South & Central America

A 198-day adventure by Ruth Read more

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Trip start
May 7, 2015
South & Central America Ruth Snow
Leaving UK
May 6, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Flights were booked in Sep 2014...in to Rio, out from Cancun...rest is up to us, eek!!!
STA Travel. £900.
The time has arrived, our bags are packed... I've opted for a small 40l, Anna has opted for 65l for everything but the kitchen sink.
Let the adventure begin!!!!

Costs:
Accommodation is quoted per room per night; buses are per person; taxis are per ride; food is per meal for both of us.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Babilonia favella
May 7, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
NB 5R = £1 (ish).

After 17 hours on 2 planes (via Madrid) with no inflight entertainment but plenty of empty seats, we arrived in Rio. The landing flight path is stunning, skimming across the lit up city, then descends across water and just when you think you're going to crash a runway appears.
Shuttle Rio met us and we battled through rush hour to get to Leme beach (R25). From the raised roads you can literally see through some of the poorer houses.
We were dropped off at the bottom of Babilonia favella and then it was a 10 min hike up a steep hill, lots of steps, several stops to ask for directions, some more steps (190 in total) to the top of the favella & our airbnb room (R70 per rm per night).
Our host Julio Cesar met us with a cold beer (Anna was instantly happy) and showed us around. Wifi yes, windows and hot water no. Using a mixture of our limited Portuguese / Julio's pidgin English we settled in.
Julio left us bread, honey and cheese, a flask full of super strong coffee and a toasty maker - he was now Anna's new best friend.
The favella seems completely safe...there is a police station at the bottom with ~10 policemen standing outside in the mornings (in fact a huge police presence everywhere in the city) and the residents are all very friendly. There is constant noise from dogs barking to neighbour's music to concerts but its completely charming rather than annoying.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Day one of our big adventure
May 8, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Jet lag helped us with an early start - up at 7, taxi to Cosme Velho (R20, metered) to get the little red train that goes up the mountain (R51???). It takes 20 mins through the rainforest & strangely makes several stops along the way in deserted places.
At the top you get 2 short escalators (presumably introduced for Americans?!) to the statue of Christ...fairly underwhelming as with most top tourist spots. Despite getting the first train up there were too many people, not much room and the weather was a bit murky so the views weren't too mesmerising. After the obligatory photos it started to rain so we headed back down, missing a torrential downpour on the train.
It was still drizzling when we got back down so we headed to a small Naif art museum next door (R6) which was surprisingly good and had a great section showing the history of Rio.
Then we hopped on a bus (R3, turnstile-operated) to Parque Lago which is an impressive building with a pool in the middle surrounded by lush grounds including a small stone grotto with an aquarium inside plus a large neon sign??
A short walk down the road took us to the Jardim Botanico (R9???) which were beautiful... trees, ponds, waterfalls and 2 types of monkeys.
Anna was flagging & wanted to get the bus home by 2pm. Knowing my wife well I sussed she needed fuel so we went in search of lunch. We came across a pay by kilo place which is very popular and R18 bought us a plate of various local food which was delicious. A can of coke later and she was raring to go!
So we walked back home via the big 7.5k lake to Copacabana, stopping for a coconut en route. About 3 hours later we struggled up the hill and were home.
We had a cheese toasty for starter and reheated the main dish of Brazil which Julio had made for us... Feijoa = beans with chunks of salted pork & sausages - delicious.
Julio then took us to watch his Capoeira class which was great...2 people pair off & fight / dance with no contact whilst the others sit in a ring around them and play instruments and sing before swapping. Our favourite bits were when they went wrong and whacked each other!! It was lovely to watch but after an hour or so I couldn't keep my eyes open. Eventually we went home and had a long sleep.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Sugar loaf mountain
May 9, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Awoke to a beautiful day. Feeling tired after yesterdays walking but Julio said was the perfect day to do sugar loaf.
Walked to Urca (25 mins) and got tickets (R62), went up first cable car and the views were stunning! Without doubt the most beautiful city I've ever visited... the combination of beaches and mountains is breathtaking.
Suddenly we were surrounded by tons of little monkeys who were quite happy to pose for photos...think Anna wants a new pet.
Took the second cable car to the top and wandered around the paths through the trees. Had a pay by weight fruit salad which was lush to revive us in the heat.
Contrary to many guidebooks, we both rated sugar loaf as far better than Christ Redeemer - helped by the sunshine no doubt but also there is more space to wander so it doesn't feel so touristy and just another place to tick off the list.
Took a bus to Centro as Julio was doing a Capoeira performance. Took a while but eventually found them under a pretty archway doing their thing. Didn't see Juilio though.
Took metro (4R) back and wandered to start of Ipanema beach (4km) and back.
Chose a place to eat on the beach near the end of Copacabana but they didn't have the first two things we tried to order. So walked to next one about 100 yards away which was across the invisible border to Leme and prices were a third cheaper for exactly the same food! Crazy. Poty Leme soon became our fave place to eat. Rice, beans, farofa (toasted flour mix) and tomato & onion vinaigrette cost R16 and was enough to share (the waiter actually told us to share whereas the previous place laughed at us for wanting to share food). About £3! Plus a further £1 each for the obligatory coconut :) And Brazil is supposed to be the most expensive county on our list...bodes well.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Copacabana / Leme beach
May 10, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Spent the morning at Leme beach, perfect temperature. Played in the surf, really strong crashing waves which sent me into somersaults when I tried to bodysurf. Awesome :)
Then Anna got sunstroke so we cooled off under an umbrella with a coconut (me) whilst Anna opted for a cheeseburger. Hiked back up to the favella for Anna to have a cold shower & lie down, which did the trick.
Headed back out to walk along Copacabana beach (4k) to Ipanema and back for dinner at same place as previous night...very chirpy (/drunk?!) tramp came and had the dregs of Anna's beer and took the can away to be paid for recycling.
Anna zonked out by 9!Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Ipanema
May 11, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Lazy morning sorting out travel and hostel for Ilha Grande.
Walked to Ipanema beach via shops searching for adaptor, bank and money exchange. On our way we found the greatest place on earth - a pay by weight ice cream parlour with over 50 flavours of ice cream, toppings and sauces that you helped yourself to. Needless to say we put in a good effort!!! Yum!
Ipanema is a quieter, smaller beach. We sat in the shade reading due to Anna's sunburn but then it clouded over anyway. We wandered to the rocks which separate Copacabana and Ipanema beaches which is apparently the place to watch the sunset...however there was little sun to be seen and then it chucked it down so everyone ran - first outing of the ponchos!
Walked back and finally found the right adaptor, plus a delicious orange and strawberry juice - juice bars are everywhere here.
Ended up at same restaurant again...didn't find any others as cheap or nice. Francisco, the old waiter was pleased to see us, a tramp came and ate our left over falofa, and as fitness boot camp set up in front of us in the beach so we watched poor souls doing circuits in the rain.
Got home and Julio said he had leftover dinner for us...I was stuffed but piggy Anna tucked into another plate of lentils, marine algae and rice.

