Week 14: Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls
Trip Start
Mar 05, 2006
1
9
12
Trip End
Jul 27, 2006
Buenos Aires and Iguazu,
Argentina
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
We finished up our 2 weeks WWOOFing at Hostel Internacional Malargue. The experience was both positive and negative. Audrey got a nasty cold that she is still trying to kick. We had a fun birthday night one Saturday for Gaby, complete with Argentinian folk music and chivo (traditional grilled goat). I (James) managed to finish hoeing and preparing the field for garlic, which was freaking hard. Momma T continued to be a nuisance so we had to speak with Gaby and Jhonny about here. Oh yeah, the first snow fell. Check out some new pics we put on the last post.
Next it was Buenos Aires
01 Greetings, from us!
. The largest city in Argentina and a beautiful one at that. We stayed there for right at a week, which wasn't nearly enough time to see it all. We did manage to meet up with Mei-Ling (whom we met in Peru on the Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu) and she took us for the best Lomito (little steak) sandwiches we've ever had. Not to mention she threw a lovely dinner party with the Mexican food that we had been craving for weeks. Buenos Aires was good for us to eat some foods other than the staple cuisine in Argentina, meat and potatoes. Besides Mexican we managed to hit up Indian food as well. Good stuff.
We visited the cemetary in Recoletta, where Evita is buried. They LOVE here there. It was pretty amazing how much money these folks spend just on laying themselves to rest. Marble statues and mausoleums, stained glass and candle obras. Ridiculous.
We saw some excellent Argentine art at the Nacional Museo de Bellas Artes. Who knew the Argentinians were such excellent artist. Apparently James didn't care so very much for it, as he managed to take a 10 minute nap in one of the smaller galleries.
02 James on the really old subway in Buenos Aires
We walked...A LOT. Took the subway, which was way cheap (think thirty cents a ride). Did mostly window shopping and hit up some cool street fairs (I got this awesome bag!). We even took in the new X-Men movie (which, if you're a fan of the movies, we don't recommend...good special effects, sure, storyline...ugh).
But, we managed to do something we don't normally do. Be really spontaneous and hop an 18 hour bus ride to Iguazu Falls (on the Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay border). The bus ride, not the best we've taken there, but the falls.... Worth every second of screaming babies, bad food, and lack of sleep. They were beyond breathtaking. SOOOO huge and so many of them. If you ever get the chance, go. Don't hesitate, go.
We walked around the park on the Argentinian side for the entire day. The Brazilians definitely got ripped off on that deal. They only got like a quarter of the biggest falls, Argentinia got the rest. It was a weird place. Kind of like a cross between Disney World and a National Park. Complete with park rangers, a boat ride, a train ride and a few pricey restaurants (well, pricey by Argentinian standards).
03 James Smart
18 Hour bus ride back to Buenos Aires, 12 hours to wait for our flight to New Zealand...laundry, internet, phone calls...blah, blah.
Finally after waiting in like 12 separate lines at the airport in B.A. we made it onto possibly the worst airplane we've ridden since Ryan Air (the 'budget' European airline). We were both really worried until we realized that of the 4 seats in the middle aisle, we were the only 2 in them. So, what was nearly 14 hrs. of hellish uncomfortability turned into like 3 hrs of food, 2 of movies and the rest of stretched out sleep. It was great. I highly recommend that if you ever fly to the other side of the world, don't sleep for like a good two days. Makes the flight amazingly smooth.
So, here we are, in New Zealand. Our last overseas destination. It's BEAUTIFUL here. Freaking cold, but beautiful. We've been camping mostly, which is not too bad considering we've got 0 degree F sleeping bags. We did realize, unfortunately though, that we have forgotten a vital part of our campstove, the pump, so we've been eating lots of Peanut Butter, which James is very fond of.
We got an amazing deal on a car ($4 NZ dollars for 4 days) to drive from Auckland (N. Island) to Christchurch (S. Island). Now, we're hoping to get another vehicle, but probably one we can sleep in...like a VW campervan, but Toyota.
Anyway, our apologies to anyone we haven't called yet. We've been trying to get to a place that's not too expensive
04 Recoleta Cemetary
. It's a bit priceier here than say...Bolivia. We did manage to scrounge up a phone card, but as of yet, we've not been near a phone when it was anywhere near a normal time back home. There is a 16 hr. time difference from NC, and we've crossed the international date line, so we're also a day ahead.So, we'll be in touch soon. Love to you all.
AROHA (love in Maori) from Christchurch, New Zealand,
Audrey y James
