New Blog Address

I have been having major computer problems for the past few weeks,  and as a result I have just splashed out and bought a new computer. I went with an Apple Mac because I thought if I was going to learn 2 new systems in Windows 8 and then Windows 10 in a couple of months time, I might as well see how I got on learning a Mac !!  Anyway, the result is that my Blog here is now presently unable to be worked on from my new computer (until I can find someone to help me) so I am starting a new blog called "And on to Europe....", and the address for it is https://explorineurope.blogspot.co.uk

So if you want to bookmark that, that is where I will be posting from now on.
However I will finish putting the Best of the Best into this current blog, so this is then a complete record of this recent trip to South America.

Thanks for your patience, and look forward to having you join me in Europe. Next week I am off to France, and then up to Scandinavia and the Arctic Circle for the summer ! 

See you there,

Giles

0260 On a Narrow Boat on the UK canals

UPDATE 8th July 2015.   I have reentered this post and photos into my new blog from Europe, so please look there for details of my adventures -  https://explorineurope.blogspot.co.uk





The body of this blog will be written shortly, but I just wanted to get the photos up.

Photos are here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0260NarrowBoatOnCanals?authkey=Gv1sRgCMXXloSBzt3KGQ

0255 Best of the Best Part 3 - Cartagena to Santiago

South America - Cartagena to Santiago.

10^th October – 19^th December 2014.  71 days, 5 countries, and 11,006 kilometres.

We flew to Cartagena Columbia on a Friday, the ship carrying our car arrived that evening, and not only did the port not work at weekends, but Monday was a National Day holiday, so it was Tuesday 14^th before we could even start our paperwork trail to release our car. Due to inefficiencies by our agent, idiocy in the port, and delays in customs, it was 3 frustrating days before we finally drove our cars out of the docks on the evening of Thursday 16^th.  We even had a Spanish speaking Peruvian with us, so it was not a lack of Spanish language that delayed us ! The up side was that Cartagena is a GREAT city, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there, in a great little hotel, good restaurants, and so much history to explore – And Francis Drake the infamous English pirate (?) plundered here too ! 

0254 Best of the Best Part 2 - Mexico and Central America

Mexico and Central America.

29^th July – 9^th October 2014.  73 days, 6 countries, and 9,808 kilometres.

After getting some pesos from a cambio man, a pleasant early morning border crossing into Mexico at Mexicali saw me headed south on the quiet Hwy 5 by noon, with the heat building steadily, and headed towards Mike’s Sky Rancho up in the mountains that I had been told about by some bikers. After experiencing my first Military checkpoint and inspection without too much hassle, I headed into the mountains.  A big stop for competitors in the Baja 1000, the Rancho was now deserted, but cool, and a good place to let the ambience of Mexico soak in for a couple of days. The 20 km dirt road in is best done on a bike or a good 4WD, but only adds to the experience. 

0252 Best of the Best Part 1 - Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48

Best of the Best Part 1.  Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48.

BEFORE I START :-

Where do you begin when you’re trying to condense one of the most incredible years of your life into a few short paragraphs, when you try to condense some 5000 photos of that year  into just 300 of the best ones  ? – And those are the numbers just for part one of this Best of the Best !!  And to make it more difficult, virtually every single one of those 365 days contained a highlight, and on every single one of those days you were actively doing something amazing ?  Consequently, in a summary like this, a lot has to get glossed over, or worse still, left out completely – And that just detracts from the whole memory and experience.  But this summary, and indeed this whole blog over the past year, has not been intended solely for our family and friends, enabling them to keep up with our travels, and to vicariously share and enjoy them with us, but more importantly (and selfishly !) it has been for my own benefit.  If I did not write down the many adventures, and sort out the photos on a daily basis, then I would have quickly forgotten the details due to my increasing senility. This blog, and this “Best of the Best” summary, will also enable us to relive every moment of the journey whenever we want, remembering the great times, the wonderful people we met along the way, and that means that the journey need never end................

0251 The end of this part of the adventure

I will start a new blog for Europe.  I will finalise it shortly and post the new address link.

At the end of my 13 month Americas Adventure, I have tried to summarize my trip. I am longwinded, so it would take a very long time for anyone to try to read my whole original blog from start to finish.  So, as I did with my Alaska 2012 blog, I have tried to summarize the trip into smaller, more easily digestible pieces, giving a rough outline of the trip, and trying to get just the best photos.  Unfortunately it is still quite long - Well, it was a long trip, and to trim it down to just 2 pages of writing and 20 or 30 photos is absolutely impossible.  Well, it is for me !  So I have done four last posts - A Best of the Best Parts 1-4.  One for USA and Canada, one for Central America (Mexico to Panama), one for South America down to Santiago, and one for South America from Santiago to the end in Uruguay.

I hope you enjoy it.  I have certainly enjoyed doing it, despite daily wifi and computer battles !   I use the blog a lot to remind me of what we have done and seen - Without the blog and all the photos, much of the Adventure would be forgotten - Especially as my mind finds it harder and harder to remember everything !  And that would be a shame. 

We now look forward to the next Adventure - Europe 2015 !!  I hope you can share it with us. 

0250 Sea Voyage across the Atlantic

2nd May - 2nd June 2015  Sea Voyage across the Atlantic

3.5.15    S35.04.13.5   W55.04.58.21

2.30 pm    Off Punta del Este, Uruguay

Hardly any sleep.  Breakfast of bread, cheese and coffee, then up on deck to watch for departure.  Car loading ramp pulled up slowly at about 9 am.  Depart Montevideo at 10 am.  2 tugs to pull us off the jetty in high, cold winds.  Chinese fishing vessel unloading frozen tuna beside us straight into a refrigerated 40ft container.  Bulk tanker loading with wheat.  Head out of harbour. Lunch at 11 am, then siesta in cabin as we sail up the coast, past the campsite of the past 3 weeks, and past the mountain we climbed outside Piriapolis 2 weeks ago.  Heading up the coast to Paranagua, south of Sao Paulo.  Quite a lot of movement due to high winds whipping seas up.  No stabilisers on commercial vessels !!