Archive for the ‘Argentina’ Category

Our time in Patagonia complete, Jeff and I made our way back to Buenos Aires to enjoy one last day in South America before boarding our return flight home. Our buddy Warren had secured an apartment in the city since we’d last seen him and was kind enough to let us crash, saving us the cost of another night in a hotel.

Our Aerolineas Argentina flight, my first ever in business class, arrived at 12:30am and after a short cab ride to Warren’s building, we found ourselves on the 21st floor which amazingly, was all Warren’s. The entire 21st floor. 4 bedrooms, 4 baths and an outdoor deck that provided a 360 degree view of the city. Jeff and I just looked at each other in stunned disbelief during our tour of the place. And not only had Warren scored seemingly one of the best apartments in all of Buenos Aires but he had also made some friends. Sitting on the deck enjoying a bottle of wine (or three) were three very attractive women from the US who happened to be staying in BA. Shortly thereafter, a Buenos Aires native named Diego showed up with another friend of his own.

Having our own bedroom and bathroom for the night, Jeff and I put our bags away and cleaned up before rejoining the crew. After relaxing on the deck for a bit, the group made it’s way out on the town at around 3:30am. Just another normal night in Buenos Aires. As we learned in Rio with Tati, having a native resident with us seemed to make all the difference in the world with regards to night life. Diego took the group to a trendy club unlike anything Jeff and I found on our own during our prior time in the city. Still no real English speakers to meet but having a group to hang out with and good music to dance to made all of the difference. After dancing the night away in the dark, laser light filled club, we were greeted by bright sunshine as we rolled home around 6:30am.

After getting in a good amount of sleep, Jeff, Warren and I woke up around 1pm. Our flight was at 9:30pm so we had plenty of time for a lazy lunch and afternoon before heading to the airport. A return to La Cabrera, site of our best meal on the trip, was the unanimous decision for lunch and it did not disappoint. We headed back to Warren’s to pack and made time to record an MTV Cribs-style video of his place. Again, incredible.

All set to go, we said our good-byes to Warren and hopped a cab to the airport. Before we walked in the terminal doors, I stopped to turn around and take in the final sights, sounds and warmth of South America. As we stood in line at security, I snapped a photo of a Tiger Woods Accenture ad that loosely translated said “What counts is what you do from here”. Ironic for Tiger but, while clichéd, also oddly fitting for Jeff and I as well. My second, big international adventure was over and I was already thinking about the third.

Can’t wait.

Jeff and I arrived in El Calafate early in the evening on Thursday which gave us time to check into our hotel, clean ourselves up, and make our way to downtown El Calafate for dinner. What was for dinner you ask? Oh, just some all-you-can-eat meat. No matter where you end up in Argentina, this is always an option and it never seems to disappoint. Following dinner, a brief exploration of the relatively small downtown area, and a few drinks at one of the local bars, we turned in around midnight knowing that we had an early 6:30am wake up the next morning.

El Calafate sits about 350 miles north of Ushuaia and just south of Lago Argentino, the largest freshwater lake in Argentina. The primary tourist attractions in El Calafate are the massive glaciers on the lake so while the tours in Ushuaia were all about landscapes and hiking, our El Calafate itinerary focused almost exclusively on the glaciers.

Day 1 of our tour package had us in the VIP section of a large catamaran for a tour of Lago Argentino and the Upsala, Onelli, and Perito Moreno glaciers. Being two of the first people on the boat, Jeff joked that VIP stood for “Very Isolated Persons” but eventually it did fill up.

As we departed from the dock, what stood out immediately to me was the green-blue color of the water. The wind whipped up white caps on the surface of the lake but the size of the catamaran made for a very smooth ride. Before long, we were treated to our first glimpses of small ice chunks that had recently broken off from the glaciers.

Sadly due to the rapid recession of the Upsala Glacier, the largest in South America, and the number of icebergs separating our boat from a close up view of Upsala, our captain had to divert from our original course and instead took us to a different section of the lake that provided close up views of the Spegazzini Glacier. During our stop at Spegazzini a member of the catamaran crew broke out a large piece of ice that was supposedly formerly part of the glacier making for a classic tourist photo op for Jeff and me.

