I've got a little list

This time next week I will be boarding a plane on my own, for the very first time, and a plane to the other side of the world at that!!!


My mixed emotions regarding the trip are increasing in equal measure as I try to prepare for the fast-approaching adventure. I'm rereading my guidebooks and tour information, getting very excited about all the fun things I have planned whilst giving myself less and less time to pack up my room, eat all the food in my fridge and tie up a lot of loose ends with my various jobs, hence increasing my stress levels. My love of list making is not helping as I spend my time thinking of more and more things to add to the to-do list and therefore don't get anything already on it done!


But this blog has been on my agenda for a while now, as many of you have been asking for a thorough breakdown of my travel plans - as you well know I can't help but plan ahead, so here goes:


Here's my little list, of things never to be missed!

30th June depart Heathrow - 1st July arrive Rio de Janeiro

1st - 3rd July - explore Rio, staying at Discovery Hostel
                        - try Samba, capoeira, go up Sugar Loaf mountain, visit Christ the Redeemer, tour
                          Santa Teresa, Lapa, central Rio and maybe even a hang glide over it all

4th - 16th July - volunteering at Rupa Souja daycare centre in Rio's largest favela - Rocinha - 
                            with a weekend on Copacabana beach

17th - 22nd July - find my way to Ouro Preto for a trip down a gold mine and maybe see Sao Paulo

22nd July - 6th Aug - Overland camping trip through Southern Brazil with Dragoman
                                   - boat trips, paddle boarding and more water sports in Paraty
                                   - epic journeys in this machine

                                   - 3-day Southern Pantanal wetland safari
                                   - Bonito for adrenaline-fueled caving, kayaking, abseiling down waterfalls etc
                                   - View the mighty Iguacu falls from both sides, maybe below, maybe above

6th - 8th August - a mad dash across the continent from Iguacu, Brazil to San Pedro de Atacama,       
                             Chile with a quick stop in Salta, Argentina

8th - 10th August - San Pedro - star gazing trip, geysers, lunar landscapes of the driest desert on earth

10th - 12th August - Bolivian salt flats 4x4 trip - more crazy landscapes and cold nights

13th - 19th August - up through Bolivia possibly visiting Sucre, Potosi, La Paz (world's highest
                                 capital city) and Lake Titicaca (I thought this was a made-up name for comic
                                 effect in a GCSE drama play)

20th - 23rd August - Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru with Bamba
                                 - 3 days of hard core hiking, camping and then seeing sunrise over Machu
                                    Picchu

24th August - 1st Sept - the rest of Peru
                                     - Arequipa, Colca Canyon, Nazca lines, Ballestas Islands, Huacachina, Lima

2nd Sept - 14th Sept - Ecuador
                                 - Devil's nose train ride from Riobamba, Volcan Cotopaxi, the Quilatoa loop
                                   (which should really be in a sci-fi movie, lets be honest), Banos hot springs, a
                                   trip to the Amazon, Quito, the equator, Mindo cloud forest, Otovalo market

15th Sept - 28th Sept - Colombia - definitely squeezing all this in somehow
                                   - Salento (coffee region), Medellin (arty-farty not druggy), Cartagena and Santa
                                     Marta on the Caribbean coast, Parque Tayrona (where the jungle meets the
                                     ocean), pretty villages like Barichara and finally Bogota

28th Sept depart Bogota - 29th Sept arrive Heathrow

(The closest I can find to my route if you ignore the

 orange bit and Buenos Aires)

 

As you can tell this itinerary has been 4 years in the making (and I've been kind and glossed over many of the finer details, if you can believe it) but apart from the activities in bold, which I hope are fixed seen as I've already paid for them, the rest is more of a wish-list than a set-in-stone schedule. Who knows where time restraints, new friends, weather conditions and unforeseen circumstances may lead me.

But whatever happens at least I will have more fun getting through the places-to-visit list than the things-to-do list I'm currently struggling with!