Lima

I was a little worried about Lima after reading the guide books and warnings of pickpockets, muggings and dodgy taxis... especially as I was arriving at 11pm. But I`ve been pleasantly surprised, and are quite enjoying my stay here, and would definitely say I think its more interesting than Buenos Aires. There are dodgy areas for sure (which I`ve seen from mini buses) but I`m staying in Miraflores which is a upmarket seaside suburb, and the colonial centre also feels safe enough. And the locals are really friendly and helpful - keen to have a chat if you look at all lost or puzzled.

The centre really is stunning with its colonial buildings, and what sets it apart from anywhere else I`ve seen is the covered wooden balconies that stick out... kind of odd but very distinctive. The central plaza de armas is a beautiful pigeon filled square, with a fountain and gardens surrounded by the cathedral, the palace and grand yellow buildings.

I`ve visited the cathedral which houses the remains of Pizarro, the Spanish conqueror. And I`ve also toured some of the other churches and convents which have beautiful cloisters, impressive old libraries, and kind of creepy catacombs with bones of thousands all directly beneath the cathedral... (imagine the smell?!)

To get around I`ve been using the network of mini-buseswhich is pretty extensive but chaotic... with next to no information on what goes where its a matter of asking, and being pointed in the right direction. (And not forgetting to remind someone to tell you when to get off - I missed hopping off at my stop completely coming home on the first day and went for a mystery tour of some not so nice suburb, but some of my helpful co-passengers told me where to hop off and which bus to catch back!)

There`s some pretty good museums here too, so I`ve been studying up on Peruvian cultures (and there`s definitely more than just the incas), peering at beautiful metalwork, bizarre pottery, models of ruins, stonework and more.


And today I decided to venture to Pachacamac, about 30k south of Lima, to visit some ruins. My minivan trip took me thru some dodgier market parts of town, out along the freeway past depressing little houses huddled on hillsides (definitely more like mexico or central america than anything I saw in argentina), and to the ruins which are by the seaside. They are the most desolate ruins I´ve seen... being partly covered by dirty sanddunes, with not a tree, shrub or any grass in site. They`re stone and adobe, with the most impressive being pyramids with temples. Anyway the site predates the incas by 1000 years, and was a ceremonial centre. But during the spanish conquest Pizarros brother visited and stayed there looking for gold...

Bye bye to Argentina

I'm back in Buenos Aires, and about to leave for Peru so I thought before I go I'll make a few comments some of the distinctly Argentinian customs or things Ive seen but which I mightn`t have mentioned.

Mate - Argentinian "tea" made strong and bitter, and sipped thru a silver straw... cup refilled with hot water and passed on to the next person.

Buses - you have to wonder why its so un-economical to fly with the distances here, but bus rides of 20hrs arent uncommon. And as long as you get yourself a cama coche with larger seats, which recline more, pillow and blankets its actually ok, and you can sleep! You get hot meals on board too...

Food - gotta love the parillas (meat grills), the facturas (pastries), empanadas (pasties) to name a few.

Accent - still struggling to get used to the sh sound instead of y!

Countryside - the pampas can look remarkably australian... with miles and miles of slightly yellowy brown fields dotted with sheep and gum trees not uncommon around houses.

Bariloche - Lakes area

I´ve been in snow country for the last few days, in Bariloche which is Argentina´s premier skiing city. Its a buzzing city perched right on the side of a lovely lake which is surrounded by mountains. And the centre is lined with ski hire shops, souvenir shops, restaurants and chocolate shops (yum!). The view of the lake and surrounding mountains really is spectacular.

I decided not to go skiing, but instead I wanted to check out the surrounding lakes and national park. So I ended up walking through snow around a smaller lake (with a mirror like surface and great reflections of the mountains) and to a small waterfall and nice lookout. Awesome little walk and lots of fun being in the snow.



The second day I went for another walk around some different lakes, and while the scenery was definitely stunning, and ducking thru snow laden bamboo ¨caves¨ that covered some of the path was interesting, the weather was bad with a constant snow\drizzle most of the day. Still a beautiful area to visit, and apparently good skiing too from all accounts.

