Joy Meets World

Floripa – Florianopolis, Brazil

October 8, 2014

We have come accustomed to arriving in new cities greeted by rain and Florianopolis was no different. This time we were in a beach town where rain is typically not welcomed. We waited for the rain to let up a bit before wandering around and exploring town. We walked around scoping out the different shops and restaurants. One thing was for sure the closer you got to Rio, the more Acai shops and Havaiannas stores there were. It was a very uneventful day as there is not much to do in Florianopolis when raining. We grabbed food at the market, cooked at the hostel, and hung out with the rest of the people staying at Backpackers Share Hostel for the night. We went to bed hoping for clear skies the next morning.

The opposite happened the next morning, instead of blue skies there was torrential downpour. Everyone ended up just staying at the hostel that day because no one wanted to venture out into the rain. The Brazil vs. Chile game was on and the hostel set up a big screen TV to watch it. Most of us were cheering for Brazil with a select few Chilean fans. That game was the most intense game I’d seen so far in the world cup having me on the edge of my seat. Since it was nerve-racking for me, I couldn’t imagine how the Chileans who were staying at our hostel felt. You could see how passionate they were about futbol, praying throughout the game and going nuts when Chile scored. Chile ended up losing in the worst way possible with a shootout. As much as we all wanted to cheer for Brazil it was bittersweet. The Chileans were in tears when the game ended and it was heartbreaking to watch. After the game, the hostel hosted a BBQ for everyone to enjoy. It was fun to hang out with everyone and celebrate a Brazilian victory. Once again we went to bed hoping for clear skies!

This time we got what we hoped for, the skies were clear and the sun was out. Since it was a beautiful day and the waters seemed calm we decided to go paddle boarding in the lake and down the canal. Alex (a girl we met at our hostel), Dominic (someone we met in Cusco and ran into in Floripa), Farima, and I walked to the lake to rent boards. The man we rented boards from was really nice and because it was slow season told us we could take the boards out for as long as we wanted. Alex and Dominic had never paddle boarded before, but they learned quickly. We started in the lake and made our way down the canal enjoying the scenery and peace. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to be out on the water. After returning our boards, we headed to a restaurant to enjoy a nice refreshing acai bowl. Back at the hostel, Farima and Alex convinced a big group of us to go dance samba at a local club in the area. 21 of us crammed into the hostel van and headed to the club. Alex tried to teach me how to samba but I don’t think I picked it up very well. Even though I may not have learned how to samba, dancing with both locals and tourists alike was still fun.

The next morning a group of us (Keir, Steven, Alex, Farima, and I) took a bus tour of the southern beaches of Florianopolis. Although it wasn’t the sunniest of days it was still a nice day to explore other beaches on the island and the company made it all that much better. The people you spend your day with can really make or break your experience and we were lucky to have met some really entertaining Australians.

Somehow the next day I was convinced (it didn’t take much convincing) to go on a booze cruise around the lake with a large group from the hostel. I was on board (pun intended) as long as we were back to watch the USA vs. Belgium game. Decked out in red, white, and blue, I boarded out boat for the day. We sailed around Lagoa da Conceicao happily drinking and enjoying the surrounding views. I began to feel anxious that we would not make it back in time for the start of the USA game, which encouraged fellow travelers to point out that Americans don’t really watch soccer and therefore do not deserve to advance. I will be the first to admit that I in fact do not watch soccer back in the States, but that does not mean I can’t cheer for my country! We ended up losing thus ending the possibility of Farima and I being able to catch a USA game in one of the stadiums throughout Brazil. With USA out of the World Cup, I was hoping for a Brazilian win! After a fun filled and exciting day, we were off to Paraty the same night!
A European Mountain Resort in Brazil – Gramado, Brazil

September 16, 2014

Farima’s friend, Douglas, recommended a place called Gramado for us to go visit, so the following day we headed to this quaint little town. Gramado looked like a mountain resort town straight out of Switzerland and it appeared to be Christmas all year round. We checked into our hostel, where besides us there was only one other family staying there. Both the owner and manager were amazing, telling us all the possible activities to do in town. After settling in we walked to the center to admire the Swiss like architecture. We learned quickly that Gramado was an upscale resort destination with fancy shops and pricey restaurants, much like mountain resort towns back home. We were told by the owner of the hostel that while in Gramado we must try fondue (exactly like Switzerland). We found a restaurant that was a bit cheaper than most and we were ready to get our grub on. First, you start off with cheese fondue accompanied by bread, broccoli, potatoes, cubes of jelly (not our favorite), and some sort of fried potato. We didn’t want to get too full on the first part of the meal, but we ended up finishing everything except for the cubes of jelly, it was too good to waste. Next came the meat (both steak and chicken) along with a stone to cook it on and about 10 different sauces. The meat was extremely delicious and even though we didn’t know what the different sauces were we tried those too! The last but definitely not the least part of the meal was the chocolate fondue accompanied by strawberries, bananas, grapes, pineapple, and melon. Telling you we were full would be an understatement. We headed back with full and satisfied bellies for a peaceful night of sleep.

