Galapagos Islands, Ecuador - part 2

DAY 4:
Having spent 2 days in or on the water constantly, today was a welcome change of scenery. We were going to power hike up in the highlands of Isabella and visit the Sierra Negra volcano. Before we arrived at the trail head for our hike, we stopped off at an amazing breeding centre for giant tortoises. The biologists and organisations looking after Galapagos were putting in a lot of time and effort to breed tortoises and then introduce them back in to the wild once they were strong enough to survive. In this way, they were helping several endemic species from not becoming extinct.





You see until 1960s, tortoises had almost been hunted to extinction and it was only then that restrictions and conversation work was put in place. It was remarkable to see such dedication and work - not to mention 1 year old tortoises crawling and eating... they are so cute! To give you a sense of size: 1 year old tortoises are about the size of your fist; by 20 years (reproductive age) they are 75cm-1m long (males are always bigger) and as tortoises get closer to 100+ years they are very slow-moving because of their massive size! Whilst at the breeding centre, we were lucky enough to winess 2 tortoises mating, grunts and all and Alkesh took this postcard picture for you all... nice!





Alkesh tried on a tortoise shell for size!


After the breeding centre, we headed up to the trail head to start our gruelling 6 hour trek up and down the Sierra Negra volcano. During the hike, Carlos told us lots about the geology and history of the land we were hiking through. Sierra Negra has the largest crater of all active volcanoes in the world. The last eruption in 2005 created a massive ´lava field´of lava rock as far as the eye could see, stretching almost from coast to coast. It was a tough day´s hike, during which we encountered plenty of showers, hot and cold weather and relentless mud, but we were rewarded with some spectacular sights of vast volcanic history, lava tunnels, amazing landscapes and some steam flues to boot.





That evening over dinner, Carlos showed us pictures and video footage of the 2005 eruption at Sierra Negra. Fortunately the town at Isabella coast was not affected, and indeed the eruption was deemed ´not violent´, but boy oh boy was it a spectacular explosion of red hot lava. Upon hearing and feeling the eruption, Carlos and some others went up to the highlands to experience the explosion first hand. He told us that the sulphur smell was unbearable, and he had to move away every 5-10 minutes or so because the heat was so intense even though he was still quite far away from the source. Incredible!! Seeing the photos was quite humbling, esp. as we´d just been hiking through that spot a few hours earlier!



DAY 5:
With eager anticipation, today was the day we were going diving with 2 other people from our group (whilst the rest of the group visited another attraction on Isabella). We´d sorted out the kit the night before, so at 7.30am we met at the shop to pick up our gear and drive down to the docks. From there we went on boat to the marina - here we did a shallow (2-3m) dive just to check all our kit and buoyancy was ok. I was a bit anxious as it had been almost 2 years since we last went diving in Mauritius for our honeymoon. Fortunately, our dive master was very patient and understanding. Whilst doing these ´check´dives, we were treated to another one of those spectacular ´Galapagos photo´moments where we saw a sea lion on the pier with a pelican swooping down to the water to catch a fish and a penguin floating by. All 3 at the same time, in the same place... amazing! After the ´check´dives, were sailed on in the boat to Isla Tortuga (see day 3) - the site for our 2 dives. Isla Tortuga is so called because of its uncanny resemblance to a certainlarge marine animal.





Our first dive took us to a depth of c. 18m with reasonable visibility. We saw several sea turtles, an eagle ray, huge shoals of barracuda and other beautiful tropical fish (some of which are unique to the Islands), like dancer fish, parrot fish and angel fish. Unfortunately due to our inexperience, Alkesh and I were low on air and had to surface after about 30mins below but it just so happens that as we were surfacing, the other 2 people saw a couple of hammer head sharks! Such a shame we missed out on these prized sightings.



During our surface interval inbetween the 2 dives, we were offered some snacks and refreshments. Alkesh was a little foolhardy (as he often is with food!) and gobbled down crackers which when combined with very choppy waters made him sea sick. I felt a bit sick also even without eating anything. Fortunately as soon as we entered the water for our 2nd dive, we both felt much better. This time, we were were greeted with 5 white tipped sharks, each about 2 meters long, slipping through the water and looking so elegant with their sleek grey bodies and small white tips. We also both felt and saw some thermaclines in action - thermaclines are the barrier between warmer water and cooler water. When you swim through a thermacline, it looks as if there is gas escaping under water producing a strange shimmering effect under the water - for a moment, I thought one of my contact lenses had popped out! Once you pass through the thermacline barrier, the drop or increase in temperature really catches you out. All in all it was a great morning of divng and we really enjoyed ourselves! We´re fortunate to be having the chance to do more diving later on in our travels: Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Bali, Thailand etc. Can´t wait!!



