Category: Argentina

Days 308 & 309: Buenos Aires

Our last two experiences at Argentinean airports taught us that it does not pay to arrive too early (even when you have passes to an executive lounge) as the airlines refuse to let you check-in more than 2 hours before your flight. So, we took our time in the morning, and arrived exactly 2 hours early for our 1PM flight. We only had carry-on luggage with us, so ticketing was a breeze and we were ready to go through security right away.

As we reach the security desk, we watch as the two female security agents check-in the people ahead of us (one of who we were pretty sure was on the same flight we were). When we approached Maria E. Ramírez, she looked at our ticket than handed it back and said, “Your flight is not boarding until 12.” We were dumbfounded.

“We can’t go through security?”

“No.”

“Sooooo…we just have to sit here for an hour?” Maria shrugged. “But we have passes to the lounge inside,” Lindsay pulled up the picture on Igor’s phone, “can we please go in now?” Master & Commander Ramírez pointed us to the “Customer Service” phone and told us we could call and ask – of course the woman on the phone backed up the security guard and told us to wait. When we turned back to the desk, both guards had disappeared and closed the doors to the terminal behind them. Through the glass doors we could see them inside, *having a fucking mate break*.

Over the course of the next hour and fifteen minutes (because the security guards did *not* return from their mate break on time), the empty hall filled up with every single person on our flight, queueing up in a line, waiting to get through security. Seriously, it would have been so much more efficient to just check in people early, to avoid all the crowding. But no – these women just wanted a power trip.

 

Sitting outside security for OVER AN HOUR because the fucking ticket checkers need to feel important

 

When Lindsay called their “Customer Service,” she was told that she would have to wait an hour – Hey! Just enough time for a LINE to form! ARGENTINOS LOVE LINES.

When we finally got into the terminal, we only had 15min before boarding started. We looked around for the lounge, hoping we still had time to grab a cup of coffee before getting on the flight, however, there was no lounge! It wasn’t until we were actually boarding that we finally saw the doors to the lounge – only accessible though the locked doors to the flight bridge, hidden in the (now defunct) international wing of the airport. OK, given that you are not permitted to go through security until an hour before departure and the entrance is inaccessible, does anyone ever use it?!? Argentina – you are not doing it right!

By the time we got to Buenos Aires, we were pretty frustrated and feeling relieved that we had booked such a short stay in the capital. We returned to our hotel, picked up our big bag, and went up to our room to relax and plan our evening. Buenos Aires is known for its nightlife, so we were looking forward to a nice dinner and some Argentine tango. Igor found a highly rated “farm to table” bistro in the Palermo neighborhood, and Lindsay found a milonga (tango dancehall) within walking distance. We made an absurdly early reservation (by BA standards) at 8PM, planning to arrive at the milonga around 10:30PM. Even then we would be insanely early – apparently the band wasn’t scheduled to go on until *1:30AM*. Yeah, we’re too old to stay up that late, so we knew full well we would miss the main attraction but at least we would get a glimpse of the REAL tango culture.

 

Dinner date in Buenos Aires

 

Fancy-shmancy bread and *delicious* Patagonian Pinot Noir

 

OK – we admit it: Argentinos make really good food. Fucking awesome dinner.

So, most tourists go to “dance & dinner” shows to see Argentine Tango in Buenos Aires. Those can be very entertaining, but we can do that back home in NYC. We wanted to see the REAL dance scene, so we decided to visit the milonga at Salon Canning. The experience was very interesting and educational for us. First of all, NO WE DID NOT DANCE. Argentine Tango is a very intricate dance (nothing like International Tango, which Igor does know), and the dancers here were so deadly serious on the dance floor, we knew they would not appreciate a pair of newbies bumping about awkwardly. Second, the mood is so different from other social dances we’ve been to. We’re no experts, but we’ve been to a dozen or so salsa clubs over the years – in comparison to salsa (which is fun & flirty, usually in a low-lit bar scene) tango feels like passionate foreplay (which is really weird considering all the lights were on). What made it feel really naughty, was the fact that strangers would meet up and dance together in these halls – I mean, it looks like these people are emotionally cheating on their spouses! And Third, there is a very formal etiquette to the milonga: if a woman is invited to dance (indicated by a knowing look from across the room – which she can “pretend not to see” to reject), the man is obliged to dance a set of 4 songs with her. We noticed that each set of 4 tangos was punctuated by a non-tango song (usually pop or a cha-cha), signaling the couples to leave the dancefloor.

 

We pass by the entrance to the milonga hall twice before we finally spot it – inside the dancefloor is packed with locals

 

Lindsay and Igor watch from the bar. These dancers are intimidating – they are VERY good and they are so SERIOUS

For our only full day in Buenos Aires, we had to pack in as much sight-seeing as possible. Both of our foot/leg injuries were healing nicely, but we didn’t want to risk messing anything up this close to our dive trip, so we opted for the Hop On, Hop Off bus. It may be a bit corny, but we had never actually gone on one of these tours before, so we decided to try it out. We jumped on around 8AM and rode the entire route of all three bus circuits, giving us a passing glimpse of all the most famous neighborhoods of Buenos Aires – Recoleta & Palermo on the Red Line, the Center, Monserrat, San Telmo & La Boca on the Blue Line, and the northern part of the city on the Green Line. The only places we explored on foot were La Boca (a wildly colorful tourist trap) and the Recoleta Cemetery just outside of our hotel. By the time we staggered back into our room around 5PM, we were exhausted. No more late nights for us – we picked up a bottle of Argentinean sparkling and camped out in our jammies for the rest of the night.

