CHILE/ARGENTINA - 10th March to 13th April 2010

Introduction

Spindly Chile stretches over half the continent – from the driest desert in the world to massive glacial fields with a mosaic of volcanoes, geysers, lakes, rivers and countless islands in between. With an easy infrastructure and hospitable hosts, Chile is essentially a first world nation, but its pro-business stance threatens to sacrifice its pristine environment. Most of the population is of Spanish ancestry mixed with indigenous groups, with a huge immigration wave from Europe in the 19 th century. Less than 50% are aboriginal descendants.

Background and History

The discovery of a single 12500 year old footprint marks Chile 's earliest tangible roots. Many different cultural groups inhabited this varied landscape when the Spanish crossed over from Peru in 1541. Although they exploited the north's sedentary population creating forced labour estates, the Mapuche resisted European colonization in the south for over 3 centuries. Discontent among the criollo (American born Spaniards who owned the farms) with Spain 's trade control, ignited an Argentinean to liberate Santiago in 1818. The early republic years saw different dictators and Chile triumph over Peru and Bolivia in the war of the Pacific from 1879 – 1883. A civilian government followed when the copper mining elite and working class challenged the landowners, but the dilemma of redistributing wealth ignited a civil war in 1890. The first half of the 20 th century saw a multifaceted struggle for land reform and eventually a socialist government in 1970 that nationalized industry and expropriated farms. Politics grew confrontational and by 1972 Chile was paralysed by strikes that were supported by the leftists. The military and General Pinochet exacted a coup and headed a junta from 1973 to 1989 that led to the torture and death of thousands. He however stabilised the economy but was overthrown by a consensus for democracy in 1989. Since 2000, Chile has had a left leaning government and became Latin America 's brightest economic star, busily signing free trade agreements.

Our Experience

Chile - 10th to 12th March 2010 (first entry)

The massive earthquake of 27th February 2010 that destroyed much of central Chile , forced us to skip Santiago and some interesting coastal towns. Shireen Agherdien from San Diego , investigated areas not affected and conditions appeared safe from the Lake District further south, so we entered Chile at Paso Pino Hachado. Immigration and customs formalities were free and easy but then the agricultural inspector did his thing. Chile has been the only country that strictly forbids bringing any fresh produce into their country (for health reasons) and they stick to this law! A thorough search of Tipperdee resulted in all our fruit, veg and eggs to be confiscated, even Danes reindeer antler that he had been keeping since Finland , and no amount of pleading helped! Thankfully we declared that we have plant products or a hefty fine would accompany this loss. We however managed to ‘distract' him sufficiently to save our stash of milk, potatoes and onions that we had carefully placed ‘elsewhere'! Not only are the items taken, but they are sprayed with a poison in your presence, and then taken to be incinerated. Two hours later and after ridiculous paperwork, we were allowed to proceed.

210km of good roads bordered by cattle ranches or wheat crops with the odd volcano in the distance, led us west from an altitude of 1880m to around 200m. Although neat, the rural towns along the way had the interesting look of mining towns of the 1800's with their wooden buildings. Near Temuco we again hit the Pan-American Highway south that runs down South America 's west coast. This came with tollgates and we had to stomach the loss of a few dollars as we had to pay in US currency until we could find an ATM with local pesos. At least the highway had ‘free' rest stops with restrooms just outside Temuco that allowed us to camp for the night.

The next morning and proud of the fact that today, the 11 th of March marked an incredible 3 years on the road for us, we drove south for 60km to see the Lakes District unfold – snow bound volcanoes rising over verdant hills looking down on clear lakes. We restocked in pretty Villarrica on the southern shore of Lago Villarrica and as we were doing a sight-seeing drive about, a worried looking man rushed to Tipperdee shouting ‘earthquake'! He pointed to all the people standing on the streets outside the buildings, but we were driving and did not feel a thing. We later learnt from other travellers that central Chile had another 7.4 quake that was felt quite strongly in Villarrica.

