Reset search
South America
  • Caitlin Lewis
  • James Spicer
  • Meagan Osinga

South America

A 29-day adventure by Caitlin, James & Meagan Read more
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Trip start
    September 21, 2025
    South America

    Santiago start line

    September 21 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Today we start our adventure. After ensuring naughty Zuko was inside we headed to the airport. We said see you soon to James who enjoyed his solo direct flight. The rest of us enjoyed stopping in Auckland before arriving in Santiago. Feeling a little tired we went exploring and went on the funicular and cable car to get the best views of Santiago. We then found a pub for dinner and had a well earned beer and chorrillana (HSP with egg). Then very very tired we played some pool and went to bed.Read more

  • South America

    Off to patagonia

    September 22 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    After sleeping with club music all night, we went back to the airport. We tried maccas and Starbucks for a yukky coffee and tested out our very limited Spanish. A quick hop along flight we made it to puerto natales and had a yummy packed lunch and bought some buffs. On the bus ride, we saw some wanako and rheas. Our guide was trying his best to answer all our questions in English. We arrived at our domes and settled in. They were very va gun (cool 😎) . At our briefing, we had our welcome drinks and chose what to do for tomorrow. We had the fanciest dinner ever and learnt some Chilean slang. Then, off to bed, feeling quite tired falling asleep watching the stars 🌟.
    Travel time: 7hrs    Read more

  • South America

    Grey glacier

    September 23 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ -2 °C

    After falling asleep watching the stars, Emma and Caitlin got up early and tried yoga at sunrise. We had a very bougee buffet breakfast and filled our lunch boxes for our first excursion to Grey glacier. On the bus ride we learnt about the weather on the east there is less rain as the clouds are trapped by the west, also Patagonia = big foot. Paine = blue. The red Wanako bush. We saw FLAMINGOS!! 🦩🦩. We enjoyed the gift shop and moment of wifi to let everyone know we have no reception. We walked along a beach to the boat. We saw the 3 faces of the glacier and enjoyed a calafate sour with glacier ice. We learnt some Chilean slang. We had another fancy dinner.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Sparkly towers

    September 24 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Today we had a biiig hike, the base towers walk 24km. We started at eco camp with our guide and learnt some more Chilean slang. Went along the windy pass and were hunting for woodpeckers (i saw a wing). With many stops for snacks and use of the bushrooms and facilitrees we made it to the top (only a few twinges) to the amazing 3 towers and frozen lake. Luke got a dirty knee and Emma found a sparkly ring ✨️ 💍 ✨️. We had some champagne 🍾 and took lots of photos at the top. The way down was a little easier and we heard all the eco camp gossip (devil wears prada and below deck for reference). We made it home with just enough fuel in the tank. Emma and luke had a special dinner and we went to bed.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Wildlife safari

    September 25 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Today, we took the soft option. We took the bus and went hunting for wildlife. We saw some guanako, reahs, 2 foxes and got up close and personal with an armadillo. We saw a reah chasing a fox and 2 guanakos fighting. We then had an easy 8km hike looking for pumas but we only saw their tracks. Caitlin was bird watching and describing very common birds for identification (lapwings, torrent ducks and condors). James had very squelchy shoes and was regretting not getting the gortex. We also went to the cascades and got sprayed. Back at eco camp, James and Caitlin went hunting for wood peckers. They knocked on their door, but none were home 😞. We had another yummy dinner with Seba.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Steep Mirador Ferrier

    September 26 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    Today, we started with some yoga to limber up for the hike to Mirador Ferrier, a cool 8km vertical hike. We had Rodrigo as our guide, and our driver Claudio came too. Most of the group strapped on the knee braces, and we headed up the hill. We made it to the top and experienced patagonian wind. The way down, we had a slippy count for all the trips and falls. Rodrigo was very good at spotting wildlife and was showing us all the places a woodpecker might live (at least 4 little side quests), and on the way back, we were looking for pumas. Unfortunately, there were no wood peckes or pumas today, but we saw a kingfisher, cootes, pigmy owl, and lots of other birds and ducks and a flat tyre. We had our last welcome drink and fancy dinner and played some cards before bed.Read more

