A touristy sort of a day

Heavens above. The second day I have lain in my bed in the middle of the night wishing for sleep, then zonked out and woken at 11:00. Not even my old time zone so not sure what is going in but the 5 hour stint I got was gratefully appreciated.  

Nothing was planned so I set out on foot basically following the list of landmarks on my map. Most things were closed or of no interest but my walk took me through the pedestrian only area to the Micro Centro, past all the landmarks, along the inlets to the docks, across the Ladies Bridge, past the Tribute to Tango, back along the inlets and back home, stopping for some pretty much ok empanadas.  

The promenades and the areas on the other side of the docks in stark contrast to the city side, very laid back, lots of greenery, vibrant, few people and quite modern.  

It was very much a tourist type morning with nothing that really excited me but I took a few pics to prove I had been:

The Kirchener Centre - a cultural centre which is the largest of Latin America, and the third or fourth largest in the world.  The statue is Juana Azurduy - also known as Juana Azurduy de Padilla, was a South American guerrilla leader who fought for independence from Spanish rule in the early 19th century. 

Cabildo - now the National Centre of Museums, built in 1580

The demonstration against removal of free schooling (currently free to locals at all levels including Uni)

The Woman’s Bridge - a pedestrian bridge designed to allow the passage of ships up to the docks of the port. It supposedly represents the image of a couple dancing the tango!

Comic Character Statues - not sure how these fit in but they were fun.

The Puerto Madero Skyline

The Monument to the Tango - opened in 2007 and resembles a bandoneon, the instrument in the interpretation of the Tango

The residential area I am staying in doesn’t have much going on at night so I embarked on a ‘night walking tour’ with a guide. The biggest waste of money yet. Well it was night, we did walk (a bit), and it was a sort of tour. My guide, a lady called Sol, collected me from the hotel and initially we walked (no narrative) around some of the parts of the city I had already seen. Every now and then Sol would point something out.

We soon stopped to eat. Empanadas again and not too bad. Our venue was a place called Los Americanos, sort of like a Maccers so totally uninspiring. But, I did get to hear all about Sol’s love life, a conversation that continued throughout the night.

Our next walk was to the train station, through entirely residential streets with nothing to note. The train ride to Palermo was about as inspirational as the dinner and subsequent walk.

Walking through one street of Palermo, a little more fun, with some nice looking bars and restaurants to catch my eye. And then we caught a cab to a tiny wine bar, had a glass of wine and some yumm Empanadas made with filo pastry and far more palatable than those earlier in the day. For the entire duration of the wine bar visit Sol talked about her relationship.

The evening came to a close when I caught a cab for a long cab ride home. It was great to get out at night, I enjoyed the company but puhleese a walking tour this was not. ‘BA walking tours’ I wont be using you again; such a stark contrast to the few hours I spent on the last informative and fun tour.

A grumpy start to a great day

There are some days when you wish you could just jump off the world and sleep the day away.  That’s how mine started today.

For the first night since I left home last night I dropped off to sleep straight away.  Yay!  Sadly it didn’t last.  It wasn’t long into the new day that a noise woke me.  The noise was one I hadn’t heard for many years and at first I thought it sounded like snoring.  Nah couldn’t be.  I’m in this room alone and the only thing next to me is a utility room.  But the noise persisted and as the night went on I heard coughs coming from the same direction and I realised that it was someone snoring, in the utility room.  It wasn’t long before it stopped.  That was worse as I then heard them in the loo. It soon continued and by now was about 4:00am.  Out came the earplugs, too late for sleeping pills but eventually I got to sleep.  Fortunately I had put the alarm on and I woke with that about 9:00, pretty grumpy but looking forward to my food walking tour at noon.

As soon as I checked my mail I wanted to go back to bed again as I had an advice from the airline taking me to Chile that my flight had changed from one at a respectable time to one that leaves at 2:00am and arrives at 4:00am. Oh for goodness sakes.  Who wants to fly anywhere at that time and it totally stuffs up the bookings I have made.  It took a while but eventually I got to speak to someone to see if they can do anything better for me.  Grumpiness gone up a few notches since I woke up.  

