MENDOZA - ARGENTINA

After almost 3 days of solid travel I finally arrived in Mendoza, surprisingly in quite good spirits considering the fact that I had slept only about 12 hours and eaten once in that time. Even more surprising was the fact that I was relatively unafected by the dissapearance of my jacket on the bus from Cordoba to Mendoza (thanks to some `kind` Argentine nonse!) but I guess my rather `deteriorated` mental state certainly helped in that regard.

It`s amazing to think that a good Argentine steak was able to cure such problems and after cleaning myself up and grabbing a bite to eat, in a moment of `madness` I decided to go out with a group from the hostel, figuring that it was the last time I was going to be in this part of the world for some time so that I may as well make the most of it. I certainly wasn`t dissapointed as all of us enjoyed a great night, firstly with some live music (U2, Coldplay, Radiohead etc) which unfortunately the singer managed to butcher up quite well and then after that a more traditional Argentine club scene.

During the night I met some more great people and even managed to bump into a friend of mine (Anabel) whom I had met during my first visit to Mendoza, almost 1 year previously. After a night of festivities, fernet, beer and the usual Argentine shenanigans, I finally managed a few hours of decent sleep before transferring myself and my belongings from the hostel to my friend Gisela`s house.

I won`t say that I achieve a a lot in Mendoza, but this was not the purpose of my visit. I did however manage to go out `clubbing` once more during my stay (my first attempt on the Friday night was rather feeble, as after having been woken up from my `quick nap` by Gisela around 1am I proceeded to mutter something rather uninteligible and then pass out again!!) Three of us went to a club some way out of the city and I really enjoyed my last night out in Mendoza with some great music and once again some great people. During the rest of my time in the city I enjoyed a few days of rest before my flight to Mexico and it was great being able to stay with Gisela and spend my time cooking, organising my stuff and catching up with various people. Also, over the course of my stay I made a number of new friends (mostly friends of Gisela`s) and in only a few days I fell in love with the city and its people again.

My final day in Mendoza was busy as usual as I tried to say goodbye to as many people as I could and organise a barbeque for a few friends. After a very quick dinner and goodbyes I took a taxi to Anabel`s place to wish her a happy birthday (I had promised to visit given that I had left a few days before her birthday in the previous year) and after a really nice time spent with her eventually made it back to Gisela`s house to pack my stuff ready for my early morning trip to Santiago the next day.

My third visit to Santiago was much more enjoyable than the previous two and I must admit that the city really grew on me in a short period of time. I managed to catch up with a friend of mine (Claudia) whom I had met in Buenos Aires and we spent most of the day just hanging out, having a look around her University and parts of the city and then enjoying a nice dinner with some friends and then a movie. My final few days of my trip in South America were amongst the most enjoyable of my entire visit and they really emphasised to me just how much I enjoyed this part of the world. The people, the food and most of all the amazing Andean landscapes combined to create a perfect little world and it was very difficult (once again) to leave. I think it is almost certainly however that I will be back in this part of the globe in the not too distant future.

Photos 1-7: Thursday night with the crew from the hostel and some new Argentine amigos.
Photos 8- : Saturday night clubbing at Alquemia.
Photo: Some things you can only get away with in South America !
Photo: Final night in Mendoza - BBQ with friends.
Photo: Anabel with her birthday present.

BONITO - BRAZIL

Heralded as the ecotourism capital of Brazil, Bonito was my last destination before heading overland through Paraguay and back to Argentina before taking my flight to Mexico. After a number of enjoyable days spent out of the big cities in the Pantanal, Bonito offered slightly more touristy options, which were considerably more expensive but still well worth the visit and money invested.

After arriving to the town from Corumba, quite late at night, my first morning in Bonito was spent snorkelling down ´Rio Sucuri´, an amazingly clear waterway filled with fish and different plant life. The river was trully quite unlike anything else I have ever seen and I found it difficult to comprehend just how the water could possibly be so clean. Following a quick walk around part of the reserve, on which we saw some amazing wildlife (monkeys, anteaters, many birds...etc), our group of 8 spent about 50 minutes just leisurely floating down the river, taking in the array of colourful fish and underwater plants along the way. The fish were absolutely enormous and would have made for a tasty meal for 5 ! Meanwhile, the ´underwater gardens´ containing colourful plants and logs were almost surreal. From what I could gather, the river was kept emaculately clean due to the presence of Na(OH) minerals in the water, these acting essentially as a soap to keep the river pristine and preventing the growth of algae.

After the mornings snorkelling adventure, I spent the hottest part of the day just sorting myself out and then visited the less impressive, but still pleasant, public swimming hole. This too contained a plethora of enormous fish but was not so clean. After a quick swim, I wandered the 5 or so kilometres back into town and had a bit of a look around, although there really wasn´t much to see.

My second morning in Bonito was spent visiting the famous ´Blue Lake Cave´, a large cavern containing an amazingly blue lake at the bottom (the colour of the water being caused by a combination of the lighting effects within the cave and the presence of various minerals). Despite this being quite an incredible spectacle, I was unable to get a decent photograph, mainly because of the severe lack of light within the cave, meaning that all my photos were rather blurry. Unfortunately our guide for the trip wouldn´t let me use my tripod and as such it was impossible to keep my camera sufficiently still to get a good shot. Needless to say this annoyed me no end and possibly caused me to walk away with a somewhat negative vibe from the place.

That afternoon I visited a small park with 8-10 really nice waterfalls, all of which were very picturesque. It was great just walking through the forrest, taking in the fantastic scenery and enjoying swims in a number of great lagoons beneath the waterfalls. Our group was also treated to 2 snakes engaging in some rather interesting mating behaviour.

