Thursday, February 19, 2009
Brazil Pantanal: my new favourite place.
We just spent three days in the most amazing place in the world, Brazilian Pantanel.
We left argintina Friday morning, crossed the Brazil border. There is a bridge from which you can see argintina, brazil and paraguay. got on a 17 hour busride to Campo Grande. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by the ppl from the hostel/tour we had booked and they gave us a room for the two hours we were there before we left on the tour. I had a bit of a jubby tummy all morning, but had to get on another bus, 5hours, to the Pantanel then a 45 minute truck ride to camp.
Heres where the fun begins.
The camp consisted of a big hut , upstairs was full of hammocks and downstairs an open eating area. There was a little bar hut , and numerous other hammock shelters around. The camp is surrounded by a river that is full of caymans and paranha. At sunset all the trees are full of howler monkeys howling like nothing else.
First morning of the tour we went on a boat trip down the river that passes camp. We saw shags, Black Vultures, huge White Stalks , Caymans, heaps of king fishers, and black skimmers, and a big lizard.
We stopped for a swim. When we pulled up all the caymans dispersed and we jumped in, wasnt as refreashing as had hoped because the water was as hot as the air. Put my mask on but the vis was about 20cm. After about 10mins i kept bumping into things, assumed hey were logs, although they were under the water...i got suspicous. I got out. then one of the guys got bitten by a piranha on his hand and foot. The shore was covered in plants that defend themselves by closing up their leaves when you touch them, and spike up all over... so that cows dont eat them. On the truck ride back one of the other guides was itching his mosquito bites with a steakknife.
got back to camp and had lunch. Because its too hot to do anything, there is a three hour break between morning activities and afternoon. I napped in hammocks everytime, it was amazing.
That afternoon we went horseriding... as expected i got the smallest of all the horses - i had wanted to feel like a cowboy for the afternoon but it just felt like a midget still. But turned out Bin Laden, my horse , was great fun, and although little, he tried his best to keep up. I was worried for the horses in the midafternoon heat (felt liike about 38*) but then it clouded over and a thunderstorm hit. Lightening hit near us and one of the horses freaked a little, but it was just the guide´s, so it was fine. Plodded along for quite a while, saw a toucan! its bright beak stood out against the green of the tree it was perched in.
Once back at camp, showered and had dinner, was planning on Capriañas but there was no lemon so had Ceshuca with sprite.
Went on a night safari! oo0o , jumped in the truck and saw 5 foxes total,2 families of Capavara, hundreds of cayman eyes, and deer.
Caymans hunt at night and are piranhas number one enemy. I was asking our guide, Levy about it and he said years ago people hunted caymans so piranhas boomed and started attacking people. I was hoping to see snakes but we didnt. Apparantly theres anacondas, rattlesnakes and all kinds of other snakes.
The next dayit rained. Got in the jeep for Jeep Safari - got really wet and didnt see much but i enjoyed it none the less. We stopped and were given the option of more truck ride or go for a walk, i opted for walk. Levy, our guide walked in bare feet, like the bushman he is.. the forest was quite open, compared to newzealand. There were trees, that i cant remember the name of , starts with P ... anyway , their fruit juice can be used as eyedrops and alcohol can be made from the roots - very strong though, levy warned us that if your not used to it and have a sip youll either fall over or die. Interesting. We came across an amadillo digging. it was so cute and fast. When it saw us it ran. Levy somehow spotted holer monkeys in a tree attempting to shelter from the rain. There was a female, small and brown and a male, big and black. We passed a huge heap of bones, i asked levy what it was from and he said ´a snake bit a coz but didnt eat it ... Bastard snake` . i laughed. Walked back to the truck and waited for another group before heading back to camp. Saw toucans on the way back.
The afternoon sun was scorching hot and Levy gave us the option of walk or stay at camp and make necklaces..we chose the later. The camp was empty and i felt the most at home i have so far this trip, that place is beautiful. Lev made us all necklaces and i made him a half assed amature braclet as thanks.