As we are leaving tomorrow, my impressions of Rio (in no kind of order):
Rio is an amazing city, much larger than expected. Brazilians are lovely, friendly, smiley people... a lady stopped us in the supermarket & welcomed us to Rio...people stopped to help us on the tube, told us where to get off buses and how to find places. Few people speak English & our Portuguese is terrible but it wasn't an issue even though Julio complained Anna kept trying to speak to him in a mix of French & Spanish!!! Even the hawkers just give you a smile and walk away when you turn down their Christs / crazy zip bags. Family is clearly important - Julio lived above his ex-wife & kid and gave our extra rent to his mum on mother's day.
There was always something to see...beach volleyball / bat & ball / football - (strangers would just start kicking the ball to each other on the beach)...impromptu dancing outside a restaurant...bingo in the favella. Everyone loves a party, there is music everywhere... good & bad...there is an undescribable beat to the city.
Graffiti is everywhere...but it's art, streets are a mix of modern & shanty. Police (& cats) were everywhere, few homeless people were seen. There are a zillion buses everywhere - no timetables as they seem to run every few minutes. Yellow taxis are also ubiquitous. Outside gym areas are commonplace, as are health shops and juice bars. We saw more mincing than proper running, fewer body beautifuls than expected, however our bikini bottoms are far too big in comparison to most of those here!!!Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Ilha grande
May 12, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Time to leave Rio :(
After the usual cheese toasty for brekkie, got the bus through some dodgy parts of town to Rodovaria, the main bus terminal which is huge!!! Eventually found the Costa Verde desk, bought tickets (R49) to Jacarei and hopped on the bus. Very spacious and beautiful scenery. Two and a half hours later we were dropped off and bought a ticket for the slow boat as the earlier faster one was full (R20, 50 mins). Met a lovely lady called Angelica who was moving back from Holland to Chile via a few places who helped us out.
Ilha Grande is a beautiful, laid back island - no cars, lots of hostels, restaurants and bars crammed into a small area. Staying in Lonier Praia Inn (R120) which is a bit of an upgrade from the favella...TV and hot water but also came with an army of resident mosquito's which we had to spray til the death.
Food is expensive, we found a burger for 9R which came with papas fritas which we thought were fries but were a few crisps scrunched up in the burger! As we'd missed lunch we filled up on some cheetos from the supermarket.
Booked tour for following day - turned down free capirinhas all day with a crazy man for a boat doing more stops by Jackie Stallone!!..possibly a bad decision.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Boat trip - snorkelling
May 13, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Buffet brekkie of fresh fruit, rolls & cake set us up for our hunt for the fishies.
70R. Boat trip around the north of the island to blue lagoon, green lagoon and a few other places I can't remember. All very pretty. If it wasn't for the weather would have been stunning. Rained half the morning leaving us all shivering & soaked. Opted not to get back in the water in the afternoon. Anna was braver. Saw big cushion starfish, turtle, strange fish with flappy blue wings & beautiful pipefish.
Spoke to a couple of guys living in Buenos Aires who couldn't recommend a single site to visit so we have struck it off our list as it is a long way down & then back up.
Had first capirinhas of the holiday in front of the hotel on the beach...52 steps from our room...20 steps from the sea... live music...amazing cocktails :) Bizarre dinner combination of feijao, rice, grilled chicken & chips. Service & cover charge added to bill which was unusual. Anna spent most of the night petting & feeding the stray dogs. She also was very happy when she worked out how to use the spray hose in the toilet!!!
Anna's latest birthday has had a profound effect... she is going to bed earlier than me now! and has been falling asleep on buses, boats etc.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Waterfall hike
May 14, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Torrential rain all night and morning. Thought we were hostel-bound but finally stopped so set off for our hike through the rainforest to Feiticeira waterfall.
Clambered over rocks, up slippery slopes, past huge stone viaduct and bamboo plants. Came across 2 other ramblers who were quietly taking photos of something - turns out to be a gignormous monkey (almost dog size!). Along stomps Anna and rustles not so quietly in her bag for her camera and scares it away.
