The good and bad in Buenos Aires and Iguazu

We ended up staying in a private house in Buenos Aires. As in most SA houses it was secured like a prison . Before leaving we had to lock all the internal doors before securing the door into the internal courtyard by locking it and pulling a metal concertina door shut (like the sort you get in old lifts). Securing this with a heavy metal bar. We repeated this (with another concertina door) for the entry into the front yard. The front yard was surrounded by a 3m high wall topped with glass. The door to the street was a massive, solid steel affair higher than the wall. To shut it you had to really slam it shut and then double lock it. They also had a dog.
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Locking the place up was OK but when we returned at about 7 we couldn´t unlock the steel street door. Eventually I decided that I had to climb up the wall next door and over the door. Having got to the top two things happened. The dog, that had been quite friendly decided I was burglar and started growling in a very threatening manner and Marilyn unlocked the door that started to swing open with me on the top. I managed to jump down without getting squashed and bravely let Marilyn go in first to placate the dog. All the time this went on the neighbours sat on their porches watching us quite unconcerned. So much for BA neighbourhood watch!

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When we went out again we successfully went through the locking process but had couldn´t shut the outer steel door. It didn't fit properly and I had to keep slamming it as hard as I could. This wasn`t made any easier by the dog who had decided he wanted to come out with us. Eventually the inevitable happened and his head got into the gap just has as the door slammed on it. Very nasty but it got him out of the way and the next time the door shut. We had walked about 4 blocks when the vision of the owners coming back to find a dying dog with a crushed skull was enough for us to turn back and check on him. Of course the door wouldn't unlock and we had to repeat the opening saga before we could get in and find the dog. He looked a bit crestfallen but was at least wagging his tail. Strangely enough I was his best friend after this and he would follow me all over the house.

Good - BA full of the coolest people on the planet, and me and Marilyn. The city with everything including tango, Carnival and 3 new Siberian tiger cubs

Bad - Sore throats caused by the traffic pollution.
Good - The brave grandmothers of the Plaza who have maintained their silent protest vigil. The military dictatorship killed thousands of mothers and fathers. Their children were adopted by the very people who murdered them their parents. The grandmothers of these children have spent 30 years trying to find them.
Bad - Its a bit over touristy, with postcards, tee shirts and tourist tat on sale. It may have lost some of its impact and this makes it easier for the Government to ignore them.
Good - Iguazu falls against the jungle backdrop are truly magnificent and the power of the water is awesome. Getting soaked on a boat under the falls

Bad - Its so over commercialised that the sense of wonder is lost. Walk ways, open top coaches, souvenir stores, restaurants. They have even allowed two large hotels to be built in the national park, visible from the falls and there is the constant noise from helicopter trips from the Brazilian side

Bad - Deciding to buy an expensive package from BA to the falls and being stuck in a grotty hotel

Good - Going to a casino because there was nothing to do in the hotel and winning $530, enough to pay for the trip. The slot paid out so many coins that they had to refill it twice - heaven!!

Good - Doing 3 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay) and 4 borders in an hour by local bus. We went to Ciudad el Este in Paraguay. The guide books make it sound like the wild west because it is the centre for smuggled black market goods. The Lying Planet says ´get out before 5pm when the stalls shut and the town takes on a sinister air´. It was actually a friendly, peculiar but poor place. Market stalls line both sides of the main streets selling just about everything at amazingly low prices. In the midst of all this was a single high rise store containing every designer brand you have ever heard of including Steinway pianos. Tour groups are taken through the mean streets by coach to this store and then bussed safely straight out again.

Bad - Re-reading the guide book and realising that we should have got our passports stamped at every border - we only had an Argentina exit stamp - Marilyn spent the whole day worrying about how we where going to get back. In the event we got out the way we got in, on a local bus with the driver waving at his border mates as he drove straight through

Next stop Uruguay



Argentenian security, this equipment has been secured by a large chain but it included a bolt cutter!!

