Ok, ok, for the third time I need to write this, although its a bit late, damned computers erasing my previous ramblings....

Buenos Aires was fun. Although I gave up on the idea of teaching english due to the paltry 2 pounds per hour pay rate (and the fact that the schools all break for summer in December until February), I did manage to keep to my plan of 2 guitar classes per week to learn the basic chords for a handful of indie rockclassics. Also the tango lessons were progressing, albeit with a wide range of partners of all abilities, the guys having to constantly change between the girls as we were greatly outnumbered. But 6 lessons in, the classes broke too for summer as everyone packs their beachwear and heads for Mar del Plata, the Argentinian Benidorm, for the summer roasting.

Many thanks to Ferd and Pabli for their help and advice which helped me familiarise myself with the city, and their classy appartment giving access to a terrace, large screen home cinema, daily doses of BBC world to see what I´m missing back home and boundless culinary possibilities. 

Argentinians are known for their beef, their football and their women. As a part-time vegetarian I did find it difficult to avoid the parilla grills, where every cut of the cow can be selected from the menu. As I was staying close to the chocolate box (la bombonera, home of Boca Juniors), I saw plenty of fans glued to the TV sets whenever their team played in a life or death match. As for the ladies, well they dont drink (nor do the guys), but manage to stay out in the clubs til 5 or 6 in the morning. Not really the same pub / drinking / drunk / chatting up culture as england, the guys seem to prefer passing casual conversation in the parks of a weekend, complimenting the chicas on their flasks, mate (pronounced matay) gourds and bombillas (silver or wooden straws) making up the bitter tea-like drink the Argies are so fond of.

There was social life aplenty, and I managed to take in at least a dozen of the 60 or so museums, clubs, and music festivals, almost all free or very cheap by our standards.  Sinc the currency crashed and lost two-thirds of its value in 2001, the locals, mainly of Spanish and Italian origin, travel abroad much less, but many more tourists are coming here every year.  As a result, there´s a bewildering selection of cultural events, bars, restaurants etc to choose fom every night.  One monday morning on my first long night out, I returned by bus at 5.30am, thinking everyone else was commuting to work.  But no, theyre all returning home too... I needed to re-programme my body clock.

In November I took 3 weeks in Patagonia - a mere 45 hours bus ride south in this enormous country.  Celebrating my birthday in a mountain hut with 4 swedish doctors and nurses was a pleasant introduction to my 36th year.  But of course it was 2 couples...  Further south the Perito Moreno glacier rises 60m from the icy lake, with huge blocks of ice crashing into the water every 15 minutes or so.  Then the enormous vertical rock peaks of Fitzroy in Los Glaciares  national park, and finally Torres del Paine over the border in Chile.  Great exercise in packing light when you´re walking with the backpack for 6 days.  The weather was generally pretty cold but we had everything  - rain, snow, sun, wind.  This time accompanied by a French, a belgian and a Dutch girl for whom the hourly smoke breaks did slow progress a little, but gave us time to savour the pure mountain air.  The highlight for me was the valle de Frances, a 360 degree amphitheatre of craggy peaks. To break the journey back north, I stopped off to see about 15 enormous southern right whales about to head south to colder waters- as they swam under the boat, I realised they were about twice the size and could have flipped us at leisure.

Back in BA the festive season passed quite tamely, with a few friends from the hostal I´d stayed in, a classical music festival and fireworks.  At the end of January I said my goodbyes, heading north to the Brazilian border to Iguazu Falls.  This being the rainy season, they were pretty spectacular, as I hope the photos prove.  Linked up with a mate who I´d met in Peru (hoy no hay tambien Simon!!) for a few days, then I boarded the bus for Rio in good time for Carnaval further north in Salvador de Bahia.