As I was leaving the hotel I told the Manager about my sleepless night.  I suspect that one of his staff is now in the poo as he insisted that no one was supposed to be sleeping in there but assured me that the person wont be doing it again.  Let’s see..

And so I go to meet my guide at the entrance to the cemetery at 12:00. I waited and waited and they still hadn’t arrived so I rang the office (a toll call back to a NZ number that bounced round the world!!!!). Eventually I am told that the guide is stuck in traffic (she lives in the central city and walks everywhere  so they had stuffed up) and she would be there at 1:30pm. What could I say!  I was tempted to come back to the hotel and flag it.  But I was hungry!!!!! Very hungry!

It was a stinking hot day (nothing like the expected temperatures I was expecting) and I was now hot and grumpy and hungry.  I spent some time in the shade of a massive tree.  The branches were so big and so heavy that they were propped up by steel supports under the tree and by the Atlas of Recoleta at the edge. A cool statute with a mission in life.

Luckily the guide arrived a bit earlier than the office had said.  She was a pleasant young lady called Allain and she soon grovelled sufficiently for me to get over my mood and get on with the day.

Our first stop a tiny wee dark, dingy joint that had a reputation for great empanadas.  San Juanino was named after the region that the owner comes from and is hailed far and wide as being the place to go.  Allain explained how the different empanada shapes were dictated by the filling, and the fillings dictated by the region the cook represented.   Traditional beef empanada has a sot of crescent shape, pointier at one end and a twisted join on the side.  Other fillings have different shapes. In the north where potatoes are plentiful they often have potato with the meat, in Mendoza they often have sultanas and the ones we had today had olives. Allain explained that Argentinian food was not usually spicy but at this place they do a spicy empanada and that’s what I chose.  Delicioso!  Soft silky pastry wrapped around lightly spiced mince with an olive for a bit of extra texture and flavour.  Nothing like the one I had the other day but if I have time I will be back for more.

Next stop we walk to a parrilla for Argentinian BBQ. Argentinians are the biggest beef eaters in the world after the people from Uruguay and grilled beef is second only to breathing for most the locals.  Kilos of beef per year so thats pretty much beef every day.  Our venue for lunch was Parrilla Pena in Recoleta.

Today at our parrilla we started with a provoleta; a slice of a round of provolone cheese grilled till soft and then sprinkled with oregano.  Divine and said to be the closest to vegetarian fare you will.  With the provoleta we also had fresh grilled chorizo accompanied with a tomato, onion and parsley salsa and a divine chimichurri (parsley, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes and a vinaigrette). Water was delivered to the table in its own siphon which was a bit of a laugh.

Each and every mouthful invoked a sense of great contentment and by now the grumpiness was well and truly gone.  Simple food, done well and for each the main ingredient was the one to stand out. 

There was so much food that we hadn’t eaten I was shocked when Allain said she had ordered Asado, beef short ribs, but she said she takes the left overs for the homeless.  I had’t noticed many up until then but apparently they had been moved out from the areas frequented by tourists and forced to sleep in other areas.  I am lucky to have chosen a time when there were few tourists as it sounds as though it can be quite manic at other times and very sad that people already homeless are moved off their patch just to make it look good for foreigners.

The Asado arrives together with a simple tomato, onion and lettuce salad.  Beef short ribs that melt in the mouth and fall off the bone, perfectly cooked rare and smoky from the coals over which they were cooked.  All I can say is ‘finger lickin good’ without the chicken.  Of course with the reputation that Argentina has for wonderful Malbecs we couldn’t have parrilla without a drop of local wine.  As ever I have always had caraffed local wines when travelling and this was no exception.  Damn good it was too.  

