Blogs from South America - page 16

(Day 279 on the road)"If you need the oxygen bottle, your climb is over and you are going down". This was the firm stance of the guide at the climbing agency in the centre of La Paz. I was there because I had finally made up my mind to try to climb Huayna Potosi, a 6.088 metre mountain that is very accessible from La Paz. I had thought long and hard about whether I really wanted to do it. And why, really? I was quite worried about the altitude. Also, the actual ascent starts at 1 am, so there would be little to no sleep the night before. But as a good friend told me on the phone: I had been at the altitude of La Paz / Lake Titicaca for over a month now; I ... read more

Blog 6 When I ended the last blog, I had just seen the tango show. The only thing I had left to see was the famous Ateneo bookshop, set in an old theatre. I had marked it in my maps.me app and got in a taxi. It was miles away and the taxi was 2,000 ARS, by far my most expensive. It was an Ateneo bookshop but not the one I wanted, I got the correct address and then another taxi, 1500 pesos !! It was beautiful and deservedly is said to be the most beautiful bookshop in the world. I got a taxi back to where I had eaten breakfast as I had left my, very expensive, water bottle, it could have just added to the expensive day. Thanks to my VPN I watched the ... read more

Blog 5 Puerto Madryn and Back to Buenos Aires So I woke up early Monday morning and headed off in search of dolphins. My drug concoction seemed to have worked. I went with a lovely company called hydrosport where Patricia welcomes everyone and Marissa is the guide. There were only 18 of us on a 72 seater boat, it was a bit overcast but the sea was calm until we got to the edge of the bay and even then it wasn't too bad. It was a lovely trip but sadly no dolphins ! We did get a great display from the young sea lion pups though. There was a Manx shearwater, they never land , except on water, and migrate to Scotland. We were offered a free trip on Wednesday. Marissa mentioned there are Orcas ... read more

Time To explore BA and then head home… It was basically only about 24 hours with no sleep this time... Saturday morning was our debarkation day in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The letter in our cabin the previous night said everyone leaving the ship today had to be out of their rooms at 8am. We waited downstairs in the atrium (peacefully actually because this was not the waiting area for very many other people apparently) and we got off the boat around 9:30am in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We were walked off by a Costa staff member and taken to our luggage, then our luggage was put through a scanner LEAVING the cruise. In all the time I’ve cruised, this has never happened. I asked why. She flatly said “to check for drugs” so apparently, this is standard ... read more

Today was our final “sea” day which means no stopping at a port today. Here are a few things we learned about South America. The toilets flush backwards… as in, they swirl the other direction when they flush. It is dark at 6pm every day, 365 days a year. They have 12 hours of daylight 365 days a year. The country and the people overall are poor but their shores are lined with Asian based banks like The Bank of China. I’ve already said the Brazilians onboard and in the shops have been rude. Brazilians love to hate Argentinians and Argentinians hate to love Brazilians is a “known” saying around here. Frankly, I don’t think the Brazilians like anyone. Today on the boat overheard speaker they announced “Happy Hour – Buy 6 coffees, get 6 free” ... read more