What to think of Argentina

We did a pretty epic job at covering a country of over a million square miles with climates that range from sub tropical up in Iguazu to nearly the Antartic down in Patagonia and Ushuaia.

Iguazu Falls - A bit of a mission to get to, but one of the most jaw-dropping views of the year.

I´ve come to love Argentina. This land was right at the top of my expectations with New Zealand for adventure. Our journey to almost all four corners did not disappoint whatsoever. And the month here could not have started better with a Zimmerman family reunion in Buenos Aires. I admit that we were eventually forced to move on due to time and cost. Yet I think Argentina has made a huge impression on me and will remain very close to my heart.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Well, to start in Buenos Aires (a city we have now visited four times), I found this city always exudes a peak of culture in Latin America, developed by wave upon wave of European immigrants. I immediately took to the Parisian and French similarities. From small things like ticket resto signs stuck to the windows of the sprawling cafe culture, to bigger landmarks like a Gaumont theatre or the Grand Rex on one of the grand boulevards. Above all, the architecture was directly inspired by the wealthy investors of the time who took their designs from what was the model of perfection during this economic boom.

Unfortunately, rather than looking up at this heightened Parisian architecture, the sidewalks (narrow and crumbling) keep you looking down to falling into the bus blasting by only centimeters away. And do watch your step: the pooper scooper laws in dog-loving Buenos Aires are rarely enforced!


PEOPLE

Today the Argentine faces largely resembles those of Europeans. Indigenous people make up only 1% of the population, with all but one tribe now a part of history. Locals to Buenos Aires are called Portenos meaning “those from the port.” On first glance these Argentinians are a stylish, sophisticated, and passionate people. They are also a very resilient people who have experienced gargantuos hyperinflation, economic chaos as well as golden eras and periods where traveling abroad was ironically cheaper than staying at home.

Unsurprisingly, many of the European descendants have not been exposed to the rest of the world and have not developed in the same way as their European counterparts. Like the Italians, there is a firm sense of family unity, with Sunday gatherings for extended family and it is normal even today for children to not leave home before marriage or their thirties. Even the most machismo of men greet each other with a kiss on the cheek. They talk with their hands and stroke their hair back with flair. They say ciao instead of adios. I can´t describe the intonation and pronunciation in writing. Essentially it´s Spanish spoken by Italians.

The Teatro Colon - one of the world´s greatest opera buildings.

Now I must address the king of all stereotypes. Argentinians, especially Portenos, have a strong reputation for being spoiled, stuck up, and egotistical. You don´t need to watch the World Cup to make this leap. It is indeed a fact that they hold two world titles (besides football) by undergoing more cosmetic surgery and psycho analysis than any other country in the world.

But just visit Argentina and you will laugh at the notion of arrogance. Immediately see that everyone goes out of their way to help you. I don´t remember any one person who leaned on rudeness but rather exemplary politesse. And the truth is that they are spoiled. Argentinians live in a fabulous country. Yes of course they have been stuck up, and were once one of the richest countries in the world, only to have almost collapsed into the third world. How would you react? It was happy days only a few generations back. Argentina had only small minorities of poor and rich classes, while most people enjoyed a very comfortable quality of life. Then came the political instabilities in the 1980s and 90s.


A journalist outside the ex-finance minister´s apartment just across the road from our hotel. It was the day of the minister´s trial. He is implemented in knowing more than he claimed during Argentina´s ´dirty war´ where people simply disappeared in one of the country´s darkest chapters.

Today over a third today are living in poverty. I found this shocking as we saw only a prosperous country (following the heavily treaded tourist trail). Yet people still dress much how they would in prosperous times and the literacy rate pushes 97%. The bottom line is that you take Argentia at face value with people who put on a proud and happy smile.

I was also surprised to learn that Tango actually originated from the impoverished classes who lived in the Buenos Aires bordellos and places of ill repute. The lyrics reflect the hardships and joy of Portena life. La Boca embodies the spirit of tango, despite it´s tourist- filled streets.

Most Villa Miseria are on the outskirts of the city but we saw one shantytown tucked away between Retiro train station and the airport, this view from the plane on return to BA.

THE COMMENDABLE

Finally, I´ve gathered a completely unscientific report card of some of the little things done differently in Argentina, for better or worse.