And for desert....... Sweet milk or Dulce de Leche (caramel) in Argentina is almost like pavlova is in New Zealand.  You can’t go past it.  Their local ice cream, Helado, has a pretty wicked reputation as well, made with the rich local milk in the slow churn style of italian gelato it is creamy and rich.  The place we stopped had about 50different flavours to choose from - too many but I settled for a house special dulce de leche, with a hazlenut chocolate. Yum but if I went back I’d stick to the dulce de leche and flag the other one.  I say that knowing I will be back for a second round and suspect there might be some attempts at making it at home too.

To finish off our afternoon Allain takes me to a small park where she makes us a ‘mate’ drink (pronouced mar-tay).  A herbal tea made from the dried leaves of the yerba mate plant, this is a hot drink popular through some South American countries and a few in the Middle East.  

It is made according to strict tradition with one person responsible for adding the dried leaves to a special handled gourd bowl in which sits a spoon with a hollow centre and small holes in the bowl. The leaves are placed in such a way as to be able to pour hot water down to the bottom of the leaves.  The holes in the bowl of the spoon are to allow water to pass through but the leaves are filtered out.

The person making the mate (the cebador) is the only one allowed to touch the spoon; she will first drink from the hollow stem of the spoon to ensure that it is ok to offer to others.  When the cebador has drunk enough from the straw that it begins to make a slurping sound it is time to add more water and pass the bowl to the next person (never with the spoon facing the person it is going to). Once that person has drunk enough to make the slurping sounds the process is begun again for the next participant.  Once each person has had enough they say ‘gracias’ (thank you) as a sign that they have finished.  An acquired taste but an interesting tradition that forms part of everyday life here. 

The tour over we bid our goodbyes and I take off walking, initially to go to the Colon Theatre but it was too late for that so I went wandering basically taking in a few landmarks as I went.

The pedestrian mall in Florida St was where I spent most of my time and much of that was watching a couple tango dancing in the street.  Lovely to watch and I am looking forward to seeing the real thing soon. 

There was no way I needed more food so after a bit of people watching I retreated to my nest and listened to Spanish spoken English movies while I finished this.

My day ended up pretty good after all. 

A Taste of Buenos Aires

My first couple of days in Buenos Aires have been spent finding my way round and doing a few of the things I have been told I ‘have’ to do. I’ve walked heaps, haven’t got lost, covered most of the main landmarks I was told I have to see and from now on its time to get into the spirit of the "Paris of South America." Tomorrow the weather forecast is for thunder; but who cares for I am going on a food tour and hopefully that will get me into the swing of things. Sadly my fave tour company don’t do anything here so I will miss out on the backstreet eating stuff that I really love. But then I haven’t seen any evidence of backstreet eating stalls and little evidence of Argentinian food. It must be somewhere!

The greater city (Cuidad) has around 3,000,000 residents, although the surrounding area makes the population much more. It sits on the western shore of the river Plate (La Plata) and takes its flavour from a mixture of French Bourbon, Spanish Colonial, Art deco, Art Nouveau and a bit of Italianate thrown in for good measure.

Despite having checked out weather/temperatures before I left and packing accordingly I have found it quite warm, low twenties but very very humid. It’s hard going especially with a built in, uncontrollable hot/cold switch.

Indeed Buenos Aires is reminiscent of Paris, beautiful old romantic buildings, neighbourhoods that house wall to wall apartment blocks, small restaurants, bakeries, fruit shops and butchery shops where the people are genteel, the traffic polite, the shops a mix of old and new and no one walks round playing with their phone. There are few obvious tourists and in the areas I have been no signs of English speaking tourism; all signs, menus, brochures are in Spanish, few people in stores speak English and even in the hotel speak a low level of our language. That’s great for me and I am slowly remembering the few bits of Spanish I have learned.

Neither of my first two days have invoked any sort of enthusiasm but the bits below give some idea of where I went, what I did and how I felt. There is little excitement in the writing; that’s how I feel, but maybe I am just waiting for that one thing to get my blood going.  

Oh I forgot to say - quite typically my hotel offers wifi. What they don’t say is that the wifi is not necessarily connected to the real world as in many other places I have stayed. I believe that if I get dressed and do sit in the foyer of the hotel I may be able to hook into some other point that connects with the folk out there. On that basis don’t expect too much. It’s a pain in the neck but I will try my best. 

