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Argentina

Goodbye Buenos Aires

by Garret on January 31, 2010

It was a bit surreal arriving in Buenos Aires. Somehow 7 months of travel had managed to shrink down to three days. It is one of those feelings you get when something seems like it was forever but just a moment ago. Time and memories perform funny tricks and not just with travel. As I get older I realize moments that feel like they occurred yesterday may have occurred 12 years ago or 3. There were tangible signs of 7 months slipping by, our bank account was smaller, our photo album was stuffed, my hair was longer, and a wardrobe of 4 shirts and 2 pairs of pants had slightly expanded; but other than that not much had changed. Things now felt familiar though; I know the curve of the land, the people (a bit), the smells, and how things feel when I look at a map. Returning to Buenos Aires was a bit like returning home.

Back in Buenos Aires

We arrived on Monday afternoon after our ferry ride on BuqueBus from Colonia, Uruguay. A friend of a friend picked us up and we rode over to his office in San Telmo. He had to work so we left our stuff and wandered around. San Telmo felt familiar. We didn’t have a map, but we knew where Origen was (great little organic café) so we had a delightful lunch. We found Mafalda sitting on a bench (Deeanne had been wanting to meet her since arriving in Buenos Aires). We did a bit of shopping at some stores we had wanted to visit before leaving and somehow our afternoon had disappeared.

Mafalda & Deeanne in San Telmo

Evening arrived and we headed over to Danilo and Cynthia’s house. They invited us to spend our final two nights at their house just outside the city. They have two cute little boys, 2 1/2 and 6 months old. They took us out to dinner at a place reminiscent of Sizzler, but with better steak. We savored our second to last dinner, knowing that once we got home we wouldn’t be eating at 10:30pm. Augustine, the 2 year old, had us make him paper airplanes out of the place settings, which he flew off the patio.

Family Dinner

Tuesday was Deeanne’s birthday, and it burst upon us hot and humid; perfect weather for the pool parties she has always wanted but couldn’t enjoy in the Northern Hemisphere. We spent the day visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, wandering around the Recoleta Cemetery (again), and eating ice-cream and crepes. We got to catch the train in from Danilo and Cynthia’s house; something we hadn’t done when previously in town.

Yet Another Ice-cream Stop

Deeanne as Insatiable as Ever

Wandering the Recoleta Cemetery

Argentina is a first world country that fortunately hasn’t seen the arrival of tort law yet. This means you can do a lot of stuff that we long ago lost the ability to do in the U.S. One little freedom you may not have realized your missing is the freedom to hang off of full speed trains and ride between cars. Just try it next time you ride Amtrak. I promptly found an open door in between cars and sat down on the steps. I watched the world stream by inches from my nose and grinned ear to ear. It reminded me of old cowboy movies and I longed for a trusty steed to jump off onto, but alas there were none. I had to content myself with visualizing various ways to jump off and roll should I get bumped off. I even got Deeanne to do it on our ride back home and she loved it.

Retiro Train Station in BA

Riding in the Train Door

I got tickets to Buenos Aires’ best tango show for Deeanne’s birthday Tuesday night, La Esquina de Carlos Gardel. It was like watching a Broadway show in New York. The dancers were spectacular; I’ve never seen anything like it. We had an entire side booth to ourselves for the two hour show. We even had a driver who picked us up and dropped us off wherever we wanted. After the show we had him drop us off at Sarkis, a middle eastern restaurant in Palermo. It was 10:30pm on a Tuesday night and we had a 45 minute wait. Every other table must have been a birthday party so Deeanne got happy birthday sung to her about 8 times. We caught a taxi home after midnight and fell asleep for our final night in South America.

Carlos Gardel Tango Show

Sarki's for Deeanne's Birthday Dinner

For our last day in South America we wandered around the micro-center, did a bit of last minute shopping, and visited the Carlos Gardel museum. Danilo’s friend Pablo took us out to lunch at Granix, a huge Adventist run vegetarian restaurant that was delicious.

Lemonade at a Cafe

Carlos Gardel Tango Museum

Before we knew it we had to catch the train back home to pack up. The whole family drove us to the airport and saw us off (sometimes no car seat laws are a blessing). I was really wishing we had borrowed some Ambien for our flight home from our dear friend Glynn. We boarded our plane at 9:30pm and waved fairwell to Buenos Aires. We will both miss Buenos Aires. To me Buenos Aires feels like what would happen if you combined Paris and Rome and then cut all the prices by 80 percent.