WHALES ! Puerto Madryn

WHALES.... more whales... and so incredibly close. Yes I came to see them, but I´ve still been absolutely blown away by this place. There are just so many whales, that if you look out from town you will see at least 5 spurts, tails or flippers without trying too hard. Walk out on the pier and theres likely to be 2 or 3 hanging around. Go for a walk along certain beaches and they swim along the shore only 5-10m out. Ok they´re not the prettiest whales with barnacles growning on their heads, but they´re quite big (up to about 15m) and they´re curious... eg they will come check out a boat. I took a whale watching boat cruise and was lucky enough to watch whales copulating within 5 metres of the boat (for those who are curious - there is one female who is surrounded by a group of males, she floats upside down while they circle and jostle, then when she turns over the lucky male underneath her gets his chance... she will normally mate with 5 or so in turn.) Other whales slowly cruise under the boat, surfacing within half a metre to check things out.... and futher away they slap tails, jump out of the water or just cruise by. So amazing!

There´s more to the Valdez Peninsula than just whales though... there are sea lions and elephant seal too... the first of which are noisy and active on land at this time of year, while the second are just big bags of fat, sleeping on the beach trying to conserve their energy. And although its the wrong time of year this is also the place for penguins and killer whales (yes you remember those documentaries of killer whales eating seal pups... well thats probably here). And on land their are rhea (like emu) mara (odd kind of rabbit/deer/kangaroo/rodent like!), and guanaco (like llamas). If you haven´t gathered the wild life here is amazing, and I´d love to come back and see it at other times of the year too.

The town itself is bigger than I thought with the aluminium industry arriving in the 70´s, but its got a nice seaside hum to it, and a few excellent museums explaining the wildlife. And I went to Trewlew, originally a welsh town, but now known more for its excellent Palentology museum... Yep, also impressive with the amount of dinosaur bones they´ve pulled from the semi-desert nearby or a few hundred km inland from here. And apparently giant spiders 1m big...yuck! Unfortunately the walk thru fossil beds in nearby Gaiman was shut, but who´s complaining after my luck seeing wildlife over the last few days!

I´ll say it once more... Whales... so incedible. Such a shame to think that they´re called southern right whales because they where thought to be the ¨right¨ whales to hunt... they were curious and came up to boats, were of an ok size, and importantly when killed they floated. Luckily now days they only have to put up with tourists taking photos!

Cordoba and its Sierras

Cordoba is Argentina´s second largest city, and is a university town buzzing with students during the week but eerily quite with shops shut and deserted on Sunday which is when I arrived. So I wasn´t overly impressed. The Jesuits set up the first university here, which is considered one of the 4 most important in latin america. So there are some nice old colonial buildings, and shopping malls, but not really that much for tourists... So after taking a tour of the old uni building I headed out to Alta Gracia, a town set in the mountains.

Alta Gracia has a was nice with a Jesuit Estancia (farm- but see photo left) and was also home to Che Guevara when he was growing up. Interesting little museum there with lots of photos of him, and tales of childhood exploits. And a whole room devoted to the visit of Chavez and Castro last year! It also happened to be childrens day, so there was this concert put on for the kids, jumping castles, clowns on stilts etc.

I also visited Villa General Belgrano, a German town about 2 hours away. With wooden carved signs, artesenal beer, chocolate, and restuarants serving bratwurst, sourcrout, spatzle, liverwust etc its kind of odd. Walked up to a lookout on the top of the hill and got a nice view over town.

Wetlands, grasslands and Gauchos (cowboys)

I headed to Carlos Pelegrini in the middle of the marshy National Park Esteros de Ibera to check out the wildlife. I met Lien from Belgium in the bus station, which was great as I then had a buddy to explore with for the next few days.

Pelegrini really is the middle of no-where - we drove for 3 hours in a wierd 4wd bus over dirt roads past grasslands... with the occasional glimpse of beret wearing cowboys on horses, cows, crocodiles, rhea (like ostriches) and other bird life. The town itself is nothing much, no main street just a few guesthouses, restaurants and a tiny store dotted amongst spread out houses. Mind you we were well looked after with delicious home cooked meals... some of the cheapest and best food I´ve had here. We walked to check out the laguna and park trails, and found capybara everywhere and just glimpsed an armadillo. (For capybara think giant semi-aquatic rodents the size of wombats but with semi webbed feet to help them swim... Apparently they´re now protected but previously were eaten and also kept as pets/lawnmowers!) We also took a guided boat tour on the lake which was freezing, and even the wildlife looked pretty cold and miserable - deer huddled together, capybara huddled near reeds, caiman (crocs) floating in the water cos its apparently warmer for them. Still, saw a nest of baby caiman, a turkey like bird guarding its nest and lots of other birdlife. And got walk on one of the ¨islands¨ - they are actually floating plant material of up to 2 metres thick which all wobbles like jelly or a giant floating raft if you jump on it!

