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I write this blog in a state of depression as we´ve just realised that I´ve lost our memory card which contained all our photos from Iguazu Falls and the amazing bird sanctuary we visited. To say Jodi is not happy with me is an understatement!
This blog entry covers our time in Buenos Aires, our day trip to Uruguay, our 12 day tour through the Iguazu Falls, Atlantic rain forest of Brazil and through to Rio, plus our own adventures in Rio and Ilha Grande during Carnival (thank goodness I didn´t lose those photos!!)
* Buenos Aires Highlights - Tango, Evita and a morbid fascination with cemetaries.
- La Boca: This neighbourhood is the home of tango in BA as well as the football club for which Maradonna played (Boca Juniors). Question - how do you turn a run down, poor neighbourhood in to a vibrant, bustling hub of culture and art? Answer - Slap colourful paint on the corrugated iron and plywood houses, fill the streets with accordian and guitar players and mix in a healthy dose of seductive tango dancing. We wanted to buy half the art work on sale, alas cashflow and overflowing backpacks prohibited us from loading up!
- Uruguay jaunt: It would have been a shame not to pop over to Uruguay from BA, seeing as how it is only an hour away by catamaran. The gorgeous town of Colonia del Sacramento was previously a Portuguese run smugglers´haven, used for moving goods and people in and out of Argentina. Whilst we didn´t see any shifty-looking sailor types, we did get a sense of its historical charm. We also got to spend six magical hours waiting in the ferry terminal for the return to BA. This was due to a combination of a booking error and torrential rain. I think the 4000 card games we played to occupy ourselves during this time really brought us closer together.... hmmmm.
- Recoletta Cemetary: Okay, I know it must sound morbid that we visited a cemetary, however this is no ordinary cemetary. The elite of BA decided (several hundred years ago) that they needed to continue displaying their status after death. As a result massive tombs, replete with sculptures, pillars and crypts, jostle side by side for prominence, reminiscent of a cold war-like arms race. Evita´s tomb, of course, is the most most visited on site and is less ostentatious than most. As a side note, it was fascinating to visit the Evita Museum during our stay. I didn´t realise the scope of her fame/ legend in Argentina. Who would have thought holidays could be so educational?
- San Telmo - Markets, tango and boarding house loners: Cheap accommodation comes at a cost my friends. Staying in the heartland of tango, where street performances mingle with art, craft and antiques markets sounds great, however it means staying in a hostel where shabby men in their mid 30s seem to have long term rental arrangements (like a boarding house) and homeless people tend to sleep on the front steps of your building.
- Iguazu Falls: An absolutely amazing experience capped off by a power boat ride right up in to the thundering falls. Needless to say we were completely soaked in the process. The nearby bird sanctuary in Foz do Iguazu was incredible as we had the opportunity to get up close to toucans, colourful McCaws, scarlet ibis and flamingoes. We even got to have our picture taken with a McCaw parrot on our shoulder (think Captain Jack Sparrow!) - Alas these are the magical pictures which Luke contrived to misplace/ allow to be stolen. Absolutely gutted!
- The road to Rio: Our trip to Rio took us via the tranquil Honey Island, where cars do not exist and sipping Caipirinhas (rum, lime juice and sugar) by the water is the order of the day.
- Rio de Janeiro - there are no rules, just do what you want!: Rio was an overload to the senses. Taking a bus trip adds years to your life. I suspect they recruit bus drivers in Rio from the ranks of Formula one racing drop-outs. Hang on for dear life and try not to look out the window at who you are nearly running over. Highlights of our time in Rio include the Samba parade at the Sambadrome (the pictures speak for themselves - it´s an absolute feast of colour, movement and sound), random street parties in Leblon and Ipanema (basically a truck with a stage and speakers mounted on it drives a slow lap around the block and everyone follows it, dancing and drinking all day long), a tour of the favelas (slums), taking the cable car up to sugarloaf mountain and catching a football match involving a Rio - based club, Botafogo (if anyone is familiar with Millwall FC in England, this is the kind of rabble that Botafogo attracts!). A definite lowlight of our time in Rio was our battle with the weather. It was a day by day game of cat and mouse with the clouds, which seemed determined to cover our view of and from the Christ The Redeemer statue. We lost the battle. On our last day in Rio, brow-beaten from having been unable to catch the big guy on a sunny day, we decided to just chance it. As our photos justify, I have renamed this statue "Christ The Cloud Magnet". The weather also robbed us of some quality people-watching time on Copacabanna beach, however we´ve done pretty well so far on our trip, so I suppose one has to be philisophical about these things......"·&%!
- comments
Greg Connolly Not to worry about the memory card guys. When I'm travelling these things have a way of turning up two years later mysteriously in the pocket of a jacket I'd forgotten I'd ever owned. Well maybe not a memory card but I did usefully find 10 zloty or something which was no longer legal tender anywhere in the world - but my point still stands. So don't worry Luke I'm sure Jodi's not looking to murder you (even though she may have been dreaming up some particularly non-ostentatious headstones to mark your demise). So as I'm toasting you with a cup of tea from a dark Monday evening in Londontown, get back out there and drink Caiprinhas!
Nat and Mal We have great clouds in Edinburgh too!! Loved reading the blog and seeing the pics as we reconised so much eg. losing photographs (although we actually lost/had stolen the entire camera!), BA, cemetary, Uruguay etc. The carnivale photos look amazing - so jealous, reckon it would have been another opportunity for Luke to indulge his passion for rubber clothing! Keep enjoying it all.
Liv Katter Hi Luke & Jodi When Ben and I go to the bird sanctuary, we will get photos of the macaws on our shoulder then you can photoshop your faces onto the pic - voila! Liv xo
Kylie Ryan Love the stories, wish I was at Carnival with you. Kylie xx