Hello everyone,

Hope all is well and everyone is happy. Here is our lastest update for you to enjoy (hopefully):

Our next destination after El Bolson was Puerto Madryn which is on the east coast of Argentina; another overnight bus to get there. Here we had organised a day trip to visit the Valdes Peninsula (a great tourist attraction for the town). We started the day with a boat trip which took us around the coastal rocks to view the Sealion mating colonies up close. At this time of year all of the babies are being born (something Steve saw happening!) and we had great views of all the Alpha males surrounded by their women and babies! On the boat we also got the chance to see cormoronds, snorkel (not much to see) and use the slide on the boat. After this our minibus took us to several points on the penisular to see the colonies of penguins (with the cute fluffy babies), more sea lions and elephant seals. Apparently, this is the only place in the world where the orca whales (killer whales) beach themselves to feed on the baby seals learning to swim, though we didn't see any orcas as the swimming lessons don't begin until March. The rest of our time spent in Puerto Madryn was used to relax and socialise with the other travellers at the hostel where they put on great food everynight.

Next, our nightmare bus that broke down all night and took 28 hours (though only should have been 18!) finally got us to Buenos Aires. Here we´ve had a great time enjoying the different neighbourhoods and bustling city life. Our first day we had a wander round the city (steve trying to find somewhere to watch london irish) and ended up in a pirate-themed pub(though not watching rugby). From here we found the Ave. Florida famous for it's shopping and market stalls. On the way back through town we stumbled upon everyone watching some filming in the street and also stopped at the Obelisk to take photos. The next day we went sight-seeing at the Presidential Palace (where Evita did her famous speeches), Catedral Metropolitana which is massive (though couldnt go in as we were inappropriately dressed-its 35degrees, we're not wearing jeans!), the Basilica de San Francisco (the oldest church in BA) and then down to San Telmo neighbourhood, full of cobbled streets, antique stores, cafés and a plaza surrounded by bars with outside seating and tango dancers. Later in the week we went to the northern neighbourhood of Recoleta to see the famous cemetery, where all the rich, important people of Argentina have there impressive mausoleums. The place is like a little city of the dead, with roads and street lamps between rows of tombs! As well as some amazing architecture and statues, we also saw Eva Peron's family tomb. From the cemetery we walked through gardens, past the massive law school and over to the magnificent sculpture Floralis Generica - a huge aluminium flower, which opens it's petals in the morning and closes at sunset! Next, over to see the free art in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and finish with a drink in the Ferrari café behind the museum.

After leaving most of our luggage in BA, we took the 3 hour ferry and 2 and a half hour bus to Uruguay's capital, Montevideo. Our first day here we took the short walk to the central square, Plaza Independcia, home to fountains and monuments and surrounded by incredible old buildings. Through an arch on the far side we ended up in lovely roads of cobbled streets, cafés and amazing arts and crafts and antique markets. At night we walked two streets up from our hostel to the main road to watch the Carnival (which we had no idea was on when we booked our time here) and had a great night watching the incredible street parades full of dancers, singers, bands, gymnasts, flag wavers and spectacular costumes (all broadcast on national TV). Spent the rest of time enjoying the chilled out city atmosphere.

Since then we've been back in Buenos Aires organising our next destinations and relaxing before our next over night bus journey to Puerto Iguazu, our last stop in Argentina.

Anyway, we hope you're all good and have remembered that we'll be home in just under 3 weeks. not long now!

See you all soon. lots of love,

Katie and Steve xxxx

Ps. our photos for the lakes district area haven't uploaded on the blog page for some reason so if you didn't already know, they are now on our facebook. try and copy and paste the web address if you arent already on there....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32988&id=285200115&l=ec11957175