Mendoza...again! I can´t get enough

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For part of Independence Day vacation Carlos and I went to Mendoza, Argentina...again. This is my 3rd trip, Carlos´2nd. Mendoza is such a nice, clean, calm, friendly place to visit. It´s cheap and the food is great! So we figured why not. This blog has photos of the HUGE park, the zoo and the crossing back into Chile! It was very cold and long.

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Photos

The park entrance
The park is huge. We ended up taking a tour by bus and it lasted more than 1 hour. I can´t imagine if we had tried to walk it.

The Argentinian Army monument
This monument was very impressive. The bronze work was done by a Uruguyan sculture. The detail was incredible.

At the top
There is a big hill in the park that, at the top, is a monument to the Argentinian army. This is 1 view from the top...at my beautiful love Carlos!

Carlos´other love...cats
I know. It´s kind of weird but he loves cats. Whenever he sees one, wherever we are, he has to stop and pet it. At the top of the hill near the monument there was a family of 8 cats. He was in heaven!

The zoo
The zoo was in the park. It was rather big. We walked the whole thing in maybe 2 hours. It was a cold day in Mendoza, maybe 50 degrees. One thing I found rather interesting is that the barriers between the visitors and the animals are very minimal: a small chain-link fence or bars. Good for picture taking, bad for little children and their arms!

Its hard to see but its a really small baby monkey!!!
I found it a bit disheartening to see monkeys, that live in tropical environments, huddled together to stay warm in cold Mendoza. They have no way to regulate the temperature in the cages so the monkeys are cold. It was a sad/pathetic site.

Plaza de Independencia
We had fun experimenting with the camera at night in the plaza.

Us on the long busride back to Santiago
The ride is usually about 7 hours. HOWEVER, you have to stop at the border and go through customs. The border is a big tin shed in the middle of the Andes Mountains. And let me remind you it´s still winter up there at 12000 ft. It was snowing and freezing cold. You have to get off the bus and wait your turn. 2 hours waiting. We were not happy campers!

Comments

[Jo]

Pictures........ahhhhhhhh
The pictures are wonderful! It is especially good seeing you and Carlos. You both look happy! The scenery in the areas you travel is breathtaking. Thank you for sharing..........:}