Our drive then skirted the lake for about 30km to Pucon, a town with an alpine ski resort feel under the huffing cone of Volcan Villarrica. Another 35km led us through the lush Rio Liucura valley east of Pucon and we chose Termas Los Pozones from the myriad of hot springs . The setting was perfect – nestled between green mountains and situated along an icy river, we spent 3 hours soaking away in one of the 6 natural hot pools with a bearable temperature – the rest were just too hot! By 7pm we were exploring the areas dirt roads west again for 10km until we found a $10 campsite along Lago Caburgua.

The next morning, mist greeted us and encouraged a bit of a sleep-in. By noon we were back in Pucon and walked around the town with its volcanic sand beaches. At one of the smart restaurants lining the touristy streets, we chose a pizza lunch with a Chilean special called surtido de mariscos, which is a seafood mix from the Pacific that's cooked on the coals in a clay pot. Back to nature the scenic drive south skirted island studded Lago Calafquen, and then Lago Panguipulli, until a gas station along the highway near Osorno sufficed for the night.

The following morning – 13th March, we only realised that the gas station had free wifi and hot showers and we duly took full advantage of those facilities which led to a fairly late start! Osorno wasn't the most interesting city but we found a local joint at the Mercado that served a comida - a lunch special of chicken, chips and a salad. The road then led due east past Lago Puyehue, dairy farms, and the dense forests of Puyehue National Park . We crossed the Andes again at 1400m back into Argentina and with all fresh produce well hidden! Despite numerous signs warning not to take food across the border, we were not searched and Chilean formalities were over in a few minutes.

Argentina – 13 th to 15 th March 2010 (second entry)

The actual border of Paso. Samora was 20km further and Argentina 's customs and immigration a further 10km. Again all free and over in 15 minutes, even with maps of the country, courtesy of immigration officials! The granite outcrops amidst countless lakes were just awesome as we wound our way into Argentina 's Lake District . We veered off the road onto a dirt track in search of an overnight spot and landed a free camping spot on the shores of Lago Espejo.

Single digit temperatures and a late in house movie made it impossible to surface too early, so we only hit the road at 1pm after a sandwich brunch of eggs, onion and tomatoes made grannies way! The next 6 hours was 160km of ‘wow'! as we toured Nahuel Huapi National Park , hugging its namesake lake, a glacial relic. The only city on these shores was Bariloche, a touristy chocolate-souvenir shop place. The views though just got better as we did the Chico circuit to Llao-Llao and Bahia Lopez. Driving south we stumbled upon a perfect wild camping spot surrounded by tall conifers along Lago Gutierrez.

After another sumptuous breakfast and a late start we explored the area further south stopping every few minutes when views of crystal clear blue lakes or jagged mountainous demanded. At the peaceful hippie town of El Bolson , we decided to find a camping spot with a good few hours remaining in the day and headed to nearby Lake Puelo . Receding glaciers left this pristine lake and streams with charming vistas. Although a National Park, we were allowed to wild-camp in the indigenous forest with views of this splendour and had enough time to hike around the area too.

After doing just 140km the previous day, we hoped to move a lot more further south on the 16 th March, and just managed to exactly double that tally! The road rejoined route 40 after 50km and we were back to the brown arid look all the way to Esquel, where YPK gas station's free wifi allowed us to book our flights back to South Africa in mid April. We then headed west again to the greener Andes and the border with Chile at Futaleufu. Both countries border officials were super efficient and we were on our way in ½ hour – only without some garlic this time!

Chile – 16 th to 17 th March 2010 (second entry - Patagonia )

We were officially in northern Patagonia with its web of rivers, peaks ad sprawling glaciers. Futaleufu with its wooden buildings set between huge mountains had the necessary basic provisions to restock. A dirt road led southwest through the incredible rugged terrain and with an hour of light left we found a hidden spot within earshot of the roaring emerald Rio Futaleufu.

