Brad Eat World

Welcome to the jungle

2012-12-04T06:47:00.001-06:00

25/09/2012 – La Merced, Peru – Welcome to the Jungle – G’n’f’R

When your best mate travels halfway around the world for a week you get a feeling that things are pretty good and balanced on this planet. In my case Damo was heading over for my birthday and a quick look at Peru.

We didn’t have a long time so we decided to head into jump a bus over the andes and into the Jungle from Lima. It is a relatively short journey of 8hrs, and we took an overnighter. The pass at the andes is 5,000m, we didn’t even notice it and woke up in a beautiful warm land of greenery and insects.

We arrived in La Merced early at about 8am, and came across a restaurant and tour agency. Straight away we were in a van heading into the jungle on a day tour.	Our first stop was to a one of the villiages of a local tribe, the Ashaninka. They look wicked in there native dress and retain their indian lifestyle on the edge of the jungle.
We were welcomed with a song and dance,	and then were introduced to their per snake
and cheeky monkey	and they let us play with there toys. A very friendly folk.
Next stop was a swim at some local waterfalls	and more animals, this one a boa constrictor
some kind of jungle kitten, pretty cute now, but not sure in a few years.	and to finish up we took a very short ride down the amazon in the titanic, before the drive back to La Merced playing drinking games all the way.
For the night we headed to the old German colony of Oxampampa. Famous for it’s pork and beer.	It is a strange place. Apparently the guys who lived at Oxampampa were not Nazi’s fleeing from there crimes.
We got bored in Oxampampa and so headed back to La Merced. We had a number of hours to kill before our bus so went to see the sites.	We came across various witch doctors. One of whom was offering a treatment of black guinea pigs.
And man it really can rain! No wonder Lima is so dry, all the water is here.	We held out until bus leaving with beer and cards.

A very nice few days just kicking about and not doing much. After this we headed to Huacachina for some crazee sandboard action, and were witness to a riot/protest on the highway back to Lima.

A common way for the locals to protest is to block the road with bricks. The police come out very heavy headedly and we had to close the windows to keep the tear gas out of the bus. Fun fun fun and games.

Laters.x.brad

reporting from Duncans Flat, Lima

Two years on the road

2012-09-19T18:58:00.001-05:00

18/09/2012 – London to Lima – 2 More Years, Bloc Party

Two years ago today, I was finally leaving. All the last minute mish mash of things to sort out, banking to tidy up, things given away and the rest all boxed to send to the opposite side of the world. It wasn’t a happy time. It was that London September drizzle, not cold, but it manages to make all the sidewalks that sludgy slippery. And that was me. London 8 years, and all I had was on my back.

As I went to leave my sisters flat in Maida Vale for the last time, the approaching loneliness hit me, I was scared. I turned to give a brave smile and hug her goodbye, and she came out with some parting advice. Quite simply she said “All good adventures begin with a bloody mary”. Hahaha! Nice! Good! Great! I hold that to my heart, what advice, and funnily enough it was true.

And now, today, 2 years later, here I am. Sitting in Duncans modern apartment writing this 2 year anniversary blog. And to what happened in between?, well, who knows, I can’t really remember, a few years older?…

I set out on my adventure to find a future. A tough task indeed. There are so many options open today, countries, jobs, volunteer work, and through all my methodical filtering, planning and working of ideas I find myself settling here in Lima, Perú. Why oh why in this absolutely dull, boring dirty and dangerous hell hole?…Well to be honest…I like it here.

So future found? I guess so, I have a beautiful, intelligent girlfriend, a nice place to stay and most recently a new company. As I am a complete information nerd with a love of heavy metal, I have taken on the task of creating Lima Events and Gig Guide. La Cucaracha is a project of love, and learning. And as with starting any new company I best get back to work.

Hasta Pronto. x.b.rad

reporting from: Grimaldo del Solar, Lima Perú

End of days in Brazil

2012-07-31T00:03:00.001-05:00

12 - 28 Feb - Salvador de Bahia, Brazil – Shpongle, Levatation Nation

My time in Brazil was awesome, I finished with memories of stunning beaches, friendly people and great food. After the beautiful wedding, the smashing carnival and wild nature of the Chapada Diamantina, I was quite in love with Brazil.

Here are some photos that round off my month there.

Tour of the city with stunning views over the harbour.	Berridge… warning…..
Mmmm, giant beer!!	The main beach in Salvador
Daz in training for the big day	Gimp..pool..sunshine
A cup of coffee as reward for digging a hole.	The lovely helpers and family of Patchies.
A haul from just beyond the reef…	Henrique and Andre,..another lazy day swimming
Sunshine and sand one way	sand and beers the other
Bopa having a quiet kip.	Crab…beach….
A giant broken cross overlooking the harbour	The old slave quarters in downtown Bahia
Boat tour around the local islands	with friends from across the road..
The newlyweds off to the beach again..	A photo with Petrobras Chief Gabrielli dressed as Ghandi

It was a very nice time indeed, we all promised to meet up again for the next carnival. I can’t wait!

Laters.x.b.rad

Reporting from: Grimaldo del Solar, Lima, Peru

Hunting for Diamonds in Diamantina

2012-06-17T17:16:00.001-05:00

25 Feb 2012 – Chapada Diamantina, Brazil – Judgement Night soundtrack

Brazilian diamonds, oooooh hot diggy. One place that is a must visit if you get the chance is the Chapada Diamantina. A Place in Brazil like no other. It has some of the oldest soil in the world, and it was even once connected to Namibia at the bottom of South Africa. This place has been brewing diamonds for millennia.

As the years have passed, it has seen a number of boom and bust cycles.
Miners coming in, raping the land in the hunt for precious stones, and eventually destroying it. Nowadays the park is protected from industrial mining. The rock formations are strange indeed, massive boulders that are made of a lightweight sand. Pink, blue, purple and orange river beds and some of the tastiest drinking water flowing through underground caverns.

Lençóis, base to Chapada is a sweet little town with some nice hostels.	Our little posse stayed at Pousada Daime Sono. It was a little comfy home away from home.
Here’s our little gang. We went about discovering the local environment. Our first way we headed out to find a local watering holes.	And what splendour we discovered!! It was beautiful. A fresh water stream with local daredevils leaping from the boulders.
The stream had formed this natural slide. The local heroes invented a nice game to show of there skills, sliding down standing up.	I donned the tighties and had a crack myself. Graceful is definitely the word for it, unfortunately for the tighties… they gained a hole….poor poor tighties

After the nights sleep, we were booked onto a local tour of the sites. It was going to be a full day, for about 80 reais if I remember correctly, quite expensive.

First stop the devils waterfall for an early morning dip. The brown colour comes from the tannins of the dying vegetation, apparently it washes your hair as you swim.	Next stop the smoke caves. Not sure why this name, but there were some very nice stalagmites and stalactites
Off next swim in some of the clearest water in the world. This lake is on a bed of blue limestone,	and it flows into the side of this hill. Here you can hire a snorkel and head into the cave with a flashlight.
At the other end, there is the opportunity to don some scuba gear and hit the underwater caves.	Some say that Jesus lives deep in the cave, here I am basking in his glow.
Our last stop was a climb to the top of the mountian Inácio. It’s views…well…fantastic.	Our friendly guide for the day, Jack, was well educated. He explained to us how the mountain got it’s name, you can read the sad love story of Inácio here.

Land as old as time, unfortunately we didn’t find any dinosaur prints, or diamonds for that matter. But all was not lost, the place was fantastic.

And my short time in Chapada was going to get even better with the arrival of my old amigo from Alemania, Frank. We’ve had numerous adventures in Central America together, namely our adventure with Pirates in Panama.

Cervejás for the reunion. It was great to see Frank again, it had been nearly a year. We decided to hang out for a few days, see what trouble we could find.	These swimming pools are freaken sweet. Only 5 minutes walk from town. Best time to go is during the week before the locals arrive.
We came across these odd caverns. Made up of giant boulders of coloured sands. This place was strange.	The local streams were super refreshing. The water, maybe the cleanest in the world filtered through ancient limestone caves.

Chapada Diamantina and Lencois, a very special places indeed. I recommend a few days diamond hunting to anyone, especially if you are a fan of warm weather, lovely clean water and swimming.

