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Around the World
  • Susie Bruce
Currently traveling
Mar 2017 – Sep 2025

Around the World

An open-ended adventure by Susie Read more
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  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    Lima

    May 13, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We spent an evening in Lima, mainly due to to the fact we had tickets to see Ed Sheeran. He was amazing as expected! We also went to see the fountain show which was incredible. Doug left the place soaked through as he wanted to 'play in the water like all the other boys and girls'.Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    Huacachina

    May 11, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Huacachina is a tiny village surrounded by sand dunes. We stayed here for a day. In the afternoon we went on a wine tour to the Tacama winery, we then went on to a smaller winery which specialises in Pisco which is a Peruvian spirit made from grapes.
    Late afternoon we went dune buggying and did a spot of sand boarding which was very fun!    Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    Nasca

    May 9, 2017 in Peru ⋅ 🌬 4 °C

    Next stop Nasca to see the famous Nasca Lines. These are continuous lines in the sand that makes various shapes. Know one knows how or why they were made - it was such a long time ago, before planes etc, which is why they are so amazing. They are such perfect shapes and the people making them would have had no way of looking at them to check they were getting it right! Also they are so big you can only see them from an aeroplane.
    Naturally me and Doug thought it would be a great idea to get on a plane and see them. I was about 5 minutes into the ride when I started being violently sick. I spent the next 25 minutes with my head in a plastic bag before landing. I was assured by Doug later that it was amazing to see all the shapes and he even showed me some pictures to prove it. Next time I think il let him go alone.    Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    Galapagos!!

    May 5, 2017 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    As promised the next instalment, I know you have all been waiting anxiously for this and we will disappoint with poor humour and dull chat!
    Obviously came here to see fantastic wildlife, mostly marine species. So Susie waits until now to tell me, 'I don't like swimming in the sea and most of the animals in there scare me' perfect start to the holiday. So the first day we hired snorkels and it was dedicated to Susie facing her fears, you could say it was time for her to sink or swim, or she needed to jump in at the deep end......sorry. Anyway she was fantastic after some gentle encouragement.
    Next day we boarded a cruise I won't bore you with the details or island places and names we went to just look at the picture of the itinerary below. The cruise was not the most comfortable our rooms were tiny and there were Americans on the cruise...... to which everything was 'super' or 'amazing.' However, what was more frustrating than the small rooms and the Americans was that we had a 'wannabe professional photographer' on board. Now don't get me wrong I like good pictures but seriously she took sooooooooooo long taking photos and plonked herself in the best places stopping everyone else getting good shots. She also spent ages so that we had all left her behind and then to catch up she would walk all over places the guide had specifically told us not to walk, for reasons such as it was a nesting site. So as you can probably gather i did not really like this person and she tested my patience somewhat. However, the food was fantastic and we had a great guide who was very knowledgeable. He had actually had an accident a few years back and had been in a coma for a year so had to learn everything from scratch! We also saw exactly what we wanted to see phenomenal wildlife and scenery! We couldn't believe how 'tame' these animals were it was truly amazing but as they say pictures can speak a thousand words and my descriptions certainly won't do it justice so here is a sample of the pictures we took, all the rest will be on Facebook, and if you get a chance to come here don't hesitate!    Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    ECUADOR - Quito

    April 24, 2017 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Long time no speak!! It has been mentioned and I can only apologise for Susie's complete disregard for the stalking possibilities provided, needless to say it is Doug again, Hii!!
    So we are now in Ecuador, first thing we are told here is that the people are not as friendly, for example don't get into the front seat of a taxi because the driver can point a gun at you and drive at the same time...good to know! The main reason for coming here is to visit the Galápagos Islands which will be the next instalment of this thrilling tale...to be continued!
    However, while in Quito we thought we should do something. There was a 'free' walking tour offered by our hostel, given the old centre of the city is a UNESCO world heritage site I persuaded Susie that we should go. After about the 8th church we looked at I think she felt completely justified in saying "told you so" because I have to admit..the tour was boring and the guide was shite, she couldn't keep the interest of a bitch on heat! Not only that but she asked us for 5 dollars after the tour (cheeky sod).
    We also went to the "centre of the world" which is the equator, this was more fun than we thought with numerous experiments to prove we were actually at the equator! Saying that most people probably would have found this extremely boring, but what can I say we are boring people! There was a lovely indigenous tribe that let us join in their naked dancing, see the picture below, after the picture was taken it became more raucous but I won't go into details!
    However back to the main event! The Galápagos, we spent the rest of the time (or tried to)..going around tour operators to find out what cruises were going out and if we could get a cheap deal....we got to one tour operator! The lady here, extremely helpful, suggested we changed our flight to leave the Galápagos on the afternoon so we could finish a cruise the day we fly out..sounds a great idea! She even offered to phone avianca and change the flights for us! Obviously too good to be true the lady found out that there was a problem with our flights we had to go the the Quito avianca office to sort them out!
    Turns out the guy I spoke to about a week before in the avianca call centre had changed our flight dates and then cancelled the new flight tickets not the old one but kept the new flight reservation not the old one, confused??? We were! But surely we are in the best place to sort out this problem that was not at all our fault?..No!
    Approximately 4-5 hours later after we had got angry and shouted, I had lost a lot more hair, we got more angry and shouted at a supervisor, Susie got grumpy because there was no food, We got angry and shouted at a manager, Susie felt better after she ordered a pizza, my dads genes came out and my red face was about to spontaneously start bleeding it was so red, you get the idea, anyway...we eventually got our flights...good thing too, the plane was was leaving in 14 hours.
    Anyway we are here at the Galápagos, going on a cruise tomorrow, you shall hear from us after!
    P.S. don't worry next time I will let susie take over so you don't have to listen to my boring waffle....she didn't want to do it today because she is sulking because "it's too hot and I'm hungry".    Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    San Agustin