We bought a bottle of ceshuca because its cheaper than just buying drinks. Paulo, the bartender made up caprieñas for us... he filled a bucket with our ceshuca and then added sugar and lime. and it was amazing. We played lastcard, made card towers and attempted to dance... all the Brazilian tour guides were taught how to dance when theyr younger, so they were all really good at it. After volleyball and pool we called it a night.
Woke the next morning to the sounds of howling monkeys, birds , and tour guides singing from their hut. I could live there.
´Vamos Piranha Fishing!´ enchoed through the camp as Levy got impatient. He told us 8 but at 7.15 he was bored of waiting. We quikly had breakfast then follwed him to the river, where he proceeded to wake across. We were aprehensive, given the amount of caymans we had seen there earlier.. but followed. Upstream a little he set up the lines and the others went piranha fishing..i just watched and took photos. They used bamboo lines with cubes of beef. the fish bit straight away. the piranhas that were caught were then fed to the caymans that were at our feet waiting. When they got too close Levy would hit them on the head with bamboo. Levy grabbed one of the piranha and a put grass in its mouth to show it biting, quick and effective. Such huge teeth for such a little fish.
Waded back just downstream. We then went for a swim.. i want too worried at first because all he left over bait was upstream so i figured that would keep the wildlife at bay. The water was about 2feet deep and yellow. i LoveD it. Stayed in for a while then after gettiong out, Levy out the last line with bait in the water and the bait was gone immediately. ...i laughed nervously.
Saw two more toucan while fishing, that takes the tally to 5, if you include the one i havnt told you about, the one that flew past when we were in the truck then sat in a tree a distance away and made a perfect silhuette.
Hung out on hammocks all afternoon, got snacks - Pringles for Gringos. yeah.
Levy our guide is the most fascinating person ive met - he works at the camp for 20 days then takes a 2and a half week boat trip to his tribe, where he stays for a few months. He speaks all sorts of languages, which he learnt from guiding...english spanish portugese hebrew german.
Big goodbyes to all the guides who were all spectacular, then we left on a 45 min truckride, on which we saw a cayman corpse surrounded by vultures, passed a huge herd of cattle and their cowboys, and a tire blew but i got a hand gesture from the guide that we still had enough tires to ustkeep on going. The busstop on the main road was pretty much just a swarm of mosquitoes. So we stood around slapping wach other until the bus arrived. the bus took 4 hours and we made it back to Campo Grande with time enough to eat diner, shower and get on our bus to rio. 26hours, and a hole lot of uncomfortable later, we arrived in Rio. Waited for our ride and made it to the Hostel 36hours after leaving the pantanal. I miss it already.
The hostel here is tiny, and packed full of people. Our room is through door into a dorm of boys and through a door in the corner of that room , and the bunks are stacked three beds high with little support. The whole place makes me clostrophobic so hopefully we wont actually be there much. Plans for today is get our clothes washed.. i have nothing clean at all. and catchup on blogging, emailing and just general things of the sort... so now im halfway.
ill attempt some photos now.
We left argintina Friday morning, crossed the Brazil border. There is a bridge from which you can see argintina, brazil and paraguay. got on a 17 hour busride to Campo Grande. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by the ppl from the hostel/tour we had booked and they gave us a room for the two hours we were there before we left on the tour. I had a bit of a jubby tummy all morning, but had to get on another bus, 5hours, to the Pantanel then a 45 minute truck ride to camp.
Heres where the fun begins.
The camp consisted of a big hut , upstairs was full of hammocks and downstairs an open eating area. There was a little bar hut , and numerous other hammock shelters around. The camp is surrounded by a river that is full of caymans and paranha. At sunset all the trees are full of howler monkeys howling like nothing else.
First morning of the tour we went on a boat trip down the river that passes camp. We saw shags, Black Vultures, huge White Stalks , Caymans, heaps of king fishers, and black skimmers, and a big lizard.
