HI Hostel Campo Grande, Campo Grande, Brazil

Back in Brazil after 3 months of travelling in other parts of South America.

On Monday morning applied for a new Brazilian visa at the Puerto Iguazu consulate, and could already pick it up at 1pm. The new visa allows me to stay here for 15 days, which is a bit weird because the consulate usually issues 30-day visas. I was afraid to ask them for an explanation, but 15 days should be enough anyway.

We decided to stay another night in the small and cosy Puerto Iguazu and left early Tuesday morning for Brazil. Entering Brazil went smoothly. Ended up in Foz do Iguaçu. This town offers two attractions:

• the Iguazu (or Iguaçu) Falls, i.e. the same falls that we already saw from the Argentinian side, so decided to skip them, and
  
• the Itaipu power plant, the world's largest hydro powerplant (by some criteria), on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.
  

Took the Special Tour to see the dam. The tour was very well organized, and the guide spoke fluent English and seemed to be knowledgeable about all the aspects of this massive construction and its history. Visually the most impressive part of the dam is the spillway (gets rid of extra water in the reservoir) which was half-open while we were there (it is completely closed for 90% of the year). The spillway rivals the Iguazu falls in impressiveness, but strangely very few tourists were around. People seem to prefer nature to human creation...

At 8pm took a night bus to Campo Grande, arrived here around 10am today morning. Campo Grande did not look that fascinating so been relaxing at the hostel (which has a pool).

Tomorrow will go to the Pantanal for 3 days / 2 nights (maybe will stay one night extra). The activities there include: boat trips, piranha fishing, hiking, jeep safaris, spotlight safaris. The main goal is to see a jaguar. After Pantanal will go directly to São Paulo and spend there our last days on the South American continent.

Hostel Las Palmeras, Puerto Iguazú (still here)

Got stuck here until at least Monday, maybe Tuesday.

Yesterday (Friday) tried to enter Brazil, but the border guards found my Brasilian visa not valid, according to them it had expired in mid January, i.e. 60 days after the first entry. The Brazilian consulate in Puerto Iguazú later interpreted the stamps in my passport in the same way. (Btw, did you know that the Brazilian visa allocates two pages, and an entry or exit stamp half a page in your passport.)

I asked them to contact the Brazilian embassy in Helsinki who had issued the visa which I have been interpreting as compatible with my (detailed) application letter (= I plan to travel in South America for a longer period of time with an entry and exit via São Paulo, separated by at least 3 months, i.e. at least two entries, each entry about 3 weeks long but the time between entries at least 90 days), namely that each of the multiple entries that I will make can last up to 60 days. Both the border control and the consulate refused to contact the embassy in Helsinki and offered as the only solution that I apply for a new visa. This is possible during weekdays between 8am and 11am, Friday was already too late, next opportunity is on Monday.

This is humiliating, and costs money (85 ARS = 22 USD) and time (at least 3 days). I've tried to contact various offices to get help (i.e. an apology and a speedier entry into Brazil) but failed, most importantly, the embassy in Helsinki only opens on Monday. Fortunately our round-the-world ticket is flexible, i.e. we can shift the dates of the flights.

Hostel Las Palmeras, Puerto Iguazú

Arrived here yesterday after an overnight bus trip from Buenos Aires. Back to the heat, humidity, mosquitoes...

Today visited the (Argentinian side of the) Iguazu Falls. The idea was to be the first tourist of the day to reach the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), the most impressive of the multiple falls in the Iguazú National Park. To achieve that we woke up at 6, took the 7 o'clock bus (10 ARS round-trip pp) to the park, waited there for 30 minutes until the gate was opened (8am) and tickets were started to be sold (85 ARS pp for foreigners). Then took the first miniature train to the Garganta. From the train's end station it is a 15 minute walk over the river to the fall. Some speed-walking was necessary to beat the trainful of people (the train was packed as many people had shown up for the opening of the park). Unfortunately three people where already there, on the final platform over the Garganta. Had they run faster than the train? Had they sneaked into the park before the opening time? Where they staying at the Sheraton (which is in the park)? We didn't ask...



Then visited the series of falls, viewable from multiple platforms above and under the falls. All the tourists had arrived by then, walking around was therefore slowed down and it was impossible to take photos with just the falls on them.

The falls are impressive (although maybe not as much as the Victoria Falls), the highlight of the day however was a group of coatis who were stealing food from people at the restaurant area. Coatis are incredibly cute animals, so people have been feeding them (although this is violating the park's rules) making them brave and thus turning them into pests (although still cute).



Finished the day in the park (closing time 5pm) with a walk on the Macuco trail to the Arrechea falls. As this trail is longer (3km one way) and less interesting (it goes through the forest full of spiders and butterflies but no waterfalls), it is also less touristic. Below the Arrechea falls is a natural pool which offered a refreshing swim.



Tomorrow will cross the border to Brazil, visit the Itaipu power plant and then go on to the Pantanal, hopefully with an overnight bus.

