Oh boy...

...this blog entry is way overdue. As much as I’d love to dream up interesting stories as to why it’s taken me 60 + days to write the following, I’m instead going to forge ahead, attempting to provide a snapshot of 2 months worth of highlights from our trip. 

As I assessed this update I realized that keeping it concise was about as likely as Shane cheering for the Vancouver Canucks with a glass of Absolut Vodka in his hand.* Then it hit me (like a Zamboni) that I could use the alphabet to frame our trip stories (and include some other interesting but potentially irrelevant information about ourselves).

Before I do that though I’m going to provide a brief overview of some important trip geography points.  I should note that the photos will enlarge if you click on them.

Let's see, according to the last blog entry Shane and I were in the beach town of Mancora, Peru working on Shane’s tan (it's hopeless for me). After 3 days we headed to Trujillo where Shane spent another 3 days writhing in pain from a nasty stomach flu. From Trujillo we made our way to the Andean City of Huaraz where we hiked and camped for 5 days, completing the Lake Churup trek and the Santa Cruz trek in the Cordillera Blanca and pushing Shane’s hiking shoes to the point of disintegration. From Huaraz we travelled to Lima and visited important sites including the San Francisco Monastery and Starbucks. Then it was on to Huacachina, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca and finally Cusco to make the all-important Machu Picchu trip.

After visiting the soaring heights of the ancient Inca ruins city, we headed for the word’s largest salt flats - Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Ultimately our plans included a short back-tracking trip (long story) that brought us to the world’s highest capital city - La Paz, Bolivia sitting at 3640 meters. After La Paz, we made our way south to Argentina making several important stops in Salta, Mendoza and Buenos Aires. Finally, with less than a week before we said goodbye to South America, we set out for Rio de Janeiro, stopping in Porto Alegre for a visit that could only be described as spa-like relaxation and gluttony. As these things go, our time in Brazil was far shorter than we had first planned and despite this being our second visit to the country, we're already planning our return trip.

On May 8th we crossed off South America on our world tour 'to do' list and boarded a plane for Germany. I’ll wrap up the blog entry with a quick description of our plans for Europe. First though - the trip A-Z’s as promised:
P - for procrastination. Ok, lets just get this one out of the way now. I’ve been promising several of our friends that a blog update would be coming “in a few days”... for the past 5 weeks. What can I say, South America is an interesting place with plenty of opportunities to set blog-writing aside.  

A - for already leaving SA. It’s hard to believe that South America is behind us now. It really is a fantastic place to travel and one day we plan to buy a vehicle and drive it from Canada to spend more time there. Sigh...one day.

B - for bananas. I love them...but only without freckles.  

C - for cows. On our 4-day Santa Cruz trek in the Cordillera Blanca we spent the first 2 days and 25 kms enjoying stunning scenery and dodging what seemed to be a million cow patties (patties = moo poo). To make matters worse it was raining (and had been for several days) so there were loads of mud/manure holes to watch your feet disappear into.  We spent 2 hours after the trek, scrubbing our shoes with an old toothbrush.

The Culprit

D - for dogs. What can we say, we love animals and seeing so many hungry dogs in SA, looking for a meal to survive was always a bit depressing.

E - for exercise. A lot of exercise. Over the course of the trip we clocked over 150 kms. Trekking, particularly in Peru, contributed to our double-digit weight loss numbers (see “J” in the alphabet). During our five days of trekking in the Andes we logged over 70 kms, and on our 3-day trek in the Colca Canyon we covered 15 kms, mostly switchbacks. As for Machu Picchu, please see “M” (isn't this alphabet business great?!)

 

The Santa Cruz Trek in Peru

F - for friends. One of the best parts about traveling. To name a few: Noémie from Luxembourg;  Stéphane, Paula, Felipe & Solene from Chile;  Smil from Peru;  Sam & Jamie from England (traveling for 18 months), Geoffrey from France (traveling for 2 years) and Taran, Dani and Luci from Brazil.

 Geoffrey, the French sign-pole dancer     
Sam, Jamie and the Sondermanns in the Colca Canyon

G - for gambling. Despite winning a small jackpot of $7 at a casino in Peru (seriously, there were lights and sirens), I got greedy and blew it all.  

H - for the horror!!! That’s the best way to describe the change in exchange rates from Bolivia to Argentina. A hostel room in La Paz, Bolivia is $7/night. A room in Mendoza, Argentina is $33/night.

I - for is that safe? Most of the hostels that we stayed at in Peru and Bolivia used a hot water system that heated a small container with electrical currents. In La Paz, no amount of electrical tape in the shower could save us from instant shocks that smacked your hand when you reached for the dial.  

J - for Jenny Craig-like weight loss. We feel like traveling has been a bit of a human science experiment. What happens when you get regular exercise, eat less to save money (and you eat before 7PM), you get between 7-8 hrs of sleep a night and you have little to no stress? For Shane it meant losing 22 lbs and for me it meant losing 15 lbs (37 lbs in total!). Admittedly, we did put on 3 pounds each in Brazil but the human science experiment has yielded some pretty interesting results.