After hungrily devouring lunch, we rejoined the rest of our group for the afternoon. We went snorkelling just of the shore of Isabella town, near some mangrove swamps. Although not quite the same as diving, I was struck by the abundance of wildlife. A classic moment which Alkesh really enjoyed was when he poked up his head from snorkelling to be greeted by 10s of penguins, pelicans and blue footed boobies (yes, they really do have bright sky blue feet) and then just ducked his head back underwater to see a large turtle swim past in the same line of sight. That one moment was a top highlight for the trip!



After snorkelling, we stopped at Las Tintoreas - a lava rock and sandy area known for its iguana breeding. Here we learnt about how iguanas mate, produce eggs and then the females bury the eggs in the sand and protect them. We also witnessed a perculiar head shake that the female iguanas do (much like a jerky head nod), designed to warn off other females from moving into their nest area in the sand. Further down from the breeding grounds, we found the male iguanas hang out. Closer to the beach area and facing the last bits of afternoon sun, with their hoards of females, the very large males sat still occasionally spitting and clearing their throats of salt water.







As we walked around the lava rock area, we came across a protected pool of shallow water with a warning sign saying 'shark resting area - do not swim'. Carlos was just telling us it was the wrong time of year (water too warm) to see sharks here, and no sooner had he finished saying it did we then see 3 white tipped sharks swim right below our feet! We were very lucky to have seen all these sharks today. It was for sure the best day of our trip: diving with sharks, snorkelling with turtles and penguins, and seeing iguanas and their behaviour.



On the boat journey back to the town, we saw our first alpha male sea lion... he was massive! He had hauled himself on to an old tug boat and was lying their basking in the late sun. We also got to see several blue footed boobies right up close. Oh and if we hadn´t seen enough already, we saw a giant eagle ray as were climbing off the boat on to the pier. Amazing! And how very Galapagos, darling!





It was Thursday night and the week long trip was more than half way over. We were having such a great time, we really didn´t want the end to come. Fortunately the next few days still had lots to show us...

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador - part 1

Visiting the Galapagos Islands has been a fantastic experience for us. We got to see so much wildlife and animal behaviour, as well as spending much time in or on the water. Truly an amazing week! We hope the blog posts, pics and video go some way to show you all what we´ve seen and done.



WARNING: These few blog posts are lengthy with a lot of detail, pics and video. A lot of it is meant for us (like a travel journal to remind of us of all the wonderful things we did and saw) so please bear with us and feel free to skim through - but def check out the pics and video!

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So then, on to the main event. To be fair, so much of what we´ve already seen and done in S. America could be considered as a ´main event´, but the Galapagos Islands is the highlight that most people have been very excited to hear about when we´ve listed our itinerary out. This was going to be an experience of a lifetime!!

Why the Galapagos Islands are so special and home to an amazing variety of wildlife:
- the islands lie directly on the Equator line
- the islands are relatively young (1-4 million years vs. Hawaii for example at tens of millions of years)
- the biological isolation of the Islands by sea, combined with their volcanic formations and warm and cold currents have led to an astounding variety of habitats and species
- each island has a different set of unique species due to both isolation by sea and variations in island age and topography: in the East, islands like San Cristobal and Espanola are older, flatter and more eroded; in the West, Fernandina and Isabella have young active volcanoes and high, rugged and less eroded peaks; taller islands have humid zones in the highlands supporting a wide variety of native plants and animals not found in the coastlands.
- the diversity of life in the Galapagos is truly an evolutionary wonder. With relatively little human contact until the early 1900s (except some pirates and bucaneers who killed many of the tortoises for meat and oil), many species are endemic to the islands.
- Galapagos was so named because the Spanish settlers referred to the saddle-backed shape of tortoises as galapaga.

