Viva Latin America - Part 1.

Right.... as we are sooooo far behind (4 months to be exact) we thought that we would make a condensed version of our latino movements. This is what we did:

1 - Chile - Numero uno:

We began our travels in Santiago where we met up with friends Richard, Tamara and family, who gave us loads of help and advice on surviving South America, plus a tasty, tasty dinner. Thanking you. We set off south towards the lovely surfing town of Pichilemu. At this point all Marky could think about was surfing, so we donned our wet suits, gloves, hats and boots and braved the ice cold water to attempt a surf. Not that successful as it was so cold we couldn't move.
Next stop in Chile was Villarrica. We decided to hike Vulcan Villarrica which was a smoking, rumbling, sulphur spewing snow-capped volcano. We (being I ) struggled up the 45 degree angle slopes with our crampons and ice picks and were eventually rewarded with an incredible panoramic view of the chain of volcanoes along Chile's Andies. The way down was a bonus as we simply slid on our snowy bums to the bottom of the volcano - which gave us immense amounts of enjoyment especially when we combined our bodies (thus weights) to reach terminal velocity! I did wonder at times that we might drop off the side of the volcano but it was all ok in the end. Also, lesson learned: remember to put sun cream on the under side of your nose when climbing snowy peaks- this area burns and will make you look like a plonker for days after!

2 - Argentina - Numero uno:

From Villarrica we decided to head in to Argentina as it was easier to travel south to Patagonia through Argentina. We spent a couple of days in Bariloche (which could have been any town in Alpine Austria or Switzerland largely due to all the wierd statues of yoedling women, Musli style houses and Chocolate boutiques) and then made our way south. This was our first experince of the Argentine buses - we had heard a great deal about them- and were not let down. The 24 hours it took us to get to El Calafate in the south, wizzed by with all the Bruce Willis films on show! They also took our minds off the huge expanses of nothingness outside our window. El Calafate was our jump off point to the phenomenal Perito Moreno glacier. The creeking and groaning the glacier makes is just awesome. I thought it would be a great idea to hop on a boat and get a close up view, as luck would have it, just after I left a huge face of the glacier dropped off in front of where Mark was standing (without his camera, as he had begrudgingly lent it to me). I think people call that sods law!
From El Calafate we ventured to the little village of El Chalten. This was one of the highlights of our trip so far. We spent two fantastic days trekking the stunning Fitz Roy mountain range. The craggy sheer faces of the mountains were like nothing either of us had seen before- completely vertical peaks holding little to no snow. We also crossed more geographical features off our list: seeing and hearing an avalanche; and treading on a frozen glacial lake. Marky returned a happy, happy chappy.
3 - Chile - Numero dos:
After a great deal of pressure from me, Marky caved in and agreed to go and see 69,000 pairs of penguins on the Isla Magdalina just off Punta Arenas in Chile. [NOTE FROM MARKY: this wasnt just down the road by the way- it took about 24 hours to get to the stinking place!] We took the bus back in to Chile and made our way to Punta Arenas. As we arrived at the Island I almost wished I hadn't blackmailed Marky into coming with me as the stench of 69,000 penguins hit our boat! Once we got over the initial shock that penguins aren't soft fluffy things that couldn't possibly smell, the island became quite interesting. It was fun to meander through the island but it was also fun to get off! Penguins make a great deal of noise especially during the beginning of the mating season where they are trying to find a suiter! We decided to get back to Argentina as soon as possible!

4 - Argentina - Numero dos:

Back in El Calafate we decided we had had enough of Bruce Willis films and jumped on a flight to Buenos Aires [Jen makes her boarding a plane sound so free and easy- IT IS NOT!]. This reduced our journey by 21 hours. We had arranged to study espanol in BA and as a result our accommodation was included. It worked out very well as we had a lovely little apartment in the district of Palermo - a very trendy area of BA. This was our home for 2 weeks, I got to work decorating the apartment for Christmas (tinsel was banned - but the ban was ignored), whilst Scrooge moaned about the cost of Crimbo. We had a great time in BA, our high lights were learning Tango in Palermo (Mark is a natural and wants to give up his sailing for tango, he told me himself!). Learning Espanol, our teacher, Sara, was great. Other highlights, crimbo shopping at the Artisan fair in Recoleta. I think Mark's overall highlight was buying a kilo of beef which cost the same price as 2 red peppers (and eating it)! He tells that story to everyone we meet! Crimbo was lovely in our flat - we had a roast that your mum would have been proud of Green! But it was not the same as being at home, we definitely missed your home cooking mum! Things we didn't enjoy so much about BA were: dog poo, dog poo, dog poo and stray dogs that looked at you as if you were quite tasty and pooed a lot.

5 - Uruguay - solo uno!