The next day the sun came out, perfect for a stroll through Ecoparque Sperry, a trail through the surrounding mountainside. We walked along the forest trail past 4 waterfalls, all beautiful in different ways. Besides two other people, we were the only ones on the trail making it incredibly peaceful. After completing the loop, which took us about an hour and a half, we headed to town for lunch and to try to catch the Iran vs. Bosnia game. Unfortunately, every restaurant in Gramado were only playing the Argentina vs. Nigeria game so Farima had to watch through live updates. The sun didn’t last long and it began to rain so we headed back to the hostel for cover.

We were headed to Florianopolis on a night bus the following night, so we decided to do our first ever hop on hop off bus to see as much as we could in the little amount of time we had in Gramado. We hadn’t realized there was so much natural beauty and hiking in Gramado or we would have stayed longer. The hop on hop off bus had some very interesting stops on them including a Hollywood dream cars stop, a railroad museum, a miniature world, a perfume museum, a house built without nails, and a Hollywood actors museum (kind of like a wax museum). At almost every stop, there was some sort of cartoon like character depicting the stop we were at. I felt like I was constantly on a Hollywood movie set. The first stop we got off was at a chocolate factory, but it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. You went through various rooms each telling what I believe was the history of chocolate (it was all in Portuguese). I felt as though I was on a ride at Disneyland, like snow-white or one of those storybook rides where in each different room there are different characters. At the end, there was a café and gift shop, I ordered hot chocolate just to get something with chocolate since I was at a chocolate factory. We bypassed a bunch of stops so that we would have time to see the famous cascata (waterfall) before the 1 pm USA vs. Germany game. When we arrived at the Cascata do Caracol we couldn’t believe how stunning it was. The water goes over a 131m-high cliff into the middle of dense forest. You can hike 744 steps down to the foot of the falls (and back up), but we only made it down 600 when we had to turn around because we ran out of time. Our next bus was on its way and we couldn’t miss the USA game. We rode the bus back to the center of town where they had a big screen playing all the world cup games. We watched the first half of the game at a restaurant (Madre Café) nearby and ordered a typical Brazilian dish consisting of steak with an egg on top, rice, black beans, fries, and a salad. Then for the second half we went over to watch it on the big screen. I really thought we might have a chance at beating Germany, but it didn’t turn out in our favor. Even though we didn’t win, we still celebrated our advance to the next round! We’re coming for you Belgium!

After the game, we hopped back on the bus for our last stop, Lago Negro (Black Lake). It was a beautiful lake in the middle of a neighborhood. We took a walk around the lake and contemplated riding a swan boat, but decided against it. We hopped back on the bus one last time as we made our way back to the hostel to pick up our bags and head to the bus station. Boarding yet another overnight bus (we’ve taken so many I’ve lost count!) to Florianopolis.
Futbol all day everyday – Porto Alegre, Brazil

September 15, 2014

This is just the start of a life revolving around watching futbol! We arrived in Porto Alegre on Saturday and found our way to the Airbnb we booked. Thankfully with the world cup in full swing we were still able to find a place to stay that wasn’t too outrageously priced. Our host for the next two days was named Felipe. He was awesome and very accommodating. Farima wanted to catch the Iran vs. Argentina game so we headed to an area called Lima e Silva, a street lined with a bunch of bars. After the game we made our way to Rua Padre Chagas, home to upscale bars, restaurants, and shops. Along the way we came a across a beautiful park lined with multiple stands selling all kinds of various stuff. Of course we had to stop and have a look! While in Padre Chagas we stopped in a sports bar called the Malt Store for a beer and to watch yet another game (Germany vs. Ghana). We headed back “home” to get ready for a night out. We convinced Felipe to come out with us and show us all the local spots in Porto Alegre. First, the three of us went out to dinner in Padre Chagas at a Thai food restaurant, a nice change from what we’d typically been eating. Then we walked down the street to a bar named Thomas, but the line was really long and Felipe told us he could take us somewhere better. We headed to Lima e Silva where at night the area turns into a big street party. All the locals come here to hang out and drink on the street. There are various vendors selling beer, as well as a local Brazilian hot wine drink, Quentao. I love to try local food and drinks, so I ordered a Quentao and it was perfect for the cold night. It tasted like a mixture of hot apple cider and wine. After hanging out for a bit on the street, we went into a bar and all got a Caipirinha, another local drink made up of cachaça (sugar-cane liquor) mixed with fresh lime, sugar, and ice. An interesting thing about Brazilian bars and restaurants is that you are given an individual card upon entry where everything you order is documented, then you must pay and show your validated ticket at the door when you leave.

The following day was game day! First we met Farima’s friend, Douglas, who she originally met when we were in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We walked around the waterfront with him for a bit and browsed the various food stands. Then Farima and I headed to Fan Fest to watch the USA vs. Portugal game. At first we couldn’t find any other American fans, but after a little searching we spotted a few in the distance. We all started to go crazy in the final seconds of the game as we anticipated the USA win over Portugal. But then came a moment of disappointment as Portugal scored in the last few seconds. Still proud of our team for playing a good game, we all headed to Lima e Silva to celebrate.