Protecting the Galapagos:
Owing to it´s world-famous stature, there are some very strict rules enforced on the Islands to protect them from further human destruction.
- since 1998, only people native to the Islands could live and work their indefintely; everyone else (tourists and mainland Equadorians alike) must pay National Park entrance fees (US$100) and receive a transit card at the airport clearly stating how long they can spend on the islands. The government is cracking down hard on illegal residents on the islands.
- all bags are checked when arriving in to the Islands and when moving from island to island. This is to ensure no animals, plants, seeds, fruits, coral etc. is transferred from one island to the other thus ruining the unique ecology of each island - we heard startling stories of the destruction caused by ´introduced´ species (like ants, rats, goat) from early 1900s, wiping out populations of animals and plants.
- all incoming flights and checked in baggage are sprayed to prevent any foreign insects from getting on the Islands.

And 1 more thing...
Before we get any further, let us dispell a myth that we´d run in to before this trip. You CAN LIVE on the islands - you don´t have to spend each night on a boat cruise-ship style. In fact, thousands of people spend their lives on the islands to help with the big tourism and fishing industries. There are towns large and small, plenty of shops, bars and restaurants - some islands are more built up than others as we would soon discover.



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DAY 1:
Tour group in tow, we headed for the airport in Quito to catch our flight to the island of San Cristobal - the first stop in our 8 day tour of the Islands. After a 3.5 hour flight via Guayaquil (Ecuador´s biggest city), we arrived in Galapagos. We were met by bright sunshine, intense heat and humidity - immediately we were reminded of the sweltering days we spent in Brazil.



After settling in to our hotel (a much-appreciated luxury after our days in hostels), we were straight out for our afternoon activity. We drove up through El Progresso to a mountain top to be introduced to the Galapagos Islands, some of its flora and fauna and of course great views across to the neighbouring islands and Pacific ocean. We then rode down the hill on mountain bikes, stopping a few times to admire the view and learn about some of the history of San Cristobal. For example, a long time ago, a powerful slave trader took hundreds of slaves and made them work tirelessly to help cultivate introduced crops. It was only a matter of time before his closest allies turned on him and killed him.



We finished our bike ride on the bach and the main promenade of San Cristobal. Just last year, the whole sea front had been done up to celebrate Charles Darwin´s 125 year anniversary. It was very pretty with wooden benches and huts, paved pictures of the wildlife and marine-inspired children´s playground. On the shore front, we saw a big colony of sea lions, beached up on the sand, basking in the final sunlight on the pavements and even on the children´s slide! Some were swimming in the shallow waters, young pups suckled on their mothers, bigger sea lions waddled over other smaller sea lions to snap up the best spots on the beach - it was a remarkable sight and one we watched for some time! Some of the juvenile sea lions were very curious and happy to come up quite close to you. Also on the beack rocks, were lots and lots of bright orange crabs. We even spotted a couple of small marine iguanas. We soon found out that these picture-perfect moments, featuring a trio of different animals, were to be a common occurrence on our trip!
Watch the video below and keep an eye out on the sea lion behind Navita! (video coming soon, sorry!)



DAY 2:
Today was our first chance to see some of the abundant and beautiful marine life so unique to these islands. Early starts were common on this trip, so by 8am we were on a boat heading off to another part of the San Cristobal island. Here we donned snorkelling gear and jumped out in to a shallow lagoon near Isla Lobos (Sea Lion Island), protected from the Pacific by natural rock formations. Pretty much immediately we were greeted by large sea turtles, serenely swimming their way across the sea bed. Alkesh managed to tear his eyes away from this sighting, only just in time to see a sting ray crossing right in front of him. Wow! This was the Galapagos Islands! As soon as he saw it, he froze and gazed in amazement in how effortlessly it floated through the water. We then swam over to hang out with some marine iguanas and a nursery of baby sea lion pups who were plopping in and out of the water. With the adult sea lions away catching food, the young ones were left unprotected and so we got a closer look at them playing in and out of the water, thanks to the snorkelling masks. Amusingly, the pups were curious and happy to play and come up quite close to us - we wished we had an underwater camera to capture these sightings.





