I am off to Volunteer my time at this years Woodford Folk Festival in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.... so maybe I won't write until a few days into the new year.
Have a good one!
Saturday 25 December 2010
Christmas Giving
I've kind of skipped out on the Christmas gift giving this year. I have given only little 'token' gifts (with the exception of my 4 year old niece), as I really believe that those close to me have all that they need and want, and if they don't they will probably go ahead and buy it anyway. I myself have more than enough stuff and kind of feel delight with each item that wears out.
Instead I have given a sum of money to charity. I have two charities that I considered giving to, and there are no doubt others in a similar vein of work that I would also like. The two are Marie Stopes International Australia and Wings Guatemala. In previous years I have given to Wings, but this year Marie Stopes won for its Australian ties. Both charities assist in family planning.
Family planning assistance enables people to better choose how many and how often to have children, and this allows them to take better care of the children they have. To me it seems an extremely affective method of helping the world.
Add to this the information on the Wings website that for every $7 spent on family planning CO2 is reduced by 1 tonne, compared to $32 spent on conventional methods... I am really happy.
If you'd like to know more about these charities the websites are:
www.wingsguate.org
https://mariestopes2-px.rtrk.com.au/
Merry Christmas to all my readers!
Instead I have given a sum of money to charity. I have two charities that I considered giving to, and there are no doubt others in a similar vein of work that I would also like. The two are Marie Stopes International Australia and Wings Guatemala. In previous years I have given to Wings, but this year Marie Stopes won for its Australian ties. Both charities assist in family planning.
Family planning assistance enables people to better choose how many and how often to have children, and this allows them to take better care of the children they have. To me it seems an extremely affective method of helping the world.
Add to this the information on the Wings website that for every $7 spent on family planning CO2 is reduced by 1 tonne, compared to $32 spent on conventional methods... I am really happy.
If you'd like to know more about these charities the websites are:
www.wingsguate.org
https://mariestopes2-px.rtrk.com.au/
Merry Christmas to all my readers!
Thursday 23 December 2010
What was the best of South America?
People keep asking me questions, relating to this year of travel, like "What was my best experience?", "What was my favourite place?", "Where would I go back to?" and "Where, of the places I visited, would I most like to live?". These are difficult questions to answer, but here is an answer to these questions. Oh, and there is also not so difficult questions, like "Was Colombia really scary and dangerous?".
Firstly, my best experience. Can I have three bests? I think my best experience of the year was the Galapagos Islands. It was simply marvellous. Firstly, because without being a naturalist, I felt that I could see what Charles Darwin saw - the evolution of the species was clearly different from island to island. Secondly for the beauty of it, check out my photo's from my pages relating to the Galapagos Islands and you will see the vibrancy of the colours, and I am not a brilliant photographer and nor do I have an expensive camera. And lastly, for the animals lack of care that we were there and the young sea lions jumping in to actually swim with us each and every time we went snorkelling. For more, see
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Islands Misc photos
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Islands Iguanas
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Islands Landscape photos
As Ali sees it: Tortoises in the Galapagos Islands
As Ali sees it: Sea Lions in the Galapagos Islands
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Islands! - this one was my most exciting experience of the year!
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Island notes
Another 'best experience' was definitely the Carnival in Oruro Bolivia. It's massive! 50,000 dancer, 6000 musicians ..... wow! What a show! Get yourself organised a few months in advance to go and check this out.
As Ali sees it: Fighting for Life in Oruro's Carnival in Bolivia
And another, was catching a river boat, 3 nights, up the Amazon River from the Colombian border town of Leticia to Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. Lazing in a hammock whilst taking in the magnitude of the river, and observing the local communities on the way up... Wow!
As Ali sees it: Rain on the Amazon River (continued)
As Ali sees it: Amazon River Life
My favourite place. Oh this is a tough question. Favourite for what? Well, perhaps it might be Samaipata in Bolivia. I loved the Guided treks into Amboro National Park, I loved the little town, the Dutch run gardens and cafe "La Vispera" just outside of town, and I also had great company there with Kris from Belgium and Zoe from Holland. Samaipata isn't large on the tourist circuit, but other tourists I have met who also ventured also gave it a special mention.
As Ali sees it: When she leaves the church, the town has a party!
As Ali sees it: A bit longer than expected in Samaipata.
Where would I like to go back to? Well I would definitely go back to the Galapagos, there are still more parts to be explored there, but it already had a mention. So my vote on this one goes to Estancia Panagea (Estancia = Ranch = Station) in Uruguay. I really loved my 5 days there. After so much horse riding I could barely walk, but I loved it anyway. In fact, if I could just find me a Uruguayan rancher, that could be my happily ever after.