The main reason we came to Porto Alegre was to watch the world cup games at a Fan Fest. Fan Fests were set up in all the major cities where games were being held as a way for fans who didn’t have tickets to watch the games. Therefore on our last day in Porto Alegre we headed to Fan Fest one more time to watch the Brazil vs. Cameroon game. We thought Fan Fest would be filled with Brazilian fans, but we found more Argentines than Brazilians, which we later found out was because of the Argentina game on Wednesday in the Porto Alegre stadium. It was an awesome first stop in Brazil, really immersing ourselves in all the excitement the world cup had to offer.
Deserted beach towns – Montevideo and Punta del Este, Uruguay

September 15, 2014

Carol, Farima, and I arrived in Montevideo greeted by pretty crappy weather. It was cold and gloomy, not exactly what I was expecting from the Uruguayan coast. After checking into our hotel, yes for once not a hostel (thank you Farima for using your rewards points), we grabbed lunch and watched the Iran vs. Nigeria game. We took a quick power nap before we headed to a bar to watch the USA vs. Ghana game. I realize I’ve been writing a lot about all the games we’ve been watching, but that’s pretty much a lot of what we’ve been doing lately since futbol is such a dominant part of South American culture. The bar we went to was pretty empty, but I enjoyed a delicious chivito (a local snack similar to a steak sandwich) and USA took home the win! Carol and I then tried to go to Baar Fun, a local bar where you can watch top tango dancers, but it just so happened to be closed on Mondays. After our failed attempt to experience Montevideo’s nightlife, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed catch up sleep!

With all of us a bit more energized, we set out to explore the city of Montevideo. First we walked down the pedestrian only street, Perez Castellano, to reach our main destination Mercado del Puerto. Mercado del Puerto is a market with several restaurants (or more like stands) selling various cuts of meat. We decided on a restaurant and all shared a cut of baby beef. It was the best meat I’ve tasted thus far and the atmosphere wasn’t bad either. Farima and I then took a tour of Teatro Solis, the most prestigious theatre in the country. Unfortunately, there were no shows playing at the time or it would have been fun to experience. The three of us then decided to walk to the waterfront to see what Montevideo is really known for. Sadly because it is currently winter in Uruguay, there wasn’t really a beach, the water level was too high, and it wasn’t as beautiful as I had imagined. Back at the hostel, Carol wanted to try out drinking Mate since she had purchased all the necessary equipment that day. Mate is a grassy tea and the national drink in Uruguay. You rarely see someone who is not carrying the thermos, pots, and metal straws. Her first attempt didn’t go so well, but fortunately for her an older local Uruguayan man staying at the hostel told her he would teach her how to prepare and drink mate. Mate is a social drink and it is very common to pass it around in a circle. There were about 5 of us in the kitchen watching the older man prepare the mate and then as is customary we passed the pot around for everyone to drink. I wasn’t particularly fond of the taste, it must be a taste you acquire.

The following morning we headed to Punta del Este, home to some of the best beaches in Uruguay. Little did we know that Punta del Este is not somewhere people typically go in the winter. It was a ghost town, except for the few people staying at the same hostel as us. We had a feeling it would be pretty quiet, but we didn’t except for it to be completely deserted. Almost all the restaurants were closed and it was way too cold to hang out at the beach. While checking in at the hostel, we randomly ran into our friend, Fabio, and decided to go explore with him. The last time we saw Fabio was in the amazon in Bolivia so it was awesome running into him again. We headed to the Hand in the Sand sculpture, which is seen to locals as both a warning sign and a symbol of hope. “The Hand” symbolizes a drowning person as a warning to swimmers or of hope that a life can be saved. After taking a few photos, we headed to the lighthouse which was a fairly long walk away and sadly anticlimactic. Night life in Punta del Este in the summer is supposed to be quite an experience, but in the winter it is non-existent. It is crazy how drastic the change in population and atmosphere can be from one season to the next.

The next day Carol, Farima, and I tried to take a boat to Isla de Gorriti, but of course just our luck the waves were too big and no boats were going over to the island. Instead, we made our way to Casapueblo after first confirming it was open. Casapueblo was once the home of artist Carlos Paez Vilaro, but is currently home to an art gallery, hotel, and restaurant. It’s a beautiful white building of odd shapes and angles with amazing views overlooking the ocean. After enjoying the view, we headed back to town to catch the Uruguay vs. England game, which Uruguay won. On our walk back to the hostel, cars were honking and waving their flags out the window in honor of the Uruguay win! Back at the hostel we had another relaxing night as we watched 21 jump street (in black and white, the hostel TV was broken) and went to bed.