Laters.x.b.rad

Reporting from: Miraflores, Lima Peru

Carnival in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil

2012-05-24T13:01:00.001-05:00

16 Feb 2012 – Salvador de Bhahia, Brazil – Timbalada, Beija Flor

Summer in Salvador de Bahía, hard to beat. Hot Brazilian rythms, girls wearing tiny bikini’s, ice cod beers and the sweetest beaches found anywhere. It is a city coming of age, booming, and it also hosts the biggest party in the world each year. CARNIVAL de BAHIA!!

I was nervous. The police had just returned to work after a week of strike. There was going to be a few million people. Everyone jammed together. A city renowned for petty crime. It’s true, I expected to get robbed, groped, beaten or even worse ….lost

It turns out I was worrying unnecessarily. None of these things happened. But what did was a freaken super duper awesome party. I can’t understate how super freaken super duper awesome it was.

The carnival in Salvador is difficult to explain, firstly you need to forget everything you know about the carnival in Rio. Rio is for the “sitdowners”, lazy types. Carnival Salvador on the other hand is all about dancing to the live bands. They are set up on trucks that parade around different circuits in the city, and as a reveller, you have a number of cool options options to catch them. A) parade with a band for the night: B) grab a space in a “Camarote” and watch them drive past: C) Pi Poca, (Brazilian for Popcorn) which is to let loose in the streets.

Our first night we were to parade with the band Timbalada. We picked up our super sweet tshirts painted super bright with graphiti fish and rolled on into the party.

To start you need beer! Brings a new meaning to refuel station, JAJAJA.	And we´re off, led by our beautiful and experienced Brazilian guide
The crowd was massive. There were about 4000 people dancing with our band.	The Berridge family were out in force, they danced the 5km no problems
After a while as with most good parties, things got a little distorted.	At the end of the night you grab some tasteee Acaraje. nom nom nom

Our band Timbalada turned out awesome. They have the best percussionists in the world and easily banged out 5 hours of beats.

We may have been a bit tired at the end, but with awesome atmosphere we all wanted to keep going……luckily we only had to wait until the next day!!

Laters. x.brad

reporting from : Lima, Peru

Wedding of the year

2012-05-01T12:40:00.001-05:00

14 Feb 2012 – Villas de Atlantico, Salvador de Bahia, Brazil – Chis Knox, Not given lightly

Sometimes the weather just rolls on in, what can you do. We arrived to the venue early in order to ensure everything as in place. It was a spectacular setting, tables and chairs draped in the purest white, decorated with more flowers than the Chelsea flower show. A balmy breeze blew across the afternoon, and all was ready. The beach house edged to the white sands at Villas de Atlantico, just north of Salvador de Bahia. The union of Patricia and Darin was only 2 hours away…The clouds exploded overhead…

It was just a little trickle, then SLAM, it started bucketing down. Torrential as in a tropical storm, the 100 guests delicately hid away from the rain under the awnings of the house. The tempest above, not happy at being thwarted decided to throw the water sideways leaving the well dressed people to fend for themselves. The gentlemen aided the ladies in high heels around the house to the only open door, those that couldn’t make it were helped in through the large windows. What a fantastic way to start, all the guests inside with great smiles on there faces, like old comrades that have survived a skirmish together.

…The tempest passed as quickly as it came. The ground dried and all returned to peace and harmony. We awaited the arrival of the bride……

With the wedding only one week away we decided to get Daz into shape. Sit-ups, pull-ups and swimming everyday.	By the time the big day arrived, he was a lean mean fighting machine!! (..and so was bops)
n Mr and Mr Berridge discuss last minute formalities	The cake was delightful. The likeness of the bride and groom was uncanny

Night time arrived and so did the bride. Patricia was absolutely stunning.

The singing priest started his service. All was moonbeams and love.

Darin and his Mother walking up the the isle.	a few magic words and a ring
The union was confirmed by a general vote of support	and with the ceremonies complete, it was time for FIESTA
Lots of very, very good looking people were in attendance	a few anecdotes from the best man
, blessings from the grandmother	and it was party time

A superb night. All the love in the world to the newlyweds.

Laters.x.b.rad

reporting from:Apt Grimaldo, Lima, Peru

Brazil – I predict a riot!

2012-04-17T14:01:00.001-05:00

3-7 Feb 2012 – Porto Seguro, Bahía, Brazil – Timbalada Radio

My friends are great, they all love a good adventure and none more so than the original half man/half fish Daz. He has been living the dream in London and had finally popped the question to his beautiful girlfriend Patricia. They were to be married in Patricia’s home city, which also happens to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The beautiful Salvador de Bahía in Brazil.

I bought my flight tickets asap, and was to have a whole month of good times. I was a very lucky boy indeed. I didn’t know much about Brazil except for the locals love of football, being hairless and skimpy bikinis.

Salvador de Bahia, is a very old city that originally thrived on coffee and the slave trade. Currently it is going through a phase of extreme development. Sky-scrapers popping up everywhere, I had heard that the price of things was as high as London, well it was and it wasn’t.

After landing in Sao Paolo I made my way to Porto Seguro to meet Daz for some chill time before the wedding. Thinking buses would be cheap I naively started out, and 28 hours later I arrived in the lawless state of Bahia. The police had decided to go on strike. Their tactics were simple and obvious and they had even done the same thing last year. With the carnival only a week away, they decided to resort to blackmail. Unfortunately for them this time, the government weren’t going to play ball and sent in the army to keep the peace. In honesty we didn’t notice any problems, although it was widely reported that a hundred or more people were killed, I believe this was more down to gang warfare.

In Porto Seguro we found some very simple and nice accommodation just out of town by the beach. Daz got down to making fire	while I got onto drinking some beer
and feeding the local wildlife	As night rolled on, all the family came out for the bbq and a few quiet cuchasas. It wasn’t long until the fighting began.
It turns out we were drinking with the local capoeira professor	Daz had a crack at the title and got eaten alive
The crowd were not impressed and if anything bored.	After being shamelessly beaten by a fat old man, decided to take some some vengeance.
Next day we decided to hit the beach	and went on the worst snorkelling trip ever, all the coral had died.
At night we headed into downtown Porto Seguro. It is very historic and nice, but a bit too touristy. Here I am displaying novelty bottle openers.	One of the first churches in Brazil is perched on the hill overlooking the harbour.

We had a great week in Porto Seguro, soaking up some of the culture. The weather was absolutely stunning as where the beaches.

And as a budding ornothologist I love spotting different bird species, but unfortunately in Porto Seguro I didn’t see even one of the large pink breasted Brazilian species, although I did find this artists impression of one.

Laters.x.b.rad

Reporting from: The Lighthouse Hostel, Lima

Muy Tranquila en Lima

2012-03-24T10:53:00.001-05:00

9 – 30 Jan - Lima, Peru – The Charlatons – Wonderland

Time for a collapse after a gruelling tour of Bolivia. And back to Lima, a little reality check and some time to chill. Happy days, summer had rolled in, and so had the Dakar Rally.

Miraflores looking nice.	Lima is changing very fast, money is being spent beautifying the city.
Made a new friend in the market	Sarita making Lima look good

And the Dakar rally was finishing in Lima this year, cool, time to see some FUCKEN SWEET MACHINES. It used to be called the Paris-Dakar rally and ran from Paris, France to Dakar in Senegal. This crazy race was across the African continent, and unfortunately due to vigilantes kidnapping the drivers the race was moved to South America in 2009. It now runs from Buenos Aires to Lima.

BRAVOOO CHAPPY!	Red Bull monster racing truck
The motorbikes are only allowed 450cc engines MAX	Support vehicles
The final ceremony was held downtown	where all the cars and people were scrubbed up nicely after 14 days of hard yaka.

We enjoyed the rally a lot, and also had time to escape for a weekend to Lunahuaná for some rafting and our own version of the dakar rally.

Rio Lunahuaná, super sweet for some rafting action.	Sara’s first time on a motorbike, no problems.
And as the sun sets on another Lima day, everything was going pretty well	until Sara was bitten by a dog. Shocking, although quite tasty

Till next time.

Laters.x.brad

reporting from: HQ Villa, Lima

Journey to the top of the world

2012-03-16T14:07:00.001-05:00

5-8th January 2012, Salar de Uyuni, La Paz – Bolivia, Wolfgang Armedeus Phoenix

What great fortune I had, I was heading back to the incredible Salar de Uyuni high in the altiplano of Bolivia. I was relishing my new job as tour guide, as I could do what I love to do. That being a know all and big talking prick, hahaha, poor Sarita.

We only had time for a one day trip to see the sights, the Salar was now flooded and it was impossible to drive across like I had done last time. We booked into a tour, and I was eager to see what the place was like covered in water. Firstly though, a quick photo stop at the train graveyard before smashing onto the salar.

