Iguazu Falls

Our first stop in Brazil was to visit the breathtaking Iguazu Falls. We expected them to be impressive, however we were completely blown away by how enormous and beautiful they were (pics don't do them any justice at all!)

We stayed on the Brazilian side of the falls in a relaxing hostel, hidden away on a large property in the middle of nowhere and took day trips to each side of the waterfalls during our stay. It was nice to feel away from it all and our hostel served up delicious Brazilian brekkies and dinners. Explanation of strange mud on face - we met some crazy Brazilians at our hostel who taught us the fine card game "pig". We ended up playing all night long and the punishment for losing was that you had to have your face painted with mud from the dam. Of course, Elise ended up getting distracted by something and lost the final round of the game, which meant that everyone got to do some mud finger painting on her face : (

Our first day was spent on the Argentinian side of the falls where we were able to get up close to the falls and really feel the amazing power of the water. We got absolutely soaked at the most famous and impressive part of the falls - "Devil's Throat". Later in the day we took a boat ride where you literally ride into several parts of the falls and get hammered with water - very fun!

On the Brazilian side of the falls you don't get as close to the water but you do get a greater perspective of how extensive Iguazu is. After the falls we stopped in at the nearby bird park which sounds stupid but actually had really impressive enclosures and many exotic birds including toucans and macaws. Ben no likey birds, especially big ones, but will do anything for a good photo!

Miami

 















Miami was a huge contrast to the time we experienced in Guatemala. Although we had been to Miami before, the craziness was multiplied this time having come from a developing country. People pushing dogs in special doggy prams, boob jobs, botox gone mad, man in pink g-string with bunny ears - you name it, we saw it! Despite the madness of it all, we still managed to have plenty of down time (due to the not so nice weather), people watching and even some shopping.


We were lucky enough to catch 2 Miami Heat games during our stay. Ben couldn't believe his luck when it looked as though all 3 superstars of the team might miss the game due to injuries, but luckily enough, both Lebron and Wade decided not to be princesses for one night and had a full game on the court.

Our seats were a splurge but amazing! We were close enough to see all of the court side action and harass players + famous faces including Alonzo Mourning, Gabrielle Union and Lil Wayne and Elise even got a wave from D-Wade! To Ben's delight, the game went to overtime and was a good game despite the Heat losing.  


For the second game we were in the nose bleed section until we devised a cunning plan to sneak into our old section during half time. All was going swimmingly well until people started to fill the seats on either side. After some strange looks we hurried back to our real seats but managed to enjoy almost a quarter in our upgraded seats. Yay for us!

Some highlights were happy hour at our hotel each night which involved all you can drink free drinks for one hour, served by our favourite bar-girl Josephine. Elise couldn't quite walk straight after each happy hour but she was determined to keep up with Ben! We also met a lovely local couple for drinks on the main cafe strip of Lincoln Road (the daughter of our house-mate in Antigua and her fiance).

 

Antigua

It wasn't long into our trip before we realised that we were 'screwed' without any understanding of Spanish in this part of the world. Antigua seemed to be the perfect place to study, with more language schools than anywhere else in Central America.

The town is beautiful - colonial Spanish architecture, cobblestone streets and plenty of parks, good food and Guatemalan hospitality. It is a little daunting being completely surrounded by volcanoes, but this is what also gives the town such a unique look. It became completely normal to watch Volcan Fuego smoking early each morning!

We stayed in a student house run by Ana and her family for 6 weeks (around 5 mins walk from our school). It didn't take long before Antigua started to feel like our home away from home. Within a couple of weeks the locals began to know our food orders, names etc. It was a place where we could actually feel like we were 'living' rather than traveling and our days were spent studying, taking salsa classes, visiting the local gym, markets & cafes and hanging out with our friends at the house & school.

With the cold weather and adopted family, Christmas didn't exactly feel like Christmas but it was an interesting experience nonetheless. We spent Christmas Eve in a mountain 'hippy' lodge with some students at our school where we saw one of the volcanoes spitting lava in the night (very cool!). Christmas day was with our Guatemalan family in their home. It was here that we experienced our first pinata and some local traditions including posadas where each family hosts a gathering (sometimes up to 200 people!) before Chistmas Eve. Everyone walks to their home as they sing and carry candles whilst blocking all traffic by walking in the middle of the road!

Soon we will upload a funny video of our pinata experience where Ben completely scared the hell out of all the Guatemalans as he swung his baton towards the crowd!

Leading up to Christmas we also had the chance to help out one of the local poorer communities in San Pedro by assisting the school in organising activities and presents for the children of the town. Ben got his behind whooped by the local kids in soccer and ended up spraining his ankle : )

 

After some crazy pyrotechnics during Christmas we opted for what we thought would be a more peaceful place at Lake Atitlan. Instead, the town we stayed in turned out to be party central with Shakira and Pitbull blaring well past 5am in the morning + non-stop fireworks set off by drunk locals and tourists.

Once NYE was over, we moved to a different town and were able to enjoy some peace, good food & lazy days in Panajachel and Santa Cruz.

One of our more adventurous excusions with the school was to one of the nearby active (but safe) volcanoes - Volcan Pacaya. Although the climb up was torturous, the views at the top were amazing and we were able to roast marshmallows with the heat coming from the ground!

After 6 hard weeks of 5 hours a day, we both graduated from Spanish School - Hooray!!
(Bottom left pic is an example of the many objects Ben bumped his head on whilst in Guatemala - not a country built for tall people!)

... and had the sad task of saying goodbye to our teachers Alejandra & Elvia, our family, salsa teacher Juan Carlos and Pinky!

Ben especially misses the daily newspaper (if you can call it that). Highly informative and educational!