Itinerant Londoner

The Sound of Latin America

Geoff — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:29:35 +0000

I’ve written lots of posts about what Latin America looks like, what it feels like and what it tastes like. But I don’t think I’ve really said that much about what it sounds like. The answer to that one is simple. Latin America sounds like reggaeton. For those not in the know, reggateon is a easily [...]

Highlights of Latin America

Geoff — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:11:57 +0000

I had such an awesome time in Latin America it’s pretty hard to pick out favourite moments. But I’m going to give it a go anyway. Here are the best things I’ve seen and done over the past six and a half months, along with links to what I originally wrote about them. Favourite City: Valparaiso, [...]

Chile Round-up & Budget

Geoff — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:56:16 +0000

Poor, underrated Chile. I didn’t meet a single backpacker in Latin America who reckoned Chile was their favourite country. Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia…yes, frequently. Chile? Never. They always start with a couple of obvious negatives that I must admit I have trouble disagreeing too much with – first off, it’s expensive. Compared to the [...]

Finally making it to Easter Island

Geoff — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:51:19 +0000

You’d have thought that after waiting a lifetime to visit Rapa Nui (the increasingly commonly used native name for Easter Island), an extra day of waiting wouldn’t matter all that much. But seeing as I only had three full days planned, being bumped from my flight by LAN meant missing a third of my time. [...]

Valparaiso Graffiti & Street Art

Geoff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:36:33 +0000

One of my favourite things about Valpo was the huge amount of fantastic graffiti and street art dotted around the walls of the city, which help make an already beautiful and colourful city even moreso. Here’s a selection of some of my favourites: You can see the full collection of my Valpo street art photos here Tagged: [...]

Gorgeous Valparaiso

Geoff — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:06:30 +0000

Much as I love the great outdoors, I’m a city boy at heart. And I’ve been to some fantastic cities so far – Mexico City, Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Medellin, Lima, Mendoza & Cusco stand out – but Valparaiso (or Valpo for short) may just be my favourite yet. I do like a bit of faded seaside glamour, [...]

Argentina (steak) Round-up & Budget

Geoff — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:32:19 +0000

Five days in Argentina is nowhere near enough. But it certainly was wnough to stuff myself with steak, drown myself in red wine, and clog my arteries with dulce de leche. For if my little jaunt through Argentina on my way from Bolivia to Santiago was about one thing, it was food and drink. Boy do [...]

Wobbly Wine-tasting in Mendoza

Geoff — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:22:02 +0000

After the camera-death incident, Salta did nothing to improve my mood. After warm, sunny San Pedro, I arrived in Salat to find it in the grip of the coldest spring they’d had for 60 years, with even daytime temperatures barely rising above five degrees (oh, and it was cloudy and raining too). The local camera [...]

Valley of Camera Death

Geoff — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:16:22 +0000

Unlike the transition between Peru & Bolivia, on entering Chile you could tell straight away you were in a very different country. For a start, the scenery changed dramatically – from the Bolivian Altiplano, to the Atacama desert. The town of San Pedro de Atacama, my first stop, is a dusty town of single story houses [...]

Bolivia Round-up & Budget

Geoff — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:59:39 +0000

I could have sworn when I was planning my trip that I’d left myself enough time for a month in Bolivia. But somehow I screwed up and that month turned into two weeks, which really isn’t enough time to get to know a place properly But, having said that, the two weeks I had were great [...]