Argentina you almost made me cry...

Arriving in Buenos Aires late on Friday night I was looking forward to collapsing in bed and sleeping after my flight was delayed. My plan was somewhat thwarted when I returned to my dorm after showering and turning the light on and being suddenly verbally attacked by a couple for interrupting their drunken antics in the bunk bed opposite mine....forgive me for thinking this was a shared dorm?! I awoke a few hours later with the bed shaking vigorously...it transpired the guy in the bunk beneath me had the same idea as the other two travellers earlier on. It was only a matter of time on my travels before I encountered this but I didn't expect two lots in one night! Thank goodness for ear plugs and eye masks...


Exploring Buenos Aires the next day I was initially excited about seeing the city which Id been longing to visit since I cant remember when, however after walking through several of the districts I began to get slightly disappointed with what I saw. There were areas that resembled Paris but other than that it was just like any other city with its fair share of visible poverty. I don't think it helped that within a day of being here we had been scammed and my friend had had her backpack stolen...I wont go into details but they basically throw liquid on you that smells disgusting which distracts you and then they offer to help you before grabbing you bag and running off. Ironically the hour before we were discussing how safe we felt here compared to Rio...famous last words.


What with my friend losing pretty much all her valuables, I was feeling massively disillusioned with the city Id had such high expectations for, I was beginning to think Id made a mistake when suddenly after going for a walk we discovered an area called Palermo. I cant tell you how much Buenos Aires has to thank Palermo for redeeming itself. Palermo was not what Id imagined Buenos Aires would be like but it didn't matter, it was pretty, much safer than where I was staying down town and way more hip. It even had neighbourhoods called Palermo Chico, Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood which made me like it even more. It reminded me a lot of Berlin and Soho in NYC but with better shops (Its made me excited about shopping which for me is weird) bars and interesting graffiti.

Most of the streets have these enchanting trees lining them

My mama and auntie will appreciate this piece of street art . For those of you who aren't sure who Torrente is click here

I caught up with my friend who I met in Rio who is from BA and she told me off for staying in the hostel I was in as it was quite dodgy at night (as we´d experienced) so having discovered my new favourite part of BA, I immediately moved to a hostel there. 


So far I have been to an area called Recoleta which has the cemetery where Eva ´Evita´ Peron is buried (if you haven't seen the film of her namesake then read this for a history lesson).

A giant iron portrait of Evita on the front of Argentina's social development ministry building, where she gave a historic speech prior to her death from cancer in 1952. It reminded me of the iconic portrait of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Havana, Cuba.

Another portrait of Evita on the other side of the same building

Surprisingly her grave was quite small compared some of the other mausoleums in the streets (yes they have streets!) of the cemetery. Whilst there, we cheekily eavesdropped on two guys, one of whom was given the other a tour of the cemetery, however subtlety isn't my middle name so he quickly clicked what we were doing and said it was fine for us to tag along. He turned out to be a tour guide on his day off which was a bit of a result for us as tourists. What was a little strange was the fact that despite him being from Buenos Aires he played cricket and was sporting a Reading football club t-shirt (my old recruitment director will like that) and he spoke with an Aussie accent...a proper one, even referring to rough around the edge locals as bogans!! This coming from a guy who is adamant he has never been to Australia...bizarre.

The Duarte Family grave (Evita´s maiden name)

The ´streets´of graves...

Is it a house? no its a grave

We then visited La Boca which is famed for its coloured houses and the Boca Juniors, one of Argentina´s best football clubs who are based there. Their stadium is tiny compared to Emirates in London! : ) Mr Diego ´hand of God´Maradona used to play for Boca Juniors in the 1980´s.

Some local kids improving their game

Diego Maradona...the early years

La Boca stadium

Do not park you car here...

Another area which we visited was San Telmo where we stumbled across a carnival procession and watched some al fresco tango dancing. Randomly I bumped into my sisters work colleague walking through one of the street markets there! Talk about a small world...

His bombons did not really appeal

You wouldn't see the pensioners of Littlehampton doing this...

Last night we went for some steak in a restaurant called La Cabrera, where we had to wait an eternity to get a table on a Tuesday night - its not just in London that this happens then! Thankfully the portions made up for the wait as did the huge range of accompaniments that came with each dish, including apple compote which is surprisingly tasty with steak. 

Check out the size of my steak!

Delicious : )

Lolly tree. Little Chef eat your heart out.

Tomorrow Im going to have a relaxing day exploring the Botanical and Japanese Gardens before meeting up with some friends in the evening to visit some of the bars I've been recommended to visit in Palermo (cultural purposes only of course...)  :  D


My Argentinian friend has then invited me to spend Christmas at her grand parents house just outside of BA which I have graciously accepted. Im then going to hopefully join her and her friends for NYE in a Punto del Diablo which is a coastal village in Uruguay where I've been assured is the place to be...so Ill let you know!


¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!

Don´t go chasing waterfalls...

Well after spending just over £500 on medical costs and £25 on changing my flight I made it to the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls (amazing water falls which sit between Brazil and Argentina*) and I was mighty impressed. 

Brazilian side of the falls

However I then crossed the border to witness the Argentinian side and was completely and utterly blown away by the sheer size and spectacle of all 275 separate falls...especially the one called Garganta del Diablo (Devils Throat) which is just one enormous pit of gushing water. The Argentinian side of the falls were, in my opinion, way better than the Brazilian side, in that the view was wider and you were able to really get up close (literally like standing under a shower) and experience the falls in all their glory.

Approaching Devils Throat...

Devils Throat in all its glory

View of the falls from Argentinian side

Yes that IS  a rainbow in a waterfall : )

Another fall which was literally like a power shower

The falls are situated in a National Park which is home to numerous wildlife such as racoon's, bears, pumas and scary insects which our tour guide took much glee in showing us despite my dismay...

Coatis (raccoons) which roam around as though you aren't even there!

Random massive lizards that also roam around freely

Ugly beetle insect that spends its life making a load clicking noise before it dies  in this position...

Carnivorous ants!

A guinea pig! I shall no doubt taste one of these cooked when I visit Bolivia...

During my stay at the hostel on the Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls, I managed to slice the same arm that Id had my intravenous drip in during my stay in hospital that same week, on the edge of a metal locker door which was open. Im starting to think Im not very good at taking care of myself abroad...The staff in the hostel were useless and had no first aid kit so thank goodness I had mine. The cut is healing now but kept opening every time I moved my arm which was quite gross and also painful. Oh before you ask yes I have had my tetanus jab before I left the UK. Lets hope that UK tetanus jabs are valid in South America unlike yellow fever jabs which apparently consultants over here just laugh at...


* In Brazil they refer to the falls as cataratas which I didn't initially understand as the hospital where I spent the night (see previous blog entry) was called Hospital Cataratas which I assumed was an eye hospital!

Mosquitoes and rain

I arrived at Florianopolis (Floripa for short) in South Brazil via the airline Webjet - Brasil´s answer to Easyjet.

Half asleep I made my way to Barra de Lagoa where the sun was shining and I almost sweated to death carrying my backpack the short walk to the hostel.


I should have made the most of the sunshine whilst it lasted as it soon transpired that I had brought the rain with me from Rio...two days of the stuff! This meant not really getting to see much of the island rather just staying in the hostel playing ping pong, drinking and seeing who could do the best accents - boredom makes you do funny things...

My body-clock hadn't really recovered from my time in Rio and it didn't really in Floripa either, as a result to this and the poor weather my average going to bed time ended up being 5am which meant that the nights soon became days and I became a walking zombie. 


One night to make up for the lack of activity in the day we all went to a local club which may well have been in London given the prices they were charging for everything. Despite the expense, we did all have a great time although I did struggle height wise with my lack of heels.


