December 2003

December 05, 2003 - 4:49 p.m.

So we are still in Pucon...It’s paddling paradise here. We have been running lots of rivers. Mark's favorite has got to be the Rio Puesco as he has run it four times this week. I like the Rio Maichin... a totally sweet class IV that keeps me nervous with all its drops. We have found an amazing play wave too but it's a bit father from Pucon (2.5 hours) on the San Pedro. Other than that a lot of other gringos are showing up so we have lots more paddling partners. Hopefully soon some chicks will show up because other than Mariann I haven't paddled with another chick in 9 months (and as much as I like guys it would be nice to paddle with another female).

Hanging out in Pucon

December 13, 2003 - 4:46 p.m.

Well Michelle and I turned some rainy Pucon days in for a short road trip back north towards Santiago. About 6 hours away we met up with Nate, Matt and friends in the Rio Nuble valley and proceeded to have 2 days of outstanding whitewater fun. After a rainy first day that also included our very first Puma sighting, the skies cleared and I paddled a class V gorge with the boys and then took Michelle down the class III+ section from the previous day. Michelle is starting to stomp down almost everything that gets in her way......and the shuttle driving is making her a pro at the manual transmission as well......

Yesterday the crew rejoined at the Rio Laja....a river that Michelle and I had visited way back in April. This time with a strong paddling crew, I finally puckered up and scared myself down 5kms of screaming blind class V! whoooohoooo.....well it was so bouncy and sweet Alan and I ran it twice!! The more we stay paddling in Chile, the more we are at awe with this place......it is becoming a second home for us both and it will be hard for us to leave. And Christmas is just a round the corner.... that is the weirdest part for sure! Happy Holidays to all our friends back home.

December 21, 2003 - 4:46 p.m.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season... Mark and I sure are... went on another little road trip, down south this time, to check out the Rio Llancahue and Rio Fui. The Llancahue was at a perfect level and it even had a 20 foot waterfall that was clean enough for me to run (though I had to run it twice to get it right). The Upper Rio Fui looked really big and so we just put in on the lower and had a 20 minute huge wave train ride down to the take out. Lots of fun and super fast.

Michelle on Rio Llancahue

Mark and I are going to spend Christmas in Pucon (probably going paddling somewhere) and then start heading south into Argentina. So we will be on the move again soon.

Also we have decided that we will get married in Pucon in February so if you are in the area let us know and we would love to have you show up.

Merry Christmas to everyone back at home!!!

December 28, 2003 - 11:09 a.m.

So Mark and I celebrated Christmas a little differently this year. On Christmas Eve we drove down to the San Pedro river with a crew of people (mostly boaters from California but an Aussie and Pom to top it off) and camped over night by the side of the river. We put up a Christmas tree by standing one kayak up in the middle with 4 kayaks surrounding it, decorated it with beaners, helmets and glowsticks and placed a few presents under it. For Christmas dinner we cooked a parilla (or Chilean BBQ) and partied deep into the night. The next morning we had a gift exchange and then loaded up all the boats to head down the river. Overall an excellent way to spend Christmas...good company and good paddling!

Rio San Pedro

Our Chilean Christmas tree

Now Mark and I have left Pucon and made our way to Bariloche, Argentina. Here we plan to paddle maybe a couple days before we start our journey into the deep south! Hopefully we'll find a cool little town to bring the New Year in style.

November 2003

November 04, 2003 - 11:16 a.m.

Michelle and I have been hanging out on the Rio Manso for the past week as the days grow longer and steadily warmer. The Manso has numerous sections and levels of difficulty, but the real show was the 4th annual Bariloche rodeo held last weekend on a super sweet wave! My new kayak flew me into 2nd place and so to celebrate I made a serious ass of myself drinking FERNET and other numbing concoctions....

AND after this I found myself getting back in the paddling gear at 1 am with some other yoohoos to hit the wave once more in the DARK! well.....nuff said. Apologies to my sweet girl who had to clean up the midnight snacking leftovers from under the pillow. So despite the surreal beauty of the Manso drainage (no I didn't drop the 65 ft waterfall either) Pucon Chile is our next stop.

November 08, 2003 - 6:01 p.m.

So Mark and I arrived in Pucon on Wednesday afternoon without too many incidents. We got a flat tire driving from Bariloche and decided to buy 2 new tires in San Martin de los Andes. So Norman now has extra traction in the rear - useful for the muddy roads we have been experiencing.

