Tunuyan

We arrived in Mendoza after a 40 hour bus ride from Iguazu and unfortunately had to get another bus and a taxi to get to Tunuyan where we´ve been staying with Margot since the 18th May.

Iguazu falls were AMAZING. We spent two days there being driven by a speedboat into the waterfall and getting drenched, taking a eco boat trip where we saw aligators, catfish, toocans, kingfishers and trecking through the jungle where we came face to face with a massive tarantula! 2 days weren´t really enough to do everything we wanted.

Now we´re getting used to the freezing nights in Tunuyan, having to wear all the clothes we have to avoid getting frost bite! Margot is building a house for her and her daughter with help from volunteers and lives in a sustainable community with no running water, electricity or plumbing! We´ve been living in a cabin which is undergoing some repairs so unfortunately has a hole in the roof and gets quite draughty at night! Our jobs here include caring for the chickens and rabbits, baking, making a clay oven and a sheep pen. Its hard work and difficult to get used to pooing in a bucket but well worth it for the view of the Andes first thing in the morning! Hopefully we´ll learn a few things whilst we´re here we´ll get used to showering only once a week! Photos will follow shortly.
Miss you all

Love,
Roo and M
xxxx

Iguazu Falls

So we arrived in Iguazu about 3 hours ago after an 18 hours bus journey from Buenos Aires! Thats nothing though, in comparison to the 38 hours journey to Mendoza planned for Monday and the 4 day journey to Lima in about a month! Bus is the WAY to travel here though, we had a hot meal at dinner and some breakfast followed by a nasty cup of ´tea´ and arrived safe and sound, despite some terrifying tropical storms and flooded roads.
Our time in Quilmes with Bill, Liz, Christine and Mikey was fantastic, they made us so welcome and showed us around the capital. It also helped to have people who actually speak spanish to save us when pointing and repeating ´si´ loudly had no effect. We were sad to go, but arriving here is like stepping into a different country, well it practcally is, as we´re on the borer of Brazi and Paraguay. Its humid and stormy, but I am determined to make use of the swimming pool in our hostel. (Hostel Iguazu Falls if anyone wants to have a look online.)   We´re planning to take a trip to the falls tomorrow and take LOADS of photos.
Missing you all,
Roo
xxxxx

http://s1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff385/workerbee30/Roo%20and%20Emma%20-%20Argentina/Here is (hopefully) our first post with a slide show.

Argentina is like no other place I've been. It's so relaxed here, we've had two great days been shown some incredible sights by Bill and Liz and Roo has decided she wants to be a Groucho Gringo.

Will write more later.

Ciao

M x

Oh my goodness - 28 hours later, we´re here!

We arrived safe and sound in Argentina on Thursday at 7.30 am (11.30am UK time). In all it had taken 28 hours of travelling to get here and I still can´t quite believe that we are in South America!

We´re staying at St George´s College with Bill, Liz, Christine and Mikey (and Rosa, sometimes) who have been so kind and made us really welcome. It´s really warm here - about 20 degrees in the day, 15 at night, but the heating is on and everyone is dressed in coats and scarves complaining about the cold!

My Spanish is virtually non-existent, I was aware of this before we came, but thought it would be OK, need- less-to-say, this optimism was mis-placed and I could really do with knowing at least the basics. Roo is much better and understands quite a lot of what´s happening. Fortunately, Liz et al, all speak perfect English! SO my task is to remain glued to the phrase book for the next 4 months.

Hope all is well there. Please let us know your news.

Loads of Love,

Emma n Roo x

Later we´re going to city centre,  and then on Sunday up to Iguazu Falls, before heading to  Mendoza to stay with Margot for a month on her farm ç. Just having a wierdo cheese sandwich!