Finally the sun decided to show up so we wasted no time and literally ran to one of the stunning local beaches (there are approx 24 on the island apparently). Arriving there our eyes were struck by the most amount of plastic surgery and tattoos that we had ever seen. It was ridiculous and to think I was initially only concerned with being the palest on the beach...

milky bar kid legs

locals that have not had plastic surgery or tattoos...

I had stupidly not brought any swimwear with me to Brazil thinking I could buy it in Rio, however sightseeing and general going out had meant this hadn't happened. So here I was on the beach with just my clothes. Wanting to not stick out any more I resorted to buying a bikini from the one and only shop there. The choice of swimwear there was naturally limited to showing your bottom off Brazilian style...not something I as a Brit hugely relished but when in Rome, do as the Romans do...


Returning from the beach, a few of us went for a walk along the lakeside and up into the hills, it was beautiful albeit by the time we made it back to the riverside it had fallen dark and having brought no torches with us, our only option home was to wait for the local taxi boat to pick us up and take us home...that wasn't for another hour. Cue more stupid pass the time games including taking pics of our eyes.

Finally it was my time to leave Barra de Lagoa and head to Foz de Iguaçu which is where there are spectacular water falls which you can view from both Argentina and Brasil.


To get here involved flying to Sao Paolo and then onto Iguaçu. Both flights were exhausting as I was not feeling great having not slept the night before due to having a fever and waking up achy. Being the hypercondriac that I am I started to get paranoid about the mosquito bites Id gotten by the river the day before (mossies usually hate me but not here it would seem) Google told me I had all the symptoms of malaria, my room mates told me not to worry. Just to double check I went to the local hospital next to my new hostel in iguaçu. The consultant confirmed my fears and said he suspected I had dengue fever which is like malaria. I didn't register initially as I told him I had had my yellow fever jab back in the UK before id left, my consultant just laughed at me and said it didn't make any difference as there was no real vaccine for it!


He quickly carried out some blood tests and did an ultrasound of my belly as apparently the mosquito can leave liquid which forms around your internal organs (spleen) etc.. I was then asked to be kept in overnight for surveillance and to be hooked up to an intravenous drip with antibiotics and some other drug I forget the name of. There is nothing worse than being ill and on your own in a country where you don't speak the lingo (other than my consultant no one spoke Spanish) Thank goodness for my special peeps back home - you know who you are!! xxx

Intravenous in my arm...

My bed for the night

Obligatory bible and food menu in bed side table

This morning I woke up feeling better and they discharged me with some medication. Tomorrow I hope to be well enough to go to the Brazilian side of the falls and then on Thursday the Argentinian side. I've had to reschedule my flight to Friday which thankfully they didn't charge me for.


On a separate note since arriving in Iguaçu about five people have asked is my name Arabic?! I didn't have the vocab to say it was Hebrew...

Last days in Rio...

Chillax. It´s OK,  I'm back in the world of blogging! It´s been four days since I last blogged as I've been busy seeing the last of Rio´s sights before I left this morning.


Since my last entry I have left the homely surroundings of Tom and Manuela´s apartment in Gloria which is an area in Rio and firmly cemented my step into the travelling world by staying in hostels...something I know many of you were wondering how Id cope with but you'll be surprised to know the answer is fine. Apart from the first night when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night and almost gagged when I lifted the toilet lid (has no one heard of the courtesy flush?) Apart from that I'm pleased to report that my experience so far has been good. I've met some really lovely people and everyone has been so friendly. I'm also not the oldest person staying in the hostel which is reassuring!


The last few days have been spent visiting various different parts of Rio including Santa Teresa which was just up the hill from Tom & Manuela´s apartment. Its quite bohemian and reminded me a little of Haight Ashbury in San Francisco which I visited this year. We ate this local dish called Acarajé which originates from Bahia in Northern Brazil. It was being cooked by this women dressed in traditional clothing. My host Tom has more details on how to make Acarajé and the origin on his blog here .

Being Brazil, the Acarajé was just an appetiser, so afterwards we went and had lunch at this place called Bar do Mineiro which serves traditional Brazilian food including a dish called Feijoada which is a stew of beans, beef and pork served with rice, greens, farofa and peeled and sliced orange (to cut through the flavour I think). It tastes great although it is a heavy dish for lunch and does just sit in your stomach for the rest of the day.

