Baders on tour are officially BADERS BACK HOME!

So our journey is over and a new adventure begins.

We've met so many lovely people around the world: local people and people on journeys both around their own countries and abroad, many of whom we'll be keeping in touch with.  

We've been fortunate enough to experience how incredible nature is - at times harsh, fragile, adorable, deadly, vast, inspiring, awesome, frightening and beautiful.

Louis and Frankie, in particular, have been learning, not so much from a formal curriculum, but more from the experience of exploring and adapting to different places and situations along the way. They've learned things about people, about geography, about history, about language. They've been adventurous with food, both eating it, sometimes cooking it and - when it came to a fish-market in Borneo where people choose their own 'live' dinner - avoiding it. They've learned a lot about making choices and the implications of sticking to a budget (not that they've always liked the outcomes!) both our family budget, and spending their own hard-earned money. 

They've met some wonderful children in village schools in Brazil, Ecuador and Fiji and learned about what it's like for those children and their families to grow up in these places.  They've realised that children can be happy, friendly, welcoming and prepared to share, regardless of their background.  

They've picked up a whole bunch of mementos along the way, from Louis' not-so-portable sand board, a nevertheless very thoughtful gift from his instructor in Uruguay, to a boomerang from Oz, wood carvings and pottery that the boys made in Nepal and blowpipes in Borneo.

As a family, we have an abundance of memories of shared experiences that hopefully our photos, videos, journals and our blog will help us remember more vividly.

Our trip has been everything we wanted it to be, and more.  And finally, after approximately:

• 67,000 kilometres by air
• 25,000 kilometres over land and sea, (by bus, car, train, pick-up, lorry, motorbike, horse, bicycle, rickshaw, zip-line, motor-bike, sand-board and on foot, and by big boat, rowing boat, long-boat, jet-boat, surfboard, canoe, raft, rubber ring and swimming)
• 350 days away
• 119 blog entries
• 110 different locations slept in, including hostels, hotels, B and Bs, estancias, log cabins, inns, mountain lodges, buses, jungle camps, friends' houses, planes, a farm, an RV, a car and an airport lounge
• 70 km by train (A Brazilian mountain train with free alcohol, arriving nearly 3 hours late, best train journey ever!
• 35 take-offs
• 34 landings! 
• 12 countries
• 5 foreign languages
• 5 overnight bus journeys (longest was 33 hours in Argentina!)
• 3 village schools attended (excluding the Bader Travel school, the boys' least favoured option!) 
• 2 huge spiders on pillows
• 1 orang-utan adopted

Baders on tour are officially BADERS BACK HOME!

Thank you for your many comments and messages over the last 12 months, it's been really good to keep in touch and we look forward to catching up over the coming weeks. 

Leaving Heathrow Airport

Back at Heathrow 1 year later!

Top 10 activities on our trip

We've been asked about what the best activities on our trip were. There are so many memorable things that we've done together in our year away, its difficult to distil this to just ten, especially with a 'late contender' from our recent time in Borneo.

As we talked about this as a family and also started trying to rank them, we found it very hard to compare, say, the thrill of swimming with a sea-lion with the wonder of staring in awe at one of the highest mountains in the world.

So we decided to just put a list together of the things we enjoyed the most, not to worry too much about the order of them and not to feel guilty about many other things we enjoyed doing that aren't on this list too.

Skydive Taupo, New Zealand

Ready to jump.....(as if you have much choice at this stage!)

No doubt about the biggest adrenalin rush of all - Skydiving.

Whooooo-hoooo!

Snorkelling with sealions at La Loberia, Galapagos, Ecuador

Sunset at La Loberia

Amazingly, this is something you can do quite easily in the Galapagos - and it's free.  La Loberia is a deserted beach on the small island of San Cristobal, with sealions everywhere - you are very much on their beach. The younger ones in particular are very playful, they swim right up to you at high speed, inches from your face, and then arch away, or they'll swim rapidly around you in circles. There is always a large bull sealion patrolling to remind you not to get too close!

Observing amazing wildlife by boat and on horseback in the Pantanal, Brazil

Horse ride at sunset along the river bank on obedient horses!

We spent a few days in the Pantanal, and were amazed by the abundance and richness of wildlife there.  It was a fantastic experience for the boys, already fascinated by animals thanks to Steve Backshall's Deadly 60, to have so many up-close wildlife encounters. The caiman, jabiru, great black hawk (especially the one with the water cobra in its talons!) giant otter, hyacinth macaw, piranha and of course toucan are just a few we remember seeing there. 

The caimen are so still, sometimes you don't
see them even if you are really close!

