Firstly, thanks everyone who has sent me a text, email or posted a message wishing me a happy birthday. Today has been fantastic... we started the celebrations at midnight last night in the pub, after watching a fantastic tango show.  We then went on to a night club, where everyone proceeded to get me incredibly drunk. Obviously it is rude to turn down drinks when they are being offered, so had a bit of a tipsy-wipsy night! Got in at 6.30 am, and have been feeling a bit delicate today!

The plan for tonight is to go and have an enormous steak in an Argentinian restaurant, washed down with some red wine and see where we go from there... It has certainly been one of the more memorable birthdays!

As for the latest on the travels, well we left our fighter pilots in Montevideo and headed off to Colonia, also in Uruguay. I really have been so impressed with Uruguay... I don´t think I had a clue about what it would be like before I went, but it is absolutely gorgeous - very chilled out, really pretty and somewhere I´d definitely like to go back to.

We then took the ferry across from Colonia into Buenos Aires, and have been hear for the last few days. BA itself is great, and you could easily spend twice as much as time as I have here. It feels like a mix of Latin America, Paris and New York. We´ve spent the days mostly just walking around and soaking it all up. Nothing serious has gone wrong, but we have encountered a few hiccups on this leg... First of all the ferry that takes passengers and vehicles was broken. We all took the passenger-only ferry, while our truck driver had to make a 24-hour driving detour to cross the Uruguay/Argentina border by road. Until yesterday when the truck arrived, I had been wearing the same clothes since I got here... bet everyone could smell us coming a mile off!

The hostel here is also.... let´s just say... interesting! The hostel cocked up the reservation so we´re all staying in separate dorms with a load of strangers! My room mates are currently 7 boys (although don´t get too excited... they´re really not my type!), and we all have bunk beds! It´s just about better than camping in so much as I actually have a bed, however that´s about the best compliment I can make about it! Still, as you´ve probably gathered, the amount of time actually spent there is kept to the minimum!

And the mosquitoes....!!!!!!  I thought Brazil was bad....  no one tells you about the ones here in Uruguay and BA!  Just as the old bites had started to heal, I now have another hundred or so bites all over my body... they are huge mozzies - they bite through clothes, and are certainly not repelled by even the industrial strength repellant!

So, now I´m going to head out to get ready for my ´birthday party. Tomorrow morning we start our looooonnnnnngggggg drive to Patagonia. I think we have two solid days of driving to get to Puerto Madryn where we spend a day penguin spotting, then another three days after that driving to Ushuaia, which is right down at the most southerly point of South America. The thermal underwear is already on standby!

I hope you´re all well, and thanks for keeping me up to date with all the goings-on.

All my love

Nikki xxxxx (aka "Old Git")