Volcan Lanin

The past few days we have spent paddling the rivers close to Pucon, and checking out how much they have changed since we have been here last. It's been rainy most of the time so we used today to go warm ourselves up in the hot springs with some good Chilean wine. We plan to spend the next few weeks here, hanging out with good friends and paddling lots.

November 23, 2003 - 2:48 p.m.

So the past couple of weeks we have spent in Pucon paddling some sweet rivers and finding some crazy playspots. Mark's run a couple creeks (one of them stole his paddle and hasn't given it back...yet) and even hucked himself off of a 35 foot waterfall. It's been raining lots so all the rivers are high and lots of fun, though we are looking forward to some sunny days in the near future.

Mark on Rio Puesco

October 2003

October 01, 2003 - 3:45 p.m.

Well after a smoky ride due to the high altitude, we have made our way down to Arequipa and the searing desierto heat. Fortunately we have a fun little creek here that costs us a 2 dollar cab ride.

Areqiupa is a nice change from Cusco and we are happy to be staying with our friends from when we were here back in March.....Best of all the plan is now set for driving Gian Marcos Mitsubishi Montero into the deepest canyon in the world....Cotahuasi. We hope to paddle some of its headwaters before we head on what should be one more exciting paddling adventure in South America!

So Michelle and I are still happy traveling together as we head back into summer for Chile.....it will be an easy drive down an already familiar road.......road trippin at its finest! South America is a place you come to enjoy a lot as we live in the places we have been to.....we look forward to the weeks ahead.

October 12, 2003 - 3:06 p.m.

So I have returned to Arequipa sin Mark. I left him paddling on the Rio Cotahuasi. We stayed in Arequipa for a week waiting for people to arrive so that we could go check out "el canyon mas profundu de mundo". During that week we paddled the Rio Chili a number of times and hung out with the Velluntino family.

Finally last Tuesday we took off to go paddling with Gian Marco and Russ, Damon and Matt (Americans). It took us until Wednesday to reach the canyon but the drive was very beautiful and the area is super remote. The next day the boys decided to do a first descent on the Upper Upper Cotahuasi while I did the shuttle. After a long couple days (and me biting my nails) they turned up - completely worn out but still smiling.

Cotahuasi

Gian Marco and I left them in the canyon while we drove back to Arequipa. They are going to do a 4 day descent to (almost) the ocean on the Rio Cotahuasi. I am going to hang out in Arequipa until Wednesday, when I will go pick Mark up and we will be on our way to further adventures.

Take Out

October 20, 2003 - 10:15 a.m.

So I picked Mark up and we decided that we would blaze to Chile. We made it from Arequipa to La Serena in three days (2500 km). We got to La Serena late Saturday night and on Sunday we found a local surfing spot to break up the monotony of driving.

So we have finally exited the desert of Southern Peru and Northern Chile and now we are in Los Andes just north of Santiago. From here we plan to make our way to Mendoza, Argentina and then further south to the good rivers.

October 25, 2003 - 6:17 p.m.

Hey all

Well after easy drive over the Andes which included a stop at one of Chile’s fine ski resorts (missed last day by 2 weeks....darn!) we have followed the snowmelt downstream and have been hanging out with Martin and all of his friends at Argentina Rafting, located near Mendoza and the heart of Argentinean vineyards..... The river is super easy but as it rises the playspots are beginning to become spectacular! Now that our bodies are resting we are heading south to run El Rio Diamante y el Rio Grande.

Later next week we should be back in Bariloche looking for the crooks with our stuff from the ugly last time we were there......Bariloche is a having a whitewater festival Nov. 2nd so we should be able to meet up with many friends and start the summer season down in Patagonia in style......Argentina is really becoming a special place for us the second time around!

a steak and fine wine awaits!

Rodrigo, Mark and Sergio

September 2003

September 10, 2003 - 1:30 pm

Well I just got back from 10 days in the jungle and I wish I was still there. I four hours by boat from Puerto Maldonado in the Tambopata-Candamo reserve. I volunteered at this swank lodge there located right by the river. I had to do four hours of work a day and then the rest of the time I could go with the guides on tours, wander around in the jungle or just chill in a hammock.

I saw loads of animals including caimans, capybaras, monkeys, macaws, parrots, toucans, a tarantula and many other cool things. One of the highlights was going to the collpa or macaw clay lick and seeing hundreds fly around.

