Sucre and around

We flew to Sucre to avoid a 10-hour overnight minibus ride - much more civilized! Spent our first day wandering around the " White City" visiting museums and generally seeing what was what. The historic centre is smaller than we expected and the suburbs sprawled for miles with lots of new buildings.

We've just got back from a two-day trek to the Managua crater through stunning scenery, and all at over 3000 metres. Quite tiring but worth it. Off to La Paz now.

Second part of Bolivia

Our third day we walked alone in the hills behind Samaipata, great views then passing a refuge for abandoned or injured animals on the way back.

The next morning back to Santa Cruz for 24 hours to wait for our flight to Sucre. The plane is not ours but was forced to land when full of contraband. We're next to the main market and the area is full of Mennonites who have come to sell their produce. A bit like the Amish in the USA.

Arrival in Bolivia

We're in Samaipata in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes after having spent two good days in Madrid before flying to Santa Cruz. Not a lot to see there but a pleasant introduction.

Samaipata is a cosmopolitan small town - it seems visitors come and stay and there's quite a hippie feel.

First day we trekked in the Amboro National Park to see the giant tree ferns in the cloud forest at about 2500m.

Today we visited El Fuerte, a pre-Inca fortress whose centrepiece is an enormous carved rock.

First impressions of Bolivia are that the people are friendly, accommodation is not cheap but food and transport are. And it's surprisingly clean.

Snow...

... but not in Montreal.  We've just come back from 5 days cross-country skiing in the eastern Pyrenees, around Font Romeu.  We stayed in a great hotel  in the nearby town of Mont Louis with pool, jacuzzi and steam room for our aching muscles and a great view. The village was a fortified town complete with moat and fort.  Very pretty.  The snow was perfect and the weather ideal for most of the time.  And that week the hotel was hosting the preparatory week for Miss Elegance which gave all the men something to ogle at!

 

Back home

Three fairly easy days on the road, stopping at Caceres which has a stunning medieval centre and then at Burgos for a look at the world-famous cathedral. It was 17 degrees when we got home, but forecast to be much colder as from tomorrow.

Leaving Portugal

A few chilly nights (around 4 degrees) have shown us that our little caravan is not good for long-term winter camping as we spend a lot of time in the awning. Short days and long nights don't help. So next time we think we'll rent somewhere and have a bit more comfort. But the few weeks of winter sun have been great.

Anyway, it's been a good trip, we've walked in the hills, along the coast, lain in the sun on beaches and visited some interesting places - but there's plenty left to do another time!

We've also been astounded by what some Brits get up to while "camping" - one had even brought her own washing machine! And they all seem to have dogs.

Heading home tomorrow in three easy stages (we hope!).

The Algarve

We spent a couple of nights at Alvor, a nice fishing port on an estuary, but the camping was just too basic. So we're now on the huge camping at Albufeira which is much more comfortable. We like the old town where we were tempted by an English breakfast. Walked to the new town which was not nice - very kiss-me-quick. Will probably be here another week or so. Weather better than either Montréal or the UK although a bit mixed.