We caught a local bus to Mercedes, also along muddy dirt roads, and had a bit of a scare when the electrical connections and lights failed and the driver being unable to see the road in the dark slowly sliped off the side. The bus ended up on a alarming tilt, and we all calmly piled out into the cold and darkness and waited to see what would happen. They got the problem fixed and the bus going again after a few tries, and even managed to drive it back onto the road, so we got to Mercedes ok. Enough night bus rides for one day though, so we stayed in Mercedes overnight. Its a small relaxed colonial town with quite nice buildings, and with cowboys (often dressed in distinctive leather boots and beret or black hat) and kids wandering around.

Posadas... Jesuit and Guarani ruins

I headed to Posadas, the capital of the region of Missiones, which is about 5 hours bus ride south of Iguazu falls, as I wanted to check out the ruins of Jesuit Missions which are in the area.

I checked out the local museum in posadas and found a section on local cookery! There was also a very friendly guide who explained everything. So I learnt about traditional stews made from manioca/yuka, corn, beans and meat. And about the little cheese breads I´d been snacking on - also made from manioca flour. Interestingly a lot of the fruit and veg goes by different names here... fresa (strawberry) is flottilla, maracuya (passionfruit) is mburucuyu or something like that.

A bit of history about the Jesuit missions... The Jesuits came here around 1690, and set up over 30 missions around the area for the Guarani indian in areas that are now part paraguay, part argentina and part brazil. Whats odd is that the Guarani prior to that were nomads living in tribes in the jungle, worhiping water trees and animal spirits, were apparently being harassed by spaniards and outlaws who would steal from them, and take them as slaves if it suited. So apparently the offer of a house, protection and being taught farming and trades was appealling... Anyway it worked, and missions housing around 7000 people were built and functioned with only 2 missionary priests at times! The Priests learnt and taught in local language, and the missions became known for their unique music (mixture of Guarani singing and european string instruments) and amazing craftsmanship and wood carving in particular. The missions worked for about 150 years, then the spanish crown felt threatened by their status as a almost autonomous state, and ordered thier expulsion. Although Spanish took over the missions, they didn´t treat the Guarani well or protect them, and within 30 years all had fled, buidlings looted, and left to be overrun by the jungle for 150 years.

Anyway I went to visit San Ignacio Mini, which has been partially restored (1940s I think), and is quite impressive with large standing walls, parts of the facade of the church and bigger buidlings, and quite clearly recognisable rows of housing. Its got quite a lot of tourists, unlike the second lot of ruins I visited in Loreto which I had to myself with a personal guide! They in comparison are more mounds within the forest with occasional brickwork suggesting the church that was. They´ve just started work on excavating certain parts of interest (like the latrines which had running water) but the rest is still waiting to be discovered...

Iguazu Falls

After a 18 hour overnight bus trip you´d think I´d be a bit tired and not overly enthusiastic about what I did that day... but no... Iguazu falls was amazing! Got to love the fact that its about 10 degrees warmer, but the falls themselves are just so spectacular, and there are so many birds and animals around that you can´t help but be astounded. Monkeys, little guinea pigs, other larger rodents, stipey creatures which I can´t remember the name of... (see photo) Birds including toucans... wow.

And did I mention just how big the falls are? There are heaps, you turn a corner to reveal more, viewing platform after viewing platform and different views of different falls. Its all boardwalked which makes things very easy, but the downside being there are so many tourists you never really have any view to yourself. And so many feel inclined to hop in boats, dress in raincoats and get driven under the falls... who wants a heavy shower?


Up the top was the devils throat, which had an unbelievable amount of water going over the edge... at the bottom it caused so much spray that you couldn´t see where it hit. There were these swallows which dived down and dissappeared into the spray. The sound too was a definite roar which you could hear for miles.

I liked the national park so much I even went back a second day to do a walk thru the forest, away from most tourists. After a day of sharing the boardwalks with others it was lovely to be on a track all by yourself... even if it was a little disconcerting to have instructions on what to do if you encounter a jaguar! (dont play dead, back away don´t run, act larger and hit it if its agressive!)

