My South America Adventure - La Recoleta Cemetery

I cannot believe I haven't posted on my blog since January 30th!! It's not as if I've been quiet, I just haven't got around to it. I have recently returned home to Australia from my holiday of a lifetime to South America. I was away for three and a half weeks and I went to Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Chile. I did a tour with  Chimu Adventures /Viva Expeditions and I couldn't recommend them highly enough. Our group consisted of eight people and we all got on really well. Our guide, Mel, who was amazing, was an Aussie but she lives in Ecuador, so it was very helpful with her speaking fluent Spanish, then in each location we had a local guide. From Australia I flew to Santiago for about a 4 hour layover then it was across the Andes to Buenos Aires. Flying over the Andes was mighty spectacular.

Flying over the Andes was certainly a special experience

I've started working on a photobook of my adventure - it could end up quite a big book. So as I come across various locations, I thought I would share them with you. One of our first attractions to visit was La Recoleta Cemetery, which is situated in the heart of Buenos Aires. I must say I do love heading to old cemeteries, but for some reason I wasn't that excited to go to La Recoleta. That was until I got there - WoW it was totally amazing. Built in the early 1800's the cemetery houses mostly the wealthy such as Presidents and Nobel Prize winners but is probably most famous for housing the body of Eva Peron, the First Lady of Argentina. Loved and respected for her fight for women and improving the lives of the poor. Eva Peron was born in 1919 and she died in 1952, so it is a mystery to me why the plaques on her grave all say different later dates. I guess I wasn't listening to our guide Pepe while he was telling us.

There are several plaques for Eva Peron, but all have different dates. 

If only I could read Spanish

An interesting fact is that the bodies are not actually buried, they are put into coffins and literally stacked on shelves, below and above ground level, with no dirt surrounding them. A lot of the coffins are put inside a second coffin to prevent smell and hygiene I guess. So whole families can be buried in the same structure. It was quite fascinating walking through what could have been a small city with it's tree lined streets and laneways.

As we entered La Recoleta Cemetery we were instantly greeting by
hundreds of elaborate marble mausoleums

It was intriguing wandering down the tiny laneways

Hopefully you can make out how the coffins are stacked behind my reflection

As we came out of the cemetery we were greeted by the biggest Rubber Tree or Ficus elastica, I have ever or am ever likely to see in my life. Said to be over 200 years old it spreads some 50 metres across.

One enormous Rubber tree

A piece of quirky are of a man holding one of the enormous branches
 that spread out over the plaza