Buenos Aires (& Uruguay)

I spent just over a week in Buenos Aires in total, and it was pretty much the last stop on my South American leg too. After the two days I covered in my last entry I was just left with Ciaran and Kristian from the trip about, and we only met up occasionally really. So this was actually the first time I had to fend for myself properly in South America. Which wasn’t hard to do as such, but it was frustrating in struggling with simple basic communications when trying to order food etc. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Few Days of a Trip

So after Iguacu Falls we were into the last few days of the Dragoman tour, and we were basically just making our way to Buenos Aires with a few stops along the way. Our first stop was in San Ignacio to see the Jesuit Ruins. The Jesuit Missions were setup in the 1600s to adapt the indigenous people to the western style of life and also protect them from the slave trade. The missions were pretty much self-sufficient with everyone taking a certain role. The tour was a little interesting, but the ruins were a quite underwhelming. Apparently this is one of the most complete ruins there is, but in comparison to the stuff we have in Europe and considering the place has only been left for 200 years there wasn’t much there. Read the rest of this entry »

Foz do Iguacu

Friday morning was a pre 6am start as we had around 14 hours on the road to complete in order to cover the 800km drive from Bonito to Foz. As the morning progressed the heat in the truck meant that pretty much everyone except the drivers were at least resting their eyes! After Lunch Beers were cracked open and quite a lot by some people, and beer drinking games started, before eventually the beer bong was dragged out for it’s debut too! One thing is for sure it made the drive go a lot quicker and just after 9pm we arrived in Foz do Iguacu. Read the rest of this entry »

Planning for 7 Months on the Road

So I have under 3 weeks until I’m off on a 7 month trip around the world on my own, with just a few friends who I’ve met for a few days on past adventures to visit along the way. If you’ve never been travelling alone before I guess that sounds quite daunting, but having spent 2 and half months travelling North America in the summer of 2009 it doesn’t feel like such a big deal. At least not yet anyway.

So how do you go about planning for such a trip? There are various things you need to be aware of and prepare for, the most important are obviously are those that concern money and health. Being properly vaccinated and having the right medication as required is obviously really important, and anyone going on a trip to places which aren’t anything other than the most developed countries you are likely to need some vaccinations. I’ve had to have a Hepatitis A vaccination at the doctors, and also got to go to a private clinic to get a Yellow Fever vaccination for travelling in South America. It’s also not 100% clear if I need malaria tablets for my time in South America, I’ll be getting clarification when I go to get my Yellow Fever vaccination. Additionally good travel insurance is to be blunt a pain in the arse to find. In the end I’ve got mine from Essential Travel and works out at £160 for 7 months, which is pretty reasonable and seems to have good coverage on the key factors. However you only ever find out if these insurance companies are worth while when you need to claim. Here’s hoping I don’t have to find out. Read the rest of this entry »

Flights Booked

So for a while I’ve been planning to do some more serious travelling. Ever since I got back from America last summer I’ve had the urge to get back on a plane at the first possible opportunity. During that time I’ve gone from wanting taking a short break in Europe visiting 3 or 4 cities to a rather ambitious 6 month plus trip across the Southern Hemisphere! Read the rest of this entry »