Buenos Aires is a huge city (over 15m people) so was quite a change from quiet, little Colonia. We arrived in the neighbourhood of Tigre late in the afternoon on Thursday 8 March, after quite a cool ferry trip through the estuary. Customs took quite a while :-/ but afterwards we found the tourist information office easily enough. They pointed us towards the train station and we got on the next train to Martinez, which is where our host's family stayed.

We had arranged to do CouchSurfing and were being hosted by a girl named Amanda. She kindly picked us up from the station, and took us home where we met her mother Ruth and brother Franco and the 2 crazy cats (unfortunately her dad was away on business.) Everyone was super friendly and welcoming. They stay in an awesome, big house and we were so blessed to have a room to oursleves! After a quick shower we walked down to the shops to buy food for dinner. We ended up making a nice big pot of pasta & sauce and had a great meal round the table chatting and get to know each other.

Friday we got to sleep in a bit and then headed into town to do a city tour (We were about a 10 min walk and then 20 min train ride from the city.) We bought our tickets and then went to see some of the nearby sights on foot and have a picnic lunch in the park while we waited. The city tour bus came with headphones and an option of English commentary! It was a great way to get an overview of the city, learn some of the history and get to see all the main sights in a short space of time. We didn't want to be home too late so we hpped off half-way and took the train home. That night Ruth was hosting a farewell party for Nadcha, one of her work collegues and we were invited which was awesome as we got to meet a whole bunch of other people - many from BA, but some from other places. We flopped into bed a little after 01h00 after another busy day.

One thing that we did find really weird was how the money works. Firstly, all the 2 peso notes that we saw were literally on the verge of disintegrating - most were held together with sticky tape. Secondly, for some reason there seems to be a huge shortage of coins? They are incredibly difficult to get hold of. One time we needed coins to buy train tickets (another thing - they don't give change when buying train tickets. you must give the exact amount, which happens to not be a round number.) so we went to buy some cheap sweets from the shop accross the road and the man would rather give us the sweets for free as he had no coins?! (the equivalent back home would be buying R1.20 woth of sweets and paying with R4 and the guy can't give you change.) So we ended up riding the trains quite a lot for free as we actually couldn't pay! :-/

Saturday we were up pretty early to continue on the second half of the city tour. We had a bit more time so were able hop off at a few places and wander around. We had lunch at this local schwarma place which was awesome. Afterwards we headed home and just chilled for the afternoon. Nadcha was staying the night before leaving early the next morning and a few other close friends/family were also there, so we (ie. Monique) made a big old South African style lasagne for everyone, which was awesome! Afterwards we had a cool time chatting and learning about each other's countries over a glass of wine.

Sunday we were up early again to say goodbye to Nadcha. We were due to move to another hostel in the city but were invited to stay another night, which was awesome :-) So instead all of us went through to the weekend market in Tigre. Its a pretty cool place - right next to the river and there are tons of craft/food stalls to look at. When we got home, Guilherme, who is a good family friend and also studying to be a chef, made us a delicious lunch. We had a much needed nap and then caught the train & subway through to town to meet Alejo, a friend of a friend back in Cape Town. We went to this awesome steakhouse called La Cabrera for some world-renowned Argentinian beef. It was amazing! Afterwards Alejo gave us a bit of a walking tour of the surounding neighbourhood, before treating us to some devine gourmet ice-cream! By now the trains had long stopped operating, so we got a taxi home. Great nigh out :-)

Monday morning we were up early (again!?!) to say goodbye to the family before everyone left for varsity/work. We were hosted so well and felt completely at home - like one of the family, so it was sad to say goodbye. Hopefully we will meet again somewhere sometime. We packed up our things, all thee while hoping that the pouring rain outside would stop. No such luck and we had to get a short taxi ride to the train station. Another free train ride and a short walk later we were at the bus terminal. We got our tickets, grabbed some cheap-and-nasty burgers and boarded the bus for our 20 hour trip to Santiago...