Restaurants - I think I´ve said quite enough about food for one country. Let´s just say that one benefit to living here is that Argentinians are spoiled for restaurants and cafes. People of all social classes therefore tend to eat out often. Why the heck not when a parilla or asado has meat expertly cooked on a traditional grill or open fire.

Cafes - The cafe culture itself is a model to follow. Order one coffee to get uninterrupted use of a café table for as long as you like. Sit back and watch European style slip by stuck in time! The downside is when you’re ready to leave a resto, it can take 15 minutes to get the bill.

Public Facilities - Public facilities of note include wall-mounted defribulators everywhere from bus stations to supermarkets. Wifi is widespread and free - no surprise for South America.

I also liked the public hot water kettles for your hot drinks on the go.

The Subway - The "Subte" system was inaugurated in 1913 and amazingly its original style still remains just the way it was on line A. While some of the antiquated carriages look and rattle as though they have been there since day one, the system even offers free Wi-Fi on platforms.

Buenos Aires is spotless in some neighborhoods like Recoletta and Palermo. Even the road signs bear the flag on their back side - a nice touch.

Quality and Moderation - So the wine is simply delicious. And late nights on the town are de rigeur. Don’t be surprised to see people queuing for supper at midnight. Dinner from at least 10 means you are rarely in bed by 1am, nightlife often doesn't start before 3am. So do as the locals do and drink alcohol slowly and sparingly. It’s how the Argentines make it to work the next day.

THE QUESTIONABLE

Timeliness and Short-Term Outlooks - As a result, Argentines are usually exhausted. but yet business in the morning seems to start on time. But ´on time´ is a matter of opinion. Punctuality is not overvalued so relax and be prepared to wait. Everyone and everything is always behind schedule and thus the day starts late, half an hour is not unusual.

Don’t do as the locals - The terrible mullet and rat’s tail hairstyles are still everywhere. Modern day Maradonas and Ches are even worse now than in MacGuyver´s golden era in the 80s.

Road Transport - Argentina also has one of the highest road accident levels in the world. Patience is definitely needed when it comes to road transport in Buenos Aires, with regular strikes and demonstrations. This chaos is one of the starkest contrasts you will see in an otherwise very sophisticated city.

Buses - Long haul buses are top class but very expensive. On the other hand the local bus, or collectivo, system in BA is complicated and impossible to predict. There is no timetable and they require small change...

Change - Why are peso coins here like gold dust? I´ve stormed out of shops after deals imploaded due to nobody having the necessary change.

Trash Collection - A sight to see and a sign of system failure - In the street at night there are always enterprising trash collectors who gather as much recycleable paper as they can stack and sell back for enough money to make this moonlighting job worth their while. As a result, scraps of trash is scattered anywhere and everywhere, then magically cleaned up by daybreak in places as posh as the presidential palace.

Plumbing - an odd weakness in such an advanced country. I could understand if toilet paper was their kryptonite, but many toilets simply don´t work. Maybe the odd flush button on the side is to blame...

Manteca - Butter has less taste here than any country I have ever visited. It does not score any points for Danes.

Mate was one of many things the conquistadors discovered when they arrived in Argentina, along with potatoes, tomatoes and wheat.

Mate - Finally, I have to chalk up the traditional Mate (mah-teh) drink as a curiosity at best. Maybe it´s an acquired taste. But as a lover of all hot drinks, I found this earthy, bitter-tasting drink as nice as chewing on a wicker chair. One step down from the licking leather taste of instant coffee through Asia and Australasia. Seriously, I´ve been waiting a long time for some good South American coffee..where are you?!

Reflections on Argentina: Steph

Bariloche

There`s no doubt that I saw some of the most stunning scenery of my life while in Argentina and such a variety of landscapes too. Argentina is the world´s eighth largest country and boy did we know it. It is so huge you can´t hope to see even a quarter of it in a month - we had a little "Australia syndrome" when looking at maps, becoming overwhelmed by its sheer size and the lengths we would have to travel between points of interest.

Bariloche

Distances are huge in Argentina, and thus, the cost of travel can be expensive. I first realised this when we paid around 60 euro for our night bus to Bariloche from BA - and this was not even half the distance we wanted to travel to the South. It was this unfortunate expense that led us to leaving Argentina a few weeks ahead of schedule. In fairness though, we did arrive two weeks early in the first place, cutting short Chile by this amount in order to meet the Zimmermans. A few weeks into our travel in Argentina however, and we were looking forward to the budget travel that Peru and now Bolivia (an additional country has been added to our itinerary due to our extra few weeks) would hopefully bring.

