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After all my adventures around the globe, it was time to tap my heels together three times and head back to Southport.
I spent the last few days of my trip back in beautiful Buenos Aires, hanging out in La Boca and San Telmo, eating steak at a rooftop BBQ and drinking cocktails in Palermo Hollywood. The week preceeding my return to Argentina had been quite eventful, what with clambering over the Andes on the Inca Trail, celebrating my birthday at Machu Piccu, the escape from Peru through the border riots, watching a stunning sunset over Lake Titicaca in Copacabana, battling the altitude of La Paz then coming back down to sea level - so I was ready to chill out back in the Chillhouse (one of the best hostels I stayed in the whole of my trip, check it out on tripadvisor anyone headed to B.A.). Greeted warmly by Antoine I felt as though I were already home, and spent a few days saying ciao to the city. I was lucky enough to be there while the ArteBA event was on, a fabulous exhibition of the best works from Buenos Aires' finest galleries.
Having missed out on the wildlife of the Amazon, I decided my last day in South America should be spent checking out the creepy crawlies, big cats and other animals at Buenos Aires' acclaimed zoo. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! indeed, this is one seriously impressive collection. I braved the reptile house, shuddering as I passed snakes which got bigger with each enclosure - and particularly when I realised they all came from places I've been to! I spent my last night in Buenos Aires enjoying delicious Italian food and drinking Pisco Sours in Palermo.. very fitting for such a glamorous city. Hopefully I'll be back...
The journey home was typically eventful; after managing to avoid bed bugs all the way through South America's hostels I came across the little critters on my Iberia flight to Madrid (ouch!), then had to sprint through the airport shouting 'vamos!' at the top of my voice to make the connection. Landing in Heathrow I realised that for the first time in months I could understand absolutely everything (English language!), could tuck into pretty much any food I liked, and was very, very close to ditching that rucksack. Getting off the final plane my welcome commitee were there armed with hugs and a banner, and we set off for home.
Travelling has been the most amazing experience. I've had a lot of adventures, met many weird and wonderful people, encountered different cultures, become more adaptable and definitely a whole lot braver. I've made so many new friends, and met up with a few old ones along the way. Over the whole trip, I've have taken about 8,000 photos, written around 100 blog posts, taken 19 flights (terrible carbon footprint, I will recycle lots, I promise), visited a thousand places of worship, learnt to swear in 14 different languages and slept in more than 150 beds (and one treehouse, on one night boat, in one tent and several hammocks). A great adventure indeed.
There's no place like home.
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Mum We loved following your adventures, but we sure are glad to have you back. xxx