Blogs from Argentina, South America - page 5

It’s been over 48 hours since I wrote a blog post but it feels like 4 or 5 days. We are on the ship. I will back-up and tell everything we’ve went through to get here. It’s A LOT. For starters, let’s back-up to the night we spent in Miami because Kamie has a funny tale to tell… he was outside smoking and the hotel airport shuttle drove-up and the driver proceeded to back into a lady’s car. The driver pulled-up and stayed in the shuttle van… she came outside… he still didn’t get out..… so Kamie told on him! The shuttle driver denied it! There was a shouting matching in Spanish between the shuttle bus driver and the lady (everyone in this area of Miami speaks Spanish as their primary language). She didn’t have too ... read more

I have been able to see at least a portion of most of the NFL playoff games on the ship’s TV system. I’m not sure how all that works, but the U.S. broadcast networks are not routinely available on the ship, and, regardless of the network broadcasting the game, all the commercials have been promoting ESPN programming. Regardless, Holland America put on a very nice Super Bowl Party in the World Stage on the theater screen on Sunday evening. It was well attended with a crowd of about 5-4 Kansas City Chiefs fans in attendance. Unfortunately, the game didn’t start until 8:30 PM local time, getting very close to my bedtime. I left at half time to perform my nightly ritual, watched the third quarter from my loveseat (while the sleeping pill took effect) and began ... read more

Pessime notizie per gli argentini: l'incredibile svalutazione del Peso, la moneta locale, rende la situazione economica interna alquanto precaria. Ottime notizie per noi viaggiatori squattrinati: l'incredibile svalutazione del Peso rende la nostra permanenza in questo paese sorprendentemente facile ed appagante. Il "segreto" sta nel non prelevare contanti dai bancomat, che utilizzano il cambio ufficiale di circa 200 Pesos per ogni Euro, ma di arrivare in Argentina con una buona scorta di contanti ed affidarsi per il cambio ad uno dei numerosi (ed onesti) cambiavalute che si trovano comodamente appostati nelle strade principali del centro, casualmente il più delle volte proprio appena fuori dalle banche. Il tasso di cambio sale così magicamente a ben 400 Pesos per ogni Euro! Tutto viene quindi a costare la metà, con gli unici inconvenienti di non poter pagare con la carta ... read more

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 ... read more

Puerto Iguazú I want to start with an apology to those of you who messaged me via the blog site. For some reason the messages didn’t trigger alerts to me so I didn’t know they were there and only found them by accident yesterday. Thank you for your messages, I love receiving them and will reply to you all shortly. This is a short blog to record the stay at Tupa Lodge I am still in PI, as after trying again there was still no suitable accommodation in San Ignacio. I did not want to go further to other towns as it would have meant a six or seven hour journey each way, but I was getting bored with the Hotel Tourbillon where I was staying. It was fine for visits to the falls which are ... read more