We stopped for a swim. When we pulled up all the caymans dispersed and we jumped in, wasnt as refreashing as had hoped because the water was as hot as the air. Put my mask on but the vis was about 20cm. After about 10mins i kept bumping into things, assumed hey were logs, although they were under the water...i got suspicous. I got out. then one of the guys got bitten by a piranha on his hand and foot. The shore was covered in plants that defend themselves by closing up their leaves when you touch them, and spike up all over... so that cows dont eat them. On the truck ride back one of the other guides was itching his mosquito bites with a steakknife.
got back to camp and had lunch. Because its too hot to do anything, there is a three hour break between morning activities and afternoon. I napped in hammocks everytime, it was amazing.
That afternoon we went horseriding... as expected i got the smallest of all the horses - i had wanted to feel like a cowboy for the afternoon but it just felt like a midget still. But turned out Bin Laden, my horse , was great fun, and although little, he tried his best to keep up. I was worried for the horses in the midafternoon heat (felt liike about 38*) but then it clouded over and a thunderstorm hit. Lightening hit near us and one of the horses freaked a little, but it was just the guide´s, so it was fine. Plodded along for quite a while, saw a toucan! its bright beak stood out against the green of the tree it was perched in.
Once back at camp, showered and had dinner, was planning on Capriañas but there was no lemon so had Ceshuca with sprite.
Went on a night safari! oo0o , jumped in the truck and saw 5 foxes total,2 families of Capavara, hundreds of cayman eyes, and deer.
Caymans hunt at night and are piranhas number one enemy. I was asking our guide, Levy about it and he said years ago people hunted caymans so piranhas boomed and started attacking people. I was hoping to see snakes but we didnt. Apparantly theres anacondas, rattlesnakes and all kinds of other snakes.
The next dayit rained. Got in the jeep for Jeep Safari - got really wet and didnt see much but i enjoyed it none the less. We stopped and were given the option of more truck ride or go for a walk, i opted for walk. Levy, our guide walked in bare feet, like the bushman he is.. the forest was quite open, compared to newzealand. There were trees, that i cant remember the name of , starts with P ... anyway , their fruit juice can be used as eyedrops and alcohol can be made from the roots - very strong though, levy warned us that if your not used to it and have a sip youll either fall over or die. Interesting. We came across an amadillo digging. it was so cute and fast. When it saw us it ran. Levy somehow spotted holer monkeys in a tree attempting to shelter from the rain. There was a female, small and brown and a male, big and black. We passed a huge heap of bones, i asked levy what it was from and he said ´a snake bit a coz but didnt eat it ... Bastard snake` . i laughed. Walked back to the truck and waited for another group before heading back to camp. Saw toucans on the way back.
The afternoon sun was scorching hot and Levy gave us the option of walk or stay at camp and make necklaces..we chose the later. The camp was empty and i felt the most at home i have so far this trip, that place is beautiful. Lev made us all necklaces and i made him a half assed amature braclet as thanks.
We bought a bottle of ceshuca because its cheaper than just buying drinks. Paulo, the bartender made up caprieñas for us... he filled a bucket with our ceshuca and then added sugar and lime. and it was amazing. We played lastcard, made card towers and attempted to dance... all the Brazilian tour guides were taught how to dance when theyr younger, so they were all really good at it. After volleyball and pool we called it a night.
Woke the next morning to the sounds of howling monkeys, birds , and tour guides singing from their hut. I could live there.
´Vamos Piranha Fishing!´ enchoed through the camp as Levy got impatient. He told us 8 but at 7.15 he was bored of waiting. We quikly had breakfast then follwed him to the river, where he proceeded to wake across. We were aprehensive, given the amount of caymans we had seen there earlier.. but followed. Upstream a little he set up the lines and the others went piranha fishing..i just watched and took photos. They used bamboo lines with cubes of beef. the fish bit straight away. the piranhas that were caught were then fed to the caymans that were at our feet waiting. When they got too close Levy would hit them on the head with bamboo. Levy grabbed one of the piranha and a put grass in its mouth to show it biting, quick and effective. Such huge teeth for such a little fish.
