Brazil

Benefits:
Kyte surfing in Prea (just next to Jericoacoara)
Eating Acai

Concerns:
Traffic in Sao Paulo
Electricity shutdown in Jeri
Nightlife starts very late (normally 2.00 am in Jeri)

Places visited (& days): 21 days from 2nd Dec. till 22nd Dec. – Sao Paulo (3); Jericoacoara (16); Fortaleza (2)

Transport (time or distances): From Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo by air (2h3o); Sao Paulo to Fortaleza by air (3h00); Fortaleza to Jericoacoara by bus (7h00), Jericoacoara back to Fortaleza by van (6h00), Fortaleza to Lisbon by air (8h00)

Currency:
1.00 EUR = 2,58 BRL (Brazil Reais)

Funny Experiences:

• When I arrived in Sao Paulo on a Sunday it was the last day of the Brazilian championship (o Brazileirao). That day Corinthias lost their game and went to second division. I was really surprised since all the other supporters from Sao Paulo celabrated this fact as if they were winning the championship. At the end of the match there were even fireworks in the city


• Motorbiking to avoid the traffic of Sao Paulo and to be sure that I could catch the flight to Fortaleza.
  

I had been in Brazil twice (2001 & 2002). At that time I visited Rio, Buzios, Angra dos Reis, Paraty and Florianopolis. This time, my goal was to visit some friends in Sao Paulo and to go Kytesurfing to Jericoacoara (Northest of Brasil), 300 km from Fortaleza.

In Sao Paulo, I stayed at Fernando’s house with his lovely family. I had met him & Rafael in New Zealand this year during my round the world trip. Since my visit was very short I was glad that Fernando's cousin (Allessandro) had a motorbike and we could easily visit the city - Parque Ibirapuera, Cathedral, Teatro Municipal, Market…

Cathedral


Teatro Municipal


Market

One very good spot for having a drink was the Sky bar at Hotel Unique which gives awsome views from the city, mainly from the skylines of the Avenida Paulista. Here also some old friends form Portugal and Brazil join us for a great evening.


The Sky bar at the Hotel Unique


Isabela, Pedro, Nathalia and Fernando - Sky Bar


Alex, Bibiana, Pedro, Andrea & Domingos - Sky Bar


Arriving at the airport with a motorbike (the only way to avoid the heavy traffic)

Then I went to Jericoacoara (Jeri) where I spent 2 weeks, kyting almost everyday at Rancho do Peixe, in Prea, just 10 km from Jeri. The reason for going to Prea is because it is much better for kyting compared to Jeri which is more a windsurfing spot.


Jericoacoara


Windsurfing at Jericoacoara


Streets of Jeri (all of them with sand)

So everyday, during the morning I was picked up at Blue Jeri, my pousada, to go to Prea. The 20 min trip was amazing since we drove along the sea on the dunes.


Going to Prea from Jeri by jeep


We used to stop to say hello to some kids in Prea

Arriving in Prea we stayed at Rancho do Peixe where Mosquito and Vanessa have run their business for the last years. Very professional, good material to rent and to sell, a great team of international monitors and local boys and fantastic restaurant. Nothing was missing!


Rancho do Peixe - Prea



Kytesurfers team

The first 2 days since I hadn´t practised kyting for a long time, I decided for 2 private lessons with Celso. It was really helpfull since after that I could easily kyte on my own. Celso, is the multi task guy because during the day he teaches kyte, during the night works for the only japanese restaurant in Jeri (Kase) and also runs a the Pousada Ibirapuera!


The Tuga (Pedro) Kytesurfing


Celso & Pedro

I made a lot of friends during these 2 weeks. Some of them who where kyting with me, others at Jeri who were surfing and of course brazilians who were living there running some pousadas, or spending holidays, or just serving cocktails in the street.


With Renato y favourite barman of the main street

I used to kyte 3 times during the day, meaning I had two breaks. The first one was for lunch to take my favourite course for several days: Açai. It is a amazonian fruit which mixed with guarana gives a lot of energy (sometimes even called the Viagra of the Amazon!!!), therefore ideal for kytesurfers to be fit all the time. So day after day, as I came out of the water, Leonardo, Thiago who were working at Rancho do Peixe restaurant already knew what I wanted.


Enjoying a Açai (myself and all the others too!)

After finishing kyting and going back to Jeri, I normally spent some time at Club dos Ventos for some internet, and to enjoy the awsome sunsets.


Sunset at Club do Ventos

Then our meeting point before dinner was normally Mauricio's Pousada where we had our first beers. The difficulty then was not to find a restaurant but rather decide which one to pick with the amount of offers. My favourite ones were, Tempero da Terra (excelent fish – Pargo), Nomad (ideal for Pizzas), Café Brasil (for Pastas), Albert (for meat, honestly as good as the ones that I had in Argentina) and Kase (Japanese).


Misha, Cristina, Vincent, Maurad, Alberto, Ella & Pedro at Tempero da Terra


With Simone having dinner at Cafe Brasil

Nightlife is also hot here. The best days are Wednesday and Saturday normally for dancing the Forro. A good altenative place is Planeta Jeri. The only problem is that it starts just after 2h00 am. Normally people have dinner earlier, go to bed for a big rest of 4 hours and then show up at 1hoo. I couldn’ t do it!


Vincent, Pedro, Maurad & ... at Mauricio's


The most famous guy in Jeri: Bin Lata (can)

Coming to Jeri means coming to look for the wind for windsurfing and kyting. Apart from that, the main activities are renting bugee and horse for a drive on the dunes, or climb the dune just next to Jeri. One day I decided to not take the jeep to Prea and walk the 10 km to see the Pedra Furada (a rock with a hole) and enjoy the landscape in a more relaxed way.


The main Dune next to Jeri


The Pedro Furada

Leaving Jeri was very hard. It meant for me the end of 15 fantastic days, kyting, meeting a lot of people, having a great time but even more it was the end of my round the world trip!


The last dinner at Kase (Japanese) with Simone, Frederic, Lex, Ze Antonio, Fabrice, & Aude

The question that comes to my mind all the time now is when will I have the chance to do another trip like this one?

I am sending this post from the airport directly from the VIP lounge (do not think I traveled like that all the time but I thaught it would be nice to finish my trip this way since I collected so many miles). I ‘ll be catching my flight back to Portugal in 1 hour. It is Christmas time and I think it was the right place to be, after having been away from home for such a long time.

Doing this round the world tour alone was an incredible experience and sharing it with all of you as well. Thanks for all the e-mails that you sent me with your stories, tips, jokes, incentives, pictures. For these reasons I never felt alone!

I hope to be back soon with some more info to share with all of you.

I wish you all a good Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Pedro (The Tuga)

Argentina & Chile

Benefits:

• Argentina Woman – Definitely the most beautiful and charming of my round the world trip
• Empanadas - small ones and delicious in Argentina; bigger and served as a main course in Chile
• No visa needed to cross the border. This was really good because I picked the best of both countries and therefore crossed the border more than 5 times!
• Pantagonia - Perito Moreno (Argentina) & trekking at Torres del Paine (Chile)
  

Concerns:

• Cross the border to Chile is a nightmare – All your stuff has to be checked and the procedure takes some time.
• Distances and time estimation at Torres del Paine National Park – Sometimes too conservative, other times to optimistic.
• Buses in San Pedro Atacama don’t operate each day (even when there is enough demand).