Farima and I parted ways with Carol, she was headed back to Argentina and we were headed to Brazil. We had planned on seeing more of the Uruguayan coast but after doing some research we realized all the beach towns would be deserted, so we decided to head to Brazil earlier than planned. As Farima and I went to book our overnight bus to Porto Alegre we were informed the bus was completely full. It’s always an adventure when traveling and most of the time things don’t go as planned, therefore we had to figure out an alternative way to get there. We booked a bus to Chuy, a town boarding both Uruguay and Brazil and home to duty free shops. Chuy is literally divided in two, on one side on the street people speak Spanish and accept the peso uruguayo while on the other side of the street people speak Portuguese and accept the Brazilian real (and it’s called Chui on the Brazilian side). From Chuy we booked an overnight bus to Porto Alegre, but unfortunately we still had 8 hours to kill before our bus left and there was literally nothing to do but shop. Chuy kind of reminded us of the downtown LA shopping district. Between shopping and watching futbol games it was finally time to leave this town, but at least we were leaving with some American pride apparel to wear in Brazil for the USA games!
Meat and lost sleep – Buenos Aires, Argentina

September 8, 2014

Arriving in Buenos Aires around 4 pm, we checked into our hostel the Art Factory in San Telmo and immediately headed to Florida Street to exchange money. The American dollar in Argentina is worth significantly more on the black market than the actual exchange rate a bank would offer. We received 11.4 Argentine pesos for every American dollar versus the bank rate of 8.13 Argentine pesos for every American dollar. Exchanging money felt a little like a drug deal (not that I would know what that is) or like shopping for knockoff purses in New York City. There are dozens of people on Florida Street, a famous shopping district, dressed like everyday shoppers yelling cambio as you walk by. We picked someone who we thought looked legit, who then took us to his office above one of the shops, where we exchanged our money. We made sure to check every bill for authenticity, the watermark being the key. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at Café Tortoni, Buenos Aires’ most famous café, for a quick coffee. We made plans to meet Carol (my old roommate) for dinner, a reunion in Argentina!

We headed to Carol’s Airbnb in Palermo with two of our friends Cherie and Baron, who we met in San Pedro and then ran into at the Art Factory Hostel, for some wine before dinner. After talking and catching up for a couple of hours we headed to one of the well-known steak houses in Palermo, La Cabrera. Of course we all ordered steak. The pieces that were cooked medium (what we ordered) were delicious, but the ones that were overcooked were a little disappointing. It was nice to have a fancy dinner, but it was definitely way more expensive than expected, especially for meat that had been overcooked. Even still the company was awesome and I was so happy to be with my old roommate again.

Farima and I explored the area of San Telmo the following day wandering around Chile Street and popping into various antique shops and markets. If only I wasn’t backpacking I would have liked to purchase a record player and a bunch of records for my future home. Later that afternoon it started to rain so we quickly hurried back to our hostel for shelter. Once again rain was ruining our chance to explore and see the city, but luckily the hostel was offering a free tango lesson that night so at least we could do something cultural. Tango is more difficult than it looks and the steps are all controlled by the movements of the man’s shoulders. I tried to look down at my feet to follow the steps, but I was always corrected to keep my eyes up and feel the movements. It was an hour lesson in total and I really enjoyed learning at least the basics of tango, maybe I’ll take more dancing lessons one day! Since we had spent so much money on dinner the previous evening, Farima and I decided to go to the market and cook dinner at the hostel that night. While at the market, we met a local (he lived right across the street) who out of pure kindness wanted to buy us a gift. He bought us grapes and told us to stop by and say hello whenever we were around the area. Our two nights at the Art Factory were pretty low-key in preparation for a weekend in Buenos Aires.

It was the start of the weekend and Farima and I checked out of Art Factory to move to Milhouse, a more popular party hostel. After we were all checked in, we met my cousin, Andrew, his friends, and Carol at El Alamo, a local bar to watch the opening game of the World Cup. It was really fun to be in an atmosphere where futbol (soccer) is so popular. After the game, we all headed back to our hostel bar and hung out for a few hours. We met some other guys; Mikey, Matty, and Adam, who were also staying at our hostel and we all headed to another bar a few blocks away (same hostel chain just different location). Everyone was headed to a club later that night, but Carol, Farima, and I decided to call it a night and we headed home around 3 am, which is fairly early for Buenos Aires’ nightlife.

