From Ushuaia we flew to BA again, and took a bus to our last stop in Argentina, Mendoza, wine country! Hurrah (hic)! We spent 2 great days tasting the different varieties and finished off with an amazing 5 course lunch amongst the vines at the Ruca Malen vineyard… all the courses were paired with wines too, so it was perfect.

On our first day we stayed in town, which is generally pleasant enough with tree lined streets and nice sunny parks. Refreshed and eager to find the perfect Malbec we took a bike and wine tour. We visited 4 bodegas with an Argentinean guy, Andres, and sampled some great wine. Our favorite bodega of the day was an organic family producer, Pulmary. The wine was all really good and we got to sit and taste with the owner and winemaker himself. We also got to meet a famous winemaker in Mendoza, Carmello Patti, he creates a gorgeous blended wine (his Gran Assemblage) which he also exports to the UK, I'm sure it will have a nice price tag to match in the UK though.

That evening we enjoyed an asado in the hostel and yet more wine and the following morning we managed to catch a bus to Ruca Malen vineyard. The driver took the whole bus 6k out of the way to help us find it, very nice of him as we would have been very lost otherwise. This is where we had our end of South America treat meal… the 5 courses mentioned above. Apple mousse, pork and raisin empanadas, caramelised carrots with smoked ham and goat cheese froth (can still taste this thinking about it, yum), Argentinean beef with roasted veggies, chardonnay lemon granitee and dulce de leche ice cream. Really makes the mouth water to reminisce.

After sleeping off dinner (a night in which we felt and heard a minor rumble as there was another after shock from the Chile earthquake) we left Mendoza early the next morning for Santiago, Chile. The drive through the Andes was beautiful. Apart from our detour to Brazil and Buenos Aires, our whole trip has been spent going up and down in the Andes and it was dazzling once again to see it rise and fall as we drove across.

Santiago de Chile is a pleasant city, with a huge cathedral, many other big churches and pleasant architecture, and incredibly friendly people. The huge and very recent earthquake was, as you would expect, fresh in people's minds. We saw little obvious damage in the centre of town but everyone we spoke to had a story to tell. We visited the museum of Santiago where we learned how much the people of Santiago are experienced in natural disasters, and ate some gorgeous fish at the fish market before, all too soon, we had to leave to catch our flight. The airport was south of the City and nearer the earthquakes epicentre, and it was significantly more damaged, with about half of its buildings out of action.

The bad news now is that we are both really sad to be leaving South America, but its been an incredible six months and we wouldn't change any of it. Our memories of great moments, including: seeing machu picchu for the first time as the clouds lifted at Sun Gate on the Inca trail; getting up after an hour in petrified darkness after being surrounded by jaguars in the jungle (yes, there were several…); meeting wild dolphins; watching the sun rise from a sand dune over jericoacoara; clapping the sun to bed with the cariocas in Rio; the Rio fireworks from Copacabana beach at new year; making many new friends (and almost a new family in Sao Paulo); reaching peaks after Patagonia hikes; improving at speaking Spanish, and chatting with people we couldn't have said a word to before; great meals and wine, not least at Ruca Malen in Mendoza; and so many others. These memories will stay with us forever and, no doubt, help us through our return to the real world come the Summer.

The good news is that we are also very excited about our next destination, New Zealand… but it has a lot to live up to!