Have you heard the tale, of Sammy and the whale...?

We went whale watching. And it RULED.

Decided to ditch BA after far too little sleep. Felt it was time to do something constructive and see what daylight in Argentina looks like. So, we got a plush 20 hour bus (like seriously plush guys - cama seats, pillows, blankets, meals, movies, champs - I´ll never take the Megabus again) south to Puerto Madryn to see the whales.

Rocked up and wandered down to the beach where you can actually see them from the shore. We were excited. We ooohed and ahhhed and took loads of (what we thought at the time were amazing) pictures of the black slithers quite far out that were whales. These pictures soon got deleted.





So yeah, the actual boat trip (the following day) to hang with the whales was beyond incredible. About five of us, in a tiny boat on the sea rammed with them. Amazing. They come right up to the boat, so you can touch them, and just stick their (ugly, lumpy) heads out of the water to have a look. Then they swim right underneath the boat and pop up the other side, just looking and blowing water through their spouts. They´re massive. About the length of the number 73 bendy bus in London. And the width of I don´t know what. Just incredible.









Plus one of them, who liked us the most, did that whole jumping out of the water thing that you only ever see in National Geographic. All 40 tons of it. That´s heavier than me. It was pretty special. The splash, the noise, the way they can lift themselves out of the water. Just immense. After that we checked out seals, elephant seals and penguin nests. We were 2 weeks off seeing the penguins and killer whales, but after our morning it really didn´t seem to matter. We were all completely blown away. Even Duncan rated it in the top 5 things we´ve done, and he hates animals. Plus for that moment I finally really let go of any concern that I´ve done the wrong thing in ditching everything and coming away. When do you ever get to be face to face with something so amazing? Hardly ever. Fact.

Pacha

I wouldn´t be seen dead in a super club like Pacha back home. Not nearly enough Kylie. And waaay too many posey types in sunglasses (it´s a NIGHTclub. Take them off.) So I did kick and scream a bit. But everyone was up for it, and after a few bottles of red with Joe, Ronan, Nora and Disco Dan it was pretty much a given that I´d be going too.

And guess what? Loved it, didn´t I?









Danced like a mad thing until about 8am when the others hit the after party (wish I´d gone) but had to sub a cab for Joe and Mole who were out of cash. Got back to the hostel, necked a couple of coffees then took myself to the club over the road that was still banging (at 9am on a Sunday morning. I mean, what the?) Danced on my own to some trance (seriously, what´s THAT all about) until some French guy called Sebastian (who smelled like sick, nice) gave me a wake up call that it was probably time to go. So, that´s what I did.

Nightcrawlers

This place is mental. You think about looking for a restaurant for your evening meal somewhere between midnight and 1am. Then after your amazing, massive steak is all washed down with the House Red at about 2am it´s back to the hostel for drinks - maybe a bar, and then hit the first club at 3ish. It was a dance music this time, and by the time we got back breakfast was in full swing, so Dave and I tucked right in. It was proper filth.

Other news. Tristan´s here, which is rad. We had Dave and Dan´s eat off. Dave won. I had my hair cut. Cheap as chips. And today I´m spending my birthday money that Duncan collected (thanks again guys) on having proper hair extensions. Get in. Apart from that, no-one really sees daylight here. So there´s not a lot to tell. Push it, let´s push it, push the feeling on. Push it, let´s push it, gotta keep moving on...

BA, baby

Argentina´s going to be the death of me.



EVERYONE´S here. It´s like a travelling reunion. Big Dave, Suzi, Dan, Australian Chris, Louisa, Joe, Ronan, Nora, Marcin. It´s mad. We´re in the hostel that never sleeps (Millhouse) and were still up drinking beer at 9am this morning after a mental night on the tiles (I´m sorry, did I say I hate drum and bass?)

D is for duck monster...and Dave

You still here? So yeah, there we all were in Paraty a charming little town with cobbled streets and loads of character. Got there at night and checked in to a hostel with Dave and Mark, and ran in to Jonty and Maccin who we´d met on Ilha Grande. Add on Edd who we´d met in Rio and chuck in Gigi, a sweet, crazy Italian (the hips never lie) and we had the crew. Roasting weather, a day out on a private boat (more swimming in crystal clear waters with tropical fish - snore) a trip to a surf beach and a night out in the centre which was littered with authors and book-types (got in at 6am after dancing with Dave in the dingy Irish bar) and that was Paraty. Yeah, loved it didn´t I?











And then there were three. Me, Duncan and Dave headed off for another island. Ilhabella. It was a bit rubbish if we´re honest - really expensive, hard to get around and the worst bit was the boys making me do an intermediate hour long trek to a waterfall (guys, it was pants) where I got bitten to shreds (again) and didn´t even have a dip because the water was stone cold Steve Austin. But I laughed. Hard. For the entire time we were there...



Dave fell in love with us (clearly) and changed his plans so he could tag along to Sao Paulo. We fell in love with Dave (one maybe more than the other) and were glad of his (hilarious) company. Spent 2 nights in the city, wandered the streets, went out for dinner, did our best to dodge the duck monster and met up for drinks with Mark. Then came the emotional goodbye at 1am. All too quickly. And I´ve been blue (dah ba dee dah bah dah bah dah bah dee) ever since.

Living on the island

So, the last week and a half have blended almost seamlessly into one tropical beach-type holiday. After one final night of carnage in Rio, we ditched it and headed to Ilha Grande with Chloe, Justin and Yelena - a small, perfect island a couple of hours away. What followed were a handful of days of sun tanning (right, I´m officially brown and it´s NOT FROM A BOTTLE), white sand beaches (Lopez Mendes, one of the best in Brazil allegedly), boat trips and dipping in blue lagoons. Yep. I know. It ruled.



That was until a shrimp pizza on Justin´s birthday landed me in bed for 48 hours with food poisoning. It was far from pleasant for all involved. It was messy. I was ill. And ashamed.

A sad goodbye to Chloe, Justin and Yelena - and then we were on to the next. Mark, an actor who was once the murderer in Midsummer Murders (he´s grappled with John Nettles, don´t you know) and Dave a high school art teacher from London. Duncan and Mark indulged in hot, sweaty treks around the island (no thanks) whilst Dave and I sat out our last day on the beach. Then the three of us headed off to Paraty for the lit festival, daahhling.

Oh brother!

So, last night I was full, tired and definately NOT up for any kind of going out. But the boys at the hostel somehow persuaded me to hit a club with them and at about 1am we headed out. Got stopped on the way by police (with guns, of course) who searched us thoroughly for drugs. Which was horrible. Then got to the club to find it was trashy dance music. Which I hate. So that was even more horrible. Plus we´d missed any kind of discount entry as it was so late. So yeah, I wasn´t really feeling it. That was until I got inside the stinking, sweaty dance hell and the first person I clapped eyes on was AMIR.

Being the youngest in the family, I never had the pleasure of having my own younger brother. So I had Ash´s (my best school friend). I´ve grown up with Amir. I adore him. But he´s always been, like, nine or something in my eyes. Anyway, ´nine year old´ Amir looked after me all night, muscled men who bumped in to me and even insisted that him and his friend accompanied me home in a cab, even though I´m pretty sure they weren´t ready to leave. Bless you Amir. It made my week to see you and I can´t tell you how proud I am that you´ve turned in to such a lovely young man. And where did you get those muscles? You didn´t have those when you were at Summerbee Infants.

We´ll have a gay old time

It was gay pride on Copacabana beach. Of course it was.



Duncan and I went along. Of course we did.



It was just like being at home.