Hey peeps!

It´s been a while and we have been to many different places since the last entry so I shall try and tell you what we have been up to in a nut shell!

So, after Machu Picchu we had a 12 hour overnight bus journey to Puerto Maldonado, then a 2.5 hour boat ride down the River Tambopata to a lodge in the Amazon with a company called Inotawa where we volunteered for 10 days.

We couldn´t believe how massive and beautiful the jungle lodges were and the food was heavenly! The voluntary work that we undertook here was basically washing up after each meal and helping in the kitchen (bonus!) As it was low season the guests were becoming few and far between so our work changed to raking up (like being back at work!). The temperature was average 35 degrees and sooo humid. We were both constantly sweating even when just sitting down (very attractive!).

The great thing about volunteering here was that we got to go out to different places and go on walks along with the guests and guides (for half the price and stayed 3 times as long!!) which meant we managed to see loads including:

4 species of monkey (saddle back tamarin, red howler monkey, squirrel monkey and night monkey)

Red and green and chestnut fronted macaws

Caiman (loads of caiman, mostly small but some 1 metre long!)

Loads of birds!

One tarantula (which we saw often as it´s hole was in the middle of the path!)

One snake plus the cream of the crop - GIANT RIVER OTTERS! Which are rarer than jaguars!

I think our fave was trekking for an hour through Primary forest then sitting on a tree on the edge of a lake and watching 10 giant river otters swim down towards us whilst they caught fish and squeaked at each other - definately top 10 wildlife moment!!

Anyway, apart from the fact that we were left in the jungle overnight on our own (which was quite unnerving) we had a really good time in the Amazon.

Next up was Puno which is the base for exploring Lake Titicacca. We did a 2 day, one night tour to the islands on the lake. Firstly, we visited Uros islands which are floating islands made out of rushes. Even they´re boats are made out of rushes (see photo). Totally amazing!! One interesting fact is that they have to get in a boat to go to the toilet in a special place in the rushes! I guess they paddle fast when they´re desperate!

Next island was Amananti which took 2.5 hours to get to as our boat was sooooo slow. Seriously, Vic could´ve swum there quicker! We stayed with a local family on this island who were the loveliest people ever and they spoke Spanish which was a bonus as the islanders all speak Quechua. The island is very beautiful and has a mediterranean feel about it- felt like we were on holiday! After a lovely lunch we headed out to the highest point on the island where we watched the sunset. It was a beautiful evening and the sunset was stunning. After dinner we then got dressed up in traditional clothes and headed to the local hall for a fiesta. We danced to traditional music which was fun and then headed back for a well earned nights sleep (it was a very long day!!).

The next day we set off to the next island called Taquille which was beautiful too but didn´t quite have the tranquility as the other island. However we had a nice lunch and was taught about the traditional dress of the islanders which included the men wearing certain coloured hats and belts to show the ladies whether they were single or not (kind of like a traffic light party but a bit classier!).

Then it was time for our 3 hour boat ride back to Puno. We stayed in Puno far longer than we should´ve and then headed to Arequipa (which was a mammoth journey full of things going wrong including a non existent hostel and Vicki losing the keys to her rucksack!). Anywho, we spent a couple of days here which is a lovely city but then decided to head to Chile!

So now we are in Arica in Northern Chile where desert abounds. We took a tour yesterday to Lauca National Park which has stunning desert scenery, wierd and wonderful cacti, flamingo´s and two stunning volcanoes which we took about a hundred photos of! Today was spent on the beach eating a HUGE ice cream and body boarding (although it was really cold so we didn´t last long in the sea lol!)

Next stop is San Pedro de Atacama where hopefully we´ll do things like star gazing and sand boarding!

So that´s us over the last few weeks- now we have to try and understand Chilean people who speak so bloody fast we have no idea what they´re saying!! (and we thought we were getting better!)

Until next time, take care and love to all.

Ciao!

xxxx