Yeah, newton was here man.

Whoooooop,…Train to hell..

The Salar has 2 distinct weather seasons. In the dry season it is possible to drive across the 1000km of antique sea bed, but around Christmas the place gets flooded and you can only drive 1km onto it. In the wet the dry salt bed turns into an extremely salty ocean. The depth of the salt is 2 to 3 meters and is is not a solid mass. There are layers of salt and and water, which allow the water to move between the strata. The crystalline structure of the salt also makes it very strong, the salt thickness beneath our cars is only 2 inches thick.

Here you can view a spot where the water is coming up through a hole.

One of the crazee things about the salar is the ability to play with the depth perception in photographs

We had a great day, and met some cool cats who where on the tour with us. Ricardo and Pedro from Chile and Noa from Israel. They all turned out to be great fun!

We were all heading into La Paz the next night and so decided to make a plan to go out partying. Also it was going to be Sara’s birthday that midnight, and so sneakily we made plans to surprise her…..hahaha she had no idea!

Into La Paz

We all met up at the Wild Rover hostel, I had sneaked out earlier and purchased some presents for Sara. We were going to treat her like a real Peruana princess!!

All we had to do now is wait until mignight! HAHAHAHA, and then it struck!!! SURPRISE!!!

Tequila

Presents

Tequila

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

It worked out perfectly!! Pedro hid all the presents in his penguin jumper until the time came. She was taken completely unawares. What followed next needs no explanation.

We came	We partied
Free shots from the bar, ooooh baby!	And who the fuck is that marica in this photo!!
things started to get a little blury	and then the inevitable……
Unfortunately after our fun times and new friends we had to get back to Lima.	Sara needed to get back to work, and I needed some good old time resting,

Our tour of Bolivia turned out to be fantastic. It is a stunning country and worth a visit. We saw a lot of beautiful landscapes such as the views on the Isla del Sol, saw real dinosaur footprints in Sucre, and ate some superb fish and chips made with trout in Puno, and of course made new friends and partied hard.

And so hasta luego, until next time the adventure train starts steaming. x.b.rad y Sarita

reporting from: The Lighthouse Hostal, Lima

The Devil Mountain of Potosi

2012-02-23T05:19:00.001-06:00

3 – 4 Jan 2012 – Potosi, Bolivia – Kings of Convenience, Riot on an empty street

The night before we headed to the city of Potosi, we were shocked to watch documentary about what is Potosi. It’s called The Devils Miner. The main character is a 14 year old boy who was forced to work in the mines with his brother aged 10 (him being the boss because he was older) after the loss of their father. Each day they risked life to bring out what little mineral ore they could, with dust clogging the lungs, the sounds of drilling ruining the ears and unannounced dynamite explosions commonplace. Their meagre protection included a hardhat, a bag of coca leaves and a devil known as Tio that they worship to keep them safe. It was a very interesting documentary. These boys had no options, it was either work the mines or become a street bums.

The mountain that stands behind Potosi city is known as “Cerro Rico”, rich mountain in english and mining has been happening here for just short of 500 years. Once discovered by the Spanish, the city turned prosperous quickly and even became more populous than London and Paris. The slaves mined the silver ore at an amazing rate, and rumour has it that in the 200 years after 1546 when the city was founded, 45,000 tonnes were taken! The silver ore was smeltered in the city using molten mercury (which later turned out to be killing people) and minted into coins to be shipped back to the empire.

So many people died inside the mountain it was nicknamed “The mountain that eats men”. It is rumoured that as many as 8 million perished while working/slaving here, an absolutely preposterous number. A few interesting tactics where used to get the slaves to work. Initially they didn’t take to the conditions well, and so the Spanish church decided to change its attitude towards the coca leaf. They thought that if the slaves worked for longer with less fatigue, it must be a great thing. And so coca became legal and the slaves were encouraged to chew on it. Yet, even with the coca they were ungodly in Spanish eyes and wanted time to worship their African gods.

The Spanish tried to convert them to Christianity with little success. The slave miners just couldn’t believe an “all loving god” could exist considering their predicament working in the pits of hell. And so the Spanish knowing the Africans were rather superstitious, invented a devil figure to scare the slaves into working long hours. This worked extremely well. The devil known as “Tio” lives in the belly of the mountain, and each day the miners come and worship him to keep him happy, because we all know what happens if the devil isn’t happy.

It is amazing that this more or less still happens today under different guises. Coca is still legal, the miners will not enter the mines without a bag and they still ask Tio to be happy and not kill them each day. Also even though they are no longer called slaves, they are forced into such jobs due to family needs and no other options. The miners work themselves to death. The average life expectancy is less than 40 years.

Although Sara and I didn’t enter the mines, you can read about an adventure here or watch the movie, you’ll need subtitles.

Sites around Potosi

The city of Potosi is quite pretty, the old buildings are from a grand age when silver literally lined the streets. Nowadays most are run down, but you could still picture the heyday, with Spanish aristocrats in top hats, tails and automobiles.

Some nice street art picturing the miners in a black hole.

We had a delicious and cheap typical at this restaurant with a red door, delicious peanut soup, just 2 blocks down the hill on Chuquiasaca from La Casona	This is the mint where silver is turned into coins. It is definitely worth a visit, they still have the ancient wooden minting machines that were turned by slaves.
A polluted river just out of town…a very common site. The water from the river is also used for growing food, all contributing to a cycle of health problems.	Here some miners are protesting about a worker who was killed in the mines and the inquiry was hushed up.

Just out of town, we did find a nice spot for an afternoon excursion. A crater lake at a constant 22deg centigrade. Worth the visit if you can find it.

Laters.x.brad.

Reporting from : Vilas de Atlantico, Salvador de Bahia, Brazil

A Merry New Year in Sucre

2012-02-22T13:17:00.001-06:00

31 Dec 2011 - 02 Jan 2012 – Sucre, Bolivia – I would do anything for you, Foster the People

With our trip having started in super exciting style we flew across the night through the dirtiest and highest capital in the world and onto one of the prettiest in South America at Sucre. It was one of those special 12 hour bus rides, where just 10 minutes before departure you feel a strange rumble emanating from my guts. Not fun, Imodium is a true hero.

Sucre is a beautiful city. It was built by the Spanish settlers around 1550 and was the birthplace and capital of Bolivia until recently. It is a very important and beautiful place, the buildings are colonial and grand as was fitting for the Spanish of the new world. Unlimited funds rolled through the city from the nearby mines in Potosi.

La Paz bus station never looked better. We had 4 hours to kill before our bus, I unfortunately took the wrong option and ate the cordon blue before travelling at olivers travels.	The first thing we did when we got to Sucre was to ring back to NZ and tell mum about these cool dinosaur phones
In the center of the market there is a large plaza surrounded by fruit stands which make juice and salads. You can buy the best orange juice in the world here for about 50 cents.	The central park is a nice place to chill out. It was all fancied up for the new years celebrations.
One of the attractions in Sucre, are the dinosaur footprints and fossils. At the dino park they even recreate the monsters in the wild, here they are practicing butt munching	And another thing worth checking in Sucre is the graveyard. It is a beautiful place filled with crypts from the olden Spanish times set in lush manicured gardens.
And luckily for us it was New Years Eve!! We partied hard at the Florin, a dutch pub with great food.	And made some new years crazee friends too.

All in all a nice place definitely worthy of a visit, I even considered staying and studying here for a few months.

Here Sarita is on the top of the school/nunnery, which is marvous restored.

Laters.x.b.rad

Reporting from : Vilas de Atlantico, Salvador, Brazil

Island of the sun

2012-02-08T17:35:00.001-06:00

28-30 December – Isla Del Sol, Bolivia – Passive me, Aggressive you, The Naked and Famous

Breathless as the sun was starting its drop into the horizon, the immigration guard was looking through every page of my second passport, looking for something that wasn’t there. He looked at me and grunted in his Bolivian accent “¿Donde esta el estampa para salir de Peru?”. I shrugged in my most innocent manner, looked him in the eye and exploded in the manner of one attaining a bright idea. I removed my NZ passport from its sheath and placed it on the desk in front of his enquiring face. His eyes swiftly looked up towards god as if saying in the universal language of animal, “you my friend,… are an idiot”.

