This is our last goodbye

Whilst in Rosario we stayed at the superb hostel La Lechuza (The Owl) where we where treated like members of the family. Juan and his sister Javiera welcomed us warmly, in fact so much so that we extended our time by quite a few days, as did many others, enjoying the slow chilled vibe and friendly atmosphere. Juan also cooked up a mean parilla - traditional Argentinian BBQ - one night, and took the time to explain to me why I shouldn't drink the cheap box wine, which are the best grapes on the market and also kindly explained the technique involved in cooking meat the Argentinian way! He seriously knows his stuff!

We were sorry to leave such friendly people and such a homely place, but eventually moved on, taking the bus for the capital Buenos Aires. The weather had not been particularly kind to us and continued like this in BA. So feeling a little jaded and not in the mood for any sight-seeing we spent most of our time moving from coffee shop to cafe to restaurant, drinking wine and eating steak. The city is full of great places to do this so we embraced the two things Argentina is most famous for with passion.

We did run into a "book tank"... strange but somehow much funnier after a few glasses of fine malbec.

Feeling thoroughly over-indulged we took the next bus (20 hours) to Puerto Iguazu to see the wonderous Iguazu Falls.

Again the weather was not playing ball so we got soaked but were nevertheless blown away by the force and sheer enormity of the cascades.

The river ran red/brown from all the sediment adrift in the recent rain water. The power is indescribable! A must see to anyone who is nearby. Thousands of swifts dart between the mighty torrents come evening time, returning to their nesting patches behind the water flow by dive-bombing down into the cauldron of spray and mist and through the sheets of water. Definitely the kamikaze breed of birds!

...and nipped over the other side of the bridge to enter Brazil. Just a fleeting visit, as the Brazilian economy has now overtaken the british one, so far too much $$$$$ for us at the end of such a long trip. We were lucky enough to find another great hostel "Favela Chic" in Foz do Iguacu, run by an english guy Nick and his brazilian wife. The inventive recycled decor and artistic flair of this place is was a delight to see - truly a gem in the making at only 2 months old. He certinly knows how to make a mean Caipirinha too!

 Enjoying a home-cooked roast (or a close approximation Brazilian-style)

So onto the next bus... 24 hours this time (meant to be 22 but plenty of traffic!) to Rio de Janeiro. On arriving, our cross-city bus gave me my first glimpse of the Christ statue lit up like an xmas tree, appearing to be floating in the sky like an guardian angel over the city!

One day in Rio so we packed it full. Up the Corcovado to see the Christ statue and take in the breathtaking views across the city. We spent some time up there just watching the city unfold before us as far as the eye could see. Apparently James insisted that a quote of mine needed to be shared with you:

"Wow - you can see so far away, until you can't see any more!"

I was having a blonde moment!

The magnificient Sugarloaf mountain

Similar to "Where's Wally?", let's play "Where's Beth?"

We walked the street in the afternoon, soaking up the hustle and bustle and admiring the spectacularly talented graffiti artists' handiwork. Escaping the streets for a while we stepped into the serentiy of the stunning tropical botanical gardens before heading out along the famous Copacabana beach to an all-you-can-eat churrascaria (BBQ-house) where their only goal is to try to kill you with food... let me explain:

Waiters with swords full of differing cuts of meat parade between the tables, slicing off whatever you desire. To add to that is the copious amounts of sushi and every kind of vegetable and salad you can think of, and CHEESE.

On top of that they pile plates and plates of carbs (chips, garlic bread, rice, onion rings etc) on your table - which of course you don't waste any stomach space on. You have only to glance at a passing waiter brandishing his sword of meat and before you can blink it's on your plate! :P

Done.

And that was that... out with a bang! We took the 'short' (6-hour) bus to Sao Paulo where we jumped on our final flight home courtesy of the lovely Singapore Airlines - home in style!

The final caipirinha

So... it's hard to come to terms with but it's all over. 18 months have passed, we've spent more than we started with, have taken 24 flights, 13 trains, 41 boats, 115 buses and untold hundreds of taxis, moto-taxis, pickups, songthaews, rickshaws, cyclos, tri-shaws, micros, several horses and even the occasional piggy-back whilst crossing 21 different countries... and we're ready to stop!


Exhaustion notwithstanding, it's been an epic trip, and one with many great memories that we'll have the rest of our lives. Thanks for sharing it with us, we hope you enjoyed our photos and commentary and we're looking forward to seeing you all soon - in person!


Once we've had a bit of time to soak it all in back home we'll be going through the many thousands of photos and videos and will post our best-ofs right here for you.


But for now, this is us signing out. Hasta la proxima!


James & Beth xx