 

Exploring BA the lazy way – the Hop On, Hop Off tourist bus

 

Buenos Aires proudly calls itself the “Paris of South America” – indeed, its buildings are very European

 

Buenos Aires – loudly colorful!

 

Artsy-fartsy graffiti: it’s street art

 

It’s a beautiful, sunny summer day in Buenos Aires – perfect for sitting atop the open-air bus and driving through the tree-lined streets of Buenos Aires

 

The Obelisk of Buenos Aires – commemorating the federalization of the country’s capital in 1880

 

Protesters evoking the image of Evita Perón

 

The colorful streets of the über-touristy La Camineta

 

Several cafés have tango performers dancing in front of the outdoor tables, attracting cruisers like flies to honey

 

Street art in La Boca, depicting political protesters

 

Random sights around BA: Floralis Genérica – a steel sculpture of a flower that opens every morning and closes everynight; and the gateway arch to BA’s Barrio Chino – a “gift” from the People’s Republic of China that was initially refused by the city government and installed *without* their permission.

 

The tour’s information overload lulled Lindsay to sleep, so we stopped for a sugar-rush at one of BA’s many ice-creameries

 

Wandering through the elaborate tombs of the Recoleta Cemetary

 

Cobweb-covered statues holding a withering bouquet of flowers – delightfully creepy!

 

We were shocked to see that many of the mausoleums have broken doors and windows – some are even being used as storage closets for the cemetery groundskeeper! Doesn’t seem very respectful.

 

A teeny little dinner of cheese and eggs, with a healthy serving of bubbles!

Day 307: Güirá Oga, Puerto Iguazú

After reviewing the numerous, amazing pictures we took at Iguazú Falls yesterday, we decided we didn’t need to return to the park for a second day (even if admission would be half priced). It’s still a good idea to give yourself at least 2 days to see Iguazú, since you really want to see the falls on a sunny day if possible (more butterflies and rainbows!) – we just lucked out and got perfect weather on Day 1!

We spent the morning hiding in our cozy, air-conditioned cabin, using their Wifi and relaxing. In the afternoon, we started to get a little stir-crazy, so we borrowed their bicycles again and headed all the way through town toward a little wildlife refuge center called Güirá Oga. It was a long, hot and hilly ride, but we made it just in time for their final tour of the day at 4:30PM. Unfortunately, the tour was in Spanish (English is available sometimes, but not today apparently) – Lindsay was able to pick out a few tidbits here and there, but her vocabulary isn’t big enough to understand the stories the guide was telling about the rescued animals. We just followed along at the back of the group and looked at the birds, monkeys and other mammals.

 

We bike across Puerto Iguazu to the Güirá Oga Wildlife Refuge and take a guide tour

 

Igor checking out the blue and scarlet macaws

 

A Toco Toucan and a Red-Breasted Toucan

 

Igor dances along the boardwalk as a Capuchin Monkey watches jealously from his enclosure

 

An incubator full of freshly hatched chicks, and a pair of falcons

 

An Ocelot paces madly in its enclosure, and an otter swims back and forth in its little pool. Poor guys really want to go back to the wild

As we were finishing the tour, dark thunder clouds rolled in and threatened to dump a torrent of rain on us. We jumped on the bikes and peddled as hard as we could back to town. Luckily, the shade from the clouds and the refreshing breeze made the biking much easier and we made it to a grocery store just as thick droplets were starting to fall. We took our time shopping – picking up everything we needed to cook burgers back at the cabin – and found that the storm had passed by the time we came out of the store. When we got down to cooking later that night, we realized we had shopped with our stomachs a little bit – the burgers were HUGE and we each had a baked potato on the side! We fell asleep with massive food comas that night.

 

Igor is in charge of cooking tonight, and makes us MASSIVE burgers

Day 306: Iguazú Falls National Park

In comparison to Victoria Falls, Iguazú is just a little bit shorter (82M vs 108M) but it is a LOT wider, stretching 2.7KM (one kilometer longer than Vic Falls). As a result, Iguazú feels grander. Also, Victoria Falls flows into a very narrow ravine, so it’s hard to view the whole thing – you can only see pieces of it here and there. Iguazú, on the other hand, opens up into a much larger canyon, and there are many viewpoints where you can appreciate the vastness of the falls before you. Not that there’s a competition or anything, but in our humble opinion, Iguazú does it betta’.

When visiting Iguazú, you have two choices on where to view the falls: the Argentinean side (called Iguazú) or the Brazilian side (called Iguaçu). Many people choose to visit both, and we would have as well, except Brazil requires a tourist visa for Americans and does not allow an online e-visa – you have to visit a consulate and physically leave your passport for 1-5 business days (however long it happens to take to process that week). Had we planned to visit Brazil ahead of time, we could have taken care of it in the USA, but since we changed our plans to include South American while we were already on the road, we had no opportunity to surrender of passport for up to 5 days. We were a bit bummed at first, but now that we have fully explored the Argentinean side and we could see the Brazilian platform across the river, we don’t think we missed much.

So, even though the guide books all say you can’t (or shouldn’t) do Iguazú Falls in one day, that’s exactly what we did. And while the Argentinean side of the falls has a much bigger park than the Brazilian side, it’s still not gigantic and we were easily able to cover all three of the main trails starting around 8:30AM, just after the park opened, going at an easy pace (Igor’s foot was FINALLY healed, but Lindsay’s pinched nerve or whatever was wrong with her leg was still hurting) until about 4PM. If we had had the energy, we could have fit in the last nature trail before the park closed at 6PM, but we had little hope of seeing any wildlife so we decided to skip it.

