Chilly in the Chilean lake district

The next step of my journey saw me leave beautiful bariloche and head into Chile. The bus journey through the snow covered wilderness of the Argentine and Chilean lake districts was stunning. We drove past cute little towns and everything was perfectly covered with a dusting of snow, much like a scene for a christmas card.

The Chilean border crossing is notoriously one of the hardest in all of South America. At this crossing we actually had to take all of our stuff off the bus and put it through scanners, there was even sniffer dogs! Thankfully we passed through the border with little fuss.

As soon as we got past the border crossing the landscape and scenery immediately changed, despite being just a few metres out of Argentina, you could immediately tell that we were in a different country. The snow dispersed and we were surrounded by lush green landscape. It is not really surprising how green Chile is considering the amount of rain they have yearly. Puerto Varas the first town we stayed in has around 220 days of rain a year, which is probably more than Cardiff, which is saying something!

Puerto Varas was a cute little town on the shores of the third biggest lake in South America. The town was had a Germanic feel due to the immigration that took place, the people who live there are now 5th generations so they do not really speak German any more, but the architecture and feel of the town reflected the German influence.

The hostal was incredibly cold and was lit by these paraffin heaters which seemed like a bit of a death trap. Infact there was a news story on the tv the final day about carbon monoxide intoxication and I am pretty sure it had those exact same heaters!

This is South Americas coldest winter for over 50 years. It has pretty much affected the whole continent, and has claimed the lives of many vulnerable people in many different countries. We were pretty far south during this cold snap so felt the full force of it, and not having a warm hostel to go back to sucked.

We walked around the town to try and get a better view of the Osorno volcano which towers over the clouds in the distance. We walked up to to the top of a hill where there was some metallic cross, it was highly un-impressive, like a Chilean angel of the north. Trying to find how to get up there was also an issue, when told to follow the train sleepers we ended up absolutely nowhere feeling more like the kids from stand by me.

Puerto Varas is home to one of the best restaurants in Chile, Las Brasas. Apparently one of the best because it does "great" seafood and meat. I asked the waiter what I could have that did not contain fish or meat and he gave me a list which contained either/or, clearly that was lost in translation somewhere. Anyway he eventually got it, and they made me a delicious vegetable crepe. We even got free desserts to share, a crepe stuffed with delicious pistachio ice-cream. I am not an ice cream fan, but the one exception I will make is pistachio, it is so good.

The local nightlife was quiet to say the least. We went into one bar which reminded us of From Dusk till Dawn. There was nobody in there, except for four guys who I assume worked there, who were laying around playing on the playstation. Thankfully we made it out of that bar alive though.

There is a pretty good little tour you can take of Puerto Varas´ main sights. A short hike through the forest lands you upon some pretty impressive waterfalls and rapids. The water here is so clear, it is beautiful. The emerald lake (which was obviously green!) was also another pretty sight. The highlight of the day for more reasons than one was the volcano Osorno.

Driving up to the volcano in the most beautiful conditions, we were completely unaware of what it held in store for us later. We drove up to the half way point of the Volcano, this affords great views of the lakes and the surroundings. The chairlift takes you higher up the volcano, so we decided to take this, a decision regretted immediately. It was absolutely freezing. I can honestly say I have never been so cold in my entire life. Guestimation´s were around minus 20 degrees celsius. I stayed at the top for maybe a minute, was too cold to even take pictures and immediately headed down. The slow chairlift ride down was like torture, my fingers and toes actually hurt it was that cold. We finally got off and ran into the nearby restaurant. I had to have 2 chocoñac (hot chocolate with cognac) to warm up and eventually got feeling back in my hands. After a short wait we decided to head back down, or so we thought.

As soon as we stepped outside the conditions had gone downhill and in a pretty severe way. The road was covered in snow, and extremely treacherous and the crosswind was creating a huge snowstorm which descended into almost a complete white out. The cars in front of us were stuck, one even did a 360 degrees turn because the conditions were so bad, so we could not go anyway. Our driver seemed eager to go but the Brazilians in front of us would not move anywhere, and I did not blame them. A snow plow finally came and scraped the road a bit, then the car in front of us evacuated the women and children into the snow plow, something which amused us as much as it was terryfying. After about an hour and with conditions worsening we gradually made our way down. I have to say it was a scary experience, I do not like mountain roads at the best of times so going down them in these conditions was not fun. About 100m down the volcano the conditions were completely different and we safely made our way down, not before warning off the unsuspecting visitors who were on their way up. It was a clear showing of man´s insignificance against nature, and how quickly conditions can change in situations like that.

