Buenos Aires

We've been in Buenos Aires a week, and what a week its been!  We rented an aparment for the week so we could do our own cooking and did a lot of sleeping in!  After the craziness of Carnaval and the daily alarm clocks and tours in the Pantanal and Iguassu, the rest was very needed and welcome! 

Our first day here we went to the big Sunday market and bought lots of gifts, as well as some little trinkets for ourselves and took in the energy of the city.  The original plan was to go to a football (soccer) match in the evening, but we weren't able to get tickets (just as well - the home team got creamed!) 

On Monday we wandered to a really nice neighbourhood where Caroline bought a couple of lovely new articles of clothing and we proceeded to wander through the oldest cemetery in the city, where the elite try to out-do each other for eternity - giant mausoleums, ornate sculptures - acres and acres of them.  The most famous was that of Eva "Evita" Peron. 

At about 2:30pm we found a nice patio intending on having a couple of pints and some lunch before moving on.  We were in for a treat - an interesting group of men sat at the next table and engaged us in conversation as we were also speaking English.  Brothers Roberto (lives in Australia) and Miguel (lives in BA) and their English friend they met in Oz, Angus.  Several other friends came and went as did the time and many many pints...we didn't get home until after midnight!! 

Roberto, Felix, C, Miguel and Angus

The next few days we spent exploring the city some more and were thrilled to find out that there was to be a free outdoor concert by Placido Domingo - one of the most incredible voices of the last 100 years.  Because of the rain on Wednesday, the concert got pushed to Thursday.  I was expecting maybe a 90 minute show, but with an estimated crowd of over 100,000 people and a giant stage closing many blocks of the main boulevard, the show went on for over 3 hours - unreal...no words to adequately describe it... 

We spent a few more days exploring the sights, museums and neighbourhoods of the city before we met up with a friend of a friend - Helen who lived in Victoria for a time (worked with my friend Claire) and her fiance, Alejandro.  Again, a couple of drinks quickly turned into several, dinner, a bottle of wine, then a blues bar and many more drinks.  It's been great to meet so many wonderful and entertaining people in such a exciting city!!

Tomorrow, we're off to the north part of Patagonia - to Argentina's Lakes District for some outdoor adventures - stay tuned!

In the Italian district of Caminito - the birthplace of the Tango

Iguassu Falls

Wow, two posts in one day...can you tell I'm enjoying some down time?
The next stop on our trip was to Iguassu Falls.  It lies on the border between Brazil and Argentina, and deserves to be seen from both sides!  They like to say that Argentina has the Falls and Brazil has the view of them.
It's really hard to describe Iguassu, other than to say that Steve and I both agree that it's one of the most spectacular things we've ever seen.

It was like standing in a rainstorm getting colse to the falls.

The boat we went on that takes you under, yes, under the falls!  We were beyond soaked...it was awesome.

The Pantanal

Sorry we've been out of touch for awhile...the internet isn't as widely available in the Brazillian jungle as one might expect!
After we left Rio we headed off to the Pantanal region of Brazil.  It's the largest flood plain on the planet, and contains many areas of jungle as well, so it's a really unique ecosystem.  We were immediatley struck by the unique landscapes and incredible animals in the area...even just the drive to our hotel was remarkable!
For the first part of our time there we stayed at a really cool place called Araras Eco Lodge.  We had an awesome guide, Larissa, who was really knowledgable about the area and put up with all of our dumb questions!  We met some cool Aussies during our stay...Dave & Carol, and Aaron & Rachel.  They were good fun to have around...although their canoe paddling skills were a bit dodgey!
We spent the last few days of our time in Pantanal at a Jaguar Ecological Reserve...with Steve hoping very much to see one of the big cats, but I was more keen to see an Anaconda (is that strange?!?!).  We came out even in the end with neither making an appearance!  That being said, we didn't leave too disapointed as we saw lots of monkeys, beautiful birds, and Giant River Otters (up to 6 feet long!!!).

 Hyacinth Mackaw, and endangerd bird that we were very lucky to see a few of.

Pantanal Limo!

Samba Parade!

The icing on the Carnaval cake, Samba Parade did not dissapoint!  What a feast for the senses...the costumes, the music, the crowd, the dancing,  It really has to be seen to be believed.

Rio de Janeiro!!!

Wow - what to say about this incredible city so far.  After almost 24 hours of travel from the Honduran island of Utila, we finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro early Friday morning.  We've been wandering around with our eyes bulging out of our heads ever since!  What a spectacle, and since we're here during Carnaval, what an experience! 

The people watching for the last two nights has been amazing, and today's tour of the city provided a great perspective and some amazing views!! 

Hope you enjoy these first set of pix - we'll be posting more in the next few days, after the Samba Parade tomorrow!!!

On Copacabana Beach!

A wacky game - soccer with a volleyball net! 
No hands, just feet, chests and heads!

Carnaval revelers on Ipanema Beach - the crowd was huge!

Some revelers having a good time!

Inside Rio's biggest cathedral

The giant statue overlooking Rio - Christ the Redeemer

Amazing views of Rio!

One of Rio's many slums

See you later, Utila!

After a fun-filled and busy 5 weeks on the Island of Utila, we said goodbye to some good friends and a lovely place! 

We rented a golf cart and drove around the island for an afternoon, did some fun stuff and ate some great food!  On top of it, I did some really nice and relaxing diving!  The best part, however, were the two weeks we spent with six people that were guests at the lodge - a group of 4 (two couples from Montana) and a couple from Mississipi.  The couple from Mississipi were Steve and Marlo - Steve is a professional wildlife photographer (some of his incredible photos at http://www.kirkpatrickwildlife.com/ ) - these two were hilarious and were full of wonderful and incredible stories.  We've been saying "y'all" alot since we met them :o)

The Montana four-some was Pat and her husband Kurt, and their close friends, Bruce and Joyce.  While everyone was super nice and really funny, it was truly inspirational to meet Joyce and Bruce.  Joyce lost the use of her legs in a car accident over 25 years ago, but after the accident, learned to scuba dive and ride horses.  She is one of the most positive people I've ever had the privelage of meeting, and I assisted her and her group in scuba diving...it was truly amazing to share with someone who's normally confined to a wheel chair the experience of freedom underwater.  The last week at the lodge was nowhere near as fun without the Group of 6. 

With the owner of Utila Lodge, Kisty, during karaoke night!

Wandering around the Jade Seahorse

really neat little lizard on a wander around the island

Lots of these cool (and big!) spiders

the beautiful surf

a wander through an abandoned hotel, now known as "the bat cave"

a side building of the bat cave

leaf cutter ants, doing their thing!