Colonia, Uruguay

Charming little place

Just a few hours boat ride from Buenos Aires, Colonia is a charming little town complete with cobblestoned streets and cute shops and restaurants. Uruguayans are very friendly.

We stayed in the home of a lovely elderly couple for US$ 12/ per night. We even had free use of their bikes. What a deal! The view from the old lighthouse is lovely.

Iguazu Falls

A natural wonder

Iguazu de grootste waterval in de wereld. In één woord: Wow!!!!!!! Dit is tot nu toe het prachtigste wat we van onze reis gezien hebben.

To enjoy the beautiful views, go early in the morning and avoid the hordes of tour buses. The Garganta del Diablo is where you´ll see the heart of the falls. Be prepared to get wet. Standing next to the falls is like taking a shower. No joke! Bring a raincoat and a plastic bag for your belongings.

Say ¨no¨ to the ecological tour. It was a total waste of time. You see more of the park and the wildlife (cormorants, lizards, Coati) by walking over the catwalks.

Mendoza

Wine, wine and more wine

De stad zelf is telleurstellend. Vies, smog en waarschijnlijk een serieus zakkenrollers probleem. Wij zijn door meerdere mensen gewaarschuwd om goed op onze rugzakken te letten.

De enige reden om Mendoza te bezoeken is om de prachtige wijn gebieden en haar Bodegas. Wij hebben een georganiseerde wijntour in de Maipu regio (Mendoza heeft 7 regios) gedaan. Het was heel interessant om te zien hoe ze de wijn produceren, maar het beste was natuurlijk het proeven!

Restaurant tip:

Wil je echt onder de locals komen en veel eten, ga dan naar Caro Pepe. Ze hebben daar het bekende Tenedor libre concept, oftewel onbeperkt eten voor 30 pesos (US$ 10).

Torres del Paine, Chile

Blue towers

Torres del Paine is a beautiful introduction to the South American Andes. The park offers it all: high peaks, water falls, turquoise lagoons and wild animals. In the short time that we were in the park, only 2 days, we saw three condors (the world´s biggest flying bird), groups of llama, deer, tiny foxes and wild horses. The night we pitched a tent in the park, we watched horses gallop by then enjoyed a spectacular sky full of stars.

Our initial plan was to spend several nights in the park and hike some of its trails. Unfortunately we were ill-prepared. The trails demand a continuous trek of 5-12 days, depending on which circuit you choose to do. As you must carry your pack and all gear during the trek, it´s important to keep it light and to have all necessary sleeping and cooking gear with you. We definitely plan to do the trek another time, when we´re better prepared!

For those considering the trek:

• Be prepared. Tents and sleeping bags can be rented in the park but prices are high. We did not see any options to rent cooking equipment.
• Bring your own food. You can only buy basics in the park (cans of tuna, chocolate, chips, etc.) and they´re over-priced.
• Bring cash. There are no options to get money in the park, only to exchange currency.
• Be patient. If you´re coming to the park by bus from Argentina, be prepared for long delays at customs. They will also confiscate any fruits and meats - which you can buy back later on the Chilean side of the border!

El Calafate

One Cool Glacier

The only draw of this small southern Argentinian city is the Moreno Glacier with its blue-hued jagged ice peaks. While the city and the area surrounding the glacier are over-run with tourists, Moreno is very much worth seeing.

Our first view of the glacier was by boat. While the ride was enjoyable and it allows you to get pretty close, we prefered the views from the many catwalks positioned around it. The glacier is constantly moving and the sounds it makes as it shifts and grinds are fascinating, particularly when big chunks break and fall into the water below.

El Calafate itself is small and not that interesting. We did, however, enjoy a fabulous parrillada at an atmospheric restaurant called La Tablita. The amusing part of the evening is when the power suddenly shut down and the place was cloaked in darkness. The staff didn´t miss a beat: instead of panicking, they put romantic candlelight on each of the tables. They´re clearly used to this occasional inconvenience.

Bariloche

Sporty Bariloche

Bariloche is een mooie stad omgeven door schitterende meren en bergen. Hou je van outdoor aktiviteiten? Bariloche is the place to be!

Bariloche staat bekend als wintersport plaats, maar zomers is er ook genoeg te beleven. Raften, paragliden, parachute springen, mountain biken, kano varen, paard rijden, scuba diving, tokkelen, etc.

Wij zijn gaan raften voor een dag en het was super cool! Het was een tour van 2 uur met 10 rapids van een level 3/4. Na het raften - moe en out of energie - stond er een heerlijke parrillada (een grill met diversen soorten vlees) voor ons klaar. We hadden een leuke groep en de begeleiding was top.

Buenos Aires

Parillas, Tango & Evita

Argentinians love their meat and they eat it with great gusto. No animal is spared: cordero (lamb), lomo (veal), pollo (chicken), chorizo (pigs).... They´re all served in large delicious portions in parrilla restaurants all over the country. Our favourite parrilla restaurant in BA is Chiquilin in Congreso. You can see Erwin (above) diving into the very big and juicy steaks! The service was good too.

Tango is also abundant in the city. Erwin and I took one lesson and after stepping on each other´s toes a number of times, we finally mastered the basic steps. Very basic! Be warned about the tango shows: they´re all geared to a strictly tourist audience. Locals don´t go to tango shows. We saw an organised tango show and found it very touristy. Cafe Tortoni offers a much better alternative. Others tell us that one of the best places to see authentic live ¨milonga¨is Plaza Dorrego every Sunday.

Buenos Aires is a beautiful city with stunning, historical buildings at every turn. Our favourite neighbourhood is the charming San Telmo: wander around on Sunday and enjoy the antique market and live tango performances. We photographed the guitar player (above) performing classical tango music with an accordian player, while two tango dancers entertained in the middle of a public square. Fantastic!

A visit to the city wouldn´t be complete without a dose of Evita. Check out her gravesite at the fabulous Recoleta cemetary and the interesting Evita museum in Palermo.

Our highlights of BA:

• Cemetario de la Recoleta where Eva Peron is buried in a rather modest grave.
• The Evita museum which illustrates the impact she had on the country.
• The Parque 3 de Febrero in Palermo, where they have delicious chorizo sandwiches con salsa (for 7 pesos) and a beautiful rose garden.
• Cafe Tortoni, which claims to be the city´s oldest cafe. It has loads of atmosphere probably owing to all the interesting people who have visited over the years.