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South America 2024
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  • WhorledTravelers

South America 2024

Seven weeks — Mendoza, Salta, Northwest Argentina, the ATACAMA Desert, cruise around the Horn and Buenos Aires. Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 27, 2024
  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    Starbucks at the Buenos Aires domestic airport. Directly on Rio de la Plata.
    Starbucks at the Buenos Aires domestic airport. Directly on Rio de la Plata.Off we go to Mendoza. Buenos Aires in background.The front of the airport facing Rio de la Plata.And we arrived in Mendoza.

    Arrived in Argentina

    January 28, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Flights from Philadelphia to Miami, then to Buenos Aires. In Buenos Aires we drove an hour through the city to get to the domestic airport to fly to Mendoza. Twenty-six hours door-to-door but just a two hour time change. The BA domestic airport sits beautifully right on the Rio de la Plata (the silver river) near the city center.Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    Plaza Independencia
    Plaza IndependenciaGreat apricot gelatoHotel DiplomaticPlaza IndependenciaPlaza Independencia. Large park. A theatre and museum under the fountain.Deepest gutters we have ever seen! They are there to irrigate the trees!Andes foothills from our hotel room

    Mendoza

    January 29, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    A nice small city. Clean. Hotel Diplomatica was right in the center of everything though the staff wasn’t very nice. Lots of people out and about after the sun goes down. It’s been too hot (95-100F) to do much outside during the day. Many persons of Italian descent, hence the great gelato. This area is desert, just east of the Andes mountains and nothing grows without irrigation from snow melt and deep wells.Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    Huarpe Wines
    Huarpe WinesHuarpe Wines. The vines look black because of the hail nets.Huarpe wineryThe Malbec grapes will be picked in a few weeksHuge French oak barrels for aging.Wine tasting. Irrigation pond in background.Budeguer. Very modern. Feels like Napa.Interesting art by Mariana Tripoli, local artistLovely grounds around the Renacer wineryRenacer lunch. Amuse bouche - baked plum with goat and blue cheeseRenacerRenacer dessert. Meringue Pavlova with fruit and sorbet.An allée of sycamores. Lovely and cool.

    Lujan de Cuyo Wineries

    January 29, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 91 °F

    We went about a half hour south on Route 40 to the Lujan de Cuyo region with our Italian Argentinian driver, Damian. Route 40 is the major north/south route running the full length of Argentina. The Andes and foothills are always to the west. It is still very hot, over 90F. We visited three wineries.

    The first, Huarpe Wines, is a small family run vineyard. Huarpe are the indigenous local people and the wines and vineyard pay homage to them. The owners, Anna and Jose Hernandez Toso, began the vineyard in 2003. Anna gave us a tour and we particularly liked their Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.

    The second vineyard, Budeguer, was larger and more commercial, like the Napa vineyards with a very modern setting, lots of art, etc. A nice tasting.

    Last we visited Bodega Renacer, a lovely vineyard with a great restaurant (voted best in Mendoza). Great food, great wines. An excellent Malbec dessert wine that tasted like an Amarone.    Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    Masi, with guide Guillermo
    Masi, with guide GuillermoCactus for mezcal (not Argentinian)Drying racksVines and Damian's truckDrawing off some young wine from one of the large tanksThe town of TupungatoDamian and John. Tupungato over John's left shoulderGreat guide at Gaia. No electricity, had to be outside!Fried ravioli with sausage at AzulAzul, without power!Azul rib eye, big enough to feed a family of sixMendoza River from Route 40View from Masi winery

    Valle de Uco Wineries

    January 30, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    More wine tastings today but in the Valle de Uco, further south and west than yesterday. In the distance is Tupungato, the second highest peak in the Americas, though some of the peaks in the Silver Range are closer and look almost as tall. The video has a glimpse of the Mendoza River. It has water this summer for the first time in years.

    The Masi vineyard is owned by a family from Verona Italy and specializes in a process which dries the grapes before crushing, aging and blending. They also had a nice display garden of local plants.

    Gaia Winery is French-owned and certified organic and bio-dynamic. Malbec is their primary wine but they also did good natural (no sulfites) Cab and a Shiraz. No cellar or other inside visit because power is out here and many other counties of western Argentina because the grid over-taxed by heat.