Having completed our 2 week Spanish course and believing that we were now fluent in espanol we decided to head to Uruguay to test out our skills and experience New years there. We hopped on a boat which took 3 hours to get to Colonia de Sacramento and then took a bus to get to the capital Montevideo. Uruguay is great, it is more relaxed than Argentina. Montevideo is a lovely city which holds a great deal of charm. We prefered it to BA, albeit we didn't stay long here as the aim of the game was to get to the beach to get involved in some surfing action! We headed to La Paloma where we spent 3 great days surfing in warm conditions. Which for me was the best surfing yet. We also met a fantastic Chilean couple who we stuck around with for our remaining time in Uruguay. Latin American New Years was an experience, people do not celebrate early things do not get going until 3 in the morning. For any of you who know Mark, he stops going at midnight! People were setting off fire works in the street next to cars and people, crazy stuff! It was all great fun and we are glad we spent it there. After La Paloma we made our way to a small fishing village of La Pedrera with the intention of doing more surfing. We met up with the Chilean couple and ended up spending a lazy day on the beach with them. From there we ended our tour of Uruguay in Colonia Del Sacramento. This city is beautiful. It was also were Montagu asked me to marry him - so we only have happy, happy, happy memories about this place. [BIG NOTE FROM MONTAGU: ok jen this was pretty epic and needs more than one piddly sentence. The proposal. Playing on my mind since NZ when i asked ted (on the golf course) if he'd mind- thankfully he didn't. Exact words: "oh, ok then, i think that's a very good idea, what do you think of my shot?" Phase 1 complete. next challenge-escape from jen for more than 2 minutes- sounds easy, it is not ( as roz will be able to tell you after her NZ 'holiday' ~"I just want to know where my mum is!") Eventually eluded the mighty pez- i got just 30 minutes to find a ring to ask my girlfriend the most important question of my life (excluding "can i buy a new boat/bike" can I though?) Anyway- phase 2 of mission wedapez completed. Next phase to find the perfect time/place. The problem with Uruguay at New Years is that there are so many bloomin' people. Chance of finding a nice quiet moment- zero. Especially when all we could find and afford were dorms- not quite how i had it pictured. Phase 3 postponed (1st sub. flag up (sailing terminology there)). So I waited..... tick followed tock followed..... finally, just as i thought i would have to wait 'til Argentina, we came to Colonia with its moonlit cobbled streets. Got the place, now need the time. Then Pez got ill, then it rained....aaargh. But then the sun came out, Jen felt better and all was good again. I wrote a little message on Jen's back at the waterfront, under the big, beautiful tree and had to simultaneously get the ring ready for the moment (this is serious multitasking- writing coherent romantic messages while undoing bag, finding well-hidden ring box, taking it out of stupidly noisy celephane bag (tactical coughs), and opening with fast pulpating heart to boot!). Anyway, ask a silly question, get a silly answer! One knee, that's it, betrothed. END OF NOTE]

6 - Argentina - Numero tres:

Back to BA with my bling, we headed to Puerto Iguazu where we went to see the phenomenal Iguazu Falls. Really, really spectacular, the noise is incredible, especially at the Garganta del Diablo or devils throat. We chose to see the falls only from the Argentinian side, this was enough for us as you could get really close to them. We then got back on a a bus and took a 24 hour journey to the city of Salta. We rented a car for a few days with Fil de Alemania (real name Nicko - but he looked so much like Em's Fil so he adopted the name-he was German for those bears of little brain) and travelled on the infamous routa cuarenta (route 40) to Cafayate and then on to Cachi. The scenery of arid land, cacti and rock formations really was out of this world. The drive was long, dusty and rough but well worth it. We returned to Salta to leave early the following day to head north to the tiny village of Pumamarca and the Salinas Grandes. Once again the drive was spectacular and the salt flats were incredible. We shamelessly attempted those pictures that all the tourists do - most were not so successful! We returned to Salta, to the wonderful hostel we had been staying in and spent Marky's bday here. We went horse riding with gauchos on his birthday, which was great as it was only us and the Gaucho. I was borderline terrified as my horse was definitely wild - I could see it in her 'wild indian' eyes! Our guide led our horses through all sorts of terrain and I even managed to gallop. Mark's horse, on the other hand wasn't in the mood for moving and it stopped every 30 seconds or so when climbing up hill due to the immense weight that was on its back! This entertained me greatly! All in all it was a great day and even included a delicious asado (Argentinian BBQ). We were sad to leave Salta and Argentina as we had had such a great time, but we decided to head back to Chile one final time to go and see the much talked about Atacama desert.

7 - Chile - Numero tres:

The trip to Chile didn't start well as I was sick with the altitude, however we made it eventually (12 hours later). The San Pedro de Atacama is a whopping great big tourist trap. Every shop sells a tour, that aside it is pretty incredible. We decided to attempt sand boarding down dunes in the very comforting named death valley! It would have been great had our guide been more interested in instructing us that he was in the Portuguese girl he was desperate to get his mits on! As a result my sand boarding experince was a bit crappy. Mark's on the other hand blossomed, I think he has found his new niche, that and tango! We went from sand boarding to the Lunar valley which was great but the highlight of our trip was an astrology tour in the middle of the desert. We set off late and through telescopes saw a phenomenal amount of stars and gas clouds but the best thing was most definitely seeing Saturn and her rings. The tour was meant for the average amatuer but of course the geeks came out in their droves - which entertained us immensley! We were not sorry to leave the Atacama and so headed for Bolivia.