When we could get close to the face of the glaciers, the captain would skillfully steer the boat back and forth while passengers would jockey for position along the railings looking to get the best photos possible. The boat would come to a stop for a bit and allow us to hear the cracking and popping sounds the ice makes as it melts. A few times we were lucky to catch a glimpse of large chunks of ice falling from the face of the glacier into the lake.

Day 2 in El Calafate took us off of the boat and directly on to the glacier for some hiking on Perito Moreno. After another early 6:30am wake up, an hour bus ride into the Los Glaciares National Park, and a quick 15 minute boat ride from one shore of Lago Argentino to the other, we were met by our crew of tour guides for the morning.

Our English-speaking tour guide, Cunni, kicked things off with an intro to the region, the glacier, and some educational information about how glaciers are formed. Not being a native-English speaker, Cunni had a humorous verbal tick of saying “yes?” at the end of every sentence but was a genuinely nice guy who ended up helping Jeff find good spots to take photos once we made it onto the glacier. So after some brief safety instructions from Cunni and strapping on our crampons, it was off to the glacier for a 90 minute hike.

Much like the green-blue water of Lago Argentino, I was blown away by some of the colorful blues seen during the hike.

Despite the dirty, brown look of the glacier in spots, the ice and water that melts away is actually quite clean. Jeff stopped for a quick sip of the running water and the group was treated to whiskey chilled by ice chipped directly off the glacier at the end of the hike.

Following the hike, we had a final hour or two to walk along the viewing platforms back on the north face of Perito Moreno and take in the final sites of Patagonia. It was here that we caught the most impressive images (and video!) of ice breaking off the face and into the lake.

Having seen our fill of glaciers and our time in Patagonia having come to a close, it’s back to Buenos Aires for one last day before heading back home.

Day 2 in Ushuaia began with another 8am pickup by Frasco and a short drive with a group of about 10 to the Tierra del Fuego National Park for another full-day tour. On the schedule for the morning was an 8 km (5 mile) hike through the park and along the shores of Ensenada Bay & Lapataia Bay. We were given a choice of activities for the afternoon… either another canoe adventure on the bay or a motorboat ride to Redondo Island for an hour of free time. Not being fully awake yet, Jeff and I held off until lunchtime to make that call.

Throughout the morning hike, Frasco would stop from time-to-time to talk about the local vegetation, the animal inhabitants, and the historical significance of the land. I have really come to appreciate the added information a guide on an organized tour provides. It’s certainly great to have the freedom of exploring a city or place on your own but you’re often doing little more than taking in the sights. While it adds a bit of cost to the trip, having the added information and knowing the significance of what you’re seeing makes for a more fulfilling experience.

The hike along the shore and through the park lasted about three hours and provided more majestic views of the Ushuaia landscape that matched and at times exceeded what we had seen the day before. While the air was a bit chilly, it certainly was not uncomfortably cold, and we continued our run of good luck in avoiding the rain. Towards the end of the morning, the sun broke through bringing the vibrant colors of the landscape to life.

Apparently still a bit tired and sore from the rowing the day before, Jeff made the call after lunch to skip the canoeing and to take the motorboat ride to Redondo Island. The remainder of the group was locked in on the canoe adventure so after seeing them off, we headed to the dock. Being by ourselves for the afternoon gave us the opportunity to stop at various scenic spots including the end of Route 3 which is a road that starts in Alaska, just a short 18,000km up the road. It’s also the southernmost point on the planet to which you can drive.

Once at the dock, we boarded a small inflatable motorboat called a Zodiac for a 30 minute boat ride across the clear, blue waters. Upon reaching the island, Jeff and I were greeted by an energetic and beautiful black lab(ish) dog named Rocky. Seemingly the friendliest dog in the world, we stayed for just a bit to pet him and enjoy the mutual affection before setting out on a hike of the small island.

