...we will certainly come back one fine day! Unfortunately we left the country in a hurry and while I am writing this post we have already arrived in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The reason for our hastiness? Well, I guess the soccer world championship is to blame...
Let us step back in time: while we have a rest in our cozy wood cabin in Ushuaia we organize our return journey via Africa. Despite of searching thoroughly, it turns out to be impossible to obtain a flight ticket from Argentina to South Africa during the time of the World Cup (June 11 - July 11). After long discussions we agree on a different route: flying from Rio de Janeiro to Dakar (Senegal) and subsequently driving to South Africa. (Why shall we fly if we can drive?!) Clearly we won't make it time for the World Cup but skipping South Africa and Namibia during this trip is no option!
With "Dakar" on our minds we reluctantly leave Ushuaia, at the same time bidding farewell to the Andes, the Pacific Ocean and the Panamericana. All three have become close travel companions over the past months. Sheer endless 3076 kilometers of barren prairie lie ahead until Buenos Aires, in other words: the Pampa awaits us.
To cross over the sea of grass we follow Ruta 3 in what turns out to be the most boring drive of our entire journey. The landscape does not change a bit and the only people we talk to are employees of several gas stations and truck drivers. Everyone else takes a plane for this trip, why am I not surprised?
After 2,5 days we are already completely fed up and need a break. We thus decide to visit the Reserva Faunistica Peninsula Valdes. The barren peninsula is entitled to call itself a Unesco world heritage site because of the whales that arrive in large numbers each year in June to mate. The first whales have already arrived which has driven up the costs for food and accommodation to ridiculous heights. However, we get a lot of whale for our money. A whale couple is floating in shallow waters, just a few meters from the shore. At first we see just their fins and a white belly sticking out of the water and fear they might be dead! But no, the whales are just extremely relaxed! (Isn't the white belly cute...?!)
After a total of 6 long days in the car we finally arrive in Buenos Aires, an 11-million metropolis. At first, after those lonely days in the Pampa, we are a little confused by all those people around us, singing and celebrating.
We did not plan it this way but have arrived just in time for the opening ceremony of the 200 year anniversary of the Revolution of May 25, 1810.
It is not easy to find an accommodation but eventually we are lucky and join the party. We leisurely stroll trough the streets and observe for hours a mix of military parades, concerts and porteños (inhabitants of B.A.). The celebrations are still continuing as we leave the capital after 3 days - actually pretty exhausted.
Our next destination is the Iguazú National Park, and again we are fooled by the great distances in Argentina (by now we should really know better). It takes two entire days to drive from Buenos Aires to Iguazú. So we stop over at the ruins of a former Jesuit Mission in San Ignacio Mini.
The Jesuits really tried to save the indigenous people from slavery and were quite successful. However, at the end of the 18th century the Spanish king considered them too powerful and expelled the Jesuits, and the indigenous were left to their own devices.
The following day we are happy to discover that the Iguazú falls are indeed as spectacular as we had expected. We will always remember them as a final highlight of our visit in Argentina and could not get enough looking at the falls from every possible angle. But you will have to experience this spectacle yourself, our pictures can only provide an idea of their magnitude and power.
The Brazilian border is located beyond the Iguazú falls and to cross it is no problem. What is a problem, however, is the fact that we mutate within minutes to pretty helpless creatures. All of a sudden everyone speaks Portuguese (only) which is a language that we neither speak nor understand.
To drive a car in Brazil is also getting more and more challenging, the locals drive as if they were possessed by the devil. And it's getting even worse as we transit through São Paulo on a 10-lane highway on our way to Rio. The chaos and sheer madness on Latin-American streets are my worst memories so far. Georges, as always, stays cool behind the steering wheel and an hour later we see the skyline of São Paulo diminishing behind us. It is getting dark as we reach Rio de Janeiro.
We rent a small room in a backstreet of the fabulous Copacabana and relax for a few days after the very long drive. The weather is mostly sunny and warm and the beach just a few blocks away. At the same time we fight very hard against Brazilian bureaucrats to get us and Archie on a plane/ ship to Africa.
How we will finally manage to get the SnailTrails team across the Atlantic is already another story entirely...
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