We woke up around noon the following morning and signed up for the bike tour of southern Buenos Aires at 2 pm. Our first stop was Plaza de Mayo, where paintings of white handkerchiefs circle the plaza representing mothers whose children were taken away from them during the Military Dictatorship and given to families with similar beliefs as the dictatorship. These women wore white handkerchiefs and marched around the plaza every week for over thirty years demanding information about their children’s whereabouts. Finally, a blood bank was formed and any child born between 1976-1983 could donate their blood and be potentially matched with their biological parents. Next, we headed to Puerto Madero, home to the wealthy and more commonly known as the center of money laundering. A few minutes from Puerto Madero along the river’s edge where once used to lie a beach and is now an ecological reserve, we stopped for a quick snack. Farima and I had a steak sandwich, while most people tried the national favorite, choripan (sausage in a roll). La Boca was next on the tour and is one of the poorer neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. The area is full of brightly colored buildings and became this way because of the paint that was available to them. Each day ships that came to dock near La Boca would have leftover paint that was given to the locals and whichever color they happen to have that day would be the color of one section of a building. La Boca is also home to one of Argentina’s leading football clubs, Boca Juniors who rival the River Plate team located on the other side of town. A fun fact we learned on our bike tour was about the origins of Tango. It originally began between two mob men at gambling bars and was used to show one’s dominance over the other. Later these men used tango as a sort of foreplay with prostitutes (but is now danced by everyone in Buenos Aires), which is why today you typically see the man dressed as a mobster and the woman dressed rather sexy. The tour ended around 6:30 pm, where we met up with a few friends from the hostel and decided to head to Palermo, which is supposed to have the best clubs in town. First, we tried a club that reached capacity just as we reached the front of the line. The second club we tried had a strict dress code for boys and not everyone in our group could pass (those Californians wearing shorts). It was not looking like our night to get into a club and since our group was pretty big anyway we found a bar for all of us to hang out at.

The next day was a relaxation day…well at least until it was time to go out again. We slept in late and watched the England vs. Italy match at our hostel. Our hostel had a big screen TV in the common area playing all the matches of the world cup. This one was especially entertaining since almost half the people staying at our hostel were English. I was secretly rooting for Italy, but couldn’t be too enthusiastic as I was outnumbered by English fans. One guy, Adam, was so confident he bet his friend that if England lost he would do 10 shots in 10 minutes. Unfortunately for him, Italy ended up winning, the mood of the room drastically changed, and Adam had to take 10 shots. Later that night the hostel had organized buses to go to one of the famous clubs in town. Carol, Farima, and I along with our roommates at the hostel, Connor, Brent, and Liam, and a few others including, Adam, Mikey, and Matty all headed to the club together. The club was huge with 3 different dance floors all playing various types of music. After dancing the night away, we headed home around 5 am and were some of the first to leave. I’ve come to realize my body can no longer handle partying so many days in a row, nor do I particularly want to.

It was Sunday, a day of rest and open-air markets! Farima and I headed to the Feria de San Pedro Telmo, a Sunday market easily taking up at least 20 city blocks selling everything and anything you could imagine. Farima and I both ended up buying some boots since our current shoes had come to the end of their existence. After walking the entire market we headed to El Alamo to meet up with Carol and watch the Argentina vs. Bosnia game. Matty, Mikey, and Adam from our hostel also met up with us to watch the game. It was a lot of fun to be watching the Argentina futbol game in Argentina with such passionate fans. Argentina won and everyone in the bar celebrated! For once we called it an early night since Carol, Farima, and I were headed to Montevideo early the next morning.
(Rain) Breaking Records – Iguazu Falls

August 21, 2014

We were welcomed to Iguazu with pouring rain…

As we had only two days in town (Puerto Iguazu) before we had to catch our flight to Buenos Aires, we contemplated what to do over lunch as far as seeing the falls. Iguaza Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River that fall on the border of Argentina and Brazil and form the boundary between the two countries. The falls can be reached from the two main towns on either side of the falls, Puerto Iguazú in Argentina and Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil, both providing you different views and experiences of the falls. From the Argentinean side you are able to take a boat tour into the river and see the falls up close while the Brazilian side gives you overall panoramic views from a distance.

Since it was raining on the first day and we figured more time was needed to explore the Argentinean side, we decided on crossing over to the Brazilian side given it stopped raining, which it thankfully did. We were able to catch the last bus that crossed the border at 4 pm and the weather turned out to be really nice… we were not so lucky with the water in the river and the falls. Since it had been raining, the color of the water was brown and the waterfall pressures so powerful that many of the tourists attractions were closed in response, including a walkway known as the Devil’s Throat where some of the best views can be found. The panoramic views from the Brazilian side although still breathtaking were at a distance and we were excited to get up and close to the falls from the Argentinean side. Jaap, Farima, and I decided along with two other guys from our hostel that we would head to the Argentinean side the following morning, crossing our fingers for no more rain.

We woke up excited like kids on Christmas morning the next day to a cease rain and the sun shining from behind the clouds. The feeling was short-lived as our hostel guy informed us that the falls were closed due to a more than normal high water level as a result of all the rain. Who knew that too much water in a waterfall could close down a national park? Farima and I were really bummed, we had come all the way to Iguazu Falls only to have the park be closed. Weather seems to be a recurring factor in the demise of our travel plans! Since there wasn’t much to do in town, we caught up on some TV shows, did some reading, and posted some blogs.

Later in the afternoon, we headed to the Hito Tres Fronteras, an obelisk overlooking the Iguazu river where the three borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet. Whoever said you can’t be in three places at once?! We even have a picture to prove it!