The waterfall was beautiful, likely heavy due to all the rain. Water looked murky and cold and couldn't tempt either of us to strip off and stand under it. So we ate our gourmet lunch of crackers and biscuits and headed back via a few beaches (watched tiny crabs pop in and out of their sand holes), an old stone prison now overtaken by trees and a few small monkeys and 1 scary big spider.
After washing off all the mud, wandered out for dinner - planned to go to a nice pizza place we'd found previously but a neon sign stating Mexican, Crepes, Pizza distracted us and we had delicious nachos & burrito to share. Anna smothered hers in hot sauce before she realised how hot it was haha.
Tried to stay another night here as it's so lovely but hostel is fully booked as its the weekend. Still yet to meet any other English tourists!Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Paraty
May 15, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ 🌬 16 °C
(Pronounced parachy).
Took the slow but cheap route to Paraty - 1.5 hours on ferry to Angra does Reis (R15), 1 mile trundle with bags to bus stop, bus company boys laughed when we asked for tickets... turns out you buy on the bus (R12) because its a public bus that goes a hundred miles an hour round hairpin bends overtaking anything that gets in its ways despite oncoming lorries!! Beautiful scenery though along the coastal route. Also stopped in 2 strange complexes for nuclear power than looked like army / religious cult dwellings. Two hours later we had arrived and trundled off to find our hostel on Pontal beach Refron Du Mar (R120) which is lovely - don't quite feel we are roughing it much?!
Headed out to explore, wandering along the beach and through the historic centre which is all colonial, beautiful and full of cobbles - not nice easy cobbles like Paris but huge uneven rocks that you have to concentrate on! Our beach is separated from the historic part by a river full of coloured schooners and a creepy wire sculpture in the shape of a person full of scary heads!
Stopped at a sorveteria (ice cream parlour)...tried about 10 flavours...mine was lighter than Anna's...again. Speaking of piggies, this morning she said if we had such a big breakfast we should just share an evening meal as she hadn't woken up hungry... I think she may have been ill...it was promptly retracted a few hours later.
Went back to the room to rest and apply bug spray then headed back out for dinner. Had a delicious pizza to share, my usual mango juice & Anna's obligatory beer (52R). Anna adopted 2 more dogs who were scared of loud fireworks (the noisy ones, not the visual ones) which were celebrating Festa Do Divino - the start of a 10 day celebration, something to do with Pentecost. The church was packed full of singing people, trailing out onto the street, there was a red and white parade and lots of bell ringing. A huge stage is being set up but we are too lame to stay out any later to see if anything kicks off.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Jabaquara beach
May 16, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Lazy day ... spent the day at Jabaquara beach, 15 mins walk north of our hostel, across a bridge with big crabs underneath with bright red legs. Read in the sun, had a coconut to cool off plus a delicious chocolate / coconut / strawberry truffle (R3) whilst listening to a man and his guitar, sunbathed some more, dipped in the sea to cool off, wandered home ... it's a hard life! Anna managed not to burn most of herself but still missed two large patches on her calves :(
On our way back we passed a tiny tiny van blaring out music such as the lion king theme with the driver yelling churros. Inside the back of the van was his churro-making equipment- amazing!
Planned to go to a Brazilian restaurant for dinner but we left the hostel with no map and no clue where it was, doh. After no luck stumbling across it we decided to postpone and went for a cheap per kilo place just outside the historic centre (R9 for me) and ice cream (R6) - Anna's heavier both times surprise surprise!! For an after dinner treat we went in a chocolate shop and bought 5 truffles (5R) to share. Brazilian chocolate is yummy :)Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Trinidade
May 17, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
No, we haven't skipped countries, this is a small hippy place 16km south of Paraty. When the hostel owner found out we'd been to Jabaquara she said "no, no, not there, you must go to Trinidade!". So off we went to the bus stop to join an already rammed public bus. The bus ride can only be described as a packed rollercoaster going up kills (v v slowly) then down hills, across a stream at one point with passenger ohs and ahs to complete the experience.

