TravelStream™ news feed for member shanem on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/shanem en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 05 May 2009 07:43:21 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shanem/1/1207497000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shanem/1/1207497000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shanem/1/1207497000/tpod.html Tue, 05 May 2009 07:43:21 -0400 The Latinkiwi Experience

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Santiago, Chile

Week 23 April 8th - 9th I rolled into town early Wednesday morning. I had little expectations for Santiago as many say don't bother, or don't set aside too long here. Once again I was hugely surprised. It is quite a well developed, well maintained, clean (smog aside), pretty city, possibly the most in South America. While waiting for the hostel check-in time I grabbed a map and after a quick run down of the main attractions decided to fit in some speed tourism. First up was Cerro Santa Lucia, (Saint Lucia Hill). At the entrance I was bombarded in Spanish by the security lady, quite proud of her job, selling me the significance of the national monument and how beautiful it was. The park was gaudiesque in the shapes and contours of its landscaping and paths, something more expected of Barcelona. The top of the hill offered a view of the smoggy city, with the Andes barely visible in the background. They were many many cranes working away all over the city so any builders out there look for some work maybe this is the place to be? After I walked towards the very centre of the city, past New York Street, aptly named as the buildings had a Manhattan style. So many cities in Latin America seem to have one street where they try to imitate Manhatten. Around the corner is the presidential palace (Palacio De La Moneda) where I got lucky and saw the bi-daily changing of the guard ceremony! Further along the walk brought me to the Plaza Des Armas, main square, where there were some talented musicians playing, plenty of museums and the metropolitan cathedral. Those boxes ticked I took it easy for the afternoon back at the hostel before meeting Nicolas, a guy I previously met in Brazil, who lives in the centre of town. He brought me on a top night out. Even on a Wednesday night there were many people out and plenty of choice in restaurants, bars and clubs. Maybe I should not have listened to all the critics and come here sooner! Thursday I went to the cemetary (I haven't developed a fetish I swear) looking for some photos this time, as I did not get any in Buenos Aries. Although not as decadent or grand as the mausoleums in BA it was still a very interesting place, well as interesting a cemetaries get for the impartial. There was a huge variety of styles and designs in many different parts, from large free standing mausoleums to corridors of chambers, corridors of little compartments, great walls of compartments, regular western style flat graves and little houses out the back. It was out the back that I met a gardener who decided to stop me for some conversation. I ended speaking to him for about half an hour, albeit in fairly basic Spanish but Spanish I thought I had forgotten as after Brazil I had pretty much given trying to speak it frequently. All is not lost, so I definitely plan to work on it further back in London. That evening I went up Cerro San Cristobal for some views of the city and to watch the sun set one last time over Latin America. It's the seconds highest point in the city and provides fantastic views on clear days. There is a statue of the Virgin Mary up there donated by France, (they love giving statues away don't they?) a church where the pope said mass in 1987. The sunset colours were amazing and I couldn't think of a more fitting end to my Latin America journey. What a spectacular continent. Now I'm off to New Zealand to practice my English! Adiós Latinoamerica!
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Pucon, Lake District, Chile

Week 22-23 April 4th - 7thSaturday. The journey across the Andes into Chile was beautiful when it wasn't raining hard. The border controls are humourous. They scan you and your luggage for traces of food stuffs. If ya have an apple or an orange or a slice of ham it's a case of "One bullet. Bang! Bang! Back of the head!". Seemingly anything that is natural or healthy they do not allow into the country. If you're caught you get a hefty fine and a slap on the wrists. Funnily there is no mention of drugs in there at all. I can only presume that's grand. A brief stopover and bus change in some town was only memorable for a rather odd incident from a Chilean couple who were laughing and joking at the bus station. Suddenly the guy gets up and runs off followed by the lady screaming after him. After realising the fact that her acceleration was considerably less than his, she swung her handbag into a looping trajectory across the bus park missing him by a couple of metres. They continue running out of the station down the main street to the bewilderment of everyone. A security man and duty walks out into the yard and picks up the bag nonchalantly as if this is the norm on a Sat afternoon. I arrive into Pucon late Saturday night and settle for the first hostel I see through the pouring rain.Sunday, ya you guessed it the weather sucks here too. More rain. Very nice place though if only the sun would show it's face for a few hours I could climb that big volcano that's out there somewhere behind the clouds and be off on to Santiago. I'll give it til Tuesday then I'm out of here. More blog writing.Monday, more blog writing but the outlook is promising. Tuesday, blue skies! Lets go climb a volcano! The Volcano is called Villarrica, one of the most active Volcanoes in Chile. (Aside,Volcano Llaima a few km further north erupted on Sunday night, if the weather wasn't so bad we'd be able to see the glow from the lava flows at night). I arrive at the tour company offices and get kitted out in a very attractive jacket and trousers combination, boots and a rucksack containing an ice pick and crampons. We were driven up 1400 metres to a sort of base camp on the sdie of the volcano. During the winter this is a big ski area and everywhere is covered under many metres of snow. Now the only evidence are the treeless runs everywhere and the ski lifts. It is possible to cheat the first 400m climb by taking a ski lift. After that its still a 5 hour climb to the top at 2800 metres. We climbed in 30-40 min stints with 10 minute breaks. Initially it was quite rocky and dusty terrain until we reached the ice line about an hour in. then it was time to throw on the crampons and get some brief training on how to use our ice picks and stop ourselves sliding if we fell. Then we pushed on in lines up the mountains,. As the weather had been bad for so long most of Pucon was up the volcano that day and you can see many different groups in the pictures. Those people are actually that far away not just really small. About half way up the views started to get quite spectacular and in the distance we could see smoke rising from Volcano Llaima. The guides said it was actually steam caused by the lava melting the glacier. Getting closer to the top you could slowly smell the sulphur gases streaming out from the crater and over the sides. The stuff is quite toxic and makes a burning sensation in your lungs and throat when you get a good mouthful of it. When we finally reached the crater it was impressive though we couldn't get too close to it as every so often a huge venting gush could be heard inside and massive clouds of toxic gas would float out. This hike is most famous for the return back to the base. Normally you put all your gear in your backpack and slide down the mountain on your backside, but today the guides decided it was too icy and too dangerous. Boo-urns! It meant another 2 hour hike back down!!! Grrr. Anyway I'll leave you with the views... once again fantastic.
