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Published: April 28th 2011
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The days are flying by, I´m almost one month in to my trip already. I can´t believe it! So much has happened in the last two weeks...
Well first off, rather annoyingly my netbook screen has cracked and now getting on to the internet is so much harder, hence my delayed blogging. My iphone is proving to be a god send, but unfortunately it´s not the easiest thing to write loads of text or upload photos on. So for now it´s internet cafes and hostal computers until I stay somewhere long enough to get it repaired. Added to that my debit card got cloned in rio which has caused me all sorts of problems. Fortunately the bank caught it and they didn´t manage to get any money. I´ve got a global traveller card, so I haven´t used my debit card while I´ve been away. The only way they could have done it was via the wifi connection I used in mellow yellow hostel. Scary stuff - you really can´t be too careful here.
My gap adventure tour from rio down to buenos aires has been great. Although I´ve done a lot of travelling, as a female travelling alone, I
thought it was a good idea to do an organised tour fairly quickly to get my confidence up and get me more in tune with life as a backpacker. It was expensive but for the sake of not having to think about anything and getting a instant group of great people, it was well worth it! Over 17 days we got to try out all modes of south american transports and in particular the famous night buses. The quality is great - reclining seats and on board meals. 15 hours soon disappears and fortunately after years of practice I can sleep pretty much anywhere.
The highlight of the tour was the incredible Ignassu falls. It was nothing less than amazing. It really is a natural wonder. I've never seen anything like it. The sheer amount of water is mind blowing. We got absolutely soaked on the boat trip underneath the falls. My waterproof camera case did a good job of protecting my camera, but my arms couldn't take the strength of the water to take any decent shots. The first day we saw the waterfall up close on the brazilian side. There were butterflies everywhere. On the second day
we got to see the whole thing from the argentian side, it was great to see where we had walked the previous day and the the close up of the devil´s throat was awesome. The noise from the water and the insane amount of rainbows was breathtaking.
From ignassu we travelled to uruquay. In relation to brazil and argentina, uruguay is tiny. I´m not sure what I expected, but I was really surprised how developed and flat it was. On route to montevideo we stopped at salta and tried out the local hot springs (although they actually looked more like an aqua park) Montevideo, is a really nice city, very european and there is a really arty vibe about the place. We were very cultural and visited the museums and the artesan markets. Mercardo del porto was a real treat. The food in there is amazing. Nearly got a suntan from the heat off the bbq. We had another funny incident with our "spaglish"in the laundrette and it ended up with us all just laughing at each other. Colonio de scaremento was gorgeous, old cars, live music, reminded me of home (minus the palm trees!!).
Money has been
running low. Brazil blew the budget well out of the window. I loved it as a country but I was quite relieved to get out. I spent most of my time worrying about money - not fun! Uruguay was noticably cheaper and so far Argentina has been a lot better, although long distance travel is expensive.
Beautiful Buenos Aires (BA). This places deserves a chapter to itself. I´m completely in love with it. I´ve been here nearly a week and I´m struggling to leave. I think that says it all!! The milhouse (party hostel) might have something to do with it too 😉 I´ll update you on this shortly......
Tomorrow I get a flight to patagonia to see the glaciers - it´s going be a such shock going from walking around in shorts and vest tops to my thermals!!
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Guapita
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In Search of Iguassu
Loved your blog, especially the photos of Iguassu Falls but also your experiences in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. We (Guapo and Guapita) are going in October, but in the opposite direction, ending up in Brazil. Sounds like you've got to be careful with debit and credit cards etc. Would travellers cheques be better? Guapita