The 17 th March provided very much of the same scenery – forested mountains surrounding low lying valleys that 19 th century European immigrants cleared for dairy farms. It was as if we landed back in the 19 th century with all the old simple wooden homes in a sparsely populated land. When we turned south after 40km onto the Carretera Austral Highway , the dirt road continued. We followed another emerald river to Puerto Puyuquapi that is situated at the apex of a fjord. Unfortunately rain then accompanied the overcast day forcing us to skip Queulat National Park 's hike to a hanging glacier. The drive up a pass that ascended a kilometre through the parks' thick forests of ferns and beech though compensated. Most of the road further to Coihaique was tarred and by 8pm we'd done 380km in 10 hours. We camped just before this ranch town at La Alborada for $10 a night, as we were rather desperate for a hot shower after roughing it for 5 days! When we could shower the next morning the campsite ran out of water with Dane still having shampoo in his hair! The wait resulted in us only leaving around lunchtime. This however allowed us to indulge in a set lunch at the local fire station's Casino de Bomberos of meat/egg empanadas, followed by a main of boiled potatoes and chicken covered with vegetables and a desert of fresh peaches in syrup. Just more beautiful scenery surrounded us further south to sleepy Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez lazing on the shores of turquoise Lago General Carrera, the check point for Chilean border formalities. That was the end of tarred surfaces.

The next 20km was rough to the actual border at Paso Pallavicini but our eyes could feast on the turquoise island-studded lake and the Andes transformation from a green to a brown landscape as we descended into Argentina .

Argentina – 18 th to 21 st March 2010 (third entry - Patagonia )

This seldom used border outpost stretched the young official's interpretation of paperwork to temporary import a foreign vehicle and it took over an hour before we were on our way. The next 80km wasn't as rough in terms of 4X4ing, but terribly corrugated with loose stones flying up against Tipperdee as we pushed to get to the nearest town before nightfall. This road was just too lonely despite its arid beauty, and without potential wild camping spots. With sighs of relief we pulled into a YPF station in Perito Moreno around 8pm, filled with diesel and water and politely camped right there in the middle of the town!

On the 19 th March, we were back on the bleak route 40 for the long haul south on dirt roads to our next highlight – the area around Mt. Fitzroy and Lago Viedma in Los Glaciares National Park . But first we had to negotiate the 590km of windy, barren expense of flat nothingness in between the odd quirky outpost town – just one of Patagonia 's many faces. We did however spot sprinting rhea ( South America 's largest flightless bird – similar to an ostrich), herds of guanaco (wild cousin of the llama), a grey fox and an armadillo in this harsh landscape! Two thirds of the days travel was on loose stones, corrugations or mud and with one river crossing, so to do it in 11 hours took tackling these dirt roads as fast as possible and as slow as necessary! How we appreciated our 4X4 when we stopped to help 4 guys whose sedan had 2 destroyed low profiles, eventually giving one a lift to the nearest town of Tres Lagos that was 100km away. Around sunset, clear skies allowed the full appreciation of the stunning snow capped towers of the Fitz Roy Range and the numerous glaciers feeding a turquoise lake around the town of El Chalten . This tiny town also had a free festival that evening and at 11pm we were rocking to a rhythmic artsy performance by musicians who used every conceivable recycled item (from plastic pipes and containers, sticks, plastic packets, balls, pans and drums) and the thumping of their feet as musical instruments creating quite harmonious foot tapping sounds. Knackered after midnight, we collapsed into a rocking Tipperdee that we had parked at a viewpoint to free wild camp. Patagonia 's famous howling winds made it difficult to rock to sleep with the van feeling as it if was about to roll over!

But it was all worth it to see Fitzroy's granite peaks transform from grey outcrops to pink and orange marvels at sunrise. Internet and laundry duties then led to a late hamburger brunch followed by a walk to one of the waterfalls. By 3pm we continued south around massive milky turquoise lakes to El Calafate on the banks of Lago Argentino – just 260km on a beautifully tarred surface. Continuing west and a little into darkness, we camped outside Los Glaciares National Park 's southern entrance alongside one of the lakes arms that's fed by the Andes many glaciers.