The storm we were caught in hit the town later, and our hostel barely survived judging by the sounds allnight, it sounded like the roof was going to blow off at any second.

After Puerto Varas we headed on the bus to Pucon, it was supposed to be seven hours but in fact only took around 5. We arrived in pretty damp and miserable conditions and were told that the climbing the Villarica volcano was pretty unlikely which dampened spirits somewhat.

The town even has a volcano alert traffic light system. Thankfully there were no problems when we were there. Though there was an amusing moment when a siren like an air raid warning went off when we were in the cafe. Immediate reaction was Shit the volcano is erupting, but the lack of panic from the locals did not justify this. In fact we found out that the siren goes off everyday to signal midday. Hilarious now but not so funny at the time.

We stayed in a cute little log cabin in Pucon, however we again had issues with the heaters. This time it was a gas one, but we managed to fall asleep with it on, which explained why nobody woke up until around 11.30 the next day and we we all felt a bit funny.

Thankfully we woke up to better conditions and we all decided to go to the adventure canopy and do ziplining. It was a lot of fun, there was probably about 10 platforms in total, the highest of 25 metres. It was probably more scary being on the platforms than on the ziplines in fact. I was pretty nervous as to using your hand as a break, but soon got into the swing of it, and really enjoyed it. The guides were pretty good and they had a pretty well organized and efficient system. It was definitely something I would do again, and the free hot chocolate we got out of it was delicious.

Pucon is host to one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Chile, Ecole (which despite the name sounding like e-coli was absolutely delicious). There was so much choice and it was nice to go somewhere with healthy, fresh food, and to have an abundance of choice. I went for the vegetable omelette which was delicious, and we shared some tasty nachos aswell, it was a bit of a feast and we did not really eat for the rest of the day.

Pucon has some of the best outdoor activities, but this was affected somewhat by the weather. We did rent mountain bikes though, and it was a lot harder than I anticipated. We thought that we were making a loop back to town, but infact we got so far and we could not go any further so we had to go back over the same route we came.  This is pretty demoralising when you realise that the terrain is pretty tough, less road and more just piles of rocks and quite a few uphills. It was tough and I was absolutely knackered at the end, my body just ached, but it was good to do something pretty active for a change. We saw a fair bit of Pucon´s countryside and even a bit of the local sunday league football which was hilarious because the age group must of been around 5 to 17, there were tiny little kids up against these giants! Probably biked around 15km in total and my body definitely felt it the next day.

Thankfully Pucon is home to some amazing thermal baths. So after getting rid of our bikes we decided to head to them. Unlike Salto these were natural hot springs, in the most beautiful setting. It was what you think of when you imagine thermal baths. Getting in was hellish because it was so cold but once you got in it was lovely and warm. After a hard bike ride it made me incredibly sleepy and I just wanted to curl up. The springs were really good fun, we even had a beer in one of the pools, breaking one of their main rules, not that there was anybody in sight to regulate them! Getting out was equally as bad as getting in, as by this time it was dark, raining heavily, and getting cold. After a quick change we headed back to the hostel. I was absolutely shattered, after making a bowl of packet soup (do not make in the microwave! It will be an epic fail) which we salvaged from the brink of disaster, I was ready for bed.

Pucon was a really pretty town in beautiful surroundings, I was dissappointed not to be able to do the volcano climb, but I guess that is just one of those things. I nearly ended up with half my laundry missing and not making the trip to Santiago, but we finally located all of our items in the disorganised chaos that was the laundrette. I am moving to Santiago tonight, and hopefully into some slightly warmer conditions further up north.

Don´t cry for me Argentina!

So after seeing all that Uruguay had to offer, which to be fair, was not a lot, we jumped on the short ferry ride across the La Plata river to Argentina. The ferry ride made me feel a little seasick, I don´t know why but I feel more seasick on a huge ferry than a tiny little dingy of a boat!