Let´s not forget the bird life either. Since it was mating season, we were treated to aerial displays of male frigates, with their bulbous red throats as they fought for the females´ attention. Other sightings included a pelican diving for fish and some blue footed boobies (yes, that is what the birds are really called! - and Mona, I managed not to laugh as much as when we were up on Mount Titlis!!) perched high up on the rocks.





After snorkelling for almost an hour, we headed back on to the boat and made our way to a second snorkelling location - Kicker Rock. This time we were out in the open sea when we dived in to go snorkelling. The late morning sun was getting mighty strong, so a dip in the water was very welcome. Here we saw many types of large fish and schools of other fish with the odd sea lion thrown in for good measure. Alas no sharks like we had been promised - but I mean, come on, it was only day 2 for goodness sake! Alkesh got a dose of sun burn on his lower back during this session in the water and we both realised how strong the sun really was on the Equator. Fortunately, we´d been tipped off back in Quito and so we had factor 60 (!) sun block with us.

We were starting to get to know our tour group better by this point. Spending so much time together meant we got over the initial introductions and swapping of travel itineraries. We ate all our meals together and often enjoyed a drink or two or a game of cards in the evenings. We were fortunate to be on a trip with a great group of people from different backgrounds and ages.


DAY 3:
Today we left San Cristobal island and made our way to Isabella island - the largest island of the Galapagos archipelago and home to 4 volcanoes, including Sierra Negra that last erupted in 2005. We broke up the day and long boat ride to Isabella with several stops. First off, we stopped off at Luz del Dia for snorkelling. Here we were treated to some awesome sightings of white tipped sharks, many more turtles and even a junior eagle ray! Oh and there were plenty of tropical multi-coloured fish to boot! And if this wasn´t enough, we also spotted some small penguins. Galapagos penguins only grow to be 1-1.5ft tall but they are adorable. These penguins were on the rock and swimming near us in the water - then we saw one waddle out of the rock to join it´s companion on the rock and then they hugged / kissed... it was so cute (and no, I´m not guilty of anthropomorphising anything!!). It was a great snorkelling trip but all too soon it was over and we were back on the boat.



Our next stop was at Floreana island. Now this island has quite a lot of history as it was where the first German settlers arrived (early 1900s) and started to make a life for themselves from very very humble beginnings - living in a cave to begin with as it took them 3 months to build a tin shack. Unlike the other more urban islands, the Floreana community never expanded beyond a few families and today the island has a population of just 100 peoople. As the German settlers became accustomed to their then-harsh surroundings, people started stopping by to visit them - fellow travellers or sailors. These people would bring the German family household items and foodstuffs. Back then, tortoises were prized for their meat so the Germans received several of the tortoises. The Germans decided to keep 1 such tortoise alive and it still lives today - and we saw it. It was massive! Tortoises can live to be very old, say up to 120 years old, because (after their first few years (when their shells are very fragile and vunerable to destruction)) they have very few / no natural predators.





After a short hike in the intense heat and many changes of hat-bandana-sport cap combos (Alkesh was still trying to get used to the heat and protect his scalp!), we arrived at a small beach. It was supposed to be a sealion nursery but they were not around when were there but the morning´s snorkel had sure made up for that! After this, we once again boarded back on the boat for our last part of the trip to Isabella island.



Close to the mainland of Isabella, we passed Isla Tortuga. The boat slowed down to show us an amazing vista of Frigates mating and Nasca boobies. We saw many male frigates with their tell-tale red bulbous throats - some were even pecking one another as they tried to get the females. It was great to watch and we were pleased to find out that some of us would return another day to do some diving round Isla Tortuga.

It had been a long and hot day but very rewarding. Alkesh snoozed on the boat, but I woke him up with shouts of ´whales, whales!´. Yes, whilst travelling on the boat we had (accidentally?!) come across an entire school of Pilot whales who seemed to be crossing the channels between the islands. Carlos, our guide, said we were very lucky as Pilot whales where rare in the islands, esp. at this time of year. There were 10s of them appearing on both sides of the boat and very close to us too. Alkesh didn´t bother fetching his camera, knowing too well that whale sightings were too unpredictable given our experience on the west coast of Canada. Instead we just kept a keen eye out on the water and marvelled when they breached the water for a precious glimpse of their bodies.