He proceeded to search through the passport. Slowly, leafing page by page, checking each and every stamp for the evidence that mentioned I had already been into Bolivia that year….page 23, damned page 23. He grunted nasally as he found it, and his slow gaze turned from the passport to me, calculating, thinking, I could almost hear the clunking of his monkey brain. He cocked his head to the side as if to hear another long and tall story. Him knowing that I was trying to sneak back in to his stunning country, and armed with the knowledge that I had the cheek to stroll into his office with the reason to deceive. Deceive the laws of immigration, and more importantly to deceive him. He was dressed in a perfectly pressed khaki suit, perfectly manicured beard, every step a soldier. He grunted at me, “¿cuantas dias necesita?”

Wow, what an exciting first day on tour with my sweetheart Sara. We managed to skip back into my new favourite country, one that she has been neighbourly too her whole life and yet never visited. We busted in great style. Late in the afternoon we jumped one of those local taxi vans, the ones that you need to wait in until they are full before departure, and drove towards Copacabana and the setting sun. It’s a small town on the shore of the highest navigable lake in the world and I was hoping we could jump a boat across the lake before the darkness set in, and spend our first night on the beautiful island of that gave birth to the sun, the famous Isla Del Sol.

We had made it!! All of the public boats had stopped running for the evening, but we managed to do what often happens when on the road, we met the right person at the right time and jumped a boat full of boat drivers.	Our crossing took us into the night and to the southern port of the island. We climbed out cold, wobbly and out of breath. Everything is a difficult at this altitude. And we suffered as we climbed the 200 meters of stairs up to the small town, where awaited a dinner of chicken soup, fried trout and candlelit views across the lake.
The next day we went to discover the legend of the island and find the famous “foundation stone”. Along the way we came across some friendly monkeys	and strange crosses marking the path. The island has beautiful views
A local girl posed for my photo.	We searched everywhere for the lost stone!
And Yeeehaa, we found it,… I think…	After a tough days hunt we settled into a nice bottle of wine, and a delicious sunset

The island is beautiful, rustic and above all tranquil. I totally recommend it for a few days relaxation. The restaurants are simple and operate by candles after 9pm, when the power goes out.

We left early the next morning, being the 30th December. Only 2 nights till the new year and a great one to look forward too. We had decided to bus to Sucre, a place I knew that has some nice people and would have a nice party as well.

Laters.x.brad.

Reporting from: Cepac bus station, Sao Paolo, Brasil.

A very merry little Christmas in Sucre

2012-02-08T02:15:00.001-06:00

25 December 2011 – Sucre, Bolivia – James Brown, A Funky Christmas

I had been having a nice time chilling out by myself in Sucre. The months on the road have turned up some simple truths about my happiness. A quiet place to sleep, eggs on toast for breakfast with fresh fruit juices, coffee, and a few cold beers in the afternoon. Nothing too demanding really.

But this time of year was no time to be alone. It was Christmas and unfortunately knew no one in Sucre except a freaky German staying in my hotel, he had a delightfully bright skin disease and a fetish for smoking in the lobby. Not a person I took a liking too, and not one to spend Christmas with. And so 2 days before the big event it was looking like it was going to be a lonely one. That was until santa and a group of strangers wandered into the restaurant where I was lunching and sat at my table. They introduced themselves and told me to join them at their hostel for a lovely Christmas party, including presents, boozing and a Christmas lunch. Yay!

John, our local Canadian turned out to be a chef. Here he is basting the turkey with his special sauce!! Yay! What a star.	Santa had a great trope of elves, here they are making desert
And so we wait in the afternoon sun for Santa to arrive with our presents	And what a bundle of love he brought
Micheal Jackson Monopoly, nothing but the original!	After the presents the food came out and we feasted
And partied	And partied some more.

It was a very fun time for everyone at the Gringos Rincon Hostel. It was just like a family Christmas!

Hohohoho!

laters.x.b.rad

Reporting from: Cepac bus station – Sao Paolo Brasil.

Kicking it in a 4x4 around the altiplano

2012-01-16T08:26:00.001-06:00

17-18 Dec 2011- Uyuni, Bolivia – The Rolling Stones, Forty Licks

After the beauty and madness of Salar de Uyuni, my new family and I had luckily escaped to our first nights sleep on solid ground. Our hotel was made of salt bricks and was rather rudimentary, and in honesty we all slept rather even though we were 4 kilometers above sea level.

We awoke to a cold morning overlooking the stunning salt flats and had a big day of touring ahead of us. We were to visit a number of colourfullakes and the national park of…umm forgot.

The dining hall at our salt hotel. It was comfortable for a nights meal and a few beers.	After a few hours driving we arrived at our first lake.
It was beautiful and stained cobalt blue by the minerals leached from the surrounding mountain.	The lake is also the home to migratory flocks of flamingos
This other lake is quite poisonous, and flammable. Nailed to the sign is what once was a small cute animal that didn’t obey the rules (no smoking buddy)	After an hour more on the road we come across this strange rock of MADNESS
Which made everyone act like a loonie	and then off to blood Lake!!
Our dirty old landcruiser was kicking arse, and perfect for the terrain.	We ended the day in our rustic huts for our second and last nights sleep, this time at 5km above sea level.

We had a fun and crazy night of salsa dancing, drinking wine and eating our new favourite food, spicy pringles topped with tinned tuna, nom nom nom…

The next morning we were up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 to see the sights on our last day. Whoopee, my favourite !!! Volcanic action!!!

Here is some Volcanic Action	A bunch of geezers that they let you get extremely close too
Tell the truth, the place freaken stinks!!	And the morning was kicking along nicely, all we needed now was a few llamas and a hot bath to set up the perfect day.
After some hunting in camouflage, I found the llamas	and also a hot bath!! What luck!!
It was a rather pleasant morning.	Which all our family enjoyed immensly
And after about an hours wholesome fun with the llamas it was time to turn homeward.	A 7 hour drive back to Uyuni which our awesome driver Erwin handled perfectly. We played classic car games like eye spy, and animal mineral vegetable.

In Uyuni safe and sound, we take one last photo before our family departs in different directions.

An awesome time had by everyone!! Big thanks Ruth, Steve, Franco, Inga, Marisella, Erwin and of course the LLAMAS!!

Laters.x.brad.

Reporting from The Backpackers Family Houe, Lima, Peru

Salty and Flat - Tripping in the middle of Bolivia

2012-01-10T19:47:00.001-06:00

16 Dec 2011 – Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia - Higher Than The Sun, Primal Scream

Bolivia has heaps and heaps of nice things to look at and see, it even has the biggest salt flat in the … WORLD. WoooooHooooo, who likes salt!! We Do, We do!!. The Salt flats of Uyuni are gigantic, massive, huge, flat, white and SALTEE. They are so flat that they use the area to measure the speed of light, WOW, really how ummm….un-interesting!!

But interesting enough, that there is enough lithium in the flats to make zillions of batteries, and this lithium also causes all navigation equipment to be rendered useless, really, compasses (compi) spin on there head, radios and telephones don’t function and sometimes even people disappear.

The adventure begins in Oruru, where the Bolivian government has managed to keep a train running (albeit running late) to the salt flats of Uyuni, and you better queue for your tickets early, they have a commodore 64 to take bookings on.	After 7 hours of not seeing much up on the altiplano, We eventually I pull into Uyuni around midnight. Hotel Julia across from the railway station provides a good nights sleep (no booking required).
And the next morning I awaken to Uyuni, a no horse town. I am up early to find a tour company for the famed 3 day tour of the salar. On recommendation I pay 650 bolivianos to the “El Desierto” tour company, and they turn out to be great.	The tour is going to take our group to a number of sights. An old train graveyard; a traverse of the great salt flats and to the coloured lakes of the nearby Parque Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa
And off we head, the train graveyard is pretty sweet. All these trains were once used for mining and have been preserved in this low humidity atmosphere	Isaac newton even came here once and wrote some interesting formulae on this train (what a dik and a fool, this function doesn’t take relativity into account)

After about 20 minutes of olden day train action it was time to hit the salt….

There are 2 seasons on the salar, dry season and wet season. During the wet season you cannot cross the salt flats, but you will have perfect mirror reflections of the horizon. I was lucky enough to be travelling at the changeover point, mid December, and was able to witness both seasons.

Our first stop on the Salar is at the world famous Salt Hotel. Here is some salt.	And as I wait for lunch I get acquainted with the other 5 people with whom I will be spending the next 3 days. Turns out they are all totally crazee and we all get on like a house of loonies :-)
Inside the salt hotel, everything is made of salt.	I think the locals might have too much time on their hands.
After lunch we’re off again, this time we stop on the salar in ankle deep water.	and we get some nice reflections of this….hill
What none of us knew was that the lunch we just ate was laced with hallucinogenic drugs… the adventure really begins.	We come across an island floating in the middle of salt.
And some poor lost soul never to return	bing bing bing….things start to get weird
did lee oo	did lee oo

MnnnnmmmmmMMnnnnnoooooMnnnnnnnMnnnnnMnnnnnnn

BOM BOM BOM BOM

ARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!

BAM SMACK POCK

YAYYAYYAYYAYYAY!!!

Waaaaahaaaaa, Out of there we fly……and to the safety of our first nights sleep.

Laters.x.brad.

Reporting from The Backpackers Family Houe, Lima, Peru

A day in the life – Cochabamba

2011-12-21T08:35:00.000-06:00

10 Dec 2011, Cochabamba Bolivia, Foster the People – Torches

I had been living in the altitudes of Cochabamba for a month and a half now, and the city had stolen my heart. It has a superb climate, primavera eterna (eternal spring), the people are wonderfully friendly and the city has great food. There also exists a super cool place which is my favourite thing about Cochabamba. It is the market known as “La Cancha”. It’s the biggest shopping center I have ever seen, and proudly the largest market in South America.

I decided to take to the streets for a day of photos shooting, and we start above with this photo from my apartment, with the sun about to rise behind the largest statue of christ in the world. Christo de la Concordia.

I woke up a little hungover after a quality game of poker. Newcomer to the sport, Lilie took the pot with her lady luck.	And here is a pretty boring photo of my apartment building. I was living on the 7th floor, and had a lovely view across the city
The local transport around town are sup’d up buses like this one, known as a trufi’s.	After 20 minutes of bumpy ride I finally arrived at the market
The local farmers come in most days to sell their goods, but the biggest days, know as the “Feria” are on Wednesdays and Saturdays	The Amazonian jungle is 3 hours away, this is where the tastiest fruit in the world comes from. Yum, fresh bananas
An orange juice squeezer. The juice this lady extracts is the best in the world. Not budging on that. F.A.C.T. These carts are all around the city, average cost for a fresh juice, 40cents us.	Papayas by the barrowful
As well as garlic	Pots, pans spoons, everything you need.
This butchery has a calfs head and the skin of a leopard on the wall for advertising	And here, open to the world is “street meat”

All of these photos are from the streets even before actually entering “La Cancha”. The market is the a most wonderful place to visit. Every time I adventure in, I discover a new section of interesting things, this could be anything from the latest t.v.s to the coca section, the witches market, potato area, hat area, anything and everything.

And the adventure continues inside …..

The entrance is reminiscent of the entry into Ali Baba’s cave	Corridors and isles of small shops, here is the hat section
Real horse hair is the latest fashion for hair extensions	Lots of little stores that cater for you everyday needs
Clothes for you indigenous baby	Pasta by the sackful
Oranges by the pyramid	Watermelons by the truckload
Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes	Dead llama foetuses for use in rituals
Coca leaves to be eaten or turned into cocaine	bread, bread bread
Hardware supplies	Live animals

And more and more and more and more. I cannot say how big this place is, I amble for hours happily looking at the cool items for sale and interesting people too. The only problem arises is when you actually need to buy something, you need to know where to look for it.

Bolivianos, BBQ as a way of life

And after my wonderful trip to La Cancha, there were plans of a super sweet bbq at Dianas house with the local narco gang, known as “The Cochabambinos”.

BBQing is a national sport in Bolivia, here we are all prepared for an afternoon of fun	And we arrive at Dianas place, I think her family might be quite well off.
Squaaky the parrot comes out to play	and takes a liking to Negrita
BBQ king Dennis and Canadian alcoholic Ben start cocktailing	And after a few of those, well abajo abajo abajo
party games galore, all you need is a broom and some space	Illing and chillin, time for bed…
After the BBQ, most of the Cochabambinos went home, but for me it was off to Hooligans, where Santos found true love	and as with many a fun night, it is all over too fast. The sun comes up and from out of nowhere comes the cutest puppy in the world.

A super sweet day and night in Cochabamba. Muchos Gracias A Los Cochaambinos!!

Laters.x.brad.

Reporting from Hotel Bicentenatio, Sucre, Bolivia

Hunting dinosaurs in Torotoro National Park

2011-12-14T13:37:00.001-06:00

26 Nov 2011 – Torotoro Park, Bolivia – Guns’n’Roses, GNR Lies

Ohh yeah, rumours are alive about dinosaur sightings a few hours outside of Cochabamba, as the pterodactyl flies. And as a budding palaeontologist I was keen as a bean to get ouy there and hunt the blasphemous beasts.

The mystical park Torotoro is 6 hours drive from Cochabamba in Bolivia. A very old land indeed. I assembled an international team for the hunt. These included driver Ben (Canada), fixer Lillie (Bolivia), scientist Isaac (Canada), cook Anna (New Zealand), model Kate (USA) and of course chief huntsman myself (New Zealand). We equipped a large truck, items for heading underground should we need it and slingshots (in case of severe and unavoidable trouble).

OMG, we sighted out first dinosaur near the outskirts of the park, but unfortunately after a closer investigation it was undecided what type it was.	Bright and early the next day we set out. I grew a beard especially for the occasion.
within minutes we found some promising signs. Tracks from a juvenile raptor.	There was a foul stench in the air, the monsters couldn’t be far away
We pressed on into the prehistoric wilderness and came across the tracks of a giant herbivore, a geriatric dickaplodomus I believe.	The roads were long and winding, where the hell were these beasts.
The local sources had said a minor sighted one in the morning near his mine.	We assembled our potholing gear and headed in
Sweet, more tracks we must be close	This footprint belonged to a T-Rex, we must proceed with caution
GRRROOOOWWWLLLL – What the FUCK. I’m ready for anything	Holy shit, …….oh thank god, only Issac fooling around

So after a great days hunt we were on the right track. But where oh where could the buggers be.

I study the terrain of the ungodly beasts before calling it a night. But strange things were afoot in the town itself.

A strange dream came to me, a dog named Jesus came and spoke to me.	Jesus and his friends promised to show us the way to the dinosaurs the next day
Driver ben turns up, and befriends the animals too.	And rocken rodeo, we are off
We awaken early and, I regale my dream to the party who find it super interesting. Fixer Lilie took a deeper understanding and led the way to where she thought they might be	“Down there “ she points. “In the shrubbery of the canyon”. We are off, armed and ready for the unknown.
Woooooeeee hold your horses, these are fresh!!!	Scientist Isaac measures the prints for the trip journal
Unfortunately all we find in the bottom of the canyon are some boring old waterfalls,	but wait, whats that? OMG Jesus!!! Straight out of my premonition the night before
He leads us to some more prints, wow super fresh	And even more

HOLY GADZOOKS LOOKOUT

A T-Rex in the wild, OMFG, how awesome!!!

WE DID IT. WELL DONE TEAM. SUCCESS

And we all return home safe and sound. What a sweet adventure.

laters.x.brad.

Reporting from Hotel Hidalgo – Oruro- Bolivia

London - The Return

2011-11-29T19:45:00.001-06:00

8 – 21 Oct 2011 – London, England – The Orb, The Orbs adventures beyond the Ultraworld

Holy SHAZAM Batman, heading back to London after one crazy ride. Over the last 3 weeks I had visited 5 countries, and now the return home. Home I say, where is home? Is it where you feel comfortable, where the heart is?

Anyways it was great to be back, back to civilisation, costa coffee, the Heathrow express. and those familiar bright yellow signs in Heathrow directing you to your next transit.

It was 6 am when I arrived, and a beautiful autumn morning. I grabbed a train to Ealing Broadway, purchased an oyster travel card, and was off to Glens for a few days on the couch before the next destination ….. unknown.

So this was it. The end of the trip. The around the world ticket was expended. It was one year and one day since the first flight to Miami. So what the hell was I going to do here? Settle back in? Get a job? Holy bejesus batman. What to do, what to do…..

I loved being back. This is an awesome city. I think it is the best in the world.	Cool as bananas London's red buses travelling throughout the night. All those late night bus memories came flooding back.
Impeccable and distinguished architecture	and a dick shaped buildings full of dickheads, how ironic

So with unknown plans I went about to see what had changed since my departure. It turned out to be a lot, and also not much.

