May 16: My final day in South America

I woke up at 11:00 a.m. in a haze resulting from too much Malbec.   I dragged myself out of bed, put my bags in storage, and checked out of my hostel.  I originally thought that I would go to Tigre for the day, but decided that the one hour train ride in each direction combined with public transport to the train would be too much on top of a long, red eye flight.   Tigre is the delta where Portenos vacation on summer weekends.

Marcelo and I went for a long walk and had a late breakfast/early lunch and then parted ways.  The cool air felt good.

I was hoping to go to Bellas Artes, the art museum, but it is closed on Mondays.

I spent most of the day in quiet reflection- thinking about my trip, places I have visited, and people I have met.  Indeed it is the end of one journey and marks the beginning of the next. 

May 15 Buenos Aires

I went to the San Telmo street fair to buy gifts and again to the Recoleta street fair for even more gifts.  I'm over shopping!  The narrow cobblestone streets of San Telmo were overflowing with people and I couldn't wait to get out.  My sole purpose for being there was to buy a dress bag from an artist called Dos Manos.  I wove my way through the people, picked out a purse, and fought my way back to the Subte station.

performance art at the San Telmo street fair

The Subte station is in Plaza de Mayo which hosts all the government buildings and consequently many demonstrations.

Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Mayo

The plaza in Recoleta is spacious and therefore felt a lot calmer than San Telmo.  I paused to watch tango dancers perform under the large tree.


Tango in the park

 I capped the afternoon off with another visit to the cemetary late in the day. 


Another visit to the cemetary

The cemetary has a distinctive Logan's Run feel to it as it is over run with cats

For my last dinner in Argentina, I wanted to go to the best parrilla in the city.  Unfortunately, it was listed by the Lonely Planet guide as a best pick, unbeknownst to me, so the line outside was over an hour.  I was accompanied by one of my roommates, Marcelo, from Santiago who was in town visiting his children.  After eating alone for a week, I was happy for the company and even more happy when we encountered an hour wait for a restaurant.  After a lap around Palermo Soho looking for another suitable parrilla, we retreated to our neighborhood and went to a traditional parrilla for a 10:30 dinner accompanied by a bottle of Malbec, of course.

May 13-14 Buenos Aires

Three and a half days more in Buenos Aires is probably too much.  I have been spending my time walking through neighborhoods and window shopping.... nothing all that interesting to report on.

Yesterday, I walked from my hostel to explore the Palermo Soho barrio.  As the name Soho implies, it is an artsy section of town.  Supposedly it comes alive at night with dance clubs, but I am content with a day time visit and don´t really have it in me to go out at midnight which is when things start happening.  I browsed through myriad boutiques and found a nice, healthy cafe to have lunch in.  The cafe was populated completely by women around my age.  And aside from the prices, the cafe could have easily been in Oregon or CA.  For $12 USD, I got a fresh squeezed essence of grapefruit juice with herbs, chicken, rice, roasted veggies, bread with a veg compote, berry crumble, and coffee.  I hope they are open on Sundays!

I strolled back to Recoleta via Palermo Alto and decided to look at shoes.  There are often times more 5 or 6 shoe stores per block on one side of the street!  I don´t know how they stay in business.  I walked for over a mile down Avenida Santa Fe until the shoe store density dropped to about 3 per block.  There were so many that I felt overwhelmed.  I am still trying to justify a pair of tall black leather boots when I am about to enter summer in the US.  Hmmm.

Today I woke up late and walked briskly to Plaza San Martin where the Tower of Babel by Marta Munjin is under construction.  It is a public art installation made out of books.  After gawking for a while, I wandered up the pedestrian Avenida Florida.  This street is somewhat dichotomous; the majority of the stores are high end designers and leather warehouses, but down the center are vendors peddaling crap.  It is one of the most unsafe streets in BA, yet it is predominantly touristy.  Go figure.

Tower of Babel in books

After deciding that I wasn´t going to buy anything in Avda Florida, I walked over to Recoleta to the Saturday Feria ARtsenal.  Since I cant possibly shop on an empty stomach (I even have trouble shopping on a full stomach), I went to have a light lunch at another healthy restaurant that I ate in in December.  With food in my stomach, I went off to buy gifts at the street market.  I received some encouragement from two women from California and ended buying purses, belts, shoes, and a pair of earrings.  I indulged my leather fetish.