Places visited (& days): 24 days from 8 Nov. till 2nd Dec. – San Pedro Atacama (1) + Salta (2) + Mendoza (2) + Valparaiso (2) + Puerto Montt (1); Bariloche (3); El Calafate (3); Puerto Natales & Torres del Paine (6); Ushuaia (2); Buenos Aires (3)

Transport (time or distances): San Pedro Atacama to Salta hitchhiking by truck (15h30); Salta to Mendoza by bus (15h); Mendoza to Valparaiso by bus (7h); Valparaiso to Puerto Montt by bus (15h); Puerto Montt to Bariloche by boat (cruise during all the day); Bariloche to El Calafate by air (1h30); El Calafate to Puerto Natales by bus (5h); Puerto Natales to Ushuaia by bus (12h30); Ushuaia to Buenos Aires by air (3h30)

Currency:
1.00 EUR = 4.55270 ARS (Argentina Pesos)
1.00 EUR = 735.899 CLP (Chile Pesos)

Funny Experiences:

“Haciendo Dedo” - Hitchhiking - To leave San Pedro Atacama to Salta I was told that the next days the buses were fully booked. It was really a problem since I was supposed to spend the weekend with some friends there. I checked all the alternatives and the only one was to go to the border to hitchick. So at 7.00 am, one hour before the border opening I asked all the trucks around if anyone would take me to Salta.

At 8.00 am I was leaving with Carlos for one of my best journeys. I didn’t know but during the trip we had to load the truck with some minerals (borax) and later on unloaded it.

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Carlos´truck with whom I was hitchhiking

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Crossing the Andes

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So instead of a short trip (8h) to Salta it took me 15 hours to cross the Andes. We were caught by the police with extra weight but as usually in South American countries, a quick chat and some money solved the problem.

San Pedro Atacama

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San Pedro Atacama is a lovely village but very tourist. It is known as the most expensive one in Chile since it is such a remote place and therefore locals take advantage of it. I would have loved to stay longer and explore the region around, but since I was already traveling through the desert in Bolivia I decide to keep going on my trip and see other sights and landscapes. Anyway. I still had time to enjoy a great dinner with a very quiet girl from Santiago (Luna), who almost made me change my mind.

Bicycle tour to Pukara - San Pedro Atacama

Dinner with Luna (empanadas and wine - of course!)

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From San Pedro I went to Salta (Argentina). It seems to be an interesting city but the real reason to come here was to visit my friend Ricardo Roquette who married an Argentinean and is running a business there (very well by the way!)

Preparing asado with Ricardo
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We did a quick tour to visit the city (the Cathedral, the San Francisco Church & Convento San Bernardo) because the best thing that you can do here as normally in almost all Argentina is eating the empanadas, go for an “asado”-barbecue and drink wine.
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Cathedral - Salta

Then I went to Mendoza, the main city of the winery region. I spend two days heremainly trying several wines and doing some tours. One of them to the Flichman winery which is running by Luis Cabral Almeida (Portuguese).

Parque General San Martin

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Valparaiso, was my next stop. It is considered the cultural capital of Chile and a Unesco World Heritage. The most interesting here is to walk around the city, climb the hills or take the "ascensors" which are spread all around the city.

Plaza Sotomayor - Valparaiso

Cerro Concepcion - Valparaiso

View from one of Neruda's house (la Sebastiana)- Valparaiso

Nearby (just 7 km away) Vina del Mar is also worth a visit. The city is just next to the sea and is a typical destination for Chileans of Santiago for their weekends and holidays.

From here I went directly to Puerto Montt and didn’t stop in Santiago. It was a pity since I had some friends there but it was a question of priorities (I visited Santiago 4 years ago) and my first ones were Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and the Lake District.

I was somehow disappointed with Puerto Montt. There was really nothing to see and the weather was horrible when I arrived (very windy and cold). There were two alternative routes from here. The first one, to take the Navimag ferry for a 3 day journey through Chile’s fjords till Puerto Natales. The other one, to cross the Lake District till Bariloche. I decide for the second one, since the ferry was leaving just on Mondays (it was Friday that time) and there was no way to stay more days in Puerto Montt.

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Volcano Osorno - Lake District

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So I booked the typical tour to cross the lakes. It was nice but comparing to other activities of my round the world trip this was really a tour that I could have skipped. On top of that it was very expensive (the only company who offer this service is Andina del Sud) and too long.

Lake Petrohue - Lake District

Just to give an idea, to cross the lakes we took 3 catamarans and 4 buses!!! The sights seen were the Volcan Capulco, Volcan Osorno, Volcan Puntiagudo, Waterfalls Petrohue, Lake de todos os Santos, Puerto Frias, Puerto Alegre, Puerto Best, Puerto Pamielo and finally Bariloche

Bariloche is a ski resort town but even during the summer there is a lot to do and see. It is also a hot destination for the Portenos (people from Buenos Aires)

During the cruise, I met some people. My favorite one was a Colombian couple (Dairo and his wife), who were in their honeymoon and who very kindly invited me to dinner.

Lake Nahuel Huapi - Bariloche

El Calafate was the starting point to explore the Patagonia.

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El Calafate

The first day I did the glaciers cruise on the National Park Los Glaciares. The most impressive one were the Spegazzini and the Upsala. A very nice thing was also having lunch at the Onelli bay.
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Upsala Glacier


The Tuga at Bay Onelli

But my favorite activity was the hiking day on the Perito Moreno.

Perito Moreno

Just by getting close to this glacier is a memorable experience, and trekking on it is paradise. Perito is 30km long, 5 km wide and 60 m high.

Trekking on Perito Moreno

Visiting a hole - Perito Moreno

For security reasons there is just a maximum of 20 people per day and we had to use harness and croupons. The group was as always very international and very friendly

Enjoying wisky after the trekking - Perito Moreno

From El Calafate I took a bus and once more crossed the border to Chile. I went to Puerto Natales which is the town to get to if you want to visit Torres del Paine National Park! To avoid the busy lodges of the park I decided to rent my own tent.

Torres del Paine

Torrence, who I met on my way to Puerto Natales, joined me and we did almost all the W circuit together (he just left the last day before visiting the Grey glacier). It was a fantastic experience trekking here. The landscape is fantastic and Torrence was the ideal mate since we had the same pace which is always very important when you are trekking with someone else.

Torrence & Pedro

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Day 1 – Trekking from Hosteria Torres till the Torres del Paine. We slept at Camping Torres

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Torres del Paine

Day 2 – Trekking from Camping Torres to Camping Los Cuernos and then till Camping Italiano where we stayed overnight.

Day 3 – We still climbed till the Camping Britanico to get another good view from the back of Torres del Paine. Then we walked till Camping Paine Grande were Torrence took the ferry back and where a slept.

Lake Nordenskjold - Torres del Paine

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Day 4 – To complete the “W circuit” I trekked this day with two other Dutch friends (Marcel and Jordi) to visit the Grey Glaciar.

Grey Glacier - Torres del Paine

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I would have loved to know how many kms we have been trekking but as I mentioned before the information was not very clear.

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Arriving at Tierra del Fuego

To complete my trip in Patagonia I visited Tierra del Fuego (which is mainly Chilean) but I ended in to the southern most city in the World, Ushuaia in Argentina! To my surprise it was very warm during my visit.

Huge country...

Ushuaia

The main activity here was to “climb” the glacier Martial. I did it with Umberto an Italian guy, and the views from the top are incredible with the Ushuaia city and Channel Beagle on the background. Anyway, after visiting Perito Morreno, Scalabicini, Grey all these glaciers are somehow ridiculous comparing to Martial one!