First stop was to see the coolest new parents in the world. That being Lady Tess and The Jez and introducing El Bebé Nuevo, Elie Sky	I couldn’t miss a few quiets with the extremely hospitable and magnificent Mr Glen
Alice who was to depart the next weekend to Canada for magical trip with her awesome girlfriend	The always cool TimTam, sneaked some time out of Uni to do what students do best
Mr Rizwan fiddling my books so I can keep on travelling	And then back to London old times. A big night out and about in the bars. Here is Will and his wonderful new business idea
Patrick the mac all the way from Medellin Colombia. He made it to London for a quick photo	Sunny smiling as always, came along to keep the calm
And more party time with the crew from Dunedin on a giant brass horse	Which Daz and Sidez frown upon.
The next day started out with the family. Here super sisters Tam and Rachel, with her man Brian drinking cider at the Scolt Head	and a quick one with Adrian from the rugby club
A catchup with the wonderful and expecting Natalie, congrats girl!°°!	and also the superb Jess who donated me her mozzie net and repellents over a year ago.

Well kablam batman, that was a lot of people to catch up with. And through all of this, a decision had to be made and so a decision was. I realised I couldn’t get started again in London, the adventures of South America were still burning in my heart. I had to return.

I looked and I booked and I was off. This time a one way ticket. Who knows what is to become. My initial destination, Cochabamba, Bolivia, where good weather, fresh food, great people and cheap living await.

laters x.b.rad.

Reporting from my apartment in Cochabamba (overlooking the biggest statue of christ in the world)

Around the world in 28 days–Auckland to Hong Kong

2011-11-15T14:50:00.001-06:00

26 Sep – 6 Oct, New Zealand – Brisbane – Sydney - Hong Kong, A Tribe Called Quest, The Anthology

Well, a year on the road was bearing down on me like a mac truck snorting and menacing with glimmering bull bars, there was no avoiding it. Time had finally come, from whence I had to return and face the real world.

It had been a good innings, I was supposed to have been in New Zealand six months earlier, but with the beauty of my round the world ticket, I was easily able to extend my time in South America.

There were so many things I had intended to accomplish upon booking this trip a measly year ago, have an adventure, see the family, visit friends, make some new ones and check out work prospects here, there and in Hong Kong. I never thought I’d actually get back to the UK.

And so with my departure from South America imminent I was all smiles. Arriving in my hometown is always a special feeling, I couldn’t wait to grab that flat white in Auckland airport.

Auckland – New Zealand

Auckland was looking stunning and it was rugby world cup time, I sadly only had 3 days to catch up with the family, definitely not long enough.

Arriving at 6am into Auckland Airport was super nice, the carvings in the airport were a sweet reminder of childhood stories about how Maui fished up the North Island.	Here is sister and her fiancés lovely little house in Lynfield, just down the road from where I started in this life. I was to bed down here for a few nights. Life back home was looking amazing
First nights plan is to catch up with the family and spend some time near the giant rugby ball, down at the Auckand waterfront	Those crazeee Stillwells. Jim, Sara, Emma and me, the old man is even sporting skinny jeans, very impressive!
The next day it was out to the farm to catch up with Mum and her lovely dogs who all dress in the same colour.	In the afternoon I managed some time to head down to Muriwai, our local beach for some fish and chips
And then off to Helensville, for a long awaited steak and cheese pie.	All the family was doing real ace, and I got to meet my new nephew Zac, a true charmer! Here Natalie and him are sporting dulce sueños alpaca hats.
Auckland was looking pretty nice too, the whole place was polished for the Rugby World Cup, they even cleaned the harbour	More crazeee Stillwells, Neo, Geo and Sara pose with super duper hats
But nothing really compares to midnight beers in the garage with heavy machinery. Here Rodney and Jas are keeping it cool after being told off by Emma for starting up the car head grinder.	And early the next morning what could be better than the inaugural sailing of Jas’s new boat! We caught heaps of fish (truth).

Australia

After fishing I had to get out to the airport for my next flight which took me to Brissy, Brisso, Brisbane, home of the awful Bunderburg rum. I was to catch up with my great mates Damo and Derek, and also help Laura move into Brisbane. Last time we caught up was in Mexico, where I got Dengue Fever.

Damo and Derek arrived at the airport in a small limo, we were headed straight out to Surfers Paradise, it was going to be a crazy weekend just like in The Hangover

And we’re off, Derek drives and Damo and I proceed to do what we do best.	and it turns out Jimbo came along with us too
some nice bouncers actually let us in to a bar.	And after a huge night in which nothing at all bad happened, we hit the beach to sooth our hangovers
and try out Damo’s new skimboard, hehehe	The gold coast is a beautiful place
We also managed to catch up with Dale, Alba and their new child.	Back in Brisbane two days later, and just one cheeky pisco sour before Damo had to go to work and I took a flight to Sydney.
Where I caught up with my old housemate Mike and his new family,	and got to take his greyhounds for a walk on the homestead

Hong Kong – China

After a few nights in Sydney I was to stopover in Hong Kong before smashing into UK. I arranged to catch up with my old workmate Ben, who last seen outside the Grasshopper bar in Amserdam one year ago. We ate some food and drank some beers, and generally had a merry old time.

I though Hong Kong was a very busy place with lots of people that work as hard as the doozers from Fraggle Rock.

Ben and I are instant celebrities in HK, all the locals wanted photos of us.

And so after a big night in Hong Kong, it was off the the wonderful London, former home of the Beautiful Princess Di (how I miss her).

laters.x.brad

Reporting from Cochabamba, Bolivia

Adventures in Arequipa with Anna and Ande

2011-11-07T07:02:00.001-06:00

21st – 24th September 2011, Arequipa – Chivay – Peru, Radiohead – In Rainbows

Arequipa is a beautiful white walled city in the lower part of Peru. It sits at 2,335m.a.s.l. and is in the desert that forms the west coast of Peru. It has a lovely warm and dry climate and is surrounded by stunning snow capped volcanoes which lead eastwards into the altiplano of the Peruvian Andes.

I met my Kiwi friend Anna there, and to celebrate my birthday with a spontaneous motorcycle ride over the Andes, reaching the highest point I have ever been on earth. It was fantastic.

The central square in Arequipa is nice.	And the adventure begins swiftly, with the hiring of our 250cc yamaha. Would this piece of crap make it over the mountains?
No it wouldn’t, we set off early afternoon for the 4 hour ride and after 30 minutes, we developed a flat rear tire and had to hang around in the desert until help came.	which luckily arrived in the form of a ute. It took us to the nearest fixit shop
where the guy who rented us the bike got to work on the problem. Now it was late in the day so we decided to head back into town and try the next day.	And after an early start we started the climb. Here we stopped to put on some warmer clothes. this is about 4100 meters, and no snow or ice, just cold and a little hard of breathing.
We really were pretty crazy, we had no protection except a helmet, our jackets would rip to shreds should we come off.	There were some beautiful landscapes along the way. We spent about 2 hours ascending to our peak
and at 4900 meters we came across the top of the pass, where the locals had started a crafts market. Crazy!	It took about 1 hour to descend into the Colca Valley on the other side of the pass, there were herds of llamas to avoid.

And after our adventurous ride we made it safely down into the town of Chivay, our home for the night. Chivay is a nice place, and it boasts some awesome hot pools, just what we needed after freezing our arses coming across the pass.

We stayed at the Ruma Wasi Inn, it is a very nice spot, I recommend	and they even had a curious pet llama. ¿Comó te llamas?
The town is typically styled around a main square, with a church and cross scraped into the hillside.	and the locals look super cool.
Anna was tasked with motorcycle security while I went to the pub for a quick one before the journey all the way back to Arequipa.	On our way we came across this overturned truck. We didn’t stay for long as everyone was ok, and the trucks cargo was a consignment of gas bottles. Luckily they had a fire extinguisher should one explode.
The scenery was fantastic. Arequipa lay just beyond that volcano.	Power rangers are GO!

And with great skill, determination and suffering sore bums we made it back into Arequipa for my birthday celebrations.

We headed out for a nice steak meal followed by mojitos, tequila shots and beers. It all got too much for a while, but we managed to stay awake to watch the All Blacks demolish France in the Rugby World cup at the Wild Rover. And somehow after all of that with the help of some new friends the sun arose to a very hung-over and tired day.

laters.x.b.rad

Reporting from Brazilian Coffee Cafe, Cochabamba, Bolivia.