Waded back just downstream. We then went for a swim.. i want too worried at first because all he left over bait was upstream so i figured that would keep the wildlife at bay. The water was about 2feet deep and yellow. i LoveD it. Stayed in for a while then after gettiong out, Levy out the last line with bait in the water and the bait was gone immediately. ...i laughed nervously.
Saw two more toucan while fishing, that takes the tally to 5, if you include the one i havnt told you about, the one that flew past when we were in the truck then sat in a tree a distance away and made a perfect silhuette.
Hung out on hammocks all afternoon, got snacks - Pringles for Gringos. yeah.
Levy our guide is the most fascinating person ive met - he works at the camp for 20 days then takes a 2and a half week boat trip to his tribe, where he stays for a few months. He speaks all sorts of languages, which he learnt from guiding...english spanish portugese hebrew german.
Big goodbyes to all the guides who were all spectacular, then we left on a 45 min truckride, on which we saw a cayman corpse surrounded by vultures, passed a huge herd of cattle and their cowboys, and a tire blew but i got a hand gesture from the guide that we still had enough tires to ustkeep on going. The busstop on the main road was pretty much just a swarm of mosquitoes. So we stood around slapping wach other until the bus arrived. the bus took 4 hours and we made it back to Campo Grande with time enough to eat diner, shower and get on our bus to rio. 26hours, and a hole lot of uncomfortable later, we arrived in Rio. Waited for our ride and made it to the Hostel 36hours after leaving the pantanal. I miss it already.
The hostel here is tiny, and packed full of people. Our room is through door into a dorm of boys and through a door in the corner of that room , and the bunks are stacked three beds high with little support. The whole place makes me clostrophobic so hopefully we wont actually be there much. Plans for today is get our clothes washed.. i have nothing clean at all. and catchup on blogging, emailing and just general things of the sort... so now im halfway.
ill attempt some photos now.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Amazing Falls of Water
Just had ThE best day!! Arrived here in Puerto Iguazu yesturday midday after our 17hour bus trip from Buenos Airies. The bus was amazing, it was Cama Suite which means the seat fully recline and we got orderves and i had a whiskey! it was great. The bus attendant guy only spoke spanish though so it made for embarassing moments...he tried to explain things then a guy who spoke english two seats up tried to tell me in english but icouldnt hear thanks to my rediculously bad hearing, so then the bus guy repeated the english loudly. It was all very messy.
Had a great sleep then arrived here with rain and thunder storms, got soaking wet, and it turns out Claire´s crush from Macpac, ol´Leo lied to about our packs being waterproof so now everything is damp. But anyway thats not what im here for.
Today we went to the National Park at 9 and it was the greatest place ive ever been, and ive been to some amazing places before. We first walked the track that goes around the top , the waterfalls were huge! so amazing that there is always that much water going over... and so we stood in awe for a while... i cant even describe it. (i was going to upload some photos now but it turns out this internet cafe is crap and the computer is slower than the one at home , that mum must be on to read this *snigger snigger* .
There was so much to see , there were lookouts all the way around the top and the entire time i was thinking " Dad should be here, this is incredible" . Next we walked the lower track, which was also amazing, there were lots of lizards and bright yellow butterflies, and the sun came out and the waterfall mist cooled us down. There were little ant eater creatures forraging in the rubbish bin and i knelt down and one came over then grabbed at my coke with its big claws,,, it was super cute...i named it Larry. The paths were all really full of ppl because we had to take a little park train ride so everyone arrived at the same time, so it meant alot of pushing to get good views of the waterfalls ,we were super snap happy and got hundreds of phtos. After the lower track we had our sandwiches ( NIcky bought Oreos too) then headed to the island that is in the middle of the falls. The line for the shuttle boat was long. Once on the other side we were able to go for a swim!
I´ve swum at the Iguazu falls!!!
-One the most beautiful places in the world!! walked around the island and saw lizards like mini comodo dragons, dont know what species they were , but ill try find out. Also went to a lookout that had a view of where all the vultures nest up on the top of the trees at the top of the island! I liked that part alot. They were huge, wingspan as big as maybe both my arms... a little shorter, and when we were at the falls you can see al the birds circling up above and swooping around and into the forest. there was also a lookout on the island that faced the falls, and there is a portion of the falls that isnt just huge amounts of water but rocky outcrops that water slowly goes doown then levels off then falls again...man.. so beautiful.
After the Island we went on a jetboat ride around and into the falls! thats right, into the falls! i was wearing my togs coz im smart so it was great.. that a whole lot of water though! couldnt open my eyes. THe.MoST. FuN. and then went through the rapids down the river a bit , got off and onto a big fourwheel truck thing and went through the jungle. The guide said that there are usually monkeys but this time of year they dont see them much coz its summer so all the fruits are flower all through the forest so they avoid human parts. Bummer.. i love monkeys. but was still cool. Found out what Palm Hearts are ( always on menus) turns out its the growing part of a palm tree. They harverst it then the tree dies. so im glad i havnt ordered that at all. id have felt guilty.
finished up exhausted and boiling hot. In the sun is sweltering.. and so humid too. Applied a great deal of suncscreen all day so i guess ill find out soon whether or not that worked.
I think im having the most fun possible.
Tomorow we head to Brasil. we were planning a half day on the brazil side of the falls but theyr only short and from a distance and it costs 60peso (about $40 NZ) to enter the park so we figured we´ll skip it and head straight through to Campo Grande and start the Pantanelle tour , then on to CarnIVaL!
Like i said, no photos this time, so sorry ... it takes so long and all the computers are useless.. i will eventually, promise.
Had a great sleep then arrived here with rain and thunder storms, got soaking wet, and it turns out Claire´s crush from Macpac, ol´Leo lied to about our packs being waterproof so now everything is damp. But anyway thats not what im here for.
Today we went to the National Park at 9 and it was the greatest place ive ever been, and ive been to some amazing places before. We first walked the track that goes around the top , the waterfalls were huge! so amazing that there is always that much water going over... and so we stood in awe for a while... i cant even describe it. (i was going to upload some photos now but it turns out this internet cafe is crap and the computer is slower than the one at home , that mum must be on to read this *snigger snigger* .
There was so much to see , there were lookouts all the way around the top and the entire time i was thinking " Dad should be here, this is incredible" . Next we walked the lower track, which was also amazing, there were lots of lizards and bright yellow butterflies, and the sun came out and the waterfall mist cooled us down. There were little ant eater creatures forraging in the rubbish bin and i knelt down and one came over then grabbed at my coke with its big claws,,, it was super cute...i named it Larry. The paths were all really full of ppl because we had to take a little park train ride so everyone arrived at the same time, so it meant alot of pushing to get good views of the waterfalls ,we were super snap happy and got hundreds of phtos. After the lower track we had our sandwiches ( NIcky bought Oreos too) then headed to the island that is in the middle of the falls. The line for the shuttle boat was long. Once on the other side we were able to go for a swim!
I´ve swum at the Iguazu falls!!!
-One the most beautiful places in the world!! walked around the island and saw lizards like mini comodo dragons, dont know what species they were , but ill try find out. Also went to a lookout that had a view of where all the vultures nest up on the top of the trees at the top of the island! I liked that part alot. They were huge, wingspan as big as maybe both my arms... a little shorter, and when we were at the falls you can see al the birds circling up above and swooping around and into the forest. there was also a lookout on the island that faced the falls, and there is a portion of the falls that isnt just huge amounts of water but rocky outcrops that water slowly goes doown then levels off then falls again...man.. so beautiful.
After the Island we went on a jetboat ride around and into the falls! thats right, into the falls! i was wearing my togs coz im smart so it was great.. that a whole lot of water though! couldnt open my eyes. THe.MoST. FuN. and then went through the rapids down the river a bit , got off and onto a big fourwheel truck thing and went through the jungle. The guide said that there are usually monkeys but this time of year they dont see them much coz its summer so all the fruits are flower all through the forest so they avoid human parts. Bummer.. i love monkeys. but was still cool. Found out what Palm Hearts are ( always on menus) turns out its the growing part of a palm tree. They harverst it then the tree dies. so im glad i havnt ordered that at all. id have felt guilty.
finished up exhausted and boiling hot. In the sun is sweltering.. and so humid too. Applied a great deal of suncscreen all day so i guess ill find out soon whether or not that worked.
I think im having the most fun possible.
Tomorow we head to Brasil. we were planning a half day on the brazil side of the falls but theyr only short and from a distance and it costs 60peso (about $40 NZ) to enter the park so we figured we´ll skip it and head straight through to Campo Grande and start the Pantanelle tour , then on to CarnIVaL!
Like i said, no photos this time, so sorry ... it takes so long and all the computers are useless.. i will eventually, promise.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
So, went to La Boca yesturday, its this crazy coloured suburb that is supposed to be the centre for all things creative... it was just tourist things, like tango dancers ,not dancing but just going around asking if you want a photo of them in a tango pose. i didnt. for all i know, they cant even tango. then there were just heaps of tourists and it didnt feel that welcoming. so we left for town, ( on the busride back into town the breaks on the bus made noises like we were in the belly of a whale) we were going to go see the Catacombs but they were closed coz there was some kind of protest happening down the street. Then we were going to go to see a mall that has a huge stained glass roof but it was too hot and too far away so we skipped it. i was going to go see that jurasic world thing but i decided to do it today instead. It was just way too hot to do anything , and now i completly understand the idea of a siesta :D we came home to the hostel and mosied around ehre before going out for dinner (i had egg cheese and tomato sandwich, just so you know ) and then we went to this amaZInG drumming show in town somewhere called La Bomba de Tiempo. It was incredible , there was about 20 guys and girls, and a conductor who had all these crazy hand signals and danced and they all knew what to do. Apparenltly its all impromtue but is was so impressive that i cant believe it! The only thing that i didnt enjoy was the huge mosh pit. The concert was in this huge big courtyard thing , and its on every monday , but it was still packed to the walls with ppl... i guess a lot are tourists. The girls infront of us were amican and kept taking photos of themselves...it was weird.
But over all twas incredible, and Claire bought their cd.
toady we are checking out of this hostel and filling in the day before taking a 17hour busride to Iguaza falls. the waterfalls apparently have a lot of negative ions so it makes you feel happy. Theres also a lot of insects and yellow fever so we´re going to up our guard on the ol´insect repellant etc.
hopefully we are going to stay at a hostel that has a pool, that would be nice.
But over all twas incredible, and Claire bought their cd.
toady we are checking out of this hostel and filling in the day before taking a 17hour busride to Iguaza falls. the waterfalls apparently have a lot of negative ions so it makes you feel happy. Theres also a lot of insects and yellow fever so we´re going to up our guard on the ol´insect repellant etc.
hopefully we are going to stay at a hostel that has a pool, that would be nice.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Oh and Sponge Bob in spanish is just as good as any other language.
Nickys blog is
www.nickysblogsouthamericaeurope.blogspot.com
Nickys blog is
www.nickysblogsouthamericaeurope.blogspot.com
Nicky is here now
Nicky arrived and now she writes better blogs than me.
We are in Buenos Aires and have been for 3 days. The first we did nothing due to getting Nicky from the airport, the second we did nothing all morning, because we were trying to get to another hostel. That afternoon we metro´d into town to see a building that was closed, so we left. Metro´d back to hostel to go explore around the area - theres a nice lake that had geese...and ducks with white faces. We got on a peddle boat, and nicky and Katrina chaffeured me and Claire around the lakes. Then i got an iceblock...it was a rocket but was nestle.