As Ali sees it: Childhood memories come alive in Uruguay´s Panagea...
Where, of the places I visited, would I most like to live? Ok, so the Ranch in Uruguay did get a mention, but more than that, I really liked the chilled vibe of Rurrenbaque in the Bolivian Amazon Jungle. I reckon there's opportunity there, so maybe I could move back there one day and take up that opportunity.
As Ali sees it: Animals in the know! Madidi Travel tour, Rurrenbaq...
Ok, so was Colombia dangerous and scary? NO! Colombia was, in fact, on of the easiest countries I did all year. There was that route I shouldn't have taken, but if I had of followed guide book advice I would have gone the other way and I would have one less interesting story to tell. Do not be scared to go to Colombia!
Of course, I haven't finished with South America yet, if I look at the map it seems I have barely scratched the surface. Maybe what I will find in Brazil and Southern Argentina and Southern Chile will surpass all of these experiences.
Firstly, my best experience. Can I have three bests? I think my best experience of the year was the Galapagos Islands. It was simply marvellous. Firstly, because without being a naturalist, I felt that I could see what Charles Darwin saw - the evolution of the species was clearly different from island to island. Secondly for the beauty of it, check out my photo's from my pages relating to the Galapagos Islands and you will see the vibrancy of the colours, and I am not a brilliant photographer and nor do I have an expensive camera. And lastly, for the animals lack of care that we were there and the young sea lions jumping in to actually swim with us each and every time we went snorkelling. For more, see
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Islands Misc photos
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Islands Iguanas
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Islands Landscape photos
As Ali sees it: Tortoises in the Galapagos Islands
As Ali sees it: Sea Lions in the Galapagos Islands
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Islands! - this one was my most exciting experience of the year!
As Ali sees it: Galapagos Island notes
Another 'best experience' was definitely the Carnival in Oruro Bolivia. It's massive! 50,000 dancer, 6000 musicians ..... wow! What a show! Get yourself organised a few months in advance to go and check this out.
As Ali sees it: Fighting for Life in Oruro's Carnival in Bolivia
And another, was catching a river boat, 3 nights, up the Amazon River from the Colombian border town of Leticia to Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. Lazing in a hammock whilst taking in the magnitude of the river, and observing the local communities on the way up... Wow!
As Ali sees it: Rain on the Amazon River (continued)
As Ali sees it: Amazon River Life
My favourite place. Oh this is a tough question. Favourite for what? Well, perhaps it might be Samaipata in Bolivia. I loved the Guided treks into Amboro National Park, I loved the little town, the Dutch run gardens and cafe "La Vispera" just outside of town, and I also had great company there with Kris from Belgium and Zoe from Holland. Samaipata isn't large on the tourist circuit, but other tourists I have met who also ventured also gave it a special mention.
As Ali sees it: When she leaves the church, the town has a party!
As Ali sees it: A bit longer than expected in Samaipata.
Where would I like to go back to? Well I would definitely go back to the Galapagos, there are still more parts to be explored there, but it already had a mention. So my vote on this one goes to Estancia Panagea (Estancia = Ranch = Station) in Uruguay. I really loved my 5 days there. After so much horse riding I could barely walk, but I loved it anyway. In fact, if I could just find me a Uruguayan rancher, that could be my happily ever after.
As Ali sees it: Childhood memories come alive in Uruguay´s Panagea...
Where, of the places I visited, would I most like to live? Ok, so the Ranch in Uruguay did get a mention, but more than that, I really liked the chilled vibe of Rurrenbaque in the Bolivian Amazon Jungle. I reckon there's opportunity there, so maybe I could move back there one day and take up that opportunity.
As Ali sees it: Animals in the know! Madidi Travel tour, Rurrenbaq...
Ok, so was Colombia dangerous and scary? NO! Colombia was, in fact, on of the easiest countries I did all year. There was that route I shouldn't have taken, but if I had of followed guide book advice I would have gone the other way and I would have one less interesting story to tell. Do not be scared to go to Colombia!
Of course, I haven't finished with South America yet, if I look at the map it seems I have barely scratched the surface. Maybe what I will find in Brazil and Southern Argentina and Southern Chile will surpass all of these experiences.
Saturday 18 December 2010
What did I miss?
