Blogs from Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina, South America

Sorry it has been over a month since our last (and first) post, as you can tell we are really into updating this blog, we've even managed to upload photos to accompany this time although not sure we've quite got them in chronological order - beggars can't be choosers though so stop your moaning. So, as we haul our memories back to where we left you hanging on a knife's edge, we sit in yet another hostel this time in Mendoza, the wine region in Argentina having just polished off our second glass of Malbec and an extremely dubious plateful of undercooked ravioli - well at least the wine was nice. Anyway, we left you in Paraty in Brazil. This was a lovely part of our trip filled with lots of sunbathing on even more incredible ... read more

We had been looking forward to Mendoza for quite some time, so were very keen to jump straight in and get involved with wine based activities. We decided to splurge and book hotel in Maipu which was incredibly cheap for the overall quality of the hotel (Olympic sized heated pool, gym, sauna, steam room, outdoor pool with jaccuzi, casino ...). We headed to Mr Hugos bike rental in Maipu and go on a tour (and tastings) of the many many bodegas dotted around. Upon getting our free wine at Mr Hugos, we got talking to a group of American girls from California and we decided to cycle around together. One very handy fact was that one of the girls was from Napa vally and was an Oenologist, so knew a thing or two about wine and ... read more

Armed with eight litres of rum, two litres of whiskey (Pete would later acquire a third through a victorious game of Bingo; as you do), and two litres of Pisco, a distilled alcohol widely drank in Chile and Peru, we embarked on our four-day cruise due north through the Fjords that lie scattered along the south-western coast of the continent. Boarding the ferry, it became apparent that we had been upgraded to a private cabin. This was entirely thanks to Oscar, the tour operator with whom we had booked our tickets. The previous night, in celebration of our victory of Torres del Paine national park, we took to the streets of Puerto Natales. Before too long we had found ourselves entering the first bar we encountered in the main square (there weren´t many to choose from). ... read more

So this is Natasha, the daughter, writing this entry of the blog. Both Dad and Mum have been busy learning the language, not just spanish but also the road code, - lomo means there is a bumpa (Speed bump) coming up. SLOW DOWN! If there is a flashing light, go even slower, unless your argentine and then, whatever. If you are on a bike, then it is really a speed up sign, what is even funnier is when there are no marking and then all there is, is a curse from Dad. Then there is the right hand rule, we think there could be some dyslesic drivers, although it doesn't help that Mum and I don't know our left from our right. Our main source of guidence is Dad's left hand forming an L. I arrived ... read more

Buenos Aires Tuesday morning (January 31st), after arriving extremely late the night before from Ushuaia, we were exhausted and slept in a bit, but not enough. We needed to get up early and deal with our previously-booked flight home. So we headed to the LAN office in Buenos Aires and changed our flight path and future plans for returning home. From Santiago to Venezuala to Curacao and finally to Canada... our return back to Toronto is now firmly scheduled for March 3, 2012. Nailing down a finite end to our trip was both a very happy and sad moment! The rest of the day we relaxed, napped and planned our next couple days in the city. On Wednesday we headed to La Boca and San Telmo. We got on the local bus #29 and got off ... read more

Spent the past four days following the Andes northwards as we head towards Mendoza. Spectacular mountains sprinkled with snow, the occasional waterfall and plenty of lakes. Some appearing turquoise whilst others opaque. Volcano ash pushed off the roads, sometimes over 2 metres high. We fly out of Mendoza to Salta which is further north on Sunday 15th. Trekked up Volcan Batea Mahuida which provided 360 deg views and 8 volcanos in Argentina and Chile. Another Volcan was conquered - Volcan Copahue reaching the rim and looking down to a bubbling lake, plenty of steam and the sweet aroma of sulphur. Splashed out and treated ourselves to massages, sulphur baths and hot mud baths. Forrest's of PEHUENIA trees, prehistoric and very slow growing at 1 cm per annum. Following Route 40 along the way......some of it paved, ... read more

A long awaited trip to Mendoza started pleasantly on yet another blazing summer day in Santiago, Chile. On December 7, 2011, Don and I boarded the Argentinian airline, Aerolineas, with few hassles. The plane took off 25 minutes early. Don's Santiago colleagues’ skepticism about the Argentine airlines’ punctuality aside. About a quarter full on this day before a major Latin American holiday, the plane was clean, new, and offered unusually spacious seats. Flying over the Andes for the 45-minute hop, the plane seemed to barely slide over some of the jagged peaks within just minutes after the takeoff. Some still had fresh snow and ancient glaciers. The valleys seemed desolate and barren in their various brown and beige dryness. Once we crossed over to the eastern ranges, the perpetually yellow-orange smog from Santi ... read more