Having said that, the quality of buses we used was high. I would like to say that the bus companies here run with the same efficiency as an airline, even offering waiting rooms followed by good service when on board. However I am sure there are many-a-backpacker out there to contradict me and complain of their bus´s tardiness. Chris and I were pleasantly surprised nonetheless and sat in comfort on our reclining ´semi-camas´while watching a film and even devouring a lovely hot meal of Ravioli on one occasion!

I don´t know whether it was having to travel these long distances that made me so homesick or whether it was because we´d been away for so long, hadn´t had a routine for a good ten months, I was to celebrate my birthday without friends and family at home or because we´d just spent a lovely few weeks with Chris´s family which led me to miss mine even more terribly. There were a number of factors but, either way, I remember arriving at a destination after a long bus trip and thinking, "What on earth am I doing here? Why have we travelled all this way? What are we even doing?!".

Yes, a slightly mental bout of homesickness certainly kicked in but was soon remedied after talks with Mum, Dad and Grandma and a long chat with good friends Jess and Sara. Sometimes you just need family and friends to sort you out and have a word, I suppose! I don´t want my memories of Argentina to be jaded by the homesickness I was feeling but there´s no doubt that this is where it happened to me during the trip, for whatever reason.

Seven-Lakes Drive, St Martin de los Andes

Argentina was such an interesting place to visit for a short time because you can easily see how the generations of immigration from Europe have influenced its many attractions, such as the Swiss colony we visited outside of Bariloche. Chris has just been reading about some Welsh settlements too and it´s a shame we didn´t make opportunities to visit more such colonies as I´m sure they would´ve blown us away with the randomness of their locations and continued traditions from wherever home might be. I for one was grateful for the Swiss-style, quality chocolate shops in Bariloche for example and felt like I was walking the shores of Lake Geneva at times during my visit to this Alpine ski resort.

Our favourite and highly recommended chocolate shop in Bariloche: Mamoushka

I mustn´t sign off from these somewhat limited reflections without mentioning... the beef! I know Chris has managed at least one blog about the quality of the Lomo over here but seriously, it makes you drool to even think about a delicious plate of meat from Argentina. The food here was certainly a highlight of our trip and I´m so glad we managed to share some of our best eating experience with Lis, Jim and Monica who as fond as we are of a good meal. I just don´t know if anywhere will ever beat Argentina for a good Lomo!

Todo futbol !

Travelling during the World Cup in South America

The Shakira anthem has been playing almost non-stop every day for the last six weeks while
while we have be watching all the matches from South America, where people live and breathe football.

It's been a bit of a challenge at times to structure our travel schedule qround matches, however finding a tv set has never ever been a problem. To my surprise, Steph watched with great enthusiasm making me choose which matches we were allowed to watch each day (only fair).

A proper setup - bbq with English commentary and even a TV in the bathroom. While it was a little hard to find matches in English, one of my favorite activities was counting the length of goal cries using the game clock. 29 seconds is the current record.

And so we followed football everywhere, from the lone TV on the peaks by Machu Picchu to a radio aboard a straw boat on lake Titikaka. I think that the next best thing to being inside the actual host country fiesta, is experiencing it from a country where football is passionate life or death and where televisions might even be hurled out the window.

Our month-long buildup to the 'Mundial' was actually from Argentina. Diego Maradona would make press conferences every single morning, live on all 6 public tv stations. I've never seen so much attention given even to a head of state.


Maradona on the street walls of La Boca - Argergentina´s original rags-to-riches bad boy. Love him or hate him, he has his place atop football history in Argenina and had the countries fate in his hands during this world cup.

We watched these matches from countless locations and with countless supporters from around the world. One Brazilian had to hurry home to be home to watch the tournament without work, travel or any other distraction for the entire month of the beautiful game.

I did have to miss part of the Inti Raymi festival for a Denmark Match. I think I was the only person in all of Cusco indoors at the time. But sometimes you need to miss the sacrifice of a llama to watch your countrymen play for world pride. Even if they did lose.

My favorite teams went home early this time. Denmark got a late start that was somehow destroyed by Japanese free kicks, England could put little together at all, and France went home in utter discrage - a steep price to pay for putting any trust at all in Raymond Domenech.

