Puerta de Barranquilla

... Giant Petrel (the bird you see eating penguins on Antarctic documentaries) was also a good sighting. However, the favourite birds seen were Peruvian Diving-Petrels and Juan Fernandez Petrel...both devilishly difficult to photograph due to their high speeds and the swell of the ocean. On the way back in to dock a lone Humboldt Penguin and 3 species of cormorant were found, but unfortunately there was no ...

... So zogen also die Karnevalstage ins Land und es war schwer festzustellen, wo der eine aufhörte und der nächste anfing, da eh die ganze Nacht durch gefeiert wurde. Ich bin hin- und hergependelt zwischen den Jungs im Hotel mit "Me gusta, me gusta..." und "Mama Ron" Musik (die wahrscheinlich schrecklichsten Ohrwürmer der Welt) und der verrückten Horde Couchsurfer bei Gustavo. Am letzten Abend, als wir alle keine Karnevalsmusik mehr hören konnten, sind wir alle in einen Club in Puerto ...

... end as we never took very much money or our cards with us to the carnival and we still managed to go out and have a good time later on. On the second night, when we came in at around three, we didn't really feel like we'd partied enough. We went for a wander around the estate looking for a party (very studenty I know). We met one guy where a party was just dying who was so upset that we had missed his get-together that he offered us all manner of drugs to make up for it. We didn ...

Carnaval is finally here! The city's biggest, loudest and most colourful festival is here and everyone has been swept up in a fever. Stripy hats and a wide variety of Carnaval fashion has sprung up out of nowhere and everyone is looking forward to four days of non-stop partying. So far I've had an absolutely AMAZING time!I'm sure the one in Brazil is bigger and in some ways better, but when you see people you actually know in the parade and ...

... that there was no way I would get to Valpo on this bus, so I considered walking back to the earlier bus stop and seeing if they had any more buses today. But I decided instead to sit down, calm down, and figure out what to do in the event of not making it there tonight. I ended up chatting with some local guy for a bit, who was also getting concerned that his bus hadn't arrived yet. But within 20 minutes, the Valpo bus finally arrived. If I had ...

Before writing this entry, I have to apologize to Vati, since I am revealing his Christmas present here, but the story is too interesting to keep to myself. Just as a heads-up to my family in Vienna - I sent a few small gifts today, but it is not with certified mail and will take between 15-20 days, so I doubt it will arrive before Christmas. Sorry, there was no other way I could send it, lets just hope it arrives at all! So.... Yesterday, Lili and ...

... that day, but the next one didn't work out so well. High drama ensued as my poor flatmate Pedro had to call the paramedics because he actually thought I was dying I was so ill. So, of course, along comes the ambulance van, the neighbours lined the stairwell, shouting to one another, trying to figure out who was circling the drain, Pedro shouting "Up here!", whispers in the ...

... abruptly reacting to the fact that I have less than a month here. There's still so much I want to do, people I want to spend my time with, make every minute count, but I can't and won't forget I'm also living a life -- you can't put too much strain or neglect on it without something falling out of balance. I'm taking everything in with a hint of sentimentality now and I'm going to love the rest of my time as well as the people I've met. In the great words of Cassiel, "¡Obámanos!"

... views over the harbour. We checked into a sweet hotel in Vina Del Mar for a few days of ´the good life´, in a suite overlooking the ocean and complete with jacuzzi and king size bed. A far cry from many of the hostel rooms we´ve stayed in during the past six months. Dinner one night was inside a shipwreck from around 100 years ago, which has been converted into a fancy restaurant over the water. We went for a walk through one of the local national parks, where our ...

... there. Arriving a mere 7 hours later in Valpo, which is a cool place to hang out, the place is full of wall art - genuine wall art, not just some git with a spray can pointing out that he "was yuh". Its a nice organic, ramshackle, "whats town planning?" type of place, which was nice after being in so many places built on srrict grids. We ...