After landing in Guayaquil (H-why-a-keel) – a huge port in Ecuador, we took a taxi to the bus station (Jaime Roldos Aguilera Terminal Terrestre). It is a huge multi-level building merging a large shopping mall with the ticket offices and…
Category: Travel
Floreana, Isabela, San Cristobal – Galapagos Islands
From Santa Cruz we took a day trip south to the nearby island of Floreana. We were in a group of 10 tourists plus our guide, Miguel. The boat journey to Floreana was about an hour and a half. To…
Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands
We arrived in Baltra on the Galapagos Islands after a very brief flight from Quito. The procedure at Quito airport took longer than we expected as we had to queue for a Transit Control card, which cost $20 per person,…
Quito
We arrived into a cold and rainy Ecuador on New Year’s Eve and made our way to our hostel – due to be a one night stop before moving on the the Galapagos Islands the following day. However, a cough…
Cusco and Lima
When we travelled along the road from Ollantaytambo to Cusco there were several recent rockfalls, some with crews out on the road clearing the fallen debris. On the outskirts of Cusco part of the road had fallen away leaving the…
Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu
A short taxi ride from Urubamba, Ollantaytambo was a more touristy town than the others we had visited in the Sacred Valley, probably because it is the last stop for the train (from Cusco) before going on to Machu Picchu,…
Lima and Urubamba
The taxi ride from Lima airport to our accommodation included a (lengthy) stop whilst Nick popped into a store for a local SIM card (we have had these in every country we have visited) – it had to be registered…
Punta Arenas and Torres Del Paine
Having ruled-out a land journey south (it’s a long way!), we flew into Punta Arenas from Balmaceda airport, a 1 hour 20 minute flight on a ‘DAP Air’ aeroplane. I’d been here before in 1991 on work business – so…
San Pedro De Atacama
After a brief overnight stop in Santiago, we continued north to stay near San Pedro de Atacama for a few days. On landing at the airport in Calama we encountered the heat of the desert, a bit of a shock…
Carretera Austral – Coyhaique to La Junta
The Carretera Austral is Chile’s Route 7, stretching from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins, over 1200km further south. We hired a car (2 wheel drive – we were advised this would be sufficient, and it was) to take us north…