DAY ONE

Well I didn’t sleep like a baby as I had hoped so dragged myself out of bed at a respectable hour thinking the world loved me no more. Determined to give world a run for its money I took off on foot just to get my bearings.

Despite my hotel being in a very residential area once I got out I found I was close to major roads, busses, trains and the metro so at least I can get around. But today the feet do the walking out of my suburb of Retiro and across to the neighbouring suburb of Recoleta, home of the famous Recoleta Cemetery and my first stop for the morning.

The cemetery is quite mind blowing, set up like a township with streets and lanes and with hundreds of vaults (some of which are considered national historic monuments). It was built in 1822 as the first public cemetery in the City of Buenos Aires and its design is the work of Frenchman Prospero Catelin. It shows a time when Argentina was a powerful emerging economy and the city’s wealthiest people tried to outdo one another with the most elaborate vault. Many of Argentina’s most famous people are buried there, including Eva Peron. Her vault is small, simple in comparison to many others and tucked away in a narrow lane. I only found it because I was nosey enough to go check out what the group of people were doing. The cemetery is still being used and there was a casket waiting to be interred when I was there.

Since I was there I checked out the historic cloisters which offered a walk through the cloisters once used by the ‘friers’ to access the pulpit and belltower. It was underground and claustrophobic so I took some pics of the church and left. 

My next stroll was in search of an i site so I could get some information about a number of things. The i site was easy to find. The small ‘tiny’ building housed a couple of white desks (very swish), a white couch (I later found that other i sites had the same decor style) and a couple of guys lounging on the couch. I asked for information on the bus I wanted and am told that I get it ‘on the corner’. Cool, "could I have a brochure?" And as he speaks he waves his arm to show me that they have no brochures. Its just an i site with information. Ok.

I set off for the corner. Well most of us know that an intersection has four corners none of which were marked to show that a bus might stop here, today, or any time in the future. Giving up I wander on and a couple of intersections further down I find the bus stop. Yes! it was on a corner, but by this time I had passed many corners. Thanks, buddy, for the information.

Finding my way back to the hotel was a doddle and finding a restaurant pretty easy too. No tourists (or if there are they are Spanish speaking and dont carry cameras or talk loud) round these parts so I was looking forward to some Argentinian options. Alas, Italian fare or nothing so I settled on a milanese napoletana (or if you are an Australian ‘parma’). A massive crumbed schnitzel covered with ham cheese and napoletana sauce arrives in front of me. Wow! It certainly was big, and edible but just as it would not have gained any brownie points in its homeland of Italy, nor did it get a tick from me. 

On asking for the bill one of the two waitresses came over and told me the price, of course I had no idea what she said but a guy next to me translated and I paid. It was only about $10 so pretty good value. But then I realised that all the other customers were given a register account rather than given a price verbally. I guess she pocketed my money and figured I wouldn’t report her. Well I wont but wont be going back there.

A brief respite in my room let me muster the energy to keep going. This time to walk down towards the Centro which was an easy stroll. Many of the streets are blocked off as pedestrian only space and lined each side with shops, ranging from the high end stores to junk shops. Despite there being many many shops I didn’t notice many people with shopping bags so maybe the pedestrian spaces were to make walking easier rather than to promote shopping. Sore feet necessitated a sit down and a Coca, my first in many months. It didn’t excite so I had best stick to wine, it’s healthier. People watching wasn’t too exiciting; everyone was polite, cruising, clean and laid back. No hand waving, screaming or shouting, no one swearing and no cars honking on their horn. All pretty quiet and orderly really. Not what I expected which was a bit of Latino fire and the sort of madness that I adore.

I didn’t really know what I was out looking for so headed for home and a much earned rest. My biggest walking day in quite a while. My find of the day was the magnificent wee church next to my hotel. Beautiful, beautiful frescoes, statues and a glorious domed ceiling all helping to provide that warmth and serenity that is only present in some churches. 