We headed back to the hostel after our little adventure and tried to figure out whether or not we should push back our flight one more day to try and do the tour from the Argentinean side. The unfortunate thing was that no one could predict whether the park would open back up the next day or anytime soon for that matter. Since we had the option of changing our flight up until an hour before departure, we agreed to wait till the next morning and make a last minute decision then. If we were lucky and the park was open the next morning, we were to change our flight and stay one more night and if not, we were headed to Buenos Aires as originally planned. We headed to dinner and drinks that same night with a big crew from the hostel, all of us hopeful and positive about what the next morning would bring… a reopened National Park!

The conditions were not in our favor as we find out early the next morning that the tours and the National Park were still closed. Apparently, Iguazu had received an excessive amount of rainfall that week causing the falls to receive high water levels that broke records. The falls remained closed up to a few weeks after we had departed the town, which we learned from fellow travelers who had the same experience weeks down the road. Thankful to have seen and experienced the Brazilian side, we headed to the airport after saying goodbye to our Iguazu crew and boarded our flight to Buenos Aires. Although we were a little disappointed not to be able to get up close and experience the Argentinean side of the falls, it only added to our list of reasons to come back and explore more of everything this amazing country has to offer!

Edited by: Farima Mn.
Vino and a missing corkscrew – Cafayate, Argentina

August 17, 2014

Salta was simply a stopover for us on our way to Cafayate. We arrived around nine at night, grabbed dinner, and went to bed. The following morning we had to say goodbye to Alaina, she was off to Buenos Aires and we were off to Cafayate. Once again it was hard to say goodbye, we had shared so many great memories together both in the jungle and the Salt Flats and were really going to miss her.

The ride to Cafayate was a quick 4 hours and we were excited to enter wine country! After settling into our hostel, we headed to some wineries around the main square. Our group had grown to four, we met an Italian on our bus ride to Cafayate named Filipo. Being on a traveler’s budget, our first stop was a winery with free tastings. Farima, Jaab, Filipo, and I tasted a Malbec and a Torrontes. The Torrontes grape is Argentina’s number-one white wine and grows abundantly in Cafayate. After our first tasting, we headed to the second winery where we tasted four different types of wines, a Malbec, a Rose, another Torrontes, and a Cabernet. We ended up buying a bottle of the Rose to go with dinner the same night. At our third and last winery for the day we decided to just buy different bottles of wine instead of doing tastings since it ended up being cheaper that way. We sat outside in the courtyard overlooking the vineyard, enjoying the weather, wine, and the company. For dinner, we bought some Argentinian meat and vegetables to grill over the BBQ back at our hostel. There was a nice size group of us hanging out, BBQing, and enjoying delicious local Argentinian wine!

The following morning, the four of us rented bikes from the hostel to explore the wineries a bit further away. The bikes had definitely seen better days and weren’t exactly the best for dirt roads. The first winery we stopped at was Vasija Secreta, where we enjoyed a bottle of wine and cheese. After relaxing for a bit, we hopped back on our bikes in search of the next winery. The next stop was a bit out of our price range so we decided to skip it and head to the next on the list… little did we know it was an hour away. Since our bikes were a bit old, it was difficult to try and bike uphill, against the wind, on gravel, not to mention a couple glasses of wine deep. At one point, Farima and I gave up and decided it would be easier to walk our bikes instead (no shame).

On our hour adventure, we ended up following a sign for a winery that seemed to have closed ages ago once we actually reached it. As unfortunate as that was, on our way back up the main road we stopped at a local family’s house and had a wine tasting experience like no other. An older man who was the owner of the property/vineyard, poured us tasting of his homemade wine he produced in barrels placed in his own garage. It was a cool experience to taste a local wine straight from the barrel that was made using clay barrels by a local rather than what we were used to in our previous wine tasting experiences.

We were all getting pretty tired from the strenuous bike ride so decided to make the next stop our last. The last winery was absolutely breathtaking and probably one of the nicest wineries I’ve ever been to, and not just in a foreign country. Since we were all exhausted anyway, we stayed a little longer and enjoyed lunch at the winery’s restaurant overlooking the vineyard and surrounding meadows. Our ride back to town was a lot easier, downhill and with the wind. The hour ride back only took us about 15 minutes to return. As if wine wasn’t enough of a reward for biking, we headed straight to the ice cream shop known for its famous wine ice cream, where Farima, Filipo, and I enjoyed a Cabernet flavored ice cream and Jaap had the Torrontes one.

We headed back to the hostel after our desert and Farima and I dropped our bikes and the boys off and headed to the square to explore the numerous shops and have some girl shopping time. Upon our return to the hostel, there was another big group of people BBQing so we ended up joining them for our last night in Cafayate, eating, chatting, and enjoying more delicious Argentinian wine. That same night we said goodnight to everyone around 2 am since Jaab, Farima, and I had to catch our bus to Tucuman (6 hours away), where we then had to catch another to our next stop in Argentina, Iguazu Falls(19 hours). As much as I was dreading our 25 hour journey, it surprisingly wasn’t as bad as expected. The bus company gave us lots of food and played pretty good movies – they were even in English! Although it was a fairly easy bus ride, I was beyond ready to get off the bus when we arrived in Iguazu around 9:30 am a day later. Cafayate was an enjoyable and relaxing few days and I’m glad to have experienced the Argentinian wine country different than the norm.

