Derek Con Carne

Witmarsum From Mato Grosso do Sul (the state Bonito is located in) I took a bus to the state of Parana, to search out Witmarsum, a Mennonite colony I had heard much about from Melissa (my girlfriend) who has family there. Bonito... Curitiba... Campo Largo... Witmarsum. After many bus changes ("trocar") and too many confusing directions in Portuguese, I made it to Witmarsum and the house of Frieda Janzen, Melissa's aunt. Her dad, Hermann, happened to be there at the same time. Thank goodness that they both speak English! Yet most of my stay I spent trying to understand conversations in Portuguese and German - Portuman, I call it -both of which are spoken by nearly all the locals. Witmarsum is mainly a farm town, with a large agricultural co-op that handles all the milk, soy, ... read more

I draw while I travel...... read more

Posadas Posadas is placed at the shores of the Parana river and has a nice Costanera. I didn't spend too much time here. Instead, I used it as a base point from which to visit San Ignacio. If you follow the Costanera you will eventually get to the Puente Internacional which connects with Paraguay, right across the river. It's a very large, impressive bridge. San Ignacio The whole area around San Ignacio and Posadas is famous for the jesuit missions it holds. These not only in Argentina, but also in neighbouring Brazil and Paraguay. Of these the most well-known and well-kept is in San Ignacio. The bus dropped us off at a tourism agency where the people were very kind in giving us all the info we needed and some more (they had to sell SOMETHING). ... read more

Rosario The home of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the resting grounds of many soccer fans killed in all-too-common lynchings, and the bearer of the Argentinan Flag Monument, Rosario is located North of BA and slightly west in the province of Santa Fe. The city is known for being quite picturesque due to outstanding architecture, art, and - as every Argentinan man kept on reminding me - the women. Have no worries about the last item. On the flip side, Rosario is known to be also a dangerous place, almost on the same level as BA. I have so far had no troubles in Argentina even though I have taken my share of risks. Whether Argentinans exagerate or not about crime in their country, I couldn't say. The Flag Monument is an outstanding sculptural and architectural piece. It ... read more

Trip - Strait of Magellan The odyssey began on Saturday at 2am with a pilgimage to the bus station. I was to make a connection in Rio Gallegos at 8am and then travel to Rio Grande with an ETA of 4:30pm. The first leg of the trip was timed perfectly. So it was that we left Rio Gallegos on time, with good weather. Weather, however, was not our concern - we were going to have to cross into Chile and then back into Argentina to reach our destination. The Chilean controls at Chille-Argentina border crossings have so far proven to be a real drag, so two of them in one day bore heavily on everyone's moods. Sure enough, the first border crossing took nearly 4 hours, pushing up my ETA to 8:30pm. The second border ... read more