A hundred kilometres or so South of Trelew is Punta Tombo, home of the largest colony of Magellan penguins in the world. It was a bit of a tedious journey there through landscapes which rarely changed. Still, our guide told us all about sheep farming and the production of wool to keep us entertained. As we got closer she changed the topic to the penguins and suddenly we all started to pay a bit more attention! How to tell you about the penguins? They were cute, surprisingly noisy, and also a bit smelly!! There were hundreds of thousands of them wandering around, going for a swim (or maybe a bite to eat), sunbathing, or having an afternoon kip. It was amazing to get so close to them and they are obviously used to tourists clicking away ... read more

After a whole year living in this city, it's time to pick up the rucksacks again and hit the road. For the next few months we will be travelling through Argentine and Chilean Patagonia seeing, penguins, whales, glaciers and, hopefully, some good weather! So, it's time to say chau to our amigos and the sights of the city. Enjoy the photos!... read more

We have been in BA for almost a year now, and as it's our final week I thought I would put a few pictures online of the city. The Galeria Pacifica have their Christmas tree up already (and the Americans haven't even celebrated thanksgiving!). The temperatures are creeping up and everyone is returning to the parks to make a start on those summer tans. It seems that dogs have been banned from the parks though. The police were going around with megaphones today and making sure all dogs were on leads. So today there was no threat to our lunch from any canine friends or foes! Last week we saw the somewhat amusing site in a Plaza Serrano bar where a young lady had her burger snatched from her plate by a stray dog. It's always ... read more

We were looking for somewhere different to spend Sunday so we thought why not give Pilar a go. Historically it's a very important place in Argentina so surely there must be something to see and do there......? The "Enjoy Argentina" website tells us "The "Treaty of Pilar", signed by Governors Sarratea (Buenos Aires), Lopez (Santa Fe) and Ramirez (Entre Rios), which put an end to the civil war amongst these provinces, and where the central power in Buenos Aires agrees on the principles of national federalism, was signed in this historic town in 1820; in this way, the bases of what was later to be legislated on the constitution of 1853, were laid." And, more encouragingly, "The great boost the municipality has given to the tourist and cultural offers in the past few years, in the ... read more

Tandil is a 5 hour bus journey from BA but don't let that put you off. It's one of very few places in teh province of Buenos Aires that actually has hills. That's really why we went as the flatness of the pampas was getting to us a bit. How lucky we were with the weather though. BA was sweltering in 30-odd degrees of Spring heat and Tandil was only a few degrees below. It was great. We stayed with Kathleen who has so many amazing stories to tell. She breeds budgerigars and you can see more at her website where you can contact her too. Her house is amazing and we had the annex to ourselves. That made for such a relaxing weekend. The city of Tandil is quite picturesque as you can see from ... read more