Hostel Inn, San Telmo, Buenos Aires

Arrived in Buenos Aires two days ago, after sunset. Landing at the Jorge Newbery airport in the middle of the city was impressive with the city lights extending to as far as eyes could see. Took the bus 45 (1.25 ARS pp.) and checked into a random hostel (Telmotango) in San Telmo.

Yesterday moved into Hostel Inn (a HI hostel) a few blocks from Telmotango. It was raining till the evening, so got soaked wet while exploring the antiquity market around Plaza Dorrego and the pedestrian-only streets between Plaza de Mayo and the Obelisco. In fact, it was raining so heavily that the "superclassico" football match Boca Juniors vs. River Plate was called off after 10 minutes of play.

Then met Tobias and sampled various Argentinian meats and beers till 2 o'clock in the morning.

Plans for today:

• Visit the corrugated iron sheet (Wellblech, laineplekk?) houses in La Boca
• Visit places related to J. L. Borges
• Visit the Recoleta cemetery
• Call British Airways to shift our flight out of South America by one week or so
• Visit a tango show
• Buy a bus ticket to Iguaçu Falls

Hostel Patagonia Pais, Ushuaia

Preparing physically and psychologically to leave Ushuaia for Buenos Aires by plane this afternoon. Thank God by plane, otherwise it would be a rough more than 48 hours bus ride. Today the 200 years of anniversary of Argentina starts here in Ushuaia and a few huge sailing boats arrived to the port from all over the world to participate. This morning we will take a look at them and maybe also visit the prison museum here.
Yesterday we had a nice day hike in the Tierra del Fuego National Park. It resembled a Nordic forest in Europe. Finally we have seen the typical autumn mushrooms there which I missed so much in Torres del Paine. It was strange to have the many berries over there without the mushrooms. Here the landscape was not that awe inspiring as in Torres del Paine, but still was very nice. The highlight was to pass by a beaver colony. It was on a small creek and all the trees on the shore were chewed down by these creatures and they made small dams out of them on the creek. Unfortunately we did not see the beavers themselves. But we have seen quite many birds (Magellanic woodpecker, kelp goose, sea gulls, cormorants, skuas, chimango caracara, ringed kingfisher etc.) and Kaarel's favourites, the rabbits. Some of them were very tame and we fed one some apples.
We reached the southernmost point of our trip in the park there.

Hostel Patagonia Pais, Ushuaia

Yesterday arrived here after a 12h bus ride from Rio Gallegos. The bus crossed 2 borders --- Argentina-Chile (this took long as the Chileans always scan your bags for plant and animal products) and Chile-Argentina --- and on the ferry the Strait of Magellan.

Ushuaia is another tourist-oriented town. Today will go and look for the feeling of the "end of the world", e.g. I'd like to take the GPS and go as far south as possible and amidst snowy mountains find a remote hut where a few remaining naked Yamana Indians drink 55-degree vodka. Unlikely that this will happen, so will probably just do laundry and look for a cheap flight to Buenos Aires.

Restaurant Viva la Pepa, El Calafate

Good, cheap, and large pizzas here. Didn't try their creppes as they were more expensive.

El Calafate is a small clean tourist-oriented town: lots of cafeterias, boutiques, restaurants, travel agencies. We spent some time finding out how much is the flight ticket from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, as we don't really want to travel 48h by bus. The cheap airline is called LADE, we walked to their office at the edge of the town (the town is really small, so the edge arrived quickly). Unfortunately, the whole March had been sold out, and they fly only on Fridays anyway. So we might fly with Aerolineas Argentinas, which is a  bit more expensive (around 210 USD) than the bus but will save us a couple of days.

Will go to Rio Gallegos in 1 hour, and from there to Ushuaia tomorrow. Expected to arrive at "the end of the world" at 8pm tomorrow.

Restaurant Nativos de la Patagonia, Glaciar Perito Moreno, Argentina

Took a 7-o'clock bus from Puerto Natales to El Calafate (Argentina), and upon arrival there (13 o'clock) jumped almost immediately on a bus to visit the Perito Moreno glacier. After seeing the other blue and large Patagonian glaciers, Pio XI and Glacier Grey, Perito Moreno is not that surprising any more, but is probably the most impressive one.
The glacier has the height of a 20-storey building and every 10 minute or so a large piece of it falls off and splashes into the water. The glacier can be viewed only from the distance as it would be too dangerous to go close (between 1968 and 1988 32 people died being hit on the head by a piece of ice).
We have been here already for 4 hours and almost finished a bottle of Pisco Sour (0.7l, 20 deg, 1750 CLP at UniMarc in Puerto Natales). Will go back to El Calafate in an hour (20.30) and then think what to do next.

The Net House Cibercafe, Puerto Natales

Back from a 6-day hike in Torres del Paine. Fought strong winds, heavy rain, snow, and intense sun (which comes straight through a hole in the ozone layer). Saw blue glaciers, icebergs, weird rock formations, rivers, lakes, animals (guanaco, fox), birds, and plants many of which grow also in Estonia (v6ilill, karikakar, ristikhein). Met many people (Lonely Planet has really done a good job hyping up this park).

Tomorrow will go to El Calafate.

(Can't write longer now as they will close the internet place here).

The Net House Cibercafe, Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales is a little windy town, where the houses are made of wood and covered by tin sheets. People drive Dodge and Chevrolet pick up trucks. All the modern facilities (ATM, WiFi, supermarket, good pavement) are here because travellers from all around the world start their multi-day hikes to the Torres del Paine national park from here.

We arrived here yesterday afternoon after 4-days/3-nights of sailing through the desolate Patagonian landscapes: there was cell phone signal for only 15 minutes close to S45.2 / W73.7. Otherwise the only human presence that we encountered was in Puerto Eden (200 inhabitants): the only place in Chile where one can buy handicraft made of sea lions. Because of bad weather (rain and wind) however, the
crew did not let us off shore to visit the village. The nature was a bit monotone and less impressive that I hoped for (Kaarel says that, Csilla was very much impressed): forest covered islands and peninsulas, kind of like in Finland, but with snowy mountains in the background. What was big and impressive however was the intense blue Pio XI glacier (the boat made a detour into the Fjord Eyre to visit it), part of which cracked and splashed into the water in front of our eyes. In terms of animals we saw sea lions, dolphins, even a killer whale (very rare!, spotted by Csilla), cormorants (who look like penguins), and penguins (who were maybe actually cormorants, Csilla: no they were not, they were penguins!!!).

The ferry provided more than just transportation from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales: there were a few lectures on fauna and glaciers (also in English), movies, a salsa party and we could also visit the bridge to see the radars and GPSs. Food was good on the ferry and we had a 4-person cabin only for ourselves, as the other 2 passengers did not show up. Most of the people on the boat were non-Chileans: a large group of German students and a few French, Dutch and Americans. (The Germans completely ruled the Bingo competition on the last night.)

Today we will go on a (probably) 5-day hike in the Torres del Paine, to do the so called W-track there. So won't be online before Sunday.

Some internet place, Puerto Montt

Bought the ferry ticket (480 USD pp, in a 4-person cabin, incl. all meals) to Puerto Natales this morning. Takes 4 days/3 nights to get there. The ferry passes through fjords so the views should be magnificent. Around Puerto Natales will try to do some hiking (Torres del Paine, Los Glaciares) to see more magnificent landscapes, then go to Ushuaia to visit the southernmost town in the world (at least according to the Argentinians). (Note that Puerto Montt is situated already more south than we have been before during this trip, the Cape of Good Hope was the previous record holder.)

Puerto Montt is much different from other South American towns that we have visited. It's late summer here, smells of hay, houses are made of wood, some streets almost resemble Tartu. And there is nothing to do here except for surfing in the internet. Will go to buy some wine now as it might get boring on the ferry after the first impressions of the passing fjords have worn off.

A hostel, Puerto Montt, Chile

After 19h to Bariloche, and then 7h we are back in Chile. Tomorrow will try to get the 4pm Navimag-ferry to Puerto Natales.

Hostel Ruca Potu, Mendoza, Argentina

Arrived in Mendoza after 7.5h in the bus going over the Andes (highest altitude was about 3200m). Mendoza is a nice European-looking town, surrounded by massive vineyards. In a couple of days the annual wine festival will start, today there was only a little festival on Plaza Italia to honor Italy many of whose people have come to live in Mendoza over the years. From nine to ten o'clock the police brass orchestra played and some opera arias were sung, as well as an Argentinian war song which everybody in the audience sang along. I tried to buy a cup of (Italian?) wine (for 2 pesos, i.e. 0.5 USD) but nobody had change from 50 pesos.

Staying at a hostel that offers free wireless and free wine. (The wine tastes horrible.) Tomorrow will have to check out already at 10.30. Our overnight bus to the next destination Bariloche is at 20.00.

Residencia en El Cerro, Valparaíso, Chile

Arrived in Valparaíso yesterday night and checked into a cute old wooden villa on Cerro Concepción. The street leading to the villa is filled with cats and nicely smelling trees (one was an orange tree, the names of the others I don't know). The accommodation is the most expensive one that we have had so far, 11,000 CLP (21 USD) per person in a private double room without a bathroom (but a basic breakfast is included, and there is wireless internet and one can use the kitchen).


Today walked around in Valparaíso, mostly climbing up and down from cerro (i.e. hill) to cerro. Many artists seem to live in Valparaíso, every second building in the hills is covered with graffiti, there are small restaurants and cafeterias.
Very few signs indicate that an earthquake hit this area just two days ago: at the port the pavement was cracked a bit, and the facade of several buildings has fallen off and some sidewalks have been sealed off for that reason. In the hills many of the buildings are old and shabby but strangely the earthquake doesn't seem to have harmed them at all.

We finally ended up at the bus station and tried to buy a bus ticket to Puerto Montt for tomorrow. All companies except for one claimed that the roads are broken and at the moment there is no service to the South. So we decided to buy tickets to Mendoza (Argentina) and will try to reach Patagonia from the Argentinian side, i.e. on the other side of the Andes.