Blogs from Entre Ríos, Argentina, South America

Parana is the capital of the Entre Rios provence, it is small, pretty and sits right on the banks of the Parana River. We had a lovely hostel which gave us a private room with a balcony overlooking the park and river even though we had booked a dorm, it was in a lovely residential area just a five minute walk through the park to the river front. We spent the first day just strolling through the streets and town squares then had a picnic at the river. The hostel owner helped us to book a full days fishing with a local guide for the next day and he even drove us to the meeting point. We fished from 9am to 7pm moving all over the river and islands trying different spots. We caught various different ... read more

After leaving Rio we decided to head down to Iguacu Falls, we had toyed with the idea of visiting Sao Paulo but after hearing poor reports and with not a lot of enthusiasm redgarding the place we decided to give it a miss! So, a 25 hour awaited us! The price of the ticket was around 60 EP which wasn´t too bad at all! Getting to the station from Copa was also really easy! One bus, boom! We set off, having heard it was cheap to fly and finding out it wasn´t (at this point in time anyway) was a bummer but the trip wasn´t so bad! There is very little to see but as we set off at around 2pm it wasnt too long till nighfall and we slept most of the night! Thus making ... read more

Imagine a catwalk half a mile long, where thousands of people are packed into stands on either side; a catwalk showcasing not only beautiful women, but also forty foot goblins clutching goblets of wine and the four horsemen of the apocalypse in this season's hottest style. A last minute decision brings us to Gualeguaychu and Argentina's biggest carnival. Sitting in the stands beforehand, I experience that peculiar giddy excitement that turns alcohol from a requirement into an excess. From the distant cheers its apparent that the party has begun at the other end, and its too much for my heightened nerves: before I can stop myself I've unloaded an entire can of silly string into the back of the girl in front. Such lack of self control has lost me many friends I fear. Neither of ... read more

Riverside, Hot Springs Towns Gualeguaychu is a sweet, riverside town, far off the gringo trail. It's little-visit by Argentinians outside of its big Carnival and summer weekends when they throng the city. I came for the hot springs, the affordable hostel and swimming in the Gualeguaychu River, a branch of the Uruguay River that forms the border between Argentina and Uruguay. Used to swimming in the ocean, I was amazed to be able to drink the water I was swimming in. However, this may soon change--more on that in a moment. I'd come from Salto, Uruguay, with its vast and beautiful hot springs nearby in Daymen. All along the Uruguay River, especially here on the Argentina side, there are small towns with hot springs. I'd planned on spending a few days also in Colon, Argentina, billed ... read more

While my time in Parana was short, it was probably one of my favorite cities I have seen so far. It's cleanliness and ability to maintain it's ability to maintain it's streets is unrivaled compared to other cities, whether similar sized or not. And when I thought Santa Fe was laid back, Parana (Santa Fe's sister city) was even more laid back. No one was in a hurry and the people stopping their cars to chat in the middle of the road reminded me of home. When I first arrived in Parana on the 40 minute express bus from Santa Fe, I saw nothing in Parana that looked interesting to me. It had almost no political value, I saw no extremely old buildings, there was nothing that made it stand out from Rosario or Santa Fe. ... read more