  • South America

    Goodbye eco camp

    September 27 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    Today, we start our travel to Bolivia. We had our last yummy breakkie and packed a lunch. Seba, our guide made a last attempt to help us find a woodpecker with a walk through the contemplative forest. But it seems they dont like us 😞. We travelled back with Rodrigo who was on the lookout for pumas also with no luck. We make it to the airport to find that our flight was delayed by 5 hours!! We headed to puerto natales to kill some time and went to a museum and pub who were very welcoming. We had a few too many pisco sours and were feeling a bit tiddly for the plane. Before the plane we got another 2 packed lunches.Read more

  • South America

    Long leg to Uyuni

    September 28 in Chile ⋅ 🌙 1 °C

    Carrying on our 5hr plane from yesterday, we caught our next flight 4hr from Santiago with a quick nap at the airport during the 3 hr layover. Everyone was very, very tired and on the verge of grumpy. We made it to Calama and attempted to get some breakfast before our bus to Uyuni. On the bus, we had recliner seats and toy story in Spanish and started our 8hr bus ride. In the middle of nowhere we had to change buses to a mini bus with dodgy aircon, luckily there was someone on our bus that could translate for us to make sure we were not stiched up. Then we got to the border of Chile and Bolivia. We finally made it to Uyinu with having nothing to eat all day. We were not sure if we were feeling the altitude or just hungry. We tag teamed to find a tour for tomorrow and had some cheap dinner with the best parmi everr. Straight to bed and zonked out, and James watched the NFL.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Salt flats day 1

    September 29 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Today, we woke up nice and early to a message saying our tour was cancelled. So we headed back to one of the other tour companies and were lucky enough to find another tour for today. After breakfast, we packed our luggage on the roof of a 4ww and headed to the salt flats with our guide, Vladimir. We stopped at a train graveyard, learnt about salt, posed for many photos, went to Cactus Island, and watched the sunset on the salt flats. Feeling a little photo'd out after today.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Salt flats day 2

    September 30 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C

    2nd day of our tour we wake up to a pancake breakfast. We packed into the car with a little whinging from the backseat bandits. We stopped to see the Jamesey flamingos and Andean flamingos. We saw an active volcano, tried llama sausage (very yummy) and coca leaf tea. We used the inca banyo many times. We stopped to see the very cute biscotcha and Matt fell off a small rock. Emma got spat on by an alpaca. The highest altitude was 4730. We also stopped to see the stone trees made by wind. At the hostel we were all squashed in the same room with electricity for 3 hours. We played exploding kittens had some questionable bolognese and Vlad gave us hot water bottles because it was supposed to be a freezing night.Read more

  • South America
    4

    Salt flats day 3

    October 1 in Bolivia ⋅ 🌙 -10 °C

    Day 3, we got up at 4 30am and did some star gazing. Then, we set off to see the geysers and ran through the steam. Then to the hot springs, beating all the other 4ww tourists. At the hot springs, we soaked in the 34° -36° water and saw a man slip on the step and do the most amazing dive into the water. We saw a salvator dali inspired landscape (although we think he never went to Bolivia). Then Vlad drove us to the border, and our tour was over 😞. We had another long boring border crossing. We made it to San Pedro Atacama. We had lunch at a locally recommended spot and negotiated with the tour companies to do some stargazing tonight. In preparation, we had a nap. We had a very quick dinner at a fancy restaurant, and Caitlin was a little stressy. At the star gazing tour, the bus played only space related songs. We learnt about the stars, ecliptic line, and constellations and got to see the moon, Saturn, stars, and clusters through the telescope. Then, straight to bed feeling quite tired.Read more

  • South America

    Relaxing San Pedro De Atacama

    October 2 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Today, we had a bit of a sleep in and went to a nice cafe for brekkie. Then, after picking up some washing, we hired some bikes. We went for a ride to Pukara de Quitor and hiked up some ruins in the heat. Luke nearly didn't make it up there. Then, we had a little afternoon tea snack and then went for pizza dinner. A few tummies were feeling a little rough, so we went to bed.Read more

  • South America

    Matts Birthday and Travel day

    October 3 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today was Matts birthday 🎂. We got a shuttle to Calama airport and made our way back to Santiago. After a short layover, playing some hearts, we went to Cuzco (was 3 hours instead of the 1.5 hours that was first thought). The immigration line was soooo long, and they asked us weird questions. Then we made it to our fancy hotel apartment and found a fancy spot for birthday dinner. It was very yummy.Read more

