Zimbabwe - Bulawayo & Harare

Its really been a strange couple of weeks.  I kind of feel like we've been in Zimbabwe for a month.

After leaving steaming hot and expensive Botswana, we were very excited to get to Zimbabwe.  Several people have mentioned to us how much they like the country and we were hopeful we would have the same sentiments.  Unfortunately, we discovered that Zimbabwe is just as expensive, and we're not so sure how we feel about our experience here so far.

Figuring Things Out
Our first stop was Bulawayo, the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and an obligatory stop once you've crossed the border.  There is not much to do in Bulawayo, other than marvel at the fact that everything is so expensive, and the quality of the products and services does not meet the cost.  Accommodations are higher than what you'd pay in the U.S., and appallingly dingy and run-down for what you pay for.  We stayed in a decent hostel for a few days, before finding a cheap YMCA where we stayed the remaining few days in Bulawayo.  It felt a bit like we were staying at shelter, and there was no hot water, but the staff was friendly and we were relieved to not have to pay our entire daily budget on accommodations.

Zimbabwe is kind of a strange country.  Just a few years ago, the U.S. dollar was illegal here, and now it is the currency used.  The dollar bills look as though someone retrieved them from a mud puddle, and that they will disintegrate in your hand at any moment.  The inflation here was absolutely out of control a few years ago, and of course there are the "controversial" politics of Zimbabwe (refer to Guy's blog, he did a nice job describing the situation here http://choosingmyownadventures.blogspot.com/2010/12/dollar-dollar-bills-yallin-zimbabwe.html), all adding to a feeling of unease about what to expect here.

Luv Dat Chicken
Well, anyways, while in Bulawayo, we did check out the local cuisine.  The first kind (the terrible, disgusting and of the U.S. McDonald's type) included the "Inn" monopoly.  Everywhere you go in Zimbabwe, you can find a row of dining options including "Chicken Inn," (whose slogan is Luv Dat Chicken) "Pizza Inn," "Baker's Inn," and "Creamy Inn."  There is also the grocery store "Express Inn."  We took the plunge into Chicken Inn and have yet to return.  When we left I told Guy that I had to pretend I was on the show "Fear Factor" (you know, that show where they have to eat cow hearts and millipedes to win $100,000) in order to finish my meal.  The chicken tasted like it was rescued from the dumpster and fried in the oil I put in my engine.  The rest of the "Inns" were ok, but left a lot to be desired. 

Then we moved onto the "real" food of Zimbabwe.  Sadza is a very traditional element of Southern African cooking, and is a cooked corn meal that looks a lot like mashed potatoes.  Paired with it is either beef stew, chicken, fish or beans.  When we went to a local establishment to try out this delicious dish, we were a little nervous that we wouldn't "do it right".  We tried to stealthily look around to see the proper way to eat sadza.  You wash your hands before and after the meal, as the waiter comes by to pour water over your hands.  You take the sadza with your hand and dip it into the stew to eat.  I thought it was tasty, and for a $1 or $2 per meal, a great value.  The clear winner of dining options over the "Inns."  Other than that, there really are no options in Zimbabwe.

Mid-Night Train
From Bulawayo we decided to take the train to Harare.  I was a bit apprehensive, since I've read the trains are unreliable here and can break down, leaving you stuck for hours.  But, I had never really taken a train before, so I thought it might be an interesting experience.  It was.  It was an overnight train, so for $10 we would be able to travel and sleep, a bargain only as good as sadza in this country.  When we boarded at 7:30 pm, we were met with our little sleeper compartment, with two beds and lots of filth.  After an hour, we were on our way.  The doors were in desperate need of oiling, and so every time someone opened their door, it let out an ear-piercing screech.  The family of four next to us had someone coming or going every 60 seconds or so.  As I tried not to touch anything in our compartment (except the train bedding that I courageously used) I fell into a bit of sleep, but certainly not restful.  I really tried to not use the bathroom the whole trip, but caved after 12 hours.  It was by far the most disgusting bathroom I have ever seen (and I've seen some really nasty ones on this trip).  I don't think its been cleaned in 20 years.We arrived in Harare at 11:30 am the next morning.  15 hours.  It takes 5 hours to get there by bus. 

Party Like Its 1999
In Harare, we were lucky enough to find a host through couchsurfing, so we had a home to stay in for a few nights.  IdirIdir has done a lot of traveling and had lots of interesting things to share with us.  That night, he wanted to take us "out on the town" so we obliged.  He brought us to a local club, which was pretty small (and seemed like it was trying to hard) with an interesting mix of people.  He told us he needed to go to another work party, and would pick us up in an hour.  So, after making his appearance at a FEW parties, he came back to pick us up, only to bring us to yet another party.  This was at someones home, right next to the Chinese Embassy.  It was packed full of people, (mostly ex-pats) and plenty of people appeared to have come from money.  Guy and I were ready to go home, not really accustomed to the club scene with our REI travel clothes and hiking boots, but stayed amused doing some people watching.  When it came time to leave, we realized the security guards (yes, at someones home party) had packed way too many cars into the yard, making it nearly impossible to leave.  Idir was visibly upset, yelled at the guard, and proceeded to repeatedly ram into the shrubs and trees surrounding his vehicle.  Guy and I, outside of the car, were trying to slow him down and direct him, not knowing whether to laugh or be horrified.  With a branch sticking out of the car's grill, Idir announced to the guard "Why must you do this?  See, I have destroyed the garden!"  At this point Idir wanted to take us to another club that we were about to enter before we got a call from his friend to go to this party, but we politely said we were ready to call it a night.

The next day was a bit more mellow, as we were invited to Idir's friend's house for a delicious lunch of homemade couscous.  Again, it was a very interesting group of people, consisting of people from Algeria, Egypt, Ireland, France, Zimbabwe and the United States.  We were very grateful to Idir as he was a fantastic host and very generous to us during our short stay. 

