Hola from Buenos Aires.. Home of the steak and tango

So I arrived in BA in the afternoon and hit up my hostel... nice hostel, good location.. I had a shower and got some food and chilled out a bit as I was wrecked from the overnight bus... so not much to report on day one in BA.

Next day was a bit busier, I slept in and then went for a wander to get some food. In the arvo I did a city tour which took us past museums, parliament, the rich area and then into La Boca. La Boca is a poor area with brightly coloured houses made out of scrap materials. The houses are so bright as they were painted with left over paint from the docs so a door frame may be red and a wall blue but the next wall may be yellow... La Boca is also home of the Boca Jnrs who are apparently a really famous or well known football (soccer) team that were the team some Maradona guy played for apparently he was like one of the best football players ever or something.. I don't know it's all completely lost on me to be honest but the stadium was bright as it was painted blue and yellow.. La Boca was cool, people tangoed everywhere but it still was really dangerous....

That night I got back to the hostel, got ready and then my transfer for a tango show came.. It was a lesson and then dinner and show with all you can drink wine... spelt trouble really.. I met an Aussie couple on the bus who were nice and then when we got onto the show I met an Irish and English girl, Mary and shibvorn.. Both a good laugh and good value. We learnt a basic 4 step routine that was rather amusing and then it was time for dinner (wine) and the show. We finally got the waitress' attention and wine started flowing and then the tango began.. Mary the Irish girl was hilarious, she heckled the dancers and singers and I think I spent most of the show with my head in my hands laughing then actually watching the performers...

After the show we got the transfers back but I jumped on a different one that took me with the ladies and we went back to their volunteer accommodation for a few more drinks. The bus ride was good fun as Oui a girl from Norway smuggled a bottle of wine out and we necked the wine and I can't really remember what else but it was amusing.. I remember that much. When we got back to the accommodation we had some more wine and listened to music with other volunteers and then we headed out somewhere.. That night was gay pride night in BA so there were a lot of awesomely dressed gay men out that were pulling of dance routines to Britney and Christina and had fantastic eye makeup happening.. They were good value and have vague memories of dancing with them... at about 6am maybe I decided to call it a night.. Or should I say morning and headed home.. Via maccas of course... the sun was sneaking up in the sky and the streets were deserted.. Was pretty cool...

The next day was a right off.. I went for a quick walk but as I was flying out that night thought it was best to take it easy... anyway there were some Canadian guys who sat in the common area so just started chatting and I told them about my flight... anyway this German guy interrupted and asked me if I had the yellow fever certificate to which I replied with a no... he then informed me that I wouldn't be able to fly to cape town and handed me a piece of paper which explained that south Africa changed their legislation on yellow fever and one month ago they changed it from recommended to compulsory to have the yellow fever vaccine if flying from south America or other African nations... CRAPPPOOOO. I went to reception and we spent the next hour calling every doctors and hospital in the city but because it was a Sunday there was no luck.... so I packed my bags and headed to the hospital knowing full well they won't let me board the plane.. Safe to say there were a few tears and frantic phone calls home. So I headed off to the airport, lined up at the Malaysian desk, handed over the passport and then came the next dreaded question.. "Do you have the yellow fever certificate?" nope I do not.. They then said no worries go get it and come back on Wednesday.. As easy as that apparently.. I wasn't convinced so I got their details just in case... So I headed back to the hostel where I emailed home a list of things to do.. change my Africa volunteer program by a week, cancel my internal south African flight, book accommodation in cape town and change my flight to Bali... what a night mare... thankfully I had dad and my boss Nathan to sort most of it out for me... time to call it a night!!

Next day get up early and head to change my flights at Malaysian... was easier then I anticipated.. Had the flights all sorted out so now I don't have to go to JoBurg and I only miss 2 days in Bali.. Next stop on the "fix this mess train" was the yellow fever vaccine headed to some clinic.. I walked in and saw people in a waiting room who directed me to a door, I knocked and a lady grabbed my passport and then closed the door on me... so I took a seat and hoped for the best... people got called one by one and after about 5 mins it was my turn.. they called me in got me to read the side effects and then jabbed me with the needle, handed me my passport and yellow certificate and I was on my way.. Easy as that.

I went back to the hostel and got ready to head out with the Mary and sibhorn to Bomba which is this outdoor club thing with bongo drums and more like African music.. We headed off there and the drums were going by the time we got there and we went to get a drink as we were standing around having a drink I ran into Tim... Tim was the Inca trail kiwi... and his friend Jo an English girl. I hung out with them and ended up losing the other guys.. after the show we headed to the milhouse hostel for some drinks we were all pretty by this stage so we headed to the after party... that was a flop, Jo left to drunk the poor thing and Tim and I got bored rather quickly so we headed off shortly after and back to Milhouse which we then ended up going somewhere else.. The last club is a bit of a blur but they were playing old school rnb which I quite enjoyed... I think I rolled in home bout 5am this time.. Bit earlier then last time thank fully...

Tuesday was a write off... I was exhausted and spent the day in bed... then Tim messaged me asking if I wanted to join him and Jo for Mexican and tango.. Sure thing why not.. About 7 I dragged myself out of bed and headed to their hostel.. We headed out and found the Mexican after a mission on the trains and walking in the ghetto... dinner was nice and we sat around talking so much that we totally missed the tango..

Bout midnight 1am I rolled in to the hostel and headed off to sleep for the night... Wednesday was much the same as Tuesday but this time I was flying out that night.. Yay... I got my stuff ready and headed to the airport and checked in yay... my extended time in South America was coming to an end...

It was an adventure, there were many amazing times, very few bad and some crazy fun adventures... there were also too many highlights to name them all.. Inca Trail, Iguassu falls, Death Road, Amazon, Salt Flats... I also met some amazing people that I will hopefully continue to know for a very long time... It was only 6 weeks but it was amazing... next stop South Africa!