About 15 minutes into the hike, we came to an opening in the forest near the northeast corner of the island that provided a view that rivaled anything else I had seen on the trip to date. In the foreground was the clear blue water of Ensenada Bay which separated us from the lush greens of the mainland and the national park. In the distance rested the snow-capped Andes. The sky was peppered with a few small clouds but not enough to hide much of the beautiful blue sky or block the warmth of the sun. I did everything I could to capture the view with my camera. Initially I was a little disappointed we opted for free time over the canoeing but in the end, I wouldn’t have traded that view and that time on the island for about anything else on the trip. As had been the case time-and-time again, things just seemed to work out for the best. I could have sat there for hours.

Following another 30 minutes of hiking, we made our way back to the dock, signed the island’s guestbook, said goodbye to Rocky and boarded the Zodiac for a quick 10 minute ride back to the mainland to meet back up with Frasco and the rest of the group.

Our tour over and our day nearly done, we spent our last night in Ushuaia enjoying dinner at a slightly more upscale restaurant before returning to Dublin for a few final beverages.  Tomorrow it is on to El Calafate and the second half of our Patagonia adventure.

Having wrapped up four great days in Buenos Aires, soaking up as much sun and warmth as possible, Jeff and I boarded an Aerolineas Argentinas flight on Monday bound for Ushuaia, a city in Patagonia that touts itself as the southernmost city in the world.  Weather reports aren’t pretty with the sun and mid-80s of Buenos Aires being replaced by forecasts for rain with temps only reaching the mid-40s.  Sure enough, as our plane made its descent through thick cloud cover into the Ushuaia airport, we landed in the midst of a cold drizzle. Having arrived fairly late in the evening, we made time for a great dinner by the water at a restaurant called El Volver (salmon instead of red meat for me for a change) followed by some drinks at an actual bar called Dublin before calling it a night.

We were picked up the next morning at a little after 8am by our tour guide, Frasco.  Frasco spoke great English, did his best to make the group of about 13 feel welcome by remembering everyone’s names, and had a surprising ability to name the NBA team of all of the American tourists’ home towns.  He correctly identified the Wizards for Jeff and I as well as the Bulls for a family from Chicago.

After a 90 minute bus ride to the Harberton Estancia, we stopped near a stream and began our day’s adventure by boarding inflatable rafts for a paddling tour of Beagle Channel.  Being paired with an Austrian couple with little canoeing experience and Jeff who was somewhat limited by his camera, captain duties on the boat fell to me.  This really meant nothing more than I got to steer.

Following the paddling, a motorboat took us to Hammer Island where we were able to observe both Magellanic and Gentoo penguins. This was really the only part of the trip where I recall being cold. The rain had held off so far but with thick cloud cover overhead, a pretty vicious wind, and little protection on the island from the wind, I was happy to move on after only about 20 minutes or so.

From there, it was another brief motorboat ride to Gable Island where we stopped at a cabin for a family-style lunch of sandwiches, potato chips, olives, cheese and red wine. Following the lunch stop, we made our way back outside for a three hour hike across the island through pastures and woods where we were treated to amazing views of the beautiful Patagonian landscape.

After returning to the hotel to rest and clean up a bit, we made our way back downtown for dinner and a return to our red meat ways. Once again finding a lively, tourist hangout proved to be challenging. Ushuaia actually seems to have several bars offering the potential for social activity but most are either sparsely populated or have closed leading Jeff and I to wonder if it’s time to lobby TripAdvisor to add a “nightlife” section to their website. We decided to call it a night relatively early by Argentine standards and rolled home a little after midnight.

We lucked out during the day with the weather with rain only hitting us while we were indoors and a few hints of sun throughout the day. Despite being so far south and so close to Antarctica, and aside from the windy Penguin Island, it’s really not super-cold. Hoping for the same luck with the weather tomorrow.

The Argentinian lifestyle is one that contrasts greatly with the big city living that I have grown accustomed to while living in DC and especially after spending so much time in NYC.  Rather than rushing from place to place and squeezing in as much as possible in as little time as possible, a typical day in Argentina is much more leisurely and relaxed. Lunches can extend to two hours and beyond, dinner is rarely eaten before 9pm and clubs often do not even open until 12 or 1am.  Bedtime never seems to be before 5am but people are always milling about early in the morning leaving me to wonder when or if these people actually sleep.