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Bariloche, Argentina

Week 22 April 2nd - 4thThursday. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! A whole day and 2 nights of my life spent on 2 buses. The worst bus journey so far by quite a margin and that's saying something after the Ushuaia trip and Brazil experiences. 34 hours of hell! And to top it off when I got to Bariloche it turns out it was a public holiday, Falklands Remembrance Day, and virtually everything was closed. As the weather was miserable it was another day wasted. It gave me a chance to do some catching up on my blog. Friday, the town is alive again but the weather is still miserable and the forecast is continued misery for the foreseeable future. It reminds me of home. I decide to book a bus ticket out of there for Saturday. It means missing Cerro Campanario (One of the top ten views in the world according to National Geographic), but I can't wait for the weather to come good as I fly out of Santiago on Thursday night next week.Saturday, onward to Chile. Hopefully the weather will be better in Pucon.
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El Chalten, Patagonia, Argentina

Week 22 March 30th - 31st Monday, I awake weary eyed at about 6 a.m. and pack my bags, and head off to El Chalten. It was only 3 hours on the bus but the roads on the infamous route 40 are strange. It is like they are all under construction, that they started but forgot forgot to lay the tarmac on top. They are reasonably straight and wide, well planned out, but they are essentially just gravel tracks. I arrived in El Chalten and got a bit panicky when I remembered reading that the town has no ATM's, and most places don't accept cards. I had enough cash to survive for about a day. Some investigation later though and I discovered the towns first cash machine had just been installed.. phewww! Most of the main hostels were booked out so I ended up staying in an off the beaten track place, but it was just the job as it was clean and the owner was very friendly. He told me about the best hikes in the area and decided to set out on a shorter one as it was already past midday. I also hoped the weather would improve the next day for the famous Fitzroy hike. At the start of the trek I duly noted the warning signs, particularly in the case of encountering a puma! It says to prevent a bad encounter I should:1. Don't walk alone. (That' s a good start. I have to find a friend in the wilderness. Maybe I should try some of the mushrooms on the ground in front of me and start hillucinating).2. Keep children in sight. (Again the mushrooms should cover that as I haven't seen a child all day).3. If it moves closer lift your arms and coat to seem larger than normal. (Ho Ho, got that one covered too. I'm not one of the biggest of guys but my michellin man jacket adds a cool 100 pounds to my frame, nice one!)4. Wave your arms, yell and throw rocks aggresively. (Grand, my Mullingar roots should stand to me there. I'll just pretend I've walked out of the Final Fence at 3 in the morning and am in the queue for Lingui's Takeaway).So off I set, confident I cold overcome any Puma attack. Only a few minutes in and I spotted a condor circling above. I managed to get a snap of it but it was quite high and moving very fast. You may recall that I went on a condor spotting tour in Peru and didn't see a single one due to the bad weather. A few hours later, passing Mount Solo, the odd tourist and a few of the local Llamas, I arrived at Laguna Torre with Glacier Grande at the far end of the lake. The glacier was nothing compared to the mighty Perito Morneo but that didnt matter, it was still a pleasant trek and view depsite the cloudy weather. When returning that evening my legs and feet were a tad achy and I figured out that I had walked about 14 miles (23 km or so). So yes when I say a shorter one, I mean shorter than the Fitzroy hike. Tuesday, I awoke to prestene walking conditions. The sky was a beautiful shade of bright blue and crystal cear. |Not a cloud in sight. The hostel said I had been blessed with a magnificent day to hike to the Fitzroy Mountain. My legs on the other hand were a bit stiff and sore and not so optmisitc about the hike ahead. I gently pottered about the town getting some breakfast and a packed lunch for the day. Now this hike is supposed to be in the region of 25 or 26 km, about 16 miles or so, but is generally flat or climbing all the way there, so it is much tougher than the Laguna Torre. I set off at a gentle place trying to coax my legs into action. About an hour in I encountered a German guy who seemed quite welcome of the comapny, maybe he was concerned about advice no 1 on the Puma Defense Tactics. We chatted for a while and the time seemed to pass a little faster, however it also meant we missed a crucial sign on the trail and ended up taking a detour. We ended up on an alternate trail needing to cross a river. We figured we had gone astray somewhere but we were very close to the mountian, so kept going. We crossed the river and continued until we arrived at a dead end, which offered a good photo opportunity, but we had walked for about 30 minutes in the wrong direction. We ventrued back and at the river crossing I fell in up to my knees. Grrrr, this was going to be a tough day. We had already been walking for over 3 hours, hadn't even gotten there yet and I was soaking wet. The final hour was a climb of about 500 metres up a hill towards Laguna a Los Tres at the foot of the Fitzroy. The view was truly stunning. The colours