Collpa (if you look close you can see Macaws)

Probably the best part was not the actual jungle but the people I got to spend time with. They were wonderful and for a little while I was a part of their small family. I miss them a lot already.

Now I am back in Cusco and waiting for Mark and his mom to show up so we can do some more sight-seeing.

September 14, 2003 - 6:21 p.m.

So I am still in Cusco and still waiting for Mark and his mom to show up. Mark's mom should be arriving here on the 17th and Mark sometime after that (hopefully by my birthday).

I have been fully enjoying the Cusco nightlife as I have seen most of the sights here. Watching the sunrise after a night on the town is always beautiful, though the rest of the day is generally spent in bed. Good times and good friends.

September 19, 2003 - 10:46 a.m.

So yesterday was my birthday and we partied it up Cusco style, and had a blast. Mark and his mom arrived on the plane (I wasn't expecting to see Mark until the 18th) on the 17th. It was great to see both of them. We spent that day fairly relaxed as both of them were a bit tired from the trip.

Yesterday we did the typical tourist thing around Cusco before Mark and I headed out on the town last night. Lots of friends showed up and I had a blast. Today we are going to check out a few ruins around town before checking out Machu Picchu this weekend. Should be a good time.

Thanks for everyone who sent birthday greetings. It's nice to know that I am not forgotten about back home.

September 25, 2003 - 10:22 a.m.

So yesterday Mark's mom left to go back home to Florida after celebrating Mark's birthday with him. It was a really great visit and we were both very happy that she could make it down.

We did the typical tourist things while she was here. Checked out the town and as many ruins as we could fit in. The highlight was Machu Picchu which we visited on equinox so the whole place was filled with shaman and new-age folk. It added to the whole experience.

Machu Picchu

Another crazy adventure was getting stuck in a protest (our bus wasn't allowed through) on our way to Machu Picchu. Our bus had a couple windows broken with stones and eventually we had to walk through the barricades to get to another bus. We just caught our train in time to make it to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu from Huaynu Picchu

Mark and I planned to go on the Apurimac one more time before we left but I don't think it is to be. Yesterday the roads were closed due to a car rally and we wanted to try again today but our truck driver came home drunk and put and end to that plan. BOO!

Well we are soon to be on the road again with lots of stories...

August 2003

August 2, 2003 - 11:15 am

The Apurimac was a blast. A beautiful canyon, with no one else around. Crazy rapids that definitely made us work to get down. There was even a nice play hole right by one of the campsites that Mark got to play in for a couple of hours.

Rafting the Apurimac

Yesterday Mark and I floated down the Urambamba in our kayaks. It had pretty scenery (with Inka ruins along the side of the river). But once was enough - as it was mostly a float.

We plan to stay in Cusco for a little while. Mark has an opportunity to safety kayak down the Apurimac a few more times and I plan to hike around the area. We plan to save Macchu Pichu until the tourist season dies down a bit.

August 13, 2003 - 10:24 a.m.

Nothing much has happened since I last wrote - we are still in Cusco. Mark is now working as a safety kayaker for Southern Rivers on the Rio Apurimac. Last trip he went on I went along as well, just to enjoy the canyon and to get out of the city for a bit.

We will probably continue to do this for another week or so and then move to somewhere new.

Tipon

August 16, 2003 - 10:33 a.m.

Wednesday night a couple friends (Juanito, Leo and Piero), myself and Mark decided to make a trip down the Apurimac, kayaks only, in two days. So after some frantic arrangements on Wednesday night we left at 2 in the morning to make it to the river at 9. It was fantastic going down just kayaks - we blazed through the rapids and stopped at various play spots along the way. I had a blast going down in a kayak - much better than rafting, though I decided to skip the two class V rapids on the way down. We camped beside a sweet hole and got some awesome video footage. We slept outside on the sand with the stars overhead, with the sand flies only bothering us a bit. A sweet trip down the river, great rapids and beautiful scenery. SWEET!

Rio Apurimac

August 23, 2003 - 9:44 a.m.

Still in Cusco.... Mark is still working on the Apurimac... I found a job to pass the time helping sell raft tours. Nothing much new to report though I promise the next update will be more interesting...

August 29, 2003 - 9:01 a.m.

