January 2010 newsletter

Dear Family and Friends,

Andrey and I hope that you are well and that everyone had a great December holiday. We kicked January off with a bang!

We had a group of 9 people staying at the hostel on 1 January. They were part of a catering team for Dakar and had to travel early to their next destination. We did not see much of them because they checked in at 1am and checked out at 5am. Andrey and I were like 2 excited children to get ready for the Dakar event. We organized our cameras and made sure we got front row seats! (A blog of the event is available with pictures.)

Guests started to arrive slowly. First we had a French young man and his American girlfriend, Clement and Elicia. They travelled from Buenos Aires and have been in Argentina for a couple of months. They stayed for a 2 nights, rented bycicles and explored the country side.

Then we had Ignacio from Rosario. Rosario is a town not very far from Buenos Aires. He came here to climb Champaqui with a tour group. Champaqui is one of the mountains ranges close to us. Our friend Alex comes here on a regular basis to climb the mountain in training for Aconcagua (one of the higest mountain series in South America). Iganacio is a very interesting young man and he is planning to hitchhike his way through Mexico to Alaska and on to Russia! We wish him well.

Next came Leila and Judith. They are 2 friends from Buenos Aires and were planning to travel up North. They are also young aspiring actresses and singing and dancing were at the order of the day. They were a breath of fresh air in the hostel. I loved having them here. They made themselves comfortable and that is what our hostel is all about.

Whe had a "all girl" week when Tatyana from Russia arrived. She is travelling on a motorbike through Argentina! She came here on recommendation from our friend Alex and loved it here. She was on her way to Chile and stopped here for 2 days. At the Chilean border they refused her entry because her bike was purchased in Argentina and she is not a resident. We are following her adventures on LiveJournal and she is now heading to Patagonia. Safe travel Tatyana!














Then we had Diego and Giselle from Buenos Aires here for 4 days. They are a young couple that were on holiday up north and wanted to visit the calamuchita valley again. They enjoyed the country side and especially the river. They were spending most of their time relaxing at the river and swimming.

Last but not least was our visit from 2 sisters Sthefanie and Paula. Sthefanie took her younger sister on a trip and they were coming from Cordoba. They stayed one night and Paula celebrated her 16th birthday here. Our youngest visitor at the hostel so far.

It has been an amazing month and we were fortunate to have had so many people here at the hostel! We are getting allot of enquiries which means that people are starting to notice "Hostel Tinktinkie" on the internet. The holiday season has been quiet this year. We are still plagued with drought and it is extremely hot. (See the blog about the rain)

I am also attaching a picture of Julien and Sheree from South Africa. They visited us over Christmas and we had a really good time speaking "Afrikaans"!

We are looking forward to the month of February, with an upcoming family visit and more, exciting people at the hostel.

Andrey & Nelieta