When I last wrote we were in Buenos Aires, one of my favourite cities. And one of the best parts is Palermo, a great Barrio where all the new boutiques, great fashion shops, interesting little cafes and museums are. We spent a day wandering around doing a bit of shopping, before walking down to the surprisingly interesting Evita museum. This was dad's choice of 'thing to do' in BA and it went through everything she had achieved through to her death, and it was quite interesting to learn more about Eva Peron. Made me want to watch Evita again! The next day, we had an amazing treat in flying out to Foz du Iguassu, staying on the Brazilian side of the largest falls in the world, separating Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

Mum and dad had organized the whole thing, so me and Sean were treated to our first internal flight (hallelujah!) to the Argentinean side of the falls, where we were met by Erna, a lovely Argentinean who showed us around for two days. We went straight across the border to the Brazilian side of the falls, which just simply blew us away. Around every corner of the pathway, there was a new angle of the falls, and when we thought we'd seen it all, you'd see another huge section and just be speechless again. It is quite impossible to describe the falls - we were lucky as it had rained the week before and so the water levels (compared to some of the pictures we have seen) were HUGE and an earthy red from the deposits. I have never seen such live, awesome, natural power before in my life, and it was absolutely amazing to see. We walked along a pathway in front of 'Devil's Throat'; right into the mouth of the falls…this was incredible, and wet! You literally get sheets of water thrown at you from the spray and you can see, less than 1m below your feet, the water falling away at the drop. Incredible. The whole area is a bit of a tourist trap - we have been taken into lots of 'stone' and gem shops, been fed many different Amazonian fruit juices, and taken for a charrasca, a typical Brazilian BBQ all you can eat - compared to the one I had been to in Brazil 6 years ago, it was very touristy, but at the end of the day, you're being fed good meat, all you can eat..the boys were happy! After a night of relaxing at the hotel (Foz du Iguassu, the local town on the Brazilian side is not much of an attraction itself…on the border with Argentina and Paraguay, it is known to be the most dangerous place in Brazil after Rio, but it was a nice break from walking the falls!), we left early to cross back over the border again and explore the Argentinean side of the falls.

Once again, its impossible to explain how stunning the falls really are - they literally are one of the wonders of the world, and I don't think I will ever see a 'natural' sight more incredible than I did that day. Erna, our guide who was fantastic (informative, really friendly and fun!) took us all around the Argentinean side, which has more to explore than it's Brazilian sister. We walked some absolutely fantastic boardwalks and trails along the edge of sections of the falls…every corner you turned you had a different viewpoint, rainbows at the waters edge, spray rising off the rocks…incredible. We took an open-jeep tour through the jungle, which was fascinating in itself, some very colourul birds and beautiful endangered trees & palms. A highlight was the 'jungle adventure' jet boat ride, which took you right under some of the falls, and along the river to the 'Devil's Throat'. It was so much fun - and even with waterproofs and ponchos on, we got absolutely soaked! Luckily, it was a beautifully sunny day to dry us out! After a good climb up, (and a little golf cart ride for mum and dad!!) we took the upper circuit - a series of boardwalks and bridges across the top of the falls. This was simply incredible…and scary. Walking on a bridge over the top of a waterfall, seeing the water cascade over the cliff right below you, was quite invigorating and it was so amazing to see all the different sections of the falls from above. After a cute little train ride through the delta, we eventually reached the 'Devil's Throat' - so aptly named as this seems to be the most powerful section of the falls. The water literally gets sucked into a hole, like the depths of hell, and it is seriously scary how powerful it is. Even standing above it, when the wind carries the spray in your direction, you're going to need more than a plastic poncho to keep you dry!It was such a fantastic experience and we were all in awe…and much in need of a rest when we came back to the hotel. Luckily, it has been beautiful weather, and around 20 degrees, so we were able to relax by the pool and chill out in the steam room (ah…how painful to go back to hostels!) before our flight back to BA.

