Iguazu: Waterfalls and Wildlife

After a lovely few days amidst the dramatic scenery of Calafate, I headed north east to the border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, where the stunning Iguazu falls can be found. I arrived early evening at the Hotel Los Troncos, in the small town of Puerto Iguazu, and was immediately met with a warm welcome. The hotel was beautiful; fairly basic but charming and made almost entirely out of wood. I had my welcome drink – my first caipirinha of the trip.

The following morning I got up as early as I could drag myself out of bed, and took the 30 minute bus ride to the National Park where the waterfalls can be found. I began exploring the 15 km of trails in the Iguazu national park with the lower trail, which brings you down the hill side to view the Adam, Eve and Bossetti waterfalls from below. The views of the falls were absolutely stunning, surrounding the Rio Iguazu there are waterfalls cascading down almost every cliff, with thick forest peeping out in between.

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Patagonia Part Two: El Calafate

After an exhausting day of travel, I arrived in Calafate – the most southerly point on my Argentina adventure. On the airport transfer I met two dutch girls, Suzanne and Marloes, who were staying at the same hotel as me, and when we arrived we immediately made plans to go for dinner together. It was so nice to have other people to have dinner and conversation with!

We had dinner at a small pizzeria in town, where I ordered a ham and pineapple (probably the best I have ever tasted!) and the dutch girls opted for a spinach pizza humerously entitled “Green, I love you green”. After dinner we headed straight back to the hotel – we had a very early start the next morning for our glacier tour.

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Patagonia Part One: Puerto Madryn

Having settled into my hotel and had a much needed shower, I headed out to explore the town. My first afternoon in Puerto Madryn was free so I headed along the beach up towards the nearest peninsula, where I had been informed there were beautiful views, and a much anticipated nature museum, the Ecocenter. The views, were as promised, and the weather was lovely, so I really enjoyed my stroll up to the top of the peninsula. However, upon arriving at the Ecocenter I found that it was only open Thursday to Sunday, and then only from 3pm to 7pm. With opening times like that, it seems hardly worth bothering. Sadly for me, it was Monday, and I was leaving early on Thursday morning. So, I sat and enjoyed the views for a while, and, wandering around the perimeter of the museum I found I was still able to catch a glimpse of the skeleton of the famous Orca – Mel who used to rescue lost sea lion pups (usually a tasty snack for an Orca).

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Hola Buenos Aires!

My adventure began with one of the most hectic days of my life. Having returned to Leeds with just 4 days to prepare and pack for my trip, everything was considerably more last minute than I would have liked. The day of my flight began with some last minute packing, followed by a trip to Halfords on a wild-goose chase for some crocodile clips for my fieldwork. In the end, packing came down to the wire, and I just about managed to get everything together in time to catch my train to the station at 2pm.

My journey to the airport allowed me to discover what is my upper limit of luggage. Unfortunately, it was slightly less than the amount of luggage I had. With a full size backpack, suitcase, padded case full of radio tracking equipment and hand luggage, I only just made it to the check in desk. Thankfully my bags were now checked in all the way to Buenos Aires.

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