Tim and Jessie's Big Adventure

Follow us as we travel around the world! The story so far includes: Thailand • Lao P.D.R • Vietnam • Cambodia • Bangladesh • Jordan • Israel • Italy • France • England • Argentina • Chile • Bolivia • Peru • U.S.A.

[timandjess]

Hey! I came across your blog looking up info for peruhop and boliviahop. Planning my South America trip for this spring. Peruhop has great reviews, and boliviahop doesn't seem to have as many reviews out there! Just curious why you don't recommend boliviahop?

Boliviahop is a relatively new company, which is why it doesn’t have as many reviews as its Peruvian counterpart. It was a little disorganised, including a one hour wait for taxis in Cusco (our final destination) after a sleepless night on a bus that was comfortable enough during the day, but definitely not made for sleep. On a side note, neither bus on our Boliviahop tour had a fully operational DVD player/TV (so best to take your own entertainment). It’s only young, I’m sure with time it will iron out some of its wrinkles.

[timandjess]

Machu Picchu, Peru

Day #248 Tuesday 4th November, 2014 WELCOME to the world little nephew… we can’t wait to meet you! What an amazing day we had exploring the Incan Ruins of Machu Picchu! A big thank you to Victor, an amazing guide we picked up at the front gate. And so there we have it people… our last planned activity for South America. Our two months in this incredibly diverse continent have flown by! We are now a little tired and a lot broke ; P We’re holding onto our pennies for New York City and plan to head to Lima to wait for our flight to the U.S.A.

[timandjess]

Cusco, Peru

Day #246 Sunday 2nd November, 2014 We arrived in Cusco around 5am on 'Bolivia Hop' (not recommended)... it was our LAST overnight bus ride for our entire trip! What a cause for celebration! We started a free walking tour, however, probably because we were too tired to listen or pay attention to anyone talking (zero sleep last night), we ditched it like a couple of school kids and found ourselves a great spot for lunch. Best decision. Later that day we enjoyed a 'Beans to Bar' chocolate class at the Choco Museo. A+

[timandjess]

Puno, Peru

Day #245 Saturday 1st November, 2014 ...And we're in Peru! We crossed the border on foot this morning. Today we visited Lake Titikaka and the Uro Indians that call it home on their floating islands of totora reads. I (Jess) taught about this community of people in Geography back home in Australia. Today I felt like the student, a very lucky student.

[timandjess]

Serere Reserve (Amazon) - Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

Day #242 Wednesday 29th October, 2014 Amazon Day 3:

We had the most amazing rain last night!

It was a windy day, so there weren't many animals about. We still managed to see some monkeys, a tarantula (at breakfast), bats, frogs , 'Bambi' bones left by a puma and and learn more about jungle plants and medicines.

After another feast for lunch we had one last nap in our jungle hammocks before making our way out of the reserve and back onto a boat for our 3 hour journey to Rurrenabaque. We'll be flying back to La Paz tomorrow. 

[timandjess]

Serere Reserve (Amazon), Bolivia

Day #241 Tuesday 28th October, 2014  Happy birthday to a very special lady and a loyal reader of our blog : ) xx Amazon Day 2:

6am jungle walk with our guide. Sevelo taught us about different jungle plants and we saw many more monkeys, but before this we were attacked by a vicious gang of ants... forcing us to dance around hitting ourselves (trying to squish the ants that by this point had climbed up to our necks) and even to rip off clothing, all the while having a laugh. What a precious jungle memory. 

Later we discovered 30+ ticks, on Tim alone! They seemed to love his hairy legs.

After breakfast we had a nap in the big house hammocks before heading back into the jungle. We made our way on foot to Lake Gringo, where we saw hoards of yellow butterflies (apparently they love alligator urine... so we were definitely in alligator territory).

We were lucky to see some more cheeky monkeys before lunch. During another hammock nap a new rowdy group of 10+ people arrived. Luckily we kept our private guide and he took us away from the noise to discover a new part of the jungle we hadn't seen yet. On our return in the canoe we passed a HUGE caiman (alligator). We continued to watch him prey on our new (dumb) baby anteater friend who loves to bathe in the lake for up to an hour each day. It's hard to see the alligator in the photos above, but he is only 20m away. Our little friend lived to bathe another day, but I'm afraid he won't lead a long life. 

