A Quick Stop in Argentina

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Tuesday 31st January - Friday 3rd February 2023

Apparently we did sleep back in Puerto Natales but, after an unwelcome early alarm and finding ourselves sat back on a bus so soon, it didn’t feel like it! Except now we were sat on a bus on our way to Argentina. With only a few days left before plans to meet a friend in Rio, Brazil, we are really only transiting through this country but have managed to get a few nights in to get a taste for it.

First stop, after the 5hour bus across the border, was El Calafate. A small town sat on a huge lake, it is the glacier gateway of Argentinian Patagonia, and somewhere we shall have to come back to. With not enough time to take a tour out to one of the glaciers (like most people here do) or to head deeper into this side of Patagonia, we took a more relaxed approach and simply meandered around town; from coffee and pastries to burgers and beers. We also managed to change some USD here into the Argentine peso, which meant, after much confusion / research / discussion with others we met, we finally understood how everything here would now work out half price for us (stupidly high daily inflation and the blue rate is as much as I’m going to say).

The following day, with our flight late afternoon, we still didn’t really have time to do any tour as there was no guarantee we’d be back in time. So instead, we enjoyed more coffee, walked to the lake front, went to the very well displayed history museum, and ventured a little further to the glacial museum. It was nice to have a more relaxed pace and we quite liked the quiet town and it’s lavender lined, clean, spacious streets, shady park and wooden cladded buildings.

It didn’t take long though, to then be on a plane and watching the sun set from the sky, realising our long light nights were getting shorter. Arriving into Buenos Aires just 3hours later, but now very dark, we were thankful for the easy taxi rank system, with a clear queue and a QR code system to log where you want to go with the price then set; no scamming here! Our hotel was also nice, and pretty quirky with old style elevator and a little balcony, and so we happily settled to bed to try and get some sleep in before another day exploring.

Unfortunately, as much as we had tried to plan where to eat breaky, to get laundry done, to visit, we found the day did not run as smoothly as we’d hoped. Firstly, the laundry was not open yet (and boy did we need some clean clothes) so we had to wait a little and leave later. Secondly, breakfast didn’t quite hit the mark (the second day we found a much nicer place which was good). Thirdly, the walking tour, whilst was very informative and the guide really well spoken, was a massively huge group which left it not feeling as relatable as other walking tours we’ve done. Fourthly, despite it all working out half price, the cemetery there is now such a tourist attraction it is super expensive so we decided to miss it and visit the free art gallery instead. And lastly, we were just feeling so tired and sluggish, we ended up heading back to the apartment early for a nap. We did still get to see some of the key buildings though and enjoy the pretty plazas with massive rooty trees, and were impressed again by how wide, clean and tree lined most of the streets were; BA has the worlds widest avenue with 22 lanes of cars but plenty of crossings for pedestrians too. We also got to meet up with our American friend again, Nathan, for dinner which made for a fun evening.

It also made for another later evening though, and so, despite a small attempt at getting up early, we still found ourselves slow the next morning. Still, we managed to find a much nicer breakfast this time and then enjoyed walking along more wide streets and bridges across the river, to the cities edge along the sea. Well, to the edge of a marshy nature reserve, which we followed along, watching and listening to all the birds as we went. We then tried to make it to a popular area called La Bocca in time for the walking tour there, but, finding ourselves back on a train track and later having to double back on ourselves due to a gated entrance, we weren’t quick enough. Instead, we walked ourselves around the area of brightly multi-coloured houses and shops; a cool sight but also full of tourists.

Dodging the rain we stopped for a drink and some people watching, as well as catching some local entertainment of tango dancers and singers, before heading back to our hotel to grab our bags and head back to the airport. It really was a travel pit stop in a country that definitely deserves a little more time; Next time. For now though, it’s another plane for a few more hours, until we hit our last country of the trip, Brazil, and a final week of fun, but this time with our friend Charlotte who’s coming out to meet us. Let’s go!

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