All good things must come to an end...

Can't believe our 6 months of traveling is coming to an end. We could definitely keep going and are not quite ready to come home but decided that it's better to have had such an awesome trip that you don't want to leave rather then one you can't wait to get home from:) We have been so lucky to have this time to explore all of these amazing countries! Thank you to everyone for following our blog! We had a safe trip, great weather, learned lots and met some amazing people. We will be spending our last bit of time on the beach and look forward to seeing everyone soon!
We think this sums up our trip!
4176 Hours
174 Days
35 Different accommodations
12 Countries
14 Boarder crossings
11 Different currencies
3 Languages
A truly unforgettable experience and memories that will last a lifetime!
Love Jen and Glenn

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We have spent a couple days on ipanema beach which has been awesome! The sand is white and the water is clear! It is definitely great people watching as it is a very popular hang out for the locals. Friday night we went to a street party in lapa, they shut down the streets every friday and saturday night and all the restaurants and bars play music. You can wander for hours and there are lots of little vendors selling good strong caprihinas:) Saturday we went to a market in a huge stadium there was definitely some very interesting things for sale you wonder who buys these strange things but obviously there is enough people that do or why would multiple stores sell them? Tomorrow we will explore the downtown center and head up to sugar loaf mountain to watch the sunset:) That's all for now:)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

We have made it safe and sound to the beautiful city of Rio! We are staying at a great hostel in a bohemian neighborhood called Santa Teresa that is on a hill over looking the city. It is right on the edge of lapa which is known for it's great restaurants and night life. Yesterday we went by bus to corcovado which is the Christ statue that over looks the city. There was amazing views of the beaches and different areas of the city. They have built a trolley to get up to the top through the forest which was very nice. The public bus in the city is great it is very frequent and easy to navigate minus the fact that they drive like maniacs:) Last night we wandered through the shops in Santa Teresa and went to a brazilian restaurant and enjoyed a typical dish of rice, meat stew and some green vegetable. You all will be impressed by how much Glenn is venturing out in the food department:) Today it is once again 40 degrees so we are going to head to the beach in Impanema. That's all for now!

Ilha Grande, Brazil

So right now we are on an island off the coast of Brazil. The island is quite large with a beautiful national park and a small town u can walk through in 10 minutes. On Saturday we went by boat to a beach on the island called lopes mendes it is definitely one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen on our trip. The sand when you walk on it squeaks like snow and the water was so clear! Yesterday we went on a day trip to some of the other beaches and parts of the island where we were able to snorkel and feed turtles. It was a small speed boat so there was only 8 of us which was super nice not being on a big tour boat. The turtles were super curious and came right up to u! All in all it was a great day and we are loving this island. We are here for a couple more days and then we head to the big city of Rio de Janeiro!

Paraty, Brazil

So we are in paraty which is a nice beach town on the coast of Brazil. We have been enjoying the beach! They even celebrate carnival here so there has been lots of live bands to listen to as well as a parade. They have an old town here with lots of character and crazy cobble stone streets that are even painful to walk on. Yesterday we went on a little hike to a secluded water fall where the locals hang out. You know you are out of the tourist streets when you have to take off your shoes to make it through the 6 inches of mud without getting stuck. It has been super humid and hot, just walking down the streets we look like we just got out of the shower! Tomorrow we take a bus and boat ride to an island off the coast called ilha grande the island is home to one of the top 10 beaches in the world so we are looking forward to that. Any way that's all for now, Happy Valentine's day everyone! xo

Foz do iguacu, Brazil

So we are officially in our last country wow does time ever fly! We hired a driver with another couple he picked us up took us through the border, we didn't even get out of the car he took our passports and got them stamped, what service:) Then he took us to the Brazil side of the falls and waited for a couple hours while we wandered around. He then took us to a restaurant buffet for lunch, by far some of the best beef and just food in general we have had on this trip who would have thought?! after he dropped us at our b&b and the other couple at the airport. It was the perfect way to do it. The Brazil side of the falls is cool because you see a complete over view of the Argentina side. Yesterday we flew from foz to Sao Paolo which is one of the top biggest cities in the world only 20 million people:) if we put Rio and Sao Paolo together just the 2 cities have as many people as there are in all of Canada! crazy! from there we took a 5hr bus ride to paraty which is where we are now. It's a good thing we were getting so good with our Spanish just in time to change to come to Brazil where we now have to learn some Portuguese! it helps knowing some Spanish cause things are spelled similar a lot of the time but they do not pronounce anything the same so it's very hard to understand what people say to you. But that's what traveling is all about, new adventures! That's our update for now:)

Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

It's official they are going to let us into Brazil! We are in the Argentinian side of iguazu falls we got here tuesday night after 2 delayed flights one that we almost missed thanks to once again unreliable info boards in the airport! seriously how hard is it to get the gate up on those boards correctly? but we did make it thank goodness and were able to skip 23 hrs of a ferry and a bus:) Wed morning we headed straight to the Brazil embassy to apply for our visas. It was smooth minus the fact they needed a printed bank statement to show you have enough money to be there, I'm not gonna lie I feel a little violated. They were able to do them for us in 24hrs so we are good to go!  Yippee! If you ever need a Brazil visa come to Puerto iguazu it's by far the fastest any where! Today we went to the Argentina side of the falls! so beautiful it's a amazing park you walk through on these bridges to each of the different water falls it was pretty spectacular! we also did the boat trip into the falls which you got soaked but it was very cool to be under such power. We had an amazing day, we went with a couple we met from the UK and we are going with them tomorrow to foz do iguazu which is the Brazil side of the falls. Looking forward to our 12th and final country on this incredible adventure we have been so lucky to do! we hope everyone is well! Here we come Brazil!!!

Montevideo, Uruguay

So we are in the capital of Uruguay they have a beautiful 7km boardwalk along the ocean which we walked today. The ocean is pretty dirty here I think Buenos Aires dumps some of there trash in the Rio de plata so we won't be swimming here even though people do:) Yesterday we went to the port and had some great empanadas at a market, they had like 20 different kinds! Tonight we went to montevideo carnival which was definitely fun to see but there is only so long you enjoy being squashed standing on your tip toes in a big crowd! Im pretty sure of the 1.5million people that live here most were here tonight. Our hotel is 2 blocks from the action so I'm sure we will hear party's till the early morning. Glenn is happy though we have a channel playing the Superbowl so he isn't missing it:) We have one more day here and then we head back to Argentina to Iguazu falls!

Punta del esta, Uruguay

So this place is like the surfers paradise of Uruguay it seems that everyone goes here. We were always told the beaches here would be busy but we have never seen anything like it! just crazy! we have had unreal weather it has been an average of 35 degrees all week! we were looking at the weather in Calgary and it was plus 35 here feels like 39 and minus 23 feels like minus 33! OMG we are in for a rude awakening if it is that cold when we get home! eeek! we head to Montevideo tomorrow to get some culture in the capital! hope everyone is staying warm can't believe January is over! That's all for now:)

Piriapolis, Uruguay

So we are on the coast of Uruguay. We are staying in a tiny little flat in a place called piriapolis which is about 30 minutes from punta del esta. We had a hard time finding a clean reasonable priced place to stay right in punta so we decided to stay here. The beaches here are really nice with white sand and warm water. Its easy to get a bus to punta so we can stay here where it is less busy and just go there a couple days. Yesterday we went up a chair lift on a hill called cerro San Antonio to see great views of the bay. It's quite funny watching the people here they are quite obsessed with a tea called matte. They take it everywhere even in the ocean! They carry around a thermos and this cup that has a straw with a filter on it. It reminds us a lot like we are in hobbit ville. The sinks are low and the houses small and they carry around there tea:) They say if someone offers you a sip you have to take it other wise you will really offend them. We are here on the, beach till the 31st then we will head to the capital city for a few days. Hope everyone is keeping well! Hugs!

Colonia de Sacremento, Uruguay

We have made it to our 11th country safe and sound! We enjoyed our last week in Buenos Aires we had a blast at the tango show we have some new moves when we come back:) We met up with another couple we had met in arica Chile and did some sight seeing with them the last couple days. We went on our first subway ride with them, it was exactly how the movies portray it I now see why they use them for movies I felt like we were in pelham 123:) Yesterday we took the ferry from BA to colonia, it is a cute little town on the coast of Uruguay. The old town is full of cobble stone streets and lots of character. We are here till tomorrow then we will head up the coast to punta del esta which they call the Miami beach of south america so we are looking forward to being back on the beach again! That's all for now:)

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Well we are in the big city of Buenos Aires, we took a 14 hour overnight bus from Mendoza which was ok we were able to sleep and they fed us dinner as well as champagne and wine, you can't beat that! We are staying in a flat right down town so we have been able to walk to all the great areas of the city. We have chosen a different walking tour each day. We went to the recoleta cemetery the other day and saw evitas grave it was something to see the insane buildings they have built for the tombs. All were just incredible! we went to the presidential palace and walked along the river docks in Puerto madero, and saw the opera house which is one of the 4 most well known in the world. They have a street here that is 8 lanes each direction, you had to walk very briskly to get across before the light turned. Last night we went for dinner with Pablo and Laura, Glenn had trained Pablo at work 4 years ago in Calgary so it was great to be able to see him here. We went for steaks and though they were good iam still an Alberta beef girl! Tonight we are going to put on our dancing shoes and make our attempt at the tango! we are going to a tango dinner show and they give you lessons before the show so we will see how that goes:) We are enjoying Buenos Aires there is lots to see and do so it is keeping us busy! we are here till wednesday then we will head to country number 11 Uruguay! That's all for now!