The South American Adventures of Ash and Kat

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What could be better than meeting one of your besties in South America for a couple of weeks of fun in the sun? If you figure it out, let me know!!!

I left Salta, and took a night bus to Buenos Aires to meet Ashley, who was flying in from Vancouver to spend almost three weeks with me - our planned route being Buenos Aires, Iguaza Falls, and Rio. I arrived in Buenos Aires a night before Ashley was to arrive, only to find that the hostel that I had booked us in at had lost our reservation. I managed to find a hostel nearby our planned hostel, that more or less resembled a refuge camp . . . good times! Made the most of it and picked up Ashley from the airport on a Friday night, and warned her of our rustic digs. Decided to head to Colonia del Sacremento on Saturday morning in order to get out of the city and line up better accomidation for Sunday night - the city gets quite packed on the weekend, and there were no other hostels to be found on Saturday night.

We headed over to Colonia del Sacremento, Uraguay early on Saturday morning on the fast ferry. Having worked for good old BC Ferries for over five years during university, I pride myself on more or less being an expert in the area. While the ferries at home are nice, the ferry to Uraguay was beautiful - hardwood floors, very comfortable seats, and amazing food. We arrived in Colonia and made the trek a few blocks to our hostel. Colonia is a bit of a quiet town, but a lovely place to spend a couple of days. On Saturday and Sunday, we walked around the city, took pictures of the beautiful scenery, had picnics in the park, and caught up with each other. While travelling for so long has been amazing, it was really great to have a friend from home come visit from home, so lots of long talks over wine in the park were in order. 😊

We returned back to Beunos Aires on Sunday night, planning on exploring the city and getting our Brazillian visas sorted. Spent Monday and Tuesday mornings finalizing our applications, and then picked up our Brazillian visas a couple of days later. In our time waiting to have our visas processed, we explored the various neighbourhoods of Beunos Aires - downtown, Palermo, San Telmo, Recoletta. The various neighbourhoods were all beautiful, with lots to do and see. Again, we enjoyed the wine and cuisine of Argentina, and enjoyed lots of long lunches coupled with Malbec, our new favourite drink. Hopefully this is a tradition we carry on in Vancouver! We also had a great night out at the tango our last night in Buenos Aires - went out to a show with dinner. It was an amazing experience! Watching the Tango was great.

We left Buenos Aires on a night bus to Iguaza Falls, an approximate 20 hour trip. While we weren't looking forward to the bus ride, it turned out to be AMAZING - a full bed for each of us, chick flicks playing (Maid of Honor, one of my all time favourites and yes, cheesiest of all time), as well as full meals, champagne and snacks. Que rico!!! I'm glad I travelled south to north, not north to south - experiencing the luxury of Argentine buses and then heading onto more basic buses in the Andean countries would have been a bit of a shock.

We arrived at the falls, and stayed at Hostel-Inn there for three nights. Beautiful hostel, an old converted casino, which included a pool that we used. On our first full day there, we went to the Brazillian side of the falls, which were breathtaking. The tour guide told us that the Argentinian side was even better, which we had a hard time believing, until he proved to be right the next day. The Argentinian side of the falls was spectacular!

After Igauza, we took another long long bus (approximately 17 hours) to Rio. This bus was not as nice, unfortunately. Only had a semi-reclining seat which made having a good nights sleep not as easy. However, the bus driver was quite nice and even gave Ashley a bite of his ice cream, haha! We arrived in Rio safe and sound and went to Ipanama Beach House Hostel, which was only 4 blocks from the beach and in a super safe location. We spent the next week on the beach and working on our tans. On our last day in Rio, we went on a tour that took us to Sugarloaf, Christ the Redeemer, Lapa and Santa Teresa.

At the end of our week in Rio, it was time for Ashley to leave. Ashley boarded her plane for Sao Paulo, and I flew to Montevideo, Uraguay, to meet up with my Canadian travelbuddy from Toronto, Valen.

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Photos

Shopping in Buenos Aires
Palermo!