So on Monday afternoon Mark made his way to Lima from where he should have caught a flight on Tuesday evening and made his way to Canada for a short 2-3 week visit. Unfortunately flying stand-by he did not make it out. As of yesterday night he was still stuck in Lima but hopefully as of this morning he made it out and is on his way to Canada.

So that leaves me with about 3 weeks on my own....

So last Sunday I left to go on a trek with Frank (a German raft guide/kayaker). We decided to go on a 5 day/4 night around the mountain Ausangate (6372 m), the highest mountain in South-eastern Peru. We went with a local guide, Vincent, who could speak Quechua and a bit of Spanish. Originally we were also supposed to go with 2 Swiss but they did not turn up and it was just the two of us.

The first day was easy. We took the day to get to Tinki (a small village close to Ausangate). The only problem was we rode in the back of a truck with a bunch of Peruvians. Not the warmest way to travel but definitely interesting. The next 3 days involved trekking around the mountain, hiking over 5 passes - the highest being 5200 m. Within that 3 days we did about 60 km so each night both of us were exhausted and rested in the tent while Vincent cooked us dinner (besides it was freezing cold when the sun went down). Luckily we had a horse to carry our gear or I don't think we would have made it. We learned that normally the trek is done in 7 days/6 nights or if you ride horses (which we did not) it's done in 5 days/4 nights. So it was definitely a crazy, hard-core adventure. It was sunny most of the time (luckily) but we did have periods of snow and cold. To ease our aching muscles at the end of the forth day we arrived at some natural hot springs and soaked for a few hours.

The final day involved a 10 km walk back to Tinki and then we caught a truck half full of empty beer bottles back to Cusco. The views were fantastic and both Frank and I feel good about ourselves for finishing such a crazy hike.

Going up...

Nevado Ausangate

July 2003

July 4, 2003 - 9:02 a.m.

The Pantanal was fantastic - we drove through a state park on dirt roads and saw tonnes of animals including alligators, capybaras, emus, an anteater, wild pigs, deer, king fishers, macaws, toucans and lots and lots of other birds. We went kayaking on a completely flat (lake-like) river just to get even closer to the alligators. It is a super beautiful area but hot too - it got up to about 35 C so we were roasting.

Then yesterday we met up with some locals in Bonito and went kayaking with them on the river here. The water is crystal clear so you can see the fish swimming under you but the river is flat except for 6 small drops. It was worth going though just for the scenery (and the fact that it costs $50 per person if you want to raft it). As a bonus we saw an anaconda sunning itself on a branch right by the river and a couple monkeys in the trees above.

Michelle on Rio Bonito

Now we are drying our gear and then we plan to take off to check out the Foz du Igacu.

July 08, 2003 - 8:41 p.m.

Just a quick note to say that we are back in Argentina after seeing the Igacu Falls (both Brasilian and Argentinian sides). They were beautiful but VERY full of tourists. So we are glad to be on the road again and making our way to Salta through the Chaco.

Just now we were stopped by a traffic control officer who wanted to give us a ticket for turning left on a green light and where there was no sign indicating left turns were not allowed. Luckily we got out of that (I think Mark being a foot taller, much bigger and mad helped a bit). Crazy Argentinian road rules...

July 14, 2003 - 12:48 p.m.

Well Salta Argentia has been our home now for almost a week....Sunken in the gradual hills which begin the Andes, this place is really beautiful... and of course we have managed to once again find some kayaking friends with a sweet class III warm water run! The temperature at night is chilly but the water is still warm and keeping us happy. Two nights ago we even descended the river under a full moon which was a first for both of us! The guides here are all from different parts of the country and one is even from Peru so our days are filled with lots of Spanish practice as well. Today we are back in the main center to unite once again with Michelle’s crazy bro and sidekick malice...... hopefully we can get their frisbee tossing arms sore with some more days spent rafting with our new friends...... Maybe Michelle will get to see her brother trashed in a wave this time!

July 17, 2003 - 6:23 p.m.

So on Monday afternoon Mark and I met up with Steve and my brother in Salta and spent the night there comparing travel stories over wine before heading out the next morning to Salta Rafting. Steve and Mark (my bro) descended the river in a raft (though a lot of time was spent out of the raft and in the water) while the other Mark and I kayaked down. Super fun was had by all.