Choices, choices

May 11: Punta del Este

I awoke early again and took abus to the terminal to catch another bus to Punta del Este.  The two hour ride passed quickly with free wifi on board.  I was able to read the NYT, CNN, and catch up on e-mail.

In high season, this is THE place to be in Uruguay.  Punta del Este is an upscale town situated on a penninsula with the Atlantic on one side and the Rìo Plata on the other.  It is autumn right now, so most of town was closed.  I passed the time by circumnavigating the penninsula.  It was beautiful but extremely mellow.  Stores like Luis Vitton and Valentino along with the quality of boats in the marina yield evidence of the caste of people that frequent here in the summer.

Marina

La Mano en la Arena (Hand in the Sand); evidentlya famous sculpture here.

May 10: Montevideo

I caught an 8:30 bus to Montevideo and took a cab to my hostel.  I enjoyed my hostel in Colonia so much that I agreed to stay at the owners´other hostel in Montevideo called Pocitos.  Positos is situated not so coincidentally in the heart of the Pocitos neighborhood which is right near the beach.  The website describes it as a Bohemian neighborhood, but it´s really more upscale than that.  I couldn´t tell if I was making a good decision or not to stay away from the city center, but thus far I am pleased.

After getting squared away, I got maps, directions, and ideas from the owner of the hostel and grabbed a bus to a MAC store to fix my iPhone.  The store told me to wait until I got to the US.  I then took another bus into downtown.  With walking tour map in hand, I strolled the cobbled streets from Plaza Indepencia to Cuidad Vieja marvelling at the architecture.  I was also surprised to see that Montevideans are sharp dressers and they all have fantastic foot wear.  Indeed, I felt a little under dressed!

Plaza Independencia; the building used to be the tallest in SA

I ate a large lunch in the city market sampling Uruguay´s finest- beef.  The thing about South America is there is no such thing as a lunch menu.  Lunch is typically the biggest meal of the day, so the offerings are large entrees.  The city market, unlike any other city market that has seafood and veggies, proffers beef, beef, and more beef .  Not that that is a bad thing.

Everyone told me that one day was plenty for taking in Montevideo and they were right.  I was done with the centro and Ciudad Vieja after 3.5 hours and caught the bus back for a brisk sunset walk along the beach.  I made the mistake of having my hair cut in an upscale peluqueria.  Even though I said only muy poco and stressed the importance with the upcoming wedding, my hair has been whacked.  I am trying to tell myself that change is good....

May 9: Colonia, Uruguay

As Americans most of us don´t know much about Uruguay.  The name Uruguay may conjure up images of good beef, but really little else.  Even my mother assertively asked me why I would want to go.  Well, Uruguay is a well kept secret.  In South America, it is well known for it´s splendid beaches some of which are very exclusive and also for it´s charming colonial towns.  Indeed Uruguay is now one of the more progressive SA countries having recently legalized abortion and same sex unions. 

I woke up disoriented to the sound of my alarm after 10 minutes of buzzing- my mpoor roomates!  I walked to the subte and was completely unprepared for how busy it was during morning rush hour.  I had pictured a standing room only on the subway, but never expected the up close and personal, jammed packed like sardines experience I had.  The subway arrived full and passengers crammed their way in.  There wasn´t really room for me, but I called out that I had a boat to catch and people helped squeeze me in.  It did not help that I had a tote bag (aguayo) and a day pack.  Even worse, I had slung the mid-sized duffel bag over my shoulder and with so many people, the bag was getting pushed downward pulling on my neck.  The doors closed and part of my bag was caught in them, so electronically, the doors re-opened and I tried harder to get it inside.  At the first stop, someone had to get off, since I was closest to the door, I had to debark and fight my way back on.  At the 2nd stop, I was able to move more towards the middle.  I had no bar to hold onto, but it didnt matter because the subway was so packed I couldnt fall if even if I tried.

