Cordoba 4th - 7th March
Pleasant city but nothing particularly of note. A large student population with definite potential for parties until the sun starts to shine but we opted for the quiet steak and wine option.
Managed to catch a bit of Carnival which was not even close to Rio scale but was entertaining never the less. The MC identified us as the only Gringoes in the crowd and continued to interview us on our opinions of the dancers even after our broken Spanish failed to convince him we had anything worthwhile to say.
Good Cathedral although this was more often than not closed for a Siesta much like the rest of Argentina.
Buenos Aires 7th - 10th March
Open top bus tour of the city to start us off in true tripper style. Impressive wide avenues with plenty of monuments, grand buildings and beautiful parks.
Stopped off in La Boca district which is the old port and home to the Boca Juniors football club. Here you see the Caminito area with its colourful buildings and tango dancing. Apparently the bright paint originally came from the dockworkers who took the left over paint from the shipyards to decorate their houses.
The newly developed dockside further to the north had some fantastic restaurants and has been thoughtfully renovated. Here we had the greatest steak ever cooked, Argentinian beef makes the Brit stuff taste like old crackers and we might have to pack a few slabs in our backpacks to bring home.
Great city with a lively buzz, highly recommended.
Iguazu Falls11th - 14th
Monster 18 hour bus journey from BA to Puerto Iguazu. Travelled with a company called Via Bariloche who are the Emirates of long distance bus journeys, wine champagne and a full bed made the trek fairly bearable.
Saw the falls themselves the second day and they were certainly a sight to behold. The Argentinian park is massive and there are walkways allowing you to get right up to, over and under the various monstrous falls. T
We had been told that a helicopter ride was well worth the money so we took a taxi over to the Brazillian side and splashed out for a trip over the Falls in style. Less stylish was the jet boat which resulted in a throughly good soaking but great fun.
A definite highlight of the 6 months and only wish we could get back into that helicopter for another privileged peek.
Curitiba 14th
And so to Brazil, country 11 and our final passport entry stamp!
Exited Argentina rather more efficiently than we entered it (see Bolivia - Argentina!) and took a short flight from Foz to the city of Curitiba before onward bus to Florianopolis.
Really not much going on in Curitiba other than a pleasant little historical area so happy that we are getting the bus today. 5 hours to Florian, a beach and some Caipirinhas..