Getting Robbed!
Idir had to leave town to go back home and travel for a few weeks.  Sunday morning, he left very early to catch his flight, leaving us to a lazy morning getting ready to head into town to find new accommodations.  Our plan was to walk up to the main road (about 45 minutes) to catch a combi back into town.  As we left that morning, we had decided to pack everything into our backpacks, to make it easier getting on and off the bus.  Normally, we keep our smaller bags separate, containing items such as the camera and other important things.  This was probably the only time we've put EVERYTHING in our large bags.  We set off on our walk, which was very long and hot.  Guy was carrying both of our bags for quite a while, and when we were just blocks from the main road, a car pulled up next to us, offering us a ride.  This is the type of thing I would NEVER in my life do by myself, but since Guy was with, I agreed to get in.  He told us we could put our bags in the trunk.  We have hitched a few other times with very kind people, so although cautious, we weren't too worried.

The two men in the car were very friendly, asking us how we liked Zimbabwe and how things were going.  As they pulled onto the side of the road, Guy offered them a few dollars for driving us to the road.  They vigorously shook their heads "No!," refusing anything from us.  As we got out of the car, Guy went to open the trunk, which he did successfully, when they hit the gas and sped away full speed, with EVERYTHING in our bags.  Guy yelled at them to stop and chased the car for a few seconds, while I stood there, dumbfounded.  Guy pointed out that the car had no license, as he tried to see what the number would be as it drove away.  That should have been a clue to us that these men were not to be trusted.  My very first thought was "those stupid men...they don't realize that they really got nothing from us."  For us, things like our pictures, mean the world to us.  To them, all they got was a camera that they probably won't get much for, a bunch of dirty clothes and toiletries that may just get dumped in the trash.

From that point, we encountered people that were totally unsympathetic and people that felt awful for us and were worried that we hated Zimbabwe because of our experience.  We assured them we knew there are thieves everywhere and no reason to judge an entire country on one bad experience.  We were, ironically, right across the street from an Army base, where the front guards seemed oblivious to what had happened to us.  A very kind man was very concerned for us and was very helpful getting us to the police station.  The police station was quite archaic, and the women there were having a very difficult time understanding our story.  We of course knew that the thieves were most likely never be found, but wanted to get a report for insurance purposes.  As we stood there waiting, we slowly recounted all of the things we had lost, and would need to purchase.  Even at that very angry moment, I couldn't help but feel incredibly relieved that we were safe, had our money, our passports, and each other.  Really.  Getting robbed definitely puts things in perspective very quickly.  I felt incredibly violated, and feel even more cautious than I did before, but really, I feel incredibly grateful for what I do have. 

What Do You Mean, JuJu??
After our robbery experience, we tried to slowly get ourselves back together, both emotionally and physically. We made a trip to the American Embassy for advice on different things, and while they were somewhat helpful, we've taken care of things pretty well for ourselves.  We found some fairly cheap accommodations in Harare where we would stay a few nights.  While there, Guy told group of guests about our incident (to my horror).  After this dramatic event, I find myself more cautious (as I mentioned) and nervous to announce such things to people.  A day later, the owner of the hostel came to our room, and told us he needed to change an outlet in the room, and that also, there was a man up front to talk to Guy about the robbery.  So, while I waited with the outlet man in the room, Guy went up front to talk to whomever this man might be.  After what seemed like an eternity, Guy comes back to tell me "That was really weird."  Oh great, I'm thinking, now what??  Apparently this man heard from someone else in the hostel about our robbery and told Guy that he would be able to help us get our things back.  All I'm thinking is, great, this man knows the thieves, and we're REALLY going to be in trouble now!  I tell Guy "This is what you get for telling everyone in the hostel what has happened to us, you need to keep your mouth shut!"  Guy continues with the story, where apparently the man tells him that juju is what can help us.  Not knowing much about juju, Guy explained to me that it is the art of African witchcraft.  The man wanted $50 up front to "get the juju" which Guy would then "take" and then our things would show up at the hostel. Then Guy would pay him $150 for our things received.  At this point I had to laugh.  This was getting out of control.  It was obvious this guy just wanted to make a buck off of us.  Guy asked how the thieves would know where we are to give us our things back since they were no where near where the robbery happened.  The man then gave up, "then the juju will not work, if they don't know where you are."  Guy mentioned it was time to get out of there, and I agreed.  On to find yet ANOTHER accommodation.  While we were looking at hotels, a bird pooped on my head.  I've heard that is good luck.  It might have been.

A Ray of Light
After looking at a few places, we went to the Internet cafe to look up some other accommodations, since things are so expensive here.  My friend Lorie had sent me an email letting me know a friend, Michelle, knew some people in Harare that we could connect with.  We sent them a text, and very graciously, without meeting or even talking to us, they let us stay with them!  They are a wonderful couple teaching at an international school with kids and dogs and a whole cottage for us to sleep in!  They fed us and made us laugh and we are very grateful to them for taking us in.

Random Things
There have been other amusing things since the robbery.  One was our trip to the Harare police station yesterday to get a copy of our police report.  Other than the fact that this huge building is a free-for-all in terms of people coming and going with essentially no security, we were surprised (well, not THAT surprised I suppose) to find that copy meant HAND copy.  And that the police investigators are not mobile - they have no cars.  I imagine that makes it a little difficult to get your job done.

Shopping for new clothes in Harare is a bit hilarious.  As we went from store to store across the city, I realized my choices were confined to the following: Southern Baptist church lady (grandma) clothing (including the fabulous hats and all), authentic African clothing (which as much as I'd like to think I could pull it off, I just couldn't) and clothing for teenager's going to the club.  My favorite experience was in a store where I tried to explain to a young man what I was looking for, and he kept coming back with: white stretch pants, hot pink pants, and a shirt with a giant silver bow.  Not quite the travel/hiking attire I'm looking for.  What is strange, though, is I saw young women wearing very cute clothes on the street, but where did they find it???  Luckily I came across a few items that work, which is really all I need.   The last humiliating fact about shopping in Africa...I am a size XXL here.  Wow.