and shape of the Fitzroy rock face is amazing, it just blew me away. You can see in the photos what a difference a nice day makes to the colour and clarity of the photos. It was truly an amazing sight, up there with Perito Moreno. There was even a condor flying around at low level when I got there, but I didnt get the camera out quick enought to capture it. It perched magestically on a rock on the far side of the lake for the entire time I sat there taking in the view. When I finally arrived back in El Chalten that evening I was exhauseted and quite stiff. Including the detour I had hiked about 30 km, (19 miles or so) and over the two days had hiked about 52 or 53 km (32/33 miles). Facing me that night was 32 hours or so on a bus up route 40 all the way to Bariloche! The longest bus journey of the lot. And agian I was travelling Classico! Ahhhh! Oh how I wished it was an April Fool. Do not expect me to be a happy man at the beginning of the next blog!
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El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina

Week 21 March 28th - 29th It was a case of go to the bar and have a few drinks on Friday night (my first since B.A. I might add) in Ushuaia and wait for the 5 A.M. bus on Saturday morning. It arrived and was it a Cama (Flat sleeper) or Semi Cama (Inclined sleeper)? Neither, it was a bog-standard, sit-up-straight, no-leg-room, feel-every-bump-and-hole-in-the-road-bus, also known as Classico. Grrrr! My first journey was 10 hours, and then wait 3 hours and catch a second bus for another 7 hours. On the first bus we crossed the border into Chile, crossed the Magellan straits on a boat and then crossed the border back into Argentina. (This is the only way as Argentina`s territory in Tierra del Fuego is surrounded by Chile) . The Magellan straits were very uninteresting, hardly warranting a photo but I took a couple anyway. The stopover point was in a town called Rio Gallegos and like the straits it too was was very uninteresting. It was a very strange dessolate place. The weather was quite harsh as it is right on the coastline and there were very few shops or restaurants or anything, bar houses, to be found. Most that I did find were closed or boarded up. About midnight I arrived in El Calafate, exhausted but still had to spend another 45 minutes or so trying to find a hostel with free beds. After a lie-in on Sunday I wandered down to the town for a couple of hours. It is a quaint town with all of the buildings made out of of wood and stone, giving it a very alpine feel. When I got back to the hostel I discovered there was still some time for the afternoon tour to the glacier, really the only thing thing I wanted to see here! Boy was it worth it... We drove about 40km from El Calafate to get to the entrance of the Los Glaciares National Park. Along the way we had the Lago Argentina lake by our side to keep us entertained. The colour was an amazing bright blue and a nice taster for the colours to come at the glacier. Floating in the lake every so often were some icebergs, also a fabulous light blue colour. Inside the national park it was another 30 km or so to the glacier. When we finally rounded the corner of the mountain to catch sight of the glacier for the first time it was a truely breathtaking sight and a series of wow`s filled the bus. In the distance was a pale blue river of ice flowing down the valley into the lake below. Despite the poor weather conditions the colour was truely amazing. I can only imagine how good it would look on a perfect day. It has to be one of the most stunning sights I have seen and again the photos do not do it justice. I have a serious from which I can make a panoramic out of when I get home but for now you will have to make do with these... We took a boat tour for an hour up to the south face of the glacier and after that we walked a series of walkways trying to catch the falling peices on camera. It was a cloudy day so I think there were less pieces falling off then usual but we still managed to see plenty. It moves forward at a rate of about 2 or 3 metres a day and the loud snappy cracks of the ice shifting continue all the time. Then every 5 to 15 mintues a chunk of ice would fall off the front with a loud thunderous crash to the lake surface, followed by shockwaves outwards across the lake. We spent hours watching this process repeating itself, mesmorised and trying to catch some of the falling junks on camera. This proved to be very difficult and a lot of luck is required as the glacier is so huge, 4 km across and curved. The noise is the first warning you get by which time the ice has already hit the water. Every few years on average, the glacier advances all the way across the lake to the other shore<i> forming a natural dam splitting the lake into two halves. As the melting ice water is traspped, the water-level on the Brazo Rico side of the lake can rise by up to 30 meters above the level of the main lake. You can see the water line on the banks and there is no tree growth there. The enormous pressure produced by dammed water finally breaks the ice barrier holding it back, in a spectacular rupture event. This is then followed some time later by the collapse of the remaining ice bridge in another spectacular crash. We returned to El Calafate that night and I decided to push on for the next town El Chalten in the morning. I brought my flight to New Zealand forward a few days which meant I had to in Santiago, Chile in just over a week's time, so plenty of miles to cover between now and then.
