Southern Hemisphere Travels

September 2016 - March 2017

A 172-day adventure by Dutton Diaries Read more

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172days
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- Sep 16, 2016, 3:00am
- ☁️ 17 °C
- Altitude: 29 m
- England Hillingdon Heathrow Heathrow Terminal 4 51.45997, -0.4465651°27’36” N 0°26’48” W
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Day 1
Heathrow Airport
September 16, 2016 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Early morning start for our adventure to the other side of the world. Started well, woke up to a thunderstorm and plenty of lightning, just what you want for flying! Not to mention the downpour at Heathrow that left us pretty soaked after a run from the car. A five-inch deep pond in front of the entrance left everybody's feet nice and wet for the flight ahead.

An emotional goodbye to the parents, both at the hotel and the airport, left us feeling a little sad as well as sleepy after crossing through security, but the focus now is on what's ahead of us, a fantastic adventure hopefully filled with amazing experiences!

Thank you to all who have helped make this happen with encouragement, support and advice. Going to miss you all loads!

Now for the flight! Goodbye rain, hello sunshine....it's always there above the clouds!Read more
Linda Cowling a bit too close for comfort!
9/18/16Reply
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- Sep 16, 2016, 12:17pm
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 249 m
- Netherlands North Holland Gemeente Haarlemmermeer Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 52.31292, 4.7615652°18’47” N 4°45’42” E
Day 1
Schipol Airport
September 16, 2016 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
On the way! 4-hour wait and tiredness starting to set in! Spent the most amount of money on a pair of socks ever as still suffering wet feet from the deluge we experienced at Heathrow!
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- Sep 16, 2016, 6:22pm
- Altitude: Sea level
- North Atlantic Ocean 37.23081, -37.8611337°13’51” N 37°51’40” W
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Day 1
Over the Pacific
September 16, 2016, North Atlantic Ocean
Halfway through the flight and it feels like it has been hours already. Rob and Rich are attempting Lord of the Rings marathons...scary that this is doable considering our flight time!
A couple of movies down now and the novelty is wearing off a little. Plenty of leg room though which is great, although much to mine and Rob's annoyance (we pre-paid for legroom) Richard managed to get his for free on the day...jammy bugger!Read more
Traveler Love the window shot
9/17/16Reply
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- Sep 16, 2016, 6:08pm
- ⛅ 27 °C
- Altitude: 20 m
- Panama Provincia de Panamá Nuevo Belén Tocumen International Airport 9.06567, -79.387169°3’56” N 79°23’14” W
Day 1
Tocumen Airport, Panama
September 16, 2016 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Just waiting for the final connecting flight now to get us to Lima. Three very tired travellers who just want to get to bed! Aside from the length of time sitting and lack of sleep, it was a good flight with KLM, good food and service throughout! Think our brains will need a recoup on the beach tomorrow before hitting the jungle.
Going to stop there as God knows what I will ramble on about with so little sleep...21 hours and still counting.Read more
Traveler Hope you all manage to get well rested before starting with the exciting itinerary
9/17/16Reply
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- Sep 17, 2016, 9:58am
- ☁️ 17 °C
- Altitude: 76 m
- Peru Lima region Miraflores District Malecón Cisneros -12.12251, -77.0360512°7’21” S 77°2’10” W
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Day 2
Miraflores, Lima
September 17, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Checked in during the early hours of the morning for some much needed sleep. Safe to say we were out for the count very quickly. The airport customs check was a little difficult, our Duolingo Spanish lessons did not help us communicate with border control and after a lot of confusion and poor attempts at communication, it turns out the KLM flight number we had on our boarding pass did not actually match the one we used. Thankfully it was a quick fix in the end! The taxi ride was interesting, they like to drive fast here and with much weaving in and out of lanes, but we made it safe and sound!
Morning now and just had some lovely bread at breakfast with some interesting teas.
Off to discover the town shortly!Read more
Anne Webster Is Emma sleeping on the floor?
9/17/16Reply
Traveler Haha, no I got a bunk to the left fortunately! X
9/17/16Reply
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- Sep 17, 2016, 11:57am
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 49 m
- Peru Lima region Miraflores District Playa La Pampilla -12.1213, -77.0432312°7’17” S 77°2’36” W
Day 2
Miraflores
September 17, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Woke up feeling way more refreshed after a good night's sleep.
Headed down to the coast for our first view of the Pacific Ocean...amazing! Beautiful view, despite the fog, and the waves look great, clean and straight. Great for watching the locals surf and the tourists try to. Despite much pestering from the vendors we haven't yet taken a dip, maybe in a few days when we return. Lots of people trying out parascending from the cliffs, and getting scarily close to them too! Looks great though, and they're joined by some great looking vulture-like birds of prey that frequent the skies here. And there are little birds too, we even spotted a hummingbird today!

