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Arriving in Picton, we checked into Atlantis Backpackers and brought our bags into our 24 bed dorm (a record I think – it wasn’t as bad as it sounded though, with all the beds sectioned off well). The next morning, Ciara, myself and Claire set off to walk the first part of the Queen Charlotte Track. It is a really nice walk, especially on a sunny day like we had. We stopped for a picnic at one of the small coves. It is possible to do the entire walk over 3 or 4 days, including some nights camping and it’s something I’d like to come back to do in New Zealand.

Another day in Picton so we did the snout track walk – a couple of hours along the headland, and then went to the cinema as we were hanging around for the ferry to Wellington that evening. The ferry crossing was grand that evening and we the YHA hostel without any trouble, then headed straight to bed.

Lake Tekapo is a lovely spot in the region of Mount Cook (New Zealand’s highest mountain). It has a cute village and a few nice places to stay. We stayed in the budget part of the Scenic Resort Motels.

That afternoon we drove up to Mount St. John Observatory which Lonely Planet had boasted as being the café with the best views on the planet so we had to try it! Both the 360º view and the coffee and cake did not disappoint – try the chocolate brownie if you get there.

The next morning we got up early to drive to Mount Cook National Park. Unfortunately the heavy cloud stopped us from actually seeing Mount Cook and after a short trail walk by the glaciers we headed back home for a walk by the lake and a relaxing evening.

Pucon is a small town (pop about 20,000) 12 hours south of Santiago. It is a real holiday spot for both Chileans and foreigners with lots of tour operators offering trips to do all types of outdoor activities.

I arrived on my own in the morning, having left the girls to go to Mendoza (blog report to follow once again!) and went to the Tree House Hostel where I had booked a bed. Trying not to wake the sleepers in my room, I went off for breakfast and booked to go zipwiring that afternoon.

Zipwiring or Canopy is a series of platforms set up in the forest that have thick connecting cables from one to another. You are given a harness and helmet so you can attach yourself to the cables and then swing across from tree to tree. Even though it was raining, it was great fun once you got the hang of it.

The main attraction in Pucon is to climb the active volcano  “Vulcan Villarica”. It`s last major eruption was in 1984, the major danger being the resulting avalanches and melting of the snow due to lava rather than the eruption itself. I booked to go the next morning but due to bad weather, it was called off so I spent the day in the Huerquehue National Park with two Swedes I had met at the hostel. We did a 14km circuit of the lakes, again the rain was heavy but it was still enjoyable.

The next morning Maurisio, my guide, collected me at 7.30am to do the volcano hike. He had brought heavy hiking boots for me to wear along with the rest of the equipment, which included crampons, an ice pick, water proof pants and jacket, two pairs of gloves and a fleecy balaclava.

First we got the ski lift up some of the mountain, this cutting off about an hours walk. There, we put on our crampons and water proof gear before starting to walk. Our group was small with only three, in comparison to the other groups of 15 to 20, the large majority being Israelis.

The climb was hard enough, particularly wearing the heavy boots and crampons. As we got higher, I became increasingly aware of how easy it would be to slip and tumble down the side of the mountain. Even during our breaks, I was uneasy as we were never on horizontal ground, always at least 25 degrees slanted upwards.

Ofcourse, when we got to the top about 4 hours later, it was worth it. The views below looking down on top of the clouds were great and on the other side you could see into the smoking volcano crater. Here we stopped for lunch and a well earned rest.

On our descent, half way down, we took out our plastic sliding trays (to use the technical term) and used our ice picks to push us down. This was great fun once I realised how to do it properly and we made it safely back to the bottom by about 4pm.

From Cali, I left the girls going to Ecuador to do their Galapagos trip (blog post to follow I’m sure!!!) and flew back up north with Kieran and Ciarán to Santa Marta. The flights were a nice change from the long bus journeys we’d been taking.

We booked the tour to start the next morning and going on others advice and the state of their legs coming back from the trek, we stocked up on sun cream and insect repellant.

We left about nine the next morning to meet our group (turns out we were the entire group) and first drove about four hours by jeep to a small town at the start of the trek. There we had lunch and then headed off with Omar, our guide and Luis, his 15 year old nephew. The first day there was quite a bit of walking uphill, but also 2 swims in natural pools which was lovely, before we got to our campsite for the night, where we slept in hammocks in an open air wooden cabana.

Next morning, we started walking around 7.30am and woke up quickly with a nice walk through the river – water up to mid thigh, there was no point even trying to save the shoes as we would be walking through more along the way. We got to our next campsite around 12.30pm and relaxed for the rest of the day.

This was our pattern for most of the trip – walking in the morning, then relax in the afternoon. On the third and fourth day, there was a ridiculous amount of rain in the afternoon so this made total sense. Below a photo of us crossing the river and below it the same river later that afternoon once the rain started.

On the fourth day we got to the Lost City itself. Although the ruins are not as impressive as Machu Pichu, it was still quite impressive to see and worth the walk. The Tayrona people built the Lost City around 700 AD, but by 1600 they had been almost wiped out by the Spanish. It was discovered in 1975 by people looking for gold and then excavated in 1976.

Decendents of the Tayrona still live in this region and we passed some of their villages on the way. They wear long loose white clothing, have really long hair and the men look remarkably like the women. Our guide informed us that the indigenous people own the accomodation that we stayed in along the way and they have access to free medical care and education. Unfortunately, very few actually go to school and many are in bad health and many die young. They often don´t recieve medical attention till it is too late and the use the money they receive from the accomodation to buy modern processed food which they find hard to digest.

Me at the Lost City below:

From San Gil, all nine of us got a bus to Santa Marta up on the north coast and then on to Taganga, a small fishing village nearby. After we checked into La Case de Felipe we all walked down for breakfast and realised quickly how hot it is here! The day was spent at the beach and later a great meal at the hostel – a French chef works in the restaurant there so it was delicious steak all round!

The next day we went back to Santa Marta, with plans to go to Tyrona National Park the next morning. Now, we weren’t quite prepared for it. First of all it was lashing rain all morning so were totally soaked getting on the bus. Then, not thinking clearly, half of us were wearing flip flops, having been told we would be able to avoid the trek in and get horses. But, by the time we got to the bus (had to walk, actually wade through streets full of water) it was too late for the horses so we had to walk! We started walking in the flip flops, not the most sensible, then had to ditch them when the mud got too much – we’re talking mid calf level and I’m sure there was horse poo mixed in with it! So, when we eventually got to our campsite, it was quite a relief as it was nearly dark aswell but it was worth it! A delicious meal of sweet bread (most bread has sugar in it here, not the most appetising) and tuna that we had brought for lunch along with fried bananna chips – you get lots of them here, actually quite tasty!

The beaches are beautiful there, really postcard perfect. We slept in hammocks for two nights – all nine of us in a row! Not as romantic as you would think when you get woken up by a donkey in the middle of the night! But it was really cool, falling asleep listening to the water (the first night) or buckets of rain (the second night).