The end of Aires

We have finished up in Buenos Aires (and South America) and are now in Costa Rica and Central America. It´s also about 1/2 way through our trip so we´re running out of time ... Here are the last few things we did in Argentina.

Photos to follow when we get a chance to load them up

A close call
We had our first South American scam experience with somebody trying to steal our belongings. We were chilling in a small park having lunch on a park bench when guy #1 walked by and dropped his keys. Lisa called after the guy who kept walking and then pursued him to return the keys. Meanwhile, guy #2 grabbed our camera bag containing camera, wallet, passport which was about 50cm away from where Dave was was sitting on the bench. Guy #2 was escaping and a nearby bush was setting the screen. Luckily a combination of Dave´s finely tuned hearing and sharp peripheral vision detected that something was amiss. Dave chased the guy about 20m and after confronting him he slowly lowered the bag to the ground and then just walked off ...

Iguazu Falls
We took the 16-hour bus trip to Iguazu falls on the Argentinia/Brazil border. The falls are somewhere amongst the largest in the world and are absolutely amazing. Unfortunately it was raining for the entire time we were there but that didn´t detract from the experience and we were going to get wet anyway.

Uruguay
It would have been rude not to take the 1.5 hour ferry across the river from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. Its a small ex-Portugese town that we were able to comprehensively cover on foot in about 2 hours (with lots of breaks and in the heat). Still, we had probably our best meal on the trip so far there - it was Modern cuisine on par with anything we would find in London - and we've had some excellent food in Buenos Aires so it says a lot about the restaurant we went to.

Tango lessons
We went back to the Milongo Hall to try our hand at some Tango. It was hard work and if we didn't come out of there being able to execute any of the dance we did at least gain a basic grasp of the principles behind it.

Local markets
We visited a really local market on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Pictures will do it more justice than words but there was music everywhere, locals dancing in the streets, displays of horsemanship, lots of leather-goods for sale and lots of BBQs.

A final word on buses in South America
After some pretty average buses in South America we have had almost faultless trips in Argentina. Here the standard of some buses can only be likened to business class on a plane. The seats lay practically flat for sleeping and we were even served champagne.

Next ...
Now we have 5 weeks in Central America which will be predominantly in Costa Rica however we are making brief sojourns into Nicaragua and Panama. We finish up with a few days diving in the Honduran Bay Islands and a final fling in Los Angeles. This should all mean lots of time on beaches, swimming and diving.

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