I have a little bit of free time so will carry on with my round the world blog.

After having an amazing time in New Zealand we had a very long flight to South Americ. Because of the time differences we landed in Santiago, Chile 5 hours before we'd set off from New Zealand - very confusing!

It was lovely to go back to seeing older buildings after OZ and NZ and some of the architecture in the city was stunning.

Because it was so hazy it almost looked like the mountains behind the city were sat on the top of the clouds.

We didn't spend very long in Santiago; there were student protests going on at the time and we spent alot of the time running away from water cannons that are used to break up the protests. Unfortunately there wasn't time to catch any pictures of this as if you saw one you turned and ran!

From Santiago we went to La Serrena -

and then onto San Pedro de Atacama in the desert. This was a little town in the middle of nowhere with alot of tourists as this was the start point of most of the tours accross the desert and salt flats to Bolivia.

We started our tour setting off in 4x4s into the desert where we passed -

Laguna Blanco

Laguna Verde

 

Hot springs

and a red Lagoon. This is where we stayed for the night and we had a nice walk around the lake before hiding away in the house. By this point I think we were well over 4000m above sea level and it was pretty hard to catch your breath and absolutely freezing! -15C inside your room does not lead to a good nights sleep!

The next day we continued on our trip past some strange rock formations

Before our guide decided to take us off the beaten track (this was a lot steeper than it looks!) when we reach the bottom our driver starts shouting - that was the first time he'd tried doing that route!

We also stopped at Laguna Hedonia where there were loads of flamingos feeding

And then came to our first proper salt flat with a traintrack that went on a straight line for miles in both directions

After another cold night we headed towards the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) which are amazing although rather blinding!

From Uyuni we head to a nice little town called Tupiza where we go riding through some interesting rock formations

and then on to Sucre. I really liked it here, alot of the buildings reminded me of Europe but for some reason I hardly took any pictures.

Our next destination was La Paz but as there were protests going on at the time we had to make a detour to Cochabamba and from there try to get to La Paz, unfortuantely this didn't work and we ended being stuck behind blockades for hours!

We then made our way to the Bolivian/Chile border to Copocabana; part of the journey involved a ferry crossing where we were slightly worried our bus would end up in the water!

From there we crossed into Peru and head to the Colca canyon where we sit and watch Condors which are stunning and we sit there for hours.

We then drive past pre-Inca terraces

We then headed to Cusco and arrived intime for their Inti Raymi (Festival of the sun) celebrations. There was lots of dancing in the streets

And then the next day we saw a ceremony and procession through the town

We then set off on a three day Salkantay trek to Macchu Picchu. Although this was hard work I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone! Near the beginning of the trek -

My friend got altitude sickness so she cheated and rode a mule up

And it was a very long climb!

Getting closer -

We eventually made it to the highest point of our climb!

Before we had to head down the otherside

The next day the walk was alot easier as it's mainly downhill and we follwoed the river for a lot of it

On the last day we see Old Santa Teresa a village destroyed by floods

My friends give up at lunch time and catch a train to the end of the trek, I'm determind to finish though so struggle on with the guide and a potugese couple and finally we spot a glimpse of Aguas Calientes in the distance and know we've made it!

The next day we fianlly make it to Machu Picchu, I had wanted to see this for years nad it was amazing to finally be there. We were up at the top before the sun rose and it was lovely to just sit there as the light changed before walking round the ruins

We got the train back to Cusco and I sadi goodbye to my friend who flew off to Argentina whilst I stayed and volunteered in a school for a few weeks. This was great fun and I got to meet some fantastic children and it really helped me improve my Spanish as well.

It also gave me more time to explore Cusco and I really loved the city, hopefully one day I might get to go back.

I said goodbye to Cusco and headed up the country to Lima where I spent a day before flying out to the USA. In America I'd arranged to do volunteer work with the American Conservation Experience (ACE). This would mean going out on different projects carrying out conservation work in various national parks in Arizona and the surrounding area.

For my first project we lay a small bit of concrete road in the middle of the desert, this was to stop the track getting washed away during the rainy season. This wasn't what I expected to be doing but it was great fun. We also did some revegetation and removal of weeds in that first week.

After we finished each project we were given a few days off to go sightseeing. The first trip I went with two other English girls that were also volunteering and we visited Bryce Canyon. This was stunning, the rock formation (hoodos) were amazing!

 

We also went to antelope canyon, where water has carved a way through the rock

Returning back to our base in Flagstaff I find out that my next project is in Santa Rita, Tuscon. This time we are working in blistering heat trying to eliminate Buffel Grass a weed that is taking over in the area and killing off the native plants. We were split into groups and eset off with backpacks full of herbiside and combed areas searching out the buffel grass plants spraying them and turning them blue as we went.

In the evening we met some of the wildlife in the area, going for a short walk before dinner we nearly stepped on a gopher snake.

Ten meters further down the path we come across a rattle snake!

 Our next project was at Walnut Canyon where we are helping repair a trail that was destroyed by a rock slide. Back at our campsite in the evenings we were treated to some stunning sunsets.

In our days off we went to visit a meteor crater which was pretty spectacular

And then went to a petrified forest where the wood had turned into this -

I found out that my next project was at the Grand Canyon and got very excited - I'd wanted to go there for years! And it didn't dissapoint, it's hard to get your head round how big it is. Unfortunately we were just doing trail work around the rim so I didn't get to walk to the bottom, maybe another time!

Lunch break on the edge of the canyon

Watching the sunset at the end of the day

In our days off this time we went to Las Vegas for the weekend

Before going back to the Grand Canyon where I did more trail preparation and layed tarmac trails ot the more popular viewing areas

My favourite project of the three months was at Dixie National Forest, this was out in the middle of nowhere we hiked for two hours from the minibus with all our tents and food for the week. The closest people were those living here where we left the minibus and we were about another hour from a town -

We only saw a couple of hikers and horse riders over the whole week and no sound of a car. We were recreating paths that had been washed away during the rainy season by building them up with boulders and then covering them with crush (smaller stones and then earth over the top.

 

I was the only girl in a group of 13 and had a brilliant time roughing it and was a little dissapointed when we reached the end of the project although very glad to have a shower!

I'd reached the end of my 3 months volunteering with ACE and had to make my way to New York for my flight home. I decided to make a quick stop at Chicago (I'm a big ER fan and wanted to see where it was set and yes I know that's sad!) and I had a nice walk along Lake Michigan

And then on to New York where I spent a few days wondering around the city and doing some of the usual tourist things like visiting the statue of liberty

And that takes me to the end of my year long round the world trip, really wish I could do it all again. I've probably bored you all to death but I've enjoyed making the blogs!