The sun eventually came out and the fog gave way to even more stunning views. After a wander down the steep hill to the beach, past some interesting statues and Goudi style art, we were first entertained by the misfortune of a fellow beachgoer. He was taken by surprise by a wave and landed face first on the beach. Safe to say we approached a paddle with a little more caution! And so we had our first paddle in the Pacific...lovely, except for the painful walk on the pebbles, and it was much warmer than expected too!

Crabs came out to play on the pebble beach and it was nice to just sit in the warm sun and appreciate the day and the view.

Our first proper use of Spanish to order food wasn't too bad and the early afternoon visit to the local Wong Supermarket put our English supermarkets to shame. Relaxing music with cheese, meat and cakes galore! "They're not doing it Wong, they're doing it right!" (only Rich appreciated the wonderful pun!)

Back at the hostel now before heading to Limas Old Town.Read more
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- Sep 18, 2016, 3:54am
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 31 m
- Peru Callao Bocanegra Jorge Chávez International Airport -12.02231, -77.1091512°1’20” S 77°6’33” W
Day 3
Lima Airport
September 18, 2016 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Feasted on a lovely rotisserie chicken last night after deciding we were all too worn out for an outing to Lima Old Town. Now another early start at 2:15 am, but with the prospect of getting to the Rainforest this time! Can't wait! Just waiting for the flight and trying to work out how to get some tea and coffee. In what world does a McDonald's not serve tea and coffee!?Read more
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- Sep 18, 2016, 4:01am
- Altitude: 31 m
- Peru Callao Bocanegra Jorge Chávez International Airport -12.02231, -77.1091512°1’20” S 77°6’33” W
Day 3
Lima Airport
September 18, 2016 in Peru
So....it turns out that a cup of tea here is mostly milk, with a dash of water and a floating tea bag. Oh and it doesn't even taste like tea.

Also...Richard is apparently called Richy over here.
Barbara Anderson Oh no ! Can't survive without tea 😳 Have a brilliant time xx
9/18/16Reply
Sarah Loader You'll have to show them how to make a proper yorkshire brew 😄 xx
9/18/16Reply
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- Sep 18, 2016, 9:00am
- Altitude: 99 m
- Peru Loreto Fernando Lores Buena Vista -4.31093, -73.232474°18’39” S 73°13’57” W
Day 3
Iquitos, the Peruvian Amazon Capital
September 18, 2016 in Peru
Wow!!! What an amazing day!!

From flying over the Andes with the peaks bursting above the clouds, to landing with a view of the Amazon River meandering through the forest. Absolutely incredible! The view of the forest as we approached was just spectacular. Trees as far as the eye can see and with the beautiful misty clouds evaporating from the canopy. So lucky to be here.

Our itinerary had been a bit mixed up and we had to wait for another couple to arrive before heading to the jungle. We were looked after well at the office in Iquitos though, given a room to nap and have a shower if we wanted and then taken on a tour of a conservation centre in Iquitos.

The centre works hard to rehabilitate and release several species, from tortoises (these funny things like to gather in great mounds and pile on top of each other) to monkeys, but their focus is manatees. Unfortunately, they are being killed for their meat (I would say hunted but they are docile and curious creatures so that's probably not the term to use) and the knock-on effects are awful. Without their grazing the river will starve of oxygen and much more river life would struggle to exist. They had seven babies in quarantine and three in areas focused on readaptation. Here we were fortunate enough to be allowed to get up close and feed and touch the manatees, which was pretty incredible and not something we had expected to be doing in the rainforest! They are so unexpectedly squishy and have the strangest mouths, with soft cheek like pincers to help them grab food. One thing to note though is they have extremely smelly breath! They really are such beautiful creatures though and I cannot understand how anyone could harm something so gentle.

After this, we drove through Iquitos in the slightly crazy traffic of buses, motorbikes and tuktuks. The colour everywhere is such a contrast to the usual grey and pale cities of the UK, and as we drove through the market on a Sunday you could see everyone out and about enjoying the holiday and shopping amongst the colourful stalls. I wish I hadn't lost the photos from here because the colour and the crowds really were quite spectacular. Also of note, sadly there is a real contrast too between the richer and poorer areas of the city, a gap which is continuing to grow.Read more
Linda Cowling oh wow, it all just sounds so fascinating .. you are so lucky. touching a manatee must be mind blowing.
9/20/16Reply
Barbara Anderson Fantastic Emma , sounds like you're living your dream at the moment!!!!xx
9/21/16Reply
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- Sep 18, 2016, 10:00am
- Altitude: 124 m
- Peru Loreto Fernando Lores -4.35667, -73.184°21’24” S 73°10’48” W
Day 3
More from Iquitos
September 18, 2016 in Peru
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