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2004

SOUTH AMERICA   April-November 2004

ECUADOR  (3 weeks)  A rough beginning to our eight-month trip with many "Rookie Mistakes"; local family home-stay & Spanish lessons in Cuenca; close encounters with thieves in Quito

GALAPAGOS (8 days)  Cruise through Galapagos Islands on the Coral

AMAZONIA (2 weeks) Terrible eco-lodge on Napo River in Ecuadorian Amazonia; wonderful eco-lodge in Brazilian Amazonia; terrifying Amazon River journey with smugglers; Texas barbecue & butterfly farm (animal refuge) in Iquitos, Peru

PERU (6 weeks)  Local family stay & Spanish lessons in Cusco; Lou hikes 30-mile Inca Trail over three mountain peaks to Machu Picchu while altitude-sickness-prone Joan takes the train; Sacred Valley - Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Urubamba; Joan gets
"chicken skin" at Moray - birthplace of Inca civilization

BOLIVIA (5 weeks)  Uyuni salt flats via 4-night jeep trip; Copacabana, Lake Titicaca & Isla del Sol; witches' market and textile shopping in La Paz; down "world's most dangerous road" to Corioco; Lou descends deep in silver mine in Potosi; stayed with local family & took Spanish lessons in Sucre

BRAZIL  (3 weeks)  Flew over Amazon to Mamiraua floating eco-lodge to see wildlife in flooded forest; wildlife viewing in Pantanal wetlands; snorkeling in crystal clear Bonito rivers; hiking next to thunderous Iguaçu Falls

ARGENTINA & URUGUAY  (5 weeks)  Uruguay: home-stays in Montevideo,& Punta del Este, plus visit to Colonia; Argentina: 3 weeks in Buenos Aires: steaks, wine, walking tours, soccer, rugby, polo, tango, concerts, leather jackets, absentee voting in U.S. election (it didn't help); hiking in mountain resort villages of Bariloche & Villa la Angostura

PATAGONIA (5 weeks)  CHILE: Chiloe Island, Puerto Montt, 4-day Navimag ferry cruise through Chilean fjords, Puerto Natales, hut-to-hut trekking in Torres del Paine National Park; ARGENTINA: El Calafate, Moreno Glacier, cruise past icebergs to five glaciers; El Chalten, ice-trekking on glaciers; Ushuaia: the southernmost city on earth - "El fin del mundo"

AFRICA  (2005)

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Joan and Lou Rose     joanandlou@ramblingroses.net