As we wait for my sister to arrive for the second half of our experience in Zimbabwe, I am open and ready for anything.  Hopefully some fun and wonderful things will be included in that experience.

P.S. We have no pictures for Zimbabwe so far because A.) It is ILLEGAL to take photos in public in the city here, and B.) We have no camera. :(

botswana

Since hearing from several people how expensive Botswana is, we knew our time here was going to be limited.  Our combi ride from Mafikeng over the border to Gaborone (the capital of Botswana) was hot and crowded, though relatively short.  Apparently locals have a slightly different tolerance for heat than I do, seeing that every window but mine was slammed shut and folks were wearing sweaters in 90-some degree weather!  Even my window managed to be snuck shut whenever I wasn't paying attention.  Inferno.

We noticed quite quickly how much more we were getting stared at than when we were in South Africa.  I think there are far less tourists here than South Africa.  There is definitely a different feel in Bostwana.  Our time in Gabarone was fairly uneventful (not much to see or do) other than staying with a great couchsurfing gal serving for the peace corp.  Though I almost died of heatstroke while there (how could the weather keep getting even hotter?!) Michelle briefed us in on all things Botswana, the good and bad and challenging times she's had here.  Though there is economic stability in the country, due largely to the diamond mining industry, there is speculation as to what will happen to the country when that resource runs out (in the next few decades?) and of course there still exists the AIDS epidemic as well as poverty.

Since our time in Botswana was limited to a week, we headed north to the country's largest attraction, the Okavango Delta, where we spent the bulk of our week, with a quick stop in Francistown, before heading to Zimbabwe.

Our 10 hour bus ride was interesting...cramped, frantic and long.  As things turned dark I witnessed the most incredible sunset - a rainbow of colors across the entire dome of the sky.  Children were running toward the bus to meet parents, suddenly appearing as if from nowhere from the vast savanna.  Just as I was feeling peaceful and relaxed from those beautiful sites, we arrived in the city of Maun, where we spent the next hour with our taxi driver trying to find accomodations, since everything in town was booked!  Just when we afraid we would have to shell out $100 to stay somewhere, we landed at a fantastic (and one of the cheapest) place right on the water.  Here we had a cute tent with "real" beds, outdoor bamboo bathrooms where you could shower under the stars, and a huge waterside bar and restaurant.

The Okavango Delta is a huge 16,000 sq km mass of channels and islands, and the traditional method of transport through it is through the mokoro boat.  A mokoro looks very similar to a canoe, but is hand carved (our guide made his own over a 3 month period) and sits lower in the water.  Upon first seeing a rather fragile looking mokoro, I wasn't sure it would support me, Guy, the poler (functioning much like the gondolier) and all of our loot, but of course it did just fine.  Our poler and guide, Teman, skillfully glided us through the reeds, pointing out birds, frogs and plants along the way.  There were beautiful waterlillies everywhere we looked.  The ride was so peaceful, it was more relaxing than any massage I've ever received!  All that could be heard was the wind rustling through the reeds and the gentle plop of the pole into the water every few seconds.  So tranquil.
 

After our ride we landed on a large island where we ventured on a lengthy game walk.  Teman warned us of what to do if we ran into different animals, but also warned us we might not see ANY animals.  Almost immediately we spotted an elephant...it was amazing!  It was also a little unnerving, knowing he could cut across the field and charge us at any moment!  We also saw a warthog, antelope, a buffalo skeleton and several birds. 

After our quite lengthy walk, we were exhausted and had a break before Teman "poled" us back.  As wonderful as it was to be floated along the river, I felt bad for all the work Teman did as we just sat there!  We of course wondered just how much he was getting paid for his work and how much our hostel owner's cut was (considering Teman's lunch was a large piece of pound cake and he had a rather swollen ankle that looked as though it needed attention).  When we asked whether he like his job, he said yes, and mentioned something along the lines of getting paid more fairly now.  I hope that's true.

The Okavango Delta certainly made our brief time in Botswana worth the trip, with incredible tranquility and lots of natural beauty.

south africa - capetown, kimberely & mafikeng

Cape Town is a little...different...than Johannesburg.  Its one of the most highly visited cities in the entire continent in Africa.  Its a beautiful city, with stunning ocean views and landscapes.  Its also full of tourists and lots of high end shopping, accommodations and restaurants.  I'm sure if one had lots of money, this would be a fabulous destination.  There is a large mix of ethnicities represented here, including heritage from:  Europe, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, Mozambique, Mauritius, Saint Helena and Southern Africa.  While the local population comprised of a wonderful medley,  I had a hard time not sneering at the gobs of rich white teenagers with their hoity-toity parents sauntering down the streets, as if they owned them.  I guess we all have our prejudices we have to work through, my own included.

Despite my irritations on the walkways, we did enjoy some of the local attractions.  Our first day we visited The Castle of Good Hope (a historic military station), Iziko Slave Lodge (an ancient slave house and modern day museum detailing the history of slavery in Cape Town), some lovely gardens and a walk down Long Street (where lots of the action takes place).

The following day we visited the Waterfront, which was absolutely beautiful and quite reminiscent of California's coastline.  While walking around we tried to catch a glimpse of Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, but couldn't see it, and the tour to visit it was a bit pricey.  We did catch a glimpse of the new stadium constructed for the 2010 World Cup, from a distance. 

Next we climbed "Lion's Head," a small mountain on the perimeter of the of the city.  We were hoping for spectacular views of the city and coastline, but instead were surrounded by an abundance of fog and cool mist!  There were beautiful flowers and plants along our walk, though, and it felt as if we weren't really in Africa, more like Maine or Ireland! 