Trinidade is made up of 4 beaches and a strip of shops and restaurants. We were off to visit the natural pools which can be accessed by boat but where's the fun in that?!

Instead we walked across one beach, across a stream, up and down a path through the jungle - consisting of rocks, tree roots and wood and along another beach. This bought us to a series of giant boulders which were being smashed by the huge waves. A tour group was in front and included one woman who was taking her time so we decided to chance upon a shortcut and run around the rocks when the waves were out...needless to say we didn't make it and got soaked! And ended up still behind the tour group!

The pools were lovely, we had a dip and dry off, and sadly my waterproof camera isn't so waterproof as it filled up with water :(

It seemed that the tide had dropped so we thought the return route would be easier but the waves were twice as big on the way back. It was amazing to see people of all shapes and sizes, some with babies or huge coolboxes, following the path despite it being pretty challenging.

We had a late lunch and then got the 4pm bus back as it had started to get cold. We stopped by the supermarket and found some tortuga chocolate, actually in the shape of turtles which we dutifully tried on the name of research - yum :) Also had some huge freshly made chewy crisps.

For dinner we ended up having 30cm pasteis - think fried sausage roll but twice as wide - full of cheese and sausage. I couldn't manage the whole thing but Anna polished hers off and a fair bit of mine!Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Pontal beach
May 18, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Lazy day that started with a run! My first in 6 months...a nice gentle pace up the river and back and then across Pontal beach in front of the hostel...not as bad as feared.

After a long breakfast using wifi as not working in rooms anymore we relocated 100m to the beach to read in the sun. Had lunch then got a bit cloudy so wandered around the historic centre, had ice cream and tried to book bus tickets but need our passports apparently?! Looked at the upper part of town which floods at high tide sometimes but only found a bit of muddy water and loads of tiny crabs. Paraty is sometimes described as the Brazilian Venice but looked like it needs a bit more water to me!

Anna bought some perfume which can only be described as eau de hippy - think incense sticks (there was v limited choice) - to try and cover up the lingering smell that has plagued our room the last few days. After doing some washing and banishing her trainers the smell went away...funny that.

We finally tracked down the Brazilian restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet (LP) only to find it was closed, as was the creperie we looked for last night. Maybe LP should employ us for updates :) However we did find a tiny Turkish cafe it recommended by the bus station and had amazing falafel pittas for dinner.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Jeep tour - cachaca & waterfalls
May 19, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Picked up by Felipe our driver, plus Eugene & Fatima, a lovely older couple from Sao Paulo and off we drove in our Jeep.

First stop = cachaca (pronounced ca-sha-sa) distillery. Quick tour in Portuguese so no wiser how it's made but had plenty of tasters - yum! Bought a small bottle of chocolate chili - amazing!

Then onto some waterfalls, climbed up the side and went in a deep natural pool, sat under the waterfall and got pummeled by the water, then jumped off a big rock into a pool.

After another rum tasting stop and a quick detour to the garage to fix the jeep, we went to Toboggan waterfall which is a huge smooth rock you can slide down. I wimped out for fear for my coccyx but Anna slid down 3 times and loved it. We walked up through the trees and across a dodgy swing bridge to see Tarzan waterfall. Also saw a church perched on top of a huge rock. There are random huge boulders everywhere here - no idea how they got there.

One more rum stop and we went to a restaurant where Anna and I ordered, yes, rum! Trying to save pennies, we weren't planning to eat but Eugene & Fatima insisted we share their rice, beans, beef & chips - to Be fair there was mountains of it - and insisted on paying for our drinks. Lovely people :) With their limited English and google translator they taught us lots of Portuguese and have offered us a lift to Sao Paulo tomorrow as they are going home. Awesome!

Tour was supposed to cost 60R but Felipe only took 50R for some reason. The more popular Paraty Tours were charging 80 knocked down from 90 for low season so we got a bargain and their groups were much bigger. They likely spoke English but where's the fun in that?! I'm not sure England would ever be allowed to sell a tour where they ply you with alcohol and then lead you across slippery rocks.

We were too full for any dinner but did stumble across the churro van so had to try one - fat churro filled with chocolate & caramel sauce then the end dipped in choc sprinkles = greasy heaven! (R3.5).Read more
seems to be a lot of eating & drinking going on??
5/20/15Reply
Ruth SnowYes, far too much!!
5/21/15Reply
Ruth SnowWell Anna is on the trip!!
5/21/15Reply
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
First overnight bus: SP to Iguazu
May 20, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Our newly adopted Brazilian parents, Eugene "you are my daughters today" & Fatima very kindly drove us to Sao Paulo (5hrs) and insisted on buying us lunch at the services - very nice incl loads of veg which makes a refreshing change. Beautiful coastal road to start with then climbing up windy roads into the foggy highlands then onto three lane motorways with tolls.