We will miss Buenos Aires and all its cafes

Boarding Flight 110 Home

After a sleepless flight and botched connection in Atlanta we found ourselves back at home in Oceanside, CA where Deeanne’s parents picked us up at the airport and gave us a thorough welcome back. It’s hard to believe that with just one plane ride your entire surroundings can change so dramatically. After 9 planes, 8 boats, 1 train, and more busses than I could possibly count, we are back in the same room where we packed for this trip more than 7 months ago.  It was wonderful, and right now there is nowhere else I’d rather be than home.  Stay tuned for our final blog highlighting our favorite places from the trip.

Curbside at LAX

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Spectacular Iguazú

by Deeanne on January 15, 2010

I had been hearing about Iguazú Falls since our arrival in Argentina three months ago.  It´s probably the most visited place in the whole country outside of Buenos Aires.  Everyone has great things to say about the falls, and I had heard all the facts about them prior to our arrival. Iguazu is the widest of the world´s falls, at over 2.7 km long, but the falls are split into 270 distinct falls and large islands (Victoria Falls is the world´s widest curtain of water).  Iguazú has the most average water flow per year (more than twice that of Niagara).  The neatest part about the falls though is the network of visitor walkways that affort spectacular vistas and interactions with the falls.

A Favorite Viewpoint

The falls themselves form a boundary between Argentina and Brasil, and Paraguay is very close to them as well.  We had been hoping to be able to visit the Brasilian side of the falls as well, but due to the fact that US Citizens must have visas to cross the border (even for the day now) it was too cost prohibitive and difficult to arrange.  The Argentine side is said to allow for more close encounters (which is definitely did) and the Brasilian side is known to provide more of a panoramic view.  I could have spent another day easily exploring the falls from the other side.  The one day we had though was perfect, and we were blessed with blue skies and sunshine, perfect conditions for lots of rainbows in the rising mists.

Walkways Along the Superior Loop

Rainbows Emerged Around Many Corners

Simply put, the falls are one of our favorite places in all of South America that we visited.  A visit to them is awe inspiring and incredibly fun!  We spent nine hours straight yesterday just admiring them, walking around to different viewpoints, soaking in the mist, and getting as close as possible in a jet boat ride underneath them.  We arrived at 9 am, and I was excited the whole way there on the bus.  I felt like a kid at Disneyland as we waited our turn (in a fairly similarly sized line) to pay the entrance fee at the front gate.  There are three distinct systems of trails and bridges to explore on the Argentine side- the Superior Loop (which explores the tops of the falls and has the best panorama of them), the Inferior Loop (which puts you right down on their level and in their mist), and the Garganta del Diablo (the largest waterfall of all with water pouring down three sides of its U-shape).  We decided to visit the falls in this order first, because of lighting conditions and crowds.  Throughout the day we were rewarded with sightings of Toucan Parrots, Monkeys, Butterflies, Lizards, and Coatis as well as the Falls.

View of the Lower Trails from Above

Coming around the corner and seeing the panorama of the falls is breathtaking.  I had seen this picture dozens of times already in guidebooks and postcards, but it is still beautiful.  It was such a lovely place that we returned to have lunch and dry out here for several hours in the afternoon.  The views were just unbeatable from our vantage point, and I could stay there for hours with a book just soaking it in.

Standing on Top of Iguazu Falls

Next we took on the lower loop of trails.  These were incredibly fun, because you could apreciate the massive wall of water better from the bottom looking up.  The falls are so powerful that you get soaked when you stand anywhere near them, as you see Garret doing in one of the photos.

The Falls Look Very Powerful From Below

Garret Bathing in the Falls

The lower loop is also where the jet boat rides depart from.  Friends had recommended that we do the short 12 minute ride under the falls, so we didn´t think hard about the decision to go or not.  I mean how many times in your lifetime are you at Iguazú Falls?  Once?  Twice if you´re lucky or local?  It was loads of fun, and really pretty simple.  You put on lifejackets and then drive close to the falls in two areas.  You´re not really under them, but you wouldn´t know it.  The spray absolutely drenches everything.  Completely.  There were two people who wore ponchos and I saw them taking them off afterward, and they were soaked just like everyone else.  I mean really, how much good would a poncho do if you jumped in a river?  They were about that effective.  It was really fun though, and I´m glad we did it.  Here are a few pictures from the boat, and a video clip.  Our bombproof camera, the Olympus Stylus 1030 SW has been amazing on this trip for being able to catch fun action like this.

Boarding Area for Jet Boat Ride

The Boat Gets Right Up To the Falls

Completely Soaked Afterward!

