"Goodbye South America"

Goodbye South America .... for now

What an amazing adventure we have enjoyed over the past two months. Unfortunately, all great things must come to an end. We have memories, pictures and videos to last us a lifetime. We also met some awesome people along our journey. (Thanks for the good times: Jens, Hannah, David, Jackie, Aria, Mark, Johnny, Charlie, Andy, Meghan, Jen, Kelly, Gabe, Kira, Fabio, Stav, Nick, Casper, Erika, Tanya, and Stephanie!) From the jungle in Ecuador, to Machu Picchu in Peru, to the Salt Flats in Bolivia, the dessert in Chile, and to the vineyards in Argentina, it was one beautiful experience after another. 

We will miss you SA, but we will be back!

Our journey!

 

Stats of our trip

• Over 160 hours on buses (that's about a week)
• 2 boat rides
• 2 plane rides
• 24 hostels
• 5 countries visited
• $6k spent (including flights)
• 3,049 miles covered by bus
• 4 currencies used
• 1 visa required (Bolivia)
• 3 time zones

What we look forward to in the States

Being able to put TP in the toilet and not a trash bin next to it

Drinkable tap water

Ice cubes

Publix subs

Pretty much any food besides chicken and rice

Safe roads 

Urine free streets

Good coffee

Paying for something without having to convert the currency in your head

Consistent water pressure and temperature

iPhone 5 (go figure)

Being able to pick up a phone to call family and friends

Spoken English

American football (the real futball)

Last pic in SA, before stateside tomorrow

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires

After our last overnight bus ride (8 total for the trip), we landed in the Paris of South America, Buenos Aires! We figured in our two months in South America, we spent about a week in buses alone, we are happy to call that our last bus in South America. Buenos Aires (aka BA) has been the best capital (and the biggest, about 13 million) in our journey. Our first day, we decided to go visit the Casa Rosado, their White House. If you remember the play Evita, or the movie of the same title starring Madonna, this is where she sang Don´t cry for me Argentina on the balcony. It is a beautiful, historic house that is home to the current Argentinian president. We also walked through a huge Sunday market, and visited the tomb of Eva Peron. Along with us, came our friends that we met in Mendoza, Argentina. 

Downtown BA

Hi! In front of Casa Rosado

Courtyard in Casa Rasado

Representing 2 states at Casa Rasado

I guess they cant smile for the camera

Argentinian flag above the Casa

Colonial buildings in front of modern buildings

The Sunday market....packed

A hint of color

Hard Rock BA with Stephanie, Tanya, and Erika

BA graveyard

Her tomb

Duarte was her maiden name

Drum Show and Tango Night

On the second night, we joined our friends at an awesome drum show called La Bomba de Tiempo. For $8, we got the show of a lifetime. To see 15 guys, playing drums of all different sorts, and the crowd moving to the beats, was an amazing, authentic BA experience. They next night, we were delighted to another great BA experience. We went to a downtown theatre for an all inclusive tango extravaganza. We received tango lessons from two professional tango dancers, had a great steak dinner with lots of malbec : ) , and enjoyed a phenomonal tango show!

La Bomba de Tiempo show

These guys were unbelievable

The girls at the show

We got front row seats!

Here comes trouble!

Get ready for some tango!

Here we  go

Future tango stars

But the professionals were much better

Again, front row for another great show

Almost show time

Now starring .......

Gardens and Museums

Our next day, Erika accompanied us to the Japanese garden and the rose garden. It was nice to be surrounded by so much greenery in a city of this size. Amanda and Erika even had a chance to put up wish cards in the Japanese garden. The following day, we attended the Eva Peron museum to learn more about Argentina´s most popular woman. 

Pretty as a rose

Wish time

Japanese garden

Huge coyfish (like 15 pounders) in the pond behind us

The rose garden

Eva Peron Museum (built in 1905)

See Juan and Eva Peron behind us

La Boca

Our last day in BA, we headed to the neighborhood of La Boca. Lots of brightly colored buildings, souvenier shops, and tourists galore. There were also many cafes with tango shows on the doorsteps of the restaurants. It´s sad to say, but our trip is nearing its end. We fly back to Quito tomorrow for a few day stop, then back to the states. :(

Tango dancers in La Boca

Famous corner in La Boca

Interesting building

He´s got big hands

So colorful!

La Boca

Mendoza, Argentina - Wine Country

Mendoza, Argentina

Well, we made it to Argentina! A beautiful bus ride from Santiago, Chile, about 8 hours, landed us in the wine capital of Argentina! Even for a city of close to a million people, Mendoza has a quaint, small town feel to it. Being in Mendoza, you have to at least visit some vineyards, it would be a crime not to, a crime! We spent the first few days walking the town, buying cheap wine, usually no more than $2-5. From there, with a stomach full of Malbec, we planned our next few days excursions. 

Gates to the parque

River in the parque

Listening to some Argentinian musica

Friends we made from Colorado (Hi Erica, Stephanie, and Tanya!)

Splurged one night on an awesome dinnner @ Anna Bistro

Wild and crazy dude

Dancing in the park

About to put on her red cape

Hi! From Mendoza

Thanks for the good times Hostel Independencia

Vineyard Tour #1

A thirty minute bus ride from Mendoza is the wine-making region of Maipu, there you can find olive farms, chocolatiers, and famous winerys such as Lopez, Trapiche, and Trivento. In Maipu, we rented bikes to take in some of these sights. First stop, was Historias y Sabores chocolatier. There we tried various types of jams, delicious chocolates, and a chocolate and banana liqeur. After some more vineyards (and tastings of course), we hopped back on our bike and pedalled back to the bike rental shop after a long, hot day of indulging ourselves!

Chocolate liqeurs

Tasting time!

Mucho vino

The cellar at Tempus Alba winery

Tempus Alba bodega aka winery

Mount Aconcagua (22,800ft) in background, highest in Americas

The pool

It was very hot in Mendoza, not Florida hot, but hot none the less. So we heard of a water park about an hour outside the city and felt we deserved a much needed dip. We spent the day at Cacheuta water park slipping and slideing all over the place. Think Wet n Wild, but in the desert and with prettier scenary. 

On the suspension bridge

See the fun slide in the left corner

Cacti and slides

The water was cold in that pool

Vineyard Tour # 2

Our next excursion was an all day bike tour to three popular winery/vineyards. Our first stop was at the Tapiz winery, where we had an amazingly animated guide named Juan. We got a chance to put our glass below the giant, metallic cistern and taste some unfinished wine. We then compared it to the finished product out of the bottle. It was a great learning experience to understand how the soil, sun, and precipitation can alter a wine from one year to the next. Our next winery was at Dolium, where we had a pasta lunch and of course, MORE WINE. Last stop (and about 6mi away) was the Norton winery, one of the biggest in Argentina. It had perfectly manicured grounds, and a huge vineyard. We also went below ground to their cellar and saw some old bottles of wine from the 1940s.

Vineyards at Tapiz Winery

Horse carriage ride outside the winery

Bikes and wine, always a good combination

Poopie the llama was the vineyard pet

Juan explaining how this machine squishes the grapes

Tapiz cellar

The winemaker of Dolium Winery

Be careful Cory!

Dolium has an underground winery

Last stop, Norton Winery

The roof mimics a wine barrel

In the cellar

It´s sippin time!

Some ageing wine bottles behind us

Norton´s manicured grounds

Time for a lil taste of the bubbly