As soon as we neared Buenos Aires the skies seemed to clear and you could tell that Argentina was going to be a vast improvement on Uruguay. The skyline was a really impressive first sight, and the more I saw of Buenos Aires the more I fell in love with it. It is hugely European influenced, and infact it did not feel like you were in South America, more like Europe, not just because of the architecture and the people but also because it was absolutely freezing! South America is suffering from an incredibly cold winter also this year, which is bad news for us as we move further south.

One thing the Argentinian´s did very well was pasta, it was absolutely delicious, and not hugely expensive, the dishes were big enough to share, which meant we could share a few dishes between us, and there were lots of veggie options too. Something I was a little apprehensive about being in the land of steak!

A night out had to happen as we were in the capital of Argentina. In Buenos Aires nobody goes out until at least midnight and nobody goes to clubs until 2am, so we were prepared for a late one. Unfortunately we played ring of fire when having pre-drinks so I only lasted until about 3.30am, I peaked far too soon, and frankly cannot remember very much from the night, apart from losing my room key and being sick in somebody elses bathroom! I totally blame the cheap vodka which was called Peter´s, it was entirely Peter´s fault!

The next morning was extremely rough, getting out of bed was a massive struggle, but there was much to see in the massive city, so struggle out of bed is what I did. We went to the La Boca district, which is near the mouth of the river, and where many of the first people to arrive settled. It is very vibrant, all the little houses are painted in different colours, and there was tango shows going on all over the street. There was also a fake Diego Maradona to have a picture taken with, who from the back perhaps could have pulled it off, but infact looked nothing like him at all. We had a quick look around the Boca Juniors stadium which was pretty massive, and saw the surrounding areas which were a bit of a dive and explained why we were told not to stay in this district past 4pm.

We were lucky to be in Buenos Aires on a Thursday, as this is the day that the mothers of may protest every week between 3.30 and 4pm around an obelisk in the Plaza de Mayo. They have protested every week for 30 years to ask for justice for the missing generation of Argentinian youths, who were taken from their families and either killed or sent to live with the very people who had killed their parents. The story is truly awful, and seeing these little old women and other people marching was heartbreaking, their faces etched with tragedy and loss. It is truly inspiring that they continue in their quest for justice and the truth.

The central plaza and surrounding areas are beautiful, all the buildings are gorgeous, in particular the pink house with its famous Evita balcony, and the Cabildo. There are just so many amazing buildings dotted all over the city.

A trip to Buenos Aires would not be complete without a visit to the world famous Cafe Tortoni, you have to queue for a table outside, but it did not take too long to get in, the inside was lavish and decadent, it has been visited by the likes of Hilary Clinton and Susan Sarandon, and now I can add my name to the list!

I did visit a steak house in the night and was mightly suprised to find that there were vegetarian options, and it was a bloody good omelette they made aswell. It is nowhere near as hard being a veggie in South America as I thought it would be!

I visited many more sights in Buenos Aires, inluding the famous cemetary where Evita was laid to rest. It´s incredible, so different to anything we have back home. These huge mausoleums where you can look in the window and see the coffins. I imagine you´d have to pretty wealthy to get a spot here, judging by how decadent some of the mausoleums were. I also went to the Obelisk which is the famous spot where Boca fans celebrate their team winning, and where Diego Maradona said he would run round naked if Argentina won the world cup, thank god they didn´t! Other pretty districts were San Telmo with its cobbled streets lined with antique and vintage stores and Palermo Soho which is where we went clubbing, and also had a cute market and little shops all around.

We were supposed to leave Buenos Aires for Bariloche a day before we actually did, but there was a bus strike-standard South America-and so the departure got pushed back until the next day.

It was a good day for a 24 hour bus journey because it was torrentially raining so there wasn´t much else we could do anyway. The bus journey was not awful. It went quite quickly, and we even had 3 meals included, the highest quality fare of course! I watched Taken on the bus, which was the biggest load of rubbish I have ever seen, Liam Neeson spouting the cheesiest lines ever, and wiping the floor in the most brutal fashion with every enemy he came across, it was just ridiculous. I managed to sleep a bit but it was so bloody cold on board despite my incredible amount of layers that it was difficult to get comfortable.

Finally we got to Bariloche at mid morning and after checking into a really cute hostel called Periko´s we set out to explore the town. Bariloche is the gate to Patagonia, so you can imagine it was pretty cold, in fact it was downright freezing!

We went to the Cerro campinari which is apparently in National Geographics top 10 scenic views in the world! When we got there, there was an enourmous 2 group, at least 2 bus loads of people, cueing for the ski lift which meant we had to wait in the rain, and got absolutely drenched, we finally got the ski lift up the top and unfortunately what we found was not quite top 10 scenic view in the world worthy. It was really overcast and the clouds were really low hanging which ruined the view slightly, it was still beautiful, but not as postcard picture perfect as it could have been. It was absolutely freezing at the top too as it was so open and their was no cover or shelter. After having a quick look around we made our way back down and headed for the town. It is a really cute town, very swiss influenced, like a little alpine retreat, unfortunately due to the bus strike we didn´t really have enough time to explore it more fully, or taste any of its famous chocolate.

What we did have time for though was a hike. We did the tronador hike, which was an all day outing, but only about 4 hours total of pretty mild hiking. It snowed the entire day and we trekked all through the beautiful scenery. We trekked firstly to a pretty cool waterfall, which was impressive though obviously had nothing on Iguazu! After this we stopped and had lunch in a ridiculous restaurant, which took forever to get anything, I only ordered a hot chocolate and it took nearly an hour to come, crazy! We then did another trek to the black glacier, this was a really fun trek as we got to sledge down some parts as well, and we made snow angels along the way. Unfortunately we could not see much of the black glacier as once again it was pretty overcast and the low lying cloud concealed much of it, but the views generally were pretty spectacular. The drive back was beautiful, and we went down to see the lake that Bariloche is built upon, and its stunning surroundings.

Tomorrow I am moving into Chile to Puerto Varas, which I have been told is one of the rainiest places in South America so the odds aren´t good for a dry day there, hopefully it will be a little warmer than here, but I am not holding out much hope. Onto a new South American country and a new stamp for the passport.

Uruguay

We left Brazil on our journey into Uruguay on yet another night bus, fortunately we were upgraded for free from semi-cama (partial recline) to full came (even more recline and even comfier seats) which was absolutely brilliant, it was so incredibly comfy. We even got a meal on the bus, something which I was yet to experience on all my many bus journeys. Of course everything in the meal came with cheese and ham, because that it south americas favourite combination. Honestly everywhere you go, everything is cheese and ham! I had some crackers and a plain bread roll though which were a cheese and ham free zone!

I fell asleep on the bus and was in such a deep sleep that it was a struggle to wake me. I was so disoriented, wondering what was going on and why I was being woken up. Unfortunately our luck on the full cama bus ran out as we had to move to a different bus at midnight, and it was back down to semi-cama! It just was not the same after the full cama experience, and I found it difficult to sleep. This was not aided by the fact that I sat behind a man with terrible body odour.

The bus stopped in the middle of nowhere which was apparently our stop and we got into taxis to get across the Uruguyan border, this was done with minimal fuss and soon after we reached the town of Salto, Uruguay.

There was little to do in Salto, most people just stay there after the border crossing, or use the thermal baths. When I think of thermal baths and hot springs, I think mountain retreats and natural rock pools. Unfortunately, Salto´s thermal baths were more like a leisure centre or Butlins. I suppose it was nice to do something different and rest our tired bodies though.

We went to a local restaurant to watch the 3rd and 4th place play off in the world cup between Uruguay and Germany, it was a great match and fun to watch with all the locals. It was a shame that Uruguay lost, but at the end of the match everyone cheered, they were all extremely proud of their country. What they have achieved is hugely impressive, the country has only 3 million inhabitants, so to finish 4th in the world and of course top of the South American teams was a wonderful achievement,. They had a homecoming parade in Montevideo right after we left, which was a shame that we missed it.

Salto will be remembered most of all for very good and very cheap pasta, 1.50 for a bowl of very good homemade gnocchi and pesto! Cannot complain.

From Salto we went to Montevideo on a very early bus at 6.30am! It was raining in Montevideo which made first impressions pretty bleak, but in fact when I got to see the city I quite liked it. There are a lot of good aspects to the city, and pretty colonial buildings, but amongst it there are high rises and very run down buildings, you can tell it was once a very affluent place. On first sight I thought it looked a bit like Glasgow i.e grey, dull, miserable and generally shit, but I actually grew to really like it.