On top of the Glacier Martial

One funny thing in Ushuaia is their marketing. Each restaurant, bar, tour ... always use the slogan “… del fin del mundo”- … end of the world!

Last stop in Argentina was the Capital, Buenos Aires. From Ushuaia it is a 3h30 min flight (3000 km!). I stayed in Palermo Viejo. In fact the atmosphere was very nice with a lot of restaurants and bars around but also very difficult to find a hotel since all of them are very small and the demand is always very high.

During the day I walked around to visit the area (Palermo), Recoleta and its the cemetery, Plaza de Mayo and its cathedral, Teatro Colon, the Obelisco, San Telmo…

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Plaza de Mayo - Buenos Aires

With some local friends (Filipe and Sofia) and a Portuguese (Eduardo) we had some great meals (Happening at Puerto Madero, Baez in Canitas, Osaka in Palermo) and also experienced the Buenos Aires’s nightlife (El Punto).

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Felipe, Sofia, Pedro & Eduardo - Puerto Madero

The best activity, was to watch the semi-final of the Polo tournament (La Dolphina against Chapas Uno). Very interesting, the game and all the glamour around it!!! In fact Argentinians can proudly say that they have (probably) the most beautiful women in the world!


Watching a Polo Game

Peru & Bolivia

Benefits:
Peru – Machupicchu, Pisco Sour, trekking Inca trail
Bolívia – Very cheap, eat Truta, Lake Titica & Tour in the Salar of Uyuni


Concerns:
Bolivia – So cheap that almost everywhere toilets are a private business and therefore you need to pay. The problem is not really paying but having some coins for it!
Speak Quechua is really impossible.

Places visited (& days): 20 days from 19 Oct. till 8th Nov.


Transport (time or distances): Flight from Bogota to Lima (3h); Bus from Lima to Nasca (6h); Bus from Nasca to Cusco (15h); Bus from Cusco to Puno (6h); Taxi from Puno to Yunguyo - Bolivia Border, (1h30); Yunguyo to Isla del Sol - Lake Titicaca by taxi and private boat (45 min & 30 min); Isla del Sol to Copacabana by boat (1h30); Copacabana to La Paz by bus (4h); La Paz to Yuni (10h30)


Currency: 1 Euro = 4,34 Pen (Peru Nuevo Soles); 1 Euro = 11,06 Bob (Bolivianos)


Funny Experiences :

• Visit Lima on the weekend of the national census. Tourists were the only ones allowed to walk around. That was the good thing. The bad one, was to find a bar the previous night, because all of them were closed since they were not allowed to sell alcohol drinks before the census day.
• Sleeping in a salt hotel (it means that it was also a salt bed!)
• eat coca leaf and cuy (pig)

For this part of the trip (From Lima till La Paz), one of my best friends joined me. It is always nice to meet good friends when you have been away from home for so long. It’s very easy to travel with him since he has a good mindset and shares with me the same travel goals.

Manolo, Cristy, Pedro, Rocio, ..., Manuel

In Lima we stayed 2 days. Glad that my friend Rocio was in town. With her we did some sightseeing around the neighbourhoods of Miraflores, Banraco & San Martin. For dinner, a friend of Roccio, Cristy, also joined us and we went to Nikkibeach. Very nice restaurant although it was freezing since we decided to dine at the terrace with sea view. But it was Ok because we had some wine then.

Plaza de las Armas - Lima


Next stop, was Nasca, a village known for their lines, now a Unesco World Heritage. To visit the lines we did what everybody normally does, over fly them. What could have been an incredible experience suddenly turned into a nightmare. The aircraft was as small as a car (just 4 seats) and due to the high temperature, as the pilot told us later, it was very difficult to control it. I think all of us were really scared. Even the pilot, because instead of telling us to take pictures while we were approaching a new line, he shouted all the time “ Saca Foto! Saca Foto!”



Manuel & Pedro just before starting the flight (still smiling...)



Nasca's lines


Then we went to Cusco which was once the the foremost city of the Inca Empire.



Plaza de las Armas - Cuzco


Apart from visiting this beautiful city (Plaza de las Armas, Cathedral…) and around it (Q’enqo, Saqsaywaman, Pukapukara & Tambomachay - some archaeological ruins) we shopped around to decide which company we should pick up for the trekking.




Local girl with her Lama



Cuzco's city view



The night before starting the trekking we went for dinner with other two Portuguese that we met during a tour around Cuzco.


Manuel, Rosalina, Raquel & Pedro


For the treking we booked it with Q' ente. In fact it was a very good decision. The guide (Cesar), the cook (Alex), the porters (Isidro & Juan,) the horses, the food - everything was incredibly good!

The Inca trail at that time was sold out and therefore we decided for an alternative trekking, the Salkantay which has some great advantages comparing to the Inca trail; no tourists so it is easier to get in contact with local people; more landscape variation; one day longer; and the day before arriving to MachuPichu you get incredible views from the ruins.


Here are some more details of the trekking:

Day 1 ; Cusco to Mollepata and from heretill Sayllapata by car. At Sayllapata (3300m) we start our trekking. We walk till Soraypampa (3750m) – 3h15 min and we did in total 9km for the 1st day.


Day 2 – Soraypampa to Suyrococha (4350m) and then till the Paso next to the Salkantay mountain (4600m). Lunch at Kuayracpampa ant then walk all afternoon till our camping at Collapampa (2740) – 10h30 min and we walk in total 25km!



Salkantay mountain (6271 m)



Day 3 – We started the day with a bath at some hot springs near the campiste. Then we walk through Huynaypoco, Huscamayu till La Playa (2010m) our next stop to stay overnight. – 7h15min for doing 15km!


Day 4 – We did part of an Inca trail till some ruins where we got an impressive view already from Machupicchu. Then we went down till Hydro Electrica where we were supposed to take the train till Aguas Calientes (of course we didn’t because our goal was to walk till Machupicchu) – 11h and 24km!!!



Manuel, Cesar (the Guide) & Pedro


Day 5 – 1h15 min more to climb to Machupicchu (we started at 4.30 am to be sure that we would arrive there at 6.00 am when the gate opens)

So on the whole, we did this amazing trail along 5 days walking 73 km!!! Not bad at all!


Arriving at Machupicchu, “the lost city of the Inca Empire”, was no doubt a magnificent experience. The site is located at 2430 m and was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.




The Tugas at Machupicchu


Machupicchu




Another reason to celebrate this visit for me is the fact that I completed the visit of the new 7 wonders! During this round-the-world trip I visited Petra, the Taj Mahal and Machupicchu. Before my round-the-world trip I had visited the Coliseum, Christ Redeemer, Chichen Itza & the Great Wall.


Before going to our second spot of this trip, the lake Titicaca, we stayed overnight in Puno.

Lake Titicaca is awesome. I heard a lot about this beautiful lake but could never imagine that it was so nice. The lake sits at almost 4000m and on the back you have the impressive Cordillera Real.



Lake Titicaca & the Cordillera Real



Cha' llapampa - Isla del Sol (lake Titicaca)


We stayed at Casa de Don Ricardo, at Isla del Sol, managed by some local people. The food, especially the Truta was very good. We did some trekking around the Isla and enjoyed its scenic views.



The Tuga with Susana and Domingas who runs Casa Don Rodrigo



Then we went to La Paz for 3 days more. From Copacabana we took a bus but to my surprise to cross the lake we had to take one ferry and our bus another one! Funny no?



Our bus crossing the lake, from San Pedro to San Pablo


We were totally lost the first night since we were in the centre, staying at a nice hotel (probably the best deal for a 5 star hotel - just 80$) but nothing was really going on.


