Steaks & Shopping, Wine & Waterfalls! Any Questions?

Crossing over from Bolivia into Brazil the differences we apparent immediately even with the taxi prices. A trip that would have cost US$1 in Bolivia all of a sudden was ten times that - and our wallets were not happy. But we went ahead with our plans to visit the Pantanal, a giant wetland in the south of Brazil which is famous for its wildlife and we headed in for a three day trip.

We stayed at a lodge on the banks of a river and as soon as we arrived we were told to get into our swimmers and we went inner-tubing down the river in which we later saw plenty of caimans and Al caught many a pirana, but at the time we were oblivious to the goings on under the surface. After lunch we went on a boat ride and saw our first wild toucan since Central America and we saw plenty more of them during the three days, if only they´d sit still and let you photograph them! We also saw a giant otter, howler monkeys, and plenty of birds. It seemed a little disappointing after the huge amounts of wildlife we saw in the Pampas but the following day would prove fruitful!

We headed off on an all-day jeep safari, with a jungle walk in the middle of the day. And managed to spot plenty of wildlife including deer, quati, toucans, capybara, howler monkeys, a heard of wild pigs (apparently very dangerous - we had to hide) and our favourites - an anteater and a family of hyacinth macaws who were nesting and let us get really close to them. We say plenty of wildlife until about half way through our jungle tour when everything went quiet and we didn´t see anything after that. On the way back out our guide spotted jaguar footprints over our last prints and explained that that was why we hadn´t seen or heard anything else. It was a little creepy knowing there was a jaguar watching us someone in the area!

The weather took a turn for the worse during the night and when we got up the next morning it was freezing and raining. Al opted out of the horse riding because he had a bit of a cold but decided to fish for piranas in the river instead which we later ate for our lunch! And Lara got the slowest horse on the planet and Pauliña refused to walk with the other horses, until it was time to head home when she trotted along with Lara bouncing up and down in a fit of giggles on her back.

After lunch it was time to say goodbye to the friends that we´d made and get out of the freezing Pantanal and take the overnight bus to Foz de Iguacu. The bus ride was completely uneventful compared to the recent trips we´d experienced but we did manage to see an ocelot crossing the road which was a bit exciting as we´d yet to see any jungle cats.

We arrived in Foz de Iguacu in the morning and spent the day looking at the waterfalls from the Brazilian side, and then headed to the most amazing bird park we had ever seen with large avaries housing all types of South American birds from macaws to hummingbirds and Lara´s favourite, toucans.

The following day we headed into Argentina to see the Argentinian side of the falls and had our first lazy day in months because the weather was so terrible. We just lazed around and had some great food and wine before our trip to the Argentinian side of Iguazu. The Argentinian side is much more impressive than the Brazillian side as you can get so much closer to the falls and especially the ´Garganta de Diablo´(the Devils throat). We spent the day wandering around all the paths looking at the falls, and trying to stop the quatis from pinching our sandwiches. We then took a boat ride up underneath them, getting completely saturated, which wasn´t too much fun as it was cold but a hot shower and some good food made it all worthwhile.

After experiencing the falls it was time to head back through Brazil and into Paraguay where we headed straight to Asuncion as we were running out of time and were trying to get past the bad weather. We spent a couple of days seeing the sights of Asuncion such as the Palacio Gobierno, and a wonderful statue of a past dictator that had been crushed after his reign ended and covered in concrete with only his face and hands showing.

After we´d spent a few days in Asuncion we took our last overnight bus trip in South America to our favourite city Buenos Aires. We spent 4 or 5 days wandering the streets, doing a little shopping, drinking too much wine and eating far too much steak and other delicious bits and pieces. We just loved the feel of the city - it looks and feels like it should be in Europe but has a definite South American edge to it. We saw the sights such as Evita´s grave and the lovely little corner of La Boca, but really we just enjoyed walking the streets, watching the people and sitting in the cafes. After a relaxing time in Buenos Aires, which unfortunately came to an end, it was time to fly to Santiago in Chile. But that is another story.....

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