Yesterday morning Mark took Mark and Steve down a flat portion of the river in kayaks. They all survived - one swim by my bro in an eddy though. That afternoon we bid a sad goodbye to Salta Rafting (really great people there) and headed with Mark and Steve to San Salvador de Jujuy. We dropped them off at the bus station after a sweet steak meal.

Mark K, Steve and Mark B

This morning we entered Bolivia again. Definitely a shock after Argentina and Brasil (even though we had already been there). At lunch they tried to rip us off because we were gringos, the police here (at the toll stations) need larger bribes because we are gringos... definitely not the way to make us like this country. Hopefully we'll see a better side of it soon. Though so far the road has been good (250 km) but now we hit the dirt stretch so we'll see how that turns out.

PS Norman just hit 100 000 kms!!! (we have driven just under 25000 kms)

July 21, 2003 - 10:55 am

So Bolivia has been an experience for both of us. The dirt road was not too bad (though it took us 6 hours to go 300 km) and now we are in La Paz. On the way to La Paz we had some difficulties with corrupt military police. We discovered if I drove and talked to the police we were less likely to need to bribe them but it did not work for all...

So overall our impression of Bolivia has not been great and we would like to get out of this country. We think it would be better to take the bus and not have to deal with a lot of the hassles we've encountered.

That said it is very beautiful here and the roads we drove to get to La Paz were phenomenal - the mountains and jungle were fantastic. On our way here we stopped at Inti Warra Yassi, an animal refuge, and got to play with monkeys (they even used a comb to brush Mark's hair).

Looking for food

Yesterday, in La Paz, we met up with my brother and Steve again and Steve's brother Dave. Also out in front of the hostal we ran into an old family friend, Martin, who we did not even know was in SA. Small world, crazy times. So we had a bit of an Edmonton reunion.

July 25, 2003 - 3:33 p.m.

Well we made it out of Bolivia now including the rest of the Edmonton crew (Mark, Steve and Dave) in relatively easy fashion. All it took was for me to get the worst case of food poisoning in my life off of baaaad mayo. While I spent the evening in hurl mode, the others went off in a party fashion into the wee hours of the morning celebrating Steve-o’s b-day.

Now we are all in a recovery mood, and over the next day or two we’ll all be driving Norman up to Cuzco into gringo land. Crossing the border back into Peru was stressing Michelle and I out a bit, however it turned out easier than when we left. Copacabana gave us once again an opportunity to do some cheap shopping as well as roaming the spectacular Isla del Sol. So the next week or two will include some good friends and perhaps a united effort tackling one of the wildest rivers of the world.

Isla del Sol

Cusco here we come!

July 27, 2003 - 8:45 pm

From Puno the crew of us (Mark, Mark, Steve, Dave and myself) made our way to Cuzco only to find ourselves amidst Peruvian Independence Day celebrations (actual day is July 28). Crazy parties that we partook in last night.

The gringo to local population is about one to one here in Cuzco and so we hear more English now then Spanish. But we had a great time today wandering around the ruins in Pisac.

Tomorrow the lot of us is going on a 3 day rafting/kayaking trip down the Apurimac. Mark is safety kayaking and the rest of us are in the raft. Should be some crazy times ahead.

June 2003

June 02, 2003 - 11:22 a.m.

Hey all....

It’s been a while since we last wrote so I will catch you up. Our new passports came quickly in Buenos Aires, so despite it being quite a sightseeing city we headed out and up to Uruguay which fortunately doesn’t require visas anymore. Uruguay was a small area of rolling grasslands and REALLY nice people.

Uruguayan Coast

We cut south along the coast and were finally treated to some warm beach breezes and cool bird watching. Here we were able to cross into Brazil at the city of Chui...a place that straddles both frontiers and people from Uruguay and Brazil mingle nicely.... However this was the LAST place where our Spanish could be spoken and understood!! Wow now we are REALLY in a place where nobody speaks English. Once in Brazil stuff was pretty much going great until a drunk cyclist decided to bounce off the side of our van while we were leaving a highway toll station! So we thanked our lucky stars that he at least was alive when they put him in the Ambulance... then we headed to two different police stations to begin about 5 hours of paperwork.....welcome to Brazil!!

At least now we are in the beautiful small mountain town of Tres Coroas.... this place has rivers with awesome playspots and some waterfalls nearby .... needless to say we are gonna be here for a while and begin learning how to live and kayak Brazilian style......

June 09, 2003 - 1:06 p.m.

