Lost in Translation

Our overnight bus from Uruguay took us to Porto Alegre, Brazil, where we immediately caught another bus further north along the coast to Florianopolis and the highly touted beach paradise of Ilha de Santa Catarina where two more local buses took us to the south end of the island and a hostel that was just 50 metres from the sandy ocean. It was run by some artists (painters) who were very hospitable and enjoying life in a very relaxed state. The only problem was that it was raining steadily, and continued for two days......our first stretch of bad weather during our two month journey. We played cards waiting for the sun to emerge and when it was still raining on day 2 we decided to take the local buses around the island, and 4 buses later we had toured the island and realized what a fun place it would be when umbrellas weren't required.

With rain predicted for another day, and full into our bus addiction, we travelled 4 hours by bus to Curitiba where we were able to catch an overnight bus to Iguazu Falls where we are right now. We passed on an afternoon trip to the falls, saving that excitement for tomorrow so that our sun deprived bodies (especially Caity's since she arrived) could enjoy some leisure time around the magnificent pool and patio at our hostel in Puerto Iguazu on the Argentinian side of the falls.

Prior to coming here we had 5 hours to burn in Curitiba before catching the overnight bus so we walked around until we had enough of the rain and then had a leisurely dinner at a brewpub. It was a good choice.....the beer was good and plentiful (as you can see from our 2.5L starting vessel), and it is a necessary substitute for wine in Brazil were the vinho is terrible (we actually poured our first bottle down the sink at our island hostel......the second brand was barely drinkable and a lesson learned not to purchase any more). The best / worst moment of the night (depending on your point of view) came when dinner arrived. In Brazil the native language is Portuguese and while we were starting to understand almost 75% of what was said to us in Spanish........although that still got us into trouble in Tigre where we thought they said "go to another dock to catch the return boat" instead of "go to ANY dock to catch the return boat" which led us on an adventure previously posted......we were now starting all over trying to communicate with the locals. Since we had not had a meal all day and everyone was starving we all ordered separate meals (we usually share) and Rhonda was ready for a beef feast so she ordered Carne de Onca. What she didn't realize, and you should have seen the look of horror on her face when her meal arrived, was that she had unknowingly asked for steak tartare......uncooked meat which she despises! Caity and I graciously shared our meals (they serve very large portions in South America), and I consumed most of Rhonda's meal which in spite of her bias was very tasty (and I'm still fine today).

Meanwhile we are giving the locals lots of laughs with our mixture of Spanish, Portuguese and English often thrown into the same sentence, but we are getting by and fortunately "cerveza" works everywhere.

Stay tuned for some great (hopefully) pictures from Iguazu Falls.

Uruguay gets a WOW

We have been enjoying our time in Uruguay. It seems to be the most developed country that we have seen so far although that is based on only 3 places that we have stayed overnight in (Colonia, Montevideo, Punta del Este) and it is a smaller country (4M people). There is lots of agriculture going on along the coastal areas, and tree planting, even though the soil seems very sandy. They have beautiful beaches and the cities are well taken care of, and seem safe. It is also a little more expensive but still at half the price of what it would cost in Canada so no complaints (other than the wine which is not nearly as good as we have become accustomed to in Argentina and Chile).
Colonia (del Sacramento), where we started, was developed in 1680 by the Portuguese who used it to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires which was controlled by the Spanish. The old bastion walls still exist and it is a wonderful place to wander around in.
Montevideo, on the other hand, is home to almost half the country's population and has all kinds of great architectural treasures including one palace that used to be the tallest building in South America. During our walkabout we came across several garbage recyclers (on cart with horse) who would check out anything interesting that had been put out for disposal.
Anxious for some beach time we moved along to Punta del Este, a world class resort town for both Uruguayans and Argentinian's from Buenos Aires. The beaches were extensive, immaculate and empty.......it is the start of their winter season and with temperatures in the 17-20C range it was too cold and most of the Cancun-like setting was deserted. Punta del Este is situated on a peninsula so we were able to walk around the town of 8,000 people, that swells to over 100,000 in the summer time, along the coastline walkways. The fishermen were still around and the sea lions were coming out of the water to beg them for their fish remains after the filleting was done. We could have stayed longer but with the temperatures being 6-7C warmer further north along the coast, we decided to book an overnight bus into Brazil and head in that direction.
Buenos tardes.

A Day in the Life

Yesterday, Monday, April 19th, was a day that deserves its' own blog.

