Jan 1, 2013 - Brent is 30!

Happy birthday, Brent!!! We went out for New Years last night. The city shuts down and the people spend it inside their houses with their friends and family. We did,however, find a small cafe and sit outside. For the first time in Buenos Aires, we met some Americans and it was strange speaking English with others; I've been unceremoniously appointed as the translator on this trip. I had no issues in Peru, but the dialect here is so drastically different that it's taken me until now to understand what people are saying -- their Spanish is...

Dec 30, 2012 - Mega meal

Yesterday we walked and visited sites all over the city for about 16 hours. Last night we went to an Italian (descendants of Italy are very prevalent here) restaurant that has been owned and operated by the same family for over 100 years. The food was absolutely spectacular. We started with a bottle of wine and a variety of tapas selected by the waiter -- then we had entrees and finished with tiramisu. Today, we slept in and are going to take a day trip out to the river delta area. This city has so much to offer and all of us agree that...

Dec 28, 2012 - Buenos Aires

Today we slept in, because we went out after arriving around 9:30 PM last night. We've been walking the city for about 5 hours and have stopped into a pub that plays exclusively British music. (our favorite) it's pretty hot here, but not unbearable. We plan on having a traditional Argentinian meal tonight and possibly meeting up with a guy we met in Cusco, Peru -- he's from L.A. and is basically doing the exact same trip we are. This is the definition of a metropolis; it's HUGE. On any given day there are between 23-25 million people in...

Dec 25, 2012 - Finally our last stop, Buenos Aires.

Merry Christmas! This will be our last entry to what has been an amazing journey through this part of the world. Thank all of you who have logged on to follow our adventures. Well, we were woken to something rather unusual for us, no not the sounds of Santa's arrival although it did sort of sound like it, but thunder, lightening and torrential rain. This did deliver a fresh cooler Christmas morning, though and a welcome change to the hot and humid conditions of the last few days. We are definitely not complaining about the warm temperatures...

Dec 21, 2012 - Buenos Aires: Land of bumblebee taxis, stray dogs, and sizzling sides of beef ...

So where to start. At the beginning is good. After a few hours in my office scrambling to piece together some kind of travel itinerary, I finally just gave up. So armed with only a round trip ticket to Buenos Aires, a lonely planet guide on Argentina, and a bag full of random clothes (including a bow tie as I did not want to be caught under dressed when visiting the penguin colony), I hopped the metro to get to Reagan National for a quick two night layover in Miami before heading to Argentina. Thankfully I left two hours early as this was...

Nov 23, 2012 - The longest drive

A very long day on less exciting roads punctuated by exciting wildlife spotting: A hare An armadillo A rhea with chicks Flamingoes Guanacos Petrol complicated by power cuts at petrol stations, therefore requiring patience. Petrol station lunch - coffee and sandwiches Nodding donkeys I drove the central section. Urban hotel but in a town beside the Atlantic. Delicious seafood dinner - crab and shrimp.

Nov 20, 2012 - Buenos Airies again!

Internet access in Iguazu was intermittent but we are now back in the big city again! We are still remembering Iguazu Falls despite the slightly Disney experience that went with it. Our first glimpses of the cataracts were just a taste of what came later as gradually the panorama of the many cascades unfolded. We checked later and the temperature was 32 deg so it was no surprise that I had a touch of prickly heat on my ankles despite huge intakes of water! At least the super strength Deet worked and I didn't get bitten by the hungry...

Nov 9, 2012 - Buenos Aires - Argentina

8th November WELCOME TO BUENOS ARIES AND ARGENTINA The hot weather of our arrival in Buenos Aires changed overnight to cloudy skies. Our guide Federico had checked the weather forecast before our walking tour of the city as he brought a raincoat. The rest of us were less prepared for the deluge that came down as we stood in the Plaza de Mayo across from the Casa Rosada (Pink House). This is the office of the Argentinian president and from one of its balconies Eva Peron famously addressed the adoring crowd. We visited the Cathedral where...

Nov 4, 2012 - Buenos Airies Day 2

City Tour this afternoon Highlights: Recoleta Cemetery where you walk through 'streets' of mausoleums with impressive of OTT statues and marble sacrophagi. 'Evita' is buried here 6 metres deep with a layer of concrete over her body to prevent desecration by impassioned followers - souvenir hunters! The cemetery is full of past presidents, military heroes, the famous but mostly those rich enough to maintain the upkeep on the mausoleum. Caminito is a small area within the La Boca barra of BA. Famous for it`s brightly coloured buildings and...

Oct 31, 2012 - Week 5 - Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Punta Del Diablo (Argentina & Uruguay)

The 17 hour bus to Buenos Aires was long but pretty uneventful. The border crossing at Posadas was straight forward, compared to the pile of paperwork the Paraguayans had to fill in our British passports were like golden tickets. We arrived in BA after lunch and after finally finding the underground station we found the hostel we'd booked in to, an old colonial house in the centre of town. Tired from the journey (Rhys is absolutely rubbish at sleeping on buses) we spent the day exploring the area around the hostel and chilling. The next...

Oct 27, 2012 - Buenos Aires, Argentina

We flew from Mendoza to Buenos Aires with the plan of staying overnight at the Hilton Buenos Aires before flying back to the United States. However, due to Hurricane Sandy that was to land in New Jersey where we were scheduled to fly into, our flight was cancelled and rebooked for two days later. So we were able to spend two enjoyable additional days in Buenos Aires.

Oct 8, 2012 - Day 3 Estancia Santa Susana

It was another full day for me. I have to start by going back to last night. Getting back from Colonia was no picnic. We were in line to board the ferry and there was an announcement in Spanish that it was going to be delayed 1 hour and 45 mins. Ugh that meant we weren't getting back to BA until almost 11. So we all sat down and of course the few of who don't speak a lot of Spanish had no idea why there was a delay we just followed the crowd. Well physic 15 min later they had us back in line only to have us stand there for an hour. I got...