At the crack of dawn on the 21 st March 2010 we paid the hefty $20 per person entrance fee and a 30km drive led to one of our most awesome experiences of the trip – the active blue-hued Perito Moreno Glacier. We camped with views of its 60m jagged ice-peaks for the next 6 hours, had breakfast and then went for a walk on the elevated catwalk for up close encounters of its 5km face. Occasional thunderous rifle cracks would signal a possible calving that we'd try to witness with childlike excitement. The chilly weather encouraged a lunch of split-pea soup before we departed back via El Calafate to rejoin route 40. Our goal was the border with Chile at Cancha Carrera and to save time and 100km of driving, a split decision led to a shortcut. This 70km dirt road ended up being quite reasonable and afforded unexpected wildlife. Rheas, black-chested buzzard eagles, 3 grey foxes devouring a road kill, then a patch of wetland in the otherwise semi-arid Patagonian steppe yielded torrent ducks, flamingos and upland geese. After 300km, the border formalities were quick and easy on both sides and our experience with Chile 's agricultural ministry on this 3 rd crossing into Chile ensured that we didn't have any produce confiscated! Due to rather foul weather and it being dusk, we decided to camp right at the border.

Chile – 22 nd to 23 rd March 2010 (third entry - Patagonia )

From the tiny Chilean village of Cerro Castillo , we made our way north to the continents' most visited National Park, Torres del Paine. Miraculously the weather cleared as we approached Lago Sarmiento for that classis photo of the 3000m granite spires. With this rare good visibility we did a driving tour around the parks periphery to soak in the classis panoramas – mountains with the Torres and its glaciers, rivers and lakes in an expansive brown landscape. Guanacos with rhea, foxes and birdlife completed the picture. After skirting around Laguna Azul, we followed the Rio Paine to alkaline Laguna Amarga with its white fringes that is a result of it high mineral content. Pink flamingos on the edge of this soapy blue lake with the Torres del Paine range as a backdrop was just the perfect lunch stop.

The rest of the day we spent in the ridiculous $30 per person National Park ogling the magna-induced outcrops (not part of the Andes ) from all angles. Although we did a little walk to Salto Chico (a little waterfall), we decided that we'd see more driving around the parks dirt roads. 150km of winding tracks took us through a landscape dotted with lagoons and lakes to a rickety wooden bridge over the Rio Paine as it flows into Lago Toro. Our 4+ tons was a slight concern and as it was late in the day, we headed back to wild camp alone along the shores of Amarga Lagoon, our favourite viewpoint.

The weather deteriorated during the night with howling winds and fresh snow that blanketed the surrounding mountains. As clouds obscured the views of the Torres peaks, we continued on a scenic 120km south to Puerto Natales. Although positioned on the Ultima Esperanza sound with surrounding snow covered peaks and a pastel wash of corrugated tin houses, it has the feel of a quiet fishing port adapting to the regions growing tourist trade. We had a look around, stocked up a bare Tipperdee and continued 250km south through estancias (extensive sheep grazing establishments) and a less dramatic landscape. The world's southernmost continental city that's still on the mainland is Punta Arenas and it was our overnight stop. This wind wracked former penitentiary town has a marine air mixed with trade, tourism and the petrochemical industry on its outskirts. We needed hot showers and took in the busy street-life, especially around the city's central Plaza Munoz Gamero as we searched for reasonably priced accommodation. After 1 ½ hours we eventually settled on a warm family run home ‘Tres Hermanos B&B' for $40 per night.

