Post 26: Plan Peru pt. 2

Fellow adventurers,

Our 4th leg of the trip, Peru, is a land we have already spent a good amount of time in. In 2008 we explored Lima, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Puno, Lake Titicaca, and Iquitos over 18 days. It was, hands down, one of the best trips I have ever taken internationally, and in saying that, I must acknowledge the influence it has had over us in choosing to not only return to, but explore all of South America. We were put in awe by the kind souls and vast cultural richness we experienced from the Altiplano to the Amazon.

This time around we are simply catching a few things we had missed previously, and heading through to Bolivia.We will start in Lima and bus it down to the Nazca Lines. We should not need more than a day there before heading to Arequipa, Peru's 2nd city, where we will be for around 4 days. Puno is our last stop, as Peru's gateway to Lake Titicaca. We explored the Peruvian side of the lake and its islands in 2008, so this time around we will be concentrating on the Bolivian side, most notably at Isla del Sol.

map and other details after the break:

Post 25: Plan Ecuador

Fellow adventurers,

I am sitting in J's kitchen on what is a very warm summer evening here in Philadelphia, I expect our next leg of the journey, Ecuador, to be very similar. We will be arriving in Ecuador via a flight from Bogota. Our first stop will be the capital city of Quito where we will be spending 5 or so days exploring the region. We have heard of traveling by train through the central area of the country, to the cities of Riobamba and Cuenca. We will have a few days time after Quito to explore those areas before heading to Guayaquil for our departure to Lima, Peru.

Luckily, Ecuador will be very cheap. I have read that many hotels are between 5 to 10 dollars. The nation has used the US dollar in its recent history, so that will help also. I have heard excellent things about Quito and Cuenca and look forward to seeing them both.

More after the break, and detailed updates to come:

Post 24: Plan Colombia (no, not that one!)

Fellow adventurers,

The 2nd leg of our journey is one that I am most looking forward to: Colombia. We had originally intended to start the trip in this nation but as noted before, we were thwarted by circumstances. We will now enter from Venezuela at the city of Cucuta. From there, we will catch either a plane or bus to Cartegena, where we had originally intended to begin our journey. Time permitting, we may go to Tayrona National Park or Santa Marta, which is only a few hours distance from Cartegena. We will either head to Bogota or Pereira after our time on the coast. Time permitting, we will at least have 8 days between those two cities. I am hoping in this period time we have a chance to see a football game. We will depart from Bogota to Quito in Ecuador, out next destination.

I will be bookmarking these post into the "Itineraries" section of links on the right side of the blog. All information regarding each country will be aggregated into these post so that we have a centralized place to refer to. Map after the break:

Post 23: almost August and the 100 day mark

Fellow adventurers,

July will be over come Monday, and we are nearing the 100 days-until-departure mark and the point of no return. Progress has been made in the defining our interest in certain areas of the trip. We have discussed the possibility of crossing from Uyuni into Argentina at La Quiaca (instead of northern Chile), as well as adding a few more days to our time in Bariloche and Mendoza. Paragliding has also been brought up.

J is traveling to San Francisco next week for a short 5 day reprieve. We will have to start really studying up and preparing after her arrival home. I have definitely been making a shift in my finances and cutting back further on some of my vices to forward the goal. I have sold more media online , as well as forfeited some of my footie tickets to help supplement any loss in my earnings. A loss in fun now is a gain later. I am still projected to be 700 short of my goal of eight thousand, so I need to make sure I make up that money.

3 weeks until we purchase our tickets to Florida and Caracas/Canaima, and thus enter the point of no return. Colombia plans to come very soon!

$8000 saved (approx.)
$8000 to go

G

Post 22: Quick update at the 4 month mark

Fellow adventurers, we are officially at the 4 month mark, and what luck, the Liga Postobon schedule has been released today and we seem capable of being able to make it to atleast one game while in Colombia during the last few weeks of November. The season ends just as we are entering Ecuador, so these matches should be even more intense.

According to Calendario Liga Postoban, under "Finalizacion", which I believe refers to "playoffs", we have the possibility to see the following 2 games:

Fecha 16 - November 20th, 2011

Real Cartegena v. Equidad @ Jaime Morón - Cartagena 3:30 p.m.

Fecha 17th - November 23rd, 2011

Santa Fe v. Millionarios @ Nemesio Camacho 'El Campín' - Bogotá - 3:30 p.m.

(this is only under the possibility that we are in Bogota early. This match is called the "El Clásico Capitalino" because both teams play in the same stadia)

  

Fecha 18 - November 27th, 2011

Millionarios (Bogotá) v. Junior @ Nemesio Camacho 'El Campín' - Bogotá - 3:30 p.m.

 or

Deportivo Pereira v. Envigado @ Hernán Ramírez Villegas - Pereira - 3:30 p.m.

It is pretty exciting to be assured of the possibility of seeing some football in Colombia. I would be happy with any of these matches, but the game in Bogotá would be extra special. I am confident atleast in the fact that seeing a match is a possibility.

More soon!

G

(7/15/11 update)

Ecuadorian league schedule here. Looks like we will be there only in time for the final game of the season in Quito.

Argentinian Football calednario is here. Though from what I can tell...we will be there in the middle of the their "apetura" and "clausura". However...we can see where Boca plays in Buenos Aires.

The Uruguayan league looks promising...it runs between August and May like Europe.

Post 21: Plan Venezuela

Fellow Adventurers, 

Our first leg of the trip is planned. We took into consideration all factors and settled on skipping Caracas all together due to its reported criminality and political tension. However tempting it would be to see the homeland of Simon Bolivar, we will save it for when the capital is free of its current stranglehold, hopefully that is sooner than later. November 12th, we will be departing for Caracas from Miami, from there we will fly directly to Ciudad Bolivar. From there, we will establish our 2-3 day journey to Canaima / Angel Falls. After our trek to the falls we will return to Cuidad Bolivar to arrange a (very long!) bus across the sparsely populated central plains of Venezuela named Los Llanos to the city of Barinas. Barinas is simply a place to switch our bus in route to the border city of San Cristobal from where we will cross into the Colombian city of Cucuta. This rote will help us to avoid the tension of the major population centers of the northern coast while still accomplishing the goal of seeing Angel Falls. We hope to do all of this within 6 days, at minimum a week, but I have a feeling not all will go as planned. That is the name of the game I suppose.

We continue to stay consistent with our saving and planning and time seems to be going by lightning fast. I am confident that our goals will be met, but the anxiety of the wait weighs heavily upon myself sometimes. I am looking forward to escaping the mundanity of my office job for days of counting time in miles.

I will, within the next few weeks be posting similar post with our detailed plans for Colombia and Ecuador, as well as other nations in the months ahead. 

The point of no return is soon approaching. I took August 17th off as a day of celebration and plan to purchase our departing flight then. 

$7000ish saved

$9000ish to go

G

Updated Venezuela map after the break: