Hola

Well it’s time for another adventure and it’s back to South America, this time Argentina, a cruise south to Patagonia and Falklands, through the Antarctic and back up Chilean coast to Santiago, plus a couple of quick visits to other countries on the way. There’s four of us amigos on this trip.

Had a long flight to Buenos Aires via Sydney, where we were delayed for long enough by Qantas to miss our connecting flight in Santiago.  We just about ran from one of the terminal to the other to catch a Latam flight which had been rebooked for us.  Unfortunately only 2 of our cases made it all the way, and Trish and Rosemary had to wait for theirs to make it from Santiago, with Rosemary’s finally arriving 48 hours later.

A very warm Buenos Aires welcomed us and we spent a couple of days walking around the Recoleta district where we stayed, some lovely European style buildings.  Visited the Recoleta Cemetery and finally located Eva Peron’s mausoleum which is quite plain compared to some of the other architectural wonders.   Next door area of Palermo is very classy, lots of lovely cafes and buildings, with plenty of parks. Visited the Japanese Gardens which were very pretty.  

Surprised to find a few vegetable options on menus in restaurants, but meat and potatoes, which have been excellent are king, with steak knives automatically set down on table place settings.  Cheese and ham seems to be everywhere and many items on a menu have one or both in them, so we’ve quickly become expert about different types of ham.    Inflation here is high, with lots of places not advertising prices on leaflets as they change so quickly, and very low limits of how much you can withdraw at a time from an ATM.  We’ve discovered some entrance fees have doubled in the last few months, and a 20 minute taxi ride is cheaper than a plain sandwich (ham and cheese, of course) and coffee. New regulations from last week mean you have to produce your passport or photo ID when you make a purchase on credit card, even if it’s a bottle of water from the supermarket, so it’s a tedious process to pin, then sign and then enter passport details, but all part of the travel experience.  

Flew up to the jungle area of Iguazu on Friday afternoon and spent yesterday in absolute wonder at the spectacular falls on the Argentinian side.  There’s about 280 waterfalls that comprise Iguazu Falls, stretched out along the river on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Euan and I did a boat ride in the morning where they guaranteed you got wet as they took the boat under some waterfalls, but not under the main ones  - don’t think we would have lived to tell that tale.   My flimsy poncho didn’t stand a chance against that onslaught of water so got drenched anyway.  Just as well it was 35 degrees so we dried off quickly.  Caught the little train up to where you go for over a km across a steel walkway over the water to reach the main falls at Devil’s Throat where the thundering of the huge volume of water is deafening, what an awesome sight.   Also the spray from the powerful force of the water wets you completely, but you don’t care in the least as you’re gazing at the sheer force of nature in front of you.  The rest of the day was spent walking the trail along the top of some of the waterfalls, after a burst of rain, so wet yet again, but to be expected in the rainy season in the jungle.  

The next day went across the border to Brazil to see the panoramic view of the falls from the other side, which obviously did not disappoint, even more spectacular.   This time you get transported by a 20 minute bus ride to the start of the walk to the falls, which follows the river and many other waterfalls til you get to the see the Devils Throat falls right in front of you.  I also managed a quick visit to the Bird Park and saw some brilliantly coloured parrots and toucans, which I wasn’t lucky enough to see in the wild, but saw plenty of other birds and tons of butterflies.   

Our taxi driver Pablo who was ferrying us around wanted to hear an Australian song so we regaled him with a variable rendition of Waltzing Matilda which he recorded on his phone. We’re glad it hadn’t gone viral by the time we passed back through Argentinian immigration as they mightn’t have let us back in.   Getting back to the airport was a bit hair raising as a huge tropical storm let loose and at one stage our taxi has to be push started to get going again in the pelting thunderstorm.

Next day back in Buenos Aires did a tour of the historic Theatre Colon opera house which was beautiful inside with 7 stories of balconies in a circle around the stage. The acoustics are said to be so perfect Pavarotti refused to sing there again as he thought the sound so good you could detect if he was ever off key. We were very lucky to have a retired opera singer on our tour who tried out the acoustics which was fabulous bonus.  Walked around centre of the city and admired many beautiful buildings and plazas and managed to catch the changing of the guard at the Cathedral. As the guards had to walk a block from the Pink Palace, it was amusing to see them having to stand in formation at the pedestrian crossing waiting for the green light.   Spent the rest of the day walking around the nearby old district of San Telmo, and sat down to have a welcome beer and watched some tango dancers in the park. . The evening was spent at a traditional tango concert watching some very talented dancers and musicians.   Also spent a day walking around the colourful and historic La Boca district.  

Today we’re boarding our cruise ship, Zaandam, our home for the next 22 days, so very exciting.   Will only have intermittent internet access during this cruise so trip updates may be delayed.

So ciao til then,

Liz