The final continent of our global adventure is South America. Time to dig out those old A level Spanish books and get practising. After weeks of intensive teaching throughout December, Darren has learned to say please, thank you, beer, and the numbers 1 - 39 in Spanish, so I think we'll be ok.

Being so far in advance, the route is a little more flexible here. After exploring Santiago in Chile, the idea is that we'll spend a couple of weeks travelling to our main destination in Peru. From La Paz in Bolivia, we'll need to acclimatise to the 3000m altitude, maybe by the shores of Lake Titicaca. There may even be time for some last minute and undoubtedly much needed Spanish lessons in Arequipa.

The teaching experience
Teaching and Projects Abroad advertise their placements as 'unique experiences to last a lifetime'. I must admit, the thought of walking into a school classroom for the first time as their teacher is certainly daunting.

The idea with teaching english as a foreign language (TEFL) is that you talk to the class entirely in english, using lots of miming and pointing, innovative ideas and games to enhance their learning. So if anyone out there who's previously done TEFL (or even anyone who hasn't) has any bright ideas that we could use, please do let us know.

The placement
We'll be spending 3 months teaching english as a foreign language in the Sacred Valley of the Incas near Cusco in Peru. The hiking boots will certainly be well used in this area, to take advantage of some of the most stunning scenery in the world, with many peaks of over 5000m and of course the famous Inca lost city of Machu Picchu. We'll be staying with a local family, living the lives of Peruvians and probably wearing those lovely colourful Alpaca sweaters and charming hats - expect some serious fashion statements when we get home!

The closing stages
When we leave Peru in mid January 2004, it's over to Rio de Janeiro to spend our final few weeks in Brazil, singing Barry Manilow to my heart's content on Copa Copacabana beach :)

The end :(