After that, we went to our favorite viewpoint and ate lunch, while we dried off for an hour or two.  Now would be a good time to talk about Coatis, a small raccoon-like animal overrunning the park.  You have to be careful where you picnic, and keep an eye on your food at all times.  The park posts signs everywhere warning you not to feed Coati, as it is not natural behavior, and detrimental to the animals. But you can see from the pictures how effective their warnings are.  These very inteligent scavengers managed to get our lunch scraps from the bottom of a park trashcan, and trying to shoo them off only resulted in hissing.  Now I know what the nurse stations around the park are there for- to deal with coati scratches and bites.

Coati in Iguazu Falls

Sign Expressly Forbiding Feeding the Coaties

Tourist "Idiota" Feeding Coaties

Very Adapt Scavenger Expertly Rummages Through a Trashcan

We saved the Garganta del Diablo (Devil´s Throat) for last to explore, because of optimal light conditions and because it is the largest single fall in the park.  To access that area of the falls, you take a train (now we really felt like we were at Disneyland) to a catwalk system stretching 1 km over the Upper Iguazú River, and over the few islands in the way.  Arriving at the area is preceeded by a large mist plume, and this signaled that we were getting close.  Garret suggested how crazy it would have been to be an early explorer, and just floating down the river coming upon the large mist plume.  Though I´m not really an experienced river traveler, I think from now on I´ll assume that a large mist plume spells trouble and time to get out of the river!

Train to Garganta del Diablo

Wonderful Network of Trails Brings you to the Center of the Falls

Water Disappears in the U-Shaped Garganta del Diablo

Visitors Watch Mesmorized for Hours as the Water Cascades Down

Insanely enough, my Lonely Planet book says that there used to be a tourist attraction here where a local rowman would row a boatload of tourists to the edge of the falls, then row backwards like mad while you looked over the edge, took pictures, spit, or whatever tourists do when they´re perched precipitously on the edge of a waterfall.  Though I can´t imagine the market for this was huge, it continued until the 1930´s when there was an unfortunate accident with a boatful of German tourists.  Yes, they all died of course.  So they (thankfully) don´t offer this thrill ride anymore.  I can´t imagine who ever thought it was a good idea.

It is an Awe-Inspiring Sight to Behold

Water, Water Everywhere

The falls were definitely worth the two 20 + hour bus rides to get here and leave.  Tonight we are leaving to go to Uruguay, with stops in Montevideo, Punta del Este, and Colonia over the next 10 days.  If any fellow travelers are heading to Puerto Iguazu, I recommend our hostel, Che Legarto heartily.  They have the nicest breakfast buffet that we have seen, and comfortable rooms (if a little bit outdated).

Some of the Park´s Abundant Wildlife

A Very Large Lizard in the Park

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Córdoba

by Garret on January 13, 2010

For the first time in our travels we managed to secure first class bus seats, commonly known as “cama” instead of “semi-cama” for our overnight bus to Córdoba. I slept like a baby and Deeanne like a baby with a fever. This was due to the fact that like business class seating in airplanes, we had large comfy leather seats with permanent arm rests preventing Deeanne from using me as a pillow. In coach or “semi-cama” class Deeanne likes to raise the arm rest and burrow around until she manages to comfortably drape herself over me and fall asleep; this was impossible in business class.

The Cathedral at Night

Upon arriving, Deeanne just wanted to get to our hostel in hopes of catching a few more minutes of sleep. We stopped by information on our way out of the bus station and picked up a city map as well as directions. Unfortunately the directions the attendant provided were wrong and we ended up walking an extra 30 minutes around town before we finally realized it. Fortunately Cordoba felt amazingly refreshing and cool at 7:30am. This came as a bit of a surprise since the weather forecasts said it would be hotter than Buenos Aires. Neither of us were complaining though as we lugged our backpacks across town.

The Pedestrian Only Streets in City Center

We made it to Pewman Che Hostel and got to check in right away. I laid down and immediately fell asleep for three hours (Deeanne couldn´t sleep though). The hostel turned out to be a disappointment;  the cleanliness and bed comfortability ranked in the bottom two of all places we´ve stayed in the last seven months.  But the fact that they let us check in at eight in the morning, and the staff´s remarkable friendliness  somehow made our stay pleasant enough.  We did look around for other places to stay, and  did find another great hotel — just couldn’t afford 4 nights there. So we toughed it out at quite possibly the most unusual (but quiet) hostel yet.  We were grateful for the fan they provided (but we harbored dreams of AC) as nightly temps still hovered around 87 degrees in our room.

An Iglesia in Nueva Cordoba

Córdoba is Argentina’s second largest city. It is home to Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, the oldest university in Argentina and the 2nd oldest in the Americas.  It was founded in 1613 by the Jesuit Order, and many of the buildings are now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city feels very much alive, and has a large student population, and a pedestrian only city center. We wpent the first afternoon just wandering around the cobblestone streets in old town and then weary from lack of sleep (well at least Deeanne) slipped into a theater to watch It’s Complicated with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.  Funny!

