My Geckos Tour!

I had my last 'day' on my tour yesterday :( It was very sad to have it finished, I had the best time!

The first day I met the other people on my tour - Amanda, Mark, Sarah and Lisa. Amanda (yes you) lives about half an hour away from my parents place in Sydney, so as one of my tour guides said, we live half an hour away from each other in a town of 2 million people, and we meet each other in Buenos Aires... go figure! She is also an avid Manly Sea Eagles fan and even brought her socks with her - I was rather jealous! The other three were all from London. The first night we went to dinner nearby, where I had gone the previous week, and not previously mentioned n my blog. I had my first steak there the week before and it was rather nice. Massive though - David you would be in heaven here!

The next day we had a walking tour around Buenos Aires, and got a better idea of some of the places around the city and thier significance. We caught a bus down to La Boca, where they had all of the colourful houses. The story bhind the reason why the houses were so colourful is that the wealthy used to live there, but then evacuated when yellow fever broke out. Poorer people then moved into the houses, but didn't have enough money to buy paint, so they collected leftover amounts of paint that was used for boats. Now however, the houses are maintained like that for touristy purposes. so that was interesting to find out. We then had the afternoon free so walked to a restaurant that was in the lonley planet guide, that was very busy. It took awhile for us to get a seat, but the food was pretty good. We then headed over to the cemetary in Recoletta where they have all of these crypts that have numerous generations of the same family in them. Some of them were just immaculate, and had these huge statues around them. We fnd Eva Peron's crypt, not as big as you think it would be. In the evening me and Amanda went to Palermo for dinner and drinks as the others went to the Tango show that I had gone to the previous Friday. We then went into the centre of town to have a look at what was happening in relation to the bicentenary celebrations, and just the amount of people that were there was just amazing. The main roads were closed and so there were just people walking everywhere, where there are normally thousands of cars racing around.

The day after we got ourselves ready for the 18 hour bus ride to Iguazu Falls. Most of us were thinking something along the lines of a coach, but we were in for a shock! We walked into the bus and the seats were huge and pretty much reclined all of the way back. We had leg rests and were given a blanket and a pillow. So much more comfortable than a plane!!! So we were all very excited! They also had a tv, and so I watched the latest x-files movie, then they started playing universal soldier, but it kept stopping and restarting - rather amusing. They then had Iron Man 2, but that was in Spanish, so surprisingly didn't watch that one!

We arrived at Puerto Iguazu - the town in Argentina closest to the falls. We then then caught another bus to the falls, and then a train that got us closer still. The first part of the falls we saw were the Devil's Mouth, and it was just jaw dropping. The sound, and the amount of water that was flowing was just amazing. And the scenery itself was just breathtaking. I could have stayed for hours just watching them. We then walked around to other parts of the falls to get different viewpoints. As the Argentine side gets yo close to the falls, but the Brazillian side gives you the panormaic views. So we actually got quite close to the falls. The five of us then went on a speedboat ride that gets you right next to the falls. We all got very, very wet, even with our raincoats on. Amanda's passport and money also suffered a bit, we all got her wet money at one point! As we were heading back to the bus to take us back to the town, we saw three wild toucans, it was just amazing!

The next day we met our new tour guide from Brazil, Lucila, who would be with us until the end of the tour. We also had three new group members, Cara, Tanya and Bruce, who had been traveling for the past month and a half that started in Ecuador. We spent the day on the Brazillian side and were just in awe again of the falls - I think I have about 100 photos of them! Thy were just amazing, words really can't describe them, so I suggest to all that you go there and visit! After that we went to a bird park nearby, where they housed nirds that had been taken off smugglers that couldn't be retrned to the wild. The birds there were incredible, though Lisa was very jumpy with all of the birds flying everywhere - it made for good entertainment! I also saw something I never thought I would see in all of my life - hummingbirds! They had a large cage that was full of them that you could walk through, it was fantastic! They moved and dart around so quickly, and you do hear this hum of their wings. I also got my picture taken with a Macaw, who at one point was rather interested in my eyebrow, it was hilarious!

