Project Maracas is a go.....

So after Kate suffered a bout of stress and time off work at the end of 2013, passing the five year cancer-free mark, Tim turning 40 and with both of us fed up of our jobs and the daily commute, it was time to have a think about where we were headed with our lives.  

It seemed like this was the ideal opportunity to take a trip....and that trip has turned out to be bigger than either of us imagined.  With the decision made to quit our jobs and go on an adventure, codename Project Maracas was born.

Tim with the maracas I bought him for his 40th
Watch out as you may see them again!

With no time constraints we originally thought that we would travel to South America - somewhere we'd always wanted to go, and then branch out into other continents - Australasia and Asia, with time in the Pacific Ocean (Tahiti), New Zealand and Oz, then to Thailand for a bit of a beachy rest before we headed home....but when looking at the dates, it didn't work out as there were some walks in New Zealand that we wanted to do that weren't 'open' during their Autumn...so change of plan...we're sticking to South America.

Project Maracas hub

Here's Kate in the 'project Maracas' hub (aka our dining room) with various books, dates and itinerary options.... 

We finalised the itinerary on 25 January after lots of to-ing and fro-ing with Round the World Experts and booked the trip on 29 January.... T minus 7 weeks and counting before the 'off' on Saturday 15 March! Crikey....

So where are we going....well, our 77 days consists of:

• Flying into Argentina
• 19 days in Patagonia - trekking, penguins, glaciers, and, er some camping (Kate's favourite!!)
• A few nights in Buenos Aires
• Making our way over ten days across Argentina into Chile (very long bus journeys), stopping off in Cordoba for some tango practice and then to Mendoza for lots of wine!
• A few nights in Santiago
• 4 days on Easter Island (where we arrive on Easter Sunday!!)
• 21 days in Peru visiting Nazca, Colca Canyon, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca (more camping!)
• A week in Bolivia spending time in La Paz and hopefully to the salt flats (overnight bus a-go-go)
• Over to Igassu to see the famous falls 
• Finishing in Rio for five nights 

As Kate also really loves flying (!!!), it should be an exciting, slightly nerve-wracking, challenging eye-opening and memorable experience.

But the first hurdle is what to pack for a 77 day trip where temperatures are likely to range from below freezing (Patagonia/Peru camping) to 25-26 degrees (Rio) with a maximum of 20 kg - especially when you need to take walking boots! hmmmm.

We'll keep you posted.