Hola:

Another group email but time is of the essence when you are working at some of those computers. We have had a wonderful time in Argentina. Since Buenos Aires we have been to Iguazu Falls definitely worth it. It was a magical experience and for those who are interested rent the movie The Mission part of it is set at Iguazu and we saw the spot where Robert de Niro climbs the falls, movie magic time. Saw koates there, a sort of tropical racoon, saw monkeys, a crocodile and hundreds if not thousands of different species of butterflies which literally land right on you there are so many of them. Took a launcha ride under some of the falls and got completely soaked but it was a hot day so we didn't mind. The park itself is very big and very well maintained. We got close to Brazil and took a picture. The falls are nicest on the Argentinian side. Iguazu itself was not much of a town but it is situated in a picturesque location, it feels like you are smack in the jungle. We bought the cheapest beer ever there. One litre for under, yes under, one dollar canadian. Prices were pretty phenomenal in Argentina. A meal for two with beer can cost as little as 7 dollars. We got a whole outfit for Stan for about 8 bucks.

We have been in Salta 6 days and will be leaving tomorrow for San Pedro de Atacama, in Chile.

It took us 27 hours and 3 buses to get here from Iguazu. We were in the super cama, not to be confused with the "Sutra Kama" which, believe me it wasn't. We were forced to watch endless videos of really bad disco groups from the 70s and the 80s. I felt like Alex in A Clockwork Orange.

It was midnight and the videos were still going strong. Mercifully when it got to techno hits even the machine couldn't do it and gave up. Peace at last but only for a while because the machine appeared to be more amenable to Michael Jackson hits so now it's Thriller at 2 in the morning!

Lots of fun.

In any case Salta is a beautiful colonial city with people going about their business day and night it seems. It is incredibly animated and loud, the louder the better. The architecture is wonderful and the Cathedral, an incredible light pink color is quite astonishing. The inside is replete with gold. There are miniature silver offerings to The Virgin for granting wishes and these are in the shape of that which you asked for usually involving health. So you find breasts, backs, kidneys, legs, stomachs, heads etc... They are in big cases under glass. It's quite peculiar.

We took a one day tour to the Humahuaca Quebrada, a quebrada is a sort of canyon. It has been named a patrimonio of humanitad by the United Nations and the screnery is spectacular.

The mountains are all striated with different colors caused by mineral deposits, we're talking reds, pinks, greens, yellow, cream...they refer to it as the painter's palette. It looks completely unreal.

We also saw giant cactuses, some of which were over 500 years old. We visited a beautiful little town where there was an indigenous market and a really fantastic museum filled with artifacts such as mommies, pottery etc... Quite rare and really indicative of the region and the various periods. We went with a young Argentinian couple Lorraina and Emiliano. Emiliano suffered

from "saroche" altitude sickness for at 3000 metres Humahuaca is really high. Stan and I were not adversely affected so it bodes well for La Paz which is 4000 metres. We are impatient to live for San Pedro de Atacama tomorrow. Argentina's been great but we have a lot of ground to cover still. Hope everybody is well.

Hasta luego,
Josiane