From Cape Town, it was time to head northbound, slowly making our way to Nairobi, Kenya, in time to reach our flight by the beginning of February.  We landed in the city of Kimberely, South Africa, for a five day stay.  Kimberely is a much smaller town than Cape Town or Johannesburg, and bases most of its tourism on their history and diamond mining.  We went to visit "The Big Hole" a huge (now water-filled) hole that was created by 50,000 miners digging for diamonds over about 40 years (bringing forth some 2,700 kg of diamonds).  This is also where the company De Beers was formed, which to this day today still retains a monopoly over the world's diamond market.  There was also a museum, and what I thought was a rather odd mini-town, with old storefronts, displays, and lots of creepy mannequins.

Other than Big Hole, our time in Kimberely was mostly spent at our hotel, where we tried to stay cool in the sweltering heat of high 90's everyday.  (I guess we did play a game of mini-golfing, where I was the reigning champion.)  We were staying in (well, next to) a lovely historic home with a huge kitchen and great amenities, which we were able to enjoy.  Our sleeping quarters, however, we not as lovely, as we were staying the dorm room full of bunks, and only one small window, which let in lots of hungry mosquitoes at night.  Who doesn't love deciding whether to have heat stroke or be eaten alive?!  We were able to utilize the kitchen to assemble our impromptu Thanksgiving meal of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and cupcakes for dessert.  It was good, but left me missing cranberry sauce, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and most importantly, my family.  I was grateful, however, that Guy and I were able to share a lovely meal together in South Africa!

From Kimberley we found out our only option to cross the border into Botswana was to take a combi, (minibus).  So has begun one of what I believe will be many combi rides.  Gone are the days of the luxuriously huge buses of South America.  Combis are packed full with about 15 passengers, when really, they would be "comfortable" (and I say that word loosely) with about 10.  And combis don't leave at a specific time.  You wait until they are full, and then you leave.  We showed up at 9:30 am, and left about 1:30 pm.  And if you're taller than 5ft, you won't have sufficient leg room either.  Four hours later, we arrived at our final stop in South Africa,  Mafikeng, just at the border before crossing into Botswana.  While Guy was hopeful that we were going to discover something good in this town, I wasn't crossing my fingers.  Even though there was nothing noteworthy there, it was a nice place to rest for a day before heading onto our next destination...Gaborone, Botswana!

south africa - johannesburg

Oh sweet Africa.

From our wonderful stay in Buenos Aires, we took a nine hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.  Although it is really hard to avoid culture shock when going somewhere completely new, I feel as though the transition here has been very easy for me, much easier than when we landed in Lima!  We went right to our hostel in Kensington, just east of downtown Johannesburg.  We slept for awhile, since neither of us got any sleep on our overnight plane ride, and we were already thrust five hours ahead of schedule.

The next day we ventured out from our lovely hostel complex by walking a couple of miles to downtown Johannesburg.  We went to the Carlton Tower (the tallest building in Africa at 50 stories) to see the "Top of Africa," a rather nice 360 degree view of the entire city of Johannesburg.  We also just kind of wandered around the city, just to take it all in, and ate at Nando's, a South African eatery with lots of delicious spicy chicken and Portugese flavor.

Saturday was our biggest day in Johannesburg.  We took a day long tour through our hostel, that was REALLY good.  And I can even say that even when I was sick all day!  We started by heading to the Apartheid Museum.  The country of South Africa has a history deeply entrenched in racism, much like that of the United States.  The system of apartheid was enforced for nearly 50 fifty years, with policies to keep races separate, favoring the white population (to put it gently).  Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years before being released, leading the country into a new post-apartheid era, and elected in the first democratic election as President. As much as I would love to go on and on about the history of the country and of Mandala, you can click on this link to read more if you'd like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_under_apartheid  The museum was very state of the art and provided excellent information.

From there we headed to the well-known area of Soweto.  Within Soweto there are about 30 townships, some fairly wealthy to extremely poor.  Our tour guide took us to both extremes.  During that time, we drove by Archbishop Desmond Tutu's former home, visited Nelson Mandela's former home, visited the Hector Pieterson Musuem, and made a stop at the Soweto Kliptown Youth Center (SKY).  This place was amazing.  We got an official "tour" from one of the children living there, who showed us where the other children live, eat, learn, and play.  The kids were so friendly and in really good spirits.  The center is located right in the Kliptown township, which is full of shacks and very poor.  We met the founder of SKY, Bob, who sat down to chat with us for awhile and tell us about the organization.  We found out that he was featured on CNN's "Heroes" http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/cnn.heroes/interactive/gallery.heroes/content.1.1f.html and its really no surprise why.  He was an orphaned child himself growing up in Kliptown, and he has spent the last few decades of his life dedicated to bettering the lives of Kliptown children.  He was incredibly wise and inspirational as he sat and shared his story with us, as well as his views on life, poverty and reconciliation.  He definitely has such a powerful positive message of hope, and tears came into my eyes as he talked. 

After recovering from a tough day and horrible night of sickness (with the scare of a fever), we laid low and I recouped before we went to stay with a couple through "couchsurfing" in downtown Johannesburg.  They were amazing, not only letting us stay with them in their home, but making us wonderful food, teaching us about the culture, and showing us around.  Tiffany is actually originally from Minneapolis, and she recently married a man from South Africa.  She showed us around downtown, including Farady Market, where you can purchase herbs, unidentified hooves, and other strange items.  We also walked by street markets selling beautiful African art, jewerly and crafts.  Our lovely hosts also made us "braai" which is the South African equivalent of BBQ, including boerewors, a spicy sausage.  They also introduced us to biltong (strips of dried meat similar to beef jerky) which is a national obsession.  While he grilled the food on their highrise rooftop, we enjoyed incredible views of the city.

Our final day in Johannesburg included visiting Museum Africa, sampling the typical food of meat pies from Woolworth's (wait, didn't my grandma shop there?) and going to dinner with Tiffany and Chris at an amazing Indian restaurant. 

