Post 52: Three weeks to go.

Fellow adventurers,

Good news all around, and on top that, we've made more bookings.

We booked our departure flight from Bogota to Quito for the afternoon of December 2nd two nights ago, and last night made lodging reservations for both cities. Our reservation for Bogota begins on the 28th of November, so we have from the 24th til then to make our way from Cartegena south to Pereira and then onto the capital. Our lodging in Quito is at an historic mansion in main tourist area. Both of these places were a measly $10 bucks a night for the each of us. We depart from Quito on December 7th to make our way down to Cuenca (possibly via train) before crossing the border with Peru at Tumbes, from where we will have to take a day long bus ride to Lima.

We finally got the good news that Gabby will be able to join us in Sanitago de Chile and Mendoza, Argentina in early January for two weeks. We are both very excited that she and her boyfriend John will be able to share in our experience in South America. Gabby also joined us on our trip to Germany in 2009, with my brother Preston. If our time was anything like that was, then we are in for a treat.

I have finally resolved some last minute issues regarding my house and I am sure to have it all in order by the time we leave, a mere 3 weeks from Sunday. I may end up having to have my roomies move my things while gone, but as of now, that seems to be the worse of concerns regarding my living situation. I think no matter what, its win-win for everyone, and that brings me comfort.

Next week will be interesting, no doubt.

G.

10/15/11 @11:11am - Update: We booked our accommodations for Ushuaia and Buenos Aires. Ushuaia was very expensive everywhere we looked online, so we opted for a cheaper mixed dorm hostel. In Buenos Aires, we will be staying in a private apartment in the heart of San Telmo, for about $16 a piece daily for the week of February 6th to the 13th. We also decided to change our plans slightly for Uruguay, more about that later.

10/17/11 @2:32pm from work - Update: Booked our accommodation in Santiago, Mendoza , and Montevideo as well. In Santiago, we will be staying in the heart of the city in a 2 bedroom apartment overlooking the Andes. We booked 2 places for Mendoza, the first is a ranch in wine country from where we can do some biking to wine tours. The 2nd is a hostel in the downtown area so we can enjoy the city before Gabby and John part ways with us. Montevideo sounds like it will be a great time, we will be staying with two ladies (Claudia and Gullermina) in their loft. They informed me that a major football tourney is going on during the time we are there, I hope we are able to see Penarol! Also..we will be in Montevideo for Carnivale, which is good by me because Brazil would have been mouy pricey during that time.

More soon!