World Adventures- Africa, the UK and South America

03.03.10

Camped on the Argie side of Iguazu Falls at a camp site called ‘Camping Americano’. The camp site was located a bus ride out from the falls and from town, a little annoying, but had everything that you needed.

Went to see the falls from this side, after seeing the Brazilian falls the day before.     The falls are much more spectacular on the Argie side, with much more to do. I paid for a boat ride and was taken under the spray of the falls themselves. The amount of spray was intense, and the volume of water difficult to comprehend. It is a beautiful place, as reflected in my photos. Following the falls I went to ‘Bird Park’, which was great. There were huge aviaries that you could walk through, and consequently get very close to the wild life. Michelle, one of the girls off my truck, was stalked and comically attacked by one of the Toucans that for what ever reason took a dislike to her, it was all very amusing.

04.03.10

Bush Camp and drive day.

05.03.10

After a drive we arrived in Buenos Aires at about 5pm, and got dropped off with our belongings outside our hotel for the week, Hotel Santo. Spent the afternoon in the Hotel, which is more of a hostel that a hotel. I was in a dorm of 8 beds, with the top bunk in front of the door.  Went out to another local hostel for the evening to dance and drink. Various members of the group were very intoxicated, which made for some very amusing dancing antics.                             

06.03.10

Spent the day shopping for a dress to wear out to the booked tango show for the evening. Walked around town for the first half of the day with the group, then separated to find a dress, heals and bikini to go under the dress. Lots of leather shops everywhere, tho not as cheap as in Bali.

Tango show was very good, had a 3 course meal which was nothing special. See video uploaded on facebook for examples of the show. Very creative and well put together.

07.03.10

Went to La Boca and the Sunday antique market, which was a walk from town. The markets were great, would have liked more time to explore, but was with members of the group and didnt fancy ending up there by myself. Bought a $5 bracelet from one of the stalls.     

Went out for dinner to have a Argentinian steak, which are meant to be the best in the world. The steak was nothing special, and took for ever to come out. After dinner everyone went to the bar across the road for a few drinks, and then got into cabs to either go out or to go back to the hostel. I ended up by myself in a cab back to the hostel and had to ask the tour guide to speak to the driver to get me there. I was really annoyed, it really sucks to travel with so many couples- they take cabs in pairs and you just end up the odd one out all the time!!

Got back to the hostel in a bit of a bad mood and decided to avoid the people in my room, so stayed down in the lounge near reception. Got chatting to one guys there and went out with him to a local salsa club. It was awesome, had a GREAT time, there were no gringos (whites) in the club, and everyone danced soo well it put what I could remember of my dance lessons to shame!!  After the club shut I then went to an African club with Wes, which was also good fun, ended up being a late but very good night out on the town.

08.03.10

Chill day after last night, woke up late, spent time on the internet and went out for hot chocolate and cake with Dan.

09.03.10

Spent the day exploring BA on foot with Dan. Walked approx 1.5hrs to get to the cemetery and explored around there- it was amazing to see the size of the crypts and the detail in the stained glass windows. Looking into the broken doors of the crypts you could see quite a way into the depths of the crypt and smell the stench of death, as well as see at least 8 coffins piled on top of one another. We found the crypt for Evita, and then headed out to see the Japanese gardens. The gardens were in the middle of the city and far from relaxing, the most exciting thing that they had to offer was a strange rodent like creature that came up to me and nibbled on my shoe lace. I took a few photos and will upload them under Argentina.

Following the cultural exploration we grabbed a cab and went to the shopping district. Dan needed to find a jumper and some jeans for when we head south to the colder regions. After buying what he needed we decided to go to the cinema and saw Alice in Wonderland. The movie was in English with Spanish subtitles, and I was not impressed. It was nothing like the story line I remember from the cartoon version when I was a kid, it was some wack parallel of it, and a complete waste of time and money if you ask me.
            
Went out for chinese food with Wes and then out on the town again with him and his mates. Another late night but it was good fun, especially since I got to practice some of my swahili again.
                                       
10.03.10

Left BA early and drove all day down towards Ushuaia, 5 members of the group temporarily left the truck to fly the distance. Witnessed a truck fall over onto its side in an accident directly in front of the truck, didnt shop as there were other trucks about that had already pulled over, but we did have to swerve out of the way. Good driving on Oasis’s part!

11.03.10

Drive day into P.Madryn and camped at camping ACA. Arrived late afternoon, went for a walk along the beach. Was on cook group, made a stir fry for 25 people.        

12.03.10

Another drive day on the way to Ushuaia, camped on the beach in front of a cliff face. Very cold and very windy night.

13.03.10

Another full drive day, approx 10hrs, set up camp in a Quarry. Started reading twilight, very addictive and very east to read (tho not a bright book, easy to pass the time with).

14.03.10

Reached Ushuaia around 4.30pm and got set up in the hostel (Los Cormoranes) with a talk about available activities. I finished reading twilight, walked around town and posted my first lot of post cards home.   

15.03.10

Walked up to the Glacier with about 7 people from the group, nice walk through snow but could not see the glacier from any point on the mountain. After coming down we stopped in a coffee shop and I ordered a fantastic slice of Apple cake !!

At 6pm I was collected to go for the beaver tour that I booked, three of us went, it was an ok night but well overpriced for what it was. Got given an amusing picture of one of the beavers, but mostly found that I was just too cold standing around in the cold, wearing gumboots, in the swampy back paddock of the property.

16.03.10

Started eating chocolate again after taking a month off due to over indulgence. Bought some AMAZING chocolate in one of the hand made chocolate stores, best chocolate ever!!

Spent most of the day wandering around the town by myself, walked along the harbour and through the side streets. The other Oasis truck arrived and I was albe to steal the 2nd book in the Twilight series to read.

Bush camp for the night in a very cold but picturesque site just outside town, could see snow on the mountains, and next to a stream.

17.03.10

Bush camp.