I reached the port and was surprised to find a very fancy, modern ferry terminal.  I was expecting something dingy.  The ferry itself was also very nice.  The 3 hour ride across the Río Plata was pleasant and passed quickly.  I arrived in Colonia de Sacramento on another perfect fall day.  Colonia is situated a mere 50km from Buenos Aires and therefore attracts many Argentine tourists.  It was first established as a portugeuse port to smuggle goods into BA.

Leaving Buenos Aires

Colonia

I quickly ditched my bags at the hostel (Sur Hostel).  The owner asked where I was from.  Good question since I am homeless and jobless.  My licence still says Alaska and that is still my address and area code.  Upon hearing Alaska, he ran over to the map on the wall excitedly noted that I was the first visitor from AK.  He handed me a box of push pins and I stuck a blue one in the dot marked Anchorage.

Dogwoods and palm trees

I strolled through the tree-lined cobble stone streets of viejo Colonia appreciating the fall colors.  I walked along the water past the lighthouse, then set about finding a place to have lunch.  I passed over the Lonely Planet öur pick¨ which has doubled in price since the printing of my book 8 months ago, charging more than $12 USD for a ham and cheese sandwich.  Instead, I selected a inobtrusive eatery with outdoor seating.  I ate my first chivita and since my meal came with helado, I also sampled my first Uruguayan ice cream which puts Ben and Jerry´s to shame.

I walked up and down the streets and wandered into a clothing store.  I must have racked up some shopping karma after not having bought anything for 5 months, because I found a great dress for Friday night before the wedding.  I only went into one store and only tried on one dress.  How cool is that?  And it is a Uruguayan brand, so I need not worry about someone lese wearing the same.

There were only 5 of us staying at the hostel, so I got the dorm to myself.  They hosted an asado (asado is my favorite word here).  In typical Uruguayan fashion dinner was erved at 10:30, but the meat sure was tasty.

May 8: Buenos Aires (going full circle)

I arrived in Buenos Aires at 10:00 a.m. on a perfectly crisp and sunny autumn morning. I slept most of the 18-hour bus ride, so I was ready to greet the day.  From the bus terminal, I walked with the two other gringos I had rounded up for safety purposes four blocks through a less desirable section of town to the subte.  We unknowingly got sprayed with shaving cream along the way.  I figure that if this is the worst that happens then I am doing ok.  Besides there are worse things to smell like than shaving cream.

Plaza de Mayo

I dropped my stuff off at the hostel, booked a boat ticket to Uruguay, and took the subte to San Telmo.  San Telmo is a European looking section of town complete with cobbled streets that hosts a weekly feria artesenal each Sunday.  The streets were lined with vendors mostly peddling crap, with a few nice items here and there.  There were street performers and in the main plaza there were vendors selling antiques.  It was too crowded to even take pictures, so I made my way back to the subte.

My next stop was on the opposite end of the city in Palermo.  The owner of my hostel told me there was some sort of celebration in the Japanese Garden.  I walked over from the subte station to find that there wasn´t a celebration, but there were a lot of people.  I paid the $2 USD admission just for the priviledge of using the bathroom and it was worth.  After one fast lap around the garden, I exited and decided to walk back to Recoleta. The weather was too good not to walk the 5 km or so.

Jardín Japones

I walked back past the floralis generalis and mused briefly that I had now come full circle on my South American odyssey.  I wandered into the plaza by the cemetary where the Recoleta feria artesenal was in full swing.  I browsed through casually, but didn´t have the energy to buy anything.  I can buy stuff next week before I leave.

Giant flower sculpture; the petals close at night

I made my way back to the hostel for a descanso (rest) before walking 18 blocks to my thus far favorite restaurant.  Cumanà is one of the few Lonely Planet recommendations that has not diminished in quality or increased in price since its listing in the traveller´s bible.  I was seated next to two porteño (from Buenos Aires) elder ladies who immediately took an interest in me.  I left with both of their phone numbers `just in case.´ The calabaza y lomo cazuela (pumpkin and beef stew) was every bit as yummy as I remembered!

¡Happy Mother´s Day!

