Rurrenabaque

We had been trying to get to Rurrenabaque from La Paz for a week by plane, when we just gave up and got the bus. The problem with flying is that Rurrenabaque, in Beni Province, Bolivia, only has a grass runway, which makes it impossible to land after rain. We arrived at 11 AM at the bus station, to find there were no bus tickets to our destination, only somewhere 3 hours away called Yucumo. We jumped on board, eager to venture in to the rainforest, drove for 30 minutes, and then stopped for five hours, while repeated attempts to fix our bus' major smoking habit totally failed and it grew dark. We finally switched buses and hit the infamous road of death at sun down and surrounded totally in fog, which was upsetting because rather than being scared to death it wasn't frightening at all.

From Yucumo we had to get a bus to "Rurre". We quickly saw what the rain could do to the road (imagine the runway), and our little minibus had to drag another "camioneta" out at one point.



When we arrived in Rurre at the terminal, we took motorbike taxis to our hostel, "Lobo Mirador". Below is the hostel, and the view of the river from our room.





Ofri drove us across to the other side to show us his little project - building a pool using a little waterfall. We helped in the building of some steps.





The locals use canoes to get around, with engines (apparently) made from old washing machines, amongst other things.



Up river there is a rock with a ancient carving of a snake. Below can be seen a flower-like representation of a whirl pool. When the level of the river reaches the snake, it means that the river is too dangerous to cross.

Uyuni Salt Flats

Finally arrived at the Salt Flats of Uyuni, Bolivia, after a four day tour taken from Tupiza. Stayed in a hostel made of Salt the night before. Team photo, below, includes our cook and driver, from Lippi tours. Recommended.



Obligatory jumping photo. Other humorous perspective shots were of course made (but exceptionally cliché).

Bariloche / Rio de la Plata

Mount Tronador, viewed from Bariloche on the Refugio Jakob to Italiano trail.








We sailed from Buenos Aires to Colonia in Uruguay, across the Rio de la Plata.




BA's smog problem in full view...



El Dueño, enjoying himself.



Los Amantes.



Gabriel, el Capitan. A man with a moustache, and very fond of shouting 'Rumbo, rumbo! Tenés que aprender!"



On the return leg.



Jamie, inches from death, in the act of waste disposal, subsequent to his failure to perform in the normal manner due to stage fright.

Ushaia - Torres del Paines - Bariloche

Jamie and I bought a tent in Ushuaia from a French girl in a hostel. Allegedly a wind tent, it cost 130 Pesos, and in practice inspires little confidence in its ability to withstand heavy gusts. Here is a photo of where we camped to test it out on the first night, on top of a small mountain/hill. The tent's serious draft problem has meant that Jamie has to sleep under a space blanket to keep warm whenever we take it out. Still, less than 26 quid...



More Ushuaia - Elmo and I viewed from Glaciar Martial.




Estancia Haberton, one of the oldest places in Tierra del Fuego.



Crossing from Punta Arenas.



Torres del Paines.





Glaciar Grey.





View from Refugio Frey, near Bariloche, below. Our stove in foreground.



One of the Siete Lagos between Bariloche and San Martin de Los Andes at sunset.

San Ignacio / Posadas / Rosario

Marcello, below, took me on an early morning Kayak trip down the Rio Parana (which meets the Rio Iguazu at the falls) while I was in San Ignacio. In the process he convinced me of the merits of extremely left-wing Jesuit Bishops, and pointed out the vultures which were nesting in the trees. When we paddled past a dead deer floating in the water he laughed and said 'Ha ha party for vultures!'. Sadly, I don't have a picture of the deceased animal.









A vulture. Probably.



San Ignacio is more famous for the ruins of a Jesuit monastery, one of the largest in a chain that stretches across Paraguay, the Misiones province of Argentina, and into Brazil. Quite spectacular, and these photos don't do justice to the scale of the site.











Futher down into Misiones is the capital of the province, Posadas. When I arrived it was the 33rd anniversary of the beginning of the dictatorship, so students from the University held a memorial in the street.





There were many invocations of Ché that night. He spent the first 2 years of his life in Rosario, further south in the Province of Santa Fe, in this building which is now owned by an insurance company. There is a park in his memory.





The Cathedral in Rosario.



Rosario is also famed for the enormous monument to the Argentinean flag, raised on the spot for the first time by General Belgrano. It really is big.









There is also another public memorial to the Falklands War dead. Lest there be any doubt, there's a quite clear statement of Argentinean feeling on the issue of sovereignty.





Rosario in general is a bit more relaxed than Bs.As. Less polution, and the peatonales are much more pleasant than Calles Lavalle & Florida. The Parque de la Independencia nearly rivals Colchester's Castle Park in terms of boating fun.