This concluded my activities in Bonito because the next day I took an afternoon bus to the Paraguay border before beginning my crazy adventures to Mendoza. Well worth the visit, Bonito was by far the most expensive of my destinations in South America (mainly because all of the attractions were located on private land meaning that the owners could effectively charge whatever they wanted). Had I a little more disposable cash, I would have loved to have done ´the mother of all activities in Bonito´, a 72m abseil into a cave followed by a 2 hour dive to view the stallegtites and underwater geology followed by a 72m rapel out of the cave.... all for just a cool US$250 !! Still, the sheer abbundance of animal and plant life made all of the places I visited, absolutely incredible and I am sure that someday I wil return to Bonito to see a little more of the many attractions the place has to offer.

Photos 1-4: Wildlife, rivers and lakes viewed during our walk around the site at Rio Sucuri.
Photos 5-15: Underwater shots from snorkelling in Rio Sucuri.
Photos 16-19: ´Just get the camera out of my face ok !´
Photo 20: Crystal clear river and surrounding forest.
Photos 21&22: Sunset just outside the town.
Photos 23&24: Photos from the local swimming hole.
Photo 25: Opening of the cave containing the aforementioned ´Lago Azul´(blue lake).
Photos 26-29: Waterfalls and surrounding rainforest.
Photo 30: Other travellers at the hostel in Bonito.

THE PANTANAL - BRAZIL

It was pretty hard to leave Itai after the fun and adventures I had enjoyed there, but after playing with a few possible itineraries which would have allowed me to return for more ´weekend of chaos´ I eventually decided to stick with my original plan and head to the Pantanal.

Probably the biggest thing in my favour before going to the Pantanal was the fact that I went there with no real expectaions. Whilst other people had seemingly travelled half way accross the world to see the wildlife the region had to offer, I merely viewed the 3 day trip as a chance to get out of the cities and enjoy a change of scenery. (Possibly this mindsight was brought on because in Australia we are somewhat spoiled for an abbundance of wildlife). Anyway, as a result of me not really bothering too much with what exactly I saw in the Pantanal, I found that I enjoyed the experience a great deal more than others perhaps did.


After arriving in the regional hub, Campo Grande I booked myself on a 4 night and 3 day tour almost imediately and spent the remainder of the day making my way to the campsite with a number of British backpackers and one crazy, eccentric and altogether irritated Israeli. Despite a breakdown in communication between the base camp and capsite meaning that there was no food (as had been promised) waiting for us on the first night, our arrival was fairly smooth, if a little late (due to our bus being involved in an accident on the first corner outside the bus terminal ! This pissed off our ´Israeli companion´ no end !).

Our first day in the Pantanal was spent canoeing around one of the many waterways in the morning (quite hot and tiring work and the canoes certainly didn´t seem to ever go where we wanted them to) and then horseriding around more of the property in the afternoon, once again I found that my horse had a very poor sense of direction and so ended up walking into and through trees and bushes, much to my frustration. Apart from these continual navigational difficulties, the day was quite enjoyable and we were treated to a wide range of wildlife including numerous Tucans, Jabirou Stalks and many other forms of birdlife. The highlights of the trip were probably having the horses wade through water up to their necks (I had somewhat of a ´Clydesdale´ and so fared better than most), watching an amazing sunset and seeing the Israeli come flying off the front of his horse, which had decided to just stop, mid-canter. That night we went on a short walk and managed to catch a glimpse of some Capibarras (massive guinea pig like creatures, the largest rodents in the world) and also a Caiman (small aligator) which our guide Carlos had no trouble in catching.


Day two commenced with some pirahna fishing, which was probably the most frustrating activity I have ever engaged in. The stupid fish were apparently not so stupid and by attacking the bait in hordes, each fish taking only a small bite, they were collectively able to devour half a cow and only suffer 4 or so losses in numbers. Needless to say after a few hours in the hot sun enduring this, I decided to call it quits although the others demonstrated considerable more patience than I. That afternoon it rained in a way that is only possible in places such as the Pantanal and so our activities were cancelled and instead we played some volleyball, foreigners against the Brazillians, in which the Brazillians were shown up, big time !

The last day involved alot of walking but I found this was probably the best way to remain unoticed and as such our group was treated to the biggest range of wildlife on these trips. Amongst some of the animals we saw were Armadillos, Wild Pigs, various types of Monkeys and a tonne of other birds and animals. That afternoon we took a truck along the ´road´ to Corumbá and saw a tonne more Capibarras and some quite large Caimans but unfortunately no Sloths, Giant Otters, Jaguars or Cougars, all of which we were hoping to get a glimpse of.

The trip was very enjoyable, but definately not mind blowing. A surprising point of note was the fact that I was barely touched by a mosquito and instead found the ants to be far more troublesome. Also, I discovered that sleeping in a hammock is entirely possible (if hung correctly) and enjoyed 3 blisful nights sleep, much to my surprise. Having spoken with other travellers I learned that the tour company that I had chosen fared quite well in terms of the services, meals and acommodation offered, which was pleasing to hear. Definately not amazing, but well worth the time would probably be my overal assessment of a trip to the Pantanal.

Photos 1-3: Canoeing on the first day.
Photo 4: Pirahna fishing, day 2.
Photos 5-7: Horseback shots from the afternoon ride on day 1.
Photos 8-10: Flora and Fauna conjured up by Carlos the magician (his ability to catch and know where wildlife existed, even without being able to see it, continually astounded me!)
Photos 11-14: Magnificent sunsets captured during the trip.