After a very chic dinner out (mum's pick - a very smart restaurant with fantastic food, and real cosmopolitans…excellent! All the waiters were very professional but wore converse to give it that 'modern' touch! Bit pretentious but the food was good so who cares!?) we got up early to have a day out at an Estancia. Estancias are the typical Argentinian ranches, where they rear cows and basically produce the country's amazing beef. Mum was excited to see the Gauchos, the Argentine cowboys although I was suspicious that they were going to be more like old wrinkly men, than Antonio Banderas!

It was an absolutely fantastic day! We had an amazing trip and our guide was really informative, told us loads of information through the pampas and showed us the traditional gaucho outfits, including their knife (to kill jaguars when they attack!) the poncho, and even showed us the ritual for the matte Argentinians drink (you have to keep certain herbs dry, drink from the same straw, soak the herbs into the wood to keep the flavour - all very complicated but worth it as the matte was amazing this time and not nearly as bitter!). The pampas are huge areas of flat land whey they herd the cattle for the country's amazing beef, although Soya production or export to China has risen so much, they might run out of beef and have to import it, which, for Argentina, would be totally bizarre! The reason why the beef is so good here is because the areas of land are so large the cows can walk miles to work off the fat, but also so flat that they make little effort, therefore their muscles don't toughen keeping the meat soft and amazing. You learn something new every day! We stopped off at a cute little town called San Antonio de Areco - the spiritual home of the gaucho. Was very pretty on the main square, and we explored their beautiful church, before arriving at the huge estancia itself. The Gauchos were great fun, and Sean, dad and I went for a horse ride which was an experience! Typically, I got the horse with character, who cut the other horses up, stopped to eat the whole time, and wound the other horses up until one kicked it - my horse went wild and almost threw me off, but I survived and its all part of the experience! Was quite fun actually! We took mum on a horse and cart ride around the grounds, before sitting down to the BIGGEST parilla (BBQ) ever - slabs of mutton, beef, chorizo and free wine and drinks…enough to get mum and dad up dancing when the traditional show started! Unlike most tourist shows this was actually really awesome, an Argentine band played whilst dancers showed us dances from the regions which were really fantastic. All the locals knew the steps and were up dancing and it was fantastic atmosphere. It was all topped off with the afternoon entertainment - a gaucho horse-race, where they had to hit a target to get these rings at full speed, and it was incredible how fast and expertly they rode their horses - such beautiful, strong and elegant creatures (the horses, not the gauchos, although mum was considering taking one home in her suit case!) It was such a fantastic day and great to see a slice of how life is on an estancia ranch. It set us up perfectly for our last day in Argentina with mum and dad (and mine and Sean's 30 hour bus journey to the border with Bolivia…nice to have a break before that!), and we were all really excited to have seen so much in Argentina. What a fantastic country.

The last day with mum and dad we went to the La Boca region of Buenos Aires…full of character, and a favourite with me for the amazing coloured houses of the Caminito - where Tango originated from. We walked around and saw the Boca Juniors stadium (unfortunately there were no games on whilst we were there), before catching up on a last bit of retail therapy before mum and dad flew out. We thought we'd go all out on the last night and went to a fantastic Tango show. It was incredible - the dancers were absolutely fantastic…and the dance is so passionate, quick and skilled. It was incredible to watch, and the live musicians were equally impressive. It is based a lot on violin and accordions and I have never heard them so impressively played. The atmosphere was great, and the price included a massive three course meal, free wine and drinks, and was a fantastic way to top off the trip to Argentina. The theatre was really traditional, Café de los Angelitos (Angels), and some of the dances literally left you speechless, using bongos to beat out the rhythm. We all had a fantastic time, but it was always going to be sad to say goodbye to mum and dad, but we were so blessed for them to come out and see us, and all the amazing things they treated us to - we have had such a lovely holiday in the middle of traveling and have seen things we would have never been able to afford to see, so thank you mum and dad!!