I´ve finally updated the Route Map page. I realise as i´m sure many of you do that there is a slight display problem with the map. It should apear zoomed in on South America with the route displayed over that. However, it is sometimes showing the whole world and the route does not zoom accordingly.

So, if you see ´the whole world´ when you first look at the Route Map just press the F5 key to refresh the screen and all should then be ok.

I´ll try and fix the problem just as soon as I can.

Posted by Russ Jones at 9:40 PM | Permalink

A couple of people have asked what Caipirinha is. The true answer is .... "its potentially lethal", but it is THE national drink of Brasil, so here´s what you do....

Ingredients:

2 oz. (or more, MUCH more) of Cachaca (Brazilian Sugar Cane Brandy)
1 Lime
1 tsp. Sugar

Use a rocks or old-fashioned glass. Cut the lime into 8 wedges and put in the glass. Add sugar. Mash the lime and sugar together until they are well mixed. Fill the glass with crushed ice. Add Cachaca. Stir. Garnish with a lime squeeze.

Hope that helps. If you can´t find Cachaca, then you can do the same with Vodka to make a Caipiroska. Enjoy :-)

Posted by Russ Jones at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We´ll it was tough, but I think i´ve fixed the World! So the Route Map should now be working ok. It should be zoomed in on the lower half of South America.

If there are still problems with the display of maps and routes, please let me know.

Cheers
Russ

Posted by Russ Jones at 10:53 PM | Permalink

OK. I've had a busy day on the Internet today uploading lots of pics. The gallery for Brasil is now complete (as i've moved on into Argentina). Some stuff from Rio and Iguacu falls to finish it off.

And, i've posted a seperate gallery just for Rio Carnaval pictures. I've just worked out how i´m going to embed a couple of video clips so they should be up here soon. Not too much bandwidth from Internet Cafes!

So, the links are....

COMPLETE BRASIL GALLERY

RIO CARNAVAL 2007

Hope you enjoy.
Russ.

Posted by Russ Jones at 2:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As it turned out the bus journey to the border wasn't quite as bad as expected. It was still 6 hours from Paraty to Sao Paulo with another 3 hours wait there, but the bus from Sao Paulo to the border was just about the 'plushest' bus i've seen yet. Two seats on on side of the isle and only one on the other - so I had a true single seat. The seats were almost twice the size of normal seats and super padded. So in short a comfy ride. And, whats more we made it to the border in only 15 hours rather than the 18 expected.

Me At Iguacu Falls

Anyway, not wanting to sound like some strange "bus fanatic" but its amazing how such small things can mean so much when you've been away a while.

The reason for heading inland via this route was to visit Iguacu falls. I must admit that I have seen LOTS of falls on my travels, but it must be said that these really are worth the effort.

The falls can be viewed from both the Brasilian side and the Argentinian side. From Brasil you are just a little further away from the falls, but this does given a better overall panoramic view. In Argentina its "up close and personal" and almost a guarantee to end up soaked.

Gargantua Diablo: "Devils Throat"

Rather than stop at the Brasilian falls on the way through (after a long night bus) I decided to head straight through to Argentina and come back to the Brasilian side as a day trip. And as everyone had told me, they are truely spectacular.

I've already posted pictures from the Brasilian side into the Brasilian gallery and i'll do the same for Argentina soon. The next hop is a reasonably short one, 6 hours south to Posadas to visit the Jesuit Missions at San Ignacio.

Posted by Russ Jones at 2:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been having a bit of a dilemma with my Argentinian travel plans. The main problem is the weather in the far south of the country. I had hoped to slowly make my way down through Argentina to Ushuaia (the worlds most southerly city) and then head up through Chile.

The down side with that plan is that after March/early April things start to shut down there. Bus and boat routes dramatically reduce and access to some National Parks becomes increasingly difficult as the weather worstens.

So, what i've decided to do is grab a flight all the way down to Ushuaia and then start working my way back up - whilst I can.

This plan had been going well until I arrived at the airport this morning at 6:00am only to be told that my flight had been moved to 3:50pm and therefore i'd missed my connection from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia! The only option was a night in Buenos Aires airport and then a flight the day after at 5:00am. Guess that offsets my good luck with the "plush" bus last week :-)

So as things stand I should be arriving in Ushuaia on Tuesday morning. And for those in the UK who are getting fed up of all these ´good weather´reports, check out the weather banner on the home page. Its going to be cold. Especially with those famous Patagonian winds!

Posted by Russ Jones at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ushuaia

Well after lots of flight delays I finally made it to Ushuaia, the worlds most southerly city and generally marketed as "The End Of The World!". A nice little place, certainly a fair few tourists passing through, but at least that means plenty of decent places to stay and eat. No shortage of good Steaks of course. This is the ONLY trip where i've actually gained a little weight whilst i've been away!

Heading To A Glacier

Anyway, despite the initial 'shock' of going from 35 degrees down to 5 or 6 degrees, i've settled in quite nicely. I may need to buy a few warmer layers and some gloves, but everything is going well down here at "the pointy bit". I didn't have any grand plans set out for what i'd do when I got here (probably because it was only a few days ago that I decided to jump on a plane and come down here). I think my general assumption was that i'd spent 3 or 4 days here, visit the National Park and do a little treking. Still part of my plans. However, yesterday I decided that I was going to 'splash out' a little and went to talk to an expedition company about getting to Antarctica!

Not MY Ship I Hope

It was kind of a good news/bad news/good news story as I comitted myself in the morning to an 11 day trip with the penultimate ship of the year only to have it cancelled in the afternoon. Apparently due to "technical difficulties" - although I believe the boat was only half full, so I think that, that was probably a major factor. Anyway, the GOOD NEWS part of the story is that I managed to get the LAST space on the LAST boat of the season. VERY Happy!

So, i'll be leaving for Antarctica on the 13th March. I hope to have some good pics to post then :-))

Posted by Russ Jones at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well, i've been in Ushuaia for a week now and it must be said that i've not really done very much. However, that is exactly what I felt like doing and sometimes its great to take some time to do nothing, rest, meet the people around you and not feel the 'need' to dash straight off to see the next great landmark.

Anyway, i've started to come down with a cold (seems to be an epedemic in the Hostel.) I'm hoping that it will pass in a couple of days as i'm of to Antarctica tomorrow (speaking of great landmarks!). I hear that the Drake Passage is typically a very rough crossing and sea sickness is VERY common (even amongst those not usually affected). Sea sickness combined with a head cold is not the start that i'd hoped for on my Antarctic trip, but i'll have to wait and see how that works out.

The trip has a great range of lectures from prominent PhD's and expedition veterans on all aspects of the Antarctic environment and wildlife, so it will be good to be learning lots of new stuff.

The ship leaves tomorrow afternoon and we spend 2 days crossing the Drake Passage before we hit the South Shetlands and then its onwards and 'downwards' to Antarctica. Once we reach the peninsular we should be making landings in the small Zodiacs dinghys 2 or 3 times a day (weather depending.) So expect lots of pictures of Penguins and Whales (and of course lots of Ice).

Posted by Russ Jones at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)