E & F told us the mayor of Paraty was shot last night (survived) about 2 blocks behind our hostel. They didn't seem that shocked and said all politics / police are corrupt.

From what little we saw of SP we're glad we didn't stay despite having a few free offers - huge, smoggy, dirty city with 20 million people and tons of skyscrapers. The main road that goes along the outside had approx 10 lanes both ways!

We got tickets for our night bus from Pluma (R189) and left at 18:30. Fairly comfortable apart from my squiggling travel companion and beautiful sunrise. I wrongly presumed we'd be travelling through jungle but it was more small towns and farmland.

We arrived at Foz do Iguacu about 10am and walked an hour to our hostel...Guest House Iguazu.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Foz do Iguacu
May 21, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Iguassu Guest House is a bit shabbier than our usual standards however it does have a pool (large bath tub), pool table, hammocks and R5 (£1) capirinhas!! Anna says she feels at home since the hostel is in locked gates with electric fencing above and shards of glass decorating the garden walls - this is quote common for all the other hostels we've seen and apparently is due to problems re smuggling contraband from Paraguay.

Went for a wander in search of coffee for Anna, then Paraguay - we are on the border of 3 countries. Ended up down residential streets as this place is a lot bigger than the map would suggest. Agree with majority of reports that this place is a bit of a dump! Eventually gave up and went to read in the hammocks.

Searched for another of Anna's restaurants...gave up and ended at an all you can eat churrascuria buffet (R26) - the usual Brazilian choices plus men coming round with skewers of meat every minute. Not quite my thing but Anna was in heaven and seemed to have a magical refilling plate. Quote of the day "I never knew cow could taste so good" was quickly usurped by "I never thought I'd enjoy men waving their meat in my face"!

Finished the day with a game of a pool.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Igazu falls - Brazilian side
May 22, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Bigger than Niagara, the falls are made up of 150-300 separate falls depending on water flow, spread out over 2.7km. I have to say I'd never heard of them before our trip and wasn't overly bothered about seeing them.

Words and photos cannot do justice to Iguazu falls. They are simply spectacular!!! Deservedly one of the new 7 wonders of the world (unlike Christ Redeemer in my opinion; I think South Americans were voting heavily for these as we will see 4 of the wonders on our travels).

We caught a public bus to the site and paid our 53R fee, then were taken by bus to the start of the trail. The first view is amazing, but then as you walk along the trail you realise that's not it, there is more and more, and then more, until you end up at the heaviest part - Devil's Throat.

The sound is tremendous, there are rainbows everywhere, beautiful butterflies land on you and won't leave you alone, and Quatis (monkey cats) stalk you for food.

We spent over 3 hours on a trail that's less than a mile long taking a million photos. I could have stayed all day.

Since the Argentinian tour will be pricey we decided to try and cut costs and cook for ourselves! £2 bought us enough pasta, sauce and veg for 2 meals, 2 instant noodles and some bacon popcorn - seems we have resorted to student life! To complete this we spent the evening sipping capirinhas and playing pool, including a great England vs Canadian match which we narrowly won.Read more
Looks amazing. Don't think Corsica can compete with those waterfalls x
5/26/15Reply
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
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Puerto Iguazu - hummingbirds
May 23, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
NB: 14 Pesos = £1.

Today we hopped over to Argentina for the day. Caught a bus (4R) which we had been told we should get off at the Brazilian border, however the bus driver said no to us despite some people he said yes to so we hesitantly stayed on the bus and only got off on the Argentinian side, got passports stamped and got back on the bus. Seems to have worked as they let us back in the other side! The lady in the hostel wasn't sure why but was likely because we had no luggage so they knew it was a day trip. Either way was easy!

Anna wanted to go to Jardin de Picaflores (hummingbird garden; 40P) so led us on a long, hot trek on which we picked up a dog causing all the other dogs behind the gates to bark at us! When we eventually found said place, it was closed for siesta :( Thinking we were ages from town we sat and waited for over an hour :( Turns out we were 5 mins from town and Anna had taken us the scenic route!!! Oh well. Never trust a Flump to navigate.

The garden is just a guy's backyard who has been feeding the birds for 34 years (sugar syrup solution). Anna hoped to see a few birds but she was in heaven because there were about a hundred of the little things chirping away and whizzing past our faces. I'm not overly into birds but it was a beautiful sight and lovely noise. Anna was completely enchanted :)

Booked our onward bus trip - expensive but only one bus company does our route so little choice unless we want to take a week by chicken buses!

Had a wander around Puerto Iguazu. Such a lovely cute place, very backpackerish and as it's low season, quite deserted. A much nicer place than the Brazilian side and we wished we'd stayed there for half the time to do the stuff on that side, especially as our onward travel is from there. The benefit of hindsight!!

We found a very cute, tiny Mexican and had tacos, quesadillas, free nachos and free tequila for Anna - it makes her happy!! - for a late lunch, then caught the bus back (20P).