Edited by: Farima Mn.
Stargazing in the desert – San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

August 11, 2014

The four of us (Jaap, Farima, Alaina, and I) arrived in San Pedro de Atacama around 1 pm, checked into a hostel and went to grab lunch. San Pedro de Atacama is most widely known for stargazing so we booked a tour that night to learn about them. After watching a short clip about the universe and history of stars, we were taken up to a rooftop where a couple of telescopes were set up for us to observe them more closely. First we saw the moon and its craters, then our guide, Jared, showed us the Southern Cross and how to differentiate it from other similar looking ones. Starting from the bottom, then left, top, and right the brightness of the stars decrease in the Southern Cross and the bottom star is near a black hole. Two other cool things we got to see was a cluster of 300,000 stars and Saturn. It was a pretty cool experience overall, but would have been nice if we got to observe more planets as well.

The next day Farima and I decided to go sandboarding since we missed out on it in Peru. Though it was a little difficult at first, once you got the feel of the sand it turned out to be a lot of fun! I presumed knowing how to snowboard would have made it easier, but I think it was actually the opposite. The technique in sandboarding is very different than snowboarding and it took me a little while to get used to the sand since sand is less dense and when you try to carve, it’s easy to get stuck in it. Walking back up the sand dune after each ride was exhausting since it took about 15 minutes to walk up but only 15 seconds to ride down. So we boarded for a couple hours max and afterwards headed to the Valle de Luna (Moon Valley) to enjoy our free-when-you-book-the-tour Pisco sours while watching the sunset. The sunset turned the surrounding mountain peaks various shades of pink, orange, and yellow and it was beautiful. I don’t think I will ever tire of watching the sunset anywhere in the world. We headed back to town afterwards and made plans to meet everyone on our sandboarding tour for dinner the same night.

Our time in Chile was very short lived, but we are excited to return and explore the rest of the country in September. After a couple nights in San Pedro, we were off to Argentina! Alaina, Farima, Jaap, and I boarded a bus the following morning and headed to Salta. Since there was no night bus due to the Argentinian border closing at 4 pm, our 12 hour bus journey resulted in a full day of traveling, something I try to avoid.
Hot Springs and Nicknames – Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

August 5, 2014

Dan, Farima, and I arrived in Uyuni around 4 am that morning and booked a room at the same hostel as Alaina. After we slept for a few hours, we walked around town comparing the different tour agencies offering tours into the Salt Flats. Farima, Alaina, and I decided to go with Red Planet, they were a bit more expensive, but received the best reviews online. Uyuni is basically a ghost town except for the tourists who go there to explore the Salar de Uyuni, the famous salt flats. We honestly didn’t do much the rest of the day and there is nothing really worth writing about, but I did buy some awesome indigenous high top shoes!

We woke up around 10 am the next morning, grabbed breakfast, and headed to Red Planet’s office to jump into our 4X4 for the next 3 days. There were 5 of us in the car, Alaina, Farima, myself, Faith, and Tom, as well as our guide, Bismak, and our driver, Jimmy. Our first stop of the tour was to an abandoned railway yard filled with the decaying skeletons of trains. We then headed to what would be the highlight of the trip, the Salar. Salar de Uyuni covering some 9000 square kilometers is by far the largest salt lake in the world. The Salar is no longer a lake as it is mostly dried up, but now consists of a thick, hard crust of salt with water below. The water forms hexagon like figures with the middle being rock solid. Almost all pictures taken in the Salar are of those using perspectives. Our driver Jimmy really knew what he was doing and took some really awesome pictures of us! After about an hour of taking as many pictures as we could, we were off to our next destination, a cactus-covered island with breathtaking views of the vast Salar.

We all got back in the car and headed to the salt hotel where we would be staying for the night, but first we stopped to watch the sunset over the Salar. The salt hotel was awesome, everything was made of salt including our beds and the tables. After dinner, Jimmy took Alaina, Farima, Jaap (another guy on our tour but in a different car), Tom, and I out into the Salar to stargaze. Jaap had never seen the Milky Way before so he was probably the most excited out of all of us. The stars were absolutely incredible! That night was also the night nicknames were created for everyone, which would be our names for the remainder of the trip. Mine was ID (Irish dancer) because I decided to show everyone that I used to Irish dance back in the day. As you can tell, the nicknames may have been lacking a little creativity

The next day consisted of a lot of driving with various stops along the way which was fun but less so with the freezing cold weather. It was so hard to get out of the car because it was so cold that at each stop I would jump out, take a few pictures and jump back in. We were lucky enough to have the guide in our car as he would explain things inside the car instead of outside in the cold. We stopped at the Laguna Verde, as well as the Laguna Colorado, glacial salt lakes whose icy waters are stained bright red or green. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see the colors because the wind was not strong enough. Most of the lakes contain a mineral that is widely used in cleaning products. We observed the flamingos at yet another lake, but like I said before it was so cold that I didn’t observe for too long. We visited the Arbol de Piedra (Rock Tree) which only became famous because of the artist, Salvador Dali, who painted this particular tree. An interesting fact is that Salvador Dali has never been to Bolivia or to the spot of the now famous Rock Tree. Our last stop of the day before heading to our hostel was the Geyser Sol de Manana, geysers created by the semi-active volcano.

