** Highlights of South America Leg

Top Natural Wonders:

Argentina
- Iguazu Falls
Also borders Brazil. The hundreds of different falls are an amazing experience to see and hear. What is also really cool is its right in the middle of a massive thick jungle.
- Penguin Island
Arriving on the quietly to the beach to see and hear thousands of penguins in their natural habitat. The sounds were amazing.
- Glacier
It was spectacular to see tons of ice crack and fall off into the water below. The shear power and size was breath taking. Walking with crampons on the glacier was also amazing. The ultramarine blue was brilliant. Drinking whiskey on the rocks with glacier ice was another highlight.
- Valleys in Salta
Being in the middle of nowhere in a small Fiot rental car was amazing. The scenery just keep changing every corner you turned. It felt like we were all alone on the moon.

Chile
- Pucon
Standing in front of active lava and feeling it´s heat was an adrenaline rush. Knowing it could erupt at any moment added to the rush.

Bolivia
- Salt Flats and Lagoons
Being in the middle of nowhere seeing such untouched beauty was surreal. The colors were brilliant and you can see why Dali found inspiration for his painting here.
- Pampas and Jungles in Rurrenabaque
Heart felt feeling and experiences all wrapped in adventure. It was great seeing so many unusual animals and interacting with the locals.

Peru
- Machu Pichu
Standing in front of something you’ve seen so many pictures of and it feeling nothing like you expected. The massive jungle mountains and rivers tower the site.
- Nasca Lines
Experiencing the mystery of the lines first hand. You can still see the lines after so many thousands of years. You wonder why and how they made the lines so straight and the figures so recognizable.
- Ica Sand Dunes
Feeling like a kid in the middle of a sand dune desert. From buggie rides to sand boarding we did it all and still have the sand in our shoes to prove it.





Top Adventures, Mysterious or Unusual situation

Brazil
- Landing and getting to the hostel not knowing what we were getting ourselves into.
- Night party in Lapa where there were hundreds of locals dancing and drinking on the streets.

Argentina
- Getting soaked in a boat by the powerful waterfalls in Iguazu
- 44 hour bus ride on Route 40 to Bariloche
- 1am interesting taxi ride with a drunk guy and quiet girl to the town of Salta
- 4x4 driving in a Fiot for two days on the desert back roads of Salta

Chile
- Staying in house with crazy old lady that thought she was Tim´s girlfriend
- Climbing, standing on top of, and sliding down the Villarica Volcano

Bolivia
- Bus ride to Uyuni with smelly crazy locals on a dirty broken down bus.
- 3 day tour of salt flats with Bolivian guide Franko and his wife
- Potosi bus ride that dropped us off in town in the middle of a hail storm
- Two hour mine tour where we visited a few of the workers
- Blowing up a 3 stick dynamite bomb
- Riding in boat on the Pampas and seeing wild animals
- Night alligator hunting with flashlights
- Anaconda falling from the sky and running for your life
- Swimming with river dolphins in murky black water
- Feeding monkey’s bananas and feeling their little human-like hands
- Water skiing in alligator infested waters
- Turning off flashlight in pitch black jungle to hear what’s around you
- Piranha fishing in jungle then cooking it up for dinner
- Chewing coca leaves to stay up till 4am to fish for massive river catfish

Peru
- Train ride to Machu Pichu with landslides delays
- Bus ride to Nasca with a driver that was practicing for NASCAR races
- Rollercoaster like dune buggy ride up and down the sand dunes
- Sand sliding and boarding down small and massive sand mountains
- Taking the Titanic out for a spin and being serenaded to by Tim
- Flying down the crowded streets of Ica in a 3 wheeled motor taxi





Worst Times

Brazil
- Sleeping in 500 degree nights in Rio
- Walking back to hostel late at night waiting to get robbed

Argentina
- Staying in dorm room above club that played music till 4am in Buenos Aires
- Waiting 9 hours in a bus for a tractor to come and rescue our stuck in the mud bus

Chile
- Walking up ice fields to the top of volcano with shoes wishing you had crampons
- Having the volcano guide yell at us to run from the potential exploding volcano
- 500 mile walk down dirt roads to stupid river that wasn’t worth it to see

Bolivia
- Drunk and sick in the middle of nowhere with no running water or power
- Depression day in La Paz and feeling like we wanted to fly home ASAP
- Getting fried and eaten alive by mosquito’s in the Pampas

Peru
- Being bombarded and insulted by hundreds of vendors trying to earn your business
- Sitting across two stupid and disgusting girls from Israel on train ride to Machu Pichu
- Banking and diving around in a small plane to see the Nasca lines.






Best Food

Tim
- Iguazo Falls meat and vegetables on a spear
- Orange juice at Butterfly Restuarant in Bolivia
- Mc Donald’s in Buenos Aires
- KFC in Lima
- Piranha on jungle tour

Ana
- Burger King in Buenos Aires
- Empanadas made by Jacob on jungle tour
- Orange juice from Camila´s
- Caprihina in Rio






Food most missed

Tim
- Taco Bell (meximelt, encherito, and crunchy taco)
- Sushi

Ana
- Sancocho (Chicken soup in Panama)
- Chips and Salsa from Acapulco with a Margarita on the rocks with salt

Together
- Claim Jumper (Cheese toast and Blue Cheese Wedge)
- Red Robin ( Chicken Burger, Half and half Coke, and Arnold Palmers)
- Starbucks (Frappuchino and Latte)
- Chipotle burrito
- Churrasco from Los Ranchos in Nicaragua
- Chicago pizza from Giordanos
- Family secret potato casserole


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Top 10 things we wish everyone could experience

- Vendors and beach scene in famous Ipanema
- Iguazu Falls standing on the edge of devils throat
- Experiencing the penguins on Penguin Island
- Seeing huge chunks of ice fall from glacier
- Watching and feeling the heat of active lava erupting from a volcano
- Being immersed in the traditional Bolivia lifestyle
- Learning and experiencing the culture and history in Potosi
- Experiencing the adventure in Pampas and Jungles of Bolivia
- Seeing Machu Pichu surrounded by a monstrous mountain range
- Standing on mountain overlooking the Nasca lines