  37 pounds lighter, the Sondemann's are ecstatic 
in Salar de Uyuni

K - for Keane...one of our favourite bands and, while the spelling is off, a good way to describe our feelings about this trip.

L - for long. I know...this blog is really long! L also stands for Lima...where we had the best street meat (beef heart on a skewer) in SA.  

M - for Machu Picchu. Sometimes saving money can be a thrill. Instead of taking the 2-hour $140/return train ticket to get to Machu Picchu we joined Sam & Jamie to follow two locals down the 29 kms of railway tracks and side trails until we hit the main centre. Two days later Shane & I left our hostel at 3:45 AM to walk alone for about 4 kms in the pouring rain up to Machu Picchu. The first 100 people to arrive at the entrance are allowed to climb Wayna Picchu. 3 hours later the sun was shining and the views were incredible. We were one of the first people to arrive and the last to leave, spending the entire day hiking around the ruins. Macchu Picchu far exceeded our expectations - we would definitely give it a 10 out of 10. The next morning we left with Sam & Jamie for Cusco at 4:50 AM, yet again walking 29 kms of train tracks.  

N - for Nutella. Shane’s addiction and our way of making price comparisons on products in each country. 

O - for Oilers. The best team in the NHL...in a couple of years.

Q - for quote of the day. How about this one: "You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth”  

R - for raisins. Shane despises them.   

S - for salesman. On one of our bus rides in Peru we watched a salesman hail the benefits of a colon-cleansing formula, with what could only be described as religious fervor. During his 2-hour pitch, he used the interior of the bus as a prop, referring to the ceiling lights as a digestive track. He also crouched down towards the floor to impersonate constipation. We’d recommend Musilix.

T - for Taran. We were so fortunate that our friend Heather, put us in touch with her son Taran in Porto Alegre, Brazil where we stayed for several days on the last leg of our SA trip. We visited the university and toured Taran’s lab, which included 40,000 specimens of frogs and other reptiles (awesome!). We had so much rest that at times Taran probably thought there was a carbon-monoxide leak in his apartment. We watched lots of Law & Order and filled our faces with Brazilian buffets and all you can eat pizza. I won’t lie, while we each gained 3 pounds for our Hansel & Gretel-like gluttony, it was awesome!!  

U - for UNO. We prefer chess.

* V - for vodka. Having worked for a company that owns Smirnoff...you can be assured that you will never see Shane drinking Absolut.  

W - for why does there have to be so many freaking letters in the alphabet?!  

X - for xmas. I prefer the word Christmas though. By next month, like clock-work, I’ll be getting Christmas fever.  

Y - for yankee doodle. A bit ridiculous don’t you think?!  

Z - for “zooey”. A word that I learned 2 months ago from my friend Andrew. Admittedly I’m running out of ideas here...

So this concludes our South American A-Z update. Where are we at the moment and where are we heading?? We have been visiting friends in Essenberg and Mainz, Germany and have purchased bikes and camping equipment (tent, sleeping bags, stove, etc.) to cycle around Germany for 5 weeks, making stops in bordering countries including Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Denmark.

Before I sign-off on this update, I want to wish my best friend Jenn Fox a Happy Birthday. Jenn doesn’t like to be the centre of attention...which is why I’ve singled her out on our blog. : ) If you look up the words 'reliable', 'loyal' and 'super-awesome-friend' in the dictionary, I’m sure you’ll find her name there. She’s an exceptional friend and also an exceptional cook so, as a rather unconventional way to honour her on this travel blog, we're publishing one of her favourite recipes (hopefully she'll forgive me because I tricked her into giving me this):

 

Jenn Fox's "Fairest Wheels" 

(it took me 10 minutes to figure out the pun which is why I've included it in quotations)
Tortilla pinwheels with chicken, cream cheese, and hot red-pepper jelly
1 cup finely chopped, cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped lettuce
1/2 cup shredded, reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese (2 oz)
1/3 cup each chopped green onions and minced red bell pepper
4 oz light cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp low-fat sour cream
1 tbsp hot red-pepper jelly
3 9-inch flour tortillas

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, lettuce, cheddar cheese, green onions, and red pepper. Set aside. In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, sour cream, and red-pepper jelly on low speed of electric mixer. Spread 1/3 cream cheese mixture over one side of tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/3 chicken mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the top just covered with cream cheese mixture (so you can seal it closed). Roll up tightly, jelly-roll style. Wrap tortilla roll in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Trim off the ends and cut each roll into 8 slices. Serve the 24 pinwheels cold.

 
On that note, Shane is hungry so we're going to forage for food. Take care and do stay in touch - as always, we miss you!!

 Shane & Colleen