Epic Family Adventure

  We arrived at a hostel and had a great time playing  cards with Becky and Keen who were on a trek as well.   After dinner we went to bed in our rooms. Dad was  complaining about there being generator fumes in  the room but I wasn’t fussed so soon I fell asleep. I  woke up with mum and dad shaking me. I didn't  know where I was, who I was or what I was doing  there. I wanted to sleep but I felt horrendous.   Mum half carried me half dragged me outside  where I threw up .  Mum and dad stood beside  me, steadying me. Soon I could stand after 20 mins  later I went back inside to a new room and went  back to sleep. We woke up and drove to Uyuni  hospital where Charlie got oxygen. blue lines   The driving tour company gave me and dad oxygen.  I personally felt worse after but dad felt better. A fterwards we chilled out at are new hotel. Finlay Monday 16th June was the worst night of my life....

  We spent a day going round tour companies  in la Paz to choose a trek.  We chose El Choro  as it’s mainly downhill for 4000m over 60km  in 3 days, 2 nights.  The route was great, starting at 4900m high  in the Andes with surrounding snow capped  mountains and glaciers.  We wound down t hrough desolate high altitude and gradually  got to cloud forests ending in the upper  part of the Amazon jungle.   We went through tiny remote villages / hamlets  where the locals lived on subsistence farming  of llamas, potatoes and fruit.  It is incredible t hat people live so remotely taking days by mule  to get to the nearest “town”.   If you see our local guide, Gómez, in one  photo standing by himself in front of a  house / shack, that was where he was born and  grew up, walking an hour each way to school every day - unbelievable.   It is really sad how much rubbish is literally...

      We took a bus to a road with a really disgusting  alley with lots of dog poo 💩 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 💩💩💩and a few 🐕.Outside there was a little  stall the tour Gide said we can buy some coco  leaves and some juice 🧃 for the miners ⛏️⛏️⛏️ .  We went up the poo💩 infested alley with lots of  sewage up to a door 🚪 .Which  lead into a room  with a door 🚪 at the other side we went in to  a room with lots of shelves covered in boots 🥾.  We put plastic bags on are feet 👣 . Then we  put on the boots 🥾 and some water proof  trousers and some water proof jackets 🧥  .  And hard helmets 🪖 and then the tour Gide  attached lites to our helmets 🪖.Then we went  back down the poo 💩 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 infested alley .And back into  the bus 🚎 to the mines ⛏️⛏️⛏️⛏️⛏️⛏️⛏️⛏️ . There was lots of carts full of rocks 🪨 being  pushed by people who had helmets 🪖 and boots  ...

  In the pantanal in a pot outside the dining room  I found a snake!  Mum and Charlie had gone to  fetch a game to play and I was left at the table  outside.  I went to put a leaf on the lawn and I  thought there was a piece of rope in the shrubs  as I looked at the head of the rope, turned  its head towards me and hissed. I stared in  shock at it for a moment and then began  calling “SNAKE!” Repeatedly. The snake I soon  learned from the guid (stephan) was called a  parrot snake. It had no venom, no fangs and  only grew up to 1 and a bit long ,much to  mum’s relief. The body of the snake looked  like rope and its head was a beautiful  turquoise,green and blue. In the pantanal mum spotted a jaguar! We were  going on a driving safari and hadn’t seen much  when we came to a big dead tree with a dozen  or so vultures in it . Mum said “is there something  moving at the bottom of the tree...

  When we went to Iguazu falls on the Brazilian side  I thought it was amazing 🤩 but the Argentinian side was even better.   The falls were amazingly spectacular, massive and powerful.   The sheer amount of water falling off the cliff was unbelievable,  there was so much it created an updraft and made  mum’s hair stand on end with static electricity.   We went on lots of walks and  saw lots of cheeky coaties (a raccoon type animal).

  We had a great time in mendoza and salta provinces.   Feeling organised getting the hire car back on time  to Mendoza airport then it all kind of unravelled.  The car hire wanted to charge us hundreds for a  microscopic scratch on the windscreen that you  needed a magnifying glass to see.   Thankfully the nice lady relented.  Then discovered we had been moved to an earlier  flight without being informed therefore flight missed.   Therefore we couldn’t get to iguazu falls yesterday  as planned.  So another night in my favourite city  - Buenos Aires.  On arrival back at Buenos Aires I accidentally  booked a hotel near the wrong airport.  Try again  and made it to a hotel.  (Temporarily locked out)  Lost a few hours trying to claim the cost of new  flights, extra accommodation from booking.com  - to no avail.  Then contacted by our 4x4 driver that the  panta...