So after a week of paddling in Tres Coroas we have left the little town and made out way north to the city of Florianopolis. The last week was sweet - we spent most days on Rio Parahana at a play spot there (I can now spin my Sonic in a hole). We also did the Rio Cai which has a couple good rapids and takes you through some amazing jungle scenery.

Mark on Rio Cai

Right now we are waiting for our laundry to dry before exploring the island of Santa Catarina. It’s supposed to have some really good surf beaches but unless it stops raining I don’t know if we will try out the surf (wait until we go further north and the weather is better).

We are slowly on the move north again - but we are going to stop at a few rivers which are supposed to have some good paddling.

June 19, 2003 - 8:48 p.m.

Driving in Brasil is very interesting - they place speed bumps in every place possible and in the least visible places. We have become very good at spotting them. We have even found them on a two-lane divided highway. And they are not the small kind that you can go over with speed - these you have to slow down to less than 20 km/h or otherwise the van bottoms out.

Well that was enough of a rant – it’s been a long time since we have updated - we have been spending our time in small Brasilian towns where no e-mail is to be found.

From Florianopolis Mark and I journeyed inland to Ibirama where the Rio Itajai was in flood. Thinking the river will be sweet we jumped at the opportunity to go down it with a local paddler. Mark says the river was a lot of fun - I didn’t finish it as at the end of the first rapid was a gargantuan hole in which I received a good trashing (the only person to make it through the hole was Mark) and decided to hike out.

From there we made our way to Tibagi, which is where the Brasilian slalom team calls home. We met the B team (as the A team was off to compete in Europe) and stayed at their pad for a few days paddling the rapids by town and checking out the local tourist sites. Mark went and did the Rio Iapo with a couple of the team – I’m glad I didn’t go as it was about 25 km of flat water for 5 km of good rapids.

The last couple days we have spent at Brotas, an ecotourism destination just northeast of Sao Paulo. We met some crazy paddlers there and ran the local river - the water was low and we were scraping rocks in a few places but it still had a couple good drops. While we were there we picked up a kayak, a Samba made by a Brasilian company Brudden. The price was too good to pass up and it should be a good play boat for me (Mark can fit in it too). Also the hot weather got to Mark and he decided to go for the VERY short hair look (I like to call it an eight ball).

While we were in Brotas we spent a day fixing the van because we hit a rock and punctured our transmission oil pan. Had to get the pan welded because our van does not exist in Brasil and so replacement parts are hard to find. But Norman seems to be running well now (we just drove about 500 km) so hopefully we won’t have anymore incidents for a while.

Today we left Brotas and drove to Ubatuba. We are supposed to meet up with my brother here on Saturday, and it also is supposed to have some sweet waves for kayak surfing and well as a good beach for soaking up the sun.

Steve, Mark B, Michelle and Mark K in Ubatuba

June 24, 2003 - 2:11 p.m.

So we are now in Rio (arrived this morning) and are going spend a couple days sight seeing. Yesterday we left my brother (Mark) and Steve at the bus station in Ubatuba after a sweet couple days on the surf beaches. The kayak surfing was epic - I got a couple good beatings and tonnes of amazing rides. We even had Mark (my bro) and Steve out on the baby waves in the kayaks. They were looking good until they flipped over and had to bail. Between that and wearing speedos on the beach they made quite a scene.

Rio de Janeiro

June 30, 2003 - 1:02 p.m.

Hey all....

Driving here never loses its adventure. If you choose the backroads, you have to prepare yourself for roads worse than in Peru..... if you choose the highways you have to pay the tolls every 50 km or so. The biggest boo for us is because our van mysteriously has dual rear wheels, we end up paying DOUBLE! But road tripping with your girl still beats any bus.

Currently we are driving back from Rio de Janeiro and west way across 2,000 miles to the Pantanal, Brasil’s most famous everglades style area with the world’s most exotic wildlife. We should be there by tomorrow (July 1st). Rio was absolutely fabulous...... although the big cities in South America are not tempting to drive in, we managed to find a safe place to park our van and went all over to see the sights..... including Brasil’s scantily clad beaches. So yes know that we have been in Brasil for over a month, things are going really smooth and we really like it here...... I hope to come back soon. We are hoping to be in SALTA, Argentina in two weeks to meet back up with Michelle’s Brother and Steve again..... after that we are heading back to Peru via Bolivia..... wish our van lots of luck please!!

Pantanal