Paradise Found in Urugauy

What I have learned in Uruguay....

When getting out of the hot springs in Salto, reaply sunscreen....


When at the beach, have someone apply sunscreen to your back....

Yes the sun is fantastic in Urugauay is fantastic, although precations need to be made as to not to burn! We have been here five days and I´m loving it. Urugauy reminds me very much of Peru, so I kinda feel at home. We have found a beautiful little lazy beach town and have not left. Punto del Diablo is a ton of fun with loads of travelers relaxing and enjoying the beach.


A little history on how we landed here. We left Igauzo on an overnight 12 hour bus trip. We were woken at 7 AM, and left on the side of the highway, still a bit out of it and feeling sleepy. Lucky an incredible cab driver/tour guide offered us a ride over the border and to Las Thermals de Dyman. There we kicked our feet up and enjoyed the hot springs. This little town was weird in the sense that everyone was wearing bath robes. What I mean is that everywhere you went folks were just strolling around with bath robes on - quite the fashion statement!!

The next day we headed to Montivideo, with full intentions of spending the night. We got to the bus terminal and checked the bus schedule to Punto de Diablo, lesson learned previously. Surprisingly there was a bus leaving for Diablo that night, so we booked and headed out at 11 PM, arriving here at 3 AM. Once again being woken up in the middle of the night and dropped off in the middle of nowhere. For the next hour we wandered around looking for the hostel, finally arriving at 4 AM to a wonderful greeting from the staff.

The past few days have been spent enjoying the beach and people from all over the world. The big event happened the first day when I went horseback riding on the beach. Of course I got the slowest horse in the world named Boracha, very fitting!

We arrived back at the hostel and Sarah came alive!! A few bottles of wine and she was the life of the party. It all began with a simple question from a New Zealander ¨Sarah, if your from Minnesota, where´s the accent¨ Well, out it came and for the next 4 hours it never went away, she even spoke Minnesotian spanish for a while. She had people rolling around in laughter, it was incredible!! The next night she pulled off another feat - the holla hoop made it´s first apperance!! Wow, she stole the show again. So, this morning she was talking to these Graman girls and they asked her if she had met this girl named Sarah, they had heard so much about her that they wanted to met her. She is now a living legend!!

Today is our last day here, sadly, but we have some traveling to get to!! Back to Buenos Aries, and then to Tierra del Fuego. I hope all is well back home and everyone is taking care of themselves!!

First leg in the books - Hobbit

So, we have completed our first leg and are off to Urugauy. Let's take a moment and go over what I've learned in the last 5 days:

1. When you wave your hands franticaly in front of the faucet, it does not make it turn on, it only makes you look like an idiot to all the people standing around watching you.
2. When Argintinaians say tonight is salsa night, what they mean is you really shouldn't be drinking after dinner because we are not leaving the hostel until 3 AM.
3. When given the option of dinners on a 17 hour bus ride, go vegetatrian as to avoid the mystery meat at 11 PM.
4. When arriving at a bus station, have your exit stradegy prepared, in other words know what your next stop is, as to not to have to make unnesecary stops to the bus station in the future.
5. Not all internet connections are the same, steer clear of hotel connections that cost you more than an internet cafe, the connection will surly be DIAL-UP???

So, as Sarah has informed you, I tried to take on a night of salsa Argentinian style, fun, but big mistake the next day! The salsa band didn't take the stage until 3AM?!?! I was sitting at the hostel, the time was closing in on 1AM, I asked my Australian friend if we were leaving soon. He explained the situation, at this point I was commited, there was no turning back, so off I went. It was great, I really didn't learn any salsa moves, but added several to my normal repetoire, which I'm sure the locals had a field day with!

Well the next day was the 17 hour bus ride to Iguazu Falls, which included mystery meat, blockbuster movies like Big Bag of Money and lots of sleep. The seats actually lay back 160 degrees (semi-cama) so it wasn't to bad. We went all out and are waiting on a bus with the full on 180 degree Cama set up for tonight's 12 journey, more on that later.

So this was our first camping experience, we had no idea what to expect. I'll tell you this hot showers, three pools, bar, grocery store and restraunt were not what we thought - SCORE!!! The great thing that I found about campìng is that it gets you away from the hostel madness for a few days. Hostels are great for meeting people and finding things out about the road that are not in the guide books. And rather fun!! But an old man like me needs a break - camping is my refuge!!

Words can not explain the beauty of Igazu Falls, hence I will attempt to download pictures. Hopefully it works and we will be flooding you with pics everytime we get a chance!

We are now off to Urugauy, a lovely 12 hour bus ride ahead of us, overnight, cama, mystery meat all included!! Yes, I did it, I'm going for the mystery meat again!! It can't be any worse, right? I'm also hoping for a secong viewing of Big Bag of Money, can't wait!!

I miss you all, I'm having a blast and I actually hate it that I'm not stuck in Minnesota freezing my ass off - HA!!!

Buenos Aires

Sarah:
This afternoon, we saw the most bizarre thing so far. The police had blocked off a pretty major downtown street in a way that looked like it might be a parade, so we headed down to see what was going on. Maybe 100 university age people sat on bicycles in the middle of the blocked street as though they were starting a race, but wearing street clothes, carrying purses and backpacks, and generally looking like they were just out for an afternoon ride. Also exactly 2 of them were skateboarding. So we sat by a monument and waited for something to happen. They started off, like a race, but with some people doing tricks, and some people cruising along slowly, like they were on a beach, and some chatting with each other or texting on cell phones. After about 2 blocks, they turned around and lined up again at the start. Waited a few minutes. Did it again. And again. We asked people (well, Hobbit did in Spanish), and they said it was just something people do. They just ride their bikes for no particular reason.

But let´s backtrack to how we got here.
We´ve made it through our 18 hour plane ride, and arrived in Buenos Aires at 2:00 pm on Thursday. We checked into the Lime House hostel, which I would reccommend for having clean facilities and fun people.

Though I was warned, and I´m a pretty late night girl myself, the late schedule that Argentinians keep really threw me off. Truly, these people party harder than anyone I´ve ever met. The music and beers start around 11:00 pm, and no one even leaves for the bar or club until 1:00 or 2:00 am. Some people head back around 5 or 6 when the bars close, but the die-hards hit up the afterbars then come back to the hostel around 8:00 am, where they finish with a beer or two before bed! I completely wimped out. After a few beers, I crashed pretty hard around midnight. Hobbit performed much better, heading to a salsa bar until 5:00 am with some Isralis and Australians from the hostel. I´ll let him tell that story when he posts. (He´s napping on the roof now.)

Despite missing out on some of the more extravagant nightlife, I´ve really enjoyed the city of Buenos Aires. It´s very European (like everyone says) in terms of architechture and the general layout of the city. The widest avenue in the world is here, Avenue de Julio. I counted 22 marked lanes of traffic--but during rush hour, there are at least 30 cars accross, weaving around busses and motorcycles. Crossing is an activity that needs planning and focus. The hostel is just near the capitol, which is cool because I´ve gotten to see political and union rallies complete with real fireworks and banners and all of the color you might expect from Latin America.

My attempts at Spanish are met mostly with confused stares, but I think I´m making some progress. Some staring is a little harder to get used to. I know it´s because I´m tall and white, but the blatant staring from the men is more than a little wierd. I would like to start waving and saying hi to everyone who stares, but it would take up my whole day. Walking down the street, they don´t even see Hobbit, but I am a real show stopper. I don´t know if it will be different in more rural areas, but at least there will be fewer of them to stare at me.

So far, no intestinal difficulties to report, and nothing disasterous has happened, so it´s pretty good. We leave on an overnight bus to Iguazu Falls tonight, and tomorrow, our first attempt at camping. Wish us luck!

Mankato to Hollywood - Sarah and Hobbit

Hobbit:
Howdy!! We have arrived in Hollywood, FL and are making final preparations for the journey. It was a long 2,800 mile road trip that was full of surprises and reunions. We started at 10:00 AM on Thursday from Mankato. We drove through the night and stopped in Asheville, NC to visit Lauren. She was kind enough to let us relax at her place. THANK YOU!!

Once we ate, back to the road, next stop Wilson, NC. We arrived to open arms and cold beers - well deserved after many miles of driving. Vann and Whitney were kind enough to put us up for the night and host a get together for old friends. We went downtown for dinner and live music with Whitney on lead vocals - awesome!!

After a long night of reminicing, we made arrangements with Keith who was kind enough to offer to have Mr. Bojangles for the winter (since Vann's dog was none to fond of Bo). So change of plans, we were off to Wilmington to visit with the James Gang and Megargee. A fun filled Halloween was had, even with the children running around screaming.

Finally it was time to drop Mr. Bo at Keiths's in Winston-Salem. Sunday we made the 3.5 hour drive to Kieth's house. The beauty of this is that Mr. Bo and Buddy hit it off right away and everyone was happy!! I'm guessing that Bojangles has forgotten who I am by now and that he is in dog bliss chasing buddy around the back yard all day.

That brings us to Florida, and here we sit preparing for The Big Condor, a four month adventure across the Continent of South America. The trip includes the countries of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. Sarah and I will be using all forms of transportation including horseback, chicken buses, melon trucks and the soles of our feet. We have created this blog so that those interested in our journey can follow the hilarity that will most certainly ensue, the amazing sites and interactions and of course see photos of these things.

So check in periodically, we should be updating it about once a week. Enjoy your winter, be safe and have fun!!

Hobbit

Sarah:
We've arrived in Hollywood, Florida and are spending some time with Hobbit's parents, doing last minute shopping and preparing to leave in the morning.
Our roadtrip from Minnesota took a long detour through North Carolina, where I got to meet many of Hobbit's friends from college and we dropped off Mr. Bojangles (Hobbit's very special dog). As it turns out, all of the stories are true. The hippies and rednecks were all so welcoming, kind and funny! Thank you for your hospitality and for keeping Hobbit alive through graduation! I look forward to seeing you again.
The reality of what we're about to do is finally starting to sink in. I've basically been roadtripping around the country for work since May, so this whole thing has been a little surreal, like every other time I pack up the car and head to another state. But now, I'm setting aside my car keys, and tomorrow my phone; you know, the things I'm never without. It's pretty wierd. I think I'll start to get nervous tomorrow.
I hope to see some of you on the trail in the South American summer. For all the rest... Keep warm this winter!
Peace,
Sarah