Archive for » 2012 «

A whirlwind through Italy

We have been in Italy with my sister Sonja for just over two weeks and have visited the major tourist destinations: Florence, Venice and Rome.  We even managed to squeeze in a weekend in Milan so that Sonja could run the Milan Marathon.  … [Read more]

Category: Europe, Italy  4 Comments
Getting to Europe the old-fashioned way

We took slow travel to a new level as we spent 21 days travelling by ship from Santos, Brazil to Venice, Italy.  Along the way, we stopped at six ports of call in Brazil and five ports of call in Europe. … [Read more]

Leaning towers of Santos

About 80 km from Sao Paulo, Santos has the biggest seaport in Latin America and it is from here that we board our transatlantic cruise.  So it made sense to spend our last few days in this area, even though we had been warned this was not the nicest tourist destination.… [Read more]

Scratching the surface of São Paulo

With a population of 11+ million in the city and almost 20 million in its metropolitan region, to say São Paulo is big would be an understatement.  In fact, São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and America, and the world’s sixth largest city by population.… [Read more]

Getting to Iguazú Falls in style

Much to my great dismay we arrived in Iguazú Falls a full hour ahead of schedule.  This meant one hour less on the most luxurious bus I’ve ever been on.  Perhaps I’m being a little facetious, but I’m not kidding about our very enjoyable 17 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú (Bus company: Via Bariloche, Full Cama Service, if anybody is planning a trip).… [Read more]

The sights and sounds of Buenos Aires

Our time in Buenos Aires has passed by far too quickly.  We are spending our days wandering around the various neighbourhoods and visiting some of the tourist sites, walking endlessly. I discovered the Reserva Ecologica which is a beautiful ecological park about 2km from our apartment and a perfect place to go for a run.… [Read more]

Roughing it at Cerro Fitz Roy

Camping means different things to different people.  For some, it means driving the luxury trailer complete with all the conveniences from home to a nice camp ground where setting up is a simple matter of hooking up your electricity and sewer.  … [Read more]

Torres del Paine in all its glory and ferocity

Our hopes for hiking the “O” circuit in Torres del Paine were immediately dashed upon arrival at the park entrance when a park ranger informed us that the north west trail near the infamous Gordon Pass was covered in knee-deep snow and another blizzard was heading that way in just three days – exactly the time we would be reaching that part of the trail.  … [Read more]

Antarctica Cruise Part 3: Reaching the Peninsula

After South Georgia, a full day at sea gave us all some much needed down time to relax, recharge and for many, to sort through the thousands of pictures taken thus far.  As the trip progressed I was polling some of the more avid photographers to see how many photos they were taking.  … [Read more]

Category: Antarctica  4 Comments
Patagonia here we come

At the end of our Antarctica cruise last Wednesday, we flew to El Calafate because this was the fastest, most direct way to get to Puerto Natales which is where we would get ourselves organized for our big trek in Torres del Paine.  … [Read more]