Foz do Iguazu, Brazil
Back home having collected a boat, 2 bikes, 2 ski bags, lots of empty food containers, + our backpacks and the roller... From whales to manatees to a snow covered yard full of deer tracks (and probably rhododendrons with no buds left...). From stormy seas to calm beautiful lakes in mid summer, but surrounded by snow covered volcanoes, to a nicely cleared driveway in a so far mild New England winter.
From foreign countries with many friendly people, to a party week with family and big dogs in Orlando, and finally home!
All within the span of a month.
The world is truly small, and despite the flight shaming and my eagerness to do what is best environmentally, I think it is very important we stay in touch with people everywhere. With family and friends, but I firmly believe also that the world benefits from people meeting new friends and experiencing life elsewhere - face to face. The scientists/engineers of the world would figure things out if only the old fashioned business types and politicians stayed out of their way.
We are fully aware of how lucky we are to have had this opportunity to again see new places.
Since we started making our dinners in Buenos Aires in mid October, our choices have been: stir fried veggies with tomato sauce, a couple of Thai type stir fries with curry paste & coconut milk, or more veggie stir fries with a Chilean spice mix called Merken. We should be well supplied with all the nutrients carrots, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onion, ginger and potatoes offer. Craig will miss the potatoes of Patagonia - he says they were tastier than any we get here.
And anyone who goes grocery shopping with Craig should please remember not to squash his bread. I never knew this was so important - even the boring, sliced soft bread varieties we have on the shelves also at home should never act as protection for wine bottles!
Manatees
How does this trip compare to Our Big Adventure? The language barrier was pretty constant in South America because I mastered mostly polite phrases. The last time, it was rare not to be able to use English.
Many of the people we could speak English with, had learned the language ‘on the job’ - we know people told us this in Ecuador last spring, and now at least in Peru, Chile and Uruguay.
This time we spent more time in poorer areas, we changed location more frequently, we scheduled 3 guided tours/treks in 4 months, compared to working around essentially 2 such over 10 months the last time. We have a good idea of what Uruguay looks like as a country, whereas the last time we focused on only a few places in each country. The biggest difference I think is that the last time the cultural variations were huge between the many areas we visited. This time my lack of language skills prevented us from experiencing the regional differences. But we got to see so many beautiful places, and it is nice to have a better idea of what the southern half of this hemisphere looks like!
The house is dusty, but if that is the price we pay, it’s a low one. 1.5 years ago we noted the world is big, and above I state it is small... it all depends on the context. We have many more places to visit, but for now we really hope we get visitors here at home!
