Mike and Leanna's Adventure: November 2006

From Buenos Aires to Bariloche

Hi Everyone,
We are currently in a place called Osorno wasting time on a stop-over en route to Santiago, Chile. Since I wrote last, we travelled from Uruguay back across the Rio de la Plata to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buenos Aires was awesome! I just loved it. It is an extremely sophisticated and bustling city with a European feel to it. The food was incredible...and incredibly cheap too. Mom, you would love it! The Darlings rented an apartment downtown for the 5 of us as a base for our exploring before Becky left from BA after 3 hectic days of mostly shopping.

The first sight we went to see was Rodin´s "Thinker" (a real one this time, unlike the one in Recife) where we met up with Trish and Dave, Mike´s aunt and uncle from Edmonton.

Mike thinking

Buenos Aires is the home of Tango and one of the highlights was going to a Tango dinner show with Ted, Donna, Trish and Dave. Ted and I even got some unexpected lessons as the show was going on with the dancers in the show. I guess I should have known it was coming when the singer winked at me. Next time that will be my cue to head for the bathroom I think...

Ted getting an impromptu lesson.

You have to learn fast when your first lesson is on stage.

Real tango dancers with all the drama and passion you could ask for in a free show on the street.

We also went to Recoleta cemetery, the place where the who's who of Argentine society rests in peace (people like Evita for example). The mausoleums there range from elaborate and imposing to ornate and obstentatious, although some are beter kept than others. Many have subterranean labrynths underneath to hold the urns or coffins of all of the family members entombed there. There was one dishevelled mausoleum containing a coffin that must have been jostled somehow explosing the occupant´s broken bones and skull. Some of them didn´t smell very nice either. Perhaps they were freshly used.

Recoleta

After a week in BA, we spent 24 hours on a bus headed across the Pampas (flatter than the trip to Winnipeg!). This bus ride was no ordinary bus ride though...we had a "super cama" meaning a big comfy chair that reclined all the way. Really and truly, Mike´s parents are spoiling us. We ended up in beautiful Bariloche in the Andes which reminded me a lot of Banff.

Mike being a fruit on Victoria Island

Lake Nahuel Huapi at Bariloche

That is all for now. Will write more soon.

Picture from the 4x4

For some reason the blog wouldnt let me put this one up with the others from Cabo Polonia. This is on the kidney bursting 4x4 ride, before our butts started hurting so much from the bumps that we stopped smiling...(Mikes sister, the infinitely-trendier-than-me Becky, assures me that the sun glasses she lent me are stylish...but I am not convinced they are quite the thing for me. Opinions?)

Also, if anyone is interested, I finally finished the blog entry about the favela tour we took. Go have a look.

Cabo Polonia

Hi Everybody,
Since we have found the cheapest internet as of yet here in Uruguay, we have no excuse not to keep the blog up date while we are here (probably only for 1 more day before we head back to Buenos Aires). Today we chartered a taxi and headed out for Cabo Polonia. After emptying out of the taxi like clowns out of a clown car (a continual problem travelling with 5), we hopped onto a 4x4 to take us out to the dunes and the ocean. The highlight was the sea lions. We spotted some pups out in the ocean and got to see them jump like dolphins. Then we ran into a whole...colony? Is that what you call a whole lot of them? They lugged their giant, hairy, flabby selves from the ocean onto the rocks where they barked and fought...and stunk. Fish breath I guess. We had a great day climbing the lighthosue and playing frisbee on the dunes, capped off by a harrowing ride in the 4x4 on the way back where we chose to sit on some benches way up above the truck itself not realizing that being up their put us at risk for bursting kidneys from all the sliding around and slamming into the bars holding us in.

The Darlings at lunch...best yet in Uruguay (sorry it is the wrong way).

Sea Lions!

Curious creatures these are...one appears to be basking in the sun, the others defending their territory and looking out for predators...

Splash!

Nope, theyre not ants...just more sealions as seen from the near by light house.

Moi.

Purty wild flowers.

Looks like an orchid.

Meeting of the Mighty Rivers

Hi Again,
These pics (along with the animal ones below) are from our day in Iguazu. We rented a van for a day and drove across the border to Argentina where we walked the metal walkways out to see the worlds biggest waterfalls. A sacred Indian burial place, they were incredible! We got drenched from the mist standing above them. We couldnt even see all the way to the bottom there was so much mist. Unfortunately I wasnt able to get any pictures of the largest and most impressive part of the falls (known as the Devils throat), it was just too wet to take out a camera. We also got to see a whole bunch of wildlife up close...surprising considering the number of tourists they have there. We also went out on a maid of the mist style boat to get a closer look. Closer doesnt quite describe it. We got UNDER a part of the falls...and soaked. Boat ride was fun though.

As I mentioned in the last entry, we are now in Uruguay and hoping to see some penguins and sea lions purported to be around here. Well let you know how it goes.

One small piece of the massive Iguazu falls.

Same small piece, different angle.

Orchids.

Coati doing his thing digging through the trash.

Downtown Montevideo.

Statue of Artiga, the national hero here in Uruguay.

Mike and Donna in Montevideo.

Mike in La Paloma.

The Darlings!

Hi Everyone,
Meet Becky, Donna and Ted (Mikes family). They arrived about a week ago in Rio to share a part of our adventure and we are having an great time. Actually, right now we are in La Paloma in Uruguay. After Rio, we intended to go to Argentina, but in hopes of catching some sunshine we decided to head here instead. No luck yet though. Nonetheless, Becky has somehow managed to equal our tans and did so after only a couple days as compared to our 6 months.

Before I get too far, let me apologize for not using apostrophes in this blog...I cant find them on this keyboard...

Anwyay, during the Darlings few days in Rio, we got to see a beach soccer game in the FIFA World Cup beach soccer tournament (Canada vs. Iran...Canada won!). Who knew we had beach soccer in Canada? As every tourist must, we went up to Christo Redentor, the 30m high giant Jesus statue on Corcovado (meaning Hunchback). We also spent a morning in the botanical gardens, looked at the Museum on the Republic (Mikes and my second time, see the earlier blog for info) and did lots of shopping...well at least Becky and Donna did. Unfortunately, for Mike and I, things dont seem so cheap anymore (even though they are compared to home...but not compared to Recife), so there wasnt too much buying going on for us. We are definitely in scrimp mode. Which means that we are living in comparative luxury while the Darlings are here. They have been spoiling us! Its been awesome!!!

Jesus loves you this much! The archetypal tourist picture on Corcovado...

Save me Jebus!

Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ!

Mike and I with a bit of Sugar Loaf behind us.

Sweet picture looking into Guanabara bay.

This is a picture of the shirt that Getulio Vargas shot himself in from the Museum of the Republic. Very creepy. See the blog entitled Her name was lola, she was a showgirl... for a brief explanation.

The blog seems to have a limit of pictures I can put up and stopped me after I put up these next couple so the pictures that belong with them will have to wait until next time. They are from our few days in Iguazu and were all taken on the Argentine side of the falls.