We arrived in Mendoza eager for one thing and one thing only, to taste some wine! Amongst a limited other activities in the area, this is the main draw. After checking out the city, which we had envisaged as a small, quaint affair and finding it to be in fact quite large, we returned to the hostel and started collecting advice.

The first of hopefully many STREET MEAT! updates I bring you the perfectly formed choripan sausage. You can find choripan on most street corners in Buenos Aires, however my favourite was that found at the Sunday Market. This delightful red, spicy sausage has a slight kick but isn't too spicy and is best served with all the trimmings of tomato, finely chopped onion and homemade salsa in a warm roll similar to a french baguette. I like to add the obligatory mayonnaise that I add to almost any meal. Best eaten on patio chairs on the roadside with a cold cerveza! 

It's become a general ritual for myself and amongst many travellers to always opt for the night bus when travelling substantial distances, which in south America at least is often. You save on a nights accommodation and save a day for sightseeing. The first ocassion when I would say this was a bad idea was the border crossing from Mendoza to Santiago. 

For an approximate 8 hour journey we opted for the 11pm bus, but wanting to save on cab fare and not wanting to be walking around in the dark headed to the bus station at about 8.30. Finally on the bus after a couple of hours of procrastination and making friends with small children we tried to sleep probably falling into the deep by about 1am. At 4am we were woken up at the border and made to stand in a que in the freezing cold before being let in to immigration. 2 hours, 3 forms and 1 small earthquake later we were back on the bus. We had been shouted at in Spanish that everyone's forms were wrong and waited for 40 minutes ready to have our bags searched while Chilean officials chatted. No one was enthralled. Trying to get back to sleep was a no go and we arrived in Santiago tired and dishevelled.

We headed straight for the cash machine to find that £1 was equivalent to thousands of Chilean pesos and I soon got duped out of a tenner due to my lack of brain capacity mixed with general inability for Maths.
Arriving at our hostel we had several hours to wait around for check in. In short, dont do it! 

On arriving in Bariloche I found it hard to not be slightly surprised by the wooden chalets and vast lakes. When I envisedged my time in S. America, this was not a backdrop I had prepared for. However after only a couple of days I was in awe of my surroundings.

Sat on the pebble shore attempting to skim stones I felt peaceful and relaxed and the Patagonia museum taught me about my surroundings. A steep but pleasant trek up mount Llao Llao Provided an amazing view and Gemma and I sat looking at the landscape contemplating life.
Back in town we treated ourselves at one of the many chocolate shops. Apart from its scenery this is another aspect to bariloche's tourism draw. There are chocolate shops on every corner which sell by far the best chocolate I have ever tasted. Gemma vowed to retire and get extremely fat there while I promised to visit her on weekends.

Iguassu Falls (the second largest waterfalls in the world) are located between Brazil and Argentina. The two towns located in either country boast nothing of much importance, Foz du Iguassu on the Brazilian side much less than Puerto Iguassu on the Argentinian side. I spent time in both towns however after advice from other travellers decided to see the falls only from the Argentinian side where you get much more up close to the falls and see the overwhelming panoramic view of the falls cascading through the rock face. The Brazilian side offers you an overview of the 'Devils Throat' the area in which the water falls from three sides and mist rises from between 30 and 150 metres, whereas the Argentinian side allows you to get up close and personal and extremely wet!

Legend states that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. Iguassu was also recently named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

The day itself consists of an entrance fee triple to that of nationals (something to get used to across South America) and a rather touristy walk waiting to take photos, however the sound of the crashing water and the sheer scale of the water and its power made it one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in my life.

Upon my travels I have missed Heinz baked beans probably more than anything else. After a heavy night in BA, and tiring of my previous fast food hangover cures there was only one thing that would cut it...a fry up.
An english pub (cringe!) close to my hostel boasted such a meal and I went in hope of success. On arrival all seemed well and in hindsight it was a fairly good attempt, however two things weren't up to scratch: the sausage and the beans.

BA boasts an amazing choripan sausage, a spicy chorizo like affair that comes in a bun, hot off the BBQ with onions and spicy salsa. YUM! However a spicy sausage with my traditional english just didn't work, and the butter beans in tomato sauce were an obvious but unasatisfactory addition.

The toast, mushroom, tomato and bacon however sat well in my stomach and I felt I had at least accomplished something from getting out of bed. The lesson was learnt however, save the fry up for the return home, it will taste so much sweeter for the wait!

Arriving in Puerto Madryn we were confronted with numerous tours to see fabulous animals but all at rather steep prices. One animal both Gemma and I were eager to get close to were penguins and with an offer of the largest penguin colony outside of the Antarctic we were sure to be in for a treat.

In hindsight perhaps our expectations were a little high as we spent the day before discussing our realistic ambitions of walking onto a beach to be greeted with a swarm of penguins nipping at our toes, eager to befriend us. We discussed how we would carry them around like our children and even perhaps try and smuggle one into our rucksack. Turns out they're a wild animal, somewhat endangered and all of the above was not possible. As if??!!

We were picked up in the morning and taken in a minibus, first to a dolphin watching stop where we had to wait for others in the group to go out on a boat which we hadn't paid for, and then we drove off to the penguin colony. Situated on a hill top the penguins nested in burrows, sleeping through the day, placid and uninterested by our arrival. We stuck to the designated path and crossed bridges which had hundreds of penguins nesting and malting beneath us. The time of year meant malting time for the babies who were becoming adults and so copious amounts of fluff and penguin poo littered our paths. The idyllic idea of the penuin colony that Disney and Pixar had sold to me was ruined, no penguin attempted the foxtrot for my amusement and as I got as close as I could muster for a photo I quickly backed away for fear a penguin would nip my fingers off.

