And now the end is near..........

Jason

The first few pics are from Brazil in case you wondered!! We flew from Rio to Buenos Aires where we had 4 days in this beautiful city, very cosmopolitan, probably the best in South America. We had a few afternoons in Hard Rock, it was like catching up with an old friend! We went to watch River Plate play and found out they had been kicked out of there own stadium because of crowd trouble so we had our fingers crossed that they won.......... they lost 1-0 in the 97th min. Lots of injury time because the Argies dive all the time at the slightest touch. Fantastic. The Brazilians play the better football but the atmosphere must go to the Argies. After that we flew down to Rio Gallegos, imagine the worst mining town near you, then caught the bus to El Calafate to see the Glaciers. They are amazing, running down into the water. The faces of them are about 50-80m tall and they are bigger in area than Buenos Aires!! When we got to the Moreno glacier it was only 100m away but the fog was so bad we could not see it but luckily it lifted within 40 mins and it was just stunning. We also got to see a huge piece slice off when we were on the boat and the noise was incredible, so were the huge tidal waves that followed it. The next day we went on a cruise up to more glaciers which were great but the most incredible part was the Icebergs. They were huge and the various blue colours within them was amazing. We also got to stand on tiny icebergs which was cool fun. We had fun in Rio Gallegos when our flight was cancelled back to Buenos Aires which in turn cancelled our bus to Puerto Iguazu. It was a fun expensive day which involved us buying a bus ticket for the 36 hours bus ride that we never used because they put another flight on for us!!!! Not bad though, eleven months of travelling and only really one bad journey cock up!! (I hope we haven't cursed our journey home now as we are still in Buenos Aires!) When we eventually got to Puerto Iguazu after an overnight bus ( serves free wine and champagne ) the falls were well worth the journey. They are simply stunning the shear size of them is incredible, as is the noise and the spray, we got soaked at the Devils Gorge. We also went to the Brazilian side and you get a much better panoramic picture of the whole falls. It was another overnight bus and more champagne back to Buenos Aires for our last two nights before coming home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are beginning to resemble steaks as we have eaten so much, it is so cheap and so ridiculously delicious.

And that's that. Eleven months and some amazing adventures and amazing places. We have seen everything that we had planned to and more besides and this journey will last with us for lifetime, hope so as we are now skint!!!! A few interesting facts, to make this trip we have taken 50 flights, 28 train journeys, 17 bus journeys and 4 ferry rides!!! Vicki has also taken over 10000 photo´s and I have over 10 hours of video, please keep a weekend free.

Thanks for looking in and helping us along the way with your emails and chats.

Now next year.......................................................

Boobies Rule

Jason

Santiago is a really modern city full of skyscrapers and offices but still has a really nice atmosphere about it. We got into wine tasting here as the gooood stuff is only about a pound a bottle, 200 pound bottles back home in restaurants go for about 6 pounds here!!!! We visited a Salsa club which was really cool, especially when the good dancers turn up at 4am. After 4 days of relaxing with the vino and some friends we met in the hostel we flew out to Isla De Pasca, AKA Rapa Nui, AKA Easter Island. The island is amazing, in the middle of nowhere yet it has Internet cafes, nightclubs and a floodlit footie pitch!!! There are lots of roaming dogs about and also the odd horse who goes wandering along the main street. The main attraction are the Moai which are outstanding, a lot bigger than we expected, some stand 20m tall and weigh about 120 tonnes. The ones you see in pictures standing up have all been restored the rest of them are all toppled forward. The quarry where they were carved out of solid rock is amazing, it has 397 in various stages of production, some half buried some still attached to the rock. We had a great time on the island and met a great couple from Chile who invited us to go and stop with them and their 3 children when we got back to Santiago. We took them up on there offer and spent the weekend in their beautiful home in Paine, about 40kms south of Santiago.

After that we headed up to Quito for a 7 day tour of the Galapagos Island. Let me state right off it was probably the best 7 days of the trip and DEFINITELY the worst 7 nights!!!! The boat visited the islands during the day and then travelled overnight to the other islands. The beautiful islands and stunning wildlife were worth it though.We had the classic pic with a giant tortoise and saw Lonesome George. Every golden sandy beach was covered with sea lions as you walked past them to swim with them and the turtles , sharks, sting rays and penguins!!! So close you could touch them ( that's a no no) The Blue footed Boobies with their extravagant mating rituals were a highlight, dancing and squealing at each other. Another unusual sight were the Frigate birds which were in mating season, to attract the females they blow up a red sac that is on their neck which looks like a big red heart. We had one day in a Mangrove swamp paddling the dingy looking for sharks, everyone keeping dead silent, that felt really spooky. It was an amazing experience and worth every penny. Vicki managed to take 1200 photo´s in just 7, yes 7, days!!!

A very long 24 hours and four flights after leaving Quito we landed in Rio de Janero. It is a beautiful city, the view from the Christ statue is stunning, it has a very Hong Kong feel to it as it is built around lots of islands and inlets. We also went up to Sugar Loaf mountain but within 5 minutes of us reaching the top the clouds came in and we could not see anything!!! It was a bit spooky going back down in the cable car. We went to the Maracana Stadium to see the 1st leg of the Brazilian cup final between Fluminese and Figurense which ended 1-1. The atmosphere was fantastic, 100 000 fans with flares and flags waving. I bought yet more footie tops, they are too cheap not to!!!