Cartagena is a fantastic city to people watch in. And my second favourite activity is simply meandering up and down the old streets and soaking up the atmosphere of daily life against the backdrop of the beautiful city. I can see the fruit sellers, the juice makers, the different salespeople walking up the street with their wares, and the people selling minutes on their phones. You can also admire the local Colombian streetwear, which can be summed up with one word - tight. It's wonderful to soak it all in. Despite having spent two weeks here, I am still finding new adventures to do and things to see. Although the most famous and perhaps with the best Gold Museum in Colombia is reputed to be in Bogota, I made a brief visit to the museum here ... read more

There is the weirdest tourist attraction I've ever heard of or been to, about an hour out of Cartagena. It's a volcano where you pay good money to slosh about in your swimsuit in a mud bath, while being massaged by Colombian men (who frankly, have a dream job; they should have been paying me), then when you're covered in mud you traipse down to the lagoon where the local women strip you down, and I mean strip you right down, and clean your every nook and cranny as well as your bathing suit. But what's weirdest is that it's the best fun I've had in ages. It's a really bizarre experience. I had arranged it through the school, with Mary Anne, one of the other students. As it turned out there were two other girls ... read more

Hola from the Caribbean. Where it is HOT HOT HOT! The air conditioning in my class room is usually set to about 24 and it feels cool and refreshing. But to return briefly to Buenos Aires....thanks to everyone for the messages, yes I am fine now but it was a pretty scary experience and not one I am looking to repeat ever. On my last day in the city I went to Alto Palermo, a large shopping mall to see if I could buy a new camera, which I did successfully. This was the only thing I replaced, as I don't have my iPod music so no point buying another, and Telecom can't connect my phone without me being in NZ, so no point in buying that either. However I am very happy about having a ... read more

From the crisp cool days of Bariloche to the balmy sunshine days of....Uruguay. We travelled to Colona del Sacramento from Buenos Aires by fast ferry over the Rio de la Plata, which according to some is the widest river in the world although isn't considered a river at all by others. And I thought Spanish was confusing. We are staying at another gorgeous little hotel called Hotel la Mision right on the main Plaza of the old town, or Barrio Historico. That makes it sound much grander than it actually is, because the whole town is about the size of a handkerchief, however an extremely quaint and very cute little handkerchief! On our first night Lucy and I went to a gorgeous little restaurant / bar called El Drugstore and I ate the freshest fish ever ... read more

When I was doing my trip planning it's fair to say that I was a little bit random. I decided to head to Bariloche after talking to a guy for all of five minutes who said the scenery was spectacular and not to be missed. So I booked the flight and that was about it. Much later I decided to do some research....so I was delighted to discover that Stella's travel agent believed that men from Bariloche were the hottest in all of Argentina and that it is the chocolate capital of Argentina. I assure you that it is entirely coincidental that my 2 night trip was extended to 4 nights. After a quick tour of the town courtesy of our taxi driver we went back in for dinner on our first evening and spent a ... read more