Part of the Jesuit Block, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The City is Beautiful at Night

Our next three days in Cordoba were a blur of museums, old churches, mansions, ice cream, and cafes. The days were hot and Deeanne was feeling a bit under the weather so we left the hostel late most mornings and visited a museum or just strolled the pedestrian walkways. We ended up seeing two movies in three days something, we haven’t done in years. We were too busy eating the ice cream before it melted to take pictures, but we´re back to the land of huge waffle cones filled with more ice cream than two people can comfortably eat for like 60 cents.  I know, it´s a rough life, but we´ll try to eat our share.

One of Many Museums

An Old Mansion

One day we caught a bus out to Che Guevara’s childhood home in Alta Gracia just outside of town. It’s an unassuming house on a little suburban street. Che once said, “If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine.” Even as a young child Ernesto Guevara sympathized with those hurt or in need, but somehow along the way he got lost in my opinion. Che was a devout Marxist and staunch defender of socialism. It surprises me then how much of his later life was spent supporting an authoritarian power structure in Cuba and how much he advocated guerrilla warfare as the only means for change. In the end he became a countercultural icon and symbol of rebellion for leftist movements worldwide, his goals of equality and justice lost along the way, never to be realized, while other leftist leaders to this day try to ride on his coattails. At his childhood home there are pictures of Hugo Chavez attending the inauguration as if by association he could somehow be considered a liberator and hero instead of a small dictator.

Che´s Childhood Home in Alta Gracia

Memorobilia from Che´s Motorcycle Trip Around South America

We finally made it to the old Jesuit crypt on the last day before a mad dash to catch our 12:30 bus to Iguazu Falls. Saving it for last turned out to be fine. The entire crypt couldn’t have been more than 1000 square feet. It took us an entire four minutes to tour the entire complex, but, admittedly were in a hurry to make our bus. The most interesting thing about the crypt is that it was buried under one of the major streets in the city for many years, and was re-discovered when some telephone workers were laying cable in 1989.  It is well restored, but pretty small and is lacking the big piles of bones that you´ll see in oter crypts (like the one in Lima that we saw).

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Palermo and Recoleta

by DeeanneJanuary 8, 2010

We’ve spent the last couple of days hanging out around the Palermo and Recoleta barrios of Buenos Aires, both very close to our friend’s apartment where we’re staying.  Well one day we did seek out the IMAX to see Avatar (which I actually really liked), but let’s be clear that that screen is not exactly [...]

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Back in Buenos Aires

by DeeanneJanuary 6, 2010

After our long plane ride back to South America, we had an unexpected surprise awaiting us at the Immigration area of Buenos Aires’ International Airport.  Apperently just 10 days before we arrived, Argentina decided to start a reciprocity fee for visitors of the US, Canada, and Australia.  So despite the fact that we have been [...]

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Trekking in Tierra del Fuego

by DeeanneDecember 15, 2009

After arriving back in Ushuaia, we had a fairly “typical” week.  Garret and I worked in the office for two days, and after such back-breaking work as sitting at a desk for two days for nearly 7 hours each day, we had to have a weekend get-away!  Where else to go but to Parque Nacional [...]

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It’s Windy, Wendi

by DeeanneNovember 30, 2009

We had a long wind-filled night at Campamento Agostini.  After sleeping late and a leisurely breakfast, we started hiking north towards Poincenot and the base of Monte Fitz Roy.  Rain spat on us as the wind hurled it in all directions, necessitating the use of our new rain gear which Wendi brought fresh from REI. [...]

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Backpacking in Argentine Patagonia

by GarretNovember 27, 2009

El Chalten is Argentina’s trekking capital. Its only purpose is catering to trekkers coming to visit the Torres and Monte Fitz Roy. This range makes up the heart of Patagonia. We dozed as the bus made its way around Lago Argentina (the third largest lake in South America) on our way to El Chalten. One [...]

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Perito Moreno Glacier

by DeeanneNovember 25, 2009

One of the highlights of any trip to Patagonia is a visit to the Perito Moreno Glacier.  The glacier is huge – it’s face is over 5 miles long (Perito Moreno is one of the few glaiciers in the world that is not retreating). Fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field it runs 19 miles before terminating [...]

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Horseback Riding at Cerro Frias

by DeeanneNovember 24, 2009

We arrived to El Calafate, the heart of Patagonia over the weekend.  We flew up from Ushuaia, a short flight of about one hour, and landed about sunset; which seems to last over an hour at this latitude.  The airport is about 15 miles East of town, so we enjoyed the countryside on our transfer [...]

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