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Ushuaia, Patagonia, Argentina

Week 21 March 23rd - 28th Monday, Grand Slam Saturday seems like a distant memory even though it was less then 48 hours ago. It still hasn`t sunk in yet! OK I`ll shutup now and push on here with the blog. Well as you would have seen I had a "holiday" in the middle of my trip, partying away in Rio and Buenos Aires and relaxing in Ilha Grande. Well now it was time to start seeing some of the sights again and make the most of my last couple of weeks in Latin America. I landed in Ushuaia with the knowledge that it would be cold but still kind of holding a hope that it would`t be too bad. I walked off the plane and almost made a u-turn straight back in again. It was freezing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The wind felt like daggers puncturing my skin. I don`t remember feeling anything like that since I was growing up in Mullingar! I think the average temperature on my trip as been in the region of 30 C, arriving in Ushuaia it was a balmy 12 but with the windchill felt about 0 or -5. And this is early Autumn. Madness Ted! Hopefuly the cold and hiking around should shock my body back into recovery from the last months exertions. Just outside the airport I was approached by Sebastian, a French guy, looking to share a taxi into the town. We both had the same hostel in mind so it was a good start, even better when we arrived there and they had plenty of room. That evening I wandered around the town and it was fairly obvious that if I was going to come through my stint in Patagonia without catching pneumonia, I was going to need a fairly substantial jacket. I searched the town for something cheap but warm and waterproof and mananged to pick up a Michellin Man jacket for about 300 pesos, or 60 pounds, not the cheapest but I had no choice. Tuesday. First up on the list was the Tierra Del Fuego National Park. Myself and Sebastian took the "Train to the end of the world" and learned alot about the area and the history of the town and railroad. Inspired by the English with Australia, and the French with Devils Island, the Argentinian government decided to set up a prison here where escape would be pretty much impossible. The prisoners had the privilege of getting out and working for good behaviour. They built the beginnings of the town, and also railway fromt there out towards the forests. Every day the prisoners were shackled and brought out of the town on one of two trains. The first train to extend the railway line further and the second to chop the trees down in the forest. This work continued during all seasons and you can see evidenceof this in the tree graveyards that line the route of the railway. The trees were cut rather crudely using poor tools. Some of the tree stumps are cut about four to six foot off the ground indicating that they were cut in a time of snowfall and others are quite close to the ground within a foot or two.. The railway line finished in the national park some 22 km from Ushuaia, where waiting on the platform was, lets call him Pepe for arguments sake, a forgotten prisoner of the last century. He seemed quite happy about the fact he was forgotten, though not so happy when I told him I had no pesos to give him for the mugshot. The park itself was beautiful but a harsh landscape, very dark browns and greys the prevailing colours with spots of green in places of richer soil. It reminded me in many way of parts of Ireland or Scotland during winter. Its amazing how this landscape is attractive, but it just is. Its not bright, there aren`t any huge mountains or massive lakes or other rare or extreme geographical feature, but all the same it is still just beautiful . Though the biting wind makes it hard work. There was plenty of wildlife though we saw very little out of the ordinary, lots of rabbits, ducks and birds that looked like geese... I had my heart set on seeing a penguin seen as we are so close to Antartica but they don`t hang around in this part of the island. I did however find a guy hanging out at the post box that looked just like one, so I duly got a photo just in case this was the only one I would see down here. There were two interestingly coloured lakes, (well interesting to the non geographers as they were pretty much the only think that not a dull brown or grey)... First up was Laguna Verde or Green Lake in English and it was exactly that.. Green. The second was Laguna Negro or Black Lake in English and surprise surprise it was black. These guys know their colours. Now there is a lake similar to this in the Wicklow mountians nicknamed the Guiness lake. We`d have to be a bit smarter in Ireland about our naming conventions or at least give it an alcoholic related name. I suppose a green one would be called the absinthe lake or some other green liquer.. I´m not sure why the green lake is green as they had no explantion but the black lake is black because the area is a turbal.. or in English (a peat bog).!Apparently 90% of all bogs in argentina are in Tierra Del Fuego. It eseentially sucks the life out of everything around killing all the plants, due to lack of oxygen, nutrients in the soil. The dead plants under the surface give the water its black colour. At the far end of the park the furthest point is clearly marked by some signs.. This is the end of route 3 on the national highway. The sign telling you you are at the end of the world is a bit misleading as it leaves out the land across the channel which is further south and belongs to Chile! The arch enemy! Wednesday, myself and Sebastian decided to hike up to the glacier overlooking the town. We got a taxi out to the base of the mountain and started out. In winter its a ski run and so there is a chair lift available but today they were repairing it., so with a grumble we had to hike the whole way up. If there was no chair lift there at all it wouldn`t have bothered