Im ashamed to say that amongst all the delicious food I've eaten here I also ate a cheeky McDonald's...it actually wasn't as nice as in the UK but I did chuckle to myself over the uniform they wear which consists of a McDonald's branded pair of Jeans! hilarious.


In addition to scoffing my face with local Brazilian and not quite so Brazilian food, I've been visiting the rest of the sights Rio has to offer including the Escadaria Selarón which are some steps that the Chilean born artist Jorge Selaró decrated with coloured tiles as a tribute to the Brazilian people. I was quite amused to see there was one of Princess Di stuck up there!

Whilst walking through Lapa which is the area where these steps are, I couldn't understand why there were so many Carioca´s (local Rio people) just on the street watching TV and shouting. It transpired that there was a Derby match between the two local football teams Flamengo and Vasco de Gama. Flamengo is Brazil´s most popular foootball team, with over 36 million followers, they're especially poplar amongst the inhabitants of the Favelas. They go crazy for football here, you could hear shouting every where you went followed by fireworks going off every time Flamengo scored a goal - literally the first time I heard this I thought a bomb had gone off it was so loud.


The weather in Rio has been pretty unpredictable the last few days which has made visiting the sights quite tricky as the two main attractions, Sugar Loaf mountain and Corcovado which is where Mr JC is, are quite high and can get shrouded by the clouds -which incidentally are the most incredible clouds Ive ever seen - they look like smoke from a fire at times.


Luckily the weather brightened up for our visit to Sugar Loaf mountain which was incredible, the cable cars give the most spectacular views of the city which is great once you get over the vertigo. You normally get the cable car back down again but we chose to walk down which on reflection was not the best idea when you're wearing flip flops...

We also visited Rios Botanical Gardens which looked as though it were straight out of Jurassic Park with its fascinating trees and plants. It also had some great graffiti on the walls outside which I took much pleasure in papping with my camera.  

My visit to see Mr JC (Jesus Christ) was a long awaited one as the weather kept changing. The bus ride up to Corcovado seemed to take forever and in true Rio style was as bumpy as ever. Once there we took the train up the steepest hill to the top where you then get a lift followed by an escalator (I wonder if its like this going up to Heaven?) until finally you see the big guy himself...I use this term loosely here as actually I was slightly disappointed by the size of him as he is much shorter compared to the perception you have when you're down in the city looking up at him. Either way the views are amazing and it was great to be above the clouds and feel like you're on top of the world.

My last evening in Rio was spent visiting a Samba School called Salgueiro. They are the nine time champions of the Rio de Janeiro Carnival (Loads of schools compete each year). Everyone who performs here is pretty much from a local favela and they start practising six months before Carnival which tends to fall forty days before Easter each year. 


The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, I've never seen so many people dancing and singing and looking so genuinely happy in one place - my face ended up aching from smiling so much.The sound of the drums literally reverberated through our chests and instantly made everyone start to dance - it was infectious, no one person was able to keep still. Everyone was in awe of the small troupe of dancers who were dressed (barely) in red and white outfits to reflect the Schools colours. They all danced so fast, legs and arms blurring in front of our eyes. It was the closest chance I´ll get to Carnival in Rio for now which is frustrating as its made me want to go even more!

Afterwards it was inevitable that we would go out dancing, we started off in a Samba club and then ended up in a club in an area called Lapa which is a must see if you're ever out in Rio. People dance in the streets and the bars are great albeit a little strange the way they make you pay for your drinks on your way out of the bar?


This morning was needless to say slightly difficult, I hadn't slept and had to get a taxi to the airport at 4am to fly to Florianopolis which is a town by the sea in Southern Brazil with stunning beaches and lagunas for four days. From here I then fly to Iguazu Falls for a couple of days before heading into Buenos Aires in Argentina to begin my journey there.


Ill try not to leave the updates too long next time around... : )