The hotel was a bit of a fail! The lobby area was really nice, but the rooms were generally shit, I saw a live cockroach (which was massive) in the bathroom but when we went back to find it, it had dissappeared, thankfully I did not encounter him again! One of the others had a room that smelt like petrol, so they had to be moved. Generally it was not a very nice place and I am glad I only stayed one night.

The benefit of the hotel was that it had a really nice communal area which we named the living room. We hung out there and watched the world cup, VAMOS ESPAÑA!

We rented bikes in Montevideo which was a great way to see more of the city. Unfortunately none of us were prepared for how cold it was going to be. It was 3 degrees and we were cycling along the beach front into a strong headwind. It was freezing. We went to a shopping mall, but it was really expensive, anything imported is more expensive than back home. We rode to the Port area and the old town, which was really pretty. It reminded me of Paris in the winter time.

After Montevideo we went to Colonia del Sacromento and stayed in a really cute hostel which was themed around flowers. There was not a lot to see there, but it was a pretty town to wander around, and we went for a really long 2 hour walk along the beachfront, and took in some of the sights of the town. We went out in the night, and I had rubbish gnocchi which was more like mash, it was a let down after Salto´s high standards, but I did manage to get a free beer out of it!

We left Colonia on the ferry to Buenos Aires, and Argentina will be the subject of my next update.

Iguazu Falls

We left Paraty for Iguazu falls aboard a bus that was supposed to take 18 hours, infact it got there 3 hours quicker, but still 15 hours was a pretty long journey. I didn´t actually get off the bus the entire journey, I am slowly training my bladder with all these long trips!

As we arrived earlier than expected and it was a beautiful day we had time to do the Brazilian side of the falls that day. The Brazilian side gives magnificent panoramic views of the falls. You can hear the falls miles away which gives some idea as to the scale of them. The falls are made up of 275 seperate cascading waterfalls which altogether run for around 3km, they are absolutely enormous! There was no way to capture the sheer scale of them in photographs. I was completely in awe. Niagara has absolutely nothing on it, its like 275 seperate niagaras! We walked along the trail which afforded great views, and walked along one of the walkways which got you wet with the spray from the falls, this did not seem to put off one man though who stood there in his speedos!

We saw loads of beautiful butterflys, and Coatis which were kind of like racoons, they were just wandering all around us and were clearly used to humans being around them.

The following day we made the trip to the Argentinian side, as we crossed the border, we had to go through migracions and get a stamp in our passports for the day. The Argentine side gets you up close to the falls. We took a boat trip in the morning into the falls, it was on a big speed boat, and we got absolutely drenched! The force of the river and the falls is incredible! After drying off we walked along many of the trails along the park, to get a closer view of the different falls. We walked on the catwalk onto the most spectacular falls the Devils Throat, it was incredibly beautiful.

Aside from the falls there was little to see in the town of Foz de Iguasu, in fact it was a pretty shit town. Just looked like some crappy english town. It didn´t really help that it rained pretty much all day on our final day, and there was nothing to do. Once you see the falls, it is best to just get out of the town, it became all a bit bleak and depressing.

Crossing into Uruguay was a bit of a nightmare, we had to wait ages at Brazilian immigration to leave the country but once through that, we were off on another bus journey to Salto, Uruguay.

"Planes" to Brazil

So it has been forever since I last blogged! I have been so busy and just have not had time to sit down.So better late than never, here are the last two weeks summarised in a few blog posts!

I left Cochabamba on the 29th June, it was incredibly sad to leave my host family and all the great friends I had met, and of course to leave the city. I ended up on the same flight as one of the other volunteers to Asuncion, so that wasted away the time in Cochabamba airport. Again all my flights with Tam were top-notch, I even had 2 meals on the 5 hour flight from Asuncion to Rio, and they were veggie!

I spent the night in Asuncion airport once more as my flight to Rio was super early in the morning, so there was no point in leaving. As I was leaving the Cochabamba airport, Paraguay were playing Japan and it had gone into extra time, so I was a bit weary getting into Asuncion, thinking that the airport would be shrouded in misery had they lost! However, once I got off the plane I was greeted by a sea of happy Paraguayans, literally everyone in the airport, workers included, was wearing their Paraguay shirts.