We then got ourselves organised for a very long day and a half of traveling. We had an overnight bus from Foz de Iguazu to Cutichiba - Lucy's hometown. The bus was definatley not as good as th last one, not nearly as comfy. We then caught a train down into the rainforest where we were going to then hike to our lodge for the evening. The hike was great, but the rocks were so slippery, and as we were going downhill with our day packs on it was even more difficult. I had a few near misses of falling flat on my face! Amanda and I were craving vegetables so much at that point that we had bought a bag of baby carrots to eat that day, and it was so worth it! We arrived at or logde, which was just beautiful, and sat down to a traditonal lunch which was a beef stew that you could mix in with cassava flour. Extremely tasty! They also have lots of blak beans over here that they serve with most meals that are also very tasty. Most of us then walked into the town, wher we had ice cream. My ice cream was guava and cheese. I was thinking it might be something like cream cheese or marscapone cheese, but no. It was actually small bits of cheese. Surprisingly it tasted pretty good too!
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The next day we headed out towards Ilha do Mel - Honey Island. But we stopped at Ilha do Pieces beforehand. It was the most beautiful little place, a little island town of about 300 people, and a few other small towns on it It does have a school, so I'm thinking a teaching job there would be perfect! We also saw pods of dolphins on our way out. They had organised a canoe ride for us as well, where they took us out to the 'nursery' where all the baby dolphins are born and raised. We saw one dolphin there and were able to get quite close. The fisherman in town live in harmony with the dolphins and they each help each other out. We then had the boat ride to Ilha do Mel, where there are no cars and where the local Brazillians go for holidays. It was just great there too, and the place we stayed was so unique. They had all of these random things hanging up, like bottles, and a placemat that was made out of the pulling rings from softdrink cans that had been croched together. I would love to go back!

We had the whole next day at the island, so it was great just to relax and not have to rush to get anywhere. Amanda and I walked to the fort that used to be used to guard the bay. We had planned on swimming but the weather wasn't so good in the afternoon. So we went and had ice cream instead! I then spent about 2 hours playing Uno with Cara and Tanya, of which I won most of the games - until Tanya changed seat, then she started winning - all very funny. We also had to figure out what the rules were, as they never are the same depending on who you play with!

We had the following morning free so Cara, Lisa and I headed to the beach. The water was so beautiful and clear. I even got a suntan from the hour I spent in the sun, so I was rather pleased with myself! We then headed back to the mainland and started making our way back to Cutichiba to make our way to Rio. I also had the experince of eating a cone pizza at a mall in Cutichiba, very bizarre, but quite unique! The overnight bus ride in Cutichiba did not start out so well. When Amanda and I got to our seat it was not the most pleasent smell. Amanda thought it smelt like urine, but it didn't seem like it to me. Then Amanda felt her pants were getting damp... on closer inspection it seemed like someone had had an accident. So we told Lucy as soon as she came up. A few minutes later most of us were being moved downstairs to 'first class' where we had seats like the first overnight bus. We were all so excited, there were two other people sitting down there, and they must have been thinking it was going to be a noisy ride. But after the excitement wore off, most of us fell asleep. I had such a great tour group, so much fun, though one person was a bit odd and wasn't always considerate of others. Otherwise it was great.

We arrived in Rio the next day to very raining weather - not the best impression!!! We had a quick look around Copacabana, where we were staying. Then Cara, Amanda, Mark, Sarah and me walked along the beach to the fort, then to Ipanema, where we were the 'girls from Ipanema', rather amusing. Most of us then went and had a Brazillian Churrasco for dinner- so much food!!

Our second day in Rio we had a city tour, where we went up to the Christ Redeemer, which most of it is convered in scaffolding, but still exciting to see. It was just so huge!!! And the views from up there were spectacular. Rio was very nice and decided it would have good and sunny weather for us! We then went to where they have Carnival and the street they parade down in and a little museum that has video footage and costumes from previous years. We then had a look at the Catholic Church in town, which is cone shaped! Huge as well. After than we headed over to Sugar Loaf, which is a small mountain you take a cable car up to that has views all around of Rio, just breathtaking. I didn't realise how mountainous Rio was, they just pop up everywhere and you can see the favellas - shanty towns- she are built up the sides of them. We went out that night to a bar in Lapa, and it just had collections fo random things stuck to the walls, like chairs, or instruments. I had my first Caiparinha and it was extremely tasty!

The next day was our last together, so we had breakfast and said our goodbyes. It was really sad. A few of us are spending some extra time here, which is good. But I said my goodbyes to Amanda yesterday, and it was sad since she has become a quite good friend over the past week and a half. So planning on seeing her when I'm back in Sydney and hearing about the rest of her travels, while she reads mine on here when she's back at work! I'm now staying at a hostel, a bit daunting to start, but I'm getting used to it. Evidence of the 'Mitchell Mafia' as well, as a girl who is in the same room as me went to uni at Bathurst and we lived in the same residence for a year and know mutual friends! I even remembered her, from how she described herself to me when she was there, the girl with the dreds. But I was able to catch up on what some of the people I know are now doing, like working on the Balibo film. So crazy. Anyway it is a beautiful day so !im going to head to the beach before meeting up with Cara!