finndus

Mendoza, Mendoza, Mendoza. Situated flush against the Andes this city comes with a big reputation from the people, as well as the guide books - ‘miss it at your peril’ and ‘if you’ve (foolishly) only given it a day or two on your itinerary, you’re bound to end up hanging around’ is the common denominator. With only two days in Mendoza, I was left thinking ‘will we be the fools?’ A seductive city, full of wide streets and grand plaza’s, the Lonely Planet blurted. Fresh from our overnight bus from Buenos Aires we found a vacant hostel. Knowing we had little time, we were already ahead of ourselves, knowing just about what we wanted to do. So we set off for the day expecting seduction, squeezed into a few hours leaving us yearning for more. Basically ... read more

From the bus terminal in Tacuarembo we were met by Susann, the co-owner of Panagea - a traditional Uruguayan estancia (cattle farm). We had signed up for five days of living the life of a gaucho (cattle farmer). We left Tacuarembo and were driven along the motorway to Argentina before we turned off the main road and onto gravel, leaving the modern world of Uruguay behind… The car continued deep into the farmlands of the north of the country. Noticeably the small farmhouses we passed became more simple, electricity lines disappeared along with the bridges that should cover those rivers running over the roads. We were about to experience a different world within a modern country, where living simply is a way of life as there isn’t any other way of doing things. We arrived at ... read more

Set amongst a 55,000 hectare sub-tropical forest lies one of the worlds most splendorous sights. Formed over a basalt plateau, the confluence of the Rio Iguazu (Brasil) and the Rio Parana (Paraguay) has produced something truly remarkable. A natural wonder so amazingly vast, powerfully loud and serenely beautiful, its hard to think why is this place not a household name? Bordering Argentina and Brasil, Cataratas Iguazu is an astonishing collection of 275 waterfalls spread over the different levels of the plateau. On their own these waterfalls would satisfy most paradise seekers but at Iguazu, nature had something else in mind. Cut into the forest edge the eroded plateau is a haven of tumbling water, from the thunderous display of the mighty Garganta del Diablo to the less misty Salto’s surrounding Isla San Martin, waterfalls feed waterfalls ... read more

We left Sao Paulo on an overnight service to the huge bio diverse, subtropical area called the Pantanal. After arriving bang on time we were greeted by our super helpful tour company (Panatal Discovery) who offered us a few sweeteners to seal the deal. We were offered a free day in the Pantanal and a free nights accommodation where the tour ends in Bonito. He also confirmed the boat details from the Pantanal which would transport us into Paraguay. We had phoned the captain ourselves and asked the same questions, so it was good to hear the same thing from a local, meaning our langue skills were up to scratch! We left the access city of Campo Grande and travelled deep into the southern reaches of Brasils Pantanal. We arrived at our very modern lodge with ... read more

After eight months on the road we had finally reached one of those idyllic destinations - Rio de Janeiro. It felt strange after being completely wowed by the rest of South America, would Rio be a letdown? Knackered from our early morning flight we caught a few hours sleep in our hostel in one of Rio’s extremely exclusive areas, Ipanima. With a list as long as my arm we would be pressed to fit everything in, so after our morning nap we joined a trip to tour one of Rio’s equally as famous as it is dangerous neighbourhoods - the favela’s. Being told these neighbourhoods are far too dangerous to visit by ourselves we chose a company that gives something back to these deprived communities. We were picked up from our hostel and as we were ... read more