  • South America

    Cusco

    October 4 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today, we did a free walking tour through Cusco. We learnt about the Inka bricks, the kings, and the Spanish takeover. We also learnt that the women dressed up with alpacas actually have baby lambs. Then we had a very yummy lunch at the San Blas markets. Some of us went to see San Christabal cathedral, and James and Caitlin went to San Pedro markets and got hassled by scammers. Then we had a lovely time watching the sunset before going to our Salkantay briefing. At the briefing, we met our guide, who was full of negatives and made us realise what we don't have. So, a little panic late night shopping and takeaway dinner before heading to bed (with fears for what the next 4 days hold).Read more

  • South America

    Humantay lake

    October 5 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Early start, we packed our duffel bags and waited for the bus pick up at 4 20am! 😴😴 Then we met our group and drove up the mountains on sketchy roads to the start of our Salkantay hike. We had a 8km hike and this was supposed to be our easy day. It was easy for the first 1km, and then we were introduced to hiking vertically at altitude and started to huff and puff our way up a big steep hill. We made it to Humantay Lake and had a rest to get the heart rate back down. It was starting to rain and hail a bit, so we had to put on all our rain gear (lucky we bought ponchos). Hiking downhill was a lot easier! But the Germans were slow and our guide yelled at them hehe. Then we made it to our camp where we stayed in glass huts. Feeling very tired, we had an afternoon nap, dinner, then to bed.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Salkantay hike

    October 6 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

    Today was the big hike up Salkantay. We were woken up to Coca tea at 4:25am and had breakfast at 5am. Then, after waiting again for the slow Germans we left for our 5km hike up the hill. We started with Peruvian flats, then had the gringo killer that was a lot of huffing and slow walking. We took a well needed snack break. Luke was a tractor and needed to refuel. Then we had the Peruvian killer. Which was overexaggerated and not that bad. We made it to the top and listened to a very boring story and coca ceremony from our guide. Then we had a 17km hike down the mountain with a little bit of rain, so on goes the rain gear again. At one of our rest stops, our guide asked us to tip the chef and mulers. Then he had the nerve to be unimpressed with the tip amount, and it was the most awkward experience of our lives!!!! We stayed at the fancy sky domes that didn't smell great, but we finally had a cold shower, so at least we smelt ok.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Zipline

    October 7 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today, we had a little sleep in and started at 5 30am. We had a very basic coffee tour and tried our hand at roasting and grinding the beans. Then we went to the zipline. There were 5 lines and one bridge walk. We ziplined right side up, upside down and superwoman style. It was lots of fun. Then we had a 10km walk to Aguas Callentias along the train line and lucky for us it was all Peruvian flat. Then we went for a walk through the town and shopped at the markets.Read more

  • South America

    Machu Picchu

    October 8 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today was another early early start with a 4am brekkie. We had decided to walk the 20 mins to the entrance then the 2000 steps up to Machu Picchu. It was very humid, hot, sweaty and a little rainy. There were lots of doggies along the way and 2 had a bit of a scuffle. Then we made it to Machu Picchu just as the first busses of people were arriving. We had circuit 2 which took us through the ruins. We had to wait for some clouds to pass before we could see anything. Then we went up Huayna Picchu mountain, which involved lots of small steps on our hands and knees. A dog we called Wayne showed us the way. The views were worth it (in-between clouds). Then we trudged back down the 2000 steps to Agua Callentias for a well deserved burger lunch. We luckily avoided more awkward tip exchanges. Then we caught the vistadome train which had some dancing and modelling. We then caught a scary bus back to Cusco for some dinner and bed.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Ruined and ruins

    October 9 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today, we had a bit of a sleep in, did some laundry and wandered into Cusco to see the cathedrals. Luke was feeling a bit under the weather and stayed at home. We went to the sun temple and saw a lot of paintings and learnt about the Spanish, Dominicans and Inkas. Then the group split to do different things. James and Caitlin went to see Sacsayhuman ruins, Q'uenta ruins, Puka Pukara and Tochombay ruins. They all had something different to see. Caitlin accidentally sat on the sacrificial table. Then we all met up at the apartment, played some cards and went for a yummy dinner.Read more