Hunger beckoned later on and I ventured over the road to a cafe/restaurant that could have comfortably slotted into a Roman neighbourhood. I spied someone having Spag. Bol. "That’s me" and I ordered. OK, lunch was certainly edible and not so bad. This was the worst Spag Bol I have ever been confronted with, and I have had some pretty bad ones. Needless to say I was hungry, ate half of it, paid on receipt of my bill, came home and devoured the pack of Palmier I had bought earlier. Now they were yum..

First day impressions. I’m undecided. What I have seen is definitely pretty, very reminiscent of Paris and probably why it is callled the Paris of South America, has hints of Rome and every now and then snippets that could have come out of a New York neighbourhood. So far all I have seen is pretty much residential apartment neighbourhoods, some old, some new, some glorious, some ugly. I haven’t seen the vibrancy of Mexico City and not a snippet of music anywhere. But today is the first of many that I will spend in this city. Tomorrow is another day and no doubt it will be very different.

DAY TWO

I was so desperate for a good night sleep that I stayed up till late last night. True to form My head hit the pillow and that was it. Again true to form I was awake by 2:00am and it was after 4:00am the last time I looked at the clock. A quick ziz before the cleaners started banging and crashing, the building’s plumbing started gurgling and the traffic in the street started making a row. That was about 6:00 and too early to get up, besides I was mega cranky. Somehow it was then 11:00am. Not sure how that happened but after a coffee and some mucking around I set off. I had planned an all day bus trip but now since half the day had gone I decided to just go and check out some touristy sights and get them out of the way. I’d checked the map before I set off and walked straight to where I wanted to go.

Then lunch at yet another Italian place except this one had empanadas, which I HAD to order. Should’ve stuck to the Italian. Dry, tasteless with pastry so hard I couldn’t bite through was my first foray into local food. Please let me find something better. Oh well.

My destination of the day was Floralis Generica, a giant 20 meter tall stainless steel and alluminium flower that weighs over 18 tons. As well as being very beautiful it magically opens its petals in the morning and closes them at dusk, controlled by a hydraulic mechanism and photoelectric cells. I would have loved to watch it open and close but well, today, I’ve got better things to do.

Next stop the Museum of Fine Arts, a quick squizz with a few pieces that tickled my fancy but nothing that really grabbed me. I was more inspired by the super art in the School of Faculty. The building was inaugurated in 1821 and now houses a museum, art gallery and cafe with heaps of students hanging out doing their lessons. What an awesome environment to study in. 

Next stop, "El Atheneo", listed as the second most important bookshop in the world, founded inside an old movie theatre. It opened its doors in 1919 and immediately became part of BA’s culture. Today it is magnificent, the photos don’t do it justice. Not only is it a wonderful building, but quite unique in that they promote the free reading of books and provide couches (and a cafe) where you can relax and read the book of your choice. I couldn’t find any English language books or I could have easily whittled away the afternoon curled up in the couch. 

Without having to check the map I knew the way home, checking out a few neighbourhood sites along the way. The city is full of trees and small parks are everywhere. Most of the parks are lit by old style lamps, resembling the old gas lamps and so pretty.

Dinner time approaches and I go out looking for the one and only parrilla (BBQ restaurant) that I had seen. I should learn to take note of these important things but I always think "there will be another"and often there’s not. Anyway I didn’t find it and settled on yet another Italian over the road from the hotel. Thinking about my pasta choice last night at the place next door and not wanting another milanese, I choose pizza. I mean what can they do wrong? Pizza is pizza and even dominos can rustle up something edible.

Well it was edible, but only just. Margarita with added anchovies. Simplest flavours, and the flavours were ok. But a base that wasn’t in the slightest a pizza base and a plate of residual oil made for hard going. Still I ate it then ventured to the corner shop for a "dulce de leche" (sweet milk aka caramel) chocolate bar.   

Chocolate cures all ills and was a great finish to my meal. 

Before leaving I had especially purchased a body wash (I cant use regular soap) and body moisturiser to work with the mosquito repellant I have bought. Avon’s skin so soft has just the right smell as to not attract the little blighters and since I always carry body wash I bought one and a matching moisturiser. Last minute when I was trying to reduce the weight of my bag I took out the moisturiser as I figured I don’t need both products and have another moisturiser anyway. Duh! Turns out I bought the moisturiser with me and left the body wash at home so at the same time as I was looking for chocolate I was also looking for body wash. No luck, only soap, or so I found out after asking the woman behind the counter if what I had in my hands was for the body (running my hands over my torso) or the hands (rubbing my hands together) and her responding by rubbing hands together. So I will continue to wash with shampoo for the time being. And I thought I was well organised. 

Sleep beckons. Buenas noches from Buenos Aires. 

On South American soil -the boring bits of travel adventures

Without going into the boring bits of a long flight lets just say I arrived safe, sound, hungry and tired at about 4:30pm the same day that I left NZ at 7pm.  My gorgeous niece, Athena dropped me off, check in and weigh in went without a hitch .  Not the quite the 15k I was hoping for but 17k aint bad.  Hand luggage was only 3k and handbag 2k, so AirNZ you got off lightly with me.

My first glimpse of my new home for the next week was a rather bland and out of date terminal heaving with life but devoid of ATMs that work and missing people manning half the desks.  Getting through passport control was the easiest ever, a very good system with about 40 windows open and cheerful approachable immigration officials.  The customs declaration given to me on the plane, and was challenging to complete was promptly discarded as they didn’t need it and I moved along to the most orderly baggage carousel I have ever seen.  All the bags were lined up next to each other, with just a few inches in between each bag. Wow.  My bag was one of the first off and I followed the green arrows to the scanner, dumped my bags on the belt and watched them being scanned.  I’m glad I was watching as no one else was.  Although there was someone sitting in the place you would expect them to be when checking the contents, the operator was busy chatting and eating lunch.  Glad I didn’t have anything I shouldn’t have in my bag.

Despite not finding an ATM or a SIM for my phone I managed to find a cab  that came with a rather young cocky driver. Admittedly he managed to drive, change gears, talk on mobile and weave in and out of lanes with great proficiency and despite my aggressive driving skills I wouldn’t have managed with the same degree of panache and calm that he did.

The drive to the hotel took us along the motorway, which at toll gates, was 20 lanes wide and quite impressive.  Just like our main roads!

Along the side of the motorway are wide green verges where many many people had stopped for picnics, play sport etc.  It reminded me of the Middle East where people have family outings on a Friday.  So nice to see and something we don’t see too much of at home.

The tall towering apartment buildings set amongst the parks closer to the airport were soon taken over by old concrete boxes that once may have been luxurious homes, but now looked like something akin to sad state housing estates.  As we got closer to the city the homes were larger and far more grand; the greenery and number of trees helping to make it look lush and beautiful.

At one stage along the road we passed about 8 buses all with guys hanging out the window waving their flags (sports team supporters maybe) but at the front of the entourage was a police escort so obviously an entourage of importance. A quick google search revealed that they are ‘Boca Juniors’ supporters, one of the five great football teams of Argentina.  Hopefully I will get to see them.

Despite the one arm (and at times no arms) driving he got me to the Argenta Hotel in the Retiro suburb.  It was dark by the time I arrived and the neighbourhood looked very residential with not a cafe in sight. Perhaps not one of my better choices. Daylight will tell.

 I’m tired, very hungry, so tonight, just once I am eating in the hotel restaurant.  I could have chosen from a steak (which I picked), “chikcen”, something “wiht” something or the “fishing day” which. I can only assume was fish of the day. Think I’ll stick to the Spanish menu from now on; it’s easier to understand. I didn’t have high expectations but my steak was almost ok and filled the gaping hole. Nine thirty pm and time for bed. Bring on tomorrow.

Where am I going?

