Snowfree ~ Our World Trip

Connor in Puerto Madryn, Buenos Aires and Mexico City

On our last full day in Puerto Madryn the ocean finally got calm enough to go whale watching.  After breakfast we (along with three British women) got in a van bound for the peninsula.  Our first stop was at a beach only 20 minutes from town.  There we saw whales from the shore.  According to our guide the reason why they come so close to shore is because they are curious.  That is why that particular species of whale is called the Right Whale, because they were so easy to hunt since they came right up to the boats.  The next stop was at the interpretation center.  One of the nicest washroom I have ever been in was right there.  The museum talked about the ecology of the area.  The next destination was Puerto Pyramides, the only town on the entire peninsula.  That was where our whale-watching boat was launched.  The boat was launched by a tractor pushing a trailer.  The water was very rough.  It was not pleasant but was definitely worth the experience.  We even saw a whale breaching (jumping out of the water).  It was very cold.  We also saw sea lions, seals and the gigantic sea elephants. The next day we took a sleeper bus back to BA where we stayed at the Sheraton.  While in Ba we had lunch with John, we ate at a really good beef restaurant.  It is hard to get bad beef.   The next morning we took a taxi out to the International Airport.  Our flight to Mexico City was at 11:30 pm.   The flight was long and very dry.  Several times I had to resort to getting the water from the kitchen on the plane myself.     We are currently in Mexico City waiting in the bus terminal for our overnight bus to Puerto Escondido at 8:00 pm.  It has been some tough slogging. 2 weeks ago

Connor in Puerto Iguazú, a highway somewhere in Corrientes Province, Salto in Uruguay, Montevideo, Colonia, Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn and absolutely everywhere in between!

The bus to Iguazú National Park ran as normal if not a little late.  The protest stationed on the road let us through rather quickly.  The first trail we did was the Macuco Trail.  It was supposed to have the most wildlife.  We only saw a family of capybaras and cuises (they look like guinea-pigs).  We saw more animals on the Green Trail, such as monkeys and coatimundies (they look like raccoons with pointy noses).  We also walked along the main trails and an island in the park where all the falls are easily visible.  The next day we took a bus to that highway in the middle of nowhere that was supposed to be real close to the border town of Concordia.  We ended up waiting for one hour and a half in the freezing cold and dark hoping for a bus that might not come because of a nearby road block.  Thankfully the local cops took pity on us.  We must have looked absolutely pitiful.  The bus did come and not a moment too soon.  We were all getting a little grumpy.  Alannah and I got seats at the very back of the bus but we did not care.  It was warm inside.  Concordia is a small town that borders on Uruguay.  We ate breakfast and bought our onward tickets to Salto, Uruguay there.  Often in small or untouristed places we are an attraction ourselves for the locals especially for the younger ones.  At one point, while we were all waiting for our bus, a kid was staring at the jelly candies we had just bought.  I tried to offer one to him by asking in Spanish “Do you like candy?” The kid shook his head and hid behind his mother.  I proceeded in asking if he liked sugar at all.  No answer came.  I guess he was just too terrified of a big, tall and white kid blabbering at him in heavily accented Spanish.   Our bus came on time and we got on.  We had to get off when we got to the border.  The Argentines and the Uruguayans shared border facilities.  The process was quick and relatively painless.  Salto is mainly known for its nearby hot springs.  We had already booked onward tickets to Montevideo on an overnight bus that night so we only had one day to do the hot springs.  We took the city bus to the facilities.  There were many choices but we picked the municipal spring since that was where the most people got off.  The entry cost was only 50 Uruguayan Pesos each or about 2.50$.  The complex had several pools all of varying temperatures and size.  We only went in 3.  At 8:00 pm that night we sped off in a bus to Montevideo.  In Montevideo we stayed in a hotel in the Ciudad Viejoor Old City.  The hotel was called Hotel Palacio.  On our second day we walked to a market a bit out of town.  It sold mostly used stuff but also pets and pet supplies.  The market was not very busy.  At one part of the market two shell games were being played.  Dad´s pack got unzipped and several pickpockets were looking in it when we passed through the crowd.  Some other pickpocket also tried to grab his camera.  That was the most major attempted crime of the trip.  From Montevideo we took a normal bus to Colonia.  The ride was 2 hours long.  In Colonia we stayed at a homestay a few blocks from the old  town which is the sole attraction of Colonia.  It was very cold that night so we only quickly walked through the old part.  It was nice for the time we could withstand the conditions.  We had ‘lupper’ (lunch + supper) at a very hip café in the old part.  I had gnoccis con salsa cuatro quesos.  It was good.  The next morning we took the ferry across the Rio de la Plata to Buenos Aires.  We have been told that the Rio is the widest in the world.  Buenos Aires.  Home…  The same day we took our sleeper bus 16 hours south to Puerto Madryn in Chubut Province, Argentina.  Our hostel is called Hi Patagonia.  We are planning to go on a boat to see the whales in the bay tomorrow.  That will be fun!  3 weeks ago