On to Argentina

We´ve decided not to go back to Brazil after all - a bit of a shame as the beaches there were lovely, but it was surprisingly expensive so rather than spend another week or so living off cheeseburgers and "meat on a stick" we´re going to spend more time in Argentina and Uruguay. Argentina is CHEAP - we had one of our best meals so far the other night, a delicious tapas plate with a glass of lovely Argentinian wine and a tail all for about 6 quid! Sure puts London in perspective...

Jesuit Ruins 1

We´re currently in Posadas, a little town right on the border with Paraguay. We´re here mainly to break up the long trip to Buenos Aires but also to get a bit of a history lesson - this area is called Misiones and is where the Jesuits set up around 30 missions to attempt to convert the native population to Christianity and also to protect them from the Portuguese who would capture them and force them into slavery in the sugar plantations in Brazil. The Jesuits were expelled from the continent in the early 1800s the the missions were abandoned and (quite literally) swallowed up by the forest. They were rediscovered about 100 years later and partially restored, and we went to see one of the ruins at San Ignacio yesterday.

Jesuit Ruins 2

Off to Buenos Aires tonight so time today until our bus, it´s fiercely hot here so I think we´ll try to stay inside most of the day!