The team does monkey business in the Amazon: this has so far involved being delicately groomed by a Red Faced Uakari, pickpocketed and bitten by a White Chapuchan, sandwiches urinated on by a Brown Capachan and thrown up on by a Spider Monkey.

We have cuddled a baby sloth that looked like a sleepy and smiley ET, fed a tapir, watched a jaguar kill a chicken, fed a pink river dolphin and seen a plethora of amazing local creatures. One of the most interesting is the Paiche, an enormous fish that is prehistoric ... Read More »

The air is so thin that it´s difficult to talk if you´re walking. Your resting heart rate is twice as fast as usual. Ascending the high passes your legs feel like lead, you get headaches and your heart feels like it might burst. You have to get into a rhythym of walking that uses the least amount of energy and focus on breathing as deeply as possible with every breath. Your nose bleeds, your lips crack and you feel incredibly alive.

I started really well and felt fantastic, powering through to the end of day 5 and a soak in an amazing hot spring in the mountains. Then, after falling ill that night and feeling somewhat physically challenged, I turned my attention from high altitude stunts to riding a mounta ... Read More »

Steaming coffee at 6am welcomed in the sunshine on our rest day at the laguna. Some enjoyed a sleep in and others awoke early to explore the fishing delights awaiting us in the hidden lake over the crater edge.

Beck, Catherine, Jade and I went with Zac on an expedition to the upper, glacier-fed lake, approximately an hour and a half from the tents. After the overnight rain the walk around the lower lake was extremely soggy and slow. Catherine and Beck decided that breakfast beckoned after all, and Jade bid ... Read More »

I got back on the horse (so to speak) for our 5000m pass. Kelly and I, still recovering from illness, explored our Woman from Snowy River fantasies to the full as we rode mountain ponies through the Andes. Trotting on ahead, nay (neigh) galloping onwards, we left the others for dust and got lost.

Powered by potent pony farts we raced to the top and gazed in awe at the adjacent glacier and then realised that the slope was too steep and slippery to descend on horseback. We slid our way down, spurred on by th ... Read More »

On our first day of trekking we gently packed up the camp nursing headaches like bad hangovers. Gingerly our party plodded up the first pass amidst chewing cows and whirling condors. Slowly, breathing deeply, we made our tiny way to the top of 4700. Exultant we watched the crew and loaded burros glide past as we sat panting at the summit. I watched their ease with awe.

Descending into a green valley, we had a delightful view of the Cordillera Huayhuash. Rambling stone walls emerged from the rocky slopes, d ... Read More »

Yesterday we climbed our first mountain. I felt my city life sloughing off with every step. Sweat ran down my face and dripped sunscreen into my eyes - the stinging made the experience finally feel real after days of transit haze. Peru!

Arriving in Peru really felt like I had flown back in time. The last three weeks of crazy preparation crammed into every spare moment merged into changing flights, coffee in Argentina, sleeping on hand luggage, bus rides on bumpy roads and wandering around the ma ... Read More »