Talked to the hostel tour guide lady for a long time and then did some planning for our next stop. Toasty hot today!Read more
Seana Mallen I Love hummingbirds too! We have loads in California, and bird feeders just like those.
5/26/15Reply
Seana Mallen It's so great that you two are ding this blog, both for us to live vicariously, and for you to remember everything so much better than we can. I must at least make a book and organise all the zillions of photos?
5/26/15Reply
Seana Mallen Where do you go next? We came to Puerto Iguazu from Salta. Salta is lovely , and a great place to take trs from. purmamarca if gorgeous, red rocks and great was. Then a little southis Cafayate, a main wine growing area that is so beautiful with loads of great wine to drink! And the drive down there is spectacular. Richard wants to move to Cafayate and grow grapes... And eat alfajores..
5/26/15Reply
Ruth Snow Oh fantastic, didnt realise you got them over there. Anna wants to have a garden full of them! I cant face going through the photos for facebook - there are far too many! And thats with 2 of our cameras broken. We are in salta now after a long bus journey. We'll hopefully do a tour down to cafayate then go up to tilcara for a couple nights to see the rocks up there, then onto bolivia :) what are alfajores??
5/26/15Reply
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Iguazu falls - Argentinan side
May 24, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
We'd booked a tour (150R) with Vivian from our hostel as we really liked her, thought the border crossing may be difficult and Anna didn't want to get lost! In retrospect we wouldn't have bothered due to the amount of faffing and learning that the border was easy to cross yesterday. But had a great day and met some lovely people.

Left hostel at 8:30, picked up various other people, and went through Argentinian border - this took way longer than it would have done on the bus due to him taking forever to process a minibus full of passports.

Drove onto the Tri-border point where Brazil, Argentina & Paraguay meet. Not overly exciting in my opinion but Anna wanted to see it. Then had ages to browse various stalls (bought parrot pen for La Tania) whilst waited for another minibus to join us. After saying she usually had small groups we ended up with 22 people :(

Then onto the falls. It was rammed!!! Locals get much cheaper entry so weekends are busier and ours was the Sunday before a holiday Monday - bad timing! We had to wait a while for the train which took us up to the beginning of a 15min walkway above the river to the top of Devil's Throat, the most powerful part of the falls. Halfway there the heavens opened and we hurried into our ponchos etc ... I had chosen my raincoat for the day and it was getting it's first proper test - it failed!!! Big time!! Tip to self: don't skimp on cost with a raincoat. It wasn't completely useless but Anna was much drier in her £1 poncho.

Devil's Throat was quite spectacular - great roar of water and spray everywhere though quite hard to see with the torrential rain. Luckily this soon started to ease. Then it was a very slippery slide back along the walkway.

Due to the crowds we had to wait ages for a train back then had lunch amongst the coatis and monkeys. At this point it was 6 hours into the tour and we'd only seen one thing - we were fed up with the tour. Luckily the afternoon was better.

We walked along the lower trail which had some great sights. Whereas Brazil is more panoramic views, the Argentinian side is the close up views.

Then we started heading down for our boat ride (90R). Halfway down the most torrential rain started to pour suddenly, soaking me before I had a chance to put my half-sodden raincoat on. Water was absolutely pouring down the steps, it was like walking down a river. We boarded our boat (RIB) which drove us near to one of the waterfalls' spray. Already wet from the rain I barely noticed the difference and was starting to regret forking out the extra money for the ride. Then he drove us round the corner to another waterfall and completely dunked us under it twice - I thought I was wet before, but after that I was completely drenched! Quite a short ride but so much fun :)

It continued to drizzle and we wandered along the upper trail quickly. We were virtually the only ones there as the locals had sensibly scarpered home.

We left the park at 5:30 and took us over 2 hours to drop people off, stop at banks etc while I was getting cold and hungry. Has completely put us off future tours, though I'm sure we'll do many more.

All was remedied by a hot shower and some homemade pasta. I also tried to make our microwave bacon popcorn and pretty much incinerated it. The guy from the hostel obviously felt sorry for us as he cooked us up a gignormous bowl of popcorn! He and Ricard (Brazilian guy from tour) then spent the evening quizzing us on English words and attempting to teach us Portuguese. Anna also got an impromptu dance lesson from Ricard.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Bus: Iguacu to Salta
May 25, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
It was time to say ciao to Brazil :(

We left the hostel at 8am, which we thought would give us ample time to get to the bus station in Argentina for our 9:45 bus. Only just!

We hopped on what we thought was a public bus (albeit smarter looking and without the entry turnstile). We got off at the Brazilian side, got our exit stamp, then waited for the next bus. A public bus turned up, but apparently the ticket we had from the first bus wasn't valid on this bus. They said the next bus of our type was 40 mins so we had no choice but to pay again. The bus then stopped at Argentina for everyone to get stamped, which took ages but luckily we made our connection.

The whole journey cost 1,300R which is pricey! There were only 3 options all with the same company so we chose the mid-priced one with the comfiest seats and reasonable times. Petrol was £1 a litre in Argentina so I guess this is why it's much more.