On the 24 th March we were up at 7am for our 2 hour, $90 ferry crossing of the Magellan Straits to Porvenir and a triangular archipelago – Tierra del Fuego . Shared by both Chile and Argentina, it is the end of the world and Magellan baptized it the ‘land of Fire' in 1520 when they spotted the distant shoreline campfires of the Yamana people. Although tiny, Chile 's largest settlement here Porvenir, at least had the El Chispa restaurant, which had old world character and hearty seafood. The salmon and caldillo marisco (a seafood soup with every conceivable sea creature) were hearty but the kids almuerzo de la casa (set lunch special) included some rather frilly tripe which they just couldn't cope with. A 140km good gravel road took us back east to the border with Argentina at Paso San Sebastian.

Argentina – 24 th to 25 th March 2010 (4th entry – Tierra del Fuego )

Both countries border formalities were similarly efficient to the other crossings and within half an hour we were back on a tarred surface with views of the choppy, grey Atlantic Ocean . The drive took us south through more uninspiring brown countryside with cattle and sheep to windy Rio Grande . After fuelling up, the landscape further south became soggy featuring windswept moss-draped trees and lakes. By dusk and with only 100km to go to the world's southern-most city, Lago Fagnano's shores provided a rather windy home for the night.

With the temperature around 5 degrees Celsius at 9am, it was tough to crawl out of our sleeping bags and do the final km's to Ushuaia. The scenery however transformed into lush forested mountains as we climbed over a pass with views of distant snowy peaks and clear waterways. At noon on the 25 th March 2010 we reached the southern-most drivable edge of the world with mixed feelings. A sense of accomplishment and joy at reaching our goal clashed with the sadness that this journey of a lifetime had come to an end. In search of that perfect picture to capture this momentous occasion, we criss-crossed Ushuaia's stunning location between the Beagle channel and the 1500m Fuegan Andes peaks to the end of Argentina's highway 3 at Tierra del Fuego National Park. The drizzle and grey skies didn't help matters but eventually we got something to reflect our pride, good fortune and blessings to have been able to drive around the world. We've been on the road for 1110 days, covered 151700km through 69 countries and despite many trials, hurdles, adventures, awesome wonders, warm people and great food; we are especially lucky and honoured to have realized our dream of simply sharing all these experiences with each other. Later the day, we checked into camping La Pista del Andino with gorgeous views of the city and celebrated with Jo-Anne's chicken tomato bredie and a good bottle of Chilean Merlot.

Over the next 2 weeks we'll head back up Argentina 's east coast for 3500km and will try to visit Uruguay making our total countries a round 70, before we ship home to South Africa from Buenos Aires on the 8 th April!

ARGENTINA– 26 th to 31 st March 2010 (5th entry)

After reaching the faraway southern end of the world that marked the official end of our cape2cape journey, we still had to travel back up South America's east coast to ship Tipperdee and fly back home to South Africa from Buenos Aires .

A fitting end to our trip was sharing stories and guiding a French family with 3 children who were on their way up South America after being on the road down Africa for 1 year. The kids were Jade and Dane's ages and they got on fabulously – we had to tear them apart (and control our advice-giving tongues) to eventually leave around noon on the 26 th for the return trip on the only road back north via Rio Grande to the border post of San Sebastian . Ushuaia's surrounding snow-capped mountains gave way to lakes and deciduous forests then flat brown shrubs and grasslands that would accompany us forever. The border crossing into Chile was easy but then we had to 120km through muddy roads (half of it after dark) and a $28 ferry crossing of the Strait of Magellan . Another speedy border crossing back into Argentina (no questions or checking after 10pm) and we decided to continue to our goal at Rio Gallegos. This was the first time that we did 2 border crossing in one day and drove this late into the night to cover 600km. Just past the bewitching hour, detours and roadwork's outside Rio Gallegos really stretched the tired driver who was also desperately trying to find a camping spot! Eventually we just settled for a cleared area on the side of the highway where some trucks had made their home for the night.