Sandboarding and surfing in Cabo Polonio, Uruguay

Fabry, the boys and Louis' new birthday gift!

We're sure Louis won't forget his 9th birthday.  

Staying at the tiny, remote and querky coastal village of Cabo Polonio, Louis had a sandboarding lesson in the morning and a surfing lesson in the afternoon. 

Fabry, the sandboarding teacher even gave Louis the sandboard they were practicing on as a gift, afterwards!

Frankie had a go too!

Louis getting the hang of the waves

Dolphin and whale watching at Puerto Pyramides, Valdes Peninsula, Argentina

One of the whales duly obliged with this classic pose

The Valdes peninsula is famous for the orcas that beach themselves in February to catch and feed on unsuspecting young seals.  

We were there in December so missed this (perhaps just as well...the boys might have been a little upset!) but did get to see the orcas from a distance, as well as marvelling at the majestic southern right whales passing directly under the boat.

We were leaning out over the front and this 15 metre
beauty passed by directly underneath

Buller Gorge Jetboat, South Island, New Zealand
The Shotover ride in Queenstown normally gets all the attention but this trip on Buller Gorge, also on the South Island, is longer, less busy, cheaper, just as fast and definitely very exhilarating!

High-speed thrills

Did I mention you get a bit wet?

Trekking to Poon Hill, Nepal
We did a five-day trek in the Annapurna region of the Himalayas. It was a real challenge (especially the going up part!) and gave the boys a strong sense of achievement, especially when we reached 10,000 feet and were rewarded with memorable views of some of the Top 10 highest mountains in the world.

Annapurna South, at 8,091m, 10th highest mountain in the world

With our guide, Ratna and Dhaulagiri, 8167m, in the background

Machupachare, the famous, sacred, 'Fishtail', just before sunrise

White water rafting and "cool river running" in San Rafael, Argentina
We rafted a few times on the Atuel river, and Louis and I also went down in a kind of converted inner tube, which they call "Cool River".  It kept you very close to the action! My father came over from England and celebrated his 80th by white-water rafting with us too!

Rafting on 31st December - great way to see out the old year!

Louis and Frankie loved getting wet!

Louis getting face to face with a rapid while "Cool river" running

Tropical island hopping on Ovalau, Fiji
We spent three weeks in Fiji, mainly at Bobo's Farm.  As well as introducing us to the wonderfully hospitable villagers of Rukuruku and guiding us on hikes into the jungle, Bobo took us to the the most beautiful local islands enjoying excellent snorkelling, drinking and eating fresh coconuts, and sampling the fish he'd just caught with his spear!

Approaching Mystery Island

Just moored on our very own Moloi Island, only surfaces at low tide!

Going home to Rukuruku

Amazing wildlife in the tropical rainforests of Borneo

Frankie with a crested lizard

In our month in Borneo, we stayed in jungle camps and wooden shacks to experience wildlife encounters we'll never forget.  We saw orangutans, proboscis monkeys, silver-leaf monkeys, huntsman spiders, snakes, frogs, lizards, bats (over 2 million of them) and more - it's a very long list!

Proboscis monkey having a bad day

The youth of today are so uninhibited.....

2 million bats head out of their cave each night here in Mulu, Borneo

Icebergs and glaciers in Patagonia, Argentina
We spent three weeks in Patagonia and got up close to the amazing - and advancing - Perito Moreno glacier. We saw an enormous shard the size of a house slide into the water - and our treks took us to the windiest and coldest parts of our entire trip.

Ice crashing into the water at the giant arch that heads the glacier

Real icebergs!

Not surprisingly, the ice is very cold

Travelling around Western Australia in an RV

Breakfast on the beach at Cape Range

We spent a month - and 5,000 kilometres - working our way up the west coast and returned on an inland route back to Perth. The spectacular Cape Range National Park, the beautiful, rugged gorges of the Karijini, and the endless salt flats of Lake Ballard were three of the many highlights.

The unusual statues dotted around the vast salt flats of Lake Ballard

Paragliding over Lima, Peru

A great introduction to alternative air travel, over the beaches, parks and traffic of Lima.

All good up here....

I'm loving this!

Yes I know.  There are more than 10. Sorry.

Latest video - Trekking in the Himalayas

In our previous post below, we talked about our recent trek to Poon Hill in the Annapurna range in Nepal, and shared some photos. Here is a short video of the experience, including some interviews with Louis and Frankie beforehand about what they were expecting!

Four stations in one day.......

I like truckin', I like truckin'........