Eating and drinking in South America

Mendoza is a lovely vibrant town surrounded by mountains and is Argentina´s wine capital. It has perfect wine growing conditions apart from the hail storms. Every afternoon, when we were there, dark clouds would form and a plane would fly into them and cause loud explosionz. A good hail storm destroys a whole seasons crop so the planes seed the clouds with ice rockets to ensure only small harmelss hail falls

We are suffering a bit in a country that makes some of the worlds best wines and 4 pounds gives you the pick of the wine list. It is almost impossible to buy wine by the glass so you are forced to drink it by the bottle.

We have spent the equivalent of 24 days on buses. The worst was the local Peruvian bus that didnt stop for 6 hours and the floor was swimming in pee. The best was the Suite bus we have just taken from Mendoza to Buenes Aires. Our seats folded down into proper beds with blankets and pillows. Half an hour into the journey we where served a hot snacks and a glass of sherry. This was followed by a 3 course hot meal, unlimited wine, then coffee with a choice of liquers










Throughout the trip we have had two bad meals and they really stand out as being super digusting. One meal was in a fast food joint situated between the bus and train stations in Santiago, the other was called Rock Chicken. So we got what we deserved. All the rest have varied from good to fantastic.

In the poorer countries the meals are simple but made from delicious ingrediants. Did you know there are over 4000 varieties of potatoe in SA - they can be the most tasty part of a meal.

Chile and Peru have some superb sea food. In Argentina the biggest problem is eating too much meat. Whether from cow, sheep or goat it is superb. Apparently when the Spaniards came their cows escaped and thrived on the Pampas. They are still left to run wild so we are getting wild organic steaks.

Best food and drink

• Cerveche - Raw fish and shell fish marinated in line juice in Peru


• Sea food empanadas (like cornish pasties),


• Sea food soup and conger eal in Con Con Chile
• All you can eat Parrillas in Ushuaia Argentina

• Pisco Sour in Pisco Elqui where they grow the Pisco grapes



• Micro breweries especially the one in Baraloche that had 8 different types of english beers



• Meat empenadas and fresh orange juice from the street sellers in La Paz Bolivia



• Any wine in Mendoza



• Any of the meals on the Antarctic trip
  
  

End of the world and the stories of two girls

Tony Blair being interviewed by the police got about the same coverage here as confirmation that the world as we know it will end in the next couple of generations!!

This trip has bought home just what a marvelous, interconnected and fragile world this is (a few years ago the valley in the picture was filled by a massive glacier) . Everywhere we have been is experiencing unusual weather patterns and we have seen the damage being done by man on both the big and small scale. Even relatively benign tourism harms what we have come to see, whether it is the introduction of alien species or the ever widening of paths on popular treks.

We have also seen the remains of vast civilisations that must have thought that nothing could hurt their world. The Inkas can´t have known that those first Spanish boats were going to lead to the decimation of their whole culture and population in less than 100 years. And I bet the tribes on Easter Island thought that they had so much wood that it would last for ever. Within 100 years the last of them, including the king, were carted off on a couple of boats as slaves. A complex culture lost for ever, the only thing left was the Moais.

I fear we are no different and that we will keep bickering over religion, trade (and cash for honours) and ignore the very real danger we all face.
Defuncta Correa

In the middle of a desert a cluster of stalls, restaurants and even a hotel has sprung up. All because of a girl who probably never existed.

During the 1800 civil wars Deolinda followed her sickly concript husband´s battalion on foot carrying food, water and her baby son. When her meagre supplies ran out she died in the deserts of San Juan. Some time later passing mule traders found her son was still nursing at the dead womans breast. This was just the first of a series of miracles attributed to Deolinda and the creation of the shrine of Defuncta (literally defuct) Correa on the hill where her body was susposedly found

Devoties leave gifts in exchange for her supenatural favours. The hill is now covered with eloborate models of homes, bits of cars, and pictures of happy families. In the 17 shrines built to house particlar favours there are models of lorries, real bits of factory equipment, hair pieces, umbilical cords and wedding dresses. Even gold discs from successful performers and complete cars including a 1920s Ford and a 1930s Mercedies Benz.

When we where there 100s of peeople where paying trubute, kneeling before a model of Deolinda and leaving yet more gifts ( the minimum seems to be a bottle of water and some food). It´s a remarkable place, with a very weird atmosphere, made even more impressive because belief in Deolinda is activily discouraged by the Catholic Church and the State. Still it is one of the most important beliefs in Argentina and roadside shrines to Deolinda can be seen all over the country.

