Well, it seems like a full eon since I last posted. It was in fact just four days ago, but we’ve done loads since then. Let’s see where was I… Ah yes recovering from alcohol :S

Well, we spent a really nice day, that day, just being in Buenos Aires. Not rushing around, not visiting museums, not hurrying to get on a 49 year bus, it was the best day of the whole thing so far! I have discovered that I am a useless tourist; all I want to do is just wander around for a bit and not do anything in particular. Well, that’s not strictly true, but it’s really nice just to do nothing except sit for a day and not have to worry about missing busses and things. Anyway, on with the show.

We left Buenos Aires, as much as I was loathe to leave, and arrived in Posadas before quickly leaving. Posadas is devoid of things to do except cross the border into Paraguay, which we did. Paraguay held a Jesuit mission, the least visited Unesco site on Earth, apparently! The ruins were lovely in the late afternoon sun, and afterwards we went to a hotel for a drink. Just one this time, though.

This was quite an experience in itself. The barmaid apparently understood no Spanish, so went in to fetch her boyfriend (I assume it was her boyfriend). He didn’t understand anything either (despite the fact we were just repeating the words “Coca Cola” over and over. No communication was possible until Alex started speaking German, at which point we were able to order our drinks, and Alex had a long conversation with the barmaid’s supposed boyfriend. The barmaid’s contribution to the episode was hysterical laughter, at anything we said. It was hilarious.

The next day, or something (it’s all been a blur since Ailis left) we went round a similar ruined Jesuit mission back in Argentina. Me and Claire picked an orange from one of the trees via the method of her sitting on my shoulders, and then we looked round the visitor centre, which was all in Spanish so we didn’t understand any of it. Although, there was a rather funny collection of dummies dressed as crazy priests, which I photographed.

Buses in Paraguay consist of as many human beings stuffed into a metal box as possible. On the journey we encountered Mr Buttocks (named by me) who smelt of onions, and who insisted upon pressing his buttocks (hence the name) into all who would accept them. Claire wondered if they would allow someone to cling onto the open door, screaming “¡Esta bien! ¡Esta bien!” but they didn’t in the end.

In the Argentinina town we stayed for our last night in the beautiful country of Argentina we had banana milkshakes, which were incredible. And the hotel room had a double bed, which I, being the perfect gentleman, took for myself. Hoorah!

Iguazu falls

Iguazu falls are incredible. They are a set of waterfalls which stretch across the Argentine-Brazilian border, and they are definately worth your visit, should you ever visit either country. Words don’t really do them justice (another way of saying I’ve typed loads so far and I’m tired of doing it) so you’ll have to wait for the 130 photos I took of them! Actually, so far, I’ve taken 1447 photos, so many, in fact, that my camera now takes a full ten million years to start up.

Me and Claire took a boat trip to go closer to the falls, and this turned out to be really fun! And wet. We got absolutely drenched. For natives of a sea-faring nation we were pretty pathetic, remarking to each other how wet we were while the Argentines around us screamed their joy. Afterwards, my sandals released all the shampoo that they had absorbed from when the bottle exploded everywhere in Bolivia. I had really foamy feet for the rest of the hike, it was extremely annoying!

Saw literally thousands of butterflies of all colours. They were truly spectacular. Sometimes they’d be resting on the ground in a group consisting of different species, so when you walked by they’d all fly up in a cloud of colour. It was really gorgeous.

Current times

We’re currently in Brazil. Brazilian money is beautiful and colourful, and the language (Portuguese) is impossible. There’s about a million different vowel combinations, and the pronounciation is somewhere between French, German and Spanish.

I’ve noticed loads of blonde Brazilians, which is a bit strange for South America, and Brazil seems to be the most ethnically diverse nation so far. Talking of ethnic diversity, we saw a group of Japanese women on the Brazilian side of the falls. Nothing strange there, except for the fact that they had their hands in the air, singing to their hearts’ content. It was really funny. We kept encountering them all over the place, it was great. Needless to say, they were photographed, and will be appearing in the section of the forthcoming photogallery which I will call “Tourists I have known”. Been taking loads of pictures of the tourists here. I think they’re great. For instance, yesterday on the Argentine side we saw a group of about a hundred middle-aged women, all wearing red “Fuller Cosmetics” t-shirts, caps and ponchos. It was almost as breathtaking as the butterflies. Alex really hates the tourists (he really hates them, all of them, everywhere!) but I actually think they have made the trip for me. They’re so hilariously funny!

Anyway, think I’m all typed-out now, and I’m beginning to get a headache, so I’m gonna sign off now!