me, but there was and it bugged me the whole way up . The view from the top wasn`t bad although the glacier itself is really small. Still the first glacier I have ever seen. I spent the evening trying to map out my next two weeks all the way to Santiago. Getting around these parts is teduious, very tedious as I was about to find out over next week or so. Thursday, with time running out here I opted for two tours for some rapid sightseeing or speed tourism as I like to call it. (A personal favourite of mine on weekend breaks to some European City - leave it all to the last 3 hours before the flight back!). The first tour of the day was out on the Beagle Channel to see the wildlife and the lighthouse. Although it looked fairly calm and pleasant on the mainland, as soon as you leave the protection of the mountains and the bay, the wind picks up, it becomes bitterly cold and the sea becomes quite rough. First up was the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, sitting way out in the middle of the channel to warn ships of the dangers of the rocky shallow water. If you can see a white light your ok, if you see a red light you`re in shallow water! After that we passed a serious of rocky islands eash seemingly home to different birds and animals. We saw some commerants first, which at a distance look like penguins, which sparked my excitement for a second. I don´t know why I was more eager to see penguins in the wild then any other bird I hadn`t see before.. I guess I just like them. On the next rock we saw seals and sea lions. You can actually smell the sea lions before you see them. They were all huddled together hiding from the wind on the sheltered side while the seals were swimming and jumping around the boat in the water. After that I was allowed to drive (will stear) the boat for a while (I`m still putting it down as a first). The hardest part staying on the seat as the waves were huge. We stopped off on an island close to Ushuaia where we went for a short walk. We were shown some local flora &amp; fauna and also the remains of an indigenous house. It just looked like a hollow in the ground to me but apparently they had build up layers of their rubbish (bones and skins of fish and animals) to protect from the wind. And boy was their wind. This was just a normal day and it was quite strong and really really bitter. I could only stand in it for a few minutes and I had had enough.. back to the boat for a cup of tea and choclolate cake - yes alot of the food here is just like England, or even what I grew up on in Ireland. Even the average hours here was very similar to home and some of the streets too. Combine that with the weather and landscape it was all feeling very familiar. In the afternoon I went on a second tour out through the countryside of Harberton, (named after Harberton England), an estate given to English man Thomas Bridges. (Maybe this explains the cakes and tea?). We took a boat out to Isla Martillo to have a walk with the penguins and see what the craic was with them. On the way out I told an American couple about penguin bars in Ireland and how popular they were growing up, the joke and the slogan "Pppppppppick up a penguin". The look of bewilderment on their faces made me wish I hadn´t botherered. Penguins... a chocolate bar you say.... I was surprised how close you could get to the penguins and they were as placid as the front row at a midnight mass. They were seemingly unbothered by the gringos queueing up to take photos and make silly penguin impressions. We were shown around their nesting site. Two types of penguins nest their, the Magellanic and rarer but prettier in my opinion, Gentoo. At this time the young had been rared and had just left to enjoying themselves further up the coast a bit. The parents will be leaving soon too. Before they go they renew their coat, by a process known as molting. They eat as much as they can and come inland for a week or so to shed their (by now) brown coat. They then give the new one a few days to bed in, and become waterproof, by which time they`re starving again. Then its back into the water to feed themselves up before swmming off to their winter location up the coast. Penguins mate for life (impressive in these modern times - I reckon TV is to blame) and once the female chooses her mate and the nest, they always return to the same place to nest. I won`t say exactly how many photos I took of real penguins in the wild but it was a lot... On the way back in we stopped off and learned a bit about how the beavers intoduced from North America by some bright spark in the 20th Centruy are now destoying the local rnvironment by diverting and damming rivers and causing flooding. The trees here are frail enough as it is. Many have been shaped by the wind to grow in one direction only. They form an unusual flag-like shape, hence given the nickname flag trees. Friday, I decided to extend my stay one more day to hike to a beautiful lake, Lago Rsmerelda, (Emerald Lake). Though, it looked more blue when I went, maybe due to the weather being pants, which also took away from the colours in the photos. The hike started out at a dog training centre, where there were about 100 huskies tied up and restless. There were many photos of huskie racing in the cabin so I`m guessing they race them down here too in the winter. The hike alone was fun, having to content with a flooded bog and some rivers. Sure enough I ended up in the mud a few times. After about 2 bours hiking I arrived at the lake. The colour was really amazing, a pity it doesn`t come out as well in the photos. I didn`t have time to go see the ice caves up on the mountain under the galacier but I hear they are spectacular also. On my way back I spotted something that looked like shamrock in the distance. Now somebody told me once that it only grows in Ireland. If that´s true them I´m wrong and it´s something else but to me it looks like Shamrock!