We arrived at our hostel around 7:30 pm just in time for dinner. Our hostel was located near a natural hot spring created by the volcanic lava underneath the ground. After dinner I couldn’t wait to jump in the hot springs just so I could be warm for a little while. It was absolutely incredible, sitting in a natural hot spring underneath the Milky Way stargazing. We stayed in the hot springs for at least 3 hours until someone finally told us we had to get out. The best part was that we had the hot springs all to ourselves as our tour company was the only one staying in the hostel that night and therefore the only ones with access to the hot springs.

The next morning, we were headed to the Chilean border. Bolivia had been good to us and we nearly spent almost a month in this country, but it was time to travel on and explore what the rest of South America had to offer!

Edited by: Farima M.
Dinosaurs and more – Sucre, Bolivia

August 1, 2014

After taking a nap from a nightmare of a bus journey, we went out to explore Sucre. Sucre was by far the prettiest city in Bolivia with its Spanish colonial architecture. All the buildings in Sucre are whitewashed making the city seem extremely clean and polished. We tried to explore the interiors of the various churches around the city, but each one we went to was closed and oddly enough it was a Sunday! There was some sort of parade going on throughout the city and we guessed it was a graduation as each group of students was carrying a flag with the field of study on it.

Later that day around sunset a group of us from the hostel made our way to the Mirador overlooking the city. We ate dinner at Café Gourmet Mirador while watching the sun set over the city below us. After dinner, Max, Farima, and I enjoyed a delightful Nutella banana crepe and found out there was a chocolate festival in town and it was the last day. Even though I was overstuffed from the dinner and the crepe, I couldn’t turn down a chocolate festival. The festival ended up being three stories high with various companies selling any kind of chocolate you could imagine. I decided on the submarine, which was basically steamed milk and a chunk of chocolate on a stick that melted into it. It was delicious and I so badly wanted to eat more but I’m sure I would have been sick had I continued.

The next day was a National holiday in Sucre so almost everything was closed including the churches as we tried to explore their interiors once more. We also tried to catch the Dino truck, a truck that took you to Cal Orko, home to the world’s largest collection of dinosaur footprints, but it ended up being closed as well. Seeing as there was not much to do in Sucre that day, we just hung out at the hostel with the other hostel goers and had a relaxing day. For dinner, a group of about 10 of us went to Kultur Café Berlin, which ended in a night of Headsup (basically a Charades app on the iPhone).

We slept in the next morning and headed to Condors, a vegetarian restaurant, for lunch. After lunch we explored the markets around town and I tried a famous chorizo sandwich, which wasn’t the best thing I’ve eaten but was okay. We had decided we wanted to leave the next day for Uyuni to explore the salt flats, but when I emailed the company for reservations, they had written us that the 3 day tour was canceled due to weather and snow in the national park. We didn’t know what to do next since the road to Chile, our next destination, would also be closed. We tried researching other options in Chile or Argentina, but couldn’t find a convenient method of travel so decided to stay a few more days in Sucre hoping the weather would turn around and the tours would open back up.

The next morning we tried to catch the Dino Truck once more, but it never showed. Dan, Farima, and I decided just to take a taxi to Cal Orko. A tour was included in our ticket price which always enhances the experience. Once there, we learned that the dinosaur footprints were discovered in 1994 by workers at a local cement company. The footprints are now vertical because of erosion and there are about 5,000 footprints from 150 different types of dinosaur. Unfortunately, we were not able to get too close to them as they are on quite unstable rock and are at risk of crumbling. There was a tour that took you a little closer to the wall of footprints but we were there so early and didn’t want to wait until noon for it. We ended up heading back to town and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee at a café.

That night, I just felt like relaxing and as they were showing a movie at a cafe nearby — Devil’s Miner, a documentary about the lives of children miners in Potosi – I met up with our friend JC, who we had met earlier in Peru, to watch it. It was sad to see children so young working in the mines in order to support their families. Other people watching the movie had been to Potosi and the miners there had told them the movie was not very accurate and over exaggerated the situation. Regardless, I can’t imagine the health effects of mining being good for anyone. I ended up googling the two main kids in the film to see where they are now as the film was made 10 years ago, and both are still working in the mines, but one is also now a tour guide of the mines.

That night we got some good news! We found out from our friend Alaina, who arrived in Uyuni the same day that the 3 day tours were open again. As soon as we got this news, we booked a night bus from Sucre to Uyuni for the following night. On my last day in Sucre, I met up with JC to get what he described as the best ice cream in town that was near the park. It was good, but I have definitely had better. I headed back to the hostel to pack up my things and hang out until our night bus. Sucre was perfect for doing nothing and taking a break from the crazy backpacker life of constantly being on the move.

Edited by: Farima M.

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