Team Taekwondo Dodo: South America ´11

In Taganga, Colombia, we'd splashed out on food a couple of times. Well, compared to our normal meal budget anyway. Two pounds a dish is hardly breaking the bank for really delicious tapas; amazing cerviche, succulent prawns and melt-in-your mouth calamari no less than you'd expect in a fishing village I suppose, with a couple of happy hour cocktails in keeping with the spirit of a Caribbean holiday destination. Two nights later we headed up the hill to the big backpackers, the most unlikely place to find a gourmet feed but chef Patrick served us up fantastic plates of food; a seabass with capers and white wine sauce, and a pepper steak at little more than a fiver each. Both nights of 'extravagance' were well worth every penny and as we hadn't had such good food for a while, it prompted the discussion about which had been our best meal so far. Naturally we both immediately thought back to PDG, but quickly added fond memories with much more humble origins to compete for our favourite: a feast of fresh calamari and fish washed down with a caipirinha in Gamboa cost us almost nothing; a tasty bbq chicken washed down with a couple of litres of coke at a roadside stall in Rurrenabaque, even less. It was relieving to realise that PDG hadn't turned us into complete snobs!

But if talking individual meal, which one at PDG would we choose anyway?

Breakfast: the 8 course tasting menu?

Lunch: one of the special grills, meat or seafood?

Or dinner: private table for two on the island, or sharing with a handful of others on the candle-lit beach?

Yep, a pretty difficult choice! Truth be told, if push came to shove, we'd both probably opt for the bowls of prawn and calamari down by the lagoon that we ordered as an appetiser, but pretty much ruined our lunch. They were huge, and just the most moreish thing you can imagine. Sorry, no pictures, but here's one of the view we had whilst devouring them...

Oh, and in case you are wondering, PDG is a swish resort in Brazil where we more or less started our whole trip. Here's a few more non food-related views to paint you a picture...

Yep, more than a couple of times in the last few months we'd wished we were back there! But you know what, we're just as happy munching empanadas on a street corner or sleeping on the beach in hammocks, and wouldn't swap the associated memories for the world. We're just very very lucky to have had the opportunity to do both, and we sure as hell know it.

First hurdle, I didn't bring my driver's licence. This wasn't in the plan remember. So having never driven on the wrong side before, in a car way bigger than she's used to (and bigger than we expected of course, American's love an upgrade), Angela pulled nervously out of the rental shop. At least it only had 2 pedals (American's do not love gears). Cue much amusement every time she tried to find the gearstick in the side-glove pocket! To be fair, she quickly got used to it and soon we were turning through red lights and undertaking people on the freeway.

We witnessed first hand exacly why undertaking is banned in the UK, as two speeding cars came within inches of each other as they tried to move into the same lane infront of us. There are billboards every mile telling you that a good lawyer will fight your speeding ticket or drink-driving charge, so don't worry about that one. And indicators, who needs them right? In a stroke of genius, US cars have the rear ones the same colour as brake and rear-lights. There are two orange lights at the front which you can see clearly. But they are side-lights. We've been on so many more dangerous roads on our travels, true, but because people ignore what rules there are. The irony is not lost on us, that whilst they are busy bombing the Middle East to make their country 'safer', they have stupid rules that make this place so dangerous! We didn't take any optional extras, so our glovebox was empty.

We were heading from San Diego to Vegas but with a couple of days to spare we eyed the map, joined up the dots, and spent our first night in the tent at Joshua Tree National Park. The Colorado and Mojave Deserts join here and provide two different habitats, with the Mojave home to the spikey Joshua Trees the park is named after (apparently it isn't named after U2 at all!) Either way, they are both desserts, so stinking hot in the summer and we didn't really need our trusty tent at all (and definitely not our $15 sleeping bags) as nightime only offers lows in the high 70s. We just used the inner tent which meant we were essentially sleeping under the stars. It is quite amazing to lie there in bed with a sparkling ceiling above. It's the sort of place you don't really want to close your eyes, but a day's driving and an evening hike sorted us out. Well until about 6am and first light. Then something really strange happened. We voluntarily jumped up, packed the car and hit the hills! I think it was possibly more driven by fear of the midday sun (and easily 100 degrees upwards) than anything, but it set the theme for our trip...early morning hike, daytime drive in our lovely air-conditioned car and a sunset stroll at our next amazing destination.