There was less people sleeping in the airport this time around, infact it was just me and one other guy- Davide, a Colombian guy, who was on the same flight as me in the morning, we chatted for a bit, and then I slept for maybe an hour.When I first got to the airport I was approached by a policeman, I thought he was going to tell me I couldn´t stay in the airport, but in fact he was asking if I was ok, and he even offered me juice! I saw him again in the morning, and he asked me if I had slept, and kept checking on me, it was nice to see such kindness!

When I woke up from my brief nap, I was greeted by the sight of lots of European school kids who were apparently going home after an exchange trip. They were there with their entire host familys, and were extremely noisy. It was 3am and they were singing (horrifically) I might add and at the top of their voices, needless to say I did not get any more sleep. Though I did sleep on the plane to Brazil.

I arrived in Rio at lunchtime, after waiting a bit for my arrival transfer (which never turned up) I jumped in a taxi and headed to my hostel. The traffic was horrific and it took quite a long time to get there, but I did get to take in the sights of Rio including Copacabana, Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer. I checked into the hotel and wandered round the streets of Rio. It is a great city, and one I wish I had had more time in, I will definitely come back, it is the perfect mix of beach and city! There are smoothie and frozen yoghurt bars everywhere, which is definitely a plus. The citizens of Rio are extremely health conscious, there are people running everywhere, and all along Copacabana beach there are just these random exercise stations, were people stop and do pull ups, rather amusing! I spent the evening wandering around a little night market, and in the Lapa district, where there is good night life, we just chilled in a bar, it was nice to see some of the city by night.

In the morning we chilled on Copacabana beach, although it was hard to relax when you are constantly being harrassed by sellers on the beach, we tried to pretend we were asleep, but it didn´t really work! We left Rio around lunch time and headed south in a bus along the coast.

We arrived in Angra Dos Rios and caught a boat to the beautiful island of Ilha Grande. As soon as you arrive you are hit by the feel of island life, everything is so chilled and peaceful. We stayed in a really lovely hostel. In Brazil a lot of the food places serve dinner by the kilo, which means you pick your food, and you pay for however much you have, it´s a good idea really, as then you can pick exactly what you want.

Every weekend in July in Brazil is a party, and Ilha Grande had a particularly good street party, with lots of food and lots of alcohol flowing. We were constantly amused by the antics of the local town drunk who we christened Fabio! The drink of choice are Caprinhas, which are just alcohol, sugar (and a lot of it!) and lime, they are extremely sweet, which makes them pretty lethal!

We went for a really long hike to a beautiful beach on the other side of the island. It was a 2 and a half hour hike and a pretty intense one at that, lots of hills and in pretty humid conditions, but the beach was more than rewarding and we saw a tiny little monkey along the way. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Brazil were winning their quarter final match at the time we left for the hike but we did not know the final score, until somebody told us that they had actually lost, everyone was shocked. Brazil is crazy for football. They even had a fan fest arena set up on Copacabana beach where thousands of people watched all the matches, so it was so sad for them and us that they had gone out, this was the beginning of our curse on the South American teams. However, it did not dampen the party atmosphere, and the street party festivities continued long into the night.

After Ilha Grande we moved back onto the mainland and down further south to the colonial town of Paraty. It is a Unesco world heritage site, and their are plenty of colonial buildings scattered around the town, it also had a couple of really nice beaches. The town floods every single morning when the tide comes in, which is pretty crazy, we didn´t get to see it happen though, as it took place super early in the morning.

I went kayaking in Paraty, it was a really beautiful trip, out into the sea, kayaking all around the little islands, we even saw turtles (which I at first thought was a frog, as only its little head was sticking out of the sea!). We went to a tiny little island and had a look around, there were some rocks to jump in off, so we did so, unfortunately the girl I was with slipped and gashed her arm on the rocks, it was a pretty nasty cut so we had to paddle back to shore and take her to the hospital. It was my first experience of a South American hospital and it was better than I expected, in fact she was seen to so quickly and there was little administrative bullshit, it was clean and after getting three stitches, we headed back to our hostel.

Paraty was the first place I saw rain, and in fact it wasn´t really proper rain, for over two months, I thought I would of missed it more, but actually after you see it, you realize that its simply depressing!

I spent most of the next day wandering around the town, looking in the really nice shops, it seemed like quite an affluent town! and then I walked to the site of the former fort, there was little to see there, but it was a nice hike, and gave a great view of the sea, I also saw more turtles!

I then prepared myself for the 24 hour bus ride to Iguazu falls, which is where I will leave this installment.