That same uninspiring landscape continued the next day for 660km as we pushed north for the final stretch. However, free wifi at a YPF gas station near Santa Cruz delayed us quite a while, as did another of Jo-Anne's gorgeous suppers once we hit the Atlantic Ocean with the setting sun doing its magic to the skies. Then a little further at a petroleum town, Caleta Olivia, another YPF station provided free hot showers when filling up. With blow-drying of hair, 11pm arrived rather quickly and we wild camped there for the night.

The 28 th March was a long 750km day that included a 120km dirt road detour to the coast for a visit to Punta Tombo Reserve. This spot has the largest penguin colony outside Antarctica with hundreds of thousands of Magellanic penguins who were moulting after breeding, before they head back to the Atlantic for the next 6 months. Mind blowing sights, sounds and smells greeted us as we marvelled at these creatures. By 10pm we made it to the visitors centre on an isthmus that leads to Peninsula Valdes, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We wild camped here for 2 nights while exploring the massive reserve covered by steppe type vegetation which predominantly consists of low shrubs and grasses. 270km of dirt roads led to bays, beaches and cliffs where sea lions, elephant seals and marine birds like gulls and giant petrels live. Unfortunately dolphins, whales and the orcas that are renowned for snatching baby seals off the beach, took the day off! Besides spotting wild horses, sheep, guanacos and rheas, the kids excitement centred on close encounters with numerous grey foxes and hairy armadillos. As this peninsular (and a lot of eastern Argentina) was covered by the sea millions of years ago, shell and plant fossils are everywhere – especially on 20m cliff faces where the kids clambered in search of that ‘special one'.

The next 2 days were just a slog through uninspiring flat landscape – 1500km of Patagonian arid steppe slipped into the Pampas plains above the city of Bahia Blanca . The odd cluster of sheep was replaced by grazing cattle and agriculture. Just outside Pigue, another YPF gas station with free wifi and showers was our first overnight stop as we headed north towards Uruguay . Then after by passing Buenos Aires and crossing the Rio Parana we re-entered the state of Entre Rios. True to its reputation, police at a road block stopped us and tried to extort pesos from us. Our infringement was Tipperdee's rear bumper. Off-road conditions require a good departure angle and Tipperdee's rear extends ½m behind the chassis/bumper. My poor Spanish and refusal to understand their point while trying to explain my situation and pleading poverty, eventually got us through after nearly an hour of haggling. Luckily they didn't notice that Tipperdee's tail lights and dashboard lighting were not functioning! Just after 9pm we eventually found a wild camping spot at a Shell garage near Ceibas for the night.

A fuse change sorted our electrical problems the next day, but then road works and more police checks ensured that we didn't lose our hard earned patience! The Easter weekend's traffic north was a stop-start-wait affair and the 160km to Argentina 's border town of Colon took 5 hours. Unfortunately the closer bridge across the Rio Uruguay to Fray Bentos had structural issues which forced an extra 200km to our planned destination.

see diary for Uruguay

Argentina – 5th to 13th April 2010 (6th entry)

Our final border formalities took just 20 minutes, but the 300km south to Buenos Aires from Colon was a rather unpleasant affair. Midway, Entre Rios's police detained us for over an hour, again to extort money from us. Even though we were decked out in safety belts, headlights on and did not infringe any driving or traffic rules, they decided that there should be safety belts at the back and were adamant that our foreign vehicle was a source of quick income for them. After we produced the warning triangles and fire extinguisher that they asked for, they again found fault with the bulbar and rear bumper. This was deemed unsafe and against Argentinean law and only a cash $US200 fine would allow us to proceed! So we set up camp and made this a lunch stop, while the cat and mouse game began between Gary and the police. This eventually ended when they realized that we would continue arguing and were not going to give in – 3 years of 70 different country's bureaucracy had taught us to deal with corrupt individuals in positions of ‘power'!

The heavy traffic into the capital of 13 million, forced us to find our way to the suburb of Belgrano around dusk where we hooked up with Americans Linda and Steve Maxwell, who spend their summers living between the 2 countries. They somehow got onto our website and invited us to stay for a few days in their quaint home – a real god send as we needed a base to organise Tipperdee's shipping back to South Africa .