Anyway its certainly an amazing place, well worth the discomfort of a long bus ride!

Weekend Buenos Aires

I´d been told Buenos Aires changes on the weekend with people emptying out of the city centre and lots of life and markets in the nearby suburbs.

So I decided to go to Recolletta where there is a market (touristy but not bad), but its much more famous for its cemetery... and Evitas burial place. Sounds creepy, but it is amazing with these impressive mini buildings sandwiched together... so you walk along admiring the statues, the intricate doors, the marble facades and almost forget each little buidling is actually a mauseleum. Except when you get a huge fright when you peer inside a slightly ajar door and see and old man cleaning a coffin! Anyway on to a museum about Evita, and then to the suburb of Palmero to visit a clothing market. This was kind of fun... bought a badge, a beanie and fingerless mittens to keep me warm. And admired the young designer clothes/shoes/jewellery spread out in makeshift markets in cafes and nightclubs... pool table?- perfect for displaying clothes!

Sunday it was on to the area of San Telmo which has an antique market overflowing with nicknacks. And the street back into town is also covered with markets, Tango bands, buskers and more.... had to rush back to catch an bus to get myself to Iguazu falls next.

Buenos Aires

First impressions of the place weren´t that favourable... cold (6 degrees) and wet.. and I spent my first afternoon walking around in the town centre in a little bit of a daze feeling somewhat like I was still in Europe (building and people wise its very European feeling) but that someone had turned down the temperature... sure my jetlag wasn´t helping, and the usual adjusting to language and currency were also taking their toll... Felt so much better after a good nights sleep!
I went to visit La Boca, the old port area known for its colourful buildings and soccer team. Its one of the poorer parts of town, and there´s a few streets which are touristville with fresh paint, tango dancers in the streets, souvenir shops, and patrolling police. If you walk a few more blocks you are suddenly transported into a rougher delapidated neighbourhood, and are quickly advised to leave before you get mugged...

I came back to catch up with Matt, my old Richmond housemate, who´s here for a few months learning spanish. It was really nice to have a chat and find out about what he´s been up to, and more about Buenos Aires. Little things like being told that Argentinians pronounce y or ll as sh - things suddenly seem to make a bit more sense. (Earlier I´d asked for an empanada de pollo (chicken pastie) and the waiter kept confirming ¨posho?¨and I´d repeat a little puzzled ¨poyo¨ to which he´d repeat ¨posho¨... you get the picture!) We went out with a couple of Matt´s friends to a ¨afterwork party¨(as distinct to a nightclub because they don´t even open until 1am) which turned out to be in a palace... stunning building with wooden parquetry floor, marble fireplaces, intricately carved wooden seats and doors... surely drunk people dropping cigarette butts cant be doing it any good.

Yesterday I visited La Tigre, its 1 hour away by train, and is an area of river deltas - so I think more than 100 islands all separated by rivers which interlink as part of a larger delta. Unfortunetely the weather wasn´t great, but I walked around visiting museums and took an interesting boat cruise to see some of the more spectacular buildings of its heyday (casino, rowing and sailing clubs) and also see some of the current island/river lifestyle.

Leaving London

Back to London for a few days, staying with Wendy again. (Thanks!) We spent Sunday doing a walking tour with Debbie and one of Wendy´s friends, through some of the market and more ethnic parts of London - nibbling on indian food, brousing in markets, taking a breather in various parks then having Japanese for dinner - yum. It makes you realise how there are so many little pockets of London, all with a different feel, waiting to be explored. I´ll admit to having a nagging urge to pull out a monopoly board and try visiting each of the areas!

Then Wendy was off to work for her first day, looking swish as you´d expect, and starting at a very civilised 9.45! I walked around the banking district, visiting museums and admiring the architecture (love the Gerkin building and the distinctinve Lloyds of London ¨metal and services on the outside´ building). And on my last half a day I set off to see the Thames river, and some of the tourist landmarks... Buckingham Palace, the eye, Westminister Abbey, Big Ben (and a giant Dali elephant!) and I even squeezed in a brief visit to the Natural History musem which was overrun with school kids on their holidays. Then off to Luton to catch my flights to Spain then South America, leaving Wendy to adjust to her new London corporate life.