May 7: Casa de los Pajaros

Toucan up close and personal

Since we had expected to spend 2 days exploring Parque Nacional Iguazú and only needed one, we went back to tourist information to look for other ideas.  There isn´t much to do here, but they did recommend a wildlife conservation shelter and an orchid garden.

The animal shelter rescues jungle animals that are injured, illegally captured for trade found during border crossings, etc.  They seem to have a good conservation biology program and it gave me the opportunity to see many of the endemic fauna up close.

Tortuga

The orchid gardens were nothing to write home about, but they did have a lot of hummingbirds.  We were happy that they were free because the visit would not have been worth any money.

Hummingbirds buzz around in the orchid garden

Now I am preparing for my 18 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires.  I leave at 5:00 pm and arrive at 10:00 a.m.

May 6: Iguazú Falls

My alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. and I awoke wondering where I was and wondering what activity I had needed an alarm for.  This happen occasionally from travelling so much.  Once I got my bearings, I got up and greeted the day.  We were a little slow moving and didn´t catch the bus the Parque Nacional Iguazú until 8:00 a.m.  

Upon entering the park, we were handed a map with suggested itineraries for 2 days worth of attratctions.  We boarded the free park train, resembling the choo choo at any zoo in the US, and headed immediately for the Circuita Garganta del Diablo or the big waterfalls (Cataratas).  After debarking from the train we rushed ahead of the crowd darting in between people to get to the falls in front of the pack.  We are fast walkers and in no time we left the pack behind.  This was to set the tone for the day.  After 1 km of metal bridge/trail over the river, we could see the giant plume of mist wafting skyward from the falls and started to hear the thunderous sounds.  The falls however, were obscured by mists so thick that it was impossible to see the bottom or much detail.  We were awestruck by the sheer magnitude of the falls yet disappointed that we couldn´t see much. 

Garganta del Diablo obscured by mist

 I kept wondering whether this was worth the visit.  It took a lot of effort and money to get here and Iguazú isn´t near anything.  If the waterfalls froze it would be worth it! I quietly fantasized about what it would be like to climb up these stupendous routes.  It would be such a fantastic playground!

This member of the Jay family was kind enough to pose for a picture

We retreated from the Garganta area wet from the mist vowing to come back later in the day to see if viewing conditions improved, then reboarded the train destined for the Circuito Superior.  This was a 2.5 km trail to a second set of waterfalls below the Garganta with better visibility and more panaramic vistas.  I started to feel a little better about my choice to visit Iguazú.

The lower falls

 After finishing this circuit, we headed for the Circuito Inferior, or lower circuit.  This cicruit provides views of the same waterfalls from a lower vantage point.  Rainbows started to emerge as the sun moved higher in the sky making for good photographic subject matter.

with arco iris (rainbow)

We passed by a group of coatis, which are members of the raccoon family.  I thought it was a treat to see them so close up until I realized that not unlike their North American cousins, they are thieves who have learned how to live alongside humans.  I learned this when they stole my lunch snacks.

Coati

 By 12:30, we had finished all of the waterfall circuits and there was only one trail left that went through jungle to a waterfall that was wimpy in comparison to the others.  We walked in silence along the 3.2 km long trail in the hopes of spotting wildlife.  Luckily, there weren´t many others on the trail.  We saw something that appeared like a giant rat without the tail that I have yet to ID, many beautiful butterflies, and on the way back, lots of monkeys.

Capucchin monkeys

We had completed every trail in the park by 3:30.  Why would anyone need two days?  I could see spending more time here if the waterfalls actually froze.  We opted not to do the Brazilian side of the falls for the next day because it was already somewhat monotonous and we would have to pay for another bus, another entrance fee, clear customs, and it was possible that they would make me pay for a visa.

We went back to the Garganta del Diablo and the conditions improved a little.  We could at least see the Brazilian side.

The view of Garganta de Diablo in the afternoon; slightly better visibility

May 5: Puerto Iguazú

I survived the 23 hour bus ride.  Actually owing to a general lack of sleep, the bus ride was relatively painless.  I watched 2 movies in English, 1 in Spanish, finished the first book I have read during my trip (my willingness to read is a healing scar from my previous job), and slept soundly.