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Buenos Aires, Capital Federal District, Argentina

Week 18 - 20 March 6th - 23rd After the nice break between the parties of Ilha Grande and Iquazu it was time for the eagerly anticipated Buenos Aires to take centre stage. I had assigned no less than two weeks for this baby, the longest of anywhere on my trip, on account of it being known for fine food, culture and a fantastic nightlife. Add to that the fact a friend of mine lives here, and my parents, my borther, Neil, and his wife, Ivy, were visiting. The city has a huge reputation as an all round excellent place to visit, party and live and I hoped it could fulfill expectations. By now Ireland are 3/5 of the way to a Six Nations Grand Slam and Paddy`s Day is just around the corner.. let the party begin!!I rolled into town on Friday on an overnight bus. The standard of buses in Argentina are arguably higher than anywhere else in Latin America and I would say most of the world. I spent a large portion of the journey being fed  biscuits and supping on whiskey. I quickly learned that if you stayed awake throughout the night the stewardess would visit you repeatedly, so I availed of quite a few whiskies! If only they were hot ones! My hostel booking got messed up so I spent an hour or so wandering around the city centre trying to find another hostel. I found one right off the main shopping thoroughfare and straight away I met an English guy from Iguazu, who had just had his bag stolen in the hostel reception. You just aren't safe anywhere. That night I met up with Stevie (my friend from BA) and went bar hopping. BA seems to operate about 3 or 4 hours later than the rest of the world social-life-wise. People generally go out for dinner about 10 P.M, drinks about midnight and on to a night club no earlier than 3 A.M. Madness! I don't know how they go to work as they tend not to confine their clubbing to just the weekend. The quality of photography of this entire blog has generally been inversely proportional to the amount of alcohol consumed, which explains alot about the photos from the last few weeks and the following few. As a result of all of the above my memory of the rest of BA is hazy, particularly as I am writing this a few weeks afterwards. Anyway I did my best and leave you with just some of the highlights..Saturday was a non starter and mainly spent in bed recovering from my first experiences of BA nightlife. How Stevie got up to play a rugby match at 2 in the afternoon is beyond me. I was due to go out and join him at his club in the suburbs but I conveniently mislaid the instructions on how to get there. Sunday, I changed to another hostel, Milhouse, one of the most popular in BA, and one with a whole social scene of it`s own. Later Stevie called over to show me a little bit of town. I was conscious of not seeing or doing anything touristy as I wanted to save this for my time with my family later in the week. We ended up in Recoletta, one of the richest and trendiest parts of BA, which it later turned out was where my family were staying for the week. We strolled around and I learned a bit and I observed the more well-to-do of Buenos Aries society and then went to a bar to watch Boca Juniors (the most (in) famous team in Argentina and one of the most famous in the world). Boca are as famous for their fans as their football. They sing through the whole came and sing even harder each time they concede a goal. They lost 3-1. It was a very noisy game.Monday, I went to a live drumming band El Choque Urbano. Very impressive! Not something I have expeienced before in concert but I really enjoyed the beats. Tuesday, I pomised to go easy on myself but Liverpool were playing Real Madrid in the champions league and gave them an absolute thumping so I <i>had to have a beer to celebrate. The rest of the night was history but I have vague memories of stumbling out of a drum n` bass club at about 6 A.M. I`m sure I saw Yatesy in there somewhere??? or maybe that was the effects of fernet. Some say it`s the devil in a glass! I`m not sure but it`s definitely pure evil. The argies love it. Steak aside they have some strange tastes.Wednesday, I took it easy to prepare for the arrival of my parents, so that mum wouldn`t have any idea until now that I was enjoying my time away!Thursday, finally my family arrive! After a obligatory mix-up trying to get to the right apartment, I got the call and made my way over. I actually bumped into Neil and mum on the street.... small world eh.. It was great to see them again and so interesting to see and hear their thoughts and reactions to Buenos Aires. (For Mum and Dad it was their first time outside of Europe.) That afternoon we went to the cemetry in recoletta. I know it sounds like a strange destination but it is one of the most famouse tourist attractions in BA and one of the most famous cemetaries in the world. I didn`t take any photos as it felt a bit odd taking photos in a cemetary but it looked like something straight out of a movie.  It contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues. Many of Argentinas most important and influential people are buried here with the most famous person probably being Eva Peron. The whole cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks. Most of the mausoleums are in prestine condition but some have have fallen into disrepair. You can even see coffins through the broken doors and some coffins themselves are broken or falling apart! We saw graves of two Irish people, the founder of the Argentian navy, Admiral William Brown, and an Irish priest, Father Fahy, who did a lot for Irish people that emmigrated to Argentina (more on that later). He was even known to be a match maker bringing girls from Ireland when they weren`t enough in Argentina!  That night we went out for the first of a nightly ritual, fine wine and even finer steak, the very best in the world! Needless to say what followed was a month long steak binge, often twice a day! I know! I know! That`s not healthy but who knows when I`ll be back!Friday we decided to check out the zoo. I was quite impressed with he variety of animals and their enclosures although some on the small side were very well maintained. The star of the day was an elephant who showboated everytime you threw them some food. No penguins on show though.. gutted. I guess I will have to wait until Ushuaia!   