As we needed more adrenaline in our blood, we decided to fly to Rurrenabaque to see Piranhas, turtles, crocodiles, monkeys, cobras, spiders, tapirs, kakadus and lots of other crazy animals.

Rurrenabaque is a smaller town in the North of Bolivia, on the Beni River. Lately it has become more popular with international tourism as it is an easy gateway for visits to Madidi National Park (within the Bolivian rainforest), as well as the surrounding pampas. Locals commonly refer to the town by its shortened nickname, “Rurre”.

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Just at 165 kilometers from Salta is this little town called Cafayate. With its 11.785 inhabitants it´s situated at 1683 meter height and surrounded by vineyards. We drove from Cachi to Cafayate in about 5 hours and this was an amazing trip. You see lama´s crossing the street, loads of peppers that have been put to dry in the sun and of course the most beautiful colored mountains. The feeling you get and the views cannot be described.

Cafayate itself is a great place to stay. For foreigners it´s most famous for its bodegas and torrontes wine, which won a lot of international awards, but in Argentina Cafayate is also well known for its folklore festival every February. We stayed in a very nice hotel called Vieja Posada, which was more like a big country house, rather than a hotel. At this moment they are renovating it at the outside, but inside it was beautiful, with a big patio and excellent rooms.

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Transportation system in Peru is a great mystery. How do they find their way in this chaos is still a great unknown.

In Lima there are different means of transport, and so we have: buses, combis, colectivos (private cars that transport individuals), taxis, motor-taxis (half motor-bikes half rickshaws). But the prevailing means of transport in most of the cities is a bus. This concerns also Cusco, where I live. Combis and taxis have conquered streets of this city.

Combi is a very interesting phenomenon. It is a van, which according to residents has enough space for about 24 people with approximately 14 (small!) seats! Just squeeze and problem is solved! Well, at least you get to know each other more J Combis are owned by private companies and there are plenty of them. In a combi there is usually one person on board (except for a driver) who manages the car and shouts out loud the route (he or she usually calls the names of the streets with an enormous speed, so you better listen carefully!). When 5 combis come at once and stop at the same “paradero” (bus stop) you get a nice havoc. But everyone knows its way, so there is no problem. The only confused ones are tourists, who gaze with amazement. There are no timetables at the stops, but this was smartly solved. You can always ask the person managing the combi if it passes through a place you want to go to… provided you know some basic Spanish.

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After our first “lazy” day in Cusco, having drunk lots of “mate de coca” (coca tea) in order to prevent the “soroche” or altitude illness from hitting us, we were ready for our first excursion in the Cusco region: the Sacred Valley of the Incas. We had bought some notebooks and pens at a local store in Cusco so that we could hand them out to the kids that we would meet along the way. In fact, at our first stop along the road somewhere outside Cusco, children dressed up in traditional clothing were already waiting for us.

The kids try to draw the tourist’s attention with their colourful costumes in order to earn some soles in exchange for having a picture taken with them, while their parents sell handicrafts or clothing. You will come across many small markets along the route of the Sacred Valley, some only consisting of a few plaids on the side of the road with all kinds of craft products; others more “ structured” in the hope to attract big groups of tourists.

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Aliens, dark memories and folklore in the Cordoban mountains

If you visit Buenos Aires during the hot summer months, the heat and pollution can sometimes be a little too much. Why not then go for a short trip to the mountains near Cordoba for some air a tad cleaner and cooler. This area hosts a number of small towns popular among Argentineans as holiday destinations, and there are a lot of different things to see and do .

The town of Capilla del Monte lies at the foot of Mount Uritorco, reaching slightly less than 2000 meters above sea level. There are hotels and swimming pools in the town, but it is the mountain that attracts many visitors, due to its supposedly extra high levels of energy and that it has been visited by extraterrestrials…Supernatural or not, alien landing site or not, the scenery of the mountain is very beautiful none the less, both to look at from a distance and as an area for hiking. And one may also find the many salespersons and shops offering various new age items such as crystals and talismans quite entertaining as well.

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Every major city in Peru has taxis and they are available in abundance and are not so expensive. It is not uncommon for travelers, particularly in groups, to use a cab to get from one town to another, since the fare, when divided, is often not more expensive than a minibus, and the ride considerably more comfortable. However there are no meters and fares are to be fixed before the ride. Passengers must always negotiate the price of a taxi or mototaxi ride with the driver before entering the vehicle.  This is very important, because if driver and passenger are not settled on the price, the passenger might find him or herself paying much more than necessary for the ride.In order to get advantage of taxis service, to feel safe and enjoy the view outside the window, it’s important to check few information before leaving!

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