Driving around Australia in a campervan is a great way to see the country, and makes arriving and leaving new places refreshingly simple.  No need to book ahead, no need to lug your rucksacks out of the car or bus and then unpack them.  And consequently no need to repack them when you are leaving.  You just park, turn on the gas for the cooker and you are good to go. Sure, the journeys are long and the scenery can be boring at times, but there are a heap of things that could happen on the way to keep you on your toes.

Ready for the 'Kangaroo Slalom'

Firstly, there's the possibility of a kangaroo about to leap out, especially if you are early in the morning or approaching sunset.  You see enough dead ones to know that this is a reasonable bet at some point. Then there's the added drama of overtaking road trains, all fifty-plus metres of them, with the excitement of the rear trailer (some have four trailers in all) snaking along and threatening to whip across and push you off the road as you attempt to pass; the sheer length of the road trains making you sometimes question whether you have left enough road to pass them as it takes an age to do so, and forget the huge sideways gusts of air as you finally pass the front of these giant road beasts. I chatted with a road train driver, he said they drive sometimes 1,400 kilometres in a day, up to 17 hours. (I couldn't help thinking about the "I like trucking" sketch from the 'Not The Nine O'clock News' team all those years ago, but there wasn't a kangaroo sticker in sight on the driver's door). 

Move over,  house coming

You get plenty of “wide loads” coming along, which force you to come off the road sometimes less you find yourself embedded in the side of a moving house......yes house. Then every now and again you'll see a flurry of activity on the road ahead, and as you get closer, you'll make out crows and wedge tail eagles feasting greedily on a bloody carcass, probably the latest victim of the merciless road train, that stops for practically nothing. The eagles are always last to leave the table, circling lazily around to return once you've passed.  But the crows are cannier - we've seen quite a few dead eagles, but not a single dead crow. 

Australia is the most expensive of all the places visited on our trip to date. So when we found ourselves visiting four gas stations in one day yesterday on a particularly long trip from Karajini to Sandstone, I figured we'd definitely not be coming out under budget for the day.  I'm not saying that we used four full tanks, but the received wisdom out here is generally to top up whenever you can, as the distance between filling stations can often be 200 or 300 kilometres or in some cases, particularly when you get inland, considerably more. 

Beach breakfast al fresco

Head to toe in their cosy RV bed

Still, this part of the trip was particularly for the boys, who loved the idea of an RV trip ever since we spent a week on a houseboat in Canada a couple of summers ago. And they, and indeed we, haven't been disappointed. Lots of meals al fresco, (except when the flies become just too much), and opportunities to sleep close to nature - like in the Cape Range National Park by the beach on the amazing Ningaloo Reef amongst inquisitive kangaroos; or in the outback at Karajini National Park close to the beautiful gorges and refreshing lakes; or overlooking the curious metal sculptures that dot the dried out salt flats of Lake Ballard and seem to continue endlessly out towards the shimmering horizon. 

Camping on the edge of Lake Ballard

I'm sure we'll miss the RV a little when we hand the keys back in a couple of days. Although having a little more space will no doubt be welcome too!

Loads of room, really, when you have a system.......

Saying Adios to South America

Being on the move quite a bit, you get accustomed to looking forward and not back. But as we pass into New Zealand, and with it, the half way mark of our trip, we found ourselves reflecting fondly on our 6 months in South America and what a rewarding and exciting journey together it has been so far. 

From the absorbing Atlantic Rainforest trails of REGUA, north of Rio, with the lovely people we shared time with - the owners, volunteers and delightful children at the Guiapaçu school - to the amazing, memorable, close-up wildlife experiences of the Pantanal, that we enjoyed on horseback, on foot, by boat and by truck.

Getting to know the sunny South American coastline from Rio in Brazil down through Uruguay to Buenos Aires in Argentina, and the fun we spent at Ilha do Mel, Ubatuba, and the uniquely tranquil, querky and beautiful Cabo Polonio, where we celebrated Louis‘  9th birthday and the boys surfed and sand-boarded for the first time.

Learning about life in the Galapagos, the differences across the various islands and enjoying the unforgettable encounters with wild and playful sea-lions there, (and the not-so-playful huge grumpy one), and paragliding over Lima on the way back.

Enjoying our introduction to Argentina with Spanish lessons in Buenos Aires and the freedom of horse-riding across the wide open plains a few hours south with the impressive and engaging Gauchos at the Estancia La Margarita.

Relaxing and sometimes being restless on the long, very long bus trips across Argentina, and all the amazing wildlife experiences that these journeys afforded us, with penguins, Southern Right Whales, Orcas and other dolphins; with baby fur seals as well as huge elephant seals, not to mention hairy tarantulas and our time with dinosaurs (though the latter is not strictly “wildlife!”)

And in the south of Argentina, where the boys learned all about glaciers, (both advancing and retreating!) whilst finding their trekking feet on the lovely, natural trails of El Chalten against the breathtaking beauty of Patagonia there.

Thinking of home a little, whilst celebrating Christmas in Bariloche with our good friend Jarrod, who came all the way from the UK to see us, ahead of our drive along the best and worst of the famed Ruta 40.

Climbing volcanos in Chile, and the fun and games with borders in between, as well as getting up close to lofty Aconcagua.   

Finishing with one of our favourite places, at San Rafael, in Argentina, so good, we went there twice, with my fathers 80th birthday celebration, to enjoy the tranquility of the place, and the warmth and hospitality of our hosts Mike and Vicki, the volunteers and other guests (and of course the dogs!)

And across all these places, we’ve been struck by the kindness and friendliness of far too many people to name, their patient and welcoming nature, especially with the boys, their interest in our own adventure and openness to share about themselves.  It's helped make the experiences we've shared as a family together, which, after all, was the prime motivation for this trip, that much more memorable. 

So it's not hard to see whey we’ll be wanting to come back to South America someday.  Perhaps the World Cup or the Olympics might afford an opportunity!

10 days in El Chalten

We arrived in El Chalten to introduce the boys to trekking. 

Patagonia, not a bad place to cut your teeth, although I think the boys' interest in a stunning glacial view is probably more transitory than ours, unless there is something extra, like a huge chunk of ice falling from a glacier, in which case their undivided attention is assured.  

We’d passed by La Leona on the way, where Butch Cassidy is reputed to have stopped during his bank raids in Southern Argentina with the Sundance kid. We made a note of that being a film to show the boys. (select "Read more" below to continue)

Relaxation and calm at Estancia La Margarita

We wrote a couple of days ago about our horse riding experiences, but that is only a part of the story of our relaxing stay at the Estancia, and in the rushing about of the ensuing week, albeit with fantastic animal observation experiences, and very long bus journeys, we have found ourselves looking back on the calm of those few days and wishing we had a few more to spend there.  

On the first day, within an hour of arriving, the boys had a great time milking the cows and enjoyed a very fresh cup of warm milk.

"But there's not much coming out?"

"No Frankie, it's like THIS!"

And whilst the horse riding was the main focus for channelling the boys energy it was by no means the only one, participating in a variety of other activities including cycling (bikes for both on the estancia) table football and table tennis....

Brian entertaining the boys as usual!

Spoilt for choice

......and indeed sideways hammock jumping, which the boys took to very enthusiastically, Frankie unable to beat his record, though, of 5 metres at Cabo Polonio! 

On reflection too, it was one of the rarer times this trip when we could give the boys some independence and just let the boys run around on their own and be confident that they would be fine, which, aside from Louis somehow cycling into a window - no damage - to Louis, at least, (sorry David) they achieved, giving Mummy and Daddy some relaxation time ourselves. 

Glass of wine please, Louis!

Aside from the activities above, plus the horse riding, sleeping and eating, if we couldn't find the boys, we know they would be off playing with the four kittens....

Shhhhhhhhh! Tigre's asleep!

Louis, Frankie, Tigre, Negra, Chaussette and George

And it wasn't just our boys who were fond of the kittens - Antoine, from Belgium, one of the great volunteers, was very keen too!

Antoine with Chaussette, which explains why the kitten has a French name!

We were never too far from a mealtime, where we got to enjoy the food that Raquel, Veronica and the team prepared for us.

Breakfast is served

Mealtimes at lunch and in the evening also gave us a chance to chat with owners David and Susana, and some of the other people staying at the estancia, including three English girls travelling together whom the boys in particular really liked and were sharing stories with, and two lovely Argentinian couples from Buenos Aires, all very patient with my faltering Spanish (thanks for the Atlas Luiz, very useful when we rented a car a few days later!).  On the first night, after a delicious meal, we all sat round on the comfy seats in the lovely lounge, with host David leading the guitar playing and us all singing songs together, and although it was late we let the boys come back to join us, as they'd been sitting up in bed anyway, singing along too!

Estancia owner David, without guitar, with Baders on tour

So we were sad to leave when the finally day arrived all too quickly. We'd all improved our horse-riding significantly, and had really unwound and as well as the boys having plenty of time to play with each other, had shared many experiences altogether too, it was all in all a super time. 

One last photo before we leave

Two very sad boys who didn't want to leave. Mum looks a bit wobbly too....

We got a nice mention from David in his blog "The English Gaucho" a few days later which gave us all an opportunity to relive it for a while. Thanks for this David. 

http://englishgaucho.blogspot.com.ar/2012/11/thanks-phil-and-family-for-your-lovely.html