Steak, wine, tango, partying, dramatic scenery and cool wildlife. These are the things that spring to mind when I think of Argentina. I was not disappointed. Iguaçu was literally a washout. After a very wet overview of the falls in Brazil, we came to the Argentine side fully prepared with some very fetching plastic macs. I had been looking forward to seeing the falls for the whole of my trip, and so in spite of the grey skies and torrential rain that greeted us as we left the hostel that morning, we continued onwards to the falls. The Argentine side provides a full close up with the falls, with the most spectacular of all the falls, the devils throat. This was definitely a highlight, and was made all the more dramatic by the increasingly strong wet weather surrounding us. In hindsight I probably experienced the falls at their most ferocious, however, I hope one day to return to see them on a far more peaceful and sunnier day! After the falls we headed south to Buenos Aires, where we were finally greeted by a dryer and sunnier climate. Hurrah! This is the city of coffee shops, and where there is coffee in Argentina there is also non stop smoking. Portenos seem to have a constant need to have something stuck in their mouths at all times. If it isn`t a cigarette it's a mate. Both are allowed in the most bizarre places, for example while getting my hair cut (the first time this trip) I watched the hair stylist work around the woman sitting next as she constantly drank mate and smoked. Surely this is pretty hazardous - boiling water drank through a metal straw and a lit cigarette near v. flammable hair spray products. I do not understand either phenomenon at all! So everyone is asking: is the steak worth the hype? And the overwhelming answer is YES! YES! YES! I think I have eaten a lomo steak 95 percent of the time here in Argentina. I have eaten it everywhere from posh restaurants to lorry driver cafes and each time the steak has been amazing and such good value. This is also true of the vino, and particularly the Malbec which is the Mendoza's speciality wine. Wine here is an absolute bargain and I have certainly been enjoying it to the max, including a couple of vineyard tours in Mendoza itself. Tango especially in the San Telmo and La Boca areas of Buenos Aires is all around. It would be impossible to miss a street demonstration in either of these areas. Unlike salsa in Guatemala, I didn`t take any tango lessons, preferring instead to sit back and relax watching the professionals dance away while I tucked into another milanesa or lomito sandwich at a sunny street pavement. Partying in Argentina and particularly Buenos Aires starts late. Typically I arrived at the restaurant at 11.00pm and left around 1am, then back to a bar for more drinking and finally onto a club around 2am, getting home around 8am. I actually was more impressed with the actual clubs in Brazil than Argentina, but Argentines certainly party harder than Brazilians. After Buenos Aires I headed south to Puerto Madryn. Here we got to see whales, penguins, sea lions and elephant seals. We were fortunate to see the whales so energetic and so close to the boat. In turn the penguins were utterly at ease with the tourists and both the whales and penguins seemed to pose for the camera at every opportunity! As the name suggests Puerto Madryn was founded by Welsh settlers in the 19th century. And so, appropriately we decided to experience one of the famous Welsh teas in the nearby town of Gaiman. (Personally I didn`t even know Wales was famous for its teahouses - oh my shameful lake of education!). For me this was one of the most bizarre experiences of my whole trip. At first we thought the teahouse was closed, but upon ringing the bell we were greeted by the lady who ran the teahouse - Senora Jones no less! Entering the almost deserted teahouse was like stepping back in time, but to which time exactly I am still unsure. The walls were decorated with very scary looking artefacts from all over the world including a giant animal skin pinned to the far wall. Needless to say we sat as far away from that house of horrors monstrosity as possible. To add to the 'relaxing' atmosphere the teahouse door was immediately locked shut as soon as we were all through it. Immediately the music to Hotel California entered my head, but this was quickly replaced by the teahouse's Welsh folk music, which sounded more It's a Small Small World, than Welsh choir. The tea itself consisted of buttered white bread slices, cheese, numerous pastries and cakes and of course as much tea, complete with tea cosy, as you like. Once we had resisted a fourth helping of tea and cake and parted with a substantial amount of pesos the door was eventually unlocked and we were permitted to leave. Phew - we made it out without becoming another souvenir on the wall! Next stop was Calefate. From here I visited the Moreno Glacier. The glacier is 60m high. The sound and the sight of huge chunks of white and blue ice crashing into the sea from such a height was absolutely awesome. Hugh slabs of ice seem to fall approx every 20 mins, but I was incredibly fortunate to see one of the biggest pieces fall while I was on a boat right in front of the glacier. Even our guide who had been working for two years said that she had never seen so much ice fall in one go. V. cool. After the excitement of Calefate it was good to chill out in the most southern city in the world Ushuaia. The city is actually really likeable, with cool restaurants, pubs, bars and shops. However, for me the best part was simply looking out over the freezing Beagle Channel and then looking back to see the huge Andes mountains hugging the city. From here I hiked in Tierra del Fuego national park and skied at the end of the world in Ushuaia's largest ski resort Cerro Castor in a very fetching all in one ski suit! Am now in Mendoza soaking up the sunshine in the pretty parks and squares. I was planning on staying here longer however yesterday I came back to my dorm to find the whole room had been ransacked. I was lucky as only my jeans were stolen, but others had money, jewellry and id stolen. It worse as many people suspect it was one of the staff. There is a general bad feeling and uneasiness in the hostel now. Because of this I have decided to hot foot it over to Chile tomo to experience Santiago and Valparaiso for a few days before I fly on Thursday to New Zealand. Hope you are all well Lindsxxx