What a great day, island hopping and snorkelling and even spotting some whales! I know we don´t have any faithful photos to back up any of the above but suffice to say, you must come the Galapagos to see it all for yourself! We finally arrived in Isabella - it was a lovely small town where the roads were still dirt tracks and eveyone seemed to know everyone. We were greeted by many small children waving and saying hello to us. That night was the last night of a 3-day festival, commemorating the birth of the town. Unfortunately the festivities didn´t start until after midnight, which was just a little to late for our bedtime (boring! I know, but it had been a long day already).

Mendoza, Argentina

(ALKESH) Last week, we decided to head out of Buenos Aires and check out some of the other well known sites within Argentina. We´d seen plenty of city life, so now it was the turn of a slower pace of life that awaited for us in the province of Mendoza (not that South American pace is frantic!).





Navita and I, now well versed in how to save on a night's accommodation and ride the bus overnight, decided to stop-off in a smaller university town of Cordoba. It was somewhat on the way to Mendoza, and had a very different feel, so we thought it worthwhile. Truth be told, we're glad we only spent a night there, as there wasn't much going on apart from some colonial architecture, and a thriving student scene which we didn't really feel like getting in on (again showing our age!). One of the highlights, however, was our stay in a really charming little hostel, which felt more like a home than any others we°d stayed at so far. Hostel living is by no means a done deal because it's so cheap. Far from it, there is a big variation in quality, so it was good to have experienced a place so good.





Another overnight bus later, we were in Mendoza. Many fellow travellers had recommended Mendoza, due to it being the foremost wine producing region of Argentina (yay!), its nice small town feel, and its proximity to the Andes mountain range. We'd also arrived at the peak of a wine festival called Vendimia, which is a celebration of the year's wine harvest. Mucho vino and fun to be had then! Lets get going...





The first few days were really about soaking up the local area and festivities. We ventured around the town and stumbled across some quirky ways of celebrating the wine festival. The first thing that really struck us was all over town (on street posters and in shop windows) there were pictures of beautiful women all vying for attention for some sort of pagent. Turns out each year, a 'queen' is chosen to lead the festivities and represent their small local region within Mendoza province. During a night parade on Friday and a day parade the following morning, these contestants show off on their floats, waving and throwing fruit(!) and bottles of olive oil into the crowd. To much amusement, eaten apple cores were occasionally thrown back at the floats! Oops. There are several Plazas in the city centre, and each one had it's turn at hosting an evening event: we saw art and craft fairs, food stalls and Italian opera singers at Plaza Italia. On the Friday night, here was a big stage set up in the main square (Plaza Independencia) and a huge Spanish concert was put on.





{NAVITA} On Sunday, we had an early start for a full-day tour taking us in to the Andes. Since our travel plans didn't involve us crossing the border in to Chile (and fortunately so, given the earthquake), we were looking forward to the tour to show us some of the vistas just outside of Mendoza. Unfortunately, our guide didn't speak a word of English (disappointing because the agent promised us they would - we later complained and got 50% back which was good compensation) and so Alkesh and I used a mix of 2 strategies to make the best of the situation: 1) We tried our hardest to make out the odd word here and there during the guide's speeches using Alkesh's limited Spanish and my better (but less useful!) French. 2) MOre entertaining, was making up our own commentary to accompany the guide's hand gestures and also our own theories to explain the geological features we saw. After the initial frustration of not understanding very much, we settled in to the tour.





Within 30 mins of leaving the downtown area, we were greeted by amazing views of the Andes. Now many of you may not know (as indeed we didn't until recently) that the highest peak in the Andes is the not-so-well-known Aconcagua... really it should get more attention! Standing at just under 7000m high, it is the 2nd highest peak after the Himalayas range. We saw it, standing proud way up above the rest of the mountains and the low-lying clouds. It was magnificent to see such a huge snow-capped mountain so close. Also on the tour we saw some colonial bridges and an Inca ruin (Puente del Incas). This latter site was quite interesting but alas because we couldn't understand our guide I can't tell you anything about it... something about volcanic rock and sulphur in the water. Another stop on the tour was to a Christ statue (Christo Redentor) on top of a steep hill. Really, the bus journey up the windy narrow path was more thrilling than the statue but still good to see. Also at the top of this hill was some more great views of the snow-capped Andes.