After the rather stressful and tough few weeks of hard driving with gas stations as our home, we were delighted to have our ‘own' en suite bedroom and were welcomed with Steve's great home-made pizza and salad accompanied by Argentinean Malbec wine! Linda's breakfasts of oatmeal and fruit smoothies were a real treat. Most of our time here was chatting, schooling or preparing for the dreaded shipping – going to agents' offices downtown or customs agents' 80km north of Buenos Aires, with Jo-Anne's obsession to clean, pack and reorganise Tipperdee. We did however manage a glimpse of this European looking city with a third world twist, that's filled with rather busy, haughty residents. As Steve and Linda's passion lie in Tango, we accompanied them to one of their Tango sessions in an atmospheric old hall. On the way we got to know the subways, visited Tango shoe shops and then enjoyed the lessons, where we got to see students learning the complicated steps while the teachers demonstrated the sensual art.

We also had a taste of the warmer side of BA when we went to their friends Marta and Miguel's home for a barbeque of chorizo and ‘cow's cheeks' - which we later learnt that it was a thymus gland – an indescribable texture that did not see us going back for seconds, and even firsts for some!

On the 9 th April 2010, the day dawned that we could and never wanted to visualize – we had to say goodbye to Tipperdee, leaving her in the hands of customs at Zarate port and pray for her safe and uneventful ro-ro voyage on Grimaldi lines back to Port Elizabeth via some rather dubious ports. That night we escaped into a world of make believe with the 3D movie of Alice in Wonderland.

Freed from shipping responsibilities, we eventually did the touristy thing from the 10 th April. First up was ritzy Recoleta with its weekend hippie fair and lively performers. Professional looking tango dancers, mime artists and all kinds of live music was scattered all over the park. We had a look around BA's Home Design Centre, then Recoleta Cemetery next to 1732 Iglesia de Nuesta Senora de Pilar had us gasping! Hordes of guide-led tourist groups went through avenues of lofty statues from one extravagant marble façade to the next. Quite fascinating to see how generations of the elite rest in ornate splendour with their earthy-smelling coffins in full view – and one or two still having the fresh smell of death!!

The evening was for savouring hip Palermo 's nightlife. We connected with Gaston, whom we had met on the subway a couple of days ago, to listen to his band's gig at a rather loud venue, but unlike ‘Portenos' we were home by 1am!

The following day was another fair, the antiques market that led for nearly 2km from Plaza de Mayo down pedestrianised, cobbled Defensa to Plaza Dorrego. Lunch at a Middle Eastern sidewalk café and strolling San Telmo's atmospheric streets chewed up the daylight hours and we then headed back to Steve and Linda's place for a goodbye dinner with some of their friends.

The 12th April we moved to the older, more central San Telmo for a 2 night stay at America del Sur Hostel. A hearty lunch at one of the old colonial traditional corner eateries encouraged a long walk to colourful rough-housing La Boca. This working class barrio's main draw are bright corrugated metal buildings along pedestrianised Caminito with cafes, artists, souvenir shops and of course tango demonstrations luring unsuspecting tourists.

Our final day was spoiled by heavy rain, but we did manage a glimpse of B.A.'s more affluent side later the evening when we met up with Alejandro whom we had met in India . We had a drive around the ritzy restaurants and apartments of Las Canitas and the new Puerto Madero, then had some snacks and the local brew, stout Quilmes at his parents mansion on the city's northern outskirts.

Well, that's it folks, we came and conquered, and are flying back to Johannesburg today, the 14 th April 2010 after 37 months on the road and an unimaginable number of experiences, trials and joys through 70 countries.

We realize that we are truly blessed to have been able to dream this journey and to have completed it. We give thanks to every soul out there who has guided, aided and filled our memories with those special moments. It now feels as if it has all passed in a flash and we are going to have to start dreaming again!

The End