Video clips of some of our adventures in South America

Hello lovely people!

We are in the grey and miserable capital of Peru, Lima, and it is our last day in South America! 5 months of traveling has flown by in a blur of mountains, lakes, villages, towns, shopping, ruins, museums, cafes, bars, new people and lots and lots and lots and lots of buses! We fly out to the Dominican Republic tomorrow morning, where we will spend 2 weeks with friends and sipping pina coladas by the beach!

We still need to blog abour our experiences in Bolivia and Peru, however we haven't had the time to sit and write so this is a blog with a difference..... few words to read, just videos to watch! So, make a cuppa and enjoy our shaky, home video recordings of some of our various adventures and favourite spots over the past 5 months in South America! Below each video is a little description of the recording. And sorry in advance about some of the embarrassing commentary..... some very cringe worthy moments that should give you a laugh; unfortunately we don't have the technology to re-record over it!

Hope you enjoy!

Chelle and Ben

We spent an adventurous 3 days in the Amazon Basin in Bolivia, where we cruised down the river with alligators, went fishing for piranha, and hunting for an anaconda. This encounter with two alligators left Chelle a little shaky and Ben very amused!

We woke up at 4:00am for the long hike up in the dark to watch "Las Torres" turn red in the rising morning sun. It was FREEZING, and Ben and I had forgotten to pack head lights so we had to rely on the lights of our other trekkers to show the path! The climb up was unbelievably difficult, and in the end we were taking 2 steps up then resting, 2 more, then another quick rest! But it was all worth it to experience an incredibly beautiful moment.

Panoramic view of Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side

This was a fun day! We spent the day exploring the massive Salt Flats of Bolivia, where salt shimmers under the sun for as far as the eye can see. Ben took this video of the sunset on our way back into the town of Uyuni.

Toucan's dinner time at the bird park in Foz de Iguazu, Brazil....banana, yummmmm!

Watch for Ben being pushed back by the police baton as he celebrates the winning goal with the fans! Meanwhile as I was recording I was pushed off my chair by fans surging forward to jump in the aisles which explains the shaky recording!

This was a great moment, knowing that we were almost at the end of our 4 day trek in Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, and that a soft, comfy bed and hot shower awaited us back in town!

This one is Ben's pick (thanks Ben!). No illusions about my fitness level here! Those hills were hard work!

El Chalten, in Argentina Patagonia, has some of the most stunning scenery and day hikes that we have experienced so far in South America. We spent 3 days hiking around here and loved it! Ignore my spanish as I attempt to say the local name for the park, muy terrible!

What a hot butt in those sexy mining overalls! Our budget was looking grim so Ben put me to work in the mines of Potosi for the day! We are 3 levels underground in this video, and as you can see we needed to watch every step for open pits, and be on guard for the loaded trolleys that would thunder past. The air was thick with dust, and it was stuffy and hot. The experience gave us a little insight into how hard life in the mines is.

We didn't tell our mums about this one until afterwards! The Death Road is a down hill, narrow, dirt, cliff hugging road with 1000 metre drops into the mist below. It is a popular adventure tourism activity in Bolivia for the crazy "gringos". We were aware of the danger and rode the 5 hour descent carefully, although it was pretty hairy when the clouds closed in around us and we were riding through mist and rain. This is a short video of Ben taking off on the Death Road ( He is in yellow).

Chelle riding down the hill on the Death Road, Bolivia.

This is obviously another pick of Ben's which makes me both cringe and laugh to watch. Notice how Ben has picked ones where he looks fit and strong, but the ones of me tend to be my least flattering moments..... hmmmm, Ben, interesting, interesting! If anyone has watched the other ones of me climbing one may conclude that I don't like climbing mountains much! Actually, when we are climbing at normal altitude levels it is fine, it is just that my asthmatic lungs have a fit each time we climb in the "sky" at high altitudes ( sounds like excuses excuses I know!). Ben on the other hand is a mountain goat!

We visited the Pisac markets, which are 1 hour out of Cusco in the Sacred Valley, for some serious shopping time! We weren't disappointed and as a result we have just had to send home a 11kg package of all our goodies! This video tries to capture the colour and vibrancy of the markets.