AlexLloyd

7/4 It took a while to get up since it was in the mid 40s in Buenos Aires (BA). I took a long hot shower, called the rents, and watch France v Germany at the hostel. I was cheering for the Germans. After the game I walked into town to exchange my Uruguayan pesos for Argentine pesos. Apparently on the streets you can get a much better exchange rate than the official rate you'd get at the cambio. There's a bunch of people standing around on Florida street yelling "Cambio cambio! Change change!" I used them to do my conversions. They take back to a makeshift office in the high rises around the area called "Blue Dollar Caves". The official exchange rate from USD to ARS is about 8, but on the street you can get ... read more

6/29 I got up, packed, and ate some breakfast while I waited for a cab to the airport. I shared the cab with Phil from Germany and got to my flights. It was a little difficult this time because of the language barrier and there were so many people, but not as bad as when I missed my flight because of customs. I saw the beginning of the Mexico v Netherlands game before I boarded the plane. Got through customs easily, exchanged money, and waited outside for the bus. The Uruguayan peso is really inflated and things are just as cheap here as in Brazil. $1 is the same as U$22. Also, it was freezing in Montevideo. Around 50 during the day and 40 at night, plus the wind was blowing since its a coastal city. ... read more

6/25 I stayed up all night until I left for the airport at 4am. I sat next to a cute Canadian on the flight to Brasilia, but I slept the whole flight. I got to the hotel and they tried to charge me for my room when I could've sworn that I already paid for it. After checkin my statement I realized I made a mistake. While they were getting my room ready I took a nap in the lobby. They took so long to get my room ready that I missed a bike tour that I had already paid for :( so instead I showered and washed some of my clothes in my shower. The beds and the water weren't much better in the hotel room than in the hostels. But it was better in ... read more

6/19 I woke up and had breakfast at the hostel. I put the same dirty clothes on from the last Amazon adventure and packed for the coming days adventure in the rainforest. On the agenda was fishing for piranha, seeing the meeting of the rivers, meeting different natives than the other day, and eating at a floating restaurant. The tour company was supposed to pick me up at 8 and then I was supposed to pay for the trip. At 9 I figured they were running on Brazil time. At 9:15 I had my hostel call them... no answer. Called again at 9:30, 9:45, and 10. Still no answer. I decided to accept that they had left me behind and to do something else with my day. I changed out of the dirty clothes, wrote a ... read more

6/16 I woke up and got breakfast at the hostel while bandaging my toes. JP dropped off my shoes. I packed everything up and got ready to go to the airport then took a little nap. Nico drove me and Markus to the airport. In the car we talked about our stay in Fortaleza, US politics, vegetarians, Manaus, and how he came to be in Fortaleza. Apparently he bounced around Recife, Natal, and São Paulo with a girlfriend working odd jobs. Then he met his wife who convinced him to come to Fortaleza. He started working for her at the hostel and then after a year they were married. Checking in and getting through security was easy, even without knowing Portuguese. I got a snack and waited for my flight. I chatted with a guy from ... read more