A number of people have asked for my itinerary.  That's giving away far too much but here is a map of the sort of thing that I have planned in what is probably the most well planned trip of my life.  
Main ports of call:

• Hanging, dancing and eating in Buenos Aires and surrounds
• Chile somewhere, to eat, dance and hang out with the locals
• 9 days checking out coffee plantations in Colombia
• Up the Ecuadorian section of the Amazon in a dugout
• 2 weeks volunteering in the community in a small town outside Cordoba in Argentina, learning tango and Spanish in my free time
• Walking under the Iguazu Falls, on the Brazilian and the Argentinian sides
• A quick stop to eat in Colonia and Montevideo in Uruguay
• More hanging and eating and dancing in Argentina

Pre Pension Planning

From the time I visited New York with Les I was determined that I was going to celebrate my induction to the realms of a pensioner in this amazing city.  To stand in Times Square and feel that buzz as the clock ticked over to 9:00am on the 11th April would be beyond awesome.  despite the fact that 9:00am on the 11th April in New York would be some time after I would have celebrated in new Zealand it still seemed like a grand idea.

And then I went to Iran.  A trip that was beyond amazing and one that made me a better person, where I learned so much about humanity and propaganda, where I found that indeed the Iranian people were the friendliest I had ever met.

It wasn't much later that the American's elected Donald Trump as their president.  A crazy man that has it in for all Muslim's and make moves to stop people from a number of countries, including Iran, from entering the US.  That move also made it difficult for people like me, who had visited Iran, as they entered the US, even if just in transit.  While I have never been afraid to visit a place where there is unrest and have always taken appropriate precautions, the unpredictable nature of this madman and his hatred of the Iranians made me re-think my dream..  To get there and not be allowed to enter the country (despite my visa) was a very real possibility.  To be allowed in and then not be able to leave was a bigger fear.

So here I am getting ready to go to South America.  Soon I will officially be grown-up; maybe in the number of years I have been on earth but certainly not in ‘age’.  I hope that I can continue to love life like a kid even when I hit old age and beyond.

Last year's trip to Mexico whetted my appetite for the Spanish language, the dancing in the streets, the amazing food and the friendly happy people.  Not quite New York but I know I am in for a great adventure and look forward to extending my minimal knowledge of the Spanish language, brushing up on my tango skills, trying all the morsels I will confront, hanging with the locals and learning about the different nationalities I will encounter.  Bring it on!

I booked the airfares flying in and out of Buenos Aires, my only option for flying Air NZ and not go through the US.  Right at the start I also booked a 9 day trip through the coffee plantations of Columbia.  Same continent!  In my ignorance I thought the two countries would be close, but the 7.5 hour flight from BA to Bogota started off looking like it would cost more than a one way crossing of the Pacific.  Oh well, determined not to give up on the coffee plantations I then spent weeks sussing fares and eventually stumbled across some that were more palatable and still on decent airlines.

To give me a taste of some of the local stuff I also booked a two week stint volunteering in the state of Cordoba a few hours out of Buenos Aires.  What I will be doing there I have no idea but it will be something within the community, possibly helping with the elderly or with the under-privileged in the village of Villa Allende about 30 minutes out of Cordoba city.  I will be staying in the volunteer digs sharing with what will probably be a pile of youngsters, so should be a fun experience.  We will have afternoons and weekends free to explore, do Spanish lessons or go to Tango classes.  I can't wait.

I leave a few days after my first pension payment hits my bank account, so thanks you young new Zealanders for supporting me while I travel.  It is much appreciated.

At this stage (44 days out) my plan is to arrive in Argentina and spend some time in Buenos Aires, cross over to Chile before flying to Colombia to do the coffee thing.  From there I will spend a few days exploring the Amazon and checking out a bit of Ecuador.  Back to Argentina for volunteering and checking out northern Argentina, the Iguazu Falls and a bit of Uruguay before I head home again.  Too much to do in around 60 days, but I am not planning on coming this way again so may as well make the most of it and sample as much as I can while I am there.

The pull of Africa is tugging and I think that will win over as soon as my pension payments have accumulated enough for that trip. 

Next step:  getting organised.

Next blog: ready for take off.