The Amazon River & Jungle.....

From the incredible Machu Picchu, we made our way north to Iquitos, a small, chaotic and noisy town on the edge of the Amazon jungle. And from here, with the help of the crazy american hunter "Jimmy" we started our jungle adventure.....

We have been cruising the amazon river in dugout canoes, searching for caymans (baby aligators), anacondas, fishing for piranas, admiring the huge and colourful butterflys and glowing fireflys, chasing monkeys, watching the playful river dolphins, turtles and camping in the jungle whilst native rats the size of cats cruise around our tent and the mozzies attack us through our clothes!!

After running out of drinking water (slight oversight by our trip organisers!!!), we returned a day early to crazy Iquitos. Unfortunatley our camera spat it before this part of the trip, then Tom's memory stick packed up, so we are relying on our Dutch companians for photos. We have uploaded some below.

THE END OF THE ROAD.....
And so, after 15 months of incredible travelling experiences, we head back to London tonight, to a world without backpacks ............

Mick, our guide Walter, Eduardo, Christian, Tash, Tom, Saskia, Dennis & Anna on our last day in the jungle and we are ready for showers!!!!

Creepy crawlies of the jungle....

One of the Piranas Mick caught!!!

They chop down vines, then drain out the fresh water....here is Dennis enjoying a drink!

Our guide Walter chopped a path through the jungle with his machete on this 5hr epic walk. The humidity is unbearalbe, but the adventure was worth it!

Anna swinging on the huge vines in the jungle....it was awesome, just like Tarzan!!!

Sunset in the amazon...beautiful! After the sun goes down, brightly lit fireflys come out and the jungle looks like something out of the movies!

The taranchala that made it´s way into our campsite....urgh!!!

Paddling in our dug out canoe to a new campsite along the river

A game of volleyball with the local kids proved to be entertainment for most of the villagers.....

Some local kids in the village

A local couple weaving baskets..

Dug out canoes: fortunately we didnt have to use these "sinking" ones....

The house (hut) where we ate and camped at on the first night.

Arriving at the village in the amazon on our first day of our trip and getting ready for the enslaught of mossies....

Sunrise at Machu Picchu....beautiful!

More from Machu Picchu....

Taking on the Incan stone steps between terraces

The obligatory tourist shot!

We have seen a lot of impressive ruins, but it is the mountain setting that makes Machu Picchu so incredible....

Machu Picchu!!!!

The 5 day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu....

This is the less-travelled route to Machu Picchu turned out to be spectacular! We passed through lush valleys, over high mountain passes, next to huge glaciers and stopped at lush hot springs.

Our group consisted of 2 Argentinians, 3 Spaniards, Tom, myself, our guide Peter, chef Ermando, and 2 others to manage the horses, tents etc. Everyone spoke Spanish except for me, so it was a steep learning curve trying to grasp converstations!

Unfortunately Mick was having problems with his lung due to the high altitude so could not join Tom and I on the hike. Instead, he spent a week exploring Inca ruins in the Sacred Valley and then met us on the last night.

When we finally all got to Machu Picchu on Friday, we were blown away by how incredible it was! Luckily we arrived in time to watch the sunrise, and enjoy the sight before the huge crowds came!!

It was definatley a memorable week!

No prams or fancy baby carriers here, just colourful blankets used to tie the baby onto mums back!!!

We had to use this dodgy flying fox cross a big river on our hike...one of the scariest things we had to do on the hike, but we all made it..phew!!

The "crew" at one of our lunch stops. Our chef Ermando was incredible, and despite cooking on a camping stove, managed to serve up gourmet meals!!

Enjoying another great dinner with our Chef Ermando (left) and our guide Peter (right)

A Pervian school bus in Santa Teresa

Inviting hot springs en route down the valley

Elation hit as we walked over the 4,800m pass next to the awesome Mount Salkantay (6,271m)

A Peruvian woman and her horse up in the highlands

Tash, Sergio, Nuria, Mariano, Tom, Susannah and Mar on our way up to the Salkantay pass early in the morning....

Guinea pig farms - yep, it´s a speciatly here in the restuarants!

Locals in traditional dress in Pisac

A successful day of shopping the Pisac markets and we needed to buy new bags to carry it all in!!

Nazca lines

Getting set for our $50 USD (it is SO expensive!!), 30min flight over the Nazca lines. It was fascinating to see, but hard to concentrate as the 6 seater plane tipped side to side and our stomachs churned! It was almost impossible to take photos, so we had to resort to buying postcards! Well worth the trip though!

Dune buggying in the desert. Our driver was a madman and our stomachs churned as if we were on a rollercoaster but it was awesome!!

More sandboarding.....cant say I mastered it.....and it looked a lot easier than it was!

Resting at the top of the hill.....walking in the dunes is hard work, and super hot!

Sandboarding on the dunes in Huacachina. This is a dangerous sport...every second person here had a bandaged wrists!!

Huacachina - an oasis in the middle of the desert, and a great place to hang out in the sun!

The desert near Paracas (meaning "sandstorm"). These sand cliffs at the oceans edge were incredible

We saw hundreds of seals (up close too!) on our boat trip from Paracas out to the islands

Drinking Pisco Sour (the national drink) in Pisco with Tom

CUBA!!!

Cuba is definately the strangest country we have ever travelled in. The whole Socialism thing takes a lot to get used to, but you still cant adjust! The more questions to ask, and the harder you try to understand how things work, the more confused you get. And, people are cagey about it, and hate to talk about the way thier country is run. There has been some serious brain washing! Life in Cuba is tough, and travelling isnt easy either! There is a kind of double economy here which makes things tricky. We had an interesting time here, but when it came time to leave, we were happy!

Horse Riding in Vinales....

We went on a 4hr horse adventure through the valley with Rianne and Menco. We visited a tabacco farm where, among other things they roll cigars and make rum. Also stopped at a cave and decided against swimming in the brown, muddy water. It was fun, but due to old and badly fitted saddles, stirrups etc we were incredibly sore the next day!!

Mick was trying out his skills on the bongo drums in Trinidad