Greetings from Cuba

I am currently on my holidays in Cuba. I will let you know all about what I got up to when I get back. Hope you all have a great half-term!

Thorny x

Hello everyone, Shimla is very cold at this time of year but has stunning views and a lot of history surrounding the city. During the time of British rule in India, Shimla was the summer capital. On the plains around Delhi it gets very, very hot during the summer months, so during this time the Viceroy and his staff would retreat to the hills where it was cooler. It wasn't just the Summer capital of India, but of the whole of the British Empire at the time. At one point one fifth of the globe was controlled from Shimla. Lots of the building here look very english, in fact it looks a little bit like Winchester! I visited the Viceregal Lodge where the British in charge lived and governed. It is a beautiful building and again wouldn't look out of place anywhere in England. It is also the place where Indian Independance was finalised in 1947. A lot of important people were there, including Mahatma Ghandi. I am now catching a train to Amritsar, home of the Golden Temple. Speak to you soon, your friend, Thorny.

Lima in Peru

Hello everyone, Sorry it has been so long since my last post.After India I came home to England for a quick rest before setting off again. I am now in South America. I flew into a beautiful city called Lima, which is the capital of Peru. I left just as all the snow started to fall in Southampton. I was very lucky to get my flight at all as lots were cancelled. Peru is beautiful and all the people are very friendly. All the people here speak Spanish so I have had to practice. After Lima I took a long bus journey to a place called Pisco and onto Paracas which is on the Pacific coast. In Paracas I took a boat to see the wildlife around Islas Ballestas. These islands are most famous for it´s birds. There are thousands of them and they create alot of dropping which here is called guano. The guano is used as fertaliser like cow dung and is harvested every five years. We also saw lots of noisy Sea Lions and lots of Penguins. We are now about to take a very long bus ride to Cusco, home of the ancient
Somone dressed up a dogInca civilization. Foxy.

Thorny Fox in South America

Misty Machu Picchu
Hi guys, Cusco which is a very pretty and ancient city. This region of Peru was home to the ancient Inca civilization. There are lots of Inca buildings still around including one that has a twelve side stone in it. After exploring the city, we then made our way to the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. It was only dicovered in 1911 by an explorer who was actually looking for another lost city. Before this no one, apart from the Indigenous local tribes, new about Machu Picchu. It had been lost for hundreds of years. To get to the nearest town we had to catch a six hour bus to Santa Maria, catch a two hours minibus through a place called Santa Theresa and on to a hydro electrical plant in the mountains. From there we walked for three hours to Aguas Calientes, which is the closest town to Machu Picchu. The next Morning we got up very early and walk up to Machu Picchu. It took about an hour and it rained the whole way up. When we got there it was very misty and we couldn´t see anything. The mist then cleared and the
Llamas at Machu Picchu ancient city revealed itself to us. I spent the whole day walking around the site investigating the ruins. There were lots of Llamas and big rodents that looked like a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel. No one knows what the city was used for or why it was abandonded. Some say it was a royal retreat that was abandoned when the Spanish came to South America. We are now leaving Peru and on our way to Bolivia. Foxy.