Cordoba is not a particularly exciting city, but there are places to go near the city that are fun and relaxing. While there, the son of the hostal owner took just about everyone staying at the hostal (there were about 15-20 of us) to this really amazing swimming hole in a river about and hour and a half outside of Cordoba. We took the public bus and once we arrived in the town, bought some wine and snacks and headed to our destination. There were a couple of large boulders to jump off and a nice area to just sit in the water and cool off from the heat. In the evening we all came back and had a siesta for a couple hours. Around 9, Mama (the wife of the hostal owner, aka Martha) had made a Columbian feast for everyone. It was absolutely delicious!
The next day my friend Andrew and I headed out to another river with beaches. We were only able to spend a couple hours because we left so late and I had to get back to meet a friend from Peru and go to a Tango Show. The beach was not nearly as nice as California beaches (not sure what I expected as it was a RIVER). However, the water was clear and cool, and again, quite refreshing due to the heat in Cordoba.
I went to a Tango Show that night with my friend Alanna whom I had met in Peru, and a couple other people from my hostal. It was amazing. We saw about 4 tango dances and there were a couple of people that sang some beautiful song. The tango was beautiful. There was so much passion in all of the performers. There was an accordian player and guitarist to accompany, and let me tell you, I have NEVER seen someone play an accordian with such passion. And it was sooo good! It is a new appreciation for me.
I was sad to be leaving Cordoba as I made quite a few good friends there, but fortunately I didn't leave before Asado night at the hostal. More of Mama's cooking and some delicious Argentinian beef and chorizo made for a good night!
The next morning I was off to Puerto Iguazu. My bus was supposed to leave at 1 but left after 5. Because of the departure delay, all of our meals were delayed. We were served dinner at about 12:30...true Argentian style. I arrived in Puerto Iguazu and was supposed to meet my friend Logan at the hostal. He wasn't able to make it until the next morning, but he got there nice and early so we could head into Iguazu Falls. There are loads of different views from the Argentinian side. It was stunning. We took one of the boat rides they offer up to the face of the waterfall. I couldn't see anything because of the spray from the falls crashing down inches from the side of the boat. Needless to see we were drenched but smiling none the less at an awesome experience.
In the evening we caught an overnight bus to Buenos Aires. I'm getting quite used to the overnight buses, which really aren't so bad if you get a cama. (We'll see what I think after the 36 hour bus ride I am starting on new years day...) On our first full day we went to see a bookshop that is in a transformed old theater. The stage is now a cafe. Reminded me a lot of the Borders on University Ave (in Palo Alto) that is a transformed movie theater. Then we headed out to the cemetary (round 2 for me). That evening we regrouped with some of my friends from Parque Machia (the animal park I was at for 3 weeks).
On Christmas Eve we planned and shopped for our Christmas dinner. We went out for pizza and somehow managed to order the most gargantuous double layered pizza on the menu, plus two other hefty ones, for 5 people. We had an entire pizza left over, so we took it back to my friends apartment. We hung out there for the evening, and to our delighted surprise, there were fireworks as midnight off almost every roof top in the city. And we were on the 15th floor of an apartment building with an amazing view. It was a great Christmas Eve.
When I got home around 6:30am Logan was awake (he had left earlier in the evening), and reported to me that one of the guests in our room had broken into his locker and stole his laptop, mp3 player and all of his other electronics. The other girl in our room had also had her laptop stolen. By dumb luck (or maybe simply because I did not have a laptop), my locker remained untouched. So we spent Christmas morning at the police station obtaining a police report. The worst part is that even though the hostal has his full name and passport details, the police will not even go after the guy. It is as if stealing is accepted and they really don't care. Quite a damper on what otherwise could have been a great day. We only got about 2 hours sleep before heading out the my friends apartment to make Christmas dinner. We made beer can chicken, mashed potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes and broccoli. Drilly put together a mean strawberry apple crumble to top it off. The food was good and so was the company, it was great to spend the day with my South American family.
The next day Logan sorted out tickets to head back to Rio to get a new laptop and sort other things out. Then we went to a delicious lunch at La Cabrera, checked out La Boca's Caminito street and the San Telmo markets. I was sad to see Logan go, we had planned to hike in Patagonia together. But it was a good last day, and I was happy to show him around Buenos Aires.
The next day Kenny, Shannon, Drilly and I went for a walk around Palermo, in search of graffiti art. We found a little but it was overall pretty unsatisfactory. There is a tour you can take, but who wants to pay 70 pesos to have someone show you were the good graffiti is? There needs to be a tour online of locations to go to! In the evening we met up with the entire gang to go to Bomba del Tiempo, the well known drum show in BsAs. It was phenomenal. They had guests perform with them, including a group of 4 tap dancers, a singer and a guitarist. Every piece is improvised on the spot. The director has hand signals he gives to each section to let them know what they are about to do.
So for round two of Buenos Aires has been much more productive than the first round. I have seen and done almost everything I wanted to. So heading off to Patagonia on new years day will be well timed, and a nice detox!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Panama, Uruguay, Buenos Aires and more!
Ok, it´s been a while since I´ve updated where I have been and what I have been doing. I did indeed spend those three weeks walking Gato through the jungle everyday. And it truly was one of the best and most exciting experiences of my life. It went sooo quickly and I cannot wait to go back and volunteer at Parque Machia again.
