The Uyuni salt flats

On the way to the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia we stopped at a train graveyard. We took lots of pictures of the trains. The trains were really rusty and some parts were cut out.

When we got to a village where people processed salt,we had lunch on a salt table! After lunch, we gave the dogs some leftovers from lunch. I can tell that they liked it because they went to to the leftovers right away. We played frisbee while we were waiting for our tour to leave. Once, when my mom missed the frisbee, a dog tried to catch it!

When we got to the salt flats we took pictures. There was a picture of me stomping on my family! I wasn't really stomping on my family, it was a tricky picture where I was up front and my family was far away.

You can see our pictures on Instagram at @greatbigadventure and @vida_sabatica

Copacabana, Bolivia

When we got to Copacabana, we saw cars that were blessed. They put flowers on the cars. They put crosses and holy water on the cars. They poured champagne and Coca Cola on the cars.

After our lunch, we went in a tube you can roll in on the lake! One time, I did a summersault in it! My dad didn’t go in it because he was watching our belongings.

On our bus to La Paz,we watched a movie called Bedtime Stories and they severed us popcorn and water.

When we got to our hotel, the door was locked. Our guide was ringing the door bell. The man inside did not come for about ten minutes. Finally he came. I was glad our guide was there to help us!

The Amazon

We went to the Amazon Basin. It was very hot! For the first part of our adventure, we went to an animal refuge. There are lots of animals like parrots, macaws, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, marmosets, a puma, butterflies, lizards, a spectacled bear, turtles and turtle eggs. My favourite part was the howler monkeys because they sounded like lions! And a parrot was posing for my pictures! He would poke his head out of the fence whenever I came close to him, but he would hide whenever anyone else came over.

During our adventure, we stayed in a cabin. In the morning my dad almost stepped on a millipede! We also saw the millipede under my mom's bed! We also saw the millipede curled up under Charlie’s mattress!

One of our activities was to visit Monkey Island. This is an island with monkeys that have been released from the animal refuge. When we were walking through Monkey Island, we did not see any monkeys but on our way back we saw one monkey! When we saw the monkey, we threw food up to him and he tried to catch it! He caught most of it!

Rainbow Mountain

I went on a trip to Rainbow Mountain. To get to the top, I went riding on a horse. My horse's name was Punchito Blanco (White Punch). I took a horse because we were about 14,000 feet above sea level and it was hard to breathe.

But I did walk part of the way. It was hard! When I got to the top I saw how the mountain looked like a rainbow. There were lots of different colours in stripes. When we were sitting at the top two dogs came over to us. The dogs had thick black fur and it was warm and soft. When I felt their fur I wanted to hug them because I was cold!

After our hike we had lunch. When we were eating lunch, a tiny dog came in and it started bitting everybody because it was teething. After lunch me and Charlie played fetch with him.

If you would like to see pictures of my adventures, you can check out Instagram:
@greatbigfamilyadventure and @vida_sabatica

Machu Picchu

We took a train to Machu Picchu. They served us tea and chia seeds biscuits. They were delicious! When we were on our way to the ruins, we saw llamas! We pet them and walked around with them, we’re only allowed to walk around the ruins once but we wanted to see the lamas again and luckily the people at the gate let us see them again. The second time was better than the first because all the tour groups had finished and we had them all to ourselves! All the llamas had tags on their ears. One said “ME” that must have been his name! While I was drawing one, most of the Lamas came to where I was sitting! I pet them and took pictures of them. One of the llamas stepped on my hat! I thought it would be smooshed but it wasn’t! I am glad we went a second time.

Cusco

We traveled on a Peru Hop bus from Lima all the way to Cusco. We finished the route so they gave us T-shirts.  Mine is so big on me because they only have adult sizes but I like how it fits.

In Cusco,  there are a lot of shops selling souvenirs. Everyone wants people to come in their shops.  One lady threw me into her shop so the rest of my family would come in! It was really funny!

Cusco grows cocoa beans. Cocoa beans make chocolate.  We went to a workshop at the Choco Museo and learned how to make chocolate right from the cocoa beans. It was really fun and delicious!  I was able to make my own chocolate. All you have to do is roast some cocoa beans, peel them, crush and grind them,  mix in sugar and powdered milk and cocoa butter. Melt it, then form it,  and put it in the refrigerator. And then eat it! The chocolate is really good!

Arequipa and Colca Canyon

We got to Arequipa on a night bus and when I got out of the bus I lost my Winnipeg Jets hat on the bus! So I had to get a new hat. I went shopping in the market for a new hat. I saw lots of things including a dead chicken. It still had its head and its feet! It smelled bad!

We went for a hike in the Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon is a big crack in the ground. When we were waiting to hike, there was a tiny black dog. It was very playful!lt licked me and knocked me down! It found a bone and ate it! The hike was very hard! It was a big hike and took three days! There were lots of animals on the way up, like donkeys, dogs, mules, chickens, and roosters.