Visiting Paraguay

Itaipú Dam on the Upper Paraná River,
north of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.

I have just booked three nights at a hostel near Iguazu Falls that has the largest swimming pool in the region! They offer a one-day trip which includes visiting the Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam and the Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, and then lunch in a restaurant in Brazil, followed by a visit to the Brazilian side of the falls. It sounds good as I have never been to Paraguay, so will be able to tick off another country on my list! The hostel also offers five-a-side soccer, pool volleyball, tango lessons and a Brazilian show with dancers. It should be a fun three days!

Ushuaia

The port of Ushuaia, Argentina,
where my cruise will depart from.

I have booked and paid for my internal flights in Argentina. I have decided to fly down to Ushuaia a day earlier than planned. This means I will get one-and-a-half days there before the cruise starts - instead of just half a day. Ushuaia is the capital city of the Tierra del Fuego Province. I won't be short of activities to do there with hiking, sailing, skiing, kayaking and even scuba-diving available just minutes from town. And then of course I can visit the world’s southernmost microbrewery...

What do I take on an Antarctic cruise?

The Expedition is the ship I will be on.
She is currently in the harbour of
Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.

I spent yesterday buying clothing and equipment for the cruise: thermal underwear, a Gortex rain jacket, a beanie, several thick wool socks, sunnies, and also some reusable hand-warmers. I am planning on hiring a down jacket when there, as I do not want to carry this around for the rest of my trip. I am really looking forward to going now, and have been reading different blogs by travellers who have recently been there about what clothes to take and which cameras work best, etc.

Cheap Qantas flight

Qantas 747-400 'Jumbo Jet'

I was thinking of buying a one-way ticket to South America because I wasn't sure about whether at the end of my trip I would be flying back to Australia from Santiago, the United States, or coming back via Europe. The other problem is that when you enter a foreign country you often need to show that you have a ticket home. Then I found a return Qantas ticket to South America on special that was cheaper than a one-way ticket! The outbound flight leaves Sydney for Buenos Aires on Sat 18 February, and the return flight home departs from Santiago on 28 April. So, I can come home at the end of the Easter school holidays, or if I wish to continue travelling, I can change the return date to the end of the year, and therefore continue to enter other foreign countries without a problem. How perfect is that? It seems to all be coming together nicely!