In past travels with Jeff and continuing on this trip, we have always tried to see as much as humanly possible in the time available.  The schedules set an aggressive pace that leaves us fulfilled but often exhausted as well.  Our original South America itinerary had us visiting both Buenos Aires and Córdoba during the four days leading up to the Patagonia portion of the trip. Some brief research showed we would need to spend a total of 20-25 hours on overnight buses to make the Córdoba leg happen. (Flights were not cheap enough.) So rather than pushing ourselves to such extremes, we embraced the laid back Argentinian lifestyle, bagged on Córdoba, and spent four plus lazy days in Buenos Aires taking in as much as we could at a much more leisurely pace.

While in Buenos Aires, most days for Jeff and I started with a wake-up call somewhere between 10am and noon. Only twice were we successful in making it to the complimentary breakfast in our hotel that ended at 11am. We would get cleaned up, get our email/blog/Facebook fix, and eventually make our way to a café for lunch. By 3 or 4pm, we were ready for the day to begin.

Much like most large, metropolitan cities, Buenos Aires is broken up into several different neighborhoods, each with their own style and sub-culture. Our daytime activities included self-guided walking tours of the neighborhoods with help from maps and MP3s from the Buenos Aires tourism website that take you to all of the prime attractions.  While the MP3s were a bit dry and boring (we ditched them almost immediately), it was great to have some understanding of what we were seeing and some of the history behind the sites.

In Recoleta, Buenos Aires’ upper-class neighborhood, Jeff and I visited an impressive flower sculpture that opens and closes throughout the day as well as the city’s famous cemetery which included a stop at Eva Perón’s resting place.

In La Boca, a neighborhood in the southern part of the city, Jeff humored me by going along with a tour of the Estadio de Boca Juniors, the stadium for one of Argentina’s most famous soccer teams. Following that tour, we walked down to Caminito, a cobblestoned street filled with shops and cafés where we stopped to take in a live tango performance.

In San Telmo, we spent an afternoon browsing handmade crafts in Plaza Dorrego. Another afternoon was spent in the central part of the city, appropriately named Centro, where we saw the Presidential Palace, the metro, a famous billiards hall and Congress.

Our walking tours would be followed by some downtime back at the hotel in the early evening and then a late (by US standards) dinner at around 9 or 10pm. From there we would usually venture over to the Palremo district which seemed to be one of the more active nightlife areas.  However much to our disappointment, we continued to struggle finding fun places to meet new people.  The city offers very few bars in the traditional American sense but is instead filled with restaurant after restaurant where locals and tourists alike spend their nights seated at tables.  This setup makes it very difficult to meet new people especially when we still have not come across many English speaking tourists.

Thankfully during our tour of San Telmo, we bumped into a fellow American named Molly who was spending a few days in Buenos Aires before moving on to Bariloche to participate in a Spanish language program.  We quickly bonded over our nightlife frustrations and exchanged contact info in an effort to meet up later that night.  In another stroke of random luck, I received a Facebook message from our buddy Warren stating that he was actually moving to Buenos Aires for two months and was getting to town that day. So on Saturday night Molly, Warren, Jeff and I went out on the town for a much needed dose of variety in both company and conversation. Aside from maybe the New Year’s fireworks on Copacabana beach, best night on the trip to date.

One last highlight from Buenos Aires that doesn’t really fit into the flow but is one that I must mention.  Argentina is known for their meat.  Jeff and I have certainly had our fair share while here.  On Sunday night, our last in Buenos Aires, Jeff, Warren and I visited a restaurant called La Cabrera in Palermo for yet another steak dinner.  While all of our meals in both Brazil and Argentina have been great, this was one of the best meals I have ever had.  I hate “best ever” statements but I enjoyed this one so much, that while in the cab ride home later that night, I was able to merge my love for the Kobe Beef (no jokes please) with the lyrics from Lauryn Hill’s song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.  Great waiter, great wine, great sauces, great sides and most importantly, great steak. If you are ever in Buenos Aires, make reservations here.

With our time in Buenos Aires having come to a close, we will say goodbye to the warm, sunny weather and head south for Patagonia and what weather reports tell us will be rain with a little cold mixed in.  Looking forward to it nonetheless.