It was Saturday night when we camped in Joshua Tree, and we'd been braced for a crowded park or possibly full campsites as Labour Day approached to signal the end of summer. We were amazed to find ourselves hiking trails and enjoying incredible views with barely a soul around us. It was a wonderful way to start our adventure, even if it lacked some of the more jaw-dropping sights other parks promised. It was a short-lived isolation of course, as we hit the road towards the shining lights of Las Vegas.

I don't have too much to say about Vegas to be honest, everyone knows the score. It was fun to go and see it, but lets be honest, neither of us are at risk of losing our homes to a gambling habit. And this trip was more about the great outdoors. We enjoyed our couple of days wandering along The Strip, in and out of the mega-hotels and casinos. Some are amazing and stylish. Some are grotesque. All are enormous. It is amusing to find huge shopping malls that most cities would be proud of, just inside a hotel! We mostly pondered what it would be like to be an interior designer in these places. Crazy.

So let's move on, we've got 6 more parks to cover remember! To be fair, the next week can fairly easily be summarised, you already know the drill...enjoy the sunset, sleep under the stars, early morning hike, drive during the heat and start all over again at the next incredible place. And these places are incredible, they really are. We barely scratched the surface and would have loved more time at each to go explore some more. In order, we hit Zion Canyon, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, (back to Zion for a night), Sequoia, King's Canyon and finally Yosemite National Park. All offer such different delights, from the scary but accessible peaks of Zion (I am very proud of Angela for scrambling up to Angel's Landing. I am not at all ashamed to say I am far too scared of heights to even contemplate it!), to the incredible scale of the Grand Canyon, otherworldly hoodoos of Bryce, and finally the greener meadows, giant trees and domed granite peaks back in California.

The only real break from the routine was the hike down into the Grand Canyon. It was so incredible to descend further and further into the multicoloured layers that we went a little further than planned and the hike out really tested the legs and lungs! Fortunately we enjoyed a bit of cloud cover so didn't completely fry (the biggest strategic mission of the day was rationing our water back to the filling station) and whilst the altitude is not inconsiderable at the rim (over 8000 feet) I think we have benefited from our time in the Andes and didn't suffer as much as most. We both really enjoyed a bit of challenge after missing out a lot of the hiking we'd planned in South America.

The only other excursion from our daily routine was the mission from Utah back to California, via Arizona and Nevada. Poor Angela having to do the whole stint of course, but did a great job, driving almost all day from Zion to Sequoia. The drive up into and through the park quite a test at the end of a long day on narrow roads, steep gradients and winding bends. We'd also arrived on Labour Day weekend, so the place was mobbed and the campsites full. Luck was with us as we hadn't really planned a contingency, being informed you can free-camp in the National Forest that borders the park. So after a little bit of an adventure in the dark we found the perfect spot and Angela tasted her first night of wild camping. She's converted. It was so quiet and peaceful. And free! I should add at this point, that this wasn't the only thing she converted to on this road trip...after sceptically agreeing to the first, she was practically begging me to stop for our next MacDonald's breakfast! No road trip is complete without one. And the added fun early morning in US towns in the middle of nowhere, is listening to the group of elder gents gathered at the next table, mulling over anything from College football to shooting racoons. Alas I'm not quite sure where we stand now though, as she got food poisoning at the second one...

And that was that. The time flew by and before you know it we were heading over the Bay Bridge to drop the car off in San Francisco. Both of us were pretty happy to ditch the car, Angela did an amazing job but it wasn't entirely stress free! But we wouldn't swap it. It was such a good trip and just what we needed after Central America stalled a little. I was personally moved by the great American outdoors, and I'd love to come back and spend an awful lot more time here. Maybe Autumn would be a good time though, when it cools a little. Then I suppose if pushed I could stay a little into winter. I've heard the snow isn't too bad in Utah.