My hostel for 23 hours.

 Alexis, my Catalán friend was waiting for me at the bus stop in Puerto Iguazú.  It was nice to have an öld¨ friend to greet me.  And it was doubly nice to have had someone to do my homework for me.  Upon arrival in every new town, there is a routine that one performs.  It starts with where am I and where do I need to go confusion, locating my hostel, and the obligatory stop in the tourist info office to get maps and other vital info.  Alexis had already done all this plus he got info on bus prices and times to Buenos Aires for me.

After dropping my belongings at the hostel and taking a quick, yet refreshing shower, we went for an exploratory walk.  Our first stop was at the mirador of the confluence of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil divided by the Río Iguacú.

Mirador of Argentina (front), Paraguay (left) and Brazil (right).

Monument with flags

There were no walking trails there, so we retreated to town and stopped by the tourist info office for suggestions.  The woman told us about a ´sanctuario´outside of town, so we hopped on the bus and headed out.  The jungle sanctuary was nothing worth writing about, but provided more opportunity to stretch my legs after the long bus trip.

A furry friend we encountered in the Sanctuary

I bought my bus ticket for the 18-hour ride to BA, we prepared our daypacks for an early start to the waterfalls, and set about finding a suitable restaurant for dinner.  We ended up in an LP recommended Parilla (grill) that had a $45 peso per person special of parilla with salad.  The waiter brought out chorizo and morcilla- sausage cooked in animal blood which I didn´t care for, but dutifully ate most of because I was hungry.  I didn´t realize that this was only an appetizer.  The waiter then delivered a huge, sizzling grill of beef, chicken, pork, and intestines.  I gave it a college try, but could not finish everything and sadly, the intestines went untouched.

I also happened to arrive at the start of a motorcycle rally.  The normally tranquil, slightly upscale touristic haven of Puerto Iguazú has been transformed by an onslaught of hogs, kawasakis, hondas, and BMW bikes.  There are street parties with loud bands and the associated craziness.  Most of the riders seem to be from Brazil.  It definitely makes for a more interesting visit here.

May 4: Quebrada de San Lorenzo

I sampled local cuisine last night and paid for it during the night.  The locro (veal, pork, garnazo beans, etc stew) tasted very good, but my intestines didn`t like it as much as my taste buds.  Alas, I got a later start than hoped today.  To my surprise, it was actually sunny!

I took the bus to San Lorenzo, 7 km outside of the sity, to a cloud forest reserve.  I needed a little bit of exercise before my 23 hour bus trip (leaving in an hour and a half) to Iguazu.  The forest was lovely, but as is typical of all Argentine parks, there were cows and horses inside the park.  I enjoyed the vegetation, the mirador, and lots of green parrots with red beaks.

Nice trees

Mirador overlooking Salta

I returned and ate lunch outside in the plaza.  I was reading the NY Times on my iPhone when an elder gentelman came over and told me some vaquero was watching me and was walking back and forth behind my table.  My oblivousness was a little unnerving, but the plaza in broad daylight is basically safe.  Nonetheless, I joined the table of elder gentleman.  It was good fun.

Now for 23 hours of bus...

May 2 Cafayate

Since I don´t have much time left to explore the area; I decided to take a tour.  The tour itself was mediocre at best, but we did get to see some amazing scenery.

Our first stop other than the coffee break in a gas stationm was in the Quebrada de Las Canchas.  Here we got to scramble up the Garganta de Diablo.  We ended up spending quite a bit of time here because many of the people in the tour had great difficulty getting down.

Garganta de Diablo



The second stop was similr in a place alled the ampitheater oing to its acoustics.  The symphony plays in here once a year.  We were treated to some pan flute music, as always, playing El Condor Pasa.

Admiring the ampitheaer




Nice scenery and interesting geology

  Our guide did not know anything about the geology which was disappointing.

Local ice cream flavors of malbec (red wine), torrientes (white wine), and coca leaves

 


Cafayate

 


wine tasting

Side note: had trouble with the computer in the internet cafe today.  Frustrating!