Argentina

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Traveler Argentina
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- May 9, 2018, 9:44pm
- ⛅ 18 °C
- Altitude: 40 m
- Argentina Buenos Aires F.D.San Nicolas -34.6021, -58.3842934°36’8” S 58°23’3” W
Buenos Aires
May 9, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
It was very strange departing Auckland at 20:00 and arriving in Buenos Aires at 16:30 on the same day so it took a while for our bodies to readjust to the time difference again. Buenos Aires is a large city and consists of forty eight neighborhoods. Therefore we decided to do the bus tour to explore as many neighborhoods as we could. Honestly the bus tour wasn't the most interesting as there was a lot of facts to certain famous buildings or monuments but they didn't really tell us many stories to the facts. Although I did learn that Buenos Aires sits on the river bank of the widest river in the world, the Rio de la Plata and it also has the widest street in the world, 9 de Julio Avenue.

We also did a walking tour of La Boca. La Boca is a famous district of Buenos Aires. It was where the first port of Buenos Aires was located and in turn became the area where immigrants lived. However it is now famous for the La Boca Junior football team. This tour was really interesting we learned about how tango was formed in La Boca from a variety of dances and was first dismissed by the elite of Argentina until the French heard about the dance. We also learned that an Irish man, William Brown, set up the Argentina Navy in 1810 and his grave now is painted green.

We went to a percussion concert by La Bomba de Tiempo while in Buenos Aires. It involved sixteen musicians who used tamborines, drums and shakers to create songs. The conductor was amazing as he was able to show part of the group a new rhythm to play during the song and then they would change what they were playing without a pause. It was fascinating to watch and the music sounded beautiful. It's definitely a highlight of the trip.

The following evening we got picked up and brought to a tango show in Cafe de los Angelitos. This is one of the main things to do while in Buenos Aires and it didn't disappoint. We got served a three course dinner followed by a tango show which involved tango dance, music and singing. I really enjoyed this show it was a brilliant evening as there was a lovely athmosphere as everyone ate their meal and then everyone went silent as we were all enthralled by the show.

Buenos Aires was an interesting city. There is a lot of international influence here and it seems very multicultural. There is some nice districts and I enjoyed learning more about La Boca. However it was the music that was the best part of visiting Beunos Aires. I would highly recommend seeing the La Bomba de Tiempo preform and a tango show as both were amazing to watch in their own ways. Now we are heading to Uruguay for a few days however we will return to Argentina when we go to the Iguazu waterfalls.Read more
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- May 16, 2018, 11:25am
- ⛅ 20 °C
- Altitude: 201 m
- Brazil Paraná Foz do Iguaçu Jardim Morenita -25.5949, -54.5544925°35’42” S 54°33’16” W
Iguazu Falls
May 16, 2018 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
After thirty hours travelling on three different buses we finally arrived to Puerto Iguazu. This is the town which is located beside the Argentinian Iguazu National Park containing the one of the seven natural wonders of the world; The Iguazu Falls. It is also where three countries meet at a T junction of a river. This is where we headed first on the evening after arriving. We walked ten minutes out of the town to the Hito Tres Fronteras. There is a pillar standing on each country painted in their country flag's colours. It was cool to see three countries in such close proximity to each other.

The Iguazu waterfalls are actually a little bit downstream in between Brazil and Argentina and it is advised to see the falls from both sides. We started with a drive through the national park's rainforest followed by a boat ride up the Iguazu river to the waterfall. We saw a lot of vultures gliding in the air above the rainforest and a colourful toucan sitting on the top of the tree's branches during the Jeep drive. The boat was a type of speed boat. They gave us lifejackets and a large wetbag each to put our shoes and belongs into before we embarked. We realised then that we were going to get very wet. Luckily we were wearing light quick drying clothes and not jeans like some other passengers. On the boat we got our first glimpse of the waterfall. Iguazu falls has 257 individual waterfalls that spread over a 2.7 kilometer width and combines to form this magnificent nature wonder of the world. The most spectacular part is a section called the Devil's Throat where a huge amount of water cascade down the cliff front and produce a large amount of water spray as the water hits the surface below, it looked amazing. After getting a few pictures the boat drove into some of the waterfalls. It was the strongest shower I've ever experienced. Una took a video on her GoPro, we haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure our facial expressions are hilarious as we got drenched by the large quantity of water. The fun didn't stop there as the boat went through rapids as it headed back to the start and again we got showered with waves of water.

After drying off in the sunshine for twenty minutes we walked the trails of the park and got to see a different view of the waterfall. It is amazing at the top of the waterfalls as you see how flat the river is and how slow flowing the water is before it tumbles down giant cliff. To get a better view of Devil's Throat we had to get a train through the rainforest. From this viewpoint you can take beautiful photos and also appreciate the loud noise of the waterfall. As most of the waterfall actually falls on the Argentina side of the river we had to go to the Brazilian side of the river to see the wide view of the whole waterfall. This meant crossing the border into our twelfth country of the trip and getting our passport stamped for the few hours were on that side of the border. Here there was a platform that extended out over part of the river and we got slightly wet again from the spray of the water.

