run around squaking . . it was hilarious! After lunch we were taken back to Puerto Varas which is the cutest city ever! It was right next to Lake Todos Los Santos and is also glacier run-off . . . honestly after living in Toronto for so long, I forgot what clean water looks like. You could see the bottom of the late as you drove along, although the deepest park of the lake was over 1,000m deep. . . .not for the faint of heart. Puerto Varas was mostly German immigrants coming over back in the early 1900´s and it felt very German . . . it was very cute though, only one major road and little stores and markets everywhere. Everything local and that´s nice as it feels more authentic then a giant Wal-Mart in the centre. Saturday we had a day at sea and that was amazing. It was 30C and there were no clouds. We laid up on the top deck, the pool was about 84F and the hot tub 98F so we just moved from pool to pool and then sunning ourselves. It was a perfect way to end the cruise! Today we got off the ship first thing (guaranteed we were the only ones with backpacks walking off the cruise ship) and grabbed a cab to Santiago from Valparaiso where the ship was. We arrived at our hotel and are heading out for an authentic Kruning walking tour . . . (you know you wish you were here for this AK) Having fun, weather is suppose to be 33C today and it feels hot!

Chacabuco and Coyhaique

So today was a bright and early day! We had to be dressed and had something to eat and in the right spot ready to go for 6:30am . . . and let me tell you, after 2 days of hardly leaveing your cabin, that was extremely and painfully early! But it was well worth it as it is very beautiful here! The farther South you go, the less rain they get and the more barren it is, however here they get 3,000mm of rain a year and it is squeezed inbetween the Andes and other mountains. It's very lush and green and since this is the begining of their summer months, the flowers were all in blossom. There is really nothing more then a port in Chacabuco and the nearest town (about 10 minutes) is Aysen which has about 10,000 people but another hour away is Coyhaique which is a huge city of 29,000 (it's all relative here). Mostly it's picturesque here . . . people have only started living here in the 70's and they do have paved roads (which more then say Punta Arenas had) but mostly because it was developed by the military which are mostly engineers. Otherwise, it's very quiet and has only really been developed because tourism and because it has the second best fly fishing in South America. . . . the only way to get here is by boat or you can drive but you have to drive to Argentina (which is only about an hour away from Coyhaique) and then around the Andes and into Puerto Montt. Punta Arenas is not connected to the TransAmerica highway so Puerto Montt is your only and best option, other then flying or just purely trying to walk out! It's strange to be in a country where spanish is the main language but their national hero is a guy called O'Higgins . . . he was the guy who fought to get the spaniards out of Chile and everywhere you go there is a street called O'Higgins or a restaurant. His father was (you guessed it) Irish but he was Chilean born. Crazy Irish!

Hurricane anyone?

So Tuesday and Wednesday this week we were at sea. We thought that the potential for any rough water was over as we figured the worst of that would be sailing to and from the Falklands but boy were we wrong! When we left Punta Arenas, we cruised along the Magellan Strait which was pretty protected and the water was pretty calm but we then had to leave the strait and cruise through the open Pacific Ocean and that was not pretty . . . you slowly see little bags getting hung all around the ship as we cruise farther out and you know what that's for. The captain was great, updating everyone along the way and there's a channel on the tv in your rooms that gives you an update of where exactly you are (like when you fly long distances) and also details of air/water temperature, the height of waves, how many km's you have sailed since your last port and how far until your next port, etc. We kept that on for most of Tuesday but between the boating getting positively thrown around and the captain telling us, we knew it was bad. The waves were at about 17 feet and the winds where at about 40 knots . . . then it got back! At around 11am the captain announced that the waves had reached 27 feet and the wind was at 65 knots (64 knots was considered a hurricane!) But undeterred . . . we kept on sailing! It was crazy though! We are on the 8th floor and are pretty high up and we had the waves crashing onto our balcony and soaking our window. At one point the wind was hitting our side (starboard side) and even though our door is locked and sealed it made this loud howling sound by the sheer force. You couldn't walk very far as the boat was completly being tossed around. Then, the boat would 'list' as they called it or tip horribly. . . . it felt like we should be able to touch the ocean as we were tipping! Fortunately I wasn't sea sick, although I did keep a low profile that day and I think most people on the ship spent the day in their room! Wednesday wasn't as bad, although at about 5am I woke up feeling like I was standing on my head but by 10 we were in another channel and then at 3pm when we were back in the Pacific, the waves were only about 10 feet which let me tell you, felt like a dream! The sun sets are still at around 10pm but sunrise is getting later the farther north we go, being at about 6am this morning. We have this curtains that nothing can penatrate so fortunately the sun doesn't shine in our eyes any earlier then we want it to!

