A soaking in Iguazu, communication breakdowns in Mercedes and a man called Ernesto

Firstly, apologies for the slackness in entries...I´ve been enjoying myself, what can I say. I´ve spent just over a week in the North East of Argentina. Me and a temporary travelling companion got the bus to Puerto Iguazu, my small rucksack crammed with bikinis and tiny clothes on the promise of ´beautiful weather, 35 degrees´by, literally every person I met who´d been there recently. Unfortunately nobody had mentioned this to Iguazu itself as it rained (and I mean torrential) non-stop for 3 days. Marvellous. Fortunately the reason to go to Iguazu is to see the Waterfalls which are incredible, awesome, beautiful and all those ther words which can´t quite convey how amazing they are in reality.

We took a boat ride under the waterfalls and got soaked, which was great fun (even for me, desperately trying to keep my contact lenses dry) and then when we´d nearly dried off, the heavens opened and didn´t stop. The trip also highlighted how unfit I am, having to stop many times - along with a group of more mature tourists - to climb some steps up the hillside. Ah well, something to aim for. We also visitd the Brazilian side of the falls, which are well worth it and give a totally different perspective of the falls. And of course i can now say I´ve ´done Brazil´, which I heard a few people in the hostel say in all seriousness. On the 4th day in Iguazu, as we were about to leave the sun finally came out (but of course it would) so we enjoyed a sticky bus ride to Posadas, our next stop to see the Jesuit Misione in San Ignacio.

If you haven´t heard about the jesuits they were monks sent to convert the local guarani people in the 16th/17th centuries. They were apparently a more progressive type of missionary than most, although the Guarani people still had to work 18 hour days and have sex (with their wives I hasten to add) when the monks rang a bell. Hmmm. The ruins are very evocative and helped along no end by a cute english speaking guide on his second day at work.

My final stop were the Esteros de Ibera - a marshland area full of birds and wildlife and very very beautiful. They are a tad tricky to get to. I had to get a bus to Mercedes and stay in a hostel overnight. I had checked whether the hostel should be booked ahead and reassured that it was never very busy. Except of course the day I arrived, a wedding party had booked in for 2 nights. Fortunately the hostel staff put beds up in the garage for me and 2 other people who had nowhere else to go. It was basic but comfortable. The mini bus to the Esteros takes 3 hours over dirt roads, but when I got there it was all worth it. The waters stretch out as far as the eye can see, but are apparently only a few metres deep at most. I was literally tripping over wildlife (well snakes anyway, oops). I saw monkeys, otters, the giant guinea pigs whose name i have written down but can`t recall now, cayman, armadillo (just one, and it snuffled off before I could take a photo), cranes, herons all sorts. A boat trip and horse ride, or slow walk for the novices were included in the trip and I´d happily go back and do it all again. For those on Facebook I´m uploading photos there as we speak, be warned, all unedited so probably dull (too many birds etc). The only slight problem was that nobody spoke English nor did anyone seem able to understand my Spanish (which they have been able to elsewhere I swear!). This caused a few minor stresses over booking buses and understanding the wildlife but was generally fine. I learnt 2 valuable lessons while I was there. 1) Don´t spray 50% deet onto your hands then try to put your contact lenses in. Your eyes will burn. 2) Don´t forget to reapply Deet then go to the junglt to photograph monkeys in the evening. You will (if you have an allergy) get elephantitis of the hand, or whatever the effected area is. A nurse staying in the hotel was so concerned she applied a poultice for me. The swelling´s going down now.

My final challenge was getting back to Buenos Aires, where I´d left my main rucksack and booked my room and spanish lessons for my return. Again I was assured that I wouldn´t need to book a bus from Mercedes -its so quiet - you maybe spotting a pattern here. It is usually quiet but not the day after Mother´s Day apparently, when all the good men and women go home to celebrate with mum and all come back to BA on the same day. All the buses were sold out, it was 10pm at the bus station when I overheard a man also heading to BA book a ticket for somehwere else near the city. I immediately latched onto him and he kindly helped me book a ticket and today took me on 2 more buses back to the centre. He didn´t spak any English so we had a slightly strained conversation over dinner where we established that I was too old not to be married and have children, that my parents shouldn´t have split up, and got into a slightly heated exchange over the Falklands. Nice one.

Anyway, my eternal thanks to the man called Ernesto, although I never want to have dinner with him again.

Hola from Buenos Aires. I've been here a week now, and am slowly getting over Wales getting knocked out of thE World Cup 5 minutes after I checked in. BA is a big modern city, lots of nightlife and restaurants that serve huge amounts of barbecued steak, but not until around 10 when all the locals start to head out. Buenos Aires has made me appreciate how much of a lightweight I am. When I{m ready for bed at 2 or 3am everyone else starts hitting the clubs.

I'm attempting to learn spanish and have private classes for 3 hours a day in the week. Its pretty hard to get motivated to learn and do homework when youre on holiday, although the until recently bad weather has helped (huge thunderstorms and heavy rain, I could be at home in Wales).

All obligatory tourist duties have been undertaken, tango show, Eva Peron's mausoleum, mostly with 'Don't cry for me Argetina' in my head. Damn you Tim Rice. The cemetary was very beautiful, like a miniature city...except most of the houses had large stone angels on the roofs and guarded by hoardes of stray cats.

The Tango show was also fun, I pretended I had money as we were given champagne and canapes (me and 2 Brazilian professors in town for one of the many conferences going on this week) and refused to dance when asked as I was wearing inappropriate hiking trainers. Oh for some kitten heels.

I'm here for another week to continue the spanish classes, before heading up to Iguazu Falls and the Esteros de Ibera. If I ever manage to get my photos onto a computer I'll post pics when I can. xx