Juanita

500 years ago a girl child was selected, by the Inkas, because of her perfection - intelligent with a beautiful blemish free body. She was trained for years for the great honour that was going to be bestowed on her - to be sacrified to the mountain god at the top of one of the biggest monutains in South America. She was only 13 when she was taken to the moutain by the high priests. Close to the summit 4 younger children where sacrifieced and left in shallow graves. Juanita was taken right to the top. It is diffcult to image what it was like climbing at 6000m in the freezing cold and oxygen starved air knowing what was going to happen at the top. She was dressed in the finest cerimonial robes but allowed to carry a doll , some personal jewellery and her bag that at some stage she had mended with neat little stiches. This beautiful girl was given a drug and some beer then killed with a single blow to the head. Her body quickly covered in snow and froze.

In the 199os a nearby volcano erupted and melted the ice and her body and goods where recovered all in perfect condition. Juanita is now in a musuem in Ariquipa. She is kept frozen in a case and looks as if she is just sleeping. Her skin, hair and clothes are the same as the day she died. You can see just how beautful, young and innocent she was. Seeing Juanita and her personal things was one of the most moving things we have seen on this trip and we are not alone. We keep meeting people who seem to have to talk about seeing her.

Fishing in Hansel and Gretel land

Persuaded Marilyn that we should spend a full day (13 hours) on a very expensive fly fishing trip. Just the two of us and an expert fishing guide. The trick was to provisionally arrange hire of bikes and a tent for a 60KM trip - she jumped at the fishing alternative.

Of course fly fishing is a gentleman´s sport and it is important to look cool at all times.

Bariloche is in the heart of the Argentinian lake district, northern Patagonia, surrounded by lakes, snow capped mountains and forests.  All very, very beautiful. Bareloche itself is touristy packed with holiday making Argentinians. As well as the usual bars, cafes and resturatents there are masses of chocolate shops, some like cathedrals.

How to reduce Marilyn to tears of rage and frustration (continued).

7. Taking note that her shoes leak, take her to the top of one of the driest mountains by cable car. Then get lost on the way down so we end up on the wrong side of the mountain and have to walk all the way back up and down the other side. Then taking a short cut through a pine forest down the dustiest tracks imagainable that blow great clouds of dirt everytime you take a step. Took 5 hours to get back to civilisation. 

The problem with Patagonia and wet shoes

We have spent nearly 4 weeks in Patagonia. It is a fascinating place full or contradictions.

Areas of absolute wilderness - Swiss style, classy tourist towns

Glaciers - pampas with delicious sheep and cow meat on legs

Snow topped mountains - flower rich meadows

Fjords - beautiful lakes

We have been amazed by how `English´ flowers and plants can be found in Patagonia. In places whole valleys are carpeted with lupins and fox gloves. We thought that they must be native to Patagonia but a English horticulturalist told us that they have all been introduced by Europeans














The overriding impact is its size and the difficulty in travelling. Everywhere seems blocked by water or a mountain range and you have to keep switching between Chile and Argentina. We are in the middle of a 2 day bus ride to get from south Patagonia to the north. Instead of going in a straight line we have to go all the way across Argentina to the east coast, to get onto a paved road, then go north and then retrace our steps to the west.

Patagonia route - Chile, Santiago to Pucon bus 7hr, to Puerto Mont bus 6hr, to Puerto Aisen plane 1hr, to San Rafel Glacier boat 20 hrs rtn, to Coychique bus 3 hrs, to Punta Arenas plane 2 hr.

Argentina route - Chile to Ushuaia bus 13 hrs, to Antarctica boat 10 dys rtn, to El Calafate plane 2 hrs.

Chile route - Argentina to Puerto Natales bus 6 hrs.

Argentina route - Chile to Bariloche via Rio Gallegos, Commodoro Rivadavia Esquel bus 48 hrs, to Mendosa (out of Patagonia) bus 19 hours.


Perito Moreno is one of the few advancing glaciers in the world. It is 70M high and advancing at 2M a day. It is a visual and aural joy as massive lumps break of and crash into the river.