Saturday, it was time for Ireland`s penultimate game in the Six Nations, against Scotland. Unfortunately on the subway, Dad was pick-pocketed. A guy tried to rob me first but I felt him and warned Neil, not thinking Dad was in any danger. Between two of them they still managed to do it. Irritating, but still impressive nonetheless. There are many many Irish bars in Argentina due to the large numbers of Irish that have emigrated here. (It is the 3rd highest country in the world for Irish emmigration, and even some of my family on both my mum and dad`s sides have emmigrated here in the past. One of Stevie`s ancestors is a Murtagh from Westmeath!). This is a quote from Father Fahy in a letter to All Hallows College in Dublin. It goes along way to explain the reasoning of those people coming here particularly in times of hardship in Ireland.<i>Would to God that Irish emigrants would come to this country, instead of going to the United States. Here they would feel at home, they would have plenty employment and experience a sympathy from the natives very different from what now drives too many of them from the States back to Ireland. There is not a finer country in the world for a poor man to come to, especially with a family. Vast plains lying idle for want of hands to cultivate them and where the government offers every protection and encouragement to the foreigner.We went dowen to one of the main streets containing Irish bars and joined the green invasion. It wasnt exactly a scintillating game but there were many Irish there so Mum and Dad chatting easily and get involved in some backpacker action. Of course Ireland won so that sets up the big grand slam decider next week... oh ya! Sunday After a spot of mass (in Spanish), it was off to Boca`s stadium to watch Boca play one of the samler teams in the league, Independiente. Bocas` form so far this season has been poor and they are langushing mid-table in the league, though they had brought back the big guns for this match. Also Maradona, who is now coaching the national team, has had a row with the Boca and Argentinian No. 10, Juan Román Riquelme,who walked out of the national setup. This was the first game after and the only box empty at the game was that of Maradona. Maradona played for Boca and is a staunch supporter, so that spoke volumes. I mentioned before that the Boca fans are famous for being passionate, particularly a hooligan faction nicknamed La Doce (No 12).  We heard on the way to the game that there had been a riot somewhere, nothing unusual there, but on tv it was reported that someone had been shot. The group was coming up for new leadership and a few contenders were jostling for position.. by force obviously. We got seats.. err standing in one of the terraces behind the goals, and the place was hopping, literally, for the entire game. The crowd never stop singing throughout. The atmosphere was electric! Boca won the game 3-0 so the crowd were happy and there was no violence afterwards. When we returned we found Mum and Ivy having some late tea in the cafe. An opportunity to try some Mate (Argentian tea).. again some strange tastes the Argies have. I`ll put that safely in the same category as fernet, as being definitely not for me. Monday, we had a wander around the city centre and had a look at some of the historical buildings and sites. First up was La Casa Rosada (The Pink House), the official seat of the  executive of the government. It`s most famously known to gringos as where Madonna, playing Eva Peron in Evita, sang  "Don`t Cry For Me Argentina". After that we had some lunch in the Cafe Tortoni, the most famous and one of the oldest cafes in Argentina. It was inaugerated by a french man and inspired by french cafes. Many many famous Argentian and global figures have passed through this place. Although as Ivy remarked, it really is just an Argentinian version of Dublin´s Bewleys! It has the food and service to boot.. but I wouldn`t dare say that to a local. After that we had a walk across Avenida 9 de Julio, reputed to be the widest street in the world with no less than 14 lanes of traffic, and on towards Plaza del Congreso home to the Argentinian Parliament. Tuesday, St. Patrick`s Day! Everybody else went to the botanic gardens while I went off to have a look at the inaugural St. Patricks Day Parade. It was more of a march than a parade. There was some Irish dancing in Plaza San Martin afterwards though, which the locals went crazy for. After that I joined the family in St. Patrick`s Bar and awaited the arival of Stevie who plays in a Scottish Pipe &amp; Drum Band. They were touring the city playing in various bars trying to drum up some atmosphere. (Excuse the pun). Eventually they arrived and the place was hopping for about 20 minutes or so... with the dancers in the band leading the way. We went for a meal afterwards, all very civilised until Stevie made contact again at about  1 A.M. in the moning. Stevie, myself and Neil hit the town again for a few hours, back in on the same street where we watched the rugby the previous Saturday. It was absolute mayhem. Through some friends of Stevie we were able to skip the queue into a bar and we made a good effort at drinking the night away until Argentinian closing time. Wednesday with some remarkably un-hungover heads it was off to the airport to say goodbye to my family. I think they enjoyed themselves anyway. Dad`s parting comments were that he would miss the sun.. I was back into a hostel again for the final haul with full focus now on Grand Slam Saturday. Thursday, just before I forgot, I managed to squeeze in a night at the Tango at a cafe just down the street from the hostel. I was joined by a few others from the hostel and we booked a table for some steak. The show was fantastic though it came with some dubious siniging.  