The Adventures of B.Rad in the Galapagos Islands

2011-10-18T02:41:00.001-05:00

21 – 29 August 2011, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Mike Oldfield -Tubular Bells

I was in Quito, so very close the the Galapagos, and after all the stories and all the beautiful photos from all the travellers, I decided to bite the bullet and go to visit these crazy islands.

The Galapagos are a group of islands in the middle of nowhere, If you started swimming off the coast of Ecuador at the equator, you would get to them 600km later (probably about half a days swim by my standards). They were discovered a very long time ago by Mr Tortoise and Mrs Sea lion, and now are home to The Finches and The Shark family, and more recently The Boobies and The Water Lizards. They have many new guests visiting all the time and just like the English got to Ibiza to take drugs and party, animals head to the Galapagos to get mashed.

Here a large metal bird carrying parasites lands on the islands,	and straight away we are off, to this mysterious island. I am travelling by luxury yacht with 15 other guests
And as we pull up to our first encounter, The Stingrays come along to welcome us. We don our masks and fins and jump right in, such amazing way to start.	And after our snorkel, and a cup of tea back on board, we venture out to discover which celebrities are partying on this island
The security was hostile at first,	but after a quick diplomacy mission, they succumb to my animalistic powers
Hmmn,	and the love making continues.
Our intrepid guide had enough facts and figures that it became clear he had a wild imagination	and he was very good at spotting little brown animals in the flora and fauna

And with day one over, we headed back aboard our vessel The Fragata, which I had booked through CarpeDM Travel in Quito (and who did a great job and lent me a mask and snorkel for free YAY).
Our boat was fantastic, it was leisurely, had hot showers and the food was fantastic. We were treated like stars and when we got back from all our adventures in the water, our waiter was always awaiting with a hot tea or chocolate and a bowtie. Very nice.
We sailed every night to a new destination, and sometimes there were huge swells. I found a nice method to dispel seasickness is to have a few sneaky rums before hitting the hay.

Over the next few days we encountered many strange creatures. These are some of the swimming lizards	who were hanging out with this sea lion (it must’ve been sea lion school holidays, they were everywhere)
it is a family friendly resort, and children are welcome	I take a moment to contemplate the lizards. They generally party hard and sleep it off in the morning
and then we found some nesting albatrosses	which our film crew quickly snap before they flew away to Australia(F.A.C.T Albatrosses can travel a long way)
But WAIT!! Whats that over there	OMFG, its a gaggle of nesting Blue Footed Boobies!
look at him go!!!	and here we have the inquisitive Nazca Boobie from the mainland visiting his relatives.

Wow, what a day for ornithology and ornithologists like myself!! We even came across a flock of boobies fishing, it was IMMENSE.

Blue footed boobies fishing.

After another night dreaming of all the hot boobies, we arrived at a new island with lots of sea lions. They are fast becoming my favourite thing.

Hmmmn, as I landed I came across this pusher sea lion, “hello, wink wink, need some help to start the party”	“hello to you too, act natural guys”
I tried to teach them some awesome tricks	but they didn’t want to know, they just wanted to party.

After 30 minutes the effects started to take hold, party on!!

There are plenty of adventures to be had on the islands, here I am in a cave,	and here I am dropping off a postcard to my mum
and there were many beautiful sunsets	which I liked to watch with my new friends

I had a great time here, some other highlights I couldn’t photo were snorkelling with white tipped sharks bigger than me in only 2 meters of water, and I could never forget the playfulness of the sea lions, as they charged at me underwater only to pull away at the last second.

And the nicest thing was that my friends said they will wait for my return, so we can party hard again.
ciao.x.b.rad

Reporting from: Glens Couch, Acton, London

Colombia - In the countryside

2011-10-06T01:56:00.001-05:00

26 Jun - 21 August - Guatapé, Solento, Colombia – Foster the people, Pumped up Kicks

There are plenty of tidy spots to visit in Colombia, and although I couldn’t hit them all, I got to some of the sweetest ones, and they were not too far from Medellin.

Guatapé and the BIG ROCK!

Guatapé is 2 hours from Medellin by bus. It is a nice man made lake where you can have a super tranquil time. I went for 1 night but ended up staying for 3 at a stunning hostel called El Encuentro.

The town is famous for the reliefs on its buildings which were created to stop the children from kicking soccer balls against the walls,	and speaking of the little wonders, here they are, playing in the town square.
In the middle of the lake is THE BIG ROCK. They have built a restaurant on the top and it has sweeeet views.	And there we have it, the view from the top. Here I am pointing to the lake, which amazingly makes 30% of all of Colombia’s electricity! Those smart fishes!

To sum it up, it is a perfect retreat from the non stop party time in Medellin. The hostel had hammocks and stunning lake views. In the morning I swam across the lake and then went fishing in the afternoon after sourcing some local worms. I recommend…go there! Also the trout is great, I had some for lunch in town, cost 5usd!

Saltento and the COFFEE REGION!!

Salento is 8 hours by bus from Medellin, and is the middle of Colombia’s coffee region. It is beautiful, tranquil and has a regional feel.

Although I only stayed one night in town here, I had a great one. My accommodation was on a coffee plantation called “The Plantation House” where you get free coffee!! YAY!!

The town is full of cool bars and coffee shops	which are filled with the nice locals playing poker(illegally) and drinking beer.
It is also the start of a Cocora Valley walk, which these cool old jeeps will take you to the start of.	It was nice to be out in the countryside
I had a dog for company, we had a nice stroll,	saw a few nice waterfalls
and some little birds at the humming bird sanctuary. Here you get a steaming bowl of hot chocolate with cheese in it for free (after you pay for entry…)	which fuelled me up before the decent around the misty mountain
and through waxy palms,	go the dog!!

Also this is where I learned more Colombian craziness by playing a game called Tejo. In this game you throw metal pucks 30 meters across a room, in the hope of hitting little bags of gunpowder to make them explode. Nice, and yes if you were wondering… I won.

Laters.x.br.ad.

Reporting from Pitt Town, Sydney (Home of a country practice)

Fast times in Medellin

2011-09-25T09:52:00.001-05:00

26 Jun - 21 August - Medellin Colombia – El Cantante, Hector Lavoe

Medellin is all about the good times and I was fortunate enough to be there for 2 bodacious events. The city was hosting to 4 teams in the Fifa under 20 world cup and also it was the time of year for the annual flower festival known as the Feria de Flores.

Copa Mundial sub 20

The under 20 world cup shows off upcoming international football talent. It is largely overlooked by most countries, but as with most Colombian festivities, the people threw everything into it. Medellin hosted Korea, Argentina, England and Mexico. It was always a great time watching the games, either from the outside bars in carrera 70 or in Medellin’s world class stadium complex.

The place could hold 40,000 and was packed to the rafters with supporters for Argentina v England.	Goooooooal! The crowd goes crazy. Paul supporting Argentina and me England (who played like shit). Game ended up in a 1-1 draw.
After the match we hung out with the security forces. You should check out the smoking gun on the right!	They also bough in a tank in case those crazy English hooligans got out of control.

Madness in the Feria de Flores

The feria is a festival to celebrate the regions second biggest export after cocaine…flowers. Back in the old times, the men and women used to carry their flowers from the farms into Medellin to sell. They carried them on there backs in beautiful displays, which this festival recreates.

The festival is a week long series of events, starting with a parade and cavalcade. During the week there are free concerts, dancing and so much partying and drinking to be done.

This is me, standing next to one of the flower arrangements. Isn’t it pretty?	And the parade begins in good style with a float of transvestites.
Followed by some swamp beasts	and infantry with big guns.
And the horse parade begins..Whhooop!!	about 3000 horses prance down the road during the parade
Not all horses are created equal	Some of them are just enhanced
And after all that horse riding, everyone is in need of a few sensible drinks,	and a few not so sensible.

Friends, Amigos and Dance Partners

Over the 2 months I made a large number of friends and had more good times than you can shake a stick at. Here are a few random photos

Housemate Dave calling home	Ana my salsa teacher, teaching me el pájaro
Flaming calculators here	and some fucking sweet street art
The key to success in Colombia is written on this piece of paper	nice chicken wings
Whooooooo!!	Colombia, known for its delicate cuisine
Dirty old Parque Periodistas, this is where all the local drug smokers and hippies hang out. It is also the location of my favorite heavy meatal bar, Bar Monroe.	and not to forget the best crew in town, Maree, Ana, Patrick and myself. Here Patrick is being a pussy.
Some old men, singing for there supper in Envigado Park	random street cheerleading
and some cheekyness from Botero in Botero Square	Presidents park, when copias amounts of bad banter was had over beers.

