Blogs from Argentina, South America - page 16

R: The next morning it was time so say our goodbyes and head off. I was booked on a flight from El Calafate airport in the early afternoon which required an early start. The tour company had told me that the could take me to the airport but it wouldn't be till later in the day, so I had booked my own minibus transfer. I was considering the public bus but my prior experience with Argentinian public transport told me that I didn't want to leave this to chance. I was sat in the kitchen with some of the other people from the tour, when suddenly the driver showed up early! Without saying full goodbyes to all, I was whisked away. The minibus went round and around the town picking up people before making the 3 ... read more

Another full day in Buenos Aires. We are getting pretty good at navigating our way around using the subway system. It really is much better than traveling the city streets because of the volume of cars and buses whipping around. Our first destination was the Plaza de Mayo. It is located at the center of Buenos Aires And is the main square. It is a commemoration of the May Revolution on 1810, the first steps towards Argentina's independence from Spain in 1816. Seats of Government are located around the Plaza. At the center of the Plaza if the May Pyramid which was constructed to commemorate independence from Spain. We were able to see the changing of the guard at the Cabildo. The building was the seat of power during the time Argentina was colonized by Spain. ... read more

Today was busy with places to go and much to see. We started out very early this morning to join a walking tour. Unfortunately they left before we arrived even though we were on time. Luckily we had planned ahead and had another walking tour in our plans starting one hour later. Maybe it was a good thing we missed the first because the second was very good. Dominique, the tour guide, has a degree in tourism and is very dedicated to her job. She did an excellent job and we learned many interesting facts about Buenos Aires and Argentinian history. We stopped to view the Obelisco which is a national monument in the center of the city. It is a place where people from the city gather to celebrate events. The Teatro Colon was visited ... read more

Today was not as eventful as the past few days since we spent 12 hours in transit either in taxis to or from the airport, taking two planes, and layovers . It's all part of the travel and can't be helped. All this moving around went very smoothly so all was good! We are now in Buenos Aires and staying in the Palermo neighborhood. This is another huge city with a population of 6 million people. After checking in we walked around several of the streets around here. There are numerous cafes and bakeries. We haven't seen a doughnut yet. The bakeries have all kinds of fancy cakes, tarts, fruity specialties, creamy deserts and all kinds of rolls. There are also little stores for daily needs like our party stores at home except many of them ... read more

Up early for a 7.30am departure with Eduardo, our driver from the airport yesterday. We decided on a day trip to El Chaltén, one of the must-see area in this part of Patagonia. It’s over 200km away and a two and a half hour drive, but the journey goes quickly as the road is good and there’s lots to see on the way. As well as the beautiful views of the Patagonian scenery, we are treated to a mini safari of Guanacos (a bit like llamas), ñandúes (rhea - like emus/ostriches), condors, hares and a few horses, cows, pigs and sheep. We skirt the Lago Argentino, do a portion of the N40, then head towards the northern part of Parque Los Glaciares where we see the famous Cerro Fitzroy and glimpse our first glaciers. The park ... read more