Southern Latitudes

In case you didn’t see them along the way, here are our friends and travel companions. Love them all

Mark & Mauree Jane. 

Astrid. 

Per

Paula

Mark (S)

Lisa

Kevin

Carol (fresh from the dance floor)

Mike

Mark(P), thanks for the picture

What a great group. Feels like Family. Miss you all.

This morning Kevin and I decided to take the cooking class. This involved going with Christina to meet a local chef, at a local market to see what was available. Great seafood. We then went to his apartment where he showed us how to make Moqueca - a dish of shrimp cooked in coconut milk and palm oil. This was accompanied with Farofa, a toasted cassava flour, and rice. For desert we had tropical fruits flambe’d in cachaça. It was all fun and delicious. But what is this cachaça stuff? It turns out to be a spirit made from sugar cane, but not like rum. It is the most popular spirit in Brazil and the vital ingredient in Caipirinha, Brazil’s mational cocktail. Bruno, our chef, made us one and it was dangerously delicious. One was enough!

Here’s Bruno.

After lunch we had some time off before the evening’s big event - Samba!

Around 6pm we went to a Samba bar, Leviano. Christina brought along a couple of her Samba friends who would teach us how to do it.

Two Caipirinha’s later we were dancing with the best of them!

But not quite as well as the pros.

Thanks whoever took this photo and shared it.

Things got pretty sweaty as the night wore on.

Reluctantly, at around 9pm we left and returned to the hotel for our farewell dinner. Tomorrow we would be going home so this was a fitting end to the journey.

Today we were to fly to Rio on the final leg of our journey around South America but first, I wasn’t finished with the falls. Kevin and I got up early to photograph the falls in the morning light. I wanted to use a filter to slow down the images of the water so we set of with camera and tripod down the same path we followed the previous morning. There was lots of spray, mist and condensation so the reults were mixed but it was fun to try.

Later, we had to cross back over the border to Argentina. That’s where our plane was parked. We had the usual inspections and delays but got through OK and on to the airport. We did wonder if it was worth the hassle to land in Argentina but to see most of the falls in Brazil. We probably would do it differently if we did it again.

We flew out for our short trip to Rio De Janiero, landing late afternoon.

We were met with our guide, Christina who helped transport us and our vast amount of luggage to our hotel - The Palace Copacabana, right on the famous beach. First thing we noticed, it was hot. Really hot. And, true to form we landed in a thunderstorm so it was also raining. It was a bit strange and unusual to be in a major city after spending so much time out in the wilds. We were looking forward to a few days exploring what Rio had to offer.

January 23 was a bit of a lost day. Most of our group set off on a (very) early morning excursion to see the hot spring on top of some 17,000ft mountain. They set off at 5am but had to return because the road had been washed out due to the heavy rains a couple of nights before. Frustrated, they opted for a tour of the Moon Valley nearby. 

The next day we were to depart Atacama to go to Iguacu. It was an early morning departure for the 2 hour drive back to Calama to catch our jet. When we arrived at the airport there was nobody there to meet us. With a mountain of luggage piled up on the pavement outside, we went off to find someone who could help. Carol finally tracked down the right person and we were escorted through the usual immigration, security, passport control we had become used to along the way. On this flight we were treated to some more spectacular scenery along the way.

Iguacu falls, by any measure, is one of the great waterfall sights of the World. It’s a must-see on any South America tour. The falls themselves form the boundary between Argentina and Brazil to it’s a toss-up which country you choose to view them from. For a variety of reasons, we chose both. We landed on the Argentinian side late in the morning. After the usual formalities we were taken to a local Marriott hotel for lunch. From there we spent the afternoon viewing the falls. On the Argenina side, there’s more trails and walks to view the falls. There’s even a small railway that transports tourist to the very edge of the falls, known as the “Devil’s Throat”. 

Thanks whoever took this photo and shared it.

While spectacular, it was crowded tourist hell and we quickly burned out on barging through the throngs of tourists with selfie sticks trying to get a good view while being soaked by the spray from the falls. Our guide found some quieter trails from which we could get a better view.

Per , Carol and I had had enough so we made it back to the Marriot for a beer while we waited for the rest of the group to finish their walk. 

Next, we needed to cross the border to Brasil. Seemed simple enough and, in fact, was quite easy. Once in Brasil we drove to our final hotel - the Hotel das Cataratas. This was a luxurious resort with great views of the falls, from the Brazillian side.

Nice dinner by the pool.

In the morning, on our way back to the airport, Nahuel insisted that Bariloche had the best croissants in the World and that we should try some as we drove along. With the best intentions we stopped at a local bakery that he had recommended. Just one problem - it wasn’t opened yet. This did not deter Nahuel who promptly barged in the siode door and instructed the baker to put some croissants in the oven. 20 minutes later, and slightly anxious to get to the airport, a big bag of hot croissants arrived with Nahuel smiling with success. The were very good. The best? Don’t know but appreciated the effort nonetheless.

So, we were back on the jet for the flight to Calama, near Atatcama. Back in Chile. Along the way we were invited into the cockpit to appreciate some spectacular views of the Andes.

Upon arrival and clearing immigration and customs (every bag in our group was searched), we headed off with our driver to San Pedro de Atacama, about 2 hours drive away. There we would be staying at the Tierra Atacama hotel. This is just like the Explora concept with daily activities and excursions.

Along the way, we got an appreciation for the desolate landscape of the desert with high mountains and volcanoes in the distance. We arrived at the hotel, embedded in a rustic village of dirt roads and farm fields. Of course, we were invited to sign up for activities right away. I had read there are vast salt lakes in the region famous for flocks of Flamingos. That sounded like fun for this afternoon so we signed up for that. Only one little problem. Despite being the dryest place on Earth, with a mere 5mm of rain per year, we were now looking at dark skys and the occasional flash of lightning. Aparently we had arrived during the rainy season. We set off anyway as the sky darkened further and lightning became more frequent. We stopped at a local village on the way.

Since we were traveling on dirt roads, things were not looking good. Determined to see the Flamingos, we pressed on for about an hour being followed by the impending storm. Well, we got there just as the wind was getting up and people were rushing back to their transportation. There were several Flamingos but most have also seen the approaching storm and had flown off to wherever they go when this kind of weather happens. I got  a few shots.

Mark was determined to take pictures.

Back to the bus and off on the 1-2 hour drive back to the hotel. Flashes of lightning, thunder, more flashes of lightning, torrents of rain. The guide, from the front seat of the bus, described it as like an Armageddon movie. There was  certainly more than 5mm of rain dropped that evening!

Safely back in the hotel we all had dinner and crashed for the night. It was still raining as we went back to our rooms.