South America - fresh juices and cow heart

We do apologise for our blog absence! We have had a fantastic start to our time in South America. It feels like we were on holiday in the USA, but in South America we are really travelling. We are experiencing the challenges of learning a new language, tap water we can't drink and surroundings that are foreign. But we've already had the rewards of meeting some really great people, trying wonderful new foods and getting a second wind for travelling. Some highlights of South America so far:

1. Jugo de Naturales - Fresh, cheap freshly squeezed fruit juices. There are fruits we know and fruits we have never heard of. It's been a lot of fun just pointing to an unknown word on the juice menu and seeing what comes back.

Cheap fruit juice is the bestest!

2. Family life in Lima, Peru - We have just had three days staying with the family of our friend in New Zealand, Oliver. Four generations living under one roof. We spoke very little Español, whilst their English varied from completely non-existent to quite good. As a result our Spanish improved a lot, as did our sign language. On a side note, we will be taking some formal Spanish classes in Quito, Ecuador. After researching online, we have decided not to go for the company whose tag line was "Enrol today and start your curse tomorrow".

The wonderful family we stayed with in Peru

3. Progressive Colombia - Bogota was such a fun city, with so many cool things going on. Every Sunday, they closed the majority of the roads off to cars, and every car has a day of the week where they are not allowed to drive. This gave us the perfect opportunity to go on a bike tour! The government also has a philosophy that every citizen should have access to culture and the arts. As a result there a lots of very cool free things to do, and very cheap museums and art performances.

Bike tour!

Colombia has lots of great colour

Street art is everywhere, and it's all awesome

4. The cost of living - Jess got a really good haircut today for the equivalent of $2.90. Enough said.

5. Water fountains - We had a hilarious and wonderful night at a water fountain park in Lima. Our highlight was one particular water fountain which spurts up from the ground, with a dry spot in the middle for people to stand in. With its random sequence, it would occasionally stop entirely for a few moments, allowing people to run to the centre. We thought it looked fun, so dashed during the long pause to get to the middle - completely dry. Unfortunately on the way out, we mistook a rather short pause for a long pause and got stuck. We had to wait out a very long, and very wet 50 seconds, as we got drenched. The solution? Laugh, and pose for photos.

Crossing the fountain, trying to anticipate the water sequence

Water fountain fail!

Unfortunately Jess got a massive dose of homesickness when she first arrived in Colombia, while Chris felt it during the All Blacks v. Australia rugby match. But now that we've had some time to adjust, we are so glad that we've come to South America as it's brought a real sense of refreshment to our travelling. We were at risk of feeling a bit "over" our nomadic lifestyle, but the life and variety of this continent has gone far in reigniting our sense of wonder. Yay! Having adventures in other countries has made us appreciate the joys of home so much more, but we are still so excited for the next 3 months in South America. Tomorrow is our first day on a two week organised tour, where we get to walk the Inca Trail, visit Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, and spend a couple of nights in the Amazon. Coolest fortnight EVER. We'll let you know how it goes!

In the main square of Lima, Peru

Chris works his new alpaca jumper

Cow heart, anyone?