La Paz


During the day we walked around the centre to visit the Iglesia de San Francisco, Plaza Pedro Murillo and the Museo de La Coca (very small but very interesting)


Plaza Pedro Murillo - La Paz



Fruit market at La Paz

The next day we understood the nightlife was at zona sur and we decided to end up there where we had a great time at Gitana and People Secret.


Nightlife at Gitan (La Paz) with some friends



After 16 days travelling with my friend Manuel, he went back to Portugal and I went to Uyuni to visit the Salar. I went there with Lenka and Jan (both from Czech Republic) who I met during the Salkantay trail.

It was very easy to find a tour since there are so many travel agencies organizing tours at Uyuni. The tour was from Uyuni (Bolivia) till San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) for 3 days.

On our Land Cruiser we also traveled with Fabiem and Florence from France, Meg from US and Ben from Canada.


The awsome jouneys of the Salar de Uyuni


I was surprised with the amount of sights visited during this trip; the Salar, volcanos (Tunupa, Ollaque…) lagunas (Canapa, Hedionda, Ramaditas, Colorada, Blanca e Verde), Rocks on the desert


Here are some details of the tour:

Day 1 – Colchani, Isla del Pescado with the Volcan Tunupa on the back and San Juan were we stayed overnight in a Salt Hotel



Isla del Pescado (Isla Incahuasi) - Salar de Uyuni



Our great cooker and her lovely daughter Betysai


Day 2 – Chiguara with Volcan Ollaque on the back, 1st Laguna – Canapa, 2nd Laguna – Hedionda, 3rd Laguna – Charcota & the laguna – Monpa); Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa; and overnight in our second salt hotel (Hostal San Marcelo). During the night it was freezing (-5)



Flamingos at Laguna Canapa



The rocks on the desert



Pedro, Florence, Fabien, Jan, Lenka, Meg & Ben during our last dinner


Day 3 – We visited the Geysers, Laguna blanca and Laguna Verde with the Volcan Licancabur on the back.



The Geysers


The last spot of the tour, the Tuga at Laguna Verde just before the Chilean border

Colombia

Benefits: Safe; few tourists, Cartagena old town, Coffe

Concerns: Police control (maybe it is really needed but when you are asked to get out of the bus more than once on the same trip just for identification, guns and drugs control, it is easy to get upset)

Places visited (& days): 14 days from 6 Oct. till 19 Oct – Cartagena (5 + 1), Taganga & Parque Nacional Tayrona (3); Medellin (2); Manizales (1), Bogota (2)

Transport (time or distances): Flight from San Jose (Costa Rica) to Cartagena via Panama (50 min & 1h); bus from Cartagena to Taganga (8h due to a strike); Taganga back to Cartagena by bus (4h ); Cartagena to Medellin by Bus (15h); Medellin to Manizales by bus (5h30), Manizales to Bogota by bus (7h30)

Currency: 1 Euro = 2847 COP (Colombia Pesos)

Funny Experiences: Strike on the way from Cartagena to Taganga – Teachers which seemed to be not well paid decided to cut the road for some hours. I thought it was just a small strike but when I left the bus to get some food, the strike was already on TV (live!!!). Of course it took us much longer to take an alternative road.

Macaw

When I arrived to Cartagena, I fell immediately in love with this city (the old town which is the historic part). The colonial buildings, the houses with their balconies, flowers and different colours, the churches and plazas, make this city a really romantic place.

Cartagena

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I stayed in the neighbourhood of San Diego at Hotel Puertas de Cartagena, run by Nerys. The main sights that I visited in the old town are Plaza Santo Domingo, Plaza San Diego, Plaza de Bolivar and the museums around (my favourite one the Inquisition museum).

Puerta del reloj - Cartagena

Local ladies relaxing at Plaza de Bolivar - Cartagena

Outside the old town the Castillo de San Felipe and the Convento de la Popa are also interesting spots to be visited.

Sunset from the Castillo de San Felipe - Cartagena

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With Deisy & Gena, drinking, at Plaza de Santo Domingo

Around the old town, Bocagrande and El Laguito are Cartagena´s main beaches where the big hotels are located – Honestly I didn’t like it since there is nothing compared with the charm of the old town

Time to cut my hair again at Barberia Jaramillo - Cartagena

From Cartagena I went north to visit Parque Nacional Tayrona and to check if there was still a possibility to do a trekking to visit the Ciudad Perdida which is one of the largest pre-colombian towns and was discovered just in 1975.

To visit the Parque Nacional Tayrona I decided to stay nearby at Taganga, a small village (2500 population). I stayed at the best hotel in town La Ballena Azul (nice, friendly and has a huge terrace to enjoy the sunset).

Taganga village

Sunset at Playa Grande - Taganga

The beach is not so good, but just 15 min walk around the hill is Playa Grande which is much better. Here I met a lot of local and nice people (the best, my friend Victor) I was surprised when I learnt that he had already 7 children and he was just 30 years old. But I learnt then, that it is quite common situation in other South American countries.

Victor and (part) of his family

There was no way to trek to La Ciudad Perdida - the lost City, for less then 5 days. Therefore I gave up since I didn´t have enough time.

So, during my stay in Taganga I visited for one day the Parque Nacional Tayrona. I joined a tour but was really worried since it was a huge family with some children, the guide and me. At the end of the day I got very close to the family since all of them were very interesting. They were from Bogota and told me to call them when I was there.

Parque Nacional Tayrona

With the Cortes family (Carlos, Caterine, David, Alba, Lorena, Julie) & the guide (Frank)

Then, I came back to Cartagena for another day visit and then went to Medellin. The bus trip was horrible since it took us nearly 15h! Like some of the Middle East cities that I visited, the contrast of the rich (El Poblado) area and the poor one was remarkable.

Metro Cable - Medellin

I visited the Antioquia Museum which is the main attraction. In and outside are the paintings and sculptures of Fernando Botero. Interesting sights especially to get a good view from the city are the Cerro Nutibarra and new Metro Cable from Acevedo to Santo Domingo.

Botero's figure

Cerro Nutibarra

Funny way to make celular calls

Before going to Bogota I went to Manizales, one of the coffee towns of the Zona Cafetera. It is really worth a visit. I really wanted to understand all the coffee production process so I booked a tour with one of the farms near Manizales - Hacienda Guyabal. It was like a private tour since I was the only customer that day.

Coffee tour with Gabriel (the guide) at Hacienda Guyabal - Chinchina

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Colombia vs Ecuador (soccer) on TV at the Terminal de Bus

Last stop was Bogota. The weather at that time was terrible, raining a lot and therefore not suprisingly I found Bogota very dark. Anyway, the Plaza Bolivar is impressive and I enjoyed walking around this area.

Raining all the time in Bogota

Plaza de Bolivar - Bogota

Although far from Bogota (it took me roughly one hour by car). I had an incredible experience going to the restaurant Andres Carnes de Res . A lot of people had recommended me this place so my expectation was very high. I was not disappointed, since the restaurant is the right place to party, have a good meal and meet people. The food, the music, the atmosphere, and the waiters - everything was excellent. I spend much of the time dancing with a Colombian and Brazilian group.

With Mariana at Andres Carnes de Res

The next day, obviously I had an incredible headache. I was almost ready to leave and decided to call the family Cortes (my friends from the Parque Nacional Tayrona). Alba then invited me to have lunch at one of the best restaurants in town. Very bright and with a remarkable business record, she now owns a company which operates on the petroleum industry. It was a pity that I had to leave that day since I would have loved to know her much better.