    Lunch of traditional Argentinian fare at Azul. Lunch too big and too late for us to have dinner but of course there was room for sorbet from the gelato store! We had to switch rooms in the hotel as our floor still had no power at 9 PM.    Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    Flying into Salta
    Flying into SaltaKkala Hotel in Tres Cerritos, SaltaEverywhere at Kkala there are lovely local handicraftsHandcrafted wool mural above our bed. Cactus wood doors.The breakfast table at Kkala. So charming.From the top of San Bernadino hill.Vista west from San Bernadino hill with Andes foothills in background.Pretty flowers everywhere, it is summer after all.State of General Guemes, hero of the resistance against Spain 1817Butterflies in San LorenzoPedestrians, restaurants and shops all around the central square.Cathedral of Salta, built in 1856 after original cathedral destroyed by an earthquake.Inside Salta CathedralMAAM - Female anthrpomorphic figures from burial chamberAll kinds of frozen pops at Lucciano's on the squareOne of Salta's favorite drinks -- Fernet and CocaCola over iceView from San Bernadino hillWater feature on San Bernadino hill

    Salta

    February 1, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 86 °F

    We flew this morning from Mendoza to Cordoba to Salta. The city of Salta sits in an agricultural valley in the northwest corner of Argentina. The province is between the Andes and sub Andean ranges. It has a population of about 800,000 and is very proud of its gaucho traditions and Incan heritage. We stayed in the area of Tres Cerritos (three hills) in a lovely small boutique hotel, Kkala. Our first day here, our guide took us up San Bernardino hill. Then we went to the nature preserve of Quebrada del rio San Lorenzo in the leafy suburbs of San Lorenzo Village. Last we visited the main square. People are friendly and relaxed, except when driving,

    Rugby is as big a sport as soccer. The highlight was the archeological exhibits at Museum of Archeology and High Mountain of Salta (MAAM). It contains the cryogenically preserved bodies of three children sacrificed on top of a local mountain by the Incas and related indigenous peoples, together with the precious artifacts the children were buried with. Heartbreaking and incredible at the same time.    Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    Commemorating the Heroes of Argentinian Independence 1817
    Commemorating the Heroes of Argentinian Independence 1817Celebrating La Senora de la CandelariaEven little ones participatedProud Gaucho womenMen in ostrich feathers to honor PachamamaGauchoTypical architecture, corner doorsStone paved streets, muralsStreet made ready for the processionGeology, condors, musicHalf Virgin Mary, half Pachamama

    Humahuaca

    February 2, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    This town was our most northern point in Argentina. Founded in 1591, classically Andean, at an altitude of 9,882 fasl, it has narrow dirt streets and adobe houses. Wonderfully surprising was our entry into town amidst local village “bands” preparing for a parade. It was the town’s celebration of the Virgin Mary. A musical contingent from each local village parades on foot to Humahuaca to participate (some 20 miles and more), families come from the entire province. Equally revered in the culture is Pachamama, Mother Earth, as referenced by the dancers in ostrich feathers preceding the Virgin statues. We watched the parade from a nice little restaurant staffed by friends of Ramiro’s and ate delicious empanadas.Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    PurmamarcaPurmamarcaPurmamarca - ne side of the plazaA pretty courtyard at a storePurmamarca churchPurmamarca plazaDinner menu. $5000 pesos = about $5US

    Purmamarca

    February 2, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    Purmamarca is the most developed , though still small, town in the Quebrado de Humahuaca. The town is nestled n the colored hills. It was our overnight stop for this day. Dirt roads, a plain unassuming inn for a night, a pretty plaza and many vendors to cater to tourists around the plaza. A meal with gaucho music on a guitar and accordion.Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    We are high in the sub AndesFrom the Mirador de la Cuesta de LipanThe Great Salt FlatsChannels are dug to mine the saltThe salt crystals are hugeTurf home in the desert with solar power (unusual)LlamasLlamasWild vicuna

