It is surprising how few transportation mishaps we have encountered given the length of our trip. Up until leaving Buenos Aires that is.

We arrived at the airport ready and excited to board the plane to the USA. Our first sign of trouble was after check-in, customs and the normal security check at the gate when we went through the special USA-bound passenger check. Clearly we have been away too long as we both completely forgot that liquids were not allowed on board flights headed for the USA. The prohibited items in our baggage included a large tube of toothpaste, 3 litres of water (to prevent onboard dehydration!), a jar of the extremely addictive and sickeningly sweet Argentinean staple dulce de leche and three bottles of wine. Needless to say we were instructed to throw all these items away, however, I am pleased to say that the wine (carefully carried for a month on buses for Christmas presents!) was saved by an airport official who allowed us to pack them into Guy’s small bag and he somehow got it into the hold. Disaster averted, or so we thought.

Finally we were buckled in and ready to go, the plane reversed out of the parking bay and then, after the safety instructions, the plane returned to the parking bay and we watched in dismay as the stairs were moved back to the plane. After an hour or so in the plane we had to disembark due to a technical difficulty and were promised an update an hour later, at midnight. Our update eventually came – we had to wait until 2am for the final update! At 2am our flight was cancelled – apparently the technical problem was solved but it was determined that by the time our plane would have landed the crew would be into overtime, which is not allowed by their union.

We then fetched our baggage and had to queue with the rest of the passengers while two airline staff attended to everyone. Taxis (Guy was convinced our driver was completely smashed but we were beyond caring at that stage) and hotels were arranged and finally, at 6am, we collapsed into bed. The upside was due to Guy and I being last in the queues (that damn language barrier) the hotel was full when we got there and we were upgraded to a suite (our first upgrade of the trip) but unfortunately we were too exhausted to enjoy it!

After a few hours sleep, we were back at the airport for our rescheduled flight and we finally arrived in the USA without further ado.