Travelling long term people ask me "Don't you miss home?" "What do you miss?" or "Are you longing for a vegemite sandwich?". Usually I tell them I miss the dog (my Mum's). They always look horrified by this (clearly I should miss a person or people), but I tend to find that phone and internet keeps me enough in touch with the people, but the spotted dog has never mastered the technology.
But what else? No, not vegemite sandwiches! I don't mind a bit of vegemite (the famous Australian spread we put on bread), but mostly I do like to travel with a tube (of it) purely for the point of subjecting foreign hosts to a bit of our culture. Rarely can I find a foreigner who can claim to like it, and it is fun to see the expressions on the faces of my new 'experiments'.
On the food front, sorry Mum, but I missed Asian food. Australia is so multicultural and we have such a strong Asian influence. I really like Thai dishes, I used to live a block from an absolutely fabulous Indian restaurant, and I missed getting some quick sushi rolls for lunch. Towards the end I longed for a well supplied kitchen in which I could cook a meal.
The one and only time during the whole trip that I really missed home was when I went to dance Salsa in Colombia. At that point I missed dancing salsa with Wil and Seamus, Merengue with Yann, Reggaeton with Baba, and seeing my mate Sandy's beautiful and welcoming smile whenever we saw each other at the Latin Dancing in Brisbane Square. I also missed dancing around in the privacy of my own space.
In general there were other things I missed too... Wine and walks with Susan, dropping in on neighbours Shandell and Tulin, eating Asian food with Adele, and spilling the beans with Mel. Danny's sense of humour was still there for me on my facebook account. And I did miss getting on a motorbike - whether by myself or behind someone else.
Of course, coming home, there are things in South America I will miss too. South America has less regulation, I really enjoyed that. And I kind of like it that people are expected to be smart enough to realise that there is a hole in the road or a step up or some hindrance and that they should avoid that hindrance without the responsible entity needing to spell out the obvious for us.
I will not miss South American bathrooms - Those without toilet seats. Those that don't flush. Those that obligate you to find a coin and buy the loo paper before you go in. And then those that don't obligate you to buy the paper but have no paper and then you realise too late! The ones that haven't flushed in ages when you're in desperate need. The Argentine ones that have you carefully negotiating 5mm between the loo itself and the swing of the door (making it really hard to get in, especially with a backpack!). and the hostel bathrooms with an inch of water on the floor from the last person who had a shower. I will not miss those bathrooms.
I do miss the South American culture and friendliness of it's people, particularly Argentina. Australians are friendly too... just in a very different way. Perhaps our friendliness could be described as more reserved.
Sleeping in a dorm or sharing a bathroom never really bothered me and it felt like I could go on doing it forever (this feeling might change as I get older). I did wish I had private transport to get from A to B... but for that I would want a travel companion, and for the most part I haven't had one.
In summary, in travelling I feel very much 'at home'. It's not that I don't like home. I love Australia! I think I come from the best state of a fanastic country. But there is still so much of the world to see, and I love being out there and seeing it.... I'm definitely not settling down yet!
But what else? No, not vegemite sandwiches! I don't mind a bit of vegemite (the famous Australian spread we put on bread), but mostly I do like to travel with a tube (of it) purely for the point of subjecting foreign hosts to a bit of our culture. Rarely can I find a foreigner who can claim to like it, and it is fun to see the expressions on the faces of my new 'experiments'.
On the food front, sorry Mum, but I missed Asian food. Australia is so multicultural and we have such a strong Asian influence. I really like Thai dishes, I used to live a block from an absolutely fabulous Indian restaurant, and I missed getting some quick sushi rolls for lunch. Towards the end I longed for a well supplied kitchen in which I could cook a meal.
The one and only time during the whole trip that I really missed home was when I went to dance Salsa in Colombia. At that point I missed dancing salsa with Wil and Seamus, Merengue with Yann, Reggaeton with Baba, and seeing my mate Sandy's beautiful and welcoming smile whenever we saw each other at the Latin Dancing in Brisbane Square. I also missed dancing around in the privacy of my own space.
In general there were other things I missed too... Wine and walks with Susan, dropping in on neighbours Shandell and Tulin, eating Asian food with Adele, and spilling the beans with Mel. Danny's sense of humour was still there for me on my facebook account. And I did miss getting on a motorbike - whether by myself or behind someone else.
Of course, coming home, there are things in South America I will miss too. South America has less regulation, I really enjoyed that. And I kind of like it that people are expected to be smart enough to realise that there is a hole in the road or a step up or some hindrance and that they should avoid that hindrance without the responsible entity needing to spell out the obvious for us.