Beagle Channel and Punta Arenas

So we cruised the Beagle Channel last night as we made our way up to to Chile. We saw the glaciers I mentioned before and they were very beautiful colours. . . great view from the ship! Currently we are cruising the Magellan Strait and are in port at Punta Arenas. There was lots of excitement on the cruise ship this morning as there was a 12 hour day trip to Antartica (for a mere $2,500US per person) where you take a flight over and spend the day trekking around . . . we opted for the Otway Sound Penguin Reserve. It was about an hour bus ride from the port, through the city and along the countryside. It was a very beautiful drive the reserve was really amazing. You think of penguins in ice and snow but actually they follow the water temperature (18C) so they arrived in September and lay their eggs in burrows that they dig in the ground, about 1 meter deep and then have their babies and stay there until March. We walked along paths in the reserve and got to see them walk (pretty far too!) to the water to fish and play . . . so cute! I swear I never get bored with pengiuns, they are too cute! We were back by lunch time and since right now is King Crab season and this is where they pull them out of the water, we treated ourselves to a wonderful lunch of crab and then headed back out to do some shopping. The weather here has been perfect, we really couldn´t ask for a better day! We are exhausted though and just stopped off at the internet before tendering back to the boat! We are now 2 days at sea and then we arrive at Puerto Montt.

Cape Horn and Ushuaia

So last night at approximately 6pm we cruised along Cape Horn. It was a bit foggy upon our initial approach but as we passed through all the isletas it cleared up a bit and was quite beautiful. We were able to get picture of the house where the family lives 6 months of the year (so that no one takes Cape Horn from Chile) and the helicopter that was there. This morning we arrived in Ushuaia bright and early and boarded a bus for a tour through Tierra del Fuego national park. This park is part of Chile as well as Argentina and is very green (which we haven't seen a lot of so far) as well as mountainous with snow capped peaks. Parts of it reminded me a lot of Banff and we stopped at this one area that I swear was Lake Louise! Tierra del Furgo actually runs along the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia is the major city nearest is and is in Argentina. 95% of the boats going to Antartica leave from the Ushuaia port and while we were there we saw several loading up. Antartica is only 1000km from Ushuaia. We cruised through the Beagle Channel from Cape Horn to get here and as we cruise towards Punta Arenas in Chile, the scenery is truly magnificent! We are surrounded by snow capped peaks and in about an hour will be passing the Holanda, Italia, Francia, Alemania and Romanchi Glaciers. Fortunately we have a balcony and all the glaciers are on our side (starboard) so we can view them from our comfortable room! We are resting now as tomorrow is a long port day in Punta Arenas and we have lots planned! Christina was badly motion sick this morning on the bus tour and had to take gravol and is sleeping now (ironic for those that know our past!) but the temperature is about 19C and although the breeze is a bit cold the sun is warm and the sky is cloudless so we are taking full advantage of our balcony!

More water . . .

Can you ever get sick of looking at endless amounts of water . . . I think so . . . there's only so much rocking and looking at the endless waves . . . but that's why they have THE SPA! I only really truly discovered the spa a little while ago and it has since changed by life, that's right Anthony, changed my life! So today I enjoyed a wonderful seaweed wrap with a massage which was utterly wonderful! The days are long here with sunrise being a about 4:30am (we are 2 hours ahead of TO BTW) and the sun setting at about 10:00pm . . . which leaves a lots of hours inbetween to contemplate life. As I turn 27 today I can't help but be very content with things and it's only lunchtime. What will this afternoon hold for this Peipei? Stay tuned! We cruise through Cape Horn tonight at around 6:30 and tomorrow we arrive in Ushuaia which is the bottom of the world! It's going to be chilly but we will be heading into Tierra del Fuego national park which we are looking forward to! There hasn't been a lot of greenery on this trip! Alright, peips is going to find the others! Enjoy this Saturday!

SEASICK?

