Buenos Aires, Argentina 5th – 20th Dec 2007
Been wandering around with one of my many books (brought a ton with me to keep my brain used to reading, so uni won´t be too much of a shock) and went to the Plaza de Mayo yesterday and today where there was a big protest about the people that disappeared / were kidnapped by the government in the 1970/80s because of their politics. Very interesting, but sad as well as they never turned up. Today I went to San Martin where there´s a clock that the british gave the Argentineans as a present. It now has Malvinas grafiti-ed all around it.

Buenos Aires still remains class. Went to the Botanical Gardens and there were hundreds of cats. An endless sea of them living there and being fed, quite cute. Was in the Congress Square when the new president was speaking yesterday which was interesting. Lots of soldiers on horseback etc. I´m here at a good time je pense and it’s not too hot.

Argentina 7th – 19th Jan 2008
In Buenos Aires again ready to embark on the proper journey. Gotta finish packing, but have ironed on my Uruguayan flag onto my bag which is good – had a Union Jack on it before and well, Brits aren’t the most popular people here with all the Malvinas history. Feeling reasonably prepared. However, I am not looking forward to a 22-hour coach trip though, but at least we leave at night and I’m sure I’d still be catching up from lack of sleep last week.

In a village called Purmamarca in the north Argentina. It’s pretty spectacular as there are mountains that have 7 different colours of rock. We´re talking bright, bright colours. Looks fake actually, but it is 100 percent natural. Really cool to look at.

Now in a small village still in north Argentina, the 4th we’ve been to so far. They’re amazing and the food is lovely. Very high up – surrounded by mountains. We were in a village (San Isidro) last night that was cut off from everywhere – takes 3 hours trekking through mountains and rivers to get there and it has no electricity. Going to Bolivia in a few days.

Camping in another small village called Yavi. Really beautiful. Went for a walk by myself up this mountain last night. There were these amazing eagles flying around me, so close. They didn’t seem to mind me though.

Got a bit scary as the time passed and i was just sitting contemplating and suddenly it was dark and there was lightning. I was the tallest thing on the mountain, so boy did i get down sharp-ish. However, getting down sharp-ish meant a few tumbles down the mountainous rock in the dark. Made it back in one piece though, luckily.

Bolivia 19th – 31st Jan 2008
In Bolivia now and it is amazing. The people are really lovely, the scenery takes your breath away and the food is delicious. It is incredibly cheap, I had a brilliant big breakfast today for 20p. Unbelievable.

In La Paz and am about 4000m above sea level so climbing stairs is a task at first, but you get used to it. The camping period has ended, partly because the mountain sun melted the tent poles on the tents - they were actually good tents as well and we’ve all started to get a bit fussy. Haven’t personally had any encounters with bugs yet, but my friends saw a coral snake … horrible. Really loving the travelling, this is so brilliant! Even when I got a tad ill and the train derailed, I love every minute of it.

Now back in Copacabana, right next to Lake Titicaca which is the most enormous lake I have ever seen. In some directions you see only water, so it feels like the sea. Electric storms every night here. Keeps the weather exciting I guess. Been to the Isla del Sol (the Island of the Sun) in the middle of the lake. Beautiful place. Climbed the mountains that had Inca ruins at the top and the view was amazing … camped but the tents didn’t fare too well in the nightly storms.

North Bolivia 20th February – 3rd March 2008
A couple of weeks ago i separated from my cousin as he went to Brasil the fast way and well i have more time so didn't wanna rush things. At the moment I´m travelling with one of his mates called Lucas, who is lovely and manages to put up with me so deserves some kind of prize.

The plan is to reach Mexico together, by going up through Bolivia, into Brasil, then Venezuela, Columbia etc. We left La Paz two weeks ago and went to this village on the edge of the jungle, where we met Leo. One of the most interesting characters i have ever met, something out of a film. He didn't go to school, but spent his childhood in his uncle's library where he just read books and boy does he know everything about literature. Any book i mentioned he´d read, including pretty much all of Shakespeare's work. We spent a day with him and a few Chileans at these natural waterfalls in the mountains where the water beats down on your back from such a height that you get a forceful back massage. The next day we set off for this village called Caranavi ...

