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Published: March 9th 2007
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"W(h)ine for me, Argentina!" Coming to Argentina from Bolivia it took us three days to get used again to proper supermarkets, decent roads and fast internet. Those were three enjoyable days. By the time we left Salta, January had started and with it the summer vacation time. From now on we would spend most of our time either riding a bus (and staring at a never ending shrubby plain) or waiting for a bus (staring at whatever moved by). And when we finally arrived at a place, tired from the bus ride, shocked by the crowds and annoyed by the prices we had a hard time remembering why we had come here at all. Our Argentina leg was affected by unlucky timing: wrong year (the prices have doubled since Lonely Planet 04), wrong season (never ever plan to travel in Argentina during their holidays) and not enough time to just sit back and avoid the crowds.
Still we did find some fun in Argentina as well. The people are an open-minded, communicative and welcoming lot and we spent some enjoyable late dinner hours thanks to Argentinian hospitality. Perito Moreno glacier and Iguassu falls are impressive even if you have to
stand in line to take a picture. And at Punta Tombo - no matter how many tourists may have come - the penguin-human ratio is still about 1000 to 1 which is quite impressive. And then there is the wine. Thank God! It helps you through two days hammock-time in sausage-town Cipolletti (waiting for a bus), it helps you to endure hot and dull Mendoza and it helps you through the many noisy nights on crowded campgrounds where the Argentinian party gang is celebrating itself. And if the prospect of cheap and excellent wine in the evenings doesn't lift your mood, you can still be looking forward to the time when you are crossing the border into beautiful Chile.
Diary entry 1: The Heart of Argentina We are lying in our hammock in Cipolletti and are considering our situation. There we are in this unremarkable town with the sausage-name, which might be situated in the very heart of Argentina, but definitely is not its soul. And what now? The good news is that there are excellent bus connections to everywhere, the bad news is, that all the buses are booked out. Not that we would have been informed about
Tango
Of course in Buenos Aires. this straight away. In a most typical Southamerican manner there are about ten companies offering exactly the same trip, and as good budget travellers we would stand in line at every single office getting their times and prices written down, comparing them, deciding which one to take, only to be informed that they DO run a bus at the mentioned time to the mentioned destination, but they DON'T have any seats available...
It took us two hours to find out that there would be no bus today and none the next day till late at night. Two full days to explore Cipolletti. At least this country offers excellent wine.
Diary entry 2: A Nature Experience Three days later we are merrily driving out of Puerto Madryn, happy to be mobile, happy to have avoided a near car accident driving into a one-way road at our very first corner and looking forward to two days on Peninsula Valdez - a paradise for wildlife: sealions, seaelefants, whales, orcas, dolphins, penguins, armadillos, guanacos. We planned to spend the night on the peninsula and rise early to have a whole day and ample time at the colonies.
Entering the campground we begin to
A lot of penguins
Punta Tombo is the biggest breeding colony on the mainland. understand the full implications of the three-price-system for Unesco-protected nature wonderland P. Valdez. 35 Pesos for the foreigner seeking a nature experience, 10 Pesos for the Argentinian doing the same and 1 Peso for the local party crowd. Tents, cars and beerbottles everywhere; music from different loudspeakers making an interesting mix; girls washing their hair in the sink avoiding hour-long waits for the shower and later on, fathers preparing todays asado. When we get up the next morning the last youngsters are still singing softly, dancing and toasting to the rising sun.
Diary entry 3: A Nature Experience - second try During the first 30 seconds after entering the Reserva Punta Tombo we are nervously keeping a lookout for the promised penguins, not knowing if they would be around, how many of them and how close by. Then we stumble across the first one, in a hurry we are taking a picture, and then a second penguin, even with a chick. Ten minutes later we believe what they have told us back in Puerto Madryn in the tourist office: half a million Magellan penguins are breeding in this reserve and they are around most time of the day. In
Iguassu
Small waterfall near the big one. contrary to what we have known so far from other penguin encounters, in New Zealand for example, these birds don't seem to have a fixed schedule. Some of them are walking down to the sea, others are coming up home to feed their chicks and most of them are simply hanging around at the lovely beach, waiting for I don't know what: sunshine to warm them, high tide to make their plunge easier or the courage to go home and face their chicks greed. We have never seen so many penguins on one spot and we will probably never again see it, unless we make it to Antarctica. A truly spectacular sight!
Diary entry 4: Parrilla We were standing next to the open window of San Telmos "La Vieja Rotisseria" - one of the famous Buenos Aires steakhouses - drinking beer from a foreign glass and eating papas from a foreign plate. Both was offered to us by a friendly and slightly drunk porteƱo couple who pitied us for having to wait so long to get in. Finally, we got a table, the backmost of all, with excellent view of the stairs leading to the bathrooms and the
Cemetery, Recoletta
Beautiful monuments for the rich and famous - and no flowers at all. kitchen where the waiters were regularly smashing glass. After having discussed all choices on the menu for an hour outside (with the help of the above mentioned couple) it didn't take long to order. Ten minutes later two plates were thrown onto our table, followed by forks and knives, a jug of sourly 'vino de la casa' and two wonderful pieces of meat: thick, juicy and exactly a punta. We enjoyed the meat heartily and drank the wine anyway, knowing about our snoring dormmates.
Diary entry 5: Nothing happens... A deep grumbling sound lets everyone turn their head - that is, all who have not been staring already in this direction. Perito Moreno glacier is indeed not your average piece of frozen water with 60 meters high walls of ice and its incredible colors, but it is especially the cracking sounds which make it special and might even let you forget that once more you landed yourself in a tour group, limiting your time at the glacier to the same couple of hours when everybody else is visiting as well. It cracks again, but nothing happens. Cameras are held ready to shoot, everybody is glancing around, their eyes following
the edge of the glacier where the ice meets the water and now and then a chunk of it falls into the water with a big splash. Pieces that big, that it would fill your esky for the rest of the year. But nothing happens. A light drizzle starts. People wrap their cameras or put them back into their covers. Cccrrasschhhh! An ice block has broken and clashed into the water sending out waves in beautiful circles. All the cameras out again! Everybody ready to shoot. But nothing happens...
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Planet Portrait *
Top 3: Meeting hundreds of thousands of Magellan penguins at Punta Tombo
Gazing in awe at the tumbling water of Iguassu falls
Having a glass or two of the excellent and amazingly cheap Argentinian red wine
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Our route: Salta - Mendoza - Cipolletti - Penninsula Valdez - Trelew - El Calafate - Trevelin - Bariloche - Buenos Aires - Puerto Iguazu
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That was bad: It was holiday season.
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Recommended guest house: Nomade Hostel in Buenos Aires, but take the little double, not the dorm which
Crashing ice
They say the ice is melting at the same pace as the glacier is growing. can get hot and noisy.
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Visa: 90 days free on arrival.
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Money saver tip: Camp instead of staying in hostels. Sometimes, hostels offer camping in their backyard and still you have access to all hostel amenities.
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We paid for a meal: Between 5 and 12 pesos.
Planet Pictures
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Hollie M'gog
non-member comment
good safari
hello guys, well have been keeping up with your travels. Am so jealous it will be a lot to look back on but some fantastic memories. Treasure them forever. Write soon when you get teh time lots of love Holliex