We checked out of our Buenos Aires apartment early with an active day planned but with no advance reservations so we weren't exactly sure how it was going to work out. Weighed down with our heavy backpacks we took a local bus to get to a small train staion and then caught the commuter train to Tigre, a small town 45 minutes up the river from B.A. Tigre is a lovely place built on a delta and there seemed to be as many river roads as there were paved ones. For many B.A. residents it is their version of Muskoka, and when you consider that you can get there by bus and train in about an hour for less than one dollar it is no wonder that this secluded spot is so popular. Upon arriving mid-morning in Tigre our first priority was to purchase tickets for the boat to Carmelo, Uruguay on the final departure of the day at 4:30 pm in order to guarantee that we had a seat. Then we found out that they could not pre-check or store our backpacks (for 6 hours while we toured Tigre) so we found the nearest hostel (2 blocks away) and went there to see if we could temporarily store our bags there. The owner was an older Argentinian lady, who spoke some English, and she was not only happy to look after our packs but refused to accept any money from us for doing so, and gave us some good advice on taking a local boat around Tigre rather than the bigger catamarans for the tourists.

Our trip on the public boat, which started shortly after, took us further inland about an hour to a small neighbourhood called Lama Negro (another recommendation). It was a splendid trip on a warm sunny day, along several different rivers and channels with frequent stops to pick up and drop off locals who hopped on and off the boat during the brief (less than 5 seconds) dock stop. When the driver advised us that it was our stop (no signs anywhere along the river since it was all homes and private docks) we departed with one other passenger (a local) and decided to follow her as she walked along the shore on stepping stones (just like we do with our McKenzie Lake neighbours). However, we stopped to take a few pictures and our 'guide' disappeared. We did not come across any small parks or restaurants that we had seen at other places along the main river so we kept following the path which suddenly turned inland beside a smaller channel. After travelling about a kilometre, and admiring the scenery along the way, we were ready to turn back but then came across a small convenience store attached to a home. When communication with the old and frail, but smiling, owner failed us, we ordered a cerveza and sat down to laugh about our fate. In the middle of nowhere, we had no idea what we were doing or where to go next. Shortly after, our 'guide' reappeared with a friend at the store, and between her broken English and our broken Spanish, we determined that we should head back to our boat drop-off point and then walk a little further in the opposite direction to the way we had gone, in order to catch the public boat returning to Tigre. When we got back to our starting point we walked in the opposite direcion as instructed but before long the stepping stone walkway disappeared and we found ourselves walking thru backyards. This is the beginning of winter (think late October for us) so in spite of the 20+C temperatures (and it was a Monday), most of the properties were empty so we weren't disturbing anyone. Then we came across some home owners who via some more translation advised us that the public boat would stop at any dock as long as you flagged it down, and that the next one should be by in about 30 minutes. Noticing that the dock next door had nice benches and no one was around, we pointed it out and got the thumbs-up. We proceeded there and had the picnic lunch that we had brought with us along with a bottle of wine from our pack. It worked out perfectly as the river taxi came along as advertised and we hailed it down.

We arrived back in Tigre with just enough time to purchase a bakery item gift for the hostel owner and then retrieve our backpacks for the 3 hour boat ride to Carmelo, Uruguay. Prior to boarding we cleared Argentinian customs and successfully got our gear passed by a beautiful golden retriever 'sniffer' dog who checked every bag. Before departing we noticed the guards hide a treat in some spread out, folded up chairs, and when directed, the retriever had no trouble finding his reward.

After clearing Uruguayan customs in Carmelo, we had a short walk to the main plaza where several bus companies had services to Colonia, our final destination of the day (1.5 hour bus ride). One of the companies had a bus departing in 5 minutes, so once again the sun was shining on us (even though it was almost 8 pm and dark outside). Once there we followed our Lonely Planet travel bible to a nearby hostel, that had an available dorm room with no one else in it so we settled in for the night.

It turned out to be a fabulous day..........4 different places, 5 transportation legs, and almost no waiting time anywhere. There were a few anxious moments along the way but everything seemed to break our way and we had a lot of laughs along the way. And the locals laughed with us.....or perhaps at us :) We are obviously still in the 'consciously incompetent' stage with our Spanish!

15 million people.......and us

In spite of the size of Buenos Aires we have been enjoying our time here for the past week in this beautiful city. There is some incredible architecture (and constant renovation work going on) along with many new condominiums going up around the waterfront. It feels safe to walk around and there is a very vibrant evening life in the city which is not always the case in North America. Their subway system is extensive, cheap (.30 cents) and easy to use so it has come in handy when our legs are weary of walking or it is getting late in the day.