And that about sums up my good times in Medellin. A fantastic place to go and an impossible place to leave.

Till next time

Laters. x.b.rad

Reporting from : La Casa de Sillar, Arequipa, Peru

Once upon a time in Medellin

2011-09-14T11:42:00.001-05:00

26 Jun / 21 August - Medellin Colombia - Bomba Estereo, Fuego

It was heaps of beers and many months waaaay back in in Guatemala, when Dave and I decided to take time out from the backpacker circuit and settle into one of the lovely cities in South America to learn some spanish, and after much drunken deliberation while playing darts we chose to lay it down in Medellin, Colombia.

Medellin - The good, the bad and the ugly

Medellin is known as the city of eternal spring due to it’s pleasant climate which doesn’t change during the year. Lovely palm trees line the streets in Poblado which can only be outdone by the beautiful Paisa women with their delightful fake boobies and asses.

It is the home of Botero, an artist with a fetish for fat women who came up with his own distinctive fatman painting style. Below he depicts the downfall of the biggest drug lord of them all, and former resident, Pablo Escobar.

Medellin is famous for drug dealing and the Medellin Cartel which was started in the 70s turned it into the cocaine production capital of the world. The controlling gangs would lay waste to anything that might stand in the way of production and distribution. Pablo Escobar was the big boss until captured and charged with drug dealing. At that time he was one of the richest men in the world and he offered as exchange to being locked up, to pay off Colombia's entire foreign debt. A good deal for the country, but pressure from the states had him convicted. He instead used this money to build a new jail to house himself which was more of a 5 star hotel than a jail. After his term was served, he was released and subsequently hunted down and killed by the Colombian and US armies.

Modern day Medellin has a well defined class system, from the poorer suburbs in the north to the wealthy living in the south. Its town planning, road design and public transport has been well thought out and there is even a metro running its length which rivals the best in the world. The metro even includes a number of cable cars running up the step valley walls, all included in the less than 1usd ticket price.

The people living in Medellin are proud and happy. There are beautiful parks, lots of nicely designed buildings with great architecture and public events happening every week. All of this is very out of place for Colombia, which is not a rich country. Medellin somehow defies the other cities in this and and I can only think this is because most of the countries taxes end up here.

Settling In

Dave and I rocked up to the wonderful Black Sheep Hostel, a kiwi owned and run spot which is the best place to stay in Medellin. We set our task list to finding longer term accommodation and a place to study.

Both of these tasks were remarkably hard to accomplish, there is a shortage of short term furnished accommodation and in order to study you require a student visa, which neither of us had. After initial setbacks we had our first major win. We scored the nicest apartment in town, on the 21st floor overlooking the city and with swimming pool on the roof. Ohhhh yeaaahh!

It was the sweetest place I have every lived, the gym and sauna also came in handy. We were on our way and rolling, next stop we had to find a school.

Black cat at the Black Sheep Hostel, a fun time here and it is where the coolest people stay.	Kelvins Sunday BBQ sessions are awesome and cheap as chips.
Apartment was totally ace, set off nicely by the Litchenstein, oh Brad…	Nighttime view from the top.
Illing by the pool	Breakfasting like a king.

Revenge of the Nerds

Finding a place to study spanish was difficult. Ideally we would be attending daily classes, and decided that one of the universities would be our best option. We were set back when we learned we needed to fork out 200usd to change our tourist visas into student ones, which is a requirement for studying in a Colombian university.

We had some promise with the private University Pontificia Bolivariana. The big boss man of the language school said we should come in for a chat about visas, and he would see what he could do. We went in, he scanned our passports and visa stamps with squinted eyes and said we had the correct one to study. He asked directly after that if we would like to go to class straight away!! Whoooop!!! Second win in a week, we now had a great place to stay and university to attend.

The morning bus to school from Avieneda Poblado.

Swimming in the Uni pool became a thrice weekly event.

Our classes were 2 hours per day in the morning and we were with about 6 other people. It was my first time studying in a class setting and I loved it. We played games, sang songs, listened to stories, and did finger paintings. I really enjoyed being 5 years old again (which is about my language age) Our teacher was a top class man, John, kept the classes interesting and even lewd at times to keep our attention. It was fun, and I met some great people here.

Life in the Poblado Bubble

Poblado is the affluent suburb in Medellin. So affluent it is a little like Beverly Hills in the states. It has grand shopping malls, palm lined streets, beautiful plastic women, nightclubs and expensive bars. It was safe and pretty and not like Colombia at all.

Yours truly doing what he does best	Street performers dance and prance while the cars wait at the traffic lights.
Good people came out of nowhere, and friends were easily made.	The city of Medellin has some great architecture. This park is for families, and has many fountains for children to play in
The beautiful botanical gardens are worth a stroll, they even have the foresight to build a space landing pad amongst the jungle growth.	Parque Lleras, where all the action takes place on the weekend. Lots of street drinking and crazy locals to get drunk with and have crazy fun till the sun comes up.

And so after a few weeks, everything was going to plan. I was loving Medellin, the place, the people and the study.

Laters x.brad

Reporting from Lighthouse Hostel, Lima, Peru

Lima and the Peruvian Family

2011-08-01T14:46:00.000-05:00

25-June-2011, Lima Peru, La Mente – Sonidos de Systemas

Wow, one of those furiously lucky nights out and about on my travels. Hanging at the Kokopelli in Lima and some people were off to see a live band. Now I can only think of one other thing that I can get more kicks from, I just love live music.

The band La Mente (translates to “The Mind”), a Peruvian dub set got me rollin’ and rockin’ my socks off. With 2 lead singers taking turns at throwing out suave political lyrics over superb dub beats. I was in heaven rollin’ into the early hours. I suppose they are a little like Salmonella Dub, only better. Of course I had no idea what they where harping on about, but the pure music and powerful stage performance took them straight to the top of my music charts.

All good things must come to an end, and as the lights came on it was time to head home. And as our group dispersed I came to become be dancing with a group of locals. We became friends.

Lima became a home away from home for me, I had decided to take time out of the backpacking circuit and chill. Everyday I would go to the awesome Cafe-Z just below Parque Kennedy and study for a number of hours and drink the best cortados in South America.

The cafe is decked out super cool with old iron designer furniture, and is always playing great music. The yoghurt fruit cake is exceptional!

And here is some of my family enjoying a few late night gins. Meet Sara, Andrea, Kay.

A few days later we were off the one of the wonders of Lima. The fountain park. This place is great, and must be viewed at night.

The park is about 3 acres of colourful fountains with laser light shows and symphonic music.

Look out, you don’t want to get wet

Laser light show and symphony music make for a great time.

Lima is a big city, and they Peruvians have become very proud of their food. This is understandable, it is simply excellent. They are incredibly creative and have influences from around the world. While I was in town the Mistura food festival was on YIPPEE.

Oh yeah, fancy some food cooked by a monkey?	Grilled meat by the ton! At Mistura you buy food tickets and join lines to get at the food. The line for this one was 2 days long
How about some potatoes. Peru has over 2000 types. It is also pertinent to the theory that descendants of Peru made it to New Zealand, as we have the same sweet potatoes that are only found in South America.	And how about some delicious guinea pig? It’s a delicacy here. The Peruvian name is cuy and they are great eating. These ones have had exceptional treatment as they have nice hats to wear and have been deep fried

Lima is also known as a pretty sad place for weather, and unfortunately I have to agree. It is constantly cloudy due to it’s location west of the Andes and the ocean mist that is always lingering (Although this lack of sunny days actually makes the place super ideal if you want to get some work done). Fortunately, just 40 minutes to the west you can escape to constant sunshine and instantly warmer weather. There are numerous weekend getaways out here that cater for the whole family. With games, lots of food, swimming pools, DJ’s and horse rides. Sara and I went to investigate Cieneguilla.

Oh yeah, sunny days with swimming pool and DJ booth in the center. Bring on the fun!!

First things first and time for a Peruvian delicacy. Pachamama! It is a pot of meats, potatoes beans and corn all cooked in an earth oven just like a Hangi in NZ	Sara, happy to show me the ropes on devouring the food, and the latest Peruvian stylee.
Ohhh baby	nothing to do but chill!!

I had a number of adventures in and around Lima, and my little family welcomed me to parties, clubs, birthdays and seaside resorts. I had a great time and was extremely sad to leave. Ahh Lima, my little home away from home, I hope to be back soon.

Laters.x.B.rad