First, a 5 hour trip on Horianski bus to Posadas where we had 2 movies, sweets plus a coffee and a huge cup of cafe liquor for Anna.

We had an hour and a half wait so went into a cafe in the terminal which had no menu / prices displayed. Anna was after a cheeseburger and ended up with a huge chicken sandwich. This plus chips and 2 drinks was about 100P! So far Argentina is pricey, or they ripped off the gringos.

Also, when our luggage was loaded onto the bus, the guy then asked us something in Spanish. Looking blankly, he then said money! The backpackers behind us explained he wanted a tip and it's standard here. For 10 seconds work! Charming. So far, Argentina sucks in comparison to Brazil!

Then onto the major leg at 4:15pm - the expensive bit - run by Pluma. We had cama executive seats, the poshest class, which consists of big comfy armchairs which recline a long way (3 per aisle), blankets and airline-type service.

The landscape was fairly boring and barren, mostly scrubland with cows (or "walking steaks" as Anna calls them) standing in swampy grass.

Now and again the police would come aboard. They only seemed to question people who looked Argentinian to us, but no idea what they wanted.

They gave us some lovely sweet cakes (alfajores), more movies, but no dinner until 11pm! Dinner was huge - most of it was snacky and edible. The hot meal was sort of mashed potato and chicken?! Even Anna turned her nose up at it which says it all!!

We slept fairly well despite the bumpy road and awoke to a late breakfast at 9am.

The only bad part of the trip was the vile toilet. There were no rest stops as on our last trip so we had to use the onboard loo. Gross doesn't quite cut it. We promptly showered as soon as we got to our hostel!!

Bus arrived at Salta at 10:30am and it was less than a mile walk to our hostel.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Argentina : Salta
May 26, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
After our longest bus journey yet, we got to our hostel at about 11am - Coloria (400P). The receptionist was really friendly and gave us tips on what to see. Hostel prices online don't include VAT and are notably more expensive than Brazil. Can drink tap water here.

After a much needed shower we went out for a wander. First stop was a coffee shop for Anna, and unlike Brazil there were loads of European style outside cafes. I had a submarino = hot chocolate Belgian style with hot milk and lump of chocolate at the bottom. Our drinks came with fresh orange juice, sparkling water and biscuits! (48P).

Salta is quite a pretty place with a colonial feel but nothing amazing. We wandered around the main square and went to the park which had a sleety grey lake.

After a rest in the hostel, we went out for an evening wander. The place was full of people out shopping and eating. We shared a Super Pancho = big hot dog for 20P though subsequently found them cheaper. Lots of street food here. Sadly something gave Anna dodgy tummy :(

Temperature is much cooler as we are at 1,150m. Trousers and fleece needed :(Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Frozen children
May 27, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Had a long, long sleep and only just woke up in time for breakfast. This set off Anna's tummy again so we spent the morning chilling.

Then wandered to the Archaeological museum (70P) off the main square which tells the story of 3 children mummies discovered up a nearby mountain. It appears the Incas liked to select the prettiest / best children from each of the areas they governed and have year long ceremonies where they gave them lots of nice food and coca (cocaine leaves) and married them off to each other. Then they got them drunk on maize alcohol and buried them up a mountain in tombs with little figurines, believing they would then look over the communities and bring good health, crops etc.

Due to the cold temperatures and low oxygen levels, they are the best preserved "mummies" though were not wrapped up like Egyptian ones. They only have one child on display at any time in a cooled cylinder in order to keep them preserved. We saw La Nina de raya who was about 7 and had been struck by lightning so her face was blackened but still looked very real with all her hair and clothes on. Quite disturbing but interesting experience. Not allowed to take photos so these are from brochures.

We then walked to the market area but it was closed for siesta so returned to the hostel for Anna to rest. I went out to farmacia to get Anna some drugs and supermarket to "cook" an interesting dinner of salad, pepper, lentils and super noodles. Spent the rest of the evening re-reading Marching Powder in preparation for La Paz (very interesting read about Bolivian jail which is top supplier of cocaine in which you pay for your cell / food; it's a popular tourist destination who are allowed to enter for tours but I'm not sure I fancy it) and watching tv - actually have cable with tons of channels here including English stuff or dubbed popular movies. Devil wears Prada was tonights choice.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Saltan food & drink
May 28, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Had a lazy morning as I had cramps and Anna not fully recovered. Then the owner of the hostel, Gaby, showed us how to make Yerba Mate. It is a caffeinated herbal tea type drink that Argentinians are obsessed with and drink all day long. It's very common to see them carrying huge flasks of hot water as well as the cups with straws. To make you fill a special cup 3/4 full of a blend of holly leaves & twigs. Then add hot water (and we preferred with sugar) and drink through the metal straw. You can't fit much water in the cup hence the flask to keep topping up. Strangely it's not sold in cafes anywhere so tourists often don't get to try it.