With Alba, just before leaving to Peru

Costa Rica

Benefits: People (the Ticos) and the way they live - Puravida!, Tico’s breakfast “Gallo pinto” which is fried rice with beans; plenty of remote places (just need to drive a bit and you reach a mountain, or a volcano or a rain forest or a beach and sometimes you can even have all together; great National Parks (specially Tortuguero, Manuel Antonio and Corcovado); wildlife (birds, monkeys, iguanas, ...)

Concerns: Rain (I know it was the rainy season but I never expected to have rain everyday!); Beaches (good for surfing but not for the fans of the white sand beaches), Roads (some of them still unpaved) and trucks on the road (therefore sometimes it was really a nightmare just to drive 10km!)

Places visited (& days): 22 days from 13 September till Oct - 5 Oct; San Jose and the valley (7); La Fortuna & Volcano Arenal (2); Monteverde (1); Tamarindo (1); Samara (1); Montezuma (2); Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio (2); Uvita (1); Bahia Drake & Parque Nacional Corcovado (2); Cahuita (2); Parque Nacional Tortuguero (1)

Transport (time or distances): Flight from Miami to San Jose (2h30min); Bus from San Jose to La Fortuna (3h - 150km); Jeep-boat-jeep from La Fortuna to Monteverde crossing the Lake Arenal (3h - 100km); Bus from Monteverde to Tamarindo (5h - 175km); Tamarindo do Samara by car (2h15 - 109km); Samara to Montezuma by car (4h but it took much more due to some problems with my car - 160km); Montezuma to Manuel Antonio by car and by boat (5h - 200km); Manuel Antonio to Uvita by car (2h30 - 70km); Uvita to Sierpe by car (1h - 50km); Sierpe to Drake Bahia & Concorcovado by boat (1h30 - 30km); Sierpe to Cahuita by car (8h - 450km); Cahuita to Tortuguero by car and by boat (3h - 200km); Tortuguero to San Jose by car (2h - 100km)

Currency: 1 Euro = 730 CRC (Costa Rica Colones)

Funny Experiences:
First days with my rented car – On the first one I had a flat tyre and no jack to change the wheel, fortunately some Ticos decided to help me then. On the second one, ran out of battery and therefore the car had to be replaced.
Sleeping in a rain forest with heavy rain storms

Costa Rica is getting well known as a tourist destination - Therefore it was easy to meet and make a lot of new friends

San Jose - always raining

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San Jose is not a beautiful city but at least it has some very nice neighbourhood, the Bairro Amon with some nice hotels (Hotel Britannia and Hotel Dunn In) and restaurants (El Oasis, Cafe Moro and Cafetal de la Luz). It is also a good place to stay to visit some of the volcanos nearby as the Poas and the Irazu (even though the distances are quite short it takes always a lot of time).

Teatro Nacional - San Jose

My first stop was at La Fortuna to see the Arenal Volcano. I decided to skip the village and sleep just next to the Volcano at a very nice lodge with huge cabañas (Lomas del Volcano). During the day it was perfect to enjoy the great views from the volcano but on a night tour I couldn’t see the sight of the volcano’s lava since it was raining a lot.

Volcano Arenal

Then I went to Monteverde which is a cloud forest (by definition a cloud forest is where a dry and a rain forest meet each other). To come here, I took the jeep-boat-jeep tour whose the main attraction is crossing the lake Arenal. Indeed, the site is beautiful and the views with the volcano behind are great. On my way I met Bruno (the first Portuguese I met on my round the world trip!!!)

Bruno & Pedro (the 2 Tugas)

I stayed just one day in Monteverde for trekking on the hanging bridges settled around the village.


Monteverde - Cloudy forest

To go to the Pacific Coast, I took another bus (Intercity - which is a small van). On my way, I met a Spanish couple (Jose from Valencia). It was funny since he was working for Bancaja, for whom I managed a consulting project 2 years ago. He was sharing his feelings with me regarding the organization of the America’s cup in Valencia since he was in charge of managing all the accounts of the staff.

The first stop on the Pacific Coast was OK but I expected more. It was still raining a lot and on a beach site it is always very disappointing. Although I had great dinners (the best one, at Pachanga very well served by the Chef Shlomy from Israel). The best spot in town was the new lounge run by Svetliana and Fabrice. I met some interesting people (Natal from Italy and a cute Tica – Mileny).



Tamarindo - Still raining a lot

Still looking for some good spot to lay back on the beach I stopped at Samara. In fact it is a nice place but few km to the south, the beach is much nicer at Carillo.

Samara Beach

Anyway, for me the right spot of the Pacific Coast was Montezuma. To drive here was a challenge since part of the road was really on bad condition and also because I had some problems with the rented car (flat tyre one day, and a battery problem on another one). Anyway, Ticos are such good people that they are always ready to help you.

Flat tyre - Carillo Beach

Sunset at Carillo Beach

Montezuma is really small and probably this was the reason I liked it so much. Therefore after 5 minutes in town, you know everyone!

Montezuma

The main attraction was the waterfall! Trekking here is nice but not so easy as I thought. The night before I met two nice girls (Kirsty from Scotland and Izzy from UK) and we agreed to visit the waterfall together. After 30 minutes, we were struggling since it was not very clear how to proceed. Glad that we met Carlos, a local guy, who joined us and acted us a tour guide. We had such a good time that we decided to spend the rest of the day and night together, visiting the Mal Pais beach and having dinner back in Montezuma.

Izzy, Pedro & Kirsty - Montezuma

At the waterfall

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Mal Pais Beach

The next day I gave Kirsty and Izzy a ride since they were travelling on the same direction, at least till Puntarenas. From here I was going to Jaco and to Manuel Antonio, while they were going to Volcano Arenal.

When I arrived at Jaco, I immediately decided not to stay there since it was the opposite of what I was looking for. This town was already very developed with some huge buildings. Therefore, I kept driving till Quepos and stayed nearby to visit Manuel Antonio National Park.

Scenery from Quepos to Manuel Antonio

Iguana - Manuel Antonio National Park

I loved this Park. It is not a very big Park, but it has some easy treks, nice beaches (finally some with white sand) and good wildlife (my favourite the monkeys and the iguanas).
I had dinner in Quepos and went to party with some friends - Anouk (a nice Dutch girl), Julian and Brent (both from US).

Pedro, Julian, Anouk & Brent

Uvita, my next stop is not so far but the road from Quepos to Dominical (20 km north of Uvita) is really bad. Therefore I decided to stay for the night before going to Corcovado. It was a good idea. The landscape is awesome and it is supposed to be a good area to spot whales!

Going to Corcovado is an adventure, specially if you decide to take the boat from Sierpe. It was a tough decision but fortunately I decided to drop the car in Sierpe because during the 2 days that I had been there, it rained so much that it was too risky to drive.

I was not scared with the storm but it is somehow very interesting to hear a storm all night long when you are sleeping in a cabana in the middle of the forest! I will never forget the lightening! To visit the Corcovado I decide to trek alone (which probably was not the best idea since you never know what can happen). I got lost 3 times (not really lost but I had to come back and find my trail again going to Corcovado). Therefore when I reach the park entrance I had already walked for more than 3 hours and so could not afford to visit the park with enough time. I then decided then, just to visit a waterfall near San Pedrillo.

Were I overnight before Corcovado National Park

To leave this area (south Costa Rica but still on the Pacific coast) and drive to the Caribbean coast I had all kinds of suggestions. Some of them told me that the only way was to drive back to Cartago or San Jose and then to Puerto Limon. Others told me that I could cross the mountains and drive easily through Buenos Aires. Others told me to go to Canoas (next to Panama) and drive along the border. Finally, and without knowing who to believe and what to do, I decided to check it with the police. They confirmed that the only way was to drive through Cartago (which by the way was the longest one). The trip took me more then 8 hours since I had to travel through the Mountains (Chiripo - around 3200 m)



Once more, I was caught by the police!

In Cahuita the weather was much better, even though very humid. On this coast it is really a different vibe and people. The beach is very good specially inside the Cahuita National Park.

Cahuita National Park

Football players after retire hang their boots as a funny Costa Rica Ritual

Last stop before coming back to San Jose was Tortuguero. This is paradise! I loved the village and to reach it you can just do it by boat. I stayed at Casa Marbella which is run by a Canadian and Tica couple. Here I met a lot of nice people, Pilar and Maria Jesus (from Spain), Karin and Frank (from Holland) and a lovely American family.

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Tortuguero National Park

Maths class at Tortuguero Village

Darel, the owner, organized a tour to spot a lot of animals (mainly birds). But the best attraction was the night tour to see the turtles. Unfortunately we cannot take photos but I was impressed seeing a turtle nesting and going back to the sea. It was a quick stay (just one night) but really worth it.

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Tortuguero's birds

Before leaving to Colombia I decided to spend some more days in San Jose to visit other neighbourhoods, as Escazu, where I met Caroline. Although from Germany she had already a Tica way of life, probably because she had been living there already for some years.

Pedro & Caroline

The last volcano to visit was the Poas. I made an effort to wake up very early, to reach the Volcano as soon as they open the park (at 8.00). But, in San Jose the traffic is also a chaos and the directions not very clear so I reached the Volcano just at around 10.00. On that day, it was very cloudy and could not see the volcano at all. I was frustrated, but a guide told me to relax and stay a little bit longer because the weather changes very quickly and therefore there was still a possibility to see it. Indeed, 30 min later, suddenly I had the chance to see the volcano for a while.

Volcano Poas

USA

Benefits: National Parks; portion sizes (specially for me who really like to eat!), service (the standard one); availability of hotels on the road (a lot of them but normally we took the Best Westerns); nightlife (NY and Miami)

Concerns: Local food; tipping (10% or even more is already included in the bill); California’s beaches (no doubt, much better on TV specially Malibu); in general lack of flexibility for non-standard services; speed limit (too low)

Places visited (& days): 47 days from 28th July till 13th Sept. - Las Vegas (2), Grand Canyon National Park (3); Los Angeles (3), Carmel & Salinas (1); San Francisco (3); Modesto & Yosemite National park (1); Bridgeport (1); Winnemucca (1); Salt Lake City (1); Antelope Island & Rexburg (1); Yellowstone National Park (1); Cody (1); Rapid City (1); Chamberlain & The Badlands National Park (1); Grinnell (1); Chicago (3); Niagara Falls (1); Little Fall (1); Boston (2); Newport & Marion (1); New York (10); Miami (7)

Transport (time or distances):
By air from Auckland (via San Francisco 12h) to Las Vegas (1h)
By car from Las Vegas till New York:
Ø Day 3 - Las Vegas – Grand Canyon: 420 miles (676 km)
Ø Day 4 - Grand Canyon: 64 miles (103 km)
Ø Day 5 - Grand Canyon: 56 miles (90 km)
Ø Day 6 - Grand Canyon – Los Angeles: 530 miles (853km)
Ø Day 7 – Los Angeles: 59 miles (95 km)
Ø Day 8 – Los Angeles: 89 miles (143 km)
Ø Day 9 – Los Angeles - Salinas: 387 miles (623 km)
Ø Day 10 – Salinas – San Francisco: 130 miles (209 km)
Ø Day 11 – San Francisco: 0 miles
Ø Day 12 – San Francisco: 32 miles (51 km)
Ø Day 13 – San Francisco - Modesto: 235 miles (378 km)
Ø Day 14 – Modesto - Bridgeport: 302 miles (486 km)
Ø Day 15 – Bridgeport - Winnemucca: 241 miles (388 km)
Ø Day 16 –Winnemucca – Salt Lake City: 352 miles (566 km)
Ø Day 17 - Salt Lake City - Rexburg: 279 miles (449 km)
Ø Day 18 – Rexburg - Yellowstone: 213 miles (343 km)
Ø Day 19 – Yellowstone - Cody: 203 miles (327 km)
Ø Day 20 – Cody – Rapid City: 398 miles (640 km)
Ø Day 21 – Rapid City - Chamberlain: 337 miles (542 km)
Ø Day 22 – Chamberlain - Grinnell: 532 miles (856 km)
Ø Day 23 – Grinnell - Chicago: 307 miles (494 km)
Ø Day 24 – Chicago: 0 miles
Ø Day 25 – Chicago: 0 miles
Ø Day 26 – Chicago - Niagara Falls: 558 miles (897 km) – Longest Drive!!!
Ø Day 27 – Niagara Falls – Little Fall: 258 miles (415 km)
Ø Day 28 – Little Fall - Boston: miles ( km)
Ø Day 29 – Boston: 13 miles (21 km)
Ø Day 30 - Boston – Marion: 150 miles (241 km)
Ø Day 31 – Marion – New York: 28 miles (400 km)
By air from New York (via Washington – 1h) to Miami (2h)

Currency: 1 Euro = 1,38 $

Funny Experiences: Sleeping in a motorhome when all the hotels were fully booked; I was not expecting in such a country which sometimes has very strict rules but everyone use their mobiles (cellular in US) while driving and normally do not use helmets riding their motorbike;


LAS VEGAS

After almost 6 months travelling alone, I got a new mate for my trip around US: my sister who is doing a PHD in Mathematics at Columbia University in NY decided to join me. On top of that, my parents also visited us in California. Of course we had a great time all together and it was very nice to share my thoughts with people that know me very well. Their first impression regarding myself was that I looked the same and did not change so much (I don’t know if it is good or not!)


Venetian - Las Vegas

Nice surprise with Las Vegas. I am not a gambler but really enjoyed the city and walking around especially at Las Vegas strip. Great and huge hotels (Venetian, Bellagio, Luxor, Ceasers Palace, Mirage...). But for me the best attraction was the fountain show and specially the Love Beatles - Cirque du Soleil (with no doubt, the best show I've ever seen).


GRAND CANYON

4 words to describe this place: Enormous proportions and colourful scenery, which makes this canyon unique! We spent 3 days in the park at the Yavapai lodge, visiting a lot of sights and of course doing some treks (the south Kaibab trail).


Grand Canyon National Park

The 10 miles width already gives an idea of this huge canyon, but knowing that it is 277 km long makes this site a magic place in the world.

There is a new attraction nearby which is the skywalk (glass bridge 4000 feet, around 1200m, above the Colorado River). Unfortunately (or not, because I was really scared) there was a storm and the skywalk access was closed.


LOS ANGELES

I was not expecting very much from this city and I had a good surprise. First because the hotel was really fashion (the Standard) and there were always parties and nice people around. Secondly because some of the sight visits were really super, specially the Getty museum, Walt Disney concert hall, Beverly Hills (rodeo drive), Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice's area.

Walt Disney concert hall

Hollywood

Hollyood Walk of Fame

LA to SAN FRANCISCO

On the way to San Francisco, driving along the pacific coast with scenic views is amazing (specially the Big Sur - 90 miles from Cambria till Monterrey). We stopped at Carmel (small village on the coast with no street lights) and then drove the 17 mile from here to Monterrey!

