We’re back on the road after a week on the beach. This time we get to drive. On the wrong side of the road even. Apparently, the thing to do in New Zealand is to rent a camper and drive around the islands. Everyone we had talked to along the way had recommended that plan, so we went along with it too. The campers here are known as campervans, although the one we got was just a van. The company we ended up with was named, appropriately enough, Hippie Camper. …

Since there is no ATM on Isabela and no one takes credit cards, we counted how much cash we had left, subtracted out lodging and the boat ride back and realized we could only stay one more day. One of the reasons we wanted to go to Isabela was to see the volcano. The island is actually made up of six volcanoes that have merged together. We were picked up by the “tour guide” around 8 am and taken to the trail head. The rest of …

After our two day delay, we hit the ground running once we arrived. The first stop was the Charles Darwin Research Station. The main attraction here is Lonesome George. He is the end of the line for the Pinta Island Tortoises. They have tried to get him to breed with other Galapagos tortoises, but no babies yet. The station also houses young turtles from multiple islands in an effort to keep them safe while they mature and then return them to the wild. They also have a large collection of …

After our 4 day hike, we decided to take the tourist bus to Puno. What’s in Puno? It’s the city on the the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. What’s the tourist bus? Instead of taking the direct bus that takes 6 hours, the tourist bus makes 3 or 4 stops at points of interest and takes 10 hours instead. There are actually 3 companies that do this and we kept running into the other tour groups all day, none of the buses were full. What a waste!
Not on the …

We’re in the jungle now, anything can happen here.

Iguazu Falls is the real topic of this post, but don’t worry, there are butterflies involved. The falls are an amazing thing to see. There are actually a series of falls stretching over a mile long, with the most dramatic point, and longest drop being the “Devil’s Throat”. That section is a circular shape and generates so much mist and water spray that you can’t see the bottom, even though they built a walkway over the river right up to the edge. …

The camping was great. I don’t think it got much below freezing. Only my toes got cold and that happens at home anyway. After breakfast we motored over towards Cuverville Island. We thought we were on our way to yet another penguin rookery, but we floated past some magnificent ice bergs and then we heard 3 HUMPBACKS over the radio. We arrived in time to see all of them floating near the top of the water breathing through their blow holes and then diving down (fluking) to stir up more …