I ordered skirt (yes that is a type of steak) which tought me a valuable lesson to not deviate from the fabulous Lomo (tender loin). After that it was on to a club. Believe it or not this was actually the first and only major club I managed to attend. Again memories here are very vague, it´s nigh on impossible to remember that far into the night, but I do have images of some very bizarre acts on the stage. If I didnt know better I would have said Fraser Clark was up there among them. Friday I`m not going to lie to you. I have completely no idea what happened on this day. I cannot remember anything!Saturday, the last day of the six nations! Ireland have to win for the Grand Slam and win, draw or lose by less than 13 points for the championship. They play a very full-of- themselves Welsh side who have been telling the world that they are the best team in the northern hemisphere by a a country mile..  Ahem.. Come-up-ence was on the cards and was duly dished out watching Ireland parade the trophy around the Millenium Stadium (Though I will admit it ended up being a lot tighter than it should have been and it came down to within a metre in the end with Stephen Jones dropping a penalty short. Not many fingernails left in the pub after that). Anyway a win is a win and Ireland were Grand Slam Champions! The first time in my whole trip I wished I was back in Ireland, or even better back in London! Once again the place was hopping and it was like Tuesday all over. Speaking of St. Patricks Day, Stevie`s club (aptly named Hurling) were having a St. Patricks Party that night so where better to finish the night out than there. Photos lead me to believe it was a good night. Sunday, I awoke with a hangover that felt like the whole 2 weeks rolled into one. Physically I haven`t felt this bad since the morning I awoke after the marathon when I genuinely believed I had been run over by a car during the night. Comparisons were made all evening to a lame foal by observers in the hostel... thanks guys - I couldn`t even muster the energy for one final Buenos Aires steak - crying shame. My body could take no more so it was with both sadness and relief that I departed on Monday morning with my tail betwen my legs. Two weeks of partying with family, friends new and old, St. Patrick`s Day and an Irish Grand Slam. Thank you Buenos Aires and goodbye. You have been fantastic. It has been emotional.
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Foz de Iguacu, State of Parana, Brazil

Week 18 March 4th - 5th Another overnight bus journey brings me to the edge of the Brazilian Argentine border at the mighty Iguazu falls, the widest in the world. It is actually made up of about 275 seperate waterfalls over a mile and a half wide. On Wednesday I visited from the Brazilian side, which has about 3 km of trails up the river towards the falls. These give a more panoramic all-encompassing view than the Argentinian side. As you gradually draw closer and closer the noise builds to fabulous roar at the biggest of the falls, the Devils Throat. On Thursday I crossed the border to Argentina, where security is so relaxed that the shuttle bus driver was able to go in and get all of our passports stamped himself! The walkways on the Argentinian side are more extensive and offer much closer views of each of the falls. Standing right up over the Devils Throat I was blown away by the noise and could have stood there all day watching the curtain of water crashing over the ledge into the misty abyss below. It was truly mesmorising.The Devils Throat is a befitting name for it as staring at it feels like you have reached the end of the world. I can imagine going over it would feel like a fast pass to hell and you would be shown no mercy at the bottom. At one point between the walkways we were surrounded by Coati`s, a type of Racoon, though they seemed to ignore me and make a bee-line for the American tourists` bags. They must have smelt the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! The climax of the day was a 30 minute boat ride on the river itself and we even driven in under some of the falls for a proper soaking. The falls were easily the most impressive geographical feature on my trip so far and a top tip if you are in this neck of the woods! <i>Some more photos....
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Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Week 18Mar 3rd Feeling relaxed and refreshed after my few days on Ilha Grande it was time to push on for the Iquazu falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina. Not before stopping over for a few hours on Tueasday at Sao Paulo station waiting for the next bus. The night journey did drain a little bit from me but I still mustered up the will to go into Sao Paulo centre to have a walk around for a few hours. I was told it wasn`t much to look at and the sceptics were right, in my opinion, I wasn`t impressed. I did see a couple of nice buildings and one nice street though that reminded me of New York. The buildings designer was inspired by the Empire State Building and the similarities were striking. The rest of the street looked a little like a street from Manhatten too. I didn`t see much else inspiring in two hours walking around, though to be fair, I can`t slag it off too much as it is a massive city (the biggest in the southern hemisphere - 11 or 22 million people depending where you decide to draw the line) and two hours walking doesn`t get you very far, particulary if it is generally in circles. I reckon the locals got more amusement out of me in my beachwear during rush hour!
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Ilha Grande, Brazil

Week 17-18 Feb 26th - Mar 1stAfter the non-stop 8 day session that was carnaval in Rio it was time to settle the nerves and heal the liver somewhere a bit quieter. There were a few places to go for this but the word on the street was that Ilha Grande, a small quiet unspoilt island just off the coast some 150 km south west of Rio, was the best of the lot, somewhere not to be missed. It was simply that... a <i>paradise!
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