The Torres Del Paine are the tourist image for Chile. We camped in the park and climbed up to a famous viewing point. It was a really tough climb, the final hours spent clambering over boulders. Only to get there and it starts to rain. The photos show what we should have seen and what we saw.





















How to reduce Marilyn to tears of rage and frustration

Although we get on amazingly well considering we have been together nearly 24 hours a day for 4 months. There have been some moments!!

1. Tell her she has to pack yet more stuff in the rucksack that she cant lift or close. After she has spent 30 mins packing it.

2. Leave her 4900m up a mountain by herself with a radio, in cloud, because she cant get enough breath to do the final 100m to a refugio.

3. Tell her that it is safe to scramble down screed slope to save walking 50m and then watching her fall and rip her trousers. I was attacked with a woolly hat for this.

4. Ignoring her complaint that her shoes leak and taking a path through woods to a glacier that involves crossing icy mountain streams. The final straw was when she sunk into a peat bog.

5. Ignoring her complaint that her shoes leak and persuading her to spend 4 hours climbing in the rain across puddles and clay.

6. Ignoring her complaint that her shoes leak and suggesting we leave our shoes outside the inner tent when it pours with rain all night and leaves the shoes in a large puddle.

Sun, sand, sea and swimming in Antarctica

¨What would you like me to rub as I go down¨ - Marilyn Mackley 1.30 am, to a crew member polishing the stairs









Swimming off the beach. A second swim next to an iceberg was cancelled when a Leopard Seal surfaced

Drake´s Passage is nature´s barrier to tourism in Antarctica. It takes at least 48 hours to cross one of the most violent stretches of water in the world. We saw both extremes, a dream crossing and nightmare return. We hit a force 10 storm with 15 metre high waves hitting the ship from the side. apparently this is really unusual and despite being built for the Antarctic the boat struggled under the onslaught. There was the constant sound of breaking crockery from the galley, furniture and people where thrown from one side of the ship to the other. A wave smashed a window on the third deck flooding several cabins and setting off all sorts of alarms. During one breakfast the whole buffet shot onto the floor. At another someone was knocked out and was treated by the ship´s doctor while he threw up into a sick bag. By drugging ourselves to the eyeballs Marilyn and I managed to ward off sea sickness and where able to enjoy the drama - we even learnt Texas hold´ em poker

It is impossible to find the words to describe Antarctica. It is such an awesome, alien and beautiful place. There is nothing to compare it to.

We where incredibly lucky with the weather. Where it is normally grey and misty we had sun and cloudless blue skies. Some days were actually warm but we had one tremendous blizzard that gave us a taste of Antarctica´s normal behavior

The wildlife is equally spectacular with massive penguin colonies, sea birds including lots of albatrosses, whales and seals . It is impossible to watch penguins without a broad smile on your face.

The boat was perfect. With just 74 passengers so we had lots of time on shore (no more than a hundred people are allowed on shore at a time). The food was amazing and there was so much free booze we had to leave behind the 5 litres of wine we had smuggled on board. But best of all was the dining room, high at the stern of the ship with picture windows all round. At nearly every meal someone would spot a whale and a cheer would go up when it dived and we saw its tail. The captain had an open bridge policy, even at times when things were getting complicated, which meant you got great views.

The 24 hours daylight affected everyone and there where several impromptu all night parties.

Like everywhere else we have been on this trip. Antarctica is under threat. Not only from global warming but also from tourism which is increasing rapidly. The Antarctic Treaty helps control its impact but it is voluntary with no teeth. Increasingly rogue boats are coming to and damaging Antarctica. A guy at a British Base said that there is a Ukrainian boat operating without control this season and last season the Russian Mafia chartered a boat to tour Antarctica - I guess no-one stopped them if they wanted to take a few penguins home. Even with our trip, which was well managed, you could tell that we where affecting wildlife because people cant help trying to get closer for that perfect shot.
We feel truly privileged to have had this opportunity

Thats it then - the end of the world ( and other stuff)

Not recommended - 12 hours on an old bus from 9am to 9pm. Sitting next to the toilets right at the back so you feel every stone and hole. Especially when 6 hours is spent on unmade roads. However if you book your ticket 20 mins before the bus leaves in peak holiday season , you have no choice.