I will not miss South American bathrooms - Those without toilet seats. Those that don't flush. Those that obligate you to find a coin and buy the loo paper before you go in. And then those that don't obligate you to buy the paper but have no paper and then you realise too late! The ones that haven't flushed in ages when you're in desperate need. The Argentine ones that have you carefully negotiating 5mm between the loo itself and the swing of the door (making it really hard to get in, especially with a backpack!). and the hostel bathrooms with an inch of water on the floor from the last person who had a shower. I will not miss those bathrooms.
I do miss the South American culture and friendliness of it's people, particularly Argentina. Australians are friendly too... just in a very different way. Perhaps our friendliness could be described as more reserved.
Sleeping in a dorm or sharing a bathroom never really bothered me and it felt like I could go on doing it forever (this feeling might change as I get older). I did wish I had private transport to get from A to B... but for that I would want a travel companion, and for the most part I haven't had one.
In summary, in travelling I feel very much 'at home'. It's not that I don't like home. I love Australia! I think I come from the best state of a fanastic country. But there is still so much of the world to see, and I love being out there and seeing it.... I'm definitely not settling down yet!
Thursday 9 December 2010
Finishing up, on the coast of Chile
Viña del Mar, Chile
28 - 30 November 2010
I spent my last few days of my year-and-two-days-of-travel on the coast of Chile at Viña del Mar. My flight was from Santiago, but I didn't think much of Santiago the first time I was there, so Viña seemed like a better option.
I wish someone had told me that there was a cold wind blowing along the coast there, I might have stayed longer in Argentina. It was not an exciting couple of days.
I did, however catch up with other travellers I had met in Mendoza, and managed to have a nice final dinner in South America.... well, it was supposed to be the final dinner but my flight was delayed the next night and so my real final dinner was at the airport, courtesy of LAN.
My flight home had a 5 hour delay, then I missed my connection in Aukland (because of this delay) and had to wait almost 7 hours there. Finally, I got home.
Please note! This is not the end of my blogging! I have many more things I plan to write about, nor is this the end of my travels. Keep checking in once a week!
28 - 30 November 2010
I spent my last few days of my year-and-two-days-of-travel on the coast of Chile at Viña del Mar. My flight was from Santiago, but I didn't think much of Santiago the first time I was there, so Viña seemed like a better option.
I wish someone had told me that there was a cold wind blowing along the coast there, I might have stayed longer in Argentina. It was not an exciting couple of days.
I did, however catch up with other travellers I had met in Mendoza, and managed to have a nice final dinner in South America.... well, it was supposed to be the final dinner but my flight was delayed the next night and so my real final dinner was at the airport, courtesy of LAN.
My flight home had a 5 hour delay, then I missed my connection in Aukland (because of this delay) and had to wait almost 7 hours there. Finally, I got home.
Please note! This is not the end of my blogging! I have many more things I plan to write about, nor is this the end of my travels. Keep checking in once a week!
Viña del Mar is right beside Valparaiso, Viña is nicer, Valparaiso is famous for the colourful hillside homes I visited at the start of my trip.
Saturday 4 December 2010
Alco Tourism in Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza, Argentina
21 - 27 November 2010
When I finally pried myself away from hanging out with friend in Tucuman I went to Mendoza. It is one of the definite tourist stops of Argentina, famous for it's wines and being on the crossing from Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires.
I had followed Karolin (my German travel companion for most of my travels in Argentina) there and so went to a hostel she had chosen. It was almost the most expensive one I had stayed in (in all of South America) , and attracted a lot of a type of tourist I had been fortunate enough not to have met too many of during my travels. This is the type of tourist my new friend (Canadian hostel owner Levi Urman) calls "Alco-tourist".
Forget sightseeing! These tourists seem to have travelled to the other side of the world to get drunk nightly and sleep the better part of the day. of course I have seen this before, but these (predominantly Irish and Australian) backpackers were taking it to a new level. Leader in the field was an Irishman fresh from graduating from studying Law at University. Each morning when I arose he would be sleeping on the couch. The movements of the cleaning staff would stir him to go to bed at about 9am, whereupon he would sleep until mid afternoon, go to the supermarket for more alcohol (stopping at hotdog cafe on the way), return, drink at hostel until late, go out to bars until wee hours of morning, return and repeat procedure for the following day. Two weeks and he still hadn't been out to visit a winery!
The hostel itself was a nice place to hang out (it had a clean pool!), and I did so for a week. It was too long for Mendoza, but I prefer Argentina to Chile and I wanted to chill someplace before going home.