A lonely and tired Argentinian goal in El Calafate. Argentina were a bit too cockey for me in the end, fielding a team of stars and individuals.

I was happy to see Chile give it a good run to the chants of chi-chi-chi Le-Le-Le, especially after watching the ´Oojo Rojos´ (Red Eyes) documentary about their cinderlella story after a decades of national dissapointment. It was also nice side effect to see little bit of attention finally given to world soccer from the US.

Of course many of our alegences were silenced by the many German backpackers cheering on their team as they streamrolled through to the semi-final (and if there is one thing we have learned on this trip, it is that the Germans are everywhere!).

We actually found a great Dutch bar and German tavern to watch the respective semi-finals. Most of all I have enjoyed watching a hungry Dutch team use both teamwork and raw talent to vinidcate their absence from the finals four years ago. Spain may play a creative and convining game, but the Dutch look unstoppable.

My prediction
Holland 3-1

Food Souveniers from Argentina

After the peso's devaluation in 2002, Buenos Aires went from being the most expensive city in Latin America to one of the cheapest. Inflation has led to a huge hike in prices, making tourist prices some of the more inflated on the continent, but bargains can still be had.

Here is a list of some wise buys after our tour to three corners of Argentina. Most are very affordable and envoke the spirit and hospitality we encountered across the land.

Dulce de Leche - Inhabitants of Buenos Aires are obsessed by this. Loosely translated as ´milk jam´ this caramel-like spread is made from condensed milk that is boiled intil it takes on brown colour and toffee-like consistency. Spread it on everything from morning pastries to desserts like ice cream or pancakes.

Alfajores - these may be a signiature souvenier to take home for anyone with a sweet tooth. Imagine a small cake filled with dulce de leche that forms a sort of cookie sandwich. They may be sprinkled with coconut or take on many different added flavors. The Havana brand might be the benchmark brand and is available everyhere since the shops seem to be starting a coffee shop empire of starbucks proportions.


Doughnut Choclate Orange - Another nice cookie we saw were these orange doughnut cakes.


Chimichurri Spice Mix - add olive oil and vinegar to shake with this combination of herbs to form this tangy and traditional steakhouse condiment.


Red (and White) Wine - Malbecs from Mendoza are the obvious choice. And the selection is staggering. The red grape is arguably in much better hands (and climate) here than in Cahors in central France. Here on the foothills of the Andes, the waves of immigrants from Italy, France and Spain planted some of the boldest grapes to come from wines under the (strong) sun, benefiting from long days and high altitudes. Pay close attention to the vintages when you chose your bottle to take home. You will notice that there is a strong correlation between some very, very young wines and the low prices under 30 pesos. This may narrow your search down to some mid range wines that are in the 50-100 peso range for souveniers.

At the crossroads of New and Old World Wines. Argentina has some of the most beautiful yet humble wines known to man.

Another excellent choice is the white Torrentes grape from Salta and Cafayate - an excellent aromatic dry wine, as reccomended by my Argentine doctor.

Legui - A number of Italian style vermouths and digestives are made in Argentina. Fernet Branca s the most popular, fernet and coke being the drink of teenagers and gauchos alike. This tastes like the kind of cough syrup that pinches your taste buds while deranging your facial expression. I would much rather take home a bottle of the orange-flavored digestif known as Legui. We found this to be an extremely warming drink to end some epic meals. We were also shocked to find that it was only 13 pesos at the supermarket.

Dangerously Addictive - This delicious orange after dinner drink was named after a famous Buenos Aires jockey.

Yerba Mate - Coffee is not synonomous with this part of South America. For a more traditional and authentic taste for hot drinks. Pick up some yerba mate tea leaves but beware that this is certainly an aquired taste.

Mate Accessories - As for souveniers outside the supermarket, you might also want to pick up a mate gourd, the traditional server for the bitter national drink. Even better, I would look for a leather carrying case that houses the mate containers families use to bring with them on the go. This could also be used as a coffee flask holder or a nice wine carrier to picnics in the park.

Leather Goods- With such a huge beef industry it is no wonder that there is a sizeable market for leather goods. Bargain hunters will enjoy browsing in the San Telmo where (quality can vary) Steph picked up a very nice leather bag.

