Heading north

---

Finally got round to updating the blog, sorry for the delay. You should now get two or three entries winging their way to you soon and some will have photos too!! I am also storing snaps on a seperate website which I will be sending invites out for soon so that all my stunning photography can be viewed in all it's glory. Happy reading!

14th March 06 - 23rd March 06

I left Buenos Aires with the intention of chillin´out for a few days in the small town of Colonia, across the Rio del Plata in Uraguay. The idea was to take it easy for a few days and suss out a plan for traveling through south America with impeccable timing to meet up with Sarah in Ecuador in May. Both objectives were achieved in short order and, due to the costs, distances and priorities, the route emerged thus; Back to Buenos Aires for a night then to Puerto Iguazu (northern Arg), The Pantanal (Brazil), through eastern and central Bolivia to Uyuni, up to La Paz, into and then up through Peru and , finally, arriving in Quito. All in seven weeks.... nay buther!!

´Bit of bother in Colonia to start with though; On the first night i got into a fight. Although it was dark, I could make out that he was big and black and, although I heard him coming, he had hit me in the head a couple of times before I reacted. I came to my senses quickly, armed myself and struck back like a Ninja in full flight, except armed with a flip-flop!! It was possibly the biggest flying cockroache-type thing I had ever seen but, I had ´im! Leaving Uraguay wasn´t easy either. I´d lost the bit of paper to get me back into Argentina (cos i hadn´t intended on going back) and nearly missed the boat due to the delay. The night I had back in BA just happened to be St Paddy's and I suppose it was fitting that the second final night I had in the city was as mad as the first one.

The bus to Puerto Iguazu took 16 hrs but, was the most luxurious transport I´ve been on (barring British Airways business class) so, I managed to sleep for a good half of the journey. The town and it´s sister city on the Brazil side of the border, Foz De Iguazu are here because of the confluence of rivers that form the Iguazu Falls. These are some of the most spectacular in the world and knock spots off Niagra. The roar from the multitude of cascades rumbles on in the ear drums long after you have left the site. The movement of the water is mesmerising and leaves you spellbound at the immense power of nature. At the nearby Itaipu hydro electric dam I saw that power harnessed by human ingenuity. It is the largest in the world, a massive feat of engineering and provides 25% of brazil´s electricity and 95% of Paraguay´s. However, the effect on the local ecosystem and people during it´s construction and since it became operational must be immense.

I´ve had a lot of firsts during this part of the trip (to be expected I suppose seeing as though I´ve never been round the world before....DOH!). First dorm bed in a hostel (HMMMM!), first long haul journey on a bus, first time being dunked under a waterfall in a speed boat, first, and hopefully the last (but I doubt it), Tarantula spotted. We nearly ran over it in a minibus on our way back from the falls one day and that´s exactly how I would like to see them if our paths are to cross again.... from about three metres away with steel and glass separating me from it!!

---

Photos

Different view
(same effect)