Today we headed up to the pass between Argentina and Chile, to see the sights along the way and to view the famous "Christ the Redeemer" statue at the top of the mountain pass. Bill had memories of seeing it as a child in a magazine.... We took an all day tour with a bigger group this time, and found that we had a made the mistake of thinking the guide would speak some English...nothing doing....she didn´t even try to speak more slowly for us and she spoke very quickly!!! A passenger helped to explain some of the talk, but we missed out on a lot... The trip was well worth it though, and now we can say we have been in Chile! We were higher than we´ve been yet...4000 meters...about 12,800 feet. We have met ... read more

We arrived in Mendoza this morning after an 18 hour bus ride...we had the nicest bus so far, but still no toilet paper provided, and we couldn´t get the fully reclining sleeper seats...but we did watch three movies that were in English with Spanish sub-titles (Miss Congeniality, 7 Pounds and a Harry Potter). It is strange to doze and wake, looking out at unknown towns in the dark...in the middle of the night, an inspector got on and checked for fruits, since you can't bring any from the outside into Mendoza Province...We arrived at a bus station at 1:30 am, and kids were running around.... We passed through lush forests and small farms and tabacco fields in the afternoon, and then woke in the morning to arid badlands alternating with vineyards and small towns. We saw ... read more

It´s hard to decide where to begin in telling about our adventures yesterday... 1. With the amazing geography we saw? The winding, dusty, and spectacular mountain road we took? 2. With our.... interesting, tour guide? 3. With the great young Argentinian/Norwegian couple who shared the day with us? They were great fun to talk to and introduced us to mate, the national drink. We left at 7:30 am for an all day, two couple, guided tour to Cachi (a small mountain town), with a drive through the mountains to the highest point around, and back down to Cachi. We were lucky to have Silvina and Enders with us...Silvina is Argentinian/Italian and works with the UN on industry development, and Enders is from Norway and has been traveling for a year or so. They live in BA. ... read more

We had an uneventful 10 hour trip from Iguazu to Corrientes yesterday (We did see some rheas which are like ostriches and endangered...) ...except for noticing for the first time that the guide book explained that Corrientes has one of the biggest Carnavals in Argentina...and that this weekend was during Carnaval....and that hundreds of thousands of people attend.... We did not have a reservation and you can the total number of hotels in town on your fingers.... Well, we found a room in the worst hotel in town...across from the bus station. It was strange place...charged extra for air con...pretty low on any frills...but clean and actually pretty quiet. Since we didn´t use the air con at night (it was one of the jet engine types) they gave us free breakfast...(coffee and a few rolls). We ... read more

Tons of water passing over countless falls...butterflies of every color...we visited Iguazu Falls yesterday and today! We tried to visit the Brazilian side first, but didn´t play it right and had to go back, since we didn´t have visas ($180, due to US visa requirements for Brazil....thanks to those who in the previous administration that made that happen...) So we returned to Puerto Iguazu and took a bus the Argentine National Park instead. The photos and video tell the rest. This little tourist town of Puerto Iguazu is nice...lots of restaurants and shops...touristy, but still friendly. On the first day we saw the Devil´s throat, the most spectacular falls, then took the trail over the tops of the falls. Today we took the lower trail and hoped to go a small island in the middle of ... read more