Gato is an amazing puma. A few days we slept on the beach almost the entire day. A few days we walked 8-10k barely resting. While out in the jungle I carried a bottle of water with me, just for him. To find out if he was thirsty you could pull the bottle out of your backpack and if he wanted some he would look at the bottle of water until you bent down and poured some into your hand so he could lap it up. Truly amazing. He also has a brush that I used to brush him a few times since he never completely learned how to properly goom himself. Sometimes we hung out at the tourist mirador. My favorite times were being at the tourist mirador and the Spider Monkeys would come visit us. They were very curious about Gato and occasionally would slowly creep up to him and then brush their hand over his back quickly before running away. It was absolutely hilarious to watch. A couple times a monkey would climb on my head or sit in my lap. I loved it.
When it was time to leave the park, I had to spend 3 days on a bus to get to Santiago. Then I spent a day walking around Santiago before hopping on a plane to Panama to meet up with my family. First thing I did while I was in Panama was get a mani and a pedi, much needed after 3 weeks walking around in the jungle wearing wellies. The second thing I did was eat about 3 tamales, 5 empanadas, and a cup of ceviche. Yum!! We spent some time shopping in the giant mall. And then headed out to Corona to my Uncle´s beach house. We squeezed 15 people into a 3 bedroom house. It was great fun. One night was my cousin´s "family" bachelorette party, joint with her fiance. We rented a chivita (a party bus), and drove throughout Panama City, drinking and dancing to the live band. It was a night, worth remembering, even if I don´t. ;)
My last night in Panama was my cousins wedding. We got a second round of mani and pedi´s, hair made, makeup done, and I borrowed a beautiful dress from my cousin. The reception was at the Mariott and it was beautiful. The food was delicious, the music was good and the liquor was flowing. Around midnight traditional Panamanian dancers took over the floor for a show. A bit later carts of goodies were brought out - masks, flashing glasses, traditional hats, parasols, flashing cups, mardi gras beads, etc. It was time to party harder. At about 4am the dj called it quits (Buenos Aires would put the lateness factor to shame), but we kept drinking for another hour anyway. Around 5:30am we headed upstairs to bed. I had to get up at 8:15am to catch my flight to Uruguay.
I only had time to spend about 3 days in Uruguay as I needed to get to Buenos Aires to see a friend I had met in Ecuador before she went back to Europe for the holidays. I spent half a day exploring Montevideo, a beautiful city. Then headed to Colonia where I spent a day and a half lounging on the beach before taking the ferry through the delta to Tigre and a train onto Buenos Aires. And immediately, I was swept into the Buenos Aires night life. After 4 nights of going to bed no earlier than the sun, I took a day to rest and then did a little site seeing. I went to the feria de Mataderos, the Recoleta Cemetary (I saw Evita´s grave!), checked out all the old colonial style governement buildings, and went to a Boca Juniors football match. It was a little weird not being in the hostel all day, but I got over it and enjoyed beautiful Buenos Aires. Tonight I am heading out to Cordoba, it is time to escape the city and see what else is in Argentina!
Gato is an amazing puma. A few days we slept on the beach almost the entire day. A few days we walked 8-10k barely resting. While out in the jungle I carried a bottle of water with me, just for him. To find out if he was thirsty you could pull the bottle out of your backpack and if he wanted some he would look at the bottle of water until you bent down and poured some into your hand so he could lap it up. Truly amazing. He also has a brush that I used to brush him a few times since he never completely learned how to properly goom himself. Sometimes we hung out at the tourist mirador. My favorite times were being at the tourist mirador and the Spider Monkeys would come visit us. They were very curious about Gato and occasionally would slowly creep up to him and then brush their hand over his back quickly before running away. It was absolutely hilarious to watch. A couple times a monkey would climb on my head or sit in my lap. I loved it.
When it was time to leave the park, I had to spend 3 days on a bus to get to Santiago. Then I spent a day walking around Santiago before hopping on a plane to Panama to meet up with my family. First thing I did while I was in Panama was get a mani and a pedi, much needed after 3 weeks walking around in the jungle wearing wellies. The second thing I did was eat about 3 tamales, 5 empanadas, and a cup of ceviche. Yum!! We spent some time shopping in the giant mall. And then headed out to Corona to my Uncle´s beach house. We squeezed 15 people into a 3 bedroom house. It was great fun. One night was my cousin´s "family" bachelorette party, joint with her fiance. We rented a chivita (a party bus), and drove throughout Panama City, drinking and dancing to the live band. It was a night, worth remembering, even if I don´t. ;)
My last night in Panama was my cousins wedding. We got a second round of mani and pedi´s, hair made, makeup done, and I borrowed a beautiful dress from my cousin. The reception was at the Mariott and it was beautiful. The food was delicious, the music was good and the liquor was flowing. Around midnight traditional Panamanian dancers took over the floor for a show. A bit later carts of goodies were brought out - masks, flashing glasses, traditional hats, parasols, flashing cups, mardi gras beads, etc. It was time to party harder. At about 4am the dj called it quits (Buenos Aires would put the lateness factor to shame), but we kept drinking for another hour anyway. Around 5:30am we headed upstairs to bed. I had to get up at 8:15am to catch my flight to Uruguay.
I only had time to spend about 3 days in Uruguay as I needed to get to Buenos Aires to see a friend I had met in Ecuador before she went back to Europe for the holidays. I spent half a day exploring Montevideo, a beautiful city. Then headed to Colonia where I spent a day and a half lounging on the beach before taking the ferry through the delta to Tigre and a train onto Buenos Aires. And immediately, I was swept into the Buenos Aires night life. After 4 nights of going to bed no earlier than the sun, I took a day to rest and then did a little site seeing. I went to the feria de Mataderos, the Recoleta Cemetary (I saw Evita´s grave!), checked out all the old colonial style governement buildings, and went to a Boca Juniors football match. It was a little weird not being in the hostel all day, but I got over it and enjoyed beautiful Buenos Aires. Tonight I am heading out to Cordoba, it is time to escape the city and see what else is in Argentina!
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