Skinny Spicy Cauliflower Soup

The latter half of our seven month trip was in South America and the effects of a high carb, meaty diet are really showing as I can no longer fit in to my favourite J Brands. Sob! So, for the past week since returning from our epic round the world adventure I’ve been trying to cram as many vegetables into my diet as possible. 

Ten Travel Essentials For Female Travellers

After seven eventful and fulfilling months backpacking across India, South East Asia and South America there are a few things in my backpack, well, ten to precise, that I would struggle to travel without. Unless you're flashpacking or a journalist for Condenast Traveler backpacking is a very unglamorous life, you literally carry everything you need/own with you as you go.  Yes, whatever you decide you 'need' you're going to have to carry so the idea is to travel as light as possible and the selection process of what to take is very daunting. 

Eating Cartagena

The journey to Cartagena from Iquitos was a long and tiring one, so when we woke in our cramped but beautiful hotel room we were very excited to be in Colombia. Cartagena is a major port on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a beautiful, Spanish colonial walled town and an impressive fortress that was built to defend the city against pirates. We stayed in Getsamani, a small neighbourhood outside of the old walls where back in the pirate day the African slaves used to live, more recently its where prostitutes made their living and today it’s very backpacker friendly!

Border Mission: Peru to Colombia

Iquitos was a very different city once we returned from our trip into the Amazon. It was early afternoon and everybody was in town, the streets were literally buzzing with rickshaws, it was so noisy and almost impossible to cross the road as there was so much traffic. Such a contrast to the serenity we’d just experienced in the jungle! 

Amazon Adventures With Jungle Man

Our journey to the mighty Amazon jungle began in Lima, after a couple of days hanging out in the trendy bars and restaurants of the Barranco neighbourhood, we boarded our $80 flight to Iquitos. Our decision to venture into the Amazon was made just one week before whilst we were in Cusco. After a few hours research and a couple of emails we chose to stay at the native owned Abundancia Ecolodge over the many American owned luxury lodges also near to Iquitos. Our guide would be Miguel aka Jungle Man!