Yesterday was the best bit of our trip to Mendoza. We hired bikes and cycled round the Lujan region of Mendoza province... this is a big wine-producing region, home to many winerines (bodegas) and vineyards - both small and big. We went out for the day with a couple we'd met in Foz do Iguacu - Matthew and Becky from Manchester. The 4 of us stopped at 3 wineries during the day. First was MIGUEL MINNI, the smallest of the 3 wineries (10 ha.) but unique in being 100% organic right down to using egg whites as a natural filtering agent and recycling the discarded peel and seeds to be used as soil fertiliser. The guide was really kind and gave us a good tour of the vineyards and the production facilities. Even though he didn't speak English, we managed to get a good grasp of what he was saying thanks to his patience and hand gestures! We tasted Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon red grapes on the vine, just weeks before they were due to be harvested! - they were sooo sweet which is surprising given that their wine is not. We got treated to 5 tastings afterwards, sampling a mixture of white Chardonnay, a Rose and the Malbec (both oaked and unoaked - and what a difference there was!).





Second winery was CABRINI: here we were in and out within 15 minutes with just 2 tastings. An interesting fact about this winery was that all the Catholic churches in Argentina buy their 'church' wine from Cabrini so it is very famous. The last winery was NORTON, the biggest and most industrial. The tour here was really interesting as we sampled the Malbec red wine at 3 stages: first as a young wine in it's steel fermentation tank; second, as an oak-barrelled wine infused with oak-y flavours; and finally as the finished product. We really enjoyed our day out with friends, enjoying clement weather, views of the Andes whilst cycling through vineyards! Bliss!





The next few days are a bit of a 'break' for us before we start our Intrepid trip to Galapagos Islands and Peru... so excited! Today is the typical 'chores' day we always have from time to time whilst travelling: doing washing, writing our blog, booking future accommodation etc. Tonight we take the overnight bus (again! - we'll be pros at sleeping anywhere anytime by the end of this trip) back to BA for 2 days respite in a low grade hotel (with ensuite and a chance to see Alice in Wonderland!). And finally, on Saturday 12th March we fly up to Quito (Via Cordoba and Lima for some silly reason)! Not sure when we'll next write a blog but we'll definitely update after the wonders of Galapagos... stay tuned.



Love to you all - we miss you lots and think of you often!

A day in the life of a traveller

Some of you have asked us about day to day life as we´re travelling: what do we eat, what´s it like in shared dorms etc. We thought we´d write some thoughts down for you to give you a taste of what our days and weeks have become. Safe to say, we´re falling in to a rhythm and it´s becoming a way of life now.

NOTE TO ALL: this is not meant to alarm you, nor are we whinging... in fact it´s surprising how easily we´ve adapted to it all. And we´re in it together with many other like minded travellers.



- Balancing our PJs, fresh clothes, towel, toiletries and toothbrush all on 1 hook whilst showering (if we´re lucky)
- Debating each thing until the cows come home, where money is involved
- Supermarket dining: dinner for 2 in 40 pesos with nothing but a potato, tomato sauce and lettuce!
- The art of waiting for bathrooms to be cleaned and then making a quick dash to pounce on them
- Reading between the lines on hostelbookers.com to find a hostel which isn´t full of 17 yr old kids partying... my, how old we feel.
- Travelling overnight to save on accomodation; and in turn trying to learn how to sleep anywhere.
- Readying ourselves each night with eye masks, ear plugs, silk sleep sheets (we don´t want any bites) - all just to try and sleep through without being woken by late night revellers.
- Developing a succinct summary of why we´re travelling and what we´re planning to answer the obvious introductory questions from fellow travellers.
- Arriving at a busy bus terminal, having travelled all night, only to then have to find our way to a hostel using public transport, foreign currency and a new language.
- Repacking our back pack 10 times over helps to perfect the art of ´5-minute-pack-ups´.
- Finding some semblance of privacy in our 2 bed bunk amongst several other beds in our dorm; it´s a wonder what a few sarongs and towels can do.
- Meeting some really interesting and suprisingly like minded people
- Money belts are now a permanent extra appendage to our body
- Lathering up with sun block, mosquito repellent and hydrocortisone cream (to stop the itches) is a daily ritual.
- Benadryl anti-histamine is both Alkesh´s best friend and worst enemy all in one.
- Alkesh has taken to wearing his speedos instead of boxers - the former can be washed and dried quickly during showers.
- Smuggly realising Alkesh made the right choice to leave the laptop at home.
- Navita´s perfected traveller wardrobe chic - "who cares if it´s creased and doesnt match my army green combats."