Went to the JUMBO EaSY to get a grocery shop, it took us about an hour and a half to find ingredients for pasta. The supermarkets here are incomprehensible, but not because of the language, just the strange and illogical layout. we changed our dinner plans many times in that time there.
We went out after dinner to check out the night life here in Argintina.... we ended up at McD´s for sundaes.
Today we woke due to the horrendously loud noises of spanish children playing antique fusball at 8.30am . It involved a lot of screaming and banging.
We then left at 12 for Recoleta. There was a church, we went in. There were gold decorations. We then ate bananas and shoped at a market. I got a blue dress, nicky got a brown one, claire got the bag she was dreaming of and so did Katrina. Everything was swell.
Then we went to the Buenos Aires Cemetary where Evita died...(was buried) . the tombs were spectacular. Hers was not as extravagant as Dr Jesus P. , or Manual Fernando and his 5 generations of Manual Fernando. There was one huge statue that was a guy wrestling a lion that was half lion, quarter man, and quarter woman. And there was another statue of the grim reaper.
Then we went to a park that contained a hUge metalic flower. Only a photo can explain it... and a photo i dont have...yet. I shall upload some interesting photos in the future.
But tonight we did the most interesting thing of all - Tango show in Buenos Aires! it was amazing, they were really fast and accordians are amazing. The Bass cut out at the end and i felt sorry for them all coz he was cueing everyone...but it all worked out. The dancing was so fast that it seems imposible. The moves basically involved almost tripping the partner up , but not quite. Or , almost kicking you partner in the groin...but not quite.
I clapped like i had never clapped before.
We then went to see the night life again... RounD 2. ..I came home. Its now 3 am.
Good night
We are in Buenos Aires and have been for 3 days. The first we did nothing due to getting Nicky from the airport, the second we did nothing all morning, because we were trying to get to another hostel. That afternoon we metro´d into town to see a building that was closed, so we left. Metro´d back to hostel to go explore around the area - theres a nice lake that had geese...and ducks with white faces. We got on a peddle boat, and nicky and Katrina chaffeured me and Claire around the lakes. Then i got an iceblock...it was a rocket but was nestle.
Went to the JUMBO EaSY to get a grocery shop, it took us about an hour and a half to find ingredients for pasta. The supermarkets here are incomprehensible, but not because of the language, just the strange and illogical layout. we changed our dinner plans many times in that time there.
We went out after dinner to check out the night life here in Argintina.... we ended up at McD´s for sundaes.
Today we woke due to the horrendously loud noises of spanish children playing antique fusball at 8.30am . It involved a lot of screaming and banging.
We then left at 12 for Recoleta. There was a church, we went in. There were gold decorations. We then ate bananas and shoped at a market. I got a blue dress, nicky got a brown one, claire got the bag she was dreaming of and so did Katrina. Everything was swell.
Then we went to the Buenos Aires Cemetary where Evita died...(was buried) . the tombs were spectacular. Hers was not as extravagant as Dr Jesus P. , or Manual Fernando and his 5 generations of Manual Fernando. There was one huge statue that was a guy wrestling a lion that was half lion, quarter man, and quarter woman. And there was another statue of the grim reaper.
Then we went to a park that contained a hUge metalic flower. Only a photo can explain it... and a photo i dont have...yet. I shall upload some interesting photos in the future.
But tonight we did the most interesting thing of all - Tango show in Buenos Aires! it was amazing, they were really fast and accordians are amazing. The Bass cut out at the end and i felt sorry for them all coz he was cueing everyone...but it all worked out. The dancing was so fast that it seems imposible. The moves basically involved almost tripping the partner up , but not quite. Or , almost kicking you partner in the groin...but not quite.
I clapped like i had never clapped before.
We then went to see the night life again... RounD 2. ..I came home. Its now 3 am.