Boledoras - The gaucho lasso is a legacy of early indian tribes. Boledaros consist of three balls made of stone or wood that are covered in leather and attached to a rope. It was primarily flung at the legs of the running Nandu ostrich, wrapping itself around their clumsy strides and causig the bird to fall over. Ok so you may not have much use for this in your living room, but it is quite a nice hand crafted tool.

Cartas Espanolas - This deck of forty spanish cards are used to play the local card game known as Truco. Visitors can learn the river plate game, but the art of amstering it remains a local talent for the most part. We found another gaucho game that just involves swinging a ring on the end of a rope and trying to land it on a nail in the wood beam above the ranch fireplace... harder than it looks.

Finally, we picked up a set of wooden plates and steak knives that can be purchased at larger supermarkets or household goods shops. This will hopefully bring back many fond memories of Argentina over recreations of parilla dinners over in Europe!

A Top Buenos Aires Sunday

UNESCO’s first City of Design, Buenos Aires is in my estimation the world´s sexiest and most elegant capital city.

“I walked all the neighborhoods of the big city. And now I know the multitude of hearts that beat below the ground of my country.” — Eva Perón

Don´t worry - everything starts late in Buenos Aires. Futbol or no futbol, here is a guide for an epic day in Buenos Aires no matter what.

You can´t start your day without a porteno breakfast which will invariably include Medialunas (mini croissants) with Dulce de Lece. Then set off to take an early morning stroll in Montserrat, the grand central quarter between the Congresso, Teatro Colon, Galleries Pacifico and the Casa Rosado, aka presidential palace. The grandeur of these buildings to me looks like Parisian architecture on steroids. Each charming century-old apartment building has curved wrought-iron balconies, elongated doorways and rattling metal lifts. You will not be able to miss the Avenida 9 de Julio with it´s 8 lanes in the center and another 4 on either side, it is the world's widest street. Crossing in one go requires a good pace if not a full out run!

Cafe Tortoni - “It seems like fiction to me that Buenos Aires had a beginning: I judge it as eternal as water and air.” — Jorge Luis Borges

With your morning jog out of the way, walk down the other main thoroughfare of Avenida de Mayo to Cafe Tortoni for the city´s best Churros con Chocolate Caliente in town (doughnut sticks and hot chocky). This was the office for composers and performers during tango's 1920s heyday (sit in the back office room for a quiet read) while literary regulars included Jorge Luis Borges.

“Only in Buenos Aires am I completely happy and sing well.” —Singer Carlos Gardel

Now head down to the bohemian San Telmo for Buenos Aires's signature Sunday flea market. If you don´t find any antiques or souvenirs, it's worth the trip just to see and hear some street tango. Continue the musical vibe in the colorful harbor front in La Boca.

>> Stop reading here and see the insert below if you are not a football fan. <<

Fútbol is undoubtedly a national obsession in Argentina. Start with lunch at the unofficial HQ for the most famous club, Boca Juniors. El Obrero´s food on checkered tables is serious business and completely no-nonsense. Order a chorizo sausage to start, a cheap bottle of red, and a Lomo steak. Ask for it to be cooked "a punto", which is medium-rare. Now if you are lucky to be here on a match Sunday, take a cab over to La Bombonera stadium since the area is also the city´s most dangerous. The match of greatest importance and rivalry is against River Plate but be happy to see any exhibition of raw South American sporting passion. Tickets start at around $10 but you could always just take a tour when the stadium is empty for $5 (Open daily 10 A.M.–6 P.M.).

Lunch at El Obrero - an institution for beautiful and affordable food surrounded by relics of the beautiful game.

If you didn´t pick up some electro tango cds at one of the market, stop in to El Ateneo Grand Splendid, if for nothing else but to have a look at this spectacular conversion from an old cinema to a huge bookshop with lovingly restored stuccos and a café on stage.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid

“Porteño nights, in your domain joy and crying tightly together go; laughs and kisses, endless revelry...” —Tango lyrics by Manuel Romero

Now it´s time for what might just be the highlight of a day in Buenos Aires. The establishment that is Confiteria Ideal is one of the most perfect places to experience tango for yourself. This listed building sums up Buenos Aires to me. It´s dusty atmosphere is majestic, traditional and stuck in time. Just ask for the next evening tango lesson for around 20 pesos. Youcould also take part in a Melonga or just watch the Argentines who seem to have been born with two Tango feet. Be sure to order a ´Submarino´ during your break – a glass of warm milk which you must melt bars of chocate yourself to create a creamy hot chocolate (yes, the second of the day).

