The last of AR and BR

Once again, a lot has happened since our last post so we'll try to keep it as short, sweet and full of pictures as possible.

Torres del Paine National Park

We set off, guns blazing, for our 6 day hike through the national park aiming to take in glaciers, crystal-clear lakes and the famous granite spires of Torres del Paine. After a gruelling (recommended - thanks!) 20km hike directly into 90+ km/h winds, the right foot of the male trekker was a little painful. We managed another 2 days of hiking before we had to cut it short and head back to town. Never the less, we saw some amazing sights and were once again blown away by how beautiful it all was.

Ushuaia, Argentina

All set to take a sip at the "southern-most" pub in the world, we found out that some Ukranian bastard has set one up at his research station in Antarctica. We settled in for a drink at the second-most-southern pub in the world. Unfortunately our photos are safely and inaccessibly stored on DVD so this section will be very black and white, just like the 7000 penguins we walked among on an Island in the beagle channel. Being a small (and the only) tour that lands on the island, we were able to get as close as one metre to A LOT of Gentoo and Magellanic penguins. Photos will follow if we ever find an internet café with a DVD reader. Other sights were beaver nests - their introduction to the area as successful as the cane toad - also sea lions and a number of different birds.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hitting Buenos Aires was quite the shock to the system after almost 2 months in smaller towns or camping. We had ten days all up in what was a beautiful, safe and very large city. Highlights of the big city were:

Mucho shopping - great leather (perfect for handbags and shoes apparently)

FUTBOL!!!! San Lorenzo in the Copa Libertadores - I imagine half the crowd probably took the bus straight back to the asylum after the game.

Beautiful architecture and other amazing buildings

Fantastic live music and tango

Steaks (minus the tripe, kidney and other offal in a typical Argentinian parrillada)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

For us, not really anything on Buenos Aires, Rio was far more obviously a large, crowded city but set among beautiful bays and mountains. After a few days we decided to head for Ilha Grande, a beautiful little island off the coast west of Rio, so our time in the city was reduced but we still enjoyed:

Taking the train to 'Cristo Redentor' (Christ the Redeemer), a huge statue at the top of a mountain giving panoramic views over the city.

FUTBOL!!!! Flamengo downing another Peruvian team in the Copa Libertadores. Far crazier than Buenos Aires with fireworks, flares and not one spectator sitting down during game time.

Juices! Very good, fresh fruit regularly whipped up and handed in a glass to Sophia (by regularly we mean 4 to 5 times a day.

Hangliding!!! Quite the heart-stopper and the provider of some amazing views on the Rio coastline.

Ilha Grande, Brazil











Not much to report here as we rarely ventured from our 'Posada' and its nearby beach. We stayed at this picturesque little Island for two nights getting plenty of sun and sea - including a manta ray, turtle and heaps of little fish.