As soon as we arrived we realised it was more of a town than a village and a horrible one at that. It was like something out of an American horror film, all the people stared at us and just gave us blank looks when we asked questions. We spent the evening sitting in our box of a room in the hostel. We left sharpish the next morning and bought tickets to go further north to a place called Rurrenabaque, smack in the middle of the rainforest.

Just our luck the coach got held up by an overturned lorry, so after six hours waiting we decided to ask for our money back and hitch a ride to Rurrenabaque (12 hours away) with some crazy Chilean that we'd met called Bernando (i call him Berni). As we're just about to put our plan into action the coach arrives, but we were so hyped up for hitching so we went to wait where all the lorries going to Rurre pass by. From 11.30pm we finally got picked up at 5.30am. I fell asleep, so to me it went really fast. We were so happy to get picked up that we didnt bother checking what the lorry was carrying and just climbed up and jumped in.

Then it starts moving and we realise there's this massive tractor on board with us. Along with the sharpest, biggest crop-cutting knife machine that I've ever seen. The roads in Bolivia are so uneven, we start moving and bumping up and down and so do the knives. We hastily made a barrier with our bags, but then it started slicing our bags. It got so dark, we had to think fast. We saw this tyre at one end of the lorry and managed to lift then wedge it between one of the lorry walls and the knives. Three of us within one square foot of nothing but safety.

After awhile though we climb onto the tractor and sat on the roof, the scenery was amazing. Going through the mountains on roads with sheer drops in some places and seeing all these jungle plants and banana and coconut trees. Pure class, plus we found a crate of apples in the tractor and eat away. Then the truck loses an axel and we're stuck in the middle of nowhere in the blazing sun, needing to hitch another ride.

In the end we got into this truck that bounced around so much my brain got a battering that day. We arrived in Rurre at 8.30pm that night. Berni who is travelling to Rurre to go on an expedition into the jungle, whereas me and Lucas are just passing through, ends up persuading us to go to the jungle. We got a very good deal and so the next day set off into the Amazon for a trek and oh my, it was a trek!

Seven days in the middle of the jungle with no tent, just a tarp and mosquito nets. Cooking our own food and living amongst the insects. No idea how it ended up being a week-long trip, as we started off saying it'll only be two days. Got there and I was like 'Aaaah, I don't wanna be here, there are loads of bugs that can kill me and jaguars here'. We start our trek with these massive rucksacks on our backs, walking behind our guide who machettis a path through the jungle that no one has walked through before.

After 9 hours we set up camp and have a wash in a minute stream, we stink so it's necessary. In the daytime the flies, bees and wasps are unbearable, always have minimum 100 flying or buzzing around you if you sit still for more than 30 secs. But we go for a walk into the rainforest, Berni stays back coz he has a bad leg, and it was amazing. We saw monkeys (and they threw stuff at us), drank water from this medicinal tree, collected berries to make milk, ate wigety grubs that tasted of coconut and chased a group of wild pigs.

We get back to camp and nearby there's a strong smell of wild pigs, so we think Berni has been attacked by some pigs - they're really vicious and eat everything. Later we find him about 10 mins away from camp sitting in the jungle. The story is he'd ran out from camp 4 hours earlier because a massive swarm of wasps attacked him and he was too scared to go back coz they´d already stung him loads. We waited until 7pm coz the wasps leave when it gets dark.

The wasps and bees return in the morning so we set off early to find another camp. Arrive at another camp and relax. But there are these massive red ants with heads that look like big bums. They don't bite with venom, but they have big gnashers that eat anything and everything. That night they attacked, we had to put our rucksacks on wooden sticks in the air but they ate the hell out of my shoes and our mosquito nets. I couldn't sleep coz you could hear them chewing and you couldn't kill them coz their bodies emit a smell that calls more ants to attack. They kept chewing and eating bits of my hair. At some point in the morning they left their destructive path, so we moved camp again. We reach the river and set up camp on the beach and get into this massive waterfall. But then the sandflies start eating us so we take cover under mosi nets. The stars that night are amazing and make a change from the intense darkness of the jungle.

We build a boat to go down river and trek back to camp. The midday heat and sandflies are unbearable. I'm playing cards in the shade and our guide suddenly appears in his pants and covered from head to toe in mud. The sand flies dont bite if you're covered in mud so there's a mad hour where we're all wallowing like pigs in the mud in our underwear. A mud fight ensues naturally so i got lots of mud in my ear. However when I was getting changed the sandflies attacked and ate my legs totally.They are still sore.

It's our final night and we wake up to a massive electric storm, with the loudest thunder i have ever heard in my life and we have to sleep sitting up as the rain starts to soak up. It continues all night and all today ... Surely the boat can't pick us up as it's wooden and has no roof. So we sit and wait and eat the last of our food. Then wait. And wait. Eventually at around 4pm a boat appears and we get back to Rurre for 6.30pm all knackered after a bizarre week that has made me lose my fear of spiders after seeing some seriously scary ones, and lose my fear of wasps and bees and think 'Thank God our insects in the UK are normal'.

Bolivia 16th March 2008
Just spent a week on a boat going from the very north of Bolivia to somewhere a bit further south. interesting experience. Saw a capybara! which is a giant guinea pig (and i mean giant).

The other day a deer was crossing the river so the sailors jumped into the little motor boat canoe thing and went after it and killed it. i saw the whole preparation for consumption process, from cutting the throat to drain the blood, to skinning, to de-organing and then filleting.

A pig was also living on board the boat with us that came by causing havoc daily and eventually got braver and braver. In the end he was continously stealing our food, like your rice, cheese, biscuits and bananas. He even pushed one of our pans into the river. But resistance was futile – if you hit him or ran after him to scare him off he'd lie down in the middle of our camp or on our tent.

More about the jungle next.

Potosi, and the Salar of Uyuni 31st March 2008
I have arrived in Buenos Aires, a vast change of mind and plan kicked in after the boat trip - the travelling up through Brazil plan was abandoned as it is a seriously pricey country. Ok, not by UK standards, but when you're used to living like a king on £2 a day multiplying that sum by 10 is a little bit scary, plus the only way to get around from where we were was by boat, and well i'd had enough of boats. I'm also one of those people that likes to really get to know a place before I leave it, which to me means exploring all the big cities and as many little towns in between.

The new plan was to travel around all the places yet to be discovered in Bolivia and then return to Buenos Aires for abit, to see my family and my mates, whom I have to say I really missed. The final few weeks in Bolivia have involved hitch-hiking to new places on trucks with cargos of rice, which is actually surprisingly comfy. Going down Silver mines in Potosi, the highest city in the world at 4000m above sea level, and enjoying the wonders of food poisoning at high altitude – not pleasant at all I assure you. A highlight was definately the Salar of Uyuni, an enormous bright, white expanse of salt. Tonnes and tonnes of the stuff. It was so beautiful, but well to note for future travels – bring sunglasses next time because the glare from the sun's reflection is literally blinding.

So with a few bumps along the way, I'm in my Buenos Aires home enjoying the fact I don't have to pack my bag every 2 days and enjoying the comforts of home cooked food. My aunt is the best chef in the world, seriously.

Mexico City, Costa Rica 30th June 2008
Been in Mexico City for just over a week now and well first impressions? The city is neverending! It just goes on and on and on and on, so much to see and do, once again. Just as well I had a short break in Costa Rica to relax and soak up the sun's rays ...

Now Costa Rica, that is an amazing place, astoundingly beautiful and so laid back. Went straight to the carribean coast to enjoy the delights of jerk chicken and coconut water, the latter obtained by knocking a coconut off a palmtree and opening it with a knife. Pure bliss. The stories of the carribean, white sandy beaches, clear crystalline warm water and gorgeous sunshine are by no means myths. And the wildlife, the whole coast is full of animals scurrying to and fro, robbing you food or spying on you. On one of the beaches lined by the jungle, I was under siege from monkeys, cheeky little blighters. Whilst swimming in the sea, I happened to glance up at the beach and see a monkey rifling through my bags - it had sniffed out the pineapple in there. Needless to say i ran out and chased it away, but it was so cute that I decided to give it a bit of pineapple. He was a little bit picky though as he rejected the skin throwing it to the floor, and demanded the flesh. But i'm a bit of a sucker for the tiny, cute and fluffy, so i abided fed him a bit, wrapped up the pineapple and went back into the water ... Only to glance back 15 mins later and see the trees rustling unnaturally and a few more furry friends crawling around the beach - he'd called his mates and 30 of them had come in hope of some pineapple ... I moved beach after that ...