Caity arrived here on Monday and we are pleased to have her company. She has quickly picked up the tango as you can see in the picture! Since we are staying in Buenos Aires for 9 days we decided to rent an apartment rather than stay in a hostel. It is a little more expensive ($50 a night) but we have a lovely place with a sunny terrace balcony in one of the nicer neighbourhoods (Palermo) with easy access to most places of interest. So far we have done walking tours of Centro (main downtown area, massive architecture), Recoleta (plush, Parisian style neighbourhood, Cemetary with marble tombs......and Evita Peron), Puerto Madero (abandoned port which has been renovated with great walking paths), La Boca (older colourful, Italian district, home of Maradona and the soccer stadium) along with Palermo Hollywood and Soho. Our only disappointment occurred this morning on a very busy subway ride where a pickpocket (and his accomplices) managed to discreetly remove $60 (250 pesos) from my pocket. I was aware of the risk but while keeping a close eye on my backpack during the shoving to get into the subway car it happened quickly and I didn't even notice it until we got off the train. I'm more mad at myself than them for letting it happen since I normally have less $ in my pocket and the rest zipped up somewhere else. I guess I got a little complacent after a week in the city and enjoying everything it has to offer. Lesson learned.

Tomorrow we plan to rent bikes and tour the Costanera Sur, an ecological reserve by the waterfront. On Sunday we will take Caity to San Telmo which we went to last week-end before she arrived. They have a wonderful handicrafts market on Sundays, great antiques shops (good thing we don't have any room left in our backpacks) and tango dancing in the streets. On Monday we will take a short train ride to Tigre (1 hour, .50 cents) and take a boat tour of the delta area before heading into Uruguay.

Ciao.

Wine Country

We are currently enjoying a 5 day stay in Mendoza which is the heart of Argentina's wine country. They are the 5th largest wine producer in the world and 70% of their wines come from Mendoza (similar to Napa) so it is a wonderful place to spend some time. They had a major earthquake here in 1861 and as a precaution they rebuilt the city with many parks (as evacuation points) and wide roads (for the rubble to fall into) lined with 100 ft trees, so it is a beautiful place to walk around which we have been doing for several days (in between bottles of wine).
On our first full day we covered more than half of the city (15 km's walking, although Rhonda believes it was closer to 20 km), starting at General San Martin Park on the west side of the city which is home to a university, Glory Hill that overlooks the city (and a steep climb to a 100 year old spectacular monument), a small lake (used for rowing competitions), a soccer stadium (used during the 1986 World Cup), a golf course (the first we have found in South America) and many other attractions.....900 acres in all and we covered most of it.

We have since discovered the rest of the city, visiting the the historical sights (museum, other parks, aquarium) while also finding time to take a wine tour to Maipu (outside the city) and a tasting room within the city (Vines of Mendoza recommended by good friends Neal & Linda). We are returning there tonight for Winemaker's Night which is very popular. Today we also enjoyed lunch along a pedestrian mall sitting with the locals having their one and half hour lunch breaks, often with family members. Last night we enjoyed an Asado feast at our hostel.........a bbq with non-stop meat coming at you until you beg them to stop offering (steak and chorizo sausage) along with empanados (pastry filled with ham and cheese), a terrific tomato salad and 3 bottles of wine (for the 5 of us)......all for $9 pp. Tomorrow we are taking a local bus to a nearby town with hot springs.........and there are still so many wineries to explore with only 2 days to go. It is certainly a place that we could spend a lot more time.

Prior to Mendoza we spent 2 days in Santiago, the capital of Chile. It was a very large city, with a nice mix of old and new architecture. We attended Good Friday mass there and it ended with a stations of the cross march thru the city with a young man carrying the cross and being followed by a mass of people........over 90% of S.A. people are Roman Catholic so they know how to celebrate and participate in their special days.

When we left Santiago we took an amazing 7 hour bus ride into Mendoza. The route goes through the Andes mountains with many switchback roads and tremendous views. If you ever take this trip make sure you sit on the right side of the bus (like we did based on internet research) which had outstanding views of the canyon and river (and the sunny side) along the way. People on the other side of the bus were constantly coming over to our side to take pictures. The bus attendant also collected "tips" (spare change) before we got to the Chile / Argentina border and it resulted in a quick border crossing with minimal baggage checking.....perhaps they should try that in Canada!

Our next posting will come from Buenos Aires where we will greet Caity and the start of her adventure.

Buenos tardes...............miguel & pocahantas