[timandjess]

Serere Reserve (Amazon), Bolivia

Day #240 Monday 27th October, 2014 Amazon Day 1:

We enjoyed a three hour boat trip down the Beni River in order to get to Serere Reserve (a private reserve in the Amazon, featured in the National Geographic Magazine in 2000).

Our guide, Sevelo, is FANTASTIC. He speaks mainly Spanish (there was a small mix up with our interpreter), but Sevelo made sure we understood anything important, even if he had to act it out : )

Our accommodation is amazing. A wooden cabin surrounded by the jungle with walls made of mosquito nets. You can hear the sound of the jungle all night long and see monkeys jumping from tree to tree in the mooring or afternoon.

We are the only two travellers at the reserve! 

We saw: Monkeys, baby anteater, an animal that looks like a 'giant guinea pig' (not sure what it's English name is), birds (including a gorgeous macaw), baby jungle pig, turtles, caiman (alligators) night spotting with our torches in a small canoe... AMAZING!

[timandjess]

Death Road, Bolivia

Day #238 Saturday 25th October, 2014 We had an AMAZING day riding down Death Road with Barracuda Biking Company. I (Jess) was a little preoccupied with keeping my hands on the brakes, so our only photographs are of the cheeky Macaws at our lunch spot and a CD of video and pictures taken by our guides (that we'll be able to post once we get home). So much fun!

[timandjess]

Uyuni, Bolivia

Day #236 Thursday 23rd October, 2014 Day 3 of our 4WD Tour through the Bolivian Desert, with Quechua Connection. Today’s journey included:

4:30am wake up call

Hot water bottles (not only does our 4WD's speedometer and handbrake not work, but the heating as well. We had a very safe driver though!)

Sunrise at 'muddy' geysers

Hot Springs

Salvador Dali Desert

Green Lagoon

Amazing lunch spot, with lamas 

Overnight tourist bus back to La Paz

[timandjess]

Uyuni, Bolivia

Day #235 Wednesday 22nd October, 2014 Day 2 of our 4WD Tour through the Bolivian Desert, with Quechua Connection. Today's adventure included:

Landscapes made of coral, which use to be covered in water

Volcano spotting and lava climbing

Flamingos

Tree Rock 

Red Lagoon

[timandjess]

Uyuni, Bolivia

Day #234 Tuesday 21st October, 2014 Day 1 of our 4WD Tour through the Bolivian Desert, with Quechua Connection included:

The Train Graveyard

Some fun photography on the Salt Flats

Cactus Island, which used to be surrounded by the sea

[timandjess]

La Paz, Bolivia

Day #230 Friday 17th October - Day #232 Sunday 19th October, 2014 So we made it to Bolivia, first stop La Paz (3600msl)! At this altitude, we are puffing just walking up the street ... It's so bizarre. Here we completed some more trip planning and a fantastic free walking tour with Red Cap.

[timandjess]

Day trip to Tiwanaku, Bolivia Day #232 Sunday 19th October, 2014 We had an interesting day visiting the archeological site Tiwanaku, eating quinoa soup and trying lama meat for the first time. 

[timandjess]

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Day #223 Friday 10th October - Day #226 Monday 13th October, 2014 We both headed off to complete Patagonia's famous Torres del Paine 'W' trek. Unfortunately sickness had me (Jess) leave this adventure a little early (the second day) and some amazing Patagonian snow also blocked Tim from completing the 'W' and he returned after three days. We did, however, both experience Patagonia's wind, over 90km/hr, like nothing we have ever felt before! 

[timandjess]

El Chalten, Argentina 

Day #219 Monday 6th October, 2014 Today we went horse riding with El Relincho. It was absolutely beautiful... very special. A favourite moment was watching Tim cross a clear stream, on his stubborn horse, in a valley of snowcapped mountains. 

[timandjess]

El Chalten, Argentina

Day #218 Sunday 5th October, 2014 Today we took our brown paper bag lunches, provided by the lovely Nothofagus B&B, and went hiking in El Chalten's stunning National Park... 9 hours and 30km later we were home again, tired yet very satisfied! We could easily stay here for a week, there is so much more to explore. El Chalten is our new favourite Patagonian destination.

[timandjess]

El Calafate, Argentina

Day #216 Friday 3rd October, 2014 We have been told by so many people (even a Frenchman) that Argentina has the best steak and BBQs... unfortunately after another meal out at a local's suggestion, we are yet to taste such a claim. The search continues! Meanwhile... great wine!