Oops I've been totally slack, lots to catch up on, don't know where to start. I guess with beaver spotting. We sat for a long time in the cold waiting for the beavers to come out of their houses. One was out when we first arrived but disappeared by the time we got close. When it didn't reappear we tried a different location with no luck, then another where, as it was starting to get dark, beavers started appearing. There were three swimming around at one point, quite far away but we saw them and the setting was so pretty, it was nice to just sit quietly at the edge of the lakes and listen to nature.

Leaving Ushuaia we drove for two solid days, camping on the road side, and on the third day arrived mid afternoon in Puerto Madryn. The next morning we were booked in to do a tour of Valdez Peninsular which included going out on a boat to see Southern Right Whales. It was an awesome day. We went to a beach where elephant seals and sea lions were layed out on the sand, the elephant seals were HUGE and that's just the females, we didn't see any males as they are at sea at this time of year but the males are about 5m long! Right away in the distance we could just see some orcas too, they hunt on the beach there and we were hoping to see them closer or even beaching themselves to hunt but alas no. Can't have everything. Next stop was a penguin colony nesting on a cliff, we were really close to them. Then a walk to see more sea lions and elephant seals. Late afternoon when the wind died down we finally got on the whale watching boat. We were lucky to go at all and were warned at the beginning that there was only a 5% chance that we would be able to because the wind was so strong. Not only did we get to go but we were incredibly lucky with what we got to see. The first whales we came close to were a mother with a white calf, which only happens in 2% and it will get dark as it grows up. The boat was allowed to go within a certain distance of the whales then we had to stop and let them do what they wanted. Another mother and calf we came across were very curious. They came right up to the boat, so close that the guides warned us not to touch the whales! It was amazing, they were so so big and right there! A little bit scary too cos they could so easily go under the boat and come up and tip us. But they just stayed on one side popping their heads out to look at us, or that's what it seemed like. Such beautiful animals. I never imagined we would get so close.

Another two days of driving brought us to Buenos Aires. Back in the city again. It's actually quite cool as cities go. Our hostel is very central and great for organising activities. I've spent some time shopping, partied a bit (very little by local standards!), visited the La Boca district and seen the football stadium and the streets where all the walls are painted different colours, and been to a football game - the final of the South American Cup, Independiente from Argentina vs Goias from Brasil. The game was so different from anything we'd see at home. The crowd was a bit one sided, all Argentinean and they were crazy! The stadium was red all over with people in the crowd shooting roman candles and and red smoke bombs and throwing streamers (which didn't even get cleared off the field, they just played over them) and screaming, chanting, jumping and clapping. We had standing tickets (not good for sore feet) and had to be very careful not to get pushed off the stands whenever Independiente scored a goal. There was no visible score board or timer, they didn't even announce the score over the speakers at each goal. Independiente scored three goals to Goias nil, but Goias were up in the competition so this brought them to a draw. That meant an extra fifteen minutes each way of extra time. No one scored. It came down to penalty kicks. Five each. Independiente scored...so did Goias...and again...each Independiente goal brought wild cheers, each Goias goal, dead silence...third ball Independiente score...and Goias miss!...fourth ball both score...fifth, and final if Independiente score...they do and the crowd goes absolutely NUTS. Fireworks, streamers, smoke, the works, and I'm in the middle trying not to get crushed. I'm quiet curious what would have happened if Brazil had won. In the midst of the celebrations we gathered our group and actually managed to get everyone on the bus back to the hostel, quite an achievement.

Tonight we're set to go to a tango show and tomorrow hopefully a day trip over to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. In all we have five full days here, more than anywhere else, and there's plenty to do to fill them.

11/12/2010

I've had a great time in BA. The tango show was very cool, well worth seeing. We also managed to get ferry tickets to Uruguay. Not too many people ended up going and a few went on different boats, but Kieran, Alan and I booked a package which included the return ferry, lunch and a tour of Colonia. It was raining all day and the walking part of the tour was pretty miserable but it's a cute town, I think it would be very pretty in the sunshine. In the free time we looked around souvenir shops and tried a desert pizza, dulce de leche, chocolate sauce, shredded coconut and pineapple with a bit of pizza sauce on the base and lots of mozzarella. Actually really yummy. We ended up having a lot of fun. As we headed back to the ferry the sun came out so back in BA we decided to walk back to the hostel which, at that time of night after the rain cooled it off, was very nice.

Today has been another full day. Starting with a walk across town to Recolleta to see the graveyard where Evita's tomb is. Graveyard seems like a funny word for the place. Walking inside it was like being in a mini city. The tombs are huge, some old and crumbly, some shiny and marble. Evita's tomb is not specially sign posted and I think we were lucky to come across it as easily as we did, we just saw a group of people taking photos and turned down that 'street'. When no one was there it was not at all obvious. There was also a weekend market in the square outside so some shopping was done. From there we carried on walking to another part of town to the zoo. It was quite a cool zoo, with a few different kinds of bear, but in too small enclosures I think. The signage was a bit off too, the tiger was labelled leopard and the white lion was very normal lion coloured. There was a normal coloured jaguar there which I haven't seen before so that was cool. It was a nice place to walk around. Across from the zoo was another big market in a kind of event centre, it was only on for this week and turned out to be well worth a look. More shopping was done.

Tomorrow we hop back on the truck again and start the drive to Iguazu Falls. Only two days this time.