Buenos aires, Iguazu and Rio

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Hi everyone!



First of all I hope you had a fantastic Christmas!



We arrived to Buenos Aires the day before Ross' birthday. As it was also the last day of the tour, we went to have a goodbye dinner, then a few of us headed out to a Zouk club. Zouk is a popular dance in Brazil, and the dancing initially started as couples only, then transformed into some sort of sexy line dance....which of course we had a go at! Absolutely fun night!Ross' birthday itself consists much of relaxing,eating and drinking lots of wine, cheese and Italian food.





We spent another week in Buenos Aires. After a stretch of camping, it has been lovely having beds and our own bathroom! We stayed in an area called Palermo Hollywood, which is known for its restaurants and bars. Our favorite was La Cabrera-what fantastic steaks! We also took the opportunity to see all BA had to offer; saw a tango show, were lucky enough to turn up to casa Rosario (prime scene in Evita!) on a weekend when it is open for visitors, saw Eva Peron's tomb in recoleta cemetery, explored San telmo market and even took a tango class in a Milonga!





Our next stop was the Iguazu falls, where we spent two days on the Argentinian side and three on the Brazilian side. This was a sight I have been anxious to see for a long time, and it did not disappoint!It is definitely top of my list of favorite places. Both sides offered different experiences; the Argentinian side had longer trails to walk along, and allowed you to get up close and personal to the falls, while the Brazilian side gave you fantastic panoramic shots. We had planned to spend christmas here, and decided to treat ourselves to the Belmond Hotel des Cataras, a hotel based within the national park on the Brazilian side. It was worth every penny! We were able to access the falls at any time of day, including a view of sunset on the falls, when the park is closed to visitors. That evening, we enjoyed caipirihnas on the porch, then a Brazilian asado for dinner. A very memorable day!

I can't describe how awe-inspiring the falls were, but if I were to recommend one place to put on a bucket list, the iguazu falls would be it!





We then moved on to Rio de Janeiro. For the first three days we stayed at Copacabana, then moved to Botafogo. The beach in copacabana is crazy; absolutely packed with beach chairs,parasols and people, its virtually impossible to see the sand! There is also cycle/running path along the beach, which I have taken the opportunity to use having felt bad for eating all the cheese and steak after seeing everyone with their beach bodies on point. While we have been here, we took a trip by cable car to see the sugar loaf mountain, saw the selaron stairs, went up via tram to see the Christ redeemer and took a tour of the world cup football stadium. Lucky for us, my friend Zara also happened to be in Rio at the same time, so we met her and her friends for dinner last night!





Today, we will be bringing in the new year on copacabana beach( I am so excited!) ,before commencing the fifth part of our journey, across Brazil and the amazon rainforest to Peru! This trip goes on for 28 days, and with quite a few bush camps, I'm not sure when I'll next have the opportunity to update the blog, but I will try my best!





We wish all our friends and family a very happy new year, and that 2015 is filled with love, good health and happiness.





Until next time!

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