In southern Peru’s Macusani District, circa 4,000 metre high Tantamaco is the organic native potato capital. Potatoes are indeed widely grown here and in fact originated from this part of the world. However, for me this aspect of Tantamaco was overshadowed by the awesome Andes Mountain scenery.
Stunning valley views on the drive to Tantamaco Continue reading
The journey from Ayapata to Puerto Maldonado was my most amazing and varied single day of travel ever. Seeing glaciers, tropical jungle and other magnificent landscapes all on the same day is hard to beat.
In late September 2016 Rocío and I wanted to get from Ayapata, Puno Region to Puerto Maldonado in Madre de Dios during daylight to view the scenery. There was no direct day transport, not even from Macusani. Using local advice, we reached our destination via the following steps:
A mountain with sheer cliffs towers over this building between Ayapata and Macusani Continue reading
A Pantanal water lily
The Pantanal, spread across South American countries Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay is the world’s largest tropical wetland. The region is also an amazing place for viewing wildlife despite consisting largely of privately owned cattle stations. In four days of Pantanal exploring I saw and photographed so many birds and other animals, they required separate blog posts. Continue reading
During my trip to the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands I saw dozens of bird species. Following are my best birding photos (see here for other animal photos).
Water birds, including pink roseate spoonbills, red-necked jabirus and all-white great egrets, fly off after being disturbed
Besides birds, the Pantanal hosts many other animals. Following are photos of non-avian creatures from my June 2016, four day, three night Pantanal Trekking tour.
This porcupine in a tree was only the second one the guide had ever seen. The farm workers could not believe we saw a porcupine
Continue reading