Buenos Aires

Arriving in style (a plane!), we reached Buenos Aires and were met by a much cooler 25 degrees temperature. This was such a welcome change from the past few weeks, Navita and I cheerfully donned our back packs and headed for our hostel. Our hostel was located right in the middle of ´micro-centro´, near the landmark Obelisk, which divides the super-wide Av. 9 Julio. First impressions were of a large developed european city, like a Paris or Rome. We felt immediately comfortable due to the familiarity of such a city and as a result safer than Rio.





Our 1st few days were very much FoT (feel of the town), taking in the bustling pedestrianised streets and wondering why Argentinean food consisted solely of steak and pizza pasta. Buenos Aires (BsAs) has a rich history, evident in it's colonial architetures, many museums and a deep passion for music and dance (tango and milonga to be precise). BsAs is a very tourist-friendly and walkable city. Together with it's developed commerce industry, it's no wonder several travelers we've met wish to live here. The very favourable exchange rate can't harm either!



BsAs is divided in to several different neighbourhoods, each with their own look and feel, much like Toronto or San Francisco. Our 1st day was in the micro centro, taking in the obligatory tourist sites of the Pink Palace, Congress building and several old churches and museums. Walking around, it really was hard to tell that we were in S. America - it could have been any European city.



Our 2nd day was tp the very plush and ritzy neighbourhood of Recoleta - full of boutiques, cafes to watch the world go by and professional dog walkers. Our walking tour started at the famous cemetery. Well known for its mausoleums packed in like terraced housing, each grander and more opulent than the one before. It´s also know to be the resting place of Eva Peron (aka Evita) - we didn´t stick around to check it out though, walking around people´s graves is kinda creepy. Suprisingly, just around the corner from the plush streets of Recoleta, we found beautiful open lush-green parks. One had this gigantic metallic flower statue in it - quite bizarre and yet strangely captivating. Another day´s outing took us to Palermo - not as swish as Recoleta - but a lovely part of town with small high streets to amble down and watch people shop in stupidly expensive clothes stores and furniture outlets. We stopped to enjoy a drink and lovely meal here.



One of the highlights of our time in BsAs was taking in a local football game. We were fortunate enough to have the local side of Boca Juniors playing on their home ground, against Estudiantes. Some of you may know that football is BIG in S. America and so the opportunity to see it live couldn´t be missed. It didn´t disappoint - the crowd was the most energetic we´ve ever seen. They were singing and cheering throughout the entire 90 minute game, supported by thunderous drums and a trumpet or 2. (Note from Navita - in the last few months I´ve seen my first ever live sporting event (Basketball in Toronto) and now my first football match as well... woohoo!!)





Yesterday, our last full day in BsAs, was another great insight in to Argetine culture - the TANGO. We met up with 2 of our traveller friends from Rio who were in town also. We spent the day in San Telmo, known for its Tango and Sunday Antiques market. The streets were packed with people, and sellers lined the street flogging everything from mate tea pots to antique gramophones and much much more. It was a really nice change for Alkesh and I to meet up with ´known´ friends... we enjoyed a coffee and good chat, exchanging stories of past hostels and planning our next adventures. After soaking up the market atmosphere, we plonked ourselves in the main square for some free Tango performances. Neither of us have seen tango live before - it was quite a treat. Obviously a very sensual and passionate dance, what surprised us was the fancy footwork and kicking between each dance partners legs - check out the video.







Following on from the afternoon tango, we´d booked tickets for a formal Tango show in the evening. This was a definite step up from what we´d seen in the market - fancier costumes and even more impressive moves. Backed by a live band and old croonies singing, we were shown how Tango had evolved since 1900. The dancing was very impressive and it was a good treat.



We´ve really enjoyed our time in Buenos Aires - a very accessible city with a good vibe. Now we leave city breaks behind us - we leave tonight on an overnight bus to Cordoba for a few nights before heading on to Mendoza for 5 nights: that is right in the wine country with beautiful scenery offering walks and bike rides. Can´t wait...