  • South America
    1

    Rainbow mountain

    October 10 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Loving the early starts we got up for a 3am pick up to start our rainbow mountain day. Emma and Luke stayed behind to do their own thing at the Moray ruins and Salt mines in Maracas. The rest of us had breakfast on the way feeling very tired. At the start of the hike the mountains had a good dusting of snow and lots of fog. We started the walk and remembered the burn of altitude on the lungs. We made it to the top with 5 mins of cloud free views of rainbow mountain. Then we waited for another chance to take more photos. We then went to red Valley, which was very beautiful! We left as it was starting to snow again. Then we took the bus back and had a yummy lunch on the way. In the afternoon we went to the Irish pub and a yummy dinner. Then met some people from our salkantay trek.Read more

  • South America

    Amazon travel day

    October 11 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    After not much sleep we say goodbye to Matt and Meg's and head to the airport. The line for checked baggage was interesting with lots of unorganised people and one person manning the desk. Then we flew to puerto maldonado. We arrive at Wasai lodge and it is very very hot. Some of us were a bit hungover and not coping in the heat. We waited for ages then met our guide to take us into the amazon. We took a bumpy bus and boat to the lodge, then had some time to relax and cool down in the pool. Before dinner we had a night botanical walk where we learnt about bugs and frogs.Read more

  • South America

    Macaw claylick

    October 12 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Today, we had another early start and took the boat to see the claylicks. We had our little stools and knocky B's and waited for the birds to arrive. We say some Scarlett macaws, blue nosed parrots, and other birds all eating the minerals from the clay. They had a few practice evacuation drills, which was cool to see. Then we had breakfast on the beach with the bugs. Then we went for a botanical walk and saw some monkeys and birds. We ate some termites and became one with the jungle by getting stung by a fire ant. On the lookout for a toucan, but unfortunately, we were not lucky today. In the afternoon, we enjoyed the pool, played cards for hours, and went searching for caimen in the dark on the boat.Read more

  • South America

    Sandoval lake

    October 13 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today, Caitlin woke up very early in the hopes of seeing a toucan and went for a walk with Jay the guide. She saw monkeys, 20 species of birds and a squirrel and could hear a toucan taunting her in the distance. Then we left our beautiful retreat back to puerto maldonado. We had a swim in the pool making whirlpools and got ready four out lake Sandoval paradise adventure just as the weather started to turn. We hiked for 3 km and learnt about the walking trees and strangulation trees. We made it to canoes and started paddling in the rain. It was very soggy. We saw a friendly caiman, stinky birds and other birds. Luke was a bit scared. Then on our walk back Emma was convinced she saw an anaconda 🐍in the trees but I think it was an anaconda stick. We saw some chicken, tarantulas howling monkeys🐒 and a 3 toed sloth 🦥. Then we headed back and had a confusing dinner where they brought out dessert before the mains then said it wasn't included in our package.Read more

  • South America

    Lima

    October 14 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today we are leaving for Lima. We had a little sleep in but Jamsey woke up a little grumpy (GLS). We took the bus to the very small airport and played some cards. After landing in Lima we ran into Pablo our friend from Salkantay. Then we went exploring through the arts town and tried some ox heart (very yummy). We had a few drinks at a few bars and had a fancy last dinner (beef feet) with the love birds.Read more

  • South America

    Huacachina

    October 15 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Another early start! James and Caitlin said goodbye to Emma and Luke as they were sleeping. We took the bus to Paracas and had a boat ride to the Ballistas Islands. We saw boobie birds, sea lions, starfish, pelicans and penguins 🐧. We had a buffet lunch and nearly lost the bus (Peru hop is very unorganised and frantic). Then we headed to Huacachina. We had a very fun sand dune buggy ride. We did some sand boarding, Jamesy fell off and Caitlin lost her sunnies 😎 😜. We watched the sunset over the dunes and walked around the oasis. Then we had a lovely dinner with a very nice waiter. We fell asleep watching David Attenborough and eating chocolate 🍫 😋.Read more

    Trip end
    October 19, 2025
  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice