San Telmo

Our last morning in Buenos Aires before flying home tonight. We secure a late checkout and take the subway over to the San Telmo barrio where we enjoy the *best* meal we have had so far in five weeks of travel. At La Brigada, a fine old parrilla (steakhouse) we enjoy a bottle of Malbec from Mendoza, empanadas and an exquisite steak. So tender that the waiter cut it with his spoon! Muy delicioso!

Our waiter, Tony, is a charming gentleman. Very kind to these two turistas.

Street art in San Telmo.

One last subway ride back to the hotel. We're awaiting our transportation to the airport. Next stop Miami, then home!

 

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A Tasting Tour of BA

Food and wine ... Today is all about sampling the local delicacies and varietals. We take the subway to a neighborhood ("barrio") of BA called Palermo. We will meet up with a guide to go to three restaurants, but we arrive early enough to walk around on our own for a couple of hours. We go into a bakery called Bellas Artes where we buy a couple of empanadas to tide us over until lunch. Fun, again, to get the transaction done with a shopkeeper who only speaks Spanish -- success!

Then we and another couple from Dallas spend three hours in three restaurants enjoying, first, chorizos (an Argentine sausage) and a local fermented drink that is apparently quite popular. At the second place we enjoyed empanadas carne picante plus a wonderful white wine from Mendoza (the Napa of Argentina), followed by steaks and Malbec at this really mysterious restaurant that reminded us of a Chicago speakeasy: no name on the outside, a nondescript barred door, entry only if they know you, and so popular that whatever this place is called, it changes its name every few weeks to avoid publicity. It is apparently so popular they just can't take any more business. It's owned and run by Tito (above, manning the grill emblazoned with "Secret Parrilla" -- "parrilla" means grill or steakhouse). The steaks we're really quite wonderful.

Tomorrow we hope to visit another barrio, San Telmo, then we have a 9pm flight home!

 

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Buenos Aires, redux

Back in BA, and this morning we looked out our window to see a big rush hour traffic jam and, in the background, a *monstrous* cruise ship docked at the port. Yikes! That thing is the size of a large apartment building.

Not relevant to our trip, but just had to share...

 

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Lazy Morning at Iguazu Falls

We had time this morning to go out to Devil's Throat, the last section of the falls which we didn't see yesterday. We got up early to beat the crowds and had a front row view. The power, majesty and noise can't be described. I can describe how soaked we get, though!

Leisurely lunch back at the hotel, then off to the airport to catch a flight back to Buenos Aires. We're back at the Four Seasons, with sightseeing tomorrow and Wednesday morning before flying home Wednesday afternoon.

 

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Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Back in Argentina after our "adventure" in Brazil. We're staying at a Sheraton hotel which is inside the park so we can stroll down to the falls at our leisure. Our room has a nice view of the falls, though not as close-up a view as we had from our Canadian hotel at Niagara Falls.

In addition to spectacular, LOUD waterfalls, we see many different butterflies, birds and animals: See below. (That's our intrepid birder, Debbie, ever alert for the slightest flicker of wings....)

A field flicker in the lawn of the hotel

Two of many butterflies that delighted us as we walked through the park.

A plush crested jay, according to our intrepid birder ...

And my favorite, a capuchin monkey ... one of several swinging from limb to limb in the trees above us. Of course, there were legions of coatis, but I posted that pic yesterday. There are also many toucans, but I haven't caught them in a photo just yet. Stay tuned ...

Tomorrow we have an early morning in the park, then we fly back to Buenos Aires for two more days before (finally) returning home!

 

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Foz do Iguassu, Brazil

We made it to Iguazu Falls! Well, sort of ... We really did, but let me explain. The waterfall is on the Iguazu River which separates Argentina and Brazil. (And Paraguay is nearby ... more on that below.) So our guide picks us up at the Argentine airport ... and, horrors, we don't have visas to enter Brazil! Yo es stupido! But our guide, Francis, says not to worry, and when we approach the Brazilian checkpoint, he just drives straight through and no one stops us! No scary men with machine guns or anything! We've snuck into Brazil! I guess I'm an illegal immigrant. Boy, talk about the need to secure the border ...

So anyway, we drive to the Brazilian side of the falls and get this picture, and a couple more. Then we head back to the Argentinian side, where we are staying, and tomorrow I'll post photos from this side (much more up-close-and-personal).

And you see the most interesting wildlife! This is a quati, which I think is coati in English.

Ain't he cute? What a trip. First guanacos, then penguins and seals, and now quati!

A shot of the "three borders" monument where the 3 countries meet. (Paraguay, notoriously corrupt and dangerous, was deemed too risky to enter.)

 

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Buenos Aires

We hire a guide, Ceri ("Cary") to give us a walking tour of BA, which is very interesting given all that is going on in Argentina these days (consult your recent NYTimes). We see monuments to Argentina's independence in 1810, see the presidential palace (the Pink House) and the Congress and other office buildings. We get schooled in how to recognize and avoid pickpockets, how to recognize fake pesos, and all the other indignities that Argentinans seem to take for granted. We rode on the subway and it seemed modern and safe. We'll use this knowledge when we return to BA on Monday from Iguazu Falls.

In the main square, Argentinan veterans of the Falklands war in 1982 protest their ungrateful treatment when they returned. Reminds me of Vