It seems the best cure for walkers who have completed the Salkantay or Inca trails is to party hard when you get off the train back in Cusco, and who am I to argue with this tried and true remedy. As such I went out to Mama Africas that night with the hostel crowd for much therapeutic drinking and dancing all night. I booked on an overnight bus trip the next day south west to Arequipa with two English girls who had become travel friends. At this stage of my trip, there are some travellers I've bumped into four or five times on the gringo trail. It really is very social and a lot of fun on the trail in…

The journal left off in Rurrenabaque Bolivia, where I booked a flight on a twelve seater plane back to La Paz at the end of the jungle tour. The flight only took an hour but we struggled badly through lack of air. It was alright for some however, as I looked forward to the pilots and they had oxygen masks on. At least the guys in command weren't passing out! I was feeling pretty knocked around in flying back to altitude again and my back seized up, but help arrived in the form of a traveller on the plane who practices shiatsu massage and the adventures continue. I subsequently caught a bus to Copacabana, dear reader, which is on Lake…

The journal left off at Sucre which is a beautiful colonial town in the centre of Bolivia. I caught up with the salt plains team and we spent three enjoyable nights there, relaxing and enjoying the sights and restaurants. We also visited our travel companion who had been laid up in hospital after suffering a broken leg playing a game of soccer on the Salar de Uyni. She seemed quite chirpy and is being well looked after in the hospital. It was great to connect with my travel friends again after having such a wonderful time together at the salt plains, in spite of the injury caused to one of our team. We enjoyed a travel experience that will stay…

I've been on the bounce, dear reader, since the last time I shared travel adventures and the journal now continues... Towards the end of my stay in Rosario I met an English lad in our dorm room and we became travelling companions for several days. He is also heading north so we organized an overnight bus to Salta in the far north of Argentina. We booked into a recommended hostel, and it was soon time to let our hair down at the local pubs and clubs for the weekend. We had a very enjoyable time and the nightlife was heaving in this beautiful northern Argentinian city. Salta is terrific, and proved to be quite the surprise packet with the amount…

Hello World... Welcome to my brand spanking new travel blog and here begins the first posting of a travel journal which is a tentative yet exciting first step for me ... and hopefully an informative and entertaining diversion for you. Life on the road develops a particular rhythm and after two weeks mainly in northern Argentina I'm beginning to feel the beat, as I ease into a six month journey to discover the joys of Latin America. Sydney is a big city, the lovely reader, and after an uneventful flight via Auckland on 17 September my port of arrival was Santiago, which is a big city. But this is South America and I'm very glad to be here. I spent…

The last country on the itinerary during this wonderful trip to Southern Africa is Zimbabwe; formerly known as the bread basket of the region but now a country devastated by a collapse of the farming sector, chronic shortages of food and fuel, hyperinflation and massive levels of unemployment. Tourism levels have also plummeted in recent years due to instability and violence, but as a humble blogger I will leave further political comment to the politicians, and simply share as always my travel experiences. The previous journal left off in Livingstone, constant reader, on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. I farewelled most of the safari group, and went to the Zim border where I had to fork out a hefty…

Zambia is acknowledged as one of the world's safest places to visit, and is home to friendly people. The country boasts the majesty of the world's biggest waterfall in Victoria Falls, the wild Zambezi river, and world class game reserves. These attractions make an impressive tourist package, and to continue from the previous journal ... our safari team kept rolling on! We reluctantly left the gorgeous Okavango Delta in Botswana and piled into the truck to drive to the final destination in our eight day safari. We crossed the border into Zambia and finished our safari at a quality hostel in Livingstone, the town on the Zambian side of the awesome Victoria Falls. We checked into the hostel mid afternoon,…

Botswana is a genuine African success story, dear reader. It's a big, dry country that sits astride the Kalahari desert; the biggest continuous area of sand in the world. This country of less than two million people is home to a stable democracy, abundant resources and the breathtaking natural scenery of the Okavango Delta, without a doubt one of the most sublime places on Earth. As we continue the adventures from the previous journal, Botswana features as the next destination on our great African safari. The Chameleon tours team crossed the border from Namibia in the safari truck to be greeted at an extremely remote and desolate border by laid back customs officials, who chatted amiably while all our team's…

Namibia is a country of great contrasts and wonderful tourist attractions. Situated in West Africa and bordering South Africa, Angola and Botswana, the country of wide open spaces is home to two million people. Famous for the Namib desert including the awe inspiring sand dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia also features Etosha National Park, one of the most famous game reserves in Africa. I began my visit by flying into the capital Windhoek from Cape Town, and was immediately struck by a sense of vastness on arrival at the airport. What's the John Dory with that, I mean this airport is in the middle of nowhere! So anyways I piled into a taxi, dear reader, and my man thundered along the…

I'd been watching African wildlife specials on the telly, dear reader, and my desire to visit the dark continent was building to a crescendo. There's a famous song in Australia that goes ... football, meat pies, kangaroos and holden cars; but it seems that Africa can go one better. The prospect of spotting the big five and other spectacular wildlife amidst glorious African sunsets was very exciting, and the novels of the African writer Wilbur Smith helped fuel my passion. So I was full of anticipation as I boarded a westbound flight across the mighty Australian continent, over the Indian Ocean and onwards to South Africa. I wasn't excited to start my trip in Johannesburg, but I was aware of…