I think that Johannesburg is an AMAZING city.  It is full of struggle and overcoming struggle.  The crime rate is very high (everything downtown closes at 5:00), the AIDS epidemic is very real here (South Africa has the highest number of people infected with HIV in the world), poverty is rampant, and though apartheid has ended, inequality is still very present.  At times I felt very down in Johannesburg, learning more and more about the horrible history and oppression.  But there are amazing people living here with incredible spirit and I find this city to be one of the most fascinating and inspirational places I have visited yet.

all things argentina

So I guess this is really going to be more of "all things buenos aires," since we stayed in B.A. longer than anywhere else, and experienced the culture here more than the other places we visited.  Argentina is a HUGE country, and really, we only got a taste of what the country has to offer.  B.A. houses about a third of the total country´s population, but it certainly has its own unique culture (apart from the rest of the country).  One could write an entire book observing B.A. (and there are several), but I will just write a few things here for you to sample...

*  Everything in Buenos Aires starts LATE.  Most places don´t start serving dinner until 8:00, but most people don´t go until 9 or 10.  With their children.  And parties on the weekends don´t start until midnight, but most people don´t show up until later, and the parties go til the sun comes up.  Don´t these people need any sleep?!

*  The city (and whole country really) is much more "cosmopolitan" than the other countries we visited, offering incredible shopping opportunities, obvious style, and stunning architecture.

*  The porteños (locals) here are very passionate people.  It kind of feels like a junior high dance everywhere you go...you´re certain to see a couple making out at any given place (especially the park).

*  The traditional way to greet and part ways here is a kiss on the cheek, even if you are complete strangers, and even between two men.

*  That being said, the culture is full of machismo...with men calling to women with "compliments" and full of bravado.  Along with machismo, however, there is a chivalrous attitude, such as holding doors and other gentlemanly behavior.

*  B.A. is more ethnically diverse than other South American areas we have visited, with a variety of European countries blending their way into the culture.

*  Both men and women are very into appearance...looking good is highly important.  You can tell by the way many women carry themselves that they want you to look at them and admire them.  Going down any given street you are bombarded by images of "perfect" looking women plastered on billboardsThe pressure to look good is also the cause of a soaring rate of eating disorders and the reason a large number of people get plastic surgery.  Not a culture I would be able to handle in that respect.  I hardly felt adequate in my frumpy travel clothes and hiking boots!!  (Chelsea was very nice to lend me an outfit to "go out" in.) 

*  Its a cruel thing that everyone is so obsessed with watching their perfect figures because this place has the best food and drinks...hands down.  The coffee, wine and food are DELICIOUS.  I haven´t had a bad meal here.  The "fast food" pizza was even good.  And the food court at the mall??  No soggy burgers or cold fries!  Delicious pastas, grilled meats and fresh salads are on the menu.  The food here is really as good as people say it is.

*  Why didn´t someone tell me that the best ice cream in the world is in Buenos Aires?!!  I had no idea.  It is so creamy and delicious, and every heladaria (ice cream shop) has an extensive list of flavors, including several varieties of my favorites...chocolate and dulce de leche.

*  Since I´m on such a food kick, I´ll keep going.  I mentioned in another blog that parrilla is everywhere here.  It consists of barbequed meats, and lots of it.  Many families get together weekly to indulge together.  Another common tradition is that of yerba mate.  We got to experience this at Chelsea and Ale´s place.  One person takes the mate gourd and fills it almost full of dried yerba leaves and covers it with very hot water.  One person then drinks it through a metal straw until the cup needs to be filled again.  Everyone drinks from the same gourd, and apparently there are many rules and guidelines to this common "ritual."

* In B.A., they have their own version of Spanish called "castellano."  Pronounciation of some spanish words and vocabulary varies some from "traditional" español.

*  Not as many stray dogs in B.A. (comparatively) but lots of dog walkers (with several dogs) can be spotted throughout the city.

*  The city is fairly polluted with the high amount of traffic fumes going into the air and garbage lines the streets.  Poor cartoneros (garbage collectors) sort through the garbage bags looking for recyclables to sell, leaving the streets even more of a mess!

* In B.A., they have their own version of Spanish called "castellano." Pronounciation of some spanish words and vocabulary varies some from "traditional" español.
* Within the last decade, there was economic collapse, and more than half of the population was in poverty. With Kirshner in office (the president who just died), the country is slowly becoming more stable. None of this seems to influence the shopping habits of many locals!

* Argentina is more expensive than other South American countries we have visited, but still about four pesos to the American dollar.

That is my brief short attempt at Argentine culture, hope I got it right Chelsea!  Correct me if I am wrong!

argentina - buenos aires

We´ve had the chance to stay in the city of Buenos Aires for two weeks with our friends Chelsea and Ale.  They have a cute apartment in the Caballito neighborhood, where they´ve graciously allowed us to invade their lives and treated us wonderfully during our stay.  Here´s what we´ve done during our time here:

Walked through the Microcenter to visit the historic Plaza de Mayo, where much of Argentina´s history has occured  and where the Casa Rosada (Pink House) resides -- former Presidential Palace, current Presidential offices.  We also saw the Palacio del Congreso where we took a tour (it looks a bit like the U.S. capitol) and strolled through the Plaza del Congreso.  The moment we arrived in Buenos Aires, we heard that the current President´s husband, Nestor Kirchner (and recent President himself) had died, which is clearly a big deal.  There were lots of messages and memorials hanging in the Plaza del Congreso in honor of Nestor.

* Purchased very cheap costumes and celebrated Halloween Buenos Aires style...starting at 1:00 a.m. at a friend´s party and ending at 7:00 a.m. at a dance club.

*  Sipped divine cappuchinos in several cafes and a submarino (hot chocolate) at the famous Cafe Tortoni.

* Wandered the streets of San Telmo, window shopping in the many antique shops.

* Ate at Ale´s fabulous cafe he recently took over with his sister and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

*  Visited the neighborhood of Recoleta where we went to the Cemetario de la Recoleta, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and strolled through a market.  The cemetary was really spectacular, housing B.A.´s famous and weathly in extravagent mausoleums, including Evita´s.

