what you lookin' at?

knackered!

final morning before heading back to UK

Long journey ahead of us - but what a fab holiday! Here's Grace and me at Iguassu.

presidential suite

We love Argentina - and we love Argentinians! Got upgraded to the Presidential suite for our final night at the Claridge - I think this was mainly becaues all the staff loved Grace. Massive room(s) - we were chuffed and used just about every goody that was on offer in the bathroom.....

Brazil

Saw the falls from the Brazilian side today - and stopped at an aviary with the most amazing coloured birds. Falls were equally impressive as from Argentinian side.

Iguassu Falls

Bought a bandana for Grace - she looked good! Iguassu falls are amazing! All you can see from the air is forest - then suddenly the falls open up. Awesome!

back to Buenos Aires

a rest day - before we head off to Iguassu

7 lake route

Hired a car and drove round 7 lakes - got a bit lost at one point and worried we'd never be seen again as were miles from anywhere! Stunning scenery with no-one about - fantastic!

rainforest in chile (well almost)

In a rainforest today - and we felt a million miles away from civilization - almost expected some bandits to pop out and kidnap us. Only 3.5km to Chile -but we didn't make it there...

Bariloche

Took a couple of cable cars today - (this is a ski resort in the winter) - and it was very windy from the top! Had a touch of vertigo too....also visited a very posh (and expensive) hotel.

and now we're off to Bariloche....

This was taken at el calafate airport (the lake is Lake Argentina - the largest lake in south america - at least I think that's what they said...)

icebergs - near upsala glacier

This iceberg was 20-30 metres high - and several hundred metres wide. Glad we didn't suffer same fate as Titanic, as that water was cold!

perito moreno glacier

Holy cow! One of the best days of my life. Awesome!

estancia

Our first meal at an estancia - boy do these Argentines like their meat! This was followed by some singing and dancing (Yes, it was for the tourists...)

family shot before heading to El Calafate

Final meal at a "posh" restaurant in Gaiman before we headed south to the cold of El Calafate.

penguins

Took a taxi to Punta Tomba (about 100 miles away) - the taxi for the day cost less than £20. We did have a puncture on the way - the road was a dirt track! But saw loads of penguins.

chapel spotting

A day spent chapel spotting. I kid you not.

chasing dolphins

Cat & I had a day off from Grace. She was being looked after by Lowri, Nesta & Robert - while we had the chance to go out to the coast to go exploring - and more especially dolphin spotting. We took a taxi out and then got onto a bus and then popped on to a small boat with a few others and began a very bumpy ride.

I looked rather fetching in the get-up we had to wear..... We did spot some dolphins and it was pretty exciting - but boy was it choppy! A couple of youngsters on board (there were only about 10 of us) threw up as their stomachs couldn't handle it. We then had a meal in a small restaurant before getting another taxi back to Gaiman. Grace didn't seem to have missed us at all.

sea lions at Puerto Madryn

Drove to Trelew from Gaiman and then got in a bus to go to Puerto Madryn - where the first Welsh settlers arrived a few hundred years ago. The jumped in a taxi to the headland at Punta Lomo where there were hundreds of sea lions sunning themselves. It was very windy - but Grace seemed to be enjoying herself in the backpack. Enjoyed an ice cream - but had a mini crisis where we couldn't find a cashpoint. After some time searching, we eventually found one otherwise we were in real trouble!

Gaiman

Took the obligatory tour round Gaiman - where Catrin lived for a year when she was 3. The photo above is of Catrin in the house that she lived - she recognised a few places - but what was most bizarre was to see so many welsh tea houses and welsh flags in what is essentially a desert. The weather here is cooler than Buenos Aires - with a gentle wind - but still plenty warm enough. Have been introduced to many (everyone?) people here with Welsh connections. However, the house that we are staying in is basic, to say the least...if Robert & Nesta weren't here we would have demanded to stay somewhere else.

fly to Trelew

Spent the morning in the pool at the hotel and then headed off to the local airport to fly to Trelew - where we would (hopefully) be met by Robert & Nesta.

Everything went pretty well- the airport was pretty modern and aerolineas argentinas departed and arrived on time. Patagonia looked pretty flat from the air and even flatter when we got there - there is nothing here! Robert & Nesta picked us up - it was good to see familiar faces and they drove us to Gaiman - where we saw our abode for the next week - certainly not in the same league as the Claridge. Lowri was also there and they were all fairly excited to see us.

boat trip on the tigres

Today we went on a boat trip up the Tigres. This involved getting a cab to a train station, followed by a train journey of about 20 minutes along the coast then onto a boat. Before getting on the boat - there were plenty of shops to look round - it was extremely hot and were grateful that we could get some breeze on the top of the boat (which was jam packed!). After getting back by train - we popped in to a park where there's a memorial to those who died in Las Malvinas war (Falklands). Bizarrely, they give themselves a day's holiday to celebrate their defeat....

Recoletta & bus tour round BA

Today we set off in the morning to Recoletta - where we went to the cemetary where Eva Peron was buried. Catrin thought the idea of family burial homes to be one that she surprisingly liked - and quite liked the idea of us all being buried together.....we had a coffee under a series of very large trees in a cafe which gave lots of shade from what was a very hot day. Grace enjoyed chasing the pigeons. We also saw our first tango dancers giving a street performance. In the afternoon, we went on a bus trip round the city (mostly with americans) and saw the sights. Stopped to take a look at the Presidents Palace (pink) and had a look round some shops. The bus trip also took us to La Boca - home of the Boca Juniors - and a colourful shanti town where local artists sell their wares.

1st impressions

They drive like maniacs! and it's hot! Grace is sweating buckets already.

The flight with Air France was actually pretty good - Grace was in a little Bassonette (kind of like a mini coffin) and slept for as much of the journey as we'd expect, under the circumstances.

Took a taxi from the airport to the 5* Claridge hotel on Tucaman street - swanky.....had a quick look round - they have all the usual suspects - Gap, McDonalds, etc.....but Buneos Aires is a crazy place - thousands of people packed into narrow shopping streets (it's cheap!) - but there also plenty of designer shops too (with designer prices). A mix of wealth and poverty. The main road into BA (7 lane highway) looked totally crazy with anyone overtaking you on any lane - quite hair-raising- and there are no child seats. I'm glad we won't be hiring a car here....Grace was on her mum's lap for the 25 minute journey - a white knuckle ride!

the long journey begins....

Finally leaving for our holiday to Argentina. Start at Edinburgh airport - flying to CDG Paris - then on to Buenos Aires (on a 23.30 flight) - at least Grace should (hopefully) sleep... Here is the airport at CDG - but Grace did not enjoy the cramped conditions on what is likely to be the shortest of 12 flights. We'll wait and see how it goes.