    Great Salt Flats and Altiplano

    February 3, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 43 °F

    Eleven hours in a pick-up on dirt roads today, seeing the sub Andes and the Altiplano (high plains) of Jujuy and Salta. We travelled west, climbing higher and higher through the arid desolate Andes, reaching an altitude of 13,681 feet at Abra de Portrerillos and the Mirador de la Cuesta de Lipán, with awesome view of the valley below. We continued on to the high valley with the Great Salt Flats (where they mine salt). From there we headed south.Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    Rheas
    RheasThe rheas , guanaco and alpaca blend in with the brushLlamasThree monkeys?"Active" volcanos. That is hail, not snow, on top. Disappears in winter.Pet cemetary

    San Antonio de Los Cobres, Quebrada del

    February 3, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ 🌩️ 81 °F

    The second half of Day 2 with R was one beautiful vista after another after a brief stop in San Antonio de LC. This copper mining town is also known for its tourist train (built turn of the century by a Philadelphia engineer) called The Train to the Clouds. We weren’t able to fit our schedule to the timetable but interesting nevertheless.
    We stopped in one small village where a local priest is honored for his dedication to the people, building schools and bringing updated agricultural and animal techniques.    Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler
    La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires as we flew in
    La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires as we flew inThe AndesThe Andes. Glaciers?The Andes, hydro-electric powerChanging planes - we are in ChileChurch in SPdASiesta time in SPdASPdA, always n the shadow of an "active" volcanoHistoric houseJK checking out the streetThe central plaza in SPdAHappy hour at Terrantai LodgeTerrantai - back garden for our roomTerrantai - the front desk and breakfast

    San Pedro de Atacama, Travel Day

    February 7, 2024 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    We were originally scheduled to take a bus over the Andes from Salta to SPdA (Chile) but after experiencing four nights of torrential brief rains, washed out roads and a change to a less reputable bus company that left at midnight, we decided to fly instead. That required last minute arrangements for 3 flights and 8 hours (still a few hours less than the bus ride) - Salta to Buenos Aires to Santiago to Calama. We arrived in Calama at night, seeing only the formidably bright lights of numerous copper mines as we taxied the 1-1/2 hours to SPdA.

    San Pedro is a small town set on a high arid plateau (alt 7950 feet) in the middle of nowhere. It may have been settled as early as 500 A.D. by the Atacamenos, the indigenous people. Now it is a center for astronomical research, a laid back town that has a hippie-ish atmosphere, and a Mecca for desert tourism.

    Our hotel, the Terrantai Lodge, was welcoming and friendly, comfortable and had a great shower. The fountain outside our room trickled merrily and the breakfasts and happy hours were terrific. Right in the center of town, behind a hidden door, it felt like an oasis yet close to everything.    Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler

    Laguna San Rafael

    February 18, 2024, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    A ship-sponsored catamaran took groups of cruisers to see the glacier. Interminable waiting because of a passenger accident and then electrical troubles pushed the trip to very late afternoon amidst rain, drizzle and fog. Not very satisfying but still got some interesting iceberg pictures.Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler

    Ushuaia, Argentina

    February 22, 2024 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F

    The southern-most city in the world, Ushuaia is the gateway to Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica. It is located between the Martial Mtns and the Beagle Channel. The Yaghan/Yamana natives lived there until 1870 when an English missionary arrived. The indigenous people had all disappeared by 1911. The town was a penal colony from 1896-1947.

    We visited a fort constructed by the British in the late 1800’s and an adjacent nature trail.    Read more

  • WhorledTravelersSouth America 2024Traveler

    The Falkland Islands

    February 28, 2024 in Falkland Islands ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    We are here to see penguins, specifically the king penguins. Only about half the cruise ships that come here arrive on days when the sea and winds are calm enough to send tenders into port. It’s a long way into the harbor. We got lucky!

    We had arranged a semi-private tour in a 4x4 Land Rover Defender out across the island. The Magellanic penguins are found in many places on the island but the kings are only seen way out across the other side of the island. So it was 3 hours each way, most of it through scrubby fields on barely discernible dirt tracks or no track at all. It seemed our driver, x, was having great fun finding “shortcuts” to challenge his wife who was driving the 4x4 behind us. There are no native trees on the Falklands but lots of big rocks.    Read more