*  Attended a dance show of one of Chelsea and Ale´s friends as well as an incredible performance called "Fuerza Bruta."  It was a rather interactive music/dance sensory experience where at one point we had a large tarp fashioned as a swimming pool with "swimming dancers" inches from our heads!  Look it up on youtube to see clips of it.

*  Strolled down the cobbled waterfrond walkways of Puerto Madero and enjoyed some libations with our friends.

* Sampled delicious ice cream and wonderful foods around the city.

* Used public transport, including the subway, where Guy got pickpocketed! Luckily we didn´t lose more than $25, but his check card had to be cancelled, and I think his pride was more hurt than anything!

*  Took a two-hour bus ride to the city of San Antonio de Areco to experience gaucho (cowboy) culture.  While it was a peaceful and charming little town, we didn´t get to experience much "gaucho" and realized the big yearly festival...was the very next day!

*  Along with Chelsea, Ale and their friend Christian, we took a quick train ride to the riverside suburb of Tigre to look through their huge market.  Chelsea said its a place many folks from B.A. go for a weekend getaway, much like "up north" for Minnesotans. 

*  Visited some green spaces in the Palermo area at the Rosedal (Rose Garden) where we saw the most beautiful roses I´ve ever seen. 

We have one more day before leaving the continent of South America, and I can´t believe its already time to go to Africa!  The last several days have been a bit tough for me sick I´ve been battling an illness and had to take it easy.  I´m hopeful that I will be feeling better soon so I will be up to site seeing when we arrive in South Africa.  During our last day I hope to get in some of the best ice cream in town...Freddo´s...and enjoy one more meal with Chelsea and Ale before we head out.  Its been a blast!

argentina - san ignacio & puerto iguazu

After the glorious visit to Cafayate, we took a day in Salta to regain our bearings and get ready for another fat bus ride, this time some 19 hours to the east, with San Ignacio mission and Iguazu Falls as our destination points.  I made the poor choice of not taking motion sickness pills for the ride, so was feeling quite dizzy and generally not well when we arrived in San Ignacio.  It was raining pretty hard the night before and continued to rain throughout the day we were there, so we looked pretty hilarious as we attempted to hobble down the rocky and muddy (unpaved) streets towards the center of town in search of food and the mission.  We read that many businesses in Argentina are closed during the bulk of the afternoon, and we definitely found that to be the case.  Luckily we finally stumbled upon both a dining establishment and the San Ignacio Mini mission. 

San Ignacio Mini is one of the many Jesuit missions set up to convert the native Guarani population to Christianity in the 17th century.  It was rediscovered about a hundred years ago, and is supposed to be one of the best preserved ruins in Latin America (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site).  Here we could see where both the Jesuits and Guarani lived, worked and worshipped.  The architectural details, particularly along the church entrance, were still visible, and quite stunning.  We were looking forward to the "Sound and Lights Spectacular" after sunset, where there was to be a performance using "cutting-edge technology" depicting scenes from the era.  We didn´t know if it would be cheesy or fantastic, but found out it was going to cost even more money so decided to skip it.  Of course it was interesting to stand in the midst of the ruins think about what things were really like during those times, how the Jesuits in fact treated the Guarani people, and the fact that the Roman Catholic religion is the predominate faith throughout South America. 

After our quick stint in San Ignacio, we took a five hour bus ride further east to Puerto Iguazu, where we would spend a few days to visit Iguazu Falls, see the Hito Tres Fronteras (a point overlooking two rivers and the 3-way borer between Argentina, Brazil & Paraguay...that´s what this picture is from), and just hang around town.  The city of Puerto Igauzu itself is quite touristy (and a little dull), and we stayed at a less than desirable hostel.  It initially SEEMED like a good place to be - with a pool, large screen TV with lots of movies to choose from, breakfast included, and a private bathroom, but...the pool was gross, the TV would cut out all the time from power outtages, the breakfast wasn´t good, the whole place reeked of dogs and the electricity cut out in our room frequently (leaving you in a cold dark shower).  More upsetting than this was the fact that I woke up one morning covered in bug bites (more so than when I was working with the monkeys even!), which I am still trying to decipher where they came from, since its not like we had swarms of mosquitoes in our room or an open window... 

But none of this really all that significant in comparison to the spectacular falls that we visited (although I am still scratching like mad even as I write this)!  Iguazu Falls are made up of some 275 individual cascades, with the highest drop of over 80 meters, along a huge semi-circle almost three kilometers long.  To me, they really dwarfed Niagara Falls, both in size and impact, and I can´t believe that I had never even HEARD of them until this last year!  When we arrived, we got on a little train that takes you to all of the different paths you can walk to view the falls.  We looked at the Paseo Superior (upper falls) first, and I thought they provided the most beautiful views of the falls, as you can see here...

 

Next, we walked the Paseo Inferior (lower falls), where we were allowed to get quite close to the falls in a few spots.  More than the scenery though, I appreciated the fact that we got some nice sprays of water, since the sun was beginning to get quite scorching as the afternoon progressed. 

We had read that we might have a chance to view some wildlife during our visit, and I was quite skeptical that we would actually see any, due to the number of people visiting.  I turned out to be incredible wrong, because we saw LOTS of wildlife, including the same crazy capuchin monkeys we worked with weeks ago, tajons, lizards, birds and LOADS of butterflies, in every color of the rainbow.  I have never seen so many in my life, and they were so beautiful!  The only thing we didn´t get to see which I hoped we would were toucans.

The final walk we took in the day was to "Garganta del Diablo" (The Devil´s Throat) which was definitely the most dramatic/powerful/loud!  Here we were practically enveloped in a large semicircle of falls, with loads of water dumping all around us, creating huge amounts of rising mist and beautiful rainbows.  Like the Grand Canyon, it is definitely difficult to describe a natural phenomenon of this magnitude!  Definitely an unforgettable experience.

 

We leave this afternoon for a lengthy bus ride to Buenos Aires, where we will stay with friends for a few weeks.  We are very excited to see them and their city, and can´t believe this will be our last stop in South America!

argentina - salta & cafayate

So after our marathon bus extravaganza, we landed in Salta, where we took things pretty easy, and spent a few days just chillin and getting accostumed to higher prices and a stricter budget.  Salta is a lovely city, with a cosmopolitan feel, and what I imagine Buenos Aires to feel like, on a much smaller scale.  There is a beautiful main square, which we visited in both in the daytime and nighttime, enjoyed some new indulgences, and stayed at a nice hostel with a very friendly owner.  There are three things that were new to us in Argentina that we experienced fairly quickly...1) dulce de leche - a delicious caramel straight from the plastic tub right onto our bread for breakfast (almost every morning thus far), 2) empanadas - yummy pasties filled with meat, chicken or cheese, sold everywhere and a cheap meal and 3) parrilla/asado/mixed grill.  So, we know that Argentine´s enjoy their meat, and we found out when we ordered our mixed grill for 2...the waiter came out with a small grill that he put on our table full of chicken, ribs, steak, sausage, intestines, blood sausage and some unidentifiable meat that was really gross.  While most of the meat was pretty good, a lot of it was fatty, and I couldn´t bring myself to eat more than a bite of the intestines and none of the blood sausage.  The wine and fries we purchased with it helped it go down a little easier.  I´m certainly not a huge meat-eater, but thought I would indulge Guy this once and give it a try. 

From Salta, we took a 5 hour bus ride to the charming town of Cafayate.  Its fairly touristy, but out of all of the places we have visited thus far, I can imagine living here more than anywhere else.  Its covered in bodegas (wineries) and beautiful countryside - a smaller city - but with all of the amenities you need.  We are staying in a fantastic "hostel" which is more like a three bedroom extention of this wonderful family´s home, and they have been so kind and helpful to us.  The accomodations look very new, and only about $15 U.S. dollars a night!  Plus, they have the cutest puppy in the world.  (In case this leg of the trip sounds a bit extravagant, let me assure you, we ate many meals from the supermarket in order to do some of this...plus the wine tours were all FREE!!)

One of the first things we did in Cafayate was visit a few of the bodegas - "Domingo" and "El Transito," where we got tours and sampled some delicious wine and cheese.  That night we had some really good steak and pizza on the main plaza.  Another night we both tried a "lomito" sandwich, which had steak, ham and eggs, and really delicious (and probably really unhealthy!)  Another yummy treat was the gourmet ice cream "heladaria" that we visited and indulged in exotic flavors like wine sorbet and banana dulce de leche.

One of the days we went on a day excursion to "Los Cascades" (waterfalls) just outside of town.  Guy had read about this place online, and apparently its a pretty popular place to go for a hike and of course see the waterfalls.  So we took a 10 minute cab ride to the edge of where the hike begins, and decided to pass by the "guias" or guides that take gringos through.  I was feeling very apprehensive about going without a guide, but Guy assured me of his boy scouting days, and off we went...in the wrong direction.  Luckily, two young girls saw us going the opposite direction and pointed out the correct way.  We realized fairly quickly that this wasn´t the easy hike with a clear walking path that both of us had envisioned.  About a half an hour into the hike I was feeling really uncertain of our whereabouts (though we were to follow the river) and really wishing we had a guide.  Moments later a group appeared behind us, and gave me the serious reassurance I needed to feel good about where we were headed! 

It certainly was a challenging hike, with lots of rock climbing and river crossing, and both of us had our spills and scrapes along the way.  When we finally arrived at the third and final waterfall, we were fully prepared with our swimming suits to dive in for a swim.  We were pretty warm from our hike, but this water was BEYOND cold!  The group we had seen earlier was also at this last spot, and Guy and I took our turns walking into the water up to our waists and going underneath the frigid falls, while they cheered and clapped for us.  I´m thinking this was Lake Superior cold!  From here we headed back to the beginning of our trek, where we found no taxis, and had to do the one hour walk back to town.  After 8 hours on foot (since leaving that morning), we arrived back at our hostel, exhausted!

The next day we headed out...for horseback riding!!  I was so excited.  Our hostel owner had been trying to coordinate this for us for a few days, and I wasn´t certain it was going to happen.  We had also heard there was a horse man that had horses on some corner just out of town that we had visited twice and had no luck (just horse poop).  It seemed you just had to be able to catch this man at the right time in order to be able to go!  The man we ended up going out with was that very horse man, Freddie, and for a 3 hour ride.  While a bit hot at times, it was a fantastic ride and we had beautiful scenery almost the entire time.  Horseback riding in Argentina?  I think I´ve died and gone to heaven.

Today (our fifth and final day), we visited two more bodegas  - one of the biggest in town - Bodegas Etchart, and a smaller one in town, Bodegas Nanni.  Bodegas Etchart gave us a wonderful, more lengthy tour (the others were only a few minutes long), with a generous tasting, and in my opinion, the best tasting wine.  We were a bit startled when we looked over to see a group of children standing next to us, watching us during our tasting and continuing the tour with us.  I don´t remember any wine tours in my elementary school days, but I do suppose it is a large part of their culture and existence in Cafayate! 

Five days in Cafayate has been heavenly, and definitely one of my favorite places thus far on our trip!

all things bolivia

Bolivia has lots of similaries to Peru culturally, including food, showers, dogs...see my blog on Peru to check it out (http://heidi-leapyear.blogspot.com/2010/09/all-things-peru.html).  Here´s a few more observations about our latest country we spent almost a month in!

*  Bolivia seems less touristy and locals don´t seem to hound others to buy their stuff, come into their restaurants, or use their services.  Overall, a much more chilled-out vibe.

*  The roads are AWFUL.  Bus and taxi rides are long and very uncomfortable!

*  Motorbikes are quite popular and not uncommon to see three people on one.  In fact, the record I saw was a family of FIVE!

*  It felt a little crazy that while staying at Init Wara Yassi we were amongst the largest area in the country for producing coca leaves for the use of cocaine.  That being said...

*  Bolivia gets a rep for being a more "dangerous" country, but we really never felt unsafe during our month-long stay here. 

*  Along with the chilled-out feel, there is a also friendly feel...from the cross-walk zebras of La Paz to friendly small town taxi drivers who would slow down to wave and smile at their friends along the journey.

*  Fresh juice can be purchased practically anywhere, made with water or milk and come in lots of delicious flavors...papaya, pineapple, strawberry, orange, apple, banana, peach and sometimes passion fruit.  There is also a very delicious bottled juice called Jugo Del Valle which I absolutely loved.

*  Popular packaged snacks are choko soda (soda crackers covered in chocolate) and cremositas (very similar to oreos) as well as oreos and chips ahoy.  Soda is everwhere...mostly CocaCola and Fanta. 

*  Salteñas are a popular street food like an empanada with a mixture of meat, chicken, veggies, rice and/or potatoes.  Very yummy, although I did find an entire chicken wing in one, bone and all (which made me laugh), and an intenstine (which didn´t make me laugh).

*  And finally, the thing that has been puzzling me the most since we´ve been here (and I´m hoping someone knows the answer to)...can someone tell me why the milk, yogurt, and mayonese never seem to be refrigerated?  How do they not go bad?  Even in the stores, they are mostly on the shelves, not the cooler?  I would like some answers...

bolivia - santa cruz & around

From Inti Wara Yassi, catching a bus to Santa Cruz is a bit of a challenge.  You are supposed to sit by the side of the road and try to wave one by (there´s only three times a day they pass) and hope that they have a few seats and stop to pick you up.  Not fun.  We had 5 people trying to leave IWY at the same time, and were a little worried any bus would have 5 seats available.  Luckily, a man with a mini-van came by and offered us a good price to take the 5 of us.  We were a little wary of him at first since he said he needed to stop home quickly first, but showed us his taxi office first and upon seeing his family (and realizing he hadn´t been home in awhile), we realized he was ok.  And he really was.  So our trip to Santa Cruz turned out to be a pretty easy one after all!

Santa Cruz turned out to be a much nicer city than I thought it would be, and is actually the 2nd largest in all of Bolivia.  Its a sunny, hot place where we took a few days and did a little relaxing after all of the monkey madness.  We stayed in a nice hostel with a hammock-strewn courtyard and a few toucans, ate too much ice cream, got laundry done and watched a terrible movie at the movie theater, but at least it was in English...and the theater was air-conditioned! 

From Santa Cruz we took a mini-van to Samaipata, a smaller town with an unusual mix of gringos and Bolivians.  They had fantastic restaurants, including a French bakery with croissants and chocolate filled breads.  Here we visited "El Fuerte," an ancient Inca ceremonial complex, one of Bolivia´s most significant (interesting, but no Macchu Picchu).  Later, we found a tour agency run by a German man and a Dutch man (they were very hilarious and fun) called "Road Runners" http://www.the-roadrunners.info/ where we booked a day trip to visit Parque National Amboro to see the "Volcanes" (which are not in fact volcanos, but large sandstone formations that I suppose resemble volcanos!).

We set out in the morning for our day long hike which included beautiful scenery, lots of walking and crossing a river several times (which was surrounded by stunning multi-colored rocks).  Our tour guide Martin showed us lots of interesting plants along the way including the "fasting moving plant" (which curled up upon someone touching it), crazy bird nests, walking stick bugs, black wasps that can kill you in 4 or 5 stings, gorgeous butterflies, and a plant that can cure parasite infection with one cup of tea.  We definitely came across some difficult terrain, and I learned my lesson to NOT wear my sandals for a hike ever again!  I rolled/twisted my ankle 4 times and got quite cut up, making the day not as enjoyable as it would have been with my boots!  Live and learn.  We were able to jump into the river in two places to do some swimming, and that was a definite highlight of the day for me.

From Samaipata, we headed to Vallegrande, another small town, about 3 hours by bus.  Here we booked a day trip to see the sights of Che Guevara, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara) South American revolutionary hero killed in the late 60´s.  We found out we were visiting right by the anniversary of his death (October 9th was the anniversary, we were there on the 10th).  Our tour consisted of a very long, bumpy, winding drive of about 3 hours (it seems that all of our recent drive have been of similar conditions...and let me emphasize BUMPY), to the town of La Higuera, where Che was captured and killed in a tiny schoolhouse.  When we got to La Higuera, we saw a few statues/memorials and the schoolhouse, which had very few artifacts and photos.  We rode back three more hours to Vallegrande where we visited the hospital laundry tub where Che´s body was flown and put on display after he was killed.  We also visited his gravesite/tomb, which housed several of his comrades and numerous photos of Che.  The tour was certainly a long day (and not seeing a whole lot), but interesting to see such a significant part of South American history.  And it made me really want to watch the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries."

This concludes our journey through Bolivia!  Well, almost.  We had a somewhat tedious journey from Vallegrande to Santa Cruz of about 4 or 5 hours, then decided to take a bus that same evening to Argentina.  So after being off of the Vallegrande bus for a few hours, we got back onto one that left at 7pm, and arrived at our destination at 4pm the next day.  The ride itself was as pleasant as it could be, with comfortable seats and all, but we were awoken at 4am to commence our lengthy border-crossing extravaganza.  It took 4 hours total for the entire process.  Seriously.  Then as soon as we got back on the bus, we stopped 4 or 5 more times for Argentinian police to search our belongings and the bus, complete with drug-sniffing dogs.  I suppose since we were coming from coca country of Bolivia, perhaps we were more of a target?  Or maybe its routine for all members entering the country?  Either way, after 4 hours on a bus, then 21 hours, then another 1 hour bus ride to Salta, then walking a mile to our hostel, I was ready to relax! 

We´ve already had some lovely time in the country of Argentina, but I´ll leave that...for the next blog!