south america

Imagine this scenario... you've decided you want to fly somewhere, so you try find some good flight deals, choose one and then book the flight. Pretty straight forward, right? Well not with Aerolineas Argentina.

I recently booked a flight to Iguazu Falls for myself, sam, and my parents. The process went something like this...

I've finally uploaded all the last of my photos from Buenos Aires. I spent two and a half months in the city from November 2nd through January 17th and was still working for NowPublic at the time. I was able to make a couple weekend trips out of town to various places including El Tigre, Iguazu falls, Uruguay, and Machu Picchu. Most of my time in BsAs when I wasn't working was spent walking around and exploring the city.

These photos are from those wandering times around the city as opposed to any trip in particular (all of which I've previously uploaded the photos for).

Among other things, Rio is a great place for eating. If I needed a reason to go back it would be the food. Almost without exception, all the meals/snacks/drinks I had there were delicious. On every other corner there was a juice bar serving juices of pretty much any fruit you could imagine... the juice was made to order from fresh fruits. My two personal favorites were watermelon and açai (prounounced ass-eye-EEE).

Acai is a small berry, similar to a blueberry but denser, that grows on acai palm trees. I believe they keep the berries frozen and then blend them when you order. It's not so much of a juice as it is a delicious purple-y fruit slushy. The berries have recently become popular in North America for their anti-oxidant and supposed weight loss properties. Sam and I had never heard of the stuff before we got to Rio, but we had one each just about every day. So delicious.

Brazil is quite a poor country, and in Rio it's easy to get into trouble if you don't keep aware of your surroundings. We had few problems ourselves and even took a tour of a local Favela. Favela's are basically illegal neighbourhoods with no authorized electricity, plumbing, or phones, yet a majority of the population lives.

While the city was younger with fewer people, the government decided to turn all of the mountain sides into official parks, so that no one could build there. The mountains were to be used for everyone's enjoyment, not just the rich. With little land nestled between the steep mountains I imagine the city quickly ran out of affordable places for middle and lower class people to live. So they started building up the mountain sides into the park land.

I took a bit of time off during the last two weeks of my South American trip to visit Rio with Sam. The photos from that trip are now up on flickr.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think either of us will call Rio a highlight of the trip. When we arrived the hostel was a bit dodgy (as you'd probably expect in South America, but it wasn't cheap either.. about $80CAD/night). With no air conditioning in 35+ degree heat and high humidity... it was a bit too much for either of us to handle. We moved to a hotel after a few days and then to an apartment for the final week. Well worth the hassle to get some A/C.