Round out the energetic day with dinner at La Brigada back in St Telrmo, where Maradona again watches you devour steak and wine from the nostalgic football photos on the wall. Skip desert and head around the corner for an ice cream at one of the many Heladerias, as much a part of culinary life as Lomo and Malbec.

A second day would allow you to see a lot more of the main attractions or tempt me to cross over to another world football powerhouse, Uruguay. The Bouquebus terminal runs ferry service to Colonia and Montevideo almost as smoothly as the Eurostar.

>> Alternate Afternoon - From La Boca, double back to the Casa Rosado (where eva peron addressed the masses on the balcony) and take the A train to the Castros stop. This is the oldest subway system in South America and the wooden A train has been restored to museum quality, as well as the platforms and shops. Alight in front of the Las Violetas confiteria where you might be transported to Vienna via the cafe´s lofty grandeur. Ask the white-jacketed waiters for the María Cala tea service (50 pesos for five people). Under the gorgeous stained glass windows you will be brought a mountain of finger sandwiches, pasteries, pan dulce, and of course some tea. Now venture over to the somewhat spooky Recoleta Cemetery where BA´s most illustrious citizens are buried here, including Evita Perón. A Sunday bonus is the arts and crafts market at the entrance. Push on from posh Recoletta to trendy Palermo where you could even witness Argentina's longtime obsession with horses at the race track (10 times a month). Otherwise, I would visit the Eva Peron Museum or just explore the leafy, cobbled streets of Palermo for the city´s best shopping before rejoining the football enthusiasts in the city centre.

Eva Peron´s dresses - Evita also had a nice collection of perfume bottles and an impressive caddy.

Flight over Ushuaia

We had contemplated a trip to Ushuaia, the world´s Southernmost town. Our decision was made for us when we found out that our El Calafate - BA flight would take a detour to Ushuaia to pick up more passengers. While LAN wouldn´t allow us to stay a night there and take the next day´s connection, it was a spectacular flight over the snowy mountains.

The Perito Moreno Glacier

Steph: We are one month behind with the blog now because, dare I say it, we are currently in Bolivia after three action packed weeks in Peru. Our days have been just as full as they used to be when we were travelling around Asia and blogging has suffered due to the incredibly colourful, cultured times we've been having.

However, I am determined to do a good job on this one as the Perito Moreno Glacier we visited in early June is one of the most spectacular things either of us have ever seen.

We crossed the Chilean border by bus and were once again in Argentina. I must admit that I hadn't been able to keep us as well as Chris had with which country we were in on any particular day in Southern Patagonia; I repeatedly confused things by thinking the Torres del Paine National Park was in Argentina, which it clearly is not! There wasn't much to differentiate between these southern towns as both countries are so European anyway. Admittedly, Argentinian Bariloche and now El Calafate did seem richer and perhaps more recently refurbished.

We had been warned by other travellers and also our guide book that El Calafate would be a boring town with not much going on; merely a jumping off point for trips to the Moreno Glacier and Parque National Los Glaciares. We were pleasantly surprised then to find a charming town - granted, completely set up for the tourist trade - with small chocolate shops, heladarias and cosy restaurants lining the main street. We were really quite impressed. (We recommend the Che Lagarto hostal here by the way - a great find).

Our Chilean bus from Puerte Natales hadn't gotten us across to El Calafate until around noon meaning we were too late to take one of the daily tours out to the glacier. Our flight back up to Argentina wasn't for another two days so normally we would simply wait until the day after to do a full day trip out to the glacier. There were a number of companies offering day trips, some even including a boat ride up to the glacier or even a walk along it - they were double the normal price however due to it being the peak of the low season. Yet we had learned a good lesson from Lisbeth during our trip to Iguazu Falls. The weather forecast (though somewhat untrustworthy since this area of the world can enjoy all four seasons in one day) told us that after today, we could expect only rain, storms and a lot of clouds. We made the decision then to dump our bags in the first hospedaje we found and run to Avis to rent a car. Instead of taking a full day tour, we benefitted from the few hours left in this sunny day and drove to the glacier ourselves down the rather scenic, paved road.