Notes:
Hostel Damajuana. If you are going to stay at this one push for a considerable discount... they are available. Cheaper, apparently, if you book online via either www.hostelworld.com or www.hostelbookers.com . I paid $AR55 per night at the front desk.
Bike rental... easy the bus driver will see you are a gringo and drop you off in a place to be hassled by the various companies, they are probably all much the same. We used Mr Hugo bikes.
21 - 27 November 2010
When I finally pried myself away from hanging out with friend in Tucuman I went to Mendoza. It is one of the definite tourist stops of Argentina, famous for it's wines and being on the crossing from Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires.
I had followed Karolin (my German travel companion for most of my travels in Argentina) there and so went to a hostel she had chosen. It was almost the most expensive one I had stayed in (in all of South America) , and attracted a lot of a type of tourist I had been fortunate enough not to have met too many of during my travels. This is the type of tourist my new friend (Canadian hostel owner Levi Urman) calls "Alco-tourist".
Forget sightseeing! These tourists seem to have travelled to the other side of the world to get drunk nightly and sleep the better part of the day. of course I have seen this before, but these (predominantly Irish and Australian) backpackers were taking it to a new level. Leader in the field was an Irishman fresh from graduating from studying Law at University. Each morning when I arose he would be sleeping on the couch. The movements of the cleaning staff would stir him to go to bed at about 9am, whereupon he would sleep until mid afternoon, go to the supermarket for more alcohol (stopping at hotdog cafe on the way), return, drink at hostel until late, go out to bars until wee hours of morning, return and repeat procedure for the following day. Two weeks and he still hadn't been out to visit a winery!
The hostel itself was a nice place to hang out (it had a clean pool!), and I did so for a week. It was too long for Mendoza, but I prefer Argentina to Chile and I wanted to chill someplace before going home.
Celine (Holland), me, and Manuel (Mexico)... Celine and I had agreed the night before to go out to cycle around the wineries with a bunch of people from the hostel, meeting in the lounge at 9.30am. But Celine and I were the only ones to show up as the rest had gotten too drunk to care. Manuel had just arrived by overnight bus and was quick to suggest he'd come along too. The wine is served in classy plastic cups at the bicycle hire place and is free and plentiful... imagine the quality, we paid $US5 to hire the bikes for the day and the bikes were pretty good. (Mr Hugo bikes)
The 3 of us had a great day.... but we really lucked out and missed wine tours due to ill advised timing. Our final stop for liquors and tapenade tastings was good, but then on leaving the chain fell off Manuels bike and so he sat on his bike with Celine and I holding him on each side and pushing him whilst cycling. He loved that!
Notes:
Hostel Damajuana. If you are going to stay at this one push for a considerable discount... they are available. Cheaper, apparently, if you book online via either www.hostelworld.com or www.hostelbookers.com . I paid $AR55 per night at the front desk.
Bike rental... easy the bus driver will see you are a gringo and drop you off in a place to be hassled by the various companies, they are probably all much the same. We used Mr Hugo bikes.
Wednesday 1 December 2010
Time to go home
Viña del Mar, Chile
30 November 2010
As I am writing this I am waiting for an appropriate hour to go to the airport to catch my flight back to Australia. My flight is a little after 11pm tonight and I am about 2.5 hours from the airport at the moment... so no need to rush.
I am neither excited or disappointed to be going home, and if I hadn't made promises to go home at this point I would probably keep traveling.
It has been a brilliant year. By the time I get back home I will have been gone 1 year and 2 days. I have explored Northern Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Northern Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
My favorite of these is hard to pick... it might be Bolivia, or maybe Uruguay. Uruguay seemed the easiest to live in, though I don't seem ready to live anywhere. Bolivia seemed the most interesting and challenging.
It seems that I have a million ideas for things I want to do when I get home ... but will I want to stay long enough to do any of them? I guess time will tell.
30 November 2010
As I am writing this I am waiting for an appropriate hour to go to the airport to catch my flight back to Australia. My flight is a little after 11pm tonight and I am about 2.5 hours from the airport at the moment... so no need to rush.
I am neither excited or disappointed to be going home, and if I hadn't made promises to go home at this point I would probably keep traveling.
It has been a brilliant year. By the time I get back home I will have been gone 1 year and 2 days. I have explored Northern Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Northern Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
My favorite of these is hard to pick... it might be Bolivia, or maybe Uruguay. Uruguay seemed the easiest to live in, though I don't seem ready to live anywhere. Bolivia seemed the most interesting and challenging.
It seems that I have a million ideas for things I want to do when I get home ... but will I want to stay long enough to do any of them? I guess time will tell.
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