    April 19, 2017 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We spent one day exploring San Agustin, famous for its stone statues. In the morning we walked around the town looking for them, then in the afternoon we visited the Archeological Park, a world heritage sight, where there was yet more statues. It rained heavily but still a nice day out.Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    Manizales

    April 16, 2017 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Next stop Manizales. On the first day we visited Nevado Del Ruiz, an active volcano. A bus took us up to 4500meters but we couldn't go any further as it would have been dangerous going right to the top. Unfortunately there was a lot of fog but when at the very end it settled and we were able to see some great views. On the way home we visited a hot spring - definitely a highlight for cold water-hating me.
    The next day the plan was to visit a coffee farm, then carry on south to stop off in Pereira for a night before continuing our journey. I was 10 minutes into the bus journey before I realised I'd left my passport back at the hostel. Luckily we were with a worker from the hostel at the time so agreed to carry on with the coffee farm tour and go back and get the passport after. The coffee farm was great, we spent 3 hours there exploring and learning all about coffee. We basically learned that even if you pay for 'top quality' beans, it's probably all a lie, so I will stick to my Nescafé instant for now. After the coffee farm it was a short 3 hour detour to go back to the original hostel, pick up my passport, drive past the coffee farm again and eventually arrive in Pereira. Bed time now....    Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    Medellin

    April 13, 2017 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Doug taking a turn at this blog thing!
    Next stop Medellin, the place for coffee and cocaine...I was asked numerous times before coming to Colombia, why on earth are you going to Colombia of all places, I thought the answer was fairly self explanatory? (See above)
    Getting there involved another night bus, oh joy! Three hours after setting off Vin Diesel, or the Spanish guy pretending him to be him finally shut up!! But Susie snoring like a train didn't....So into an uneasy sleep.
    Next day we went on a Pablo Escobar tour, to be honest, I don't think Susie had any idea who this was, I though was extremely keen.

    The man who picked us up offered us a Coca Cola now and a gram of cocaine for later, we think he was joking, but on the other hand maybe not as it turns out he was one of Pablo Escobar's two drivers (the other one being on duty with Escobar when he died, so was also dead). This made Susie uneasy, a sense which was heightened a lot when the man shouted "NO PHOTO" in a Chinese mans face when he held his camera up to take a photo of the driver, apparently this was because he had never gone to prison and didn't want to go. I felt sorry for the Chinese man it just comes naturally to them! We also met Roberto Escobar, Pablo's brother, he was the "accountant" and spent 16 years in prison and got out early as he was a changed man, that and apparently $1 billion dollars changed hands. He also lived in a huge mansion so clearly still plenty of money kicking around.

    We then went to Parque Arví (a nature reserve and archeological site) but unfortunately we couldn't get in. Now maybe our Spanish still needs improvement but I think we were told it was at capacity. Or maybe it was because we looked dodgy as we got stopped my police 2 minutes later requesting out passports. So being told by numerous people that we should have our passports on us at all
    Times with the visa stamp we course were very organised....and did not have them on us. A argument broke out, the police in Spanish and us in English, needless to say we got nowhere. Eventually they accepted looking at a photo of our passports, which they then also took pictures of!!??? No idea why. We thought this was odd behaviour it did cross our minds that these weren't police at all!! So basically if this is the last post from us for 4 days or more, we have been abducted so please come help..............

    Lastly we went to Plaza Botero, a park with statues full of work from artist Fernando Botero, who specialised in naked statues of excessively fat people and animals! Naturally I felt right at home and joined in. Apparently statues are fine, real life not so much.    Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    Cartagena

    April 10, 2017 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We spent two days here exploring the city. The first day we took a boat trip out to one of the islands outside the city. The boat broke down about 3 times during the trip which the driver seemed to think was perfectly normal. In between these times we would tend to go very fast, either being bounced up and down on our seats or being soaked by the water. We stopped off to watch a dolphin show and had lunch. The next day we explored the city. The inner city is enclosed by a wall so we walked this and then enjoyed a cocktail on the wall.Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    Santa Marta

    April 8, 2017 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Today was spent relaxing and exploring Tayrona National Park. Great day but we are both now extremely sunburnt.

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce
    1

    Villa de Leyva

    April 4, 2017 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Spent one day in this lovely village, where the film Zorro was filmed. Our room was beautiful, with a balcony overlooking our garden with hammocks we could enjoy. All this for the equivalent of a tenner a night. During the day we hired bikes and cycled round the main tourist attractions - the clay house, the fossil museum, the ostrich farm and the 'blue pools'. The square was lovely and the locals were very friendly.Read more

  • Susie BruceAround the WorldSusie Bruce

    COLOMBIA - Bogota

    April 2, 2017 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    One day spent here exploring the city. Took the cable car up to the 'top of the city'. Also a bicycle tour around the city, stopping off at coffee shops, fruit markets and finally a game of 'tejo' - throw a heavy rock at some markers filled with gunpowder and wait for the explosion!Read more

  • Trip start
    March 31, 2017
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