Kaili's solo footsteps around the world in over 100 countries..
After a very average overnight bus I had a full day to explore the town of Cuenca. I was back up in altitude and feeling it a bit but managed to walk through the markets, in and out of hat museum and all around the Pumapungo ruins.
An overnight bus from Cusco to Arequipa sounded fine, until the road froze over and we had to wait in the middle of a highway (in a huuuge line of cars) until the sun rose and melted the ice. Peru had it all…
Cusco was my first stop in Peru and wow did it exceed any expectations I had of this magical city. Every corner I took I was blown away at how pretty it was.
Leaving San Pedro de Atacama and entering into Bolivia was an incredible way to cross borders! We met up with our group and our driver, Franz, and drove along our first lake, Laguna Blanca, with the amazing mirror reflections. Stunning.
Flying over the Andes Mountains to arrive in Santiago was magical – the mountains were huge.! My first night in Santiago included an earthquake which shook the bunk beds enough to wake me up and consider having to do something but it soon wore off and I went back to sleep.
Now that my whirlwind trip back home was over it was time to get underway with my South American adventures, straight into Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It was sad leaving the island but I didn’t have time to dwell, so many exciting things to look forward to in Trinidad and Tobago! A wedding and carnival just some of things to look forward too..
October meant we were nearing the end of hurricane season and it had been one of the worst in the last ten years, Hurricane Irma luckily didn’t hit us but we had the rough weather..
It was then time for my next whirlwind trip, this time including a visit home for the first time in a couple of years.
I had been looking into cheap flights to different islands of the Caribbean and Sint Maarten came up so I did some research of the surrounding Leeward Islands, grabbed a friend and off we went..!
It had been over two years since I last went to Cuba and, seeming it is one of the closest islands to where I live, I had to go visit again. This time it was straight to Vinales..!
For Easter I had another visitor and this time we went exploring the Dominican Republic. I had a 10-day trip planned and so many places I wanted to check out!!
The first trip of 2017 was to Treasure Beach in Jamaica. Myself and a friend planned a trip for a group of about 13 of us for a long weekend..!
I decided to go to Puerto Rico as I wanted to get back to nature and go hiking.. Puerto Rico looked like great fun so off I went for a long weekend..
After my last whirlwind trip it was back into training mode for my first time attending USA touch nationals in Orlando. We had a ladies team (for the first time) and a couple of men’s teams that were traveling.
My next big trip started off by meeting my trusty travel buddy, Mitty, in Panama ready for a new adventure making our way through to Colombia.
The June long weekend meant another weekend in New York, this time for a touch rugby tournament. A bit of a last minute plan but it was great fun. As it was a new sport to me it was great to see other teams and play a few more games.
A good friend of mine, Janelle, and I booked a weekend trip away to the jungles of Pico Bonita National Park for a weekend full of activities.
Another long weekend meant booking a last minute trip to the Big Apple, this time getting out to the wilderness of Bear Mountain!
As I had a couple of friends in Roatan, why not go for a weekend visit?!
There were direct flights from Grand Cayman to La Ceiba then it was a short propeller plane ride over to the island of Roatan.
Next up was Easter where I met my Dad in New York City for some more exploring.
It was cold, very cold. But the sun was out and skies were blue so I could not complain. As my Dad had arrived a couple days before me, he managed to check out most of the touristy sites already..