Every part of our trip to the Iguazu national park was worth the thirty hour bus journey to get here. I agree that it is important to see the waterfall from both sides of the river as both sides have wonderful viewpoints of the waterfall and we got the opportunity to take some stunning pictures. It was a beautiful sunny day when we went to the national park so we saw rainbows extending from the waterfalls which added to it's beauty. However I think the best part was the boat ride as I think we got the best view of the waterfall from the boat and getting saturated was half the fun.Read more
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- May 20, 2018, 12:41pm
- ☀️ 9 °C
- Altitude: 806 m
- Argentina Rio Negro Bariloche Centro Civico -41.13503, -71.3120241°8’6” S 71°18’43” W
San Carlos de Bariloche
May 20, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
San Carlos de Bariloche (Bariloche) is a town in the North of Patagonia. It is situated beside a lake which is surrounded by mountains. In winter it is a famous ski area and then a popular hiking area during the summer. The town itself is strange as it looks as it looks like a town that should be situated in the Alps due to the European influence. There are multiple Italian restaurants and Swiss chocolate shops.

We came to Bariloche to do some hiking. Three different hikes were recommended to us from different people whom we had met along the way and aslo from online blogs. We hoped to enjoy all three hikes however this didn't really occur. The first hike was supposed to be a four hour hike ending with a view over the lake however after spending an hour trying and failing to find the start of the trail we had to abandon that hike. The second hike was a forty minutes steep ascent up a mountain for a different view over the mountain however when we got to the top of the mountain the clouds came in over us and it started to lash rain preventing us from seeing much of our surroundings. The final hike we wanted to do was a six hour hike up a mountain that has multiple ski resorts in winter, the Refugio Frey hike. Thankfully we found the start point and the weather had improved so we were able to see the lake and mountains surrounding us. We initially walked on a trail through a forestry region, over streams and parallel to the Nahuel Huapi lake gradually climbing higher up the mountain. During the last hour of our ascent the trail became quite steep and we started walking through the snowy region of the mountain. The higher we climbed the deeper the snow was. At the top the snow was covering the ankles of our boots. At the top there was shelter house for multiday hikers who wanted to camp overnight. This is where we stopped because it was too dangerous to climb higher due to the snow and rocky conditions that we didn't have the gear for. The shelter house was located at 1700m altitude beside a small lake that had frozen over. We ate our well deserved lunch gazing at the stunning snowy surroundings. We were delighted to be able to appreciate Bariloches beautiful surroundings after a few failed attempts. That evening we treated ourselves to some well deserved delicious chocolate sweets and hot chocolate while overlooking the lake again. I beautiful end to a few active days.

Bariloche is a hikers paradise as there are plenty of trails to explore and the scenery is so pretty. I would love to return and explore further south in the Patagonia region but we will have to leave that for another trip as the weather is too snowy there at the moment.Read more
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- May 22, 2018
- ☀️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 748 m
- Argentina Mendoza Departamento de Guaymallén Mendoza -32.89565, -68.8258732°53’44” S 68°49’33” W
Mendoza
May 22, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Mendoza is a city in the North West of Argentina beside the Andes. It is famous for the number of vineyards in the region. Argentina has approximately 1,500 vineyards and nearly 1,000 of those vineyards are in Mendoza. Through our hostel we booked a couple of activities to do while in Mendoza.

While Rob went mountain biking, Una and I booked our first paraglide. We were picked up at our hostel and driven to the top of a mountain in the Andes. We met our paragliding pilots here who were setting up the parachutes. They fitted our harnesses and attached it to their harnesses and the parachute. There was minimum amount of instructions given to us about the launch, we were just told to run and keep running off the mountain cliff. As we ran the parachute dragged in the wind, lifted in the air and launched us to glide in the sky too. It was quite a strange experience running off a cliff but thankfully the parachute was working properly. We glided in the air for about twenty minutes enjoying the beautiful scenery around us. It was quite a fun activity although it was pretty cold at the top of the mountain. I would suspect that during the summer it would be even better as we wouldn't be as cold. I enjoyed it more than parasailing because you move more in the air as the pilot is changing directions using the parachute strings which moves more than the boat that pulls the parasail. Apart from the launch it didn't give an adrenaline buss but it was more of a relaxing activity useful to admire the scenery in a different manner.

That evening we went to a farmyard beside one of the vineyards and went horse riding. Rob and I had never really rode any horses before so we were not sure if it would be a suitable activity for us. However we needn't have worried as the horse did most of the work anyway. We were shown how to guide the horse from left and right before mounting our horses. The only instruction I was given was that my horse likes to stop and eat a lot so I had to avoid this by keeping the horses head up. We walked in a line up a hill and watched the sunsetting over the Andes. The colours of the sky as the sun set was very pretty. After the sunset we walked back downhill to the yard. I really enjoyed this activity and only once let my horse eat so that was a success. I think it suited Rob and I more because we didn't have much experience but Una didn't enjoy it as much as we were not allowed to trot or gollop. Having said that we definitely all enjoyed watching the beautiful sunset.

The final tour we organised was to cycle between three vineyards learning about the production and tasting of wine. We learned about the different processes involved in producing white, rose and red wine. One of the vineyards used old techniques without machinery while the other two vineyards used more modern technology to help producing wine. This was interesting to see how the industry has changed how wine is made. It was a lovely day to cycle through the vineyards seeing the different autumn colours on the vine leaves. That evening we treated ourselves to our final steak dinner in Argentina with the travellers whom we met on the tour. It was a great way to end our journey in Argentina.Read more
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Buenos Aires

Iguazu Falls

San Carlos de Bariloche

Mendoza