The End

Yep, it's finally over. My flight leaves Quito back to London (via Guayaquil and Madrid) tonight at 5:40pm. Fran left two days ago, but has been stuck in Guayaquil with a faulty plane! Her plane was due to depart today at 12pm. Hopefully everything is now sorted for her, otherwise I might have a travelling companion on the way back! That's if they let me on the plane of course and not bump my flight.

Anyway, it's a bit depressing having to leave, but to be honest it hasn't sunk in just yet. I'm sure it will hit me as the plane takes off that the journey has now finished.

It's been one hell of a journey and I guess I could write loads and loads in reflection here, but I'll keep it (relatively!) short.

In 6 months we've travelled through 5 countries: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. Each country has been remakedly different, yet the common theme linking them all to each other is the Andes. These huge mountains, split into different "Cordillera" are the backbone of South America. They not only run the entire length of the continent, they've also shaped the massive eastern rainforest by providing enough water to allow the Amazon to flourish.

The cultures of people who have lived and are still living here are again all so different, yet they are linked through their amazing tenacity at eking out a life in, at times, so harsh a climate. The peoples themselves have been warm, welcoming, humourous, and intensely proud of their culture and countries. Patriotism here is unlike anything I've encountered. It's not like the in-your-face patriotism of the US, or the self-deprecating patriotism of Britain, or the laid-back-but-proud patriotism of Australia. The people here love their corrupt, poor and mis-managed countries, and they fight for what's right. They always look on the bright side, even though it might not come across that way! As a hostel owner I met in Argentina said, when I asked him "so what do you think of your country" after we'd been speaking of corruption there.. he paused, looked pensive, then smiled and said "at least we have broadband".

Personally, it has been a rollercoaster of a trip. At times it was hard, having to endure long uncomfortable bus trips, and not being able to speak the native tongue hindered our interactions with the locals. But always, something around the corner totally surprised us and blew us away. Take Bolivia for instance. Before we got there, I was struggling to think how we'd fill 4 weeks there, knowing all about the altitude, the bugs, the cold showers! But we spent 6 and a half weeks there and almost had to be dragged kicking and screaming away from the place.

Anyway, I also want to thank you my audience for enduring my ravings and reading my blog. Thanks for all the compliments on my pictures, and the supportive emails we received along the way.

And a huge thank you to all the people we met along this trip, travellers and locals alike, without whom this trip would have been a far duller experience. You guys know who you are, and hopefully the friendships we've made won't be the typical "let's exchange emails and then never hear from each other" type emails.

So here is a map of what we've done in total. At some point I'll clean it up and provide hyperlinks to each blog post on the map itself.


View South America 2009 in a larger map

This is not the end though. I plan on coming back here one day. The lure of Patagonia, the jungles of Bolivia, and the Galapagos have been the big adventures of this trip for me and I can't imagine life without seeing them again.

And lastly, thank you to Fran for putting up with my crap for 6 months. You have been the best travelling companion I could ask for. Always positive and there to support me when I needed it. Thank you babe x

So I will leave it there. This is not really the end though. Stay tuned to this blog, because I should have a few more surprises coming up over the next few months.

Much love to all!
Adam