Am I seasick you ask? Since I am infamous for that I am sure that is going through your minds but I am happy to report that I am doing just fine! It's day 6 and yesterday and tomorrow are our really big sea days (really out to sea to and from Falklands) but so far I have been great! Some of you e-mailed me about it but no shot for Peipei thus far . . .

Argentina to Uruguay to Argentina to Falklands .. .

Wow, where do I even begin? What an adventure this has been so far and I can't believe we have only been gone a week! Well the flight over was almost a complete dream, other then the seemingly short flight to Atlanta that ended up being delayed over an hour and then circled Atlanta for another 30 minutes . . . . but the flight to BA was a dream, we slept most of the way only to wake up with enough time to have an enjoyable airplane breakfast . . . and watch a movie! Buenos Aires was everything we expected it to be. We woke up Christina upon our arrival (even though it was almost noon) but in true fashion we were on a walking tour of the city within minutes. All the spanish has been flooding back to us and if we don't know the ever forgiving "no etiendo" comes in handy for a laugh everytime! Getting to the cruise ship was a bit of a laugh but thanks to our tiny Argentine friend we made it!! The cruise has been fantastic so far. I think there are camera's online if you go to Norwegian's sight, we are on the Sun and you can see what our port looks like everytime we are at one. Monday we were in Montevideo which I honestly didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly suprised. We did a city tour of it which felt like a whole country tour by the time we were done. They have beautiful white sand beaches there with all the lake frontn condo's you could want, he weather was absolutely gorgeous and even though all the President's from all the South American countries were there, it still felt safe and homey. We did the 2 suggested walking tours after and they had this awesome building right off the pier that was just food and was tons of barbeque's . . . but not North American kinds . . . they had these huge grills and then random animals and vegetables and you sat like a bar so you could pick what you wanted off the grill and ate. We just walked through but we saw lots of crew and tourists eating. Tuesday we were at sea and i gratefully layed in the sun. We had to be careful as the ozone layer here is extremely thin but since the air temperature everyday is dropping, the sun felt nice with the *colder* air. .. . Wednesday we were in Puerto Madryn which was really lovely. We had an all day excursion where they took us over to Valdes Island and we saw Sea Lions, Elephants Seas and Magellan Penguins. It was such a beautiful day and we took amazing photos. The drive was about 2.5 hours each way and the landscape is pretty barren as they don't get a ton of rain but in the 70's there were only about 8,000 people living in that city and now because of the aluminum plant there are 30,000 so everything was very new looking. They had white sand beaches and the homes had beautiful glass fronts. Thursday was a day at sea which I spent most of the day sleeping . . . catching up on all those lots hours before I got here! Today we were in the Falkland Islands and that was fantastic! I pictured them to be look like Newfoundland and I wasn't disappointed! We had this fantastic day trip where we were loaded into Land Rover's and then driven (4x4 style) over peety moss to what felt like the edge of the world where we saw the Rockhopper Penguins! They cracked me up, they had nests built and were sitting on their babies but they would come along and steel bits and pieces of others nests and they would squack and yell and bite the guy as he made a run with his steal. . . As their name suggests (rockhopper) they nest in among the rocks and the literally hop everywhere. IN short I took about 120 pictures of them and some video as it just cracked me up! We got stuck in some mud on the ride back but another kindly Land Rover helped us out. We travelled in a caravan in that event (in true Christina style she kept comparing it to Jurassic Park!) Tomorrow is a day at sea and my birthday so I am thinking the spa might be nice . . .

How it all began

I remember it clearly, it was 2002 and suddenly I was running through a market in Marrakesh, "what am I doing here?" I thought. I was running behind a local Moroccan man who was waiving to me to follow. I looked behind me and I saw my sister and friend trailing behind me and laughing. "Follow me" he said "I know where your brothers are". What was I doing, I was chasing a small Moroccan man who claims he knows where my brothers are through a vast market. I took a second to look around and realized the market we were running through was quite impressive with its many vendors and it's ceiling made of greenery that made you feel as though you were indoors though made so securely that no precipitation could get in. I was just beginning to wonder how we had lost them, what had happened. People were yelling to us to buy from them "Liquidation" "Good Deal". What was happening. All of a sudden we came to a hault and had to squeeze up against a wall to let a donkey and cart through . . . but this quite clearly wasn't a street . . . that's when I got hit by a rain drop and I looked over at my sister and realized, this isn't a dream, I am awake . . . that's when I knew I was on vacation!