I love dinosaurs. I've been hooked since The Land Before Time. I watched the making of Jurassic Park when I was little and got so terrified my Mom wouldn't let me see it at the cinema, a trauma I still carry with me today.
40 minutes out of the city of Sucre lies El Parque Cretavcio where you can see over 5000 real life dinosaur tracks fossilised in the earth. They were discovered by a cement factory which still functions nearby.
The park itself mounted high on a hill overlooks the wall of prints which would have been the marshland of the dinosaurs. Dinosaur sculptures are accompanied by the sounds of the beasts transporting the child in you back in time. There is also a museum and play area and the park boasts one of the worlds largest sculptures, a replica of Titanosaurus. It is also the largest paleontological site in the world.
Fellow backpackers told me they found it boring and it is true you could do the whole park in 20 minutes, but with Walking with Dinosaurs playing on a loop (in English!) in the cinema and plastic models to mount I could have stayed there all day!
The dinosaur phone booths dotted around town got us pretty excited too!

There are stray dogs in abundance in South America, some friendly, others a little worse for wear. These street dogs had followed us in some countries but nowhere like in Santiago, Chile's capital. Almost as soon as you stepped out into the street you would find yourself with a new walking companion.
On a free walking tour (a must!) my friend asked why wasn't anything being done about all the stray dogs? Our guide was appalled, "We love our street dogs in Santiago, the city wouldn't be the same without them". He explained to us that there were many charities set up for the dogs and almost all of them had had vaccinations. The police took them in and washed them and they were known as friends of the city. From then on our general fear of loitering canine eased, the German Shepherds still freaked me out a bit but I felt a lot better about the drunken cuddle I'd had with a Jack Russell a few nights before!

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.

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!