Things I want to do before my time has come - PART 2

Back in November, I published a list of things that I would like to do before I die. From the 27 items on my list, I am happy to say that I managed to do 14 from the original list and three others that were not listed.....but having said that the list seems to be growing.

ACHIEVED

Learn to ride and buy a motorbike - November 2006, bike (Honda CB 400)purchased January 2007
Climb a mountain - Mount Kilimanjaro January 2007
Learn rock climbing - May 2003
Go on a safari in the Serengeti - January 2007
See Robbie Williams in Concert - July 2006 - San Siro Stadium Milan
Learn how to ride a horse, and go on a horseback trek - February 2008 - Trans Andes horseback trek - Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile
Take a tram ride in San Francisco - December 2002
Learn how to ice climb - Dolomites, Italy January 2000
Experience the white nights - Tampere, Finland, June 2002
Go white water rafting - Austria, August 2007
Get involved in a charity or charitable organisation - 2006, 2007 Park of Friendship (offering services to persons with a Disability), 2006 Kilimanjaro Challenge 3...it won't stop here though
Create your website or blog - 2007 you are reading it!
Visit New Orleans and get tipsy in Bourbon Street - June 2005
Find the love of my life - January 2008 :) not giving too many details :)
Go on a hot air balloon ride - Dubai, April 2007
Visit Buenos Aires, Argentina - February 2008
See and feel the power of the Iguazu Falls - February 2008
Participate in Equestrian Competitions (show jumping, dressage) - in progress

WORKS IN PROGRESS
Travel Route 66 on a bike
Travel to all the continents - in progress
Spend Christmas, in a mountain chalet, complete with log fire and snow outside
Abseil from a helicopter
Walk the Great Wall of China (if not all part of it)
SCUBA dive in the Red Sea or Great Barrier Reef
Do the Macchu Pichu trail in Peru
Learn how to ski
Visit the Golan Heights and the Holy Land
Swim with Dolphins
Do Lifecycle Challenge (a gruelling bike ride, usually going through unfamiliar territory, mega steep hills and unfriendly places)
Go dog sledding in Lapland
Reach the summit of Mont Blanc- (in progress, currently training for it)
Participate in Equestrian Competitions (show jumping, dressage) - in progress
Buy my own horse and calling him Rafiki (meaning friend in Swahili)
Buy a BMW motorbike and visit Europe overland
Organise a photographic exhibition - my own works of course!

MEMORABLE QUOTES

We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend

Robert Louis Stevenson, writer

FAVOURITE PICTURE SERIES (19)

Photo copyright Alejandro Morassi 2008

After spending the second night at Real de La Cruz, we were faced with the challenge of crossing the Tunayan river. Although not deep, currents were strong and most of us were apprehensive of this crossing.

I followed the gauchos' advice to trust our horses. I did not regret it. Mio proved to be a strong, sure footed and good natured horse.

FAVOURITE PICTURE SERIES (18)

Photo copyright Alejandro Morassi 2008

Photo taken near Real de la Oveja on the third day of the Trans Andes Trek. My horse, was an adorable six year old called Mio - with whom I bonded instantly.

And on the eighth day God created Iguazu.....

During the planning stages of my Argentine trip, my friends who previously visited Argentina insisted that I visit Iguazu Falls, or Cataratas del Iguazú. After such insistence, I cut short my visit to Chile and headed off towards Misiones. On my way there I kept thinking to myself "this had better be worth it!". It is easy to build expectations, but when these are too high, disappointment can be higher.

The waterfalls are located on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones and their name comes from the Guarani or Tupi words Y(water) and ûasú (big. Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.

The sheer beauty of these falls, especially Devil's Throat is difficult to describe in words, one has to experience it in person to actually realise the beauty of such a place, where one can see what a beautiful world God created for us!

Photo Copyright Maria Vella-Galea 2008

FAVOURITE PICTURE SERIES (17)

Finally I managed to take a picture with the horse I rode through out the Challenge.

Mio, who whenever I would stand close to him would rub his nose affectionately against me, is six years old. He was very good natured and calm but at the same time very responsive making him the ideal horse for me, especially in view of my limited riding experience.

Mount Tupungato standing at 6570m, is in the background.

Sunrise on Scaravelli

This photo was taken from my tent, at Scaravelli Lodge campsite, 3,200m up in the Andes, on the second day of the Trans Andes horseback trek

Photo Copyright - Maria Vella-Galea 2008

City of the dead

La Recoleta Cemetery is located in the exclusive neighbourhood of the same name in Buenos Aires and is the final resting place of many influential and important Argentines. Perhaps the most important or rather well known being Eva Duarte de Perón or as most people know her Evita!



Neo-classical gates with tall Greek columns welcome visitors to this necropolis however the cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in a wide variety of architectural styles. The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums.









Each mausoleum bears the family name etched into the facade; brass or bronze plaques are added to the front for particular family members. While many of the mausoleums are in fine shape and well-maintained, others have fallen into disrepair. Several can be found with broken glass, littered with rubbish.





La Recolta is the final resting place of statesmen such as Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810-1884), Nicolás Avellaneda (1837-1885), Miguel Juárez Celman (1844-1909), Arturo Umberto Illia (1900-1983),Bartolomé Mitre (1821-1906), Honorio Pueyrredón (1876-1945), Hipólito Yrigoyen (1852-1933), (most of which have streets named after them) as well as people such as William Brown (1777-1857), Admiral, Father of the Argentine Navy, Susan Barrantes, (1937-1998), mother of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Enrique Larreta (1875-1961), writer, Luis F. Leloir (1906-1987), scientist, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, and Carlos Menditeguy (1915-1973), race car driver and sportsman.



Traditionally La Recoleta is one of those cemeteries where the tradition of engraving a death date but no birth date has been maintained and another practice that we might not be too familiar with, is that of having coffins placed within the crypt, visible to all rather than buried deep in the ground.

Although perhaps not as famous as Père-Lachaise (Paris, France and reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery) La Recoleta still is manages to attract thousands of visitors annually, perhaps thanks to the fact of it being the final resting place of Eva Duarte de Peron.

All photos Copyright - Maria Vella-Galea 2008