After seeing the falls from the Argentina side (more about that in a future blog post), we hopped over to Brazil.  The Belmond has the happy position of being right inside the park, and we were in the happy position of staying there, as Miss Tipsy Cat had more or less planned our whole trip around a particular event – and …

We stayed a week in Rio – hurrah – at a most beautiful B&B, Guest House Bianca, in Santa Teresa (fantastic hosts, great building, and an amazing view), and there were a lot of things to do, but unfortunately it rained and rained and rained, and was also a bit dangerous (don’t take any bags about with you, unless they …

Guayaquil (pronounced “Guay-a- QUIL.”) is the gateway to the Galapagos, but it’s also a lovely little town worth exploring.   Our hotel welcomed us with cocktails (thank you very much), so Tipsy was already a fan of this lovely city (and of course, she had to try the local brew and snacks). It’s incredibly colourful, with artistic murals painted along the flyovers …

The Galapagos islands are one of those once-in-a-nine-lifetime holidays, and Tipsy, being a big fan of wildlife, nature and science, was very excited to see the magical place which so inspired Charles Darwin.  However, not really having sea-paws, we opted for an island-based stay on Santa Cruz, with trips out to see the wildlife and islands. Among our highlights were …

Tipsy Cat and Chocolate go paw-in-paw, so when she heard that we could stay at a chocolate plantation, she jumped at the chance.  The hacienda was run by an American couple, who offer fine dining experiences and welcome guests with suavva – cocoa pulp juice with rum – and traditional patacón – banana fritters, named after ancient Spanish money (and …

Our hotel in Quito was run by a bunny rabbit and her English pet, so we knew we were in good paws right from the start – her pet even kindly brought us a much needed cup of tea to our room when our travelling kettle’s plug didn’t fit their electrics (the hotel has now changed paws, but I think …

If you’re going to go to the centre of the world, you might as well go to three, and lo and behold, Ecuador can offer you just that. There’s Catequilla – located on the equatorial line and which translates as ‘follower of the moon’.  Used in pre-Inca times – it indicates the great knowledge these people had about astronomy – …

Now, Tipsy Cat isn’t one of those cats who likes eating birds and cat food (she dines on delicious treats like chocolate and champagne), but she does like watching birds and generally enjoying nature.  With this in mind, our first main stop in Ecuador was the Bellavista Cloud Forest – nestled above the capital of Quito and just under two …

After all those steps going up and down Waynapicchu, we were tired.  So it was a good thing that we had decided to relax in the Sacred Valley and that Tipsy had booked us into a great resort, Kuychi Rumi.  It wasn’t one of those luxury 5 star, purpose built hotel resorts.  It was far more homey than that.  And we …

Only having little paws, we decided to take the train up to the sweet little town of Agua Calientes, and then on to Machu Picchu (MP, as everyone calls it).  The tour operator at our hotel in Cusco had organised the Vistadome train tickets, entry tickets, and guide for us – we’d booked and hotel ourselves online – and our stay …