 

Riding the 7:45AM bus from Puerto Iguazu to the National Park. Little surprise the ticket cost for foreigners is 65% more than the cost for Argentineans (gotta subsidize the locals’ vacations!)

 

We saw a lot of these piles of black worms all over the park trail in the morning. At first, we just thought they were piles of poo left by some small animal, until we noticed a fellow tourist taking a picture. Most people don’t take photos of poop (although, Argentineans are weirdos…LOL) so we decided to get a closer look: these are worms that most together en mass to appear bigger so birds don’t eat them. Very clever defense strategy, but very freaky in appearance – they reminded Lindsay of the demonic cursed worms from the movie “Princess Mononoke”!

We started our exploration of the National Park by hiking the Lower Trail – a path that meanders through the jungle and eventually all the way down to the river bank. Since there were so many ups and downs, it was much less crowded than the flat, Upper Trail. There are several boat ride options from the Argentinean side as well – many require an extra cost and take you on a tour along the river and even within a “splash zine” of the falls themselves. We skipped the paid excursions – we just wanted to take the free 1min ferry across the river to San Martín Island where you get an AMAZING view of the San Martín half of the falls. Igor had read that the park limits the number of visitors who can go to the island every day, so we wanted to make sure we were first in line so we didn’t miss our chance.

When we reached the bottom of the trail, there was no one there. Apparently, the park does not run the boat everyday – it’s dependent on the height of the river on any given day and they make the call whether or not to run the boat around 9:30AM (an hour after the park opens). We waited around until 10AM, when the tour operators for the paid excursions showed up – guess the water level was just fine for their money-making operation! We followed them to the riverbank to see if we could figure out what was going on. We finally found some park rangers at the bottom, sitting in the park’s boat, chatting and drinking mate (a bitter, messy, loose-leaf tea that Argentinos are fucking obsessed with – seriously, who drinks HOT TEA in the JUNGLE?). They seemed a little annoyed that park guests were showing up, and it took them another couple of minutes before they could be bothered to take us across the river, however, the views from the island were our favorite in the park and totally worth the effort.

 

Starting our exploration of the park on the Lower (Blue) Trail

 

The path leads us through the jungle and opens up on some minor falls and the lower part of the river, before we get our first sight of the San Martín section of Iguazú Falls

The San Martín section of Iguazú Falls – it is a wider curtain of smaller waterfalls, and incredibly pretty!

 

Igor stands on the lower viewing platform beneath the San Martín Falls

 

We climb all the way down to the river to catch a free boat to San Martín Island, which sits in the middle of the river, right in front of the falls

 

Waiting for the Argentinos to finish their friggin’ mate break before they escort us the short 200M across the river to the island

Looking up at the falls from the beach

Panoramic view of the San Martín Falls

 

We continue along the trail around San Martín Island, where we get our first glimpse of the Devil’s Throat & the Brazilian side of the falls in the distance, plus a clear view of the Iguazú River as it flows down toward the Paraná River and the border with Paraguay

 

The San Martín Falls are pretty and worth the effort to see up close, but man that hike back up the trail in the hot summer sun is a BITCH

 

We brought our own snacks for lunch, but after our hike we couldn’t resist the smell of hot, savory empanadas! We share a trio of cheese & spinach stuffed handpies – YUM!

 

We see a few curious animals hanging around the picnic area: a Plush-Crested Jay and a Giant Tegu

 

The end of the Lower Trails takes us to the entrance to the Sheraton – the only hotel in the park. While it would be a perk to have access to the park before/after hours to avoid the crowds, at USD$500/night (for a non-falls facing room) it’s way out of our price range!

It was already noon by the time we started the Upper Trail section of the park. This part was our least favorite – the San Martín falls are more scenic than powerful, and the view from the top of the falls isn’t that impressive. Plus, the trail is absolutely packed with tourists since this is the easier trek as there is no up and down. And even though the trail was supposed to be a one-way loop, there were tons of annoying visitors who decided to return the wrong way, just to spend more time on the edge of the falls, rather than taking the “backwater” return trail.

Joining the crowds of tourists on the Upper Trail at the top of the San Martín Falls

 

The trail is a loop – going along the top of the falls on way, then snaking back on a quiet boardwalk over the river behind the falls on the return. Even though there was no view, we preferred the peace and quiet of the return trail

The final section of the park is the Big Daddy: the Devil’s Throat! A huge basin of the river dumps down a relatively small opening on the cliff ledge, creating an absolute torrent of water thundering down ~80M below (this is the tallest section of the falls). The force of the water was so strong here and there is so much spray, we actually had difficulty taking photos before our camera lenses were completely covered in drops (especially since we also had to contend with a large crowd of selfie-snapping fellow guests). It took a little patience, but we finally got our “money shot” of the Great Iguazú.

 

Lindsay’s gimpy leg is starting to bother her after so much walking, so we take the free choo-choo 5KM to the Devil’s Throat

 

We spot some pretty butterflies and HUGE catfish along the trail

 

We watch as a dumb tourist pulls out a package of crackers and starting feeding the coatis (a type of jungle raccoon). Not only is she encouraging aggressive behavior (these guys can bite when they think you are withholding food), she’s fucking up his poor little tummy. These are WILD animals, people, and they are supposed to eat NATURAL things like plants and bugs – not cookies filled with synthetic preservatives and partially hydrogenated corn syrup.

 

We see a mist coming up from a precipice in the water – we join the throng of people on the viewing platform and fight for a spot on the railing

A river of water disappearing at the top of the falls

The Devil’s Throat – the most MASSIVE waterfall we have ever seen!

 

Powerful, thunderous and awe-inspiring – the Devil’s Throat of Iguazú Falls

By the time we took the tourist train back to the center of the park, we were exhausted. We went back to the ticket counter to get our tickets validated (you can get half-off admission the next day if you register your ticket before leaving) just in case we decided to return tomorrow. We then caught the return shuttle back to Puerto Iguazú.

Unfortunately for us, we didn’t realize that it was Sunday, and all the grocery stores would be closed by midday. We were so tired – we really didn’t have the energy to walk all the way back into town for dinner, and would have preferred to stay in and cook again – even pasta! – but everyone was shuttered down for the day. Since we were only a few blocks away from the touristy area of the Three Frontiers, we decided to walk over to the restaurant on the riverbank. It was pretty pricey, but it had a nice view and we ordered the cheapest things on the menu (plus a bottle of wine!).

 

Sunday night dinner with a view of the 3 frontiers

Day 304 & 305: Journey to Puerto Iguazú

Our journey to Puerto Iguazú was a long, 2-day affair. Day One was purely a travel day, as we flew from Punta Areas to Puerto Montt to Santiago and finally to Buenos Aires. We arrived pretty late in the evening – it was about 8:30PM by the time we checked into our hotel and we were exhausted. Even though the dinner scene in Buenos Aires doesn’t really get started until 9PM (so we technically had plenty of time to go out), we really just wanted a quiet night in, since we had an early flight the next morning and we still had to repack our bags (we were planning to leave our big suitcase in BA for a few days and only take carry-on luggage with us to Iguazú). Luckily for us, there was a grocery store that was only a block away, so we were able to pick up some pasta, sauce, cheese and wine (very important!) and we enjoyed a simple yet satisfying dinner in our hotel room.

 

After three flights, we finally arrive in Buenos Aires, feeling a little punchy. We buy a bus/taxi combo deal from EZE airport to our hotel in Recoleta

 

Igor takes a shower while Lindsay whips up a quick pasta dinner in our little kitchenette

 

In the morning, we discover that our hotel room has a stunning view of the Recoleta Cemetery! We plan to explore when we return to BA in a few days

The next morning our hotel ordered a USD $10 taxi to the Aeroparque domestic airport (located right in the city). Even though it was a domestic flight, our hotel recommended that we arrive 2hrs early – we soon discovered why. Argentineans LOVE lines. Lines, lines, long, long lines for everything! Long line to check in, long line to get to security, long line to board the plane. We started to grumble to ourselves, but then we had to step back for a moment and reflect that things could be worse: at least Argentineans don’t *cut* in lines, the way the Chinese do!

When we finally got to the head of the line for the security check, we discovered what the holdup was. The actual security station (metal detector & x-ray scanning) was practically empty, so it wasn’t the security team that was taking forever; it was the two agents checking everyone’s ID beforehand. Turns out, domestic airfare is about *half the cost* if you have an Argentinean resident card (thanks to ridiculously high taxes for government subsidies) and they wanted to make sure no foreigners were trying to sneak through with online tickets purchased with the “local” price! We had heard about this before coming to Argentina, so we paid the foreigner fare as we didn’t want to risk getting booted from the plane if we got caught.

 

Tickets in hand, we are ready to join the loooooong queue for security (we are learning that Argentineans LOVE to wait in lines!)

 

We enjoy our LAN Argentina snack box (admittedly, food is very good in Argentina) on the short flight to IGR

When we arrived in the Puerto Iguazú Airport, we spent a good 20min trying to find the “local” bus (Igor had read someone’s blog where they claimed to only pay USD $2 for a bus into town). Whether or not this bus exists, we’ll never know – we tried asking the airport staff and transport operators where it was, and they all told us there was no public bus. Our only options for getting into town were a taxi or a shared minibus (granted, the transport operators had a vested interest in lying to us, if there really was a bus – maybe they just don’t want foreigners using their public transportation?). We opted for the minibus since the guy promised it would be leaving in about 5min. I guess “cinco minutos” is a loose term in Spanish, as we actually waited a half an hour for them to get enough customers to fill up the 20-seater bus.

Once the bus was finally loaded up, we finally started making our way into town. About halfway down the road, however, our minibus pulled over to the side of the road, along with a big tourist bus. A guy wearing a “turistica” polo-shirt came on and asked us if we all spoke English. A few of us said, “Yes,” and he then proceeded to inform us that everyone on board had to pay a USD $1.50 Tourist Tax (literally – the receipt says “Tasa Turística” on it). We noticed none of the taxis were pulled over – I guess they only target buses. We made sure to keep our receipt on us for the rest of the trip just in case they tried to hit us up again.

 

We buy tickets for the shared minibus, which gets pulled over halfway to town for everyone on board to pay a tourist tax

Instead of staying in a hostel, Igor found us a homestay where we would get our own private cabin, with a kitchen, pool & BBQ access and free bike rental. The only catch was that it was not in the downtown area, but located in a residential neighborhood on the edge of town. While the minibus was supposed to make hotel stops, they told us they couldn’t go all the way to our part of town – instead they dropped us off 4 blocks away where the paved road meets gravel. It was a short but very hot walk to our homestay. However, once we go there, we found the cabin to be very comfortable and homey.

Even though they lived in Argentina, we suspected our hosts were actually Brazilians (the mother and daughter wore bikinis all day long, and when we asked them to help us light the BBQ later that night, they were kinda clueless on how to light a grill – not very Argentinean). The daughter, Paola, was the only one who spoke English, but she was incredibly kind and helpful, giving us directions for everything from where to find the best grocery store to how we could catch the bus into the park the next day. She told us we were welcome to borrow their pair of bicycles so we could visit the scenic riverside (where we could see the meeting of the 3 countries: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay) and do our grocery shopping in town. We picked up a big steak and a bottle of red for dinner – buen provecho, Argentina!

 

Our cabin in Puerto Iguazú has a full kitchen, two bedrooms, and decent Wifi

 

We borrow our host’s bicycles and ride into town for groceries, stopping by the “Tres Fronteras” (3 frontiers) where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet

 

Our host’s kitty cat keeps us company as we chill in the backyard

 

Our hosts help us light up their grill in the evening

 

We nibble on a cheese appetizer while we wait for the coals to get red-hot for our steak dinner

Day 299: Ruta Cuarenta – Day 4

The next day we finished our journey to the coast and reached the city of Río Gallegos, where we had our first encounter with Argentinean cops. After we stopped in town for gas and more food, we hit a road block on our way back to the highway. “Uh-oh, here we go!” we thought, positive that shit was going to get shady. Quite the contrary: after asking few questions about where we coming from and where we were going, the police handed us a pamphlet about *safe driving* and told us to have a nice day! They had a big stack of the brochures in their hands, so it just looked like Argentina is trying to crack down on the speeding and reckless driving.

After Río Gallegos, we headed north on Ruta 3, which is actually the easiest way to travel North/South in Argentina – unlike Ruta 40, the entire road is paved and there are many more cities and gas stations along the way. We made our way north nice and slow on our spare tire and finally reached our destination in the early afternoon: Monte León National Park.

Monte León is one of the newer parks in Argentina, so still a little off the beaten path, but it is *well worth* the detour! Even though it is teeny tiny (there is only one 20KM gravel road in and out of the park, and literally only one hiking trail), it is home to one of the largest colonies of Magellanic Penguins in Argentina: about 60,000! There was a park ranger parked at the trailhead, but we soon realized the poor guy was nothing more than a glorified parking attendant. There was no ranger on the trail nor at the viewing area, which meant there was no one monitoring the tourists to make sure they maintained the 5M distance rule and didn’t harass the penguins. And while we didn’t see anyone leaving the trail, we all had plenty of opportunity to stick our thumbs up a penguin’s ass since the birds chose to build their nests *literally* on the trail and underneath the sheltered platform. This is THE CLOSEST we have gotten to penguins to date. The only way we could have gotten closer is if we had actually picked them up and held them in our laps (which we totally could have done! NO ONE was there to stop us except our own conscience!).

Our new favorite park in Argentina: Monte León. It only has one hiking trail, but since there is a huge colony Magellanic Penguins at the end, one is really all they need!

The 2KM “Penguin Trail” is flat, easy terrain

We are in puma territory! There are several signs throughout the park warning visitors to be on alert for big cats. We didn’t see any, but we did see many dead penguin carcasses – the poor guys who built their nests at the edge of the colony make easy prey for puma, foxes and scuas.

Magellanic Penguins! These guys look practically identical to the penguins we saw in South Africa

While we try to obey the 5m distance rule, it gets difficult as many of the penguins build their nest RIGHT ON THE TRAIL.

The coastline in Monte León is covered with penguins – thousands nesting the in bushes, and thousands more coming in and out of the water

Chicks! The Magellanic Penguins have a similar breeding cycle to the species we saw on the Antarctic Peninsula – most of the chicks we see are almost done molting and will soon be heading into the water to feed themselves

And we thought we were getting close to the penguins in Antarctica! Two juveniles are “playing house” in a nest next to the walking trail. They must have decided we were getting too close to their territory because they come up to Igor and Lindsay in turn and start pecking at our pants – PENGUIN ATTACK!

The Penguin Trail closes every day at 5PM (to keep people out of the paths when pumas are most active), and we stayed out pretty much until the time limit. There was no way we would make it back to Río Gallegos that night, so we decided to drive deeper into the park and check out their campgrounds. At first we were a little apprehensive as the most secluded site was still right on top of a very raucous group of 3-4 families, playing really loud music and having a BBQ. Luckily for us, they were day trippers, and they rolled out of the campground just as we were getting our dinner ready. As we munched on our canned-bean burritos (with cheese! We’re getting fancy!), we soon realized we had new company: an armadillo and a fox crept into the neighboring site, and spent the next few hours sniffing around for crumbs and leftovers.

The sandy beaches are framed by stunning sandstone cliffs

We continue driving into the park and visit the viewpoint for “Punta Lobo” (Sea Lion Point) – it seems that most people leave the park after seeing the penguins as ours is the only car here

At the end of the road there is a small store/café, a campground and beach access for visitors

The beach at Monte León National Park

We book a campsite at the end of the park, where we get to enjoy an outdoor dinner for once, and with a killer view of the ocean

An armadillo sneaks into the campsite next to us, scavenging leftovers that the day-trippers left behind

Not far behind the armadillo is a small grey fox, who thinks he is being so sly

Day 298: Ruta Cuarenta – Day 3

We had the most wonderful night’s sleep (in a real bed!) and a huge, warm, selection of breakfast pastries, eggs and coffee for breakfast – we checked out of the hotel in El Calafayte feeling like a million bucks. Since the road to and through Glaciers National Park is completely paved, we decided to keep risking it and finish our Argentinean sight-seeing before returning to Punta Arenas to fix the rental car. After all, there was a decent chance there wouldn’t be a Subaru tire available in the city (we checked online – there is only ONE Subaru dealer in Chile and it is in Santiago – the chance that Europcar would have to special order a new tire was pretty high). If that was the case, we might have had to get a replacement car instead, and that car would not have a permit to cross into Argentina (it takes a full week to process the permit). We would hate to get stuck in Chile and miss *everything* in Argentina, so we crossed our fingers and continued down the road…very slowly…

 

Enjoying a delicious breakfast buffet – WITH HOT COFFEE!

 

Driving (slowly) toward Glaciers National Park

Glaciers National Park is the largest park in Argentina and home to one of its most famous attractions: The Perito Moreno Glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier is massive: 30KM long, 5KM wide and 70M tall. Even so, it is not the biggest glacier in the Patagonian Southern Ice Field, but its easy accessibility and the fact that it is one of the *very few* glaciers in the word that is stable and not receding make it a wonder to behold. We limited our activities to the park’s extensive walkway and viewing platforms, which were flip-flop friendly. Perito Moreno was the most active glacier we’ve ever seen: it advances approximately 2M *per day*, which means it is constantly calving (breaking off chunks of ice). As we stood watching the sunlight dance across the face of the ice, we would hear loud cracks and roars as the glacier moved – every 10-15min or so, we would be rewarded with a piece of ice breaking off the face and falling with a splash into the water.

 

Glaciers National Park – home to the Perito Moreno Glacier

The Perito Moreno Glacier! In some years, the glacier advances so far across the lake that it reaches the other side (like in this picture), creating a dam separating the Lago Argentino from the Brazo Rico

As we admire the glacier, the clouds part and brighten the face of Perito Moreno

 

We can easily watch the glacier for hours as the sunlight continues to move and shift, creating dramatic new landscapes

 

Even though there are hundreds of tourists eager for a glimpse of the glacier, it’s easy to avoid the crowds as the viewing platform is connected to a series of walkways, all with a clear view of the ice

 

Lindsay & Igor at the Perito Moreno Glacier

 

Even the view from the forested lower trail is stunning – where else in the world can you see blue ice peeking out through the branches?

 

We can see the milky-blue waters of Lago Argentino fade into the distance from the top of the walkway. We pass the World’s Smallest Glass Elevator (at least, we’re sure that’s what the Chinese parks would call it) as we head back to the parking lot

 

All the miradors on the way out of the park are now empty, so we stop to admire the mighty glacier one last time

 

We spot a pair of Carancho Caracaras at one of the miradors. Unlike the Chimangos we encountered in the bird reserve yesterday, these guys are not at all aggressive

After leaving the park, we backtrack through El Calafayte and stop to pick up enough groceries for the next two days of camping in Argentina. We had discussed possible routes with the guys from the tire shop and they informed us that Ruta 40 actually would have *yet another* patch of gravel as we drove south! They recommended that we veer off onto the local Highway 5 to stay on better turf. Since the road on 5 would take us halfway to the coast, we decided we may as well go all the way to the other side and visit the town of Río Gallegos – the official end of Ruta 40. Sure, we weren’t taking Ruta 40 to get there, but it’s the same ending. We found a paid campground just before sunset (such a relief, as we did not like our freedom camping experience in Argentina – we felt much safer knowing we had permission to be where we were, and that people were nearby).

 

We stop in a grocery store in town to pick up some more supplies for the road: food and WINE (Argentina has both quantity & quality)

 

We return to Ruta 40 for a short stretch outside town, then veer off to the left on Highway 5 to remain on paved road while taking a shortcut across the country to the coast

 

Igor picks up a new pair of sunglasses at a roadside stand when we stop for gas (now he can stop borrowing Lindsay’s)

 

Just when we were about to despair finding a private campsite along the road, we find a paid campground along a river

 

Golden Hour in our perfect (nearly empty) campground

 

The owners dog’s is super friendly and keeps us company as Lindsay prepares our dinner

 

The owner’s horse, however, is not so friendly. Igor names him “Bite-y”

 

A stunning Patagonian sunset

 

We bust out the orange parkas, chocolates and our stolen bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte and pretend we are still on the Seabourn Quest

Day 297: Ruta Cuarenta – Day 2

Wow – freedom camping in Argentina is not as fun as Chile. As if our anxiety over safety wasn’t bad enough, the WIND coming down from the mountains was brutal! It howled like crazy all night and even rocked the car back and forth – no doubt, we in Patagonia! We awoke a good hour earlier than normal and decided to get an early start back out of the gravel road – good thing too as our surly friend in the white truck drove down the road and passed us *again* about 15min after we started driving. He gave us another death stare as if to say, “I know you camped illegally on my land, you assholes.” Whatever – he never saw us *parked* anywhere, so he can’t prove anything!

 

A beautiful sunrise over Lake Viedma

 

With shoddy bridges and bumpy gravel roads like these, it’s an Argentinean Miracle we only had the one flat tire!

Once we reached the pavement again, we chugged along at a weak 80KMPH all the way to El Calafayte. Even though there was always *plenty* of room to pass us, all the Argentinos would lay on their horns as they swerved around us, seeming to take pleasure in cutting us off within inches when they pulled back into the right lane. Look, we know we are going slow, but there’s no need to be dick about it! Plus, the posted speed limit on Ruta 40 is seriously fucked up. The only reason we know the limit is supposed to be 110KM is because we read about it online. If we went by the *posted* limits, we would be incredibly confused as they have 40KM & 60KM signs everywhere (which NO ONE obeys, BTW) – it’s like there was a discount sale on signs and the Argentine govt. just bought a bunch and decided to randomly place them along the road.

We finally reached El Calafayte around 9:30AM and drove to the nearest gomería (tire repair shop). Most businesses in South America open around 10AM, so we had a short wait, during which time we made friends with the owner’s pet Golden Retriever. Unfortunately for us, when the tire guy arrived, he took one look at our busted tire and said it was unrepairable. The tear was too large for a patch and he said we would be in danger of blowing the tire to bits if we tried to drive on it. He recommended a tire store to buy a replacement.

 

A doggy begs for treats while we wait for the local gomería to open shop. When he tells us the tire is unfixable, he sends us to a tire store on the other side of town

Any of my friends and family have a Subaru? Ever had to replace a tire? I know for a fact my aunt & uncle in Connecticut did – I was joining them for a visit to Martha’s Vineyard one year when their Subaru got a flat. We spent the rest of the weekend driving around on a spare tire because Subaru (for some INSANE reason) has a *different sized tire* than every other car. (Weird, when they market themselves as an outdoorsy, all-terrain brand with 4WD on all their car & SUV models – you’d think that flat tires would be a common problem for their customers.) Not only did the first tire shop we visit not have the size in stock, they called 2 other stores in town for us and verified that NO ONE had Subaru tires. They recommended we return to Chile and look for a tire shop in Punta Arenas. URGH!!!!

In the meantime, the tire shop did offer to patch our busted tire so that we would have a second “spare” tire in case we got another flat, but they warned us to drive super slowly if we ended up using it and it was for an extremely emergency only.

 

Yeah, no way a rock busted this tire. While it’s not repairable, the tire shop gives us a patch to use only in an extreme emergency if we pop *another* tire on our way to Punta Arenas

Even though we had our marching orders to return to Punta Arenas, we didn’t see the point in hitting the road immediately – after all, there was no way we would reach Chile before businesses closed for the day – so we decided to keep driving carefully on our spare and finish our sight-seeing around El Calafayte. After all, the roads around here were 100% paved, so if we drove slowly we should be safe from another flat tire (even though we may get beaten to death by frustrated Argentinos).

Our first attraction was the Glaciarium – a museum solely dedicated to glaciers. It was highly recommended to us by our pal Luciano from the Seabourn Expedition Team (he is a Calafayte native and one of the curators of the museums…so a bit biased…), and it was pretty cool (Jaja! Pun intended!). There were lots of plaques and videos explaining the formation of glaciers (old news to us by now, as we had attending many of Luciano’s lectures on the cruise), and reiterating the sad FACTS that REAL SCIENTISTS agree that climate change is happening at an unnaturally fast rate and rapidly destroying glaciers all around the world.

After jamming 2hrs. worth of edu-tainment into our heads, it was time to kill a few brain cells, so we headed downstairs to the Glaciarium’s Ice Bar for some shots of Fernet Branca.

 

According to our Seabourn friend, Luciano, the glacier museum is the #1 attraction in El Calafate. The “glaciarium” is even designed to look like a glacier

 

The museum is packed with information – mostly serious climate-based science, although there is a little room for fun and jokes as well!

 

As we look at the pictures on display, we notice one of a zodiac full of people in orange parkas…kinda looks like a Seabourn excursion in Antarctica! When we look at the photo credit: “L. Bernacchi” – it *is* Luciano from the Expedition Team!

 

Lindsay feels smart sitting down for a 3D educational film…until she realizes Igor didn’t tell her she had two pairs of glasses on her head

 

Enough learnin’, it’s time for a drink! Lindsay really wants to visit an “ice bar” – too bad all the drinks were nasty Fernet Branca cocktails, bleh!

We drove back to town after the museum and headed down to the water to visit the Laguna Minez Nature Reserve – a 2KM trail where you can see a variety of sea birds, as well as birds of prey. Initially we thought the trail was kinda lame, especially when we realized we couldn’t get very close to the flamingos, but the action heated up when we started walking through a caracara nesting area – all of a sudden we had dozens of falcons dive-bombing us to protect their nests!

 

Taking a late afternoon walk through the city’s bird reserve: Laguna Nimez

 

Lots of sea birds, flamingos and geese, feeding in the waters

 

A stray dog sneaks into the bird park, on the prowl for some fowl!

 

The staff warn us that some birds of prey are currently nesting and may be aggressive at one section of the trail – the fact that the stray dog is with us doesn’t help matters! The birds repeatedly dive bomb us as we walk along – Lindsay runs through and cowers in the bushes while Igor stands his ground and tells the birds to, “BRING IT ON!”

 

The Chimango Caracara – a falcon native to South America

 

A vicious looking caracara photobombs Lindsay’s picture of Igor!

 

A Calafayte berry bush (where the falcons love to build their nests) and many wildflowers in the reserve

 

A Golden Hour view of El Calafate from the Laguna Nimez Reserve, where a Southern Lapwing hides in the tall grasses

 

A caracara keeps a close watch on us as we leave the park at sunset

Since we were staying in town tonight, we decided to sleep in the comforts of civilization and treat ourselves to both a *hotel* and dinner *in a restaurant*! OMG, y’all, that HOT SHOWER was like a religious experience! And HOT FOOD that Lindsay DIDN’T HAVE TO COOK?!? She felt like a princess.

 

Talk about luxury! We are staying in an actual hotel tonight – with walls and beds and showers, and a WINE BAR

 

Hot food and a generous glass of wine – after a week of camping, this feels like absolute heaven!

Day 296: Ruta Cuarenta – Day 1

Today was the day: the day we crossed into ARGENTINA. To tell the truth, we were bit apprehensive – Igor had read many blogs contrasting Chile and Argentina, and Argentina has a less than stellar reputation when it comes to police corruption, tourist scams and infrastructure. But, we didn’t come all this way to stay in or comfort zone – Chile is absolutely lovely, but sometimes it seems a little too much like the United States (too modern, too convenient, too easy) – it’s time for a new ADVENTURE!

The Chilean border agent was very proper and professional (as one would expect) – he sat in a brightly-lit office, behind a counter with a glass window (covered in tour agency stickers from passing travelers). He collected our PDI cards, scanned our passports into the computer and gave us exit stamps before following us outside to unlock the gates to the road beyond.

 

Rolling up to the Chilean checkpoint at the Paso Roballos border crossing

We expected the Argentinean guard house to be just beyond the Chilean gate, but we were surprised when we had to drive a good 45min through no-man’s land to reach the other side. When we finally parked in front of the Argentinean border station, we noticed quite a difference. First of all, the “office” was a tiny, dark room with a rough wooden table, two stools for us to sit on, and posters of colonial-era revolutionaries tacked to the walls. Second, *everything* was handwritten into a little a little ledger (no computers).

We were relieved when the agent performed only a scant inspection of the back of our car and didn’t find our last few fruits and veggies (yay! We have dinner for tonight!). He did spot our spare gas canister – we were surprised when he told us in Spanish that it’s illegal to carry gas inside your car in Argentina…really? Lindsay replied that we didn’t know, and that all our guide books said to carry spare gas on Ruta 40 in case you run out in between fuel stations. Even so, supposedly it’s not allowed, but he told us to go ahead with the gas anyways – that was really nice of him!

 

Crossing into Argentina at last!

We had a good 100KM of gravel road to drive until we reached Ruta 40, but the road was just as scenic on the Argentinean side of the Andes, although vastly different in terrain and wildlife. While Chile was all about lush forests, sparkling blue lakes & fiords, and expansive grasslands, Argentina felt more like a rough and wild desert, except FULL of animals! Horses, birds, bunnies, foxes and more!

 

The landscape is very different on this side of the Andes – much more “wild west cowboy” than the dense green forests and fiords of Chile

 

A variety of birds – geese and flamingos – populate the marshy ponds

 

Dozens of huge jackrabbits dart across the road – one stops just long enough to pose for a picture

 

ZORRO! We spot a trio of gray foxes as we drive through the Argentinean side of the pass, which apparently was recently turned into a national park

 

ARMADILLO! Lindsay spots this slow little guy waddling through the brush on the other side of the street while we are pulled over for lunch. He is SO SLOW she is easily able to chase him down for a super-duper close-up when he hides under a bush. SO CUTE!

Slowly making our way out of the Paso Roballos on the Argentinean side

 

Stopping for fuel at the first gas pump we see after we reach the *paved road* of Ruta 40

We were *so excited* to finally reach the paved road of Ruta 40 – we’ve been driving on gravel road almost constantly since Day 2 of the Carretera Austral, and we been very cautious to make sure we didn’t get a flat tire. According to Lonely Planet, Ruta 40 is, like, 90% paved…oh, except for a 115KM stretch between Gobernador Gregores and Tres Lagos. Igor was at the wheel, since our Argentinean permit only allowed one driver, and even though he was going a respectable 60KMPH we started to hear an all-too-familiar thwump, thwump, thwump, out our window. We pulled over, and sure enough, he discovered we had a flat tire.

DAMN IT.

Well, Igor was a friggin’ pro at swapping out the spare tire at this point, I can tell you that. He had the jack up, old tire off and emergency spare screwed on in under 5min. We looked at the flat tire and discovered a dime-sized *tear* in the middle of the tread, making us suspect that Igor might have run over a piece of metal at some point (we did cross a lot of cow guards). We continued at a snail’s pace for the rest of the afternoon, terrified that we might puncture another tire and get stranded in the middle of nowhere.

 

OMG! After a week of driving of gravel roads we finally get our first flat tire on the ONE section of unpaved road. UGH!

After an hour of going 40 on 40, we finally return to pavement and increase our speed to 80KMPH (30KM below the speed limit), earning us a lot of angry honks and scathing looks from speeding Argentinos

When we reached the small town of Tres Lagos, we asked the gas station attendant where the nearest repair shop was, and were disappointed to hear that our best bet was to continue all the way down to El Calafate – the southern gateway to Glacier National Park. We had originally planned to visit El Chalten on the northern end of the park first to see Mt. Fitzroy, but the gas station guy said the town was too small. Boo. We might double back after fixing the tire, but more likely than not we would have to skip it.

In the meantime, there was no way we would make it all the way to either El Calafate or El Chalten that night, so we started to lookout for potential flattybouch camping spots on the road. Since Ruta 40 has a lot more traffic than the Carretera Austral (and, once again, cops are rumored to be a little more dodgy), we *really* didn’t feel comfortable parking out in the open off the main road. We decided to brave another gravel road and pull off onto a tiny provincial route that looked like it ran along a nearby lake – hopefully there would be beach access!

According to Google Maps, the only destinations on this gravel road were a few estancias (ranches). Many of them do have lodging, but from our research, the prices are astronomical (like, over USD$400 per night) – waaaaay out of the price range for our road trip, and certainly not the kind of last minute expense we wanted to pay on top of getting the tire replaced. On the bright side, we figured no one would have any reason to drive down this road in the middle of the night, so once we were out of sight of the highway, we could probably park anywhere off the road and not need to worry about privacy. Well, we were mostly right. A farm truck passed us twice as we crawled along toward the lake – once as he was dropping someone off at the highway, and again on his return to his estancia. Each time he passed us, he gave us a scowl as if to say, “What the fuck are you doing on my driveway?” Hopefully he would dismiss us as stupid lost tourists and wouldn’t return in the middle of the night to murder us.

 

We pull off of Ruta 40 around sunset and take a 15KM detour to park in our *only* freedom camping spot in Argentina, along the banks of the Lake Viedma.

 

10PM sunset in Argentinean Patagonia