Good night
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Colonia, Uruguay
currently in uruguay. this keyboard is really crap so mind the spelling.
Anyway, left Santiago 1o am yesterday morning, arrived buenos aires at 11am the next day...twas a long ride, stopped at the boarder for 4and a half hours , just coz there were so many ppl. >Ended up playing uno with an Isreali guy named Gil in the super strong winds in the Andes. It was great. The bus meal was the worst yet, chicken stuffed with egg on cube veggies ,worse than the watties kind, with rice, and ofcoarse ham and cheese, the popular food here. ...not my favourite to say the least. I slept most of the trip but Katrina had an interesting ordeal trying to explain that the roof was leaking to the spainish drivers, who refured to acknowledge a problem. She sat up front with them until they fixd it. So arrived, then couldnt find an atm, finnally did and then got breakfast of coffee. Left to find the ferry terminal , finnaly did. then got a ferry a few hours latter for Colonia, Uruguay . We were going to go the Barriloche in Argintina but it ended up to expensive and impossible to get to before meeting nicky on thursday in Buenos Aires. Then we were gonna go to Mendoza, argintina, the wine district, but again simular problems, so just got on a bus to Beunos Aires.
Its so amazing here in Colonia, the roads are all cobblestone and everyone is either on a moped, motorbike or scooter. The beach is beautiful, its a shame that the water is brown and gross. Along the beach there is a market in the old racing sheds, and a huge carnival that as of yet is not open, must just be weekends.
>Got a huge feed of pizza and whiskey for dinner. the best meal yet, south america doesnt cater well for vegetarians funnily enough. Gonna go shopping to mo for a day dress and handbag so we dont have to carry our pack around and look like the ignorant tourists that we are.
The line for the internet is growing so ill leave now.
Anyway, left Santiago 1o am yesterday morning, arrived buenos aires at 11am the next day...twas a long ride, stopped at the boarder for 4and a half hours , just coz there were so many ppl. >Ended up playing uno with an Isreali guy named Gil in the super strong winds in the Andes. It was great. The bus meal was the worst yet, chicken stuffed with egg on cube veggies ,worse than the watties kind, with rice, and ofcoarse ham and cheese, the popular food here. ...not my favourite to say the least. I slept most of the trip but Katrina had an interesting ordeal trying to explain that the roof was leaking to the spainish drivers, who refured to acknowledge a problem. She sat up front with them until they fixd it. So arrived, then couldnt find an atm, finnally did and then got breakfast of coffee. Left to find the ferry terminal , finnaly did. then got a ferry a few hours latter for Colonia, Uruguay . We were going to go the Barriloche in Argintina but it ended up to expensive and impossible to get to before meeting nicky on thursday in Buenos Aires. Then we were gonna go to Mendoza, argintina, the wine district, but again simular problems, so just got on a bus to Beunos Aires.
Its so amazing here in Colonia, the roads are all cobblestone and everyone is either on a moped, motorbike or scooter. The beach is beautiful, its a shame that the water is brown and gross. Along the beach there is a market in the old racing sheds, and a huge carnival that as of yet is not open, must just be weekends.
>Got a huge feed of pizza and whiskey for dinner. the best meal yet, south america doesnt cater well for vegetarians funnily enough. Gonna go shopping to mo for a day dress and handbag so we dont have to carry our pack around and look like the ignorant tourists that we are.
The line for the internet is growing so ill leave now.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Finally some Pictures
Flying in to Santiago over the Andes
Our hostel in Santiago. The owners were so friendly, and even took us out to see the night life...twas incredible and very ´Dub´.
Valparaiso - amazing old houses.
Market at the top of a cable car in Valparaiso. The cable cars are really old and most are out of service now, but the ones that did work seemed fine. From the market Claire and I bought rings made from old Cable car nails . Very nice.
To the left is the resturant we went to in Valparaiso. Amazing service and delicous vegetarian meal. This courtyard is now my favourite place on earth.
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