It was an interesting trip though. Across the plains of Patagonia and a ferry across the Magellan straights. Then into Argentina and on to Ushuaia (`at the end of the world`). The weather changes every few minutes here from hot sun through rain to snow but it is nearly always windy. It stays light nearly 24 hours and the sun is still bright at 10pm. It is very strange living in 24 sunlight. You tend to eat and go to bed later and later

Tierra del Fuego was so named because of all the fires seen by Magellan. The Indigenous people used fire to keep warm and even kept fires going in their canoes. They didn`t wear clothes because they were no use in a cold and very wet environment. The Yaghan people around Ushuaia, were very successful and in tune with the land before Europeans came. First the whalers slaughter the seals that were their main diet. Then the Christians came and told them they must wear clothes. This made them unhealthy and susceptible to the European diseases such as measles that completely wiped them out. All in about 80 years

We have travelled nearly 6000 kilometres since Quito in Ecuador and done the equivalent of almost 10 whole days on buses. It has been a fantastic trip so far. We have been incredibly lucky getting last minute deals for things you are supposed to book months ahead - Galapagos, Machu Pichu trail, Easter Island and now a cruise to the Antarctic.

Dogs, supermarkets and people

1. An overriding memory of S America will be stray dogs. It is overrun by them. They howl at night and chase cars during the day. When people leave their rubbish out they have to tie it in trees so all the towns look as if there has been a great flood

2. Every supermarket (and church) has at least one beggar and dog outside. Not together you understand but begging in their own specialised ways.

3. In Chile supermarkets have 10 items or less aisles. But the people translate this tightly controlled rule as - you turn up with your trolley full of stuff and then put it through the checkout and pay for it at 10 items a time

4. No one takes any notice of gringos in supermarkets. I was so excited at finding bacon that I pulled the machine which gives you your turn number off the wall. The numbers unrolled all the way down an aisle. I had to go and roll it up again. No-one took any notice. People continued to wheel their trolleys over the strip as if nothing had happened. I think I am the only one who found it unusual or funny

5. Most people get robbed or ripped off in S America at some time. A favorite is to give gringos fake money. Yesterday an Aussie told us how he was given a fake 100 Peso note at the border. but he managed to palm it off in a shop. The following morning he was so hung over that he went back into the shop where they recognised him and insisted on real money. They wouldn't give him his fake one back either

6. Their are different characteristics between the nationalities traveling in S America. Brits, Dutch and Aussie go around in couples. Canadians travel by themselves. Germans travel in groups of 4 or more. French in organised tours. Americans almost non-existent or keep apologising for Bush. Individually Israelis are delightful but en-mass they are awful. Loud, noisy, pushy and oblivious to anyone else. They are all young people just out of the army so I suppose it is understandable. However, many people, including us, will ask whether there is a group of Isralies in a Hostal or on a tour and go somewhere else if the answer is yes

Whisky and (10,000 year old) ice

Very Happy New Year from Patagonia

Took a 200 kilometer catamaran trip through the Patagonian fjords to the San Rafael Glacier. Most important thing for M was the open bar. Started at 7.30 and got back at 3am the following morning with a live band and free drinks all the way.

Weather was crap for most of the trip but it magically cleared up when we got to the glacier. Absolutely stunning, different blues and whites that changed every time you looked at it and great lumps calving off and crashing off into the sea with a crack followed by a great boom. The beauty made me cry but Marilyn said it was just because I was pissed. Although the glacier is massive and still 16 kilometers long it is receding quickly. Date markers on the mountain show that it is back about a kilometer since 1989 and it is estimated that it will completely be gone in 30 years.

Glaciers are really cold. I know I should have known this but the effect as you get up close is as if it is sucking all the heat from your body. Even a few metres makes a big difference.

After the easy travel in the rest and S America it all gets very difficult in Patagonia. There are these inconvenient stretches of ice fields, water and mountains everywhere.

We are staying in a cabin in Puerto Aysen, imagine Twin Peaks. All very luxurious with satellite TV and our own kitchen. Today, new year´s eve is very special day.   I even managed to find bacon and for the first time in 4 months we had bacon and egg for breakfast.