Although I sound pretty glum about the whole experience it was still amazing to get so close to so many penguins and to see them in their natural habitat. The nearby museum taught us about their habits and lifestyles and although I originally wanted to stroke penguins all day, the protection of their habitat was nice to see.

The second trip we took part in was much more rewarding...Elephant Seal watching. Again the guide was adament about the safety and protection and the seals and a small group of 6 of us set off in sight of the placid beasts. We arrived at the top of a cliff to look down at the beach below to see if any seals were basking there. After about an hour of driving along the coast to check we found some and our guide told us to make our way down the cliff face to the beach. What??!! With a fear of heights this, and the walk back up which was to come later was the worst part of the day but I managed to survive it. The cliff being made out of compact sand crumbled beneath us and as Gemma created a small landslide, the other Emily in our group experienced the first and only casualty of the day.

Upon reaching the pebble beach we sat just metres away from the largest seals I have seen. They were all females and so none of them had the recognisable snout of the male elephant seal but they were giants. Some of the younger seals played in the waters whilst the others sunbathed on the shingle showering themselves with cool wet pebbles to prevent themselves from overheating.
Every so often, and when we dared to venture closer one would look up at us with an inquisitive eye but generally they were unphased by our presence.

Sat with the seals was an extremely peaceful experience. As the only people on the beach with the majestic waves crashing in front of us I felt like I was an explorer discovering these creatures for the first time. If David Attenborough had been there to further explain the creatures I probably would have cried!

After the 24 hour bus ride from Rio to Iguassu my Danish friends and I weren't up for taking another hefty bus trip straight to Buenos Aires. With two promising towns on the way, and only losing a little in extra journey fares we decided to take our time and stop off in Santa Fe and Rosario along the way.

SANTA FE
Santa Fe was a charming little town with not much to do and an extremely long siesta break! The crumbling colonial buildings set a beautiful backdrop to the lazy city. We went to a couple of museums which had some interesting local artefacts but nothing to write home about and decided to set off to Rosario after a couple of nights.

ROSARIO
On arrival in Rosario it was definately my favourite city so far. Wide open pedestrian streets and beautiful old buildings were abundant with beautiful people lining the pavements. Shopping was the main past-time which none of us had the money for and so we opted to spend our days sipping coffee and people watching either in the main streets or down by the river. Rosario is situated along a stretch of river and boasts beautiful river beaches where you can kayak and paddle. The water seemed a little too brown for our liking, however sat at a restaurant in the sun, with some sand between our toes and reading our books was a lovely was to pass a sunny afternoon in the 'city'. Rosario got a thumbs up from me.

Buenos Aires had to be my favourite city on my trip so far. Rough around the edges but with all the beautiful european architecture as promised I fell in love with the city. My hostel room had a balcony which enabled me to sit out and watch the world go by, I even witnessed a taxi crash from my perch!
With street art everywhere and an array of parks in the Palermo district it was clear to see why I loved the city and known as the city that never sleeps the nightlife didn't disappoint.

On the days I made it up and out for sightseeing I went to the Evita museum which taught me a wealth of information about a woman I previously knew very little about. After meeting up with Gemma (my friend from the plane) who had been in BA for some time she then took me to the main square and to see Evita's balcony.

On one particular day Gemma and I headed back to the main square to see the women march for their lost children, something they still do every week. After finding out it was National Women's Day we were unsurprised to see a large amount of people and banners surrounding the square. However after a small nap we opened our eyes surrounded by feet and found ourselves in the middle of a full on protest, the first of many during our time in South America. Regardless of day or time South Americans love a protest! Turns out the event of Women's Day was enough to ensure a congregation of all different demonstrations in the square of which we were in the middle. Crazy but fun! We soon left as we had no idea what was going on and with everyone around us wearing football shirts we weren't sure what may or may not happen!

La Boca was probably my favourite tourist attraction in the city. The multi coloured houses, artists stalls and street performers provided a lovely chilled afternoon and the nearby La Boca stadium rising out of the delapatated back streets was a fantastic juxtoposition of architecture. 

Buesnos Aires is famous for its Sunday market. A sprawling affair and covering everything from clothes, souvenirs and antiques it was one of the most interesting markets I've been to and you could spend all day meandering and bargaining. Probably more expensive than smaller cities or towns, however there's certainly a lot to choose from and you can sit in the bordering cafes and watch the world go by. My favourite aspect of the market was the numerous street performers including puppeteers, dancers, musicians and mime artists meaning you were never short of entertainment.

Second to La Boca, and following on from earlier 'Evita Day' was La Recoleta cemetery, the final resting place of Evita. She does not sleep alone however and the cemetery houses hundreds of elaborate graves. Somewhat like a city within a city I strolled leisurely through the crypts, peering in at the coffins in awe. Shining white marble stood next to rotten decrepid wood and their was an eery yet calming sense in the air which made me feel restful. A perfect antitode to the wild crazy nights!

TOP TIP:
There's a lot to see and do in Buenos Aires, both for the day and night. Dont let yourseld sleep in all day however much you might want to, you'll definately live to regret it!