23rd & 24th September 2008: We leave Lima (and it´s cacophony of car horns) in the afternoon and after 4 hours on the bus find ourselves in Pisco, which is smaller, but just as noisy and alot dustier. Luckily we are staying just outside the town so get another bus to our hotel which is on a quiter part of the coast. After a quick supper and obligatory Pisco Sour we head to bed as tomorrow morning we have an early start to go and see the Ballestas Islands....

20th, 21st & 22nd September 2008: After a fairly hideous night bus we arrive into the hectic city of Lima and promtly collapse into bed for a quick nap! We´re staying in an area called Baranco which is near the sea and full of colonial buildings in various states of repair. We take a walk to Miraflores which is the main shopping district of Lima. The scenery along the coast is stunning, the beaches seem popular with local surfers and the parks along side the...

18th - 19th September 2008: We´re spending one night in a small town caled Huanchaco, which is famous for its reed boats called 'caballitos de tortora', which roughly translates as ´little horses made of reeds´. They are all lined up along the beach and the fishermen take them out in the mornings and afternoons, napping on the beach in between. Naledi and I take a walk up to the church on the top of the hill for a view of the town before relaxing with some bee...

15th - 16th September 2008: Today we leave Ecuador and head into Northern Peru. Ecuador has been one of the highlights of my trip so far, the combination of amazing wildlife in the Galapagos, the chance to have a two week break with Mum, wonderful scenery and lovely people means that I am quite sad to leave. On our bus journey towards the border we pass more stunning scenery with huge mountain passes and lush forests. The landscape gets flatter and drier as we he...

13th - 14th September 2008: After a long day of travelling from Banos (but luckily no hangovers, we must have danced all the alcohol out of our systems) we arrive in the colonial city of Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador. Our hotel room is huge and we have a balcony with views over the city. We´re all tired so grab a quick meal before bed. Naledi and I spend the day exploring the colonial centre of Cuenca - it´s sunday so there are lots of street mar...