After a quick lunch of noodles & salad, we went for a walk up a big hill - 30 mins of climbing up a lot of steps - to get a view of Salta (you can get a cable car if you're feeling lazy). This seemed to be the local's exercise route as we saw many people in sports gear walking up and to top it off there was a 'sports in the clouds' centre with a surreal outdoor spinning class at the top with pumping music and a lady yelling vamos!!!

After heading down, we walked to the bus station to get tickets for the next day and picked up some alfajores - cake with caramel in the middle covered with chocolate - for a pre-dinner snack.

Dinner was at a posh restaurant - Dona Salta - that Gaby recommended for local food where we were served by a gaucho who tried to teach Anna Spanish. We shared a tamale (mushed corn and mince wrapped in corn husk) and locro (pumpkin soup with corn and chunks of veal). Then Anna had some bizarre strips of cheese with cayote jam, plums and walnuts for dessert. Anna left drunk on the house wine with a very full tummy. Since I don't like floating animals in my soup or desserts which don't include chocolate, I left slightly less satisfied but was nice to try regional food. Cost 200P for essentially one person as we shared each course.

ATMs: all charge in Argentina and can only take out a small amount at a time, grrr! Most hostels prefer cash so racks up the charges.

Planned to do a tour south to Cafayate from Salta but didn't due to Anna's food poisoning which we are blaming on the chicken on the bus that I didn't touch.Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Tilcara
May 29, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
A 4 hour bus ride north has brought us to our next stop, Tilcara (122P, Balut). The second half of the journey was absolutely stunning, riding through the magnificent Andes. Huge mountains of different coloured rock, covered in cacti.

On the way we continued to see lots of little shrines at the side of the road. Google says these are tributes for Gaucho Gil, a Robin Hood type figure.

We are staying in Waira hostel / campsite (300P, 4th night free). It has beautiful little rooms surrounding a courtyard.

Tilcara is a beautiful little town, full of cobbles, dust and llamas - we've both fallen in love with it. At 2,500m, it is the next step up in our altitude training and we felt it walking with our bags! When we got off the bus we were hit by a wave of heat which was a welcome change from Salta however about 4pm the clouds came over, the wind picked up and then it got a bit shivery. My fleecy coat came out!

At last, I got to try Argentinian ice cream and it was worth the wait - huge waffle cone dipped in chocolate and nuts with 2 big scoops and choc sauce for just over £1. Anna struggled to finish hers so I was kind and helped out :)

For dinner we went to Qomer and Anna had Wok Andino - quinoa, vegetables and llama (taste is similar to venison we decided). I had the veggie version which was bland in comparison but nice to eat healthy food. Portions were huge and could easily have shared. We also shared a humita for starter (mushed corn and masa harina wrapped in husk) which was nice but fairly bland in my opinion. Anna decided to order a huge litre bottle of beer which she could barely finish (tummy bug really took it out of her!). With fresh orange juice for me it cost 271P so not cheap but good to try all the regional dishes.

Our room is cold. It doesn't retain the heat of the day and we have a small heater which is next to useless. Whilst I snuggled up under 2 llama blankets, Anna was prancing around with little on. When questioned why she wasn't cold she replied "I've just eaten half a llama... And llama stuff keeps you warm, right?". Beer jacket?!Read more
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South & Central America Ruth Snow
Pucara de Tilcara
May 30, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Breakfast was fairly plain with bread rolls, little butter puffs and dulce de leche (caramel - Anna's fave thing) however top marks for an orange squeezer and tons of oranges :)

We sat clasping our hot mugs and then sat in the sun trying to warm up. It's freezing at night; ok once snuggled in bed but you don't want to get up! We left the heater on all night but it didn't seem to do much.

Once we had defrosted we set off for some sightseeing (after Anna washed her stinky trainers which have been threatening to kill us).

A 15 min walk from our hostel is the entrance to Pucara (50P). First off a quick tour of the nearby cactus garden, full of erm, cacti, plus medicinal plants and quinoa. There was also the piedra campana, a large volcanic rock which sounds a bit like a bell when you hit it.

Then onto the main attraction, a pre-hispanic settlement built into a big hill / mountain. Stone houses, llama sheds, circular graves, a ceremonial place and a monument that looked out of place, all linked by stony paths and covered in cacti.

Backed by the multicoloured Andes and with the Rio Grande alongside (not very grand, more of a trickle), it was a truly spectacular place to visit. Far bigger and far better than either of us expected. There were virtually no other people around which made it all the more magical.

On our way back we picked up some coca leaves and sweets (30P) for when we get up higher - supposed to help altitude sickness.

We had a late lunch of burger & fries (Anna) and ice cream (me) then retired to read in the hammocks. As soon as the sun went in we climbed under the llama blankets to stay warm.

Anna decided we couldn't go to bed at half 8 so made me get out of my nice warm bed to go traipsing in the cold for food. Neither of us were overly hungry so we eventually ended up with rice crackers and hurried back to our beds. Brrrr!!!Read more
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