Pacific Coast

SAN FRANCISCO

It was freezing all the time. How is it possible to have such a wheather beginning of August. They call it the foggy summer.

Nice sights were, the Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge, Civic centre, but my favourite visit was a tour to the Alcatraz Prison.

Lombard Street

To have dinner Castro and North Beach are good areas. I really recommend the Swan Oyster for lunch and L'hosteria del Horno for dinner.

Alamo Square

SAN FRANCISCO to YOSEMITE

From San Francisco, we drove to Berkley, then to Napa Valley (winery) and then Modesto where we visited one of my sister's friends, Sofia Castelo Branco. Sofia was working in Modesto and was living with a Brazilian/Portuguese family (Joao Fernandes). We had a wonderful dinner all together, mainly Portuguese (bacalhau - I think the last time I had some, was in Dubai with Antonio Carvalho). After dinner, we did a quick sightseeing and ended at the Bacchus bar, with nice live music.

Madalena (my sister), Sofia, Pedro e Joao at the Bacchus

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

Sofia, Pedro and Madalena under a Giant Sequoia

Trekking here is nice (but be careful, because some of those old trees can fall – it happened to us and it didn’t hit us by coincidence!). The Giant sequoias are impressive but I expected to see more. The best view in the park is when facing the half dome.

The Tuga with the half-dome behind

We left the park so late, that when we finally arrived at our destination: Bridgeport at 22.00 all the hotels were fully booked and even worst all the restaurants were closed. So we had to rent a motorhome for one night and to eat we had a beer and some chips (UAU!!!)

Moterhome (Hotel) at Bridgeport

Next stop was at Winnemucca. Here there was nothing to visit but we wanted to have a break and specially buy some camping stuff. The reason was very simple: we didn’t want to have fast-food all the time, and we wanted also to stop on the most remote places with incredible landscape

Preparing our camping stuff before lunch

SALT LAKE CITY

Nice town, very clean but also very hot. The day we arrived it was 38 degrees Celsius! It was here that the winter Olympic Games of 2002 were held. This town is also the headquarters of the Mormons. It is incredible their "marketing" since they have guys everywhere to tell you about the Mormon religion.

Salt Lake city

On our way to Yellowstone, and before an overnight stay at Rexburg, we stopped at the Antelope Island.

Antelope Island

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

After visiting the park, it is easier to understand why it is ranked as the number one in US with more visitors per year.

Mammoth Hot Springs

For me what makes it really different compared to the other ones (if I can really compare it) is the combination of different sights to visit and specially the wildlife around. It was easy to spot animals as bears, bison (American buffalo), deer...

Bisons at Yellowstone National Park

CODY

This is the right place to stop after visiting the Yellowstone Park and going east. This is the town of Buffalo Bill When we arrived, who knew that there were some Rodeos during summer time (incredible how those cowboys can catch those animals just in a few seconds!).

Cody Rodeo

RAPID CITY

Our idea was just to visit Mt Rushmore where the heads of 4 American presidents (Roosevelt, Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln) are carved in the hills. But everyone in town told us that we should not leave without seeing the Crazy Horse.

Mt Rushmore

This is an incredible sight! It will be the biggest in the world. Now you can just see the Indian face. The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, died in 82 and now his wife and 7 of his ten sons are working in the project. They do not accept funding from the state since they think the project must be supported only by public donations! Nobody knows when the project will be concluded!

The Crazy Horse (statue and the monument behind)

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BADLAND NATIONAL PARK
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It was a small detour from the highway, but it was really worth it. After having crossed the Rocky Mountains, we were at the Great Plains and as the name points out, everything is really flat. The only exception, was this funny land which is now known as the Badlands. It is hard to describe them but it is like huge sand castles along 35 km.

Badlands National Park

We stayed overnight at Chamberlain and the next day we visited the famous bridges of the Madison County

One of the Bridges of Madison County

GRINELL

Just before Chicago we stopped at Joliet to visit the prison (the one from the TV show - Prison break)

Joliet Prison

CHIGAGO

We probably couldn’t find a better hotel just in the centre of town (The intercontinental at North Michigan Avenue).

Millenium Park

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I really enjoyed the great views from John Hancock Centre, the Millennium Park and its fountains and the Art Institute museum with an impressive series of the Claude Monet paintings.

View from John Hancock

NIAGARA FALLS

The last time I visited some huge falls was 9 years ago when I made a trip to Zimbabwe and South Africa with a friend of mine (Vasco M. Almeida). I remember that we spent a lot of time walking around the falls since at each corner the view, sound, and lights were totally different.

Niagara Falls

Niagara falls are probably smaller but anyway it’s a gorgeous sight.

Unfortunately, the day we visited them it rained a lot. To get the best view, we had to cross the border to Canada.

BOSTON

Here we visited a cousin (Jaime Almeida) and a friend (Pedro) who was doing a PHD at Harvard University. Boston is a lovely city, but on that weekend we suffered a lot since it was really hot.

We visited Beacon Hill, Cambridge and Harvard Square, North End (Italian neighbourhood) and we even had time for a delicious meal at one of Boston’s Portuguese restaurants (Casa de Portugal).

Dinner at Casa Portugal (Pedro, Madalena, Pedro and Jaime)

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Harvard University

NEWPORT & MARION

Newport is a small city, well-known for sailing and for their impressive mansions (e.g Chateau sur Mer, The Breaks…). We stoped here to visit the International tennis Hall of fame. By coincidence there was a veteran tournament going on and we saw the final (John McEnroe against Todd Martin)

International Tennis all of Fame

Before going to NY, we visited and stayed overnight at Jaime's mother (Tia Diana) at Marion. It is a very calm area, and we had a good rest before heading to NY. We chated for some hours since there was a lot to tell and explain from the US trip but also from my roud-the-world one.

NEY YORK

End of our trip. We returned our car after having done 10287 km!!!!! (6392 miles!). At my sister´s apartment I was feeling like being at home. After having visited NY a couple of times, this time the main goal was to follow the US Open.

Joao Zilhao, Madalena and Pedro

We had tickets just for 2 days, but we were lucky since some friends (Sheila Campion, Joao Zilhao & Joao Lagos) from the tour were around and helped us to get more tickets, sometimes even with access to the ATP lounge

Pedro, Sheila, Joao Lagos, João Zilhao & Madalena

Pedro and Carlos Ramos

At the US Open, I met Carlos Ramos, an old friend, who now is one of the best tennis referees on the tour (2007 he did the Wimbledon’s final of Federer against Nadal).

New York sunset from the US Open

Time Square by night

MIAMI

This was the last stop, before leaving to Costa Rica. I stayed at Miami Beach which is the right place to relax and enjoy beach, nightlife (Lincoln Road, Social Miami - Sagamore, Delano) and the great restaurants around.

Ocean Drive - Miami Beach

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I had some good friends in town that really took care of me (thanks Jose, Lauren & Rocio)

Japanese dinner with Rocio at Lincoln Street

With Jose Duarte and his family, we did some sightseeing around the city, visited Coconut Drove, Coral Gabels & Key Biscayne, the Evergaldes (crocodile spot) and went to some nice restaurants (Mandarin Hotel and Graziano’s). I also had the chance to meet another colleague, Paco Mateo. Unfortunately Goncalo Leitao was out of town at that time.

Crocodiles at the Everglades

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With Lauren, who I met on my trip this year in Tibet, we also did a lot of sightseeing (Spanish Monastery and the Viscaya Museum and Gardens) and great dinners (the best at Prime One Twelve).

