Jan 23, 2011 - Carmelo, Uruguay

Spent a very pleasant morning in the B.A. Stop Hostel talking with Daniel (art historian studying Edward Hopper) and Beth (friend from NaVIMAG ferry) about travel, people, places, etc....Left on city bus to the Retiro train station where we waited an hour for the noon thirty train which came in late at 1pm. After a very nice hour an a half journey to Tigre where it seemed half the population of B.A. had gone, we walked the short distance to the boat terminal just across the river for tickets to Carmelo. Boat took off half hour late at 4 and...

Jan 31, 2009 - Carmelo, Uruguay

Everyone (except me) was going stir-crazy in Carmelo. The Four Seasons was the most beautiful place I´ve ever stayed (rooms, grounds, common areas, pool, etc.) and the service was unprecedented (they cleaned our room twice per day, put bookmarks in our books there the pages were folded down, and made picture frames for our photos), BUT it was so isolated that there was not much to do but hang by the pool and read and relax....my kind of vacation, especially before a 13 day jaunt around Brazil in buses in hostels. We did manage to find some...

Sep 15, 2007 - Sleepy Carmelo, Uruguay

Took the bus from Colonia to Carmelo this morning (saying goodbye to our doggy friend at the bus stop). The Uruguay we saw out of the window was lush and green and very much like the English countryside. We'd heard Carmelo described as 'sleepy', and they really weren't kidding, it was almost a ghost town. We did have constant company tho: we'd left one doggy friend in Colonia, but gained 5 more as soon as we got here - and one didn't leave us all day (she's the one in all the photos!). We left our bags at the ferry office, and spent a wet...

Oct 30, 2006 - CARMELO, Uruguay

An hour west of Colonia we jumped off the bus in sleepy Carmelo. On the banks of the river Uruguay, Carmelo is a lot less touristy that it's near neighbour. So far we've seen 5 tourists, 2 of whom were us and 1 was a guy from Belgium called Walter we met once we got here. There are plenty of dogs though. A couple of puppies which have owners and then other adult dogs which seem to wonder the street, they look very healthy and are friendly, I have to keept fighting the urge to pat them. We even managed to have a canine tour guide yesterday...

Sep 22, 2006 - Back to Buenos Aires

Our last bus journey in America was also our longest. We had been worried that the 18 hour bus journey would be torture so we booked into the exclusive cama suite service....so that meant seats that turn into a bed, meals and very attentive service. The journey passed by fine and all was well until we were stopped by the military at about 6am, 2 hours outside Buenos Aires. Apparently the bus company had irregular documentation, whatever that is, and so the bus had to return to Puerto Madryn! Thankfully we were allowed to change bus though...

Aug 17, 2006 - Colonia del Sacramento (URUGUAY)

Tomé un barco a Colonia, en Uruguay. Era un puesto de contrabando de los portugueses/ingleses hacia las colonias españolas en America, algo asi como lo que hoy es Paraguay hacia Brasil (la revancha?)! Es bien chico, pero tiene un centro historico simpatico. Fuera de eso, nada especial.

Mar 23, 2005 - Colonia de Sacremento Uruguay

After all that hard work we gave ourselves a well earned break on the beach to work on the tan, Uruguay is very nice, a really small population and lots of fields and fine beaches! First we went to Colonia which was really pretty and had a nice port and beach. It was of great historical importance during the wars between Brasil and Argentina and was often used by smugglers ...

Jan 13, 2005 - Vacationing like the locals do

John Muir believed the worst mistake you can make in life is to consider yourself separate from your destinations, experiences and surroundings. "As soon as we take one thing by itself, we find it attached to everything in the universe." Jan. 15 starts a new and very different type of traveling than I've been doing since arriving in South America. Kate and Bryan, friends from Minnesota, arrive and we'll travel into Southern Argentina to see wildlife and enjoy the ocean. Once they leave, I'll start an epoch of moving moving moving. If...

Dec 23, 2004 - Argentina - Estancia El Ombu (outside Buenos Aires)

********** Happy Christmas ! Godt Jul ! Feliz Navidad ! ************** We arrived at the Estancia early to make the most of our visit. The Estancia is about an hour an a half outside Buenos Aires near the town of San Antonio de Areco. They gave us breakfast and then unfortunately let us know that they had overbooked and that our room for the first night was a five minute car ride down a dirt track. We were not happy...... until they gave us the first night for half price, happy again !! We moved rooms to the main Estancia on the 24th in...

Dec 21, 2004 - Home free

On Day two in Ushuaia, the clouds parted and the city on the edge of the world did indeed reveal itself to be a beautiful place. The precipitation fell as a fresh dusting of snow in the mountains soaring above the city, and made for a beautiful backdrop as we headed out sailing on the Beagle Channel that afternoon. Rolling with the photos now, so will let them do the talking. But now, I am happily back in Buenos Aires where the weather is beautiful, the women even more so and Aaron and I are free of the tour group from hell. Its not that...

Sep 21, 2004 - Return from Mendoza

Today we got up and packed our bags once again. We walked around downtown for a couple hours in the morning and bought some souveniers. We had lunch at some friend's house and then we went on our first real adventure. We booked a ticket for "parapente" which translates roughly to paragliding. I have been parasailing before but never paragliding. There were four of us going so they came and picked us up at the hotel. We got in the back of this decrepit jeep and drove out of town. We also had a Frenchman and another girl from Argentina along...

Jun 5, 2004 - Back to Buenos Aires...my last stop before heading on to Europe

"Lil m" Comes down to visit me in Buenos Aires. Emily, or as I like to call her "Lil m", is a fantastic girl I met before my travels. She is a very intelligent young lady who supports my decision to travel as she has much experience in the foreign relations department. Emily has lived in Africa for an extended period of time as well as touring various parts of Europe. From the day I met Emily I knew she was a person that I wanted to join me on my journey. We both thought it would be great, if plans allowed, for her to join up with me...