southamerica

Yip, that's almost over. Snif.

Apart from about six weeks in the Tropics of Bolivia, it's been almost exclusively ten months of hikes in the mountains, from small ones (Sierra de la Ventana, less than 1,000 m. high) to higher ones (Volcano Misti and Parque Nacional Huascarán), and a very wet last walk indeed in the cloud forest of Ecuador's Parque Nacional Podocarpus.

I'm now taking what I think is a well-deserved break by the Pacific Ocean for my last two days on this continent. In the small fishing village of Puerto Lopez precisely. No other plans but swimming, snorkeling maybe, liying on the beach, and eating loads of fish and seafood before boarding the plane to good auld Europe.

Adiós amigos de aquí, et a bientot mes amis de là-bas.

Valerio

A little flashback. That was in Sucre, Bolivia, on Saturday 26th July.
You could be forgiven for thinking that it's Piotr and I fooling around again in the patio of our lodging in Sucre. But no, it's Rafael and Simon who battle it out for the title of Mr. Sucre 2008 in El Coliseo.
By not paying attention to what the judges were telling him to do and with his full-on performance, 40-year-old Rafael entertained the whole crowd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HfLrI5fqDk

¡Hola a todos!
It's dry season in Puerto Villaroel in the tropics and after ten days of wait in the little port town I'm still hoping for a small fishing boat to take me on the Ichilo river up to the mouth of the rio Chapare. From there, I should be able to board a bigger boat that could take me to Trinidad which access by road is blocked by demonstrators (serious political and social crisis in Bolivia at the moment, violent clashes in various cities).

Today, I'm killing time not by swimming in the river, or by playing with the kids, or by chatting with the friendly locals, or by helping Doña Kitty in the kitchen, or by sipping gallons of cool refreshments in the shade, but by traveling to the nearest town and uploading a few videos on the internet.

Here they are:
Cycling in Sucre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sONCdHuvIA8
Tarzan on an 18-m high swing in the jungle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKunjO6gfME
And messing around with the kids in the Surutú river: http://www.youtube.com/v/y975CmmulxQ and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD3cNtAsA2E