Jared, Lauren, David and Pedro at the Prime One Twelve

Another worthwile visit was to Key West to the southern point in US and walk around Duval St and visit Hemingway’s’ house.


Nightlife at Sagamore

New Zealand

Benefits: Landscape, small population (4 Mill. inhabitants); the haka dance, food - specially the roast lamb;

Concerns: No buses to travel during night; no ski resort at the mountains (therefore from Queestown I had to take a bus); on the southern island it was freezing, especially during the night with temperature below zero!

Places visited (& days): 15 days from 13 July till 28 July - Christchurch (1 + 2); Queenstown (5); Te Anau (1); Dunedin (1); Wanaka (1); Franz Joseph (1); Wellington (1); Auckland (2)

Transport (time or distances): Flight from Sydney to Christchurch (2h40): Christchurch to Queenstown (7h - 486 km); Queenstown to Milford Sound (4h - 291 km); Milford Sound to Te Anau (2h - 120 km); Te Anau to Dunedin (4h - 290km); Dunedin to Wanaka (4h - 276km); Wanaka to Franz Josef Glacier (4h - 287km); Franz Josef Glacier to Greymouth (2h30 - 177km); Greymouth to Christchurch by train (4h30 - 223km); Christchurch to Wellington by air (45min): Wellington to Auckland by Air (50min);

Currency: 1 Euro = 1,94 NZD (New Zealand Dollar)

Funny Experiences : Bus trip from Christchurch to Queenstown: at the Mt Cook all the passenger got off and I was the only one on bord for the remaining trip; 28 of June: the longest day of my life!; Heard my name being called on the speakers at Wellington airport: the flight tag had got lost and therefore they wanted to ask me where I was travelling to (glad that my backpack had my name on it!!!)

This is an incredible country to travel around and I had a great time here. I would have loved to spend some more time, but I had to fly end of the month to US and therefore could just spend 15 days here.

Compared to Australia it is a small country. The first task was to decide how many days I would spend on each of the Islands (south and north). There is no doubt that I preferred the Southern one which is less developed and where the best sights and activities are located.

SOUTHERN ISLAND (12 days)

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From Sydney, I took a flight and land in Christchurch. The view from the aircraft was awesome flying over the Tasmania sea and the NZ's mountains covered by snow. I didn't spend much time in the city since I knew I would be back to get my flight to the northern island.

On the way to Mt Cook (probably 40 km from Christchurch)

So, I took a bus to Queenstown where I spent 5 days. On my way, we made some great stops at lake Tekapo, lake Pukaki and at the Mount Cook. Every site is marvellous and this is what makes NZ really different from elsewhere. On the bus I met, Alex (American) who gave me some good tips for my next stop in 2 weeks - he lives 1 hour from San Franciso.

Lake Tekapo

The Tuga "with" Edmund Hillary (the first person to reach the summit of the Everest)

Queenstown is a beautiful and small resort, with a lot of attractions. I went skiing for 2 days, but the most exciting experience was the bungy jumping. It was not an easy decision. On one hand, I suffer from vertigo but on the other hand I love to challenge myself. Therefore I decided to do it and NZ was the right place since it was here the bungee was born with AJ Hackett

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Queenstown

I jumped from 47 metres. But what makes it really incredible is that they built the bungy site on the top of the mountain at around 450 metres above Queenstown. Thus, it looked more a 500 metres jump!!! To go there I had to take a skyline gondola. What really embarrassed me at that time, was the small cemetery just next to the gondola (I asked to myself - How many guys from the bungy are buried here???)

The Tuga jumping from the Ledge Bungy - Queestown

With the Portuguese flag - of course!

Skiing here is ok but nothing compared to the Alpes. I did one day at Coronet Peak and another one at The Remarkables. Anyway, I had fun specially by doing it at the end of July (at that time of the year I am used to be at the beach!).

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View from the summit of the Remarkables - Skiing Queenstown

Skiing at Coronel Peak

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Queenstown has several good restaurants and also an enthusiastic nightlife. I met 2 great Brazilians guys (Fernando and Rafael from Sao Paulo). We had a great meal together enjoying the famous NZ's rost lamb.

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Rafael, Fernando e Pedro


When I met again Alex, in Queenstown

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Next stop was Milford Sound. On my way I met one of my Japanese friends Mashiyama (the last time I saw him was at the Mt Cook) We did the cruise tour together. It was very sunny but also freezing. Great peaks, rain forests and waterfalls.

Milford Sound

Pedro and Mashi (Japan) - Milford Sound

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On my way back from Milford sound to Dunedin, I stopped at Te Anau. I remembered to arrive here at 18.00 pm, having dinner at one of the 3 restaurants in town and at 20.00 pm going to bed since nothing was really happening in town. Anyway I liked it, to lay back at the largest southern island lake (The Te Anau lake).

Dunedin Raiway station view just before a sandstorm!

Dunedin is a student town, on the east coast. Here you can see a lot of wildlife (Albatroz, pinguins, sea lions and NZ fur seals). On my tour I met a Saudi Arabia couple. Those were the first guys from Middle East that I saw travelling around. It was funny because Yasir was wearing a cap from Luis Figo.

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Otago Peninsula - Around Dunedin

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Sea Lions - Otago Peninsula

Pinguins - Otago Peninsula

The Saudi Arabi couple with the tuga

Next stop Wanaka. Another charming town but compared to Queenstown is much smaller. The lake Wanaka has great walks around it with spetecular views!

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The result of the sandstorm at Dunedin was huge snow fall on our way to Wanaka.

Wanaka

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Awesome views from walking trails - Wanaka

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Sunrise - Wanaka

Then I went to Franz Josef Glacier to do some trekking around the glacier. This time, I decided not to climb it. I did it once, in Chile some years ago and will probably do it again at the end of this trip when visiting the Pantagonia.

Franz Josef Glacier

Just next by the Franz Josef Glacier

To go back to Christchurch, I took first a bus to Greymouth and then the tranzalpine train. It is nice but after travelling around the entire island, I was not so suprised witht the views.

My last visit on the island was in Kaikoura. It is the right place to spot the sperm whales. The tour was very well organized, but it is always a risk because nobody gurantee that you will see any whale (if this had happened, they would have refunded 80% of the money - which is fine). We spent around 2 hours on the tour and spotted the whales at least four times and some dolphins as well. It is really worth the visit.

Sperm Whales - Kaikoura

From Christchurch, I took a flight to Wellington (already in the Northern Island).

NORTHERN ISLAND (3 days)

I spent 3 days on southern island, which was probably not enough but at least could give me an idea of two pacific cities (Wellington - the capital) and Auckland.

In Wellington I visited the Tapa Museum and walked around the city. The cable car for the Botanic Gardens that gives some good views from the city but the one that I preferred was from Mount Victoria

Wellington view from Mt Victoria

No doubt Auckland is the city of sails - surrounded by water, 2 big harbours and huge boats. The Sky tower gives spectacular views from the city and for the most brave guys there is also a sky jump (just from 192m !!! - of course I didn't try it). Another great view of the city is from the Kelly Tarlton's Encounter Antarctica Encounter spot.

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Sky Tower - Auckland

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Auckland's view from the Antarctic Encounter

I enjoyed the city walking around Queens st (unfortunately with some works going on), the harbours, and having dinner at Ponsonby Road (my favourite one, the SPQR - excellent food, wine, music & atmosphere).

The 28th of July, I would remember it as the longest day of my life: 43 hours! Just because I flew from Auckland to Las Vegas and crossing several time zones!