At $40 AR (around 10 British pounds) per ticket to enter the park and no student discount, we were hoping and praying that we had given oursleves enough time to see the glacier today and the sun would hold out for us. We needn't have worried; I honestly believe that the Moreno Glacier will take anyone's breath away whatever time of day you arrive and whatever the weather.

Travellers we'd met previously in Bariloche had told us that seeing this Patagonian glacier (the largest wet glacier in the world) makes the Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand look like an ice cube! They weren't far wrong.

Moreno´s front wall stretches for 5km across the lake created

by its meltwater. It towers up to 60 m above the lake.

What amazed us just as much as the sight of this ice monster were the incredible sounds coming from within it. It grumbled and groaned as huge chunks of ice fell into the inner depths of the glacier. Every time we heard such a rumbling, we looked over expectantly, hoping to see a piece of ice falling. However these chunks causing such a thuderous roar were falling within the galcier itself. Incredible.

There´s an impressive 2km of boardwalk surrounding the glacier
allowing tourists to take photos from every possible angle.

We were lucky enough to see (and hear the thunder each time) chunks falling off the front wall of this phenomenal feat of nature. Each time a chunk no bigger that two human heads fell, it caused a tremendous sound and lots of waves to splash against the ice wall.

We later found out that the glacier is at its most active during the late afternoon so our decision to visit so soon was, in the end, a good one. After a good hour watching these ice blocks fall, the cold got the better of us and we decided to make the hour and a half drive back to El Calafate before it got too dark.

The Perito Moreno glacier is the only one in the

Parque Nationale Los Glaciares to show no signs
of receding. A worker told us that it slides forward
around one metre per day but recedes back to its
original distance because around one metre of ice
falls from the front each day too.

The next day, the rain we were promised arrived but undeterred, we made the most of our 24hour car hire and spent the day driving out to a nearby lake where we ate our picnic in the warmth of the car.



On our final day before our flight back to Buenos Aires, we went on a horseriding trip for a couple of hours. This was chris's first time on a horse for many years but by the end of the three hours he was even trotting!

---------------------------------

Chris: Riding the Patagonian Plains on horseback...

Steph´s birthday was spent on a boat. I told her that because it was her day we could do whatever she wanted. Unfortunately a cargo ship doesn´t come with many options, especially since that night the rocking boat made almost everyone seasick. We had to postpone a few birthday activities until we were back in Patagonia.

Steph has long since wished for a horse riding journey in South America.

At 11 am we were picked up by a gaucho who was as rugged and rough as I could have hoped. Minutes later I found myself in the back of his van with seven girls from five countries.

One fellow rider was a Mexican girl who swore like a sailor, puffed cigarettes and looked like she knew her way around a tequila bottle. Not to be bitchy, but with a handbag clutched under one arm, she looked like she accidentally joined a horse ride instead of a trip to the mall.

Steph and I mounted our two horses that were in fact brothers - Luna and Corason. The trip was peaceful, relaxing and not what I expected at all. The sound of a powerfull horse galloping accross the planes is indeed a beautiful thing.

I don´t know anything about South American breeds of horses, but these were like no horse I had ever seen. They looked more well-built and rough around the edges in my crude observations. We were followed by an 8 dog escort. Steph was eager to pick up a bit of speed and copied the Gaucho´s style of trotting - by lifting their right arm straight up and making a strange noise through their teeth, the horses responded by breaking into a trot.

Our guides were true Patagonian gauchos who rode with such style.

El Calafate sits on Argentina´s largest lake: Lago Argentina

-------------------------------

Steph: The evening also held a real treat for me. Our Navimag friends Sara and Annie (Kiwi and Ozzy) were also in El Calafate that evening and we had arranged to meet them at a fancy restaurant to celebrate my birthday properly. It hadn't really been possible the week before, what with everyone feeling seasick and the ship rocking and rolling! We all devoured a juicy lomo after sharing a delicious Provoletta. What I hadn't expected was the amazing birthday rap they had written for me while out at the glacier that day! They sang the rap for the whole restaurant to hear and presented me with a birthday spud (cakes being unavailable!)

The Birthday Spud...

A local lady sitting behind us asked permission to sing happy birthday, we obliged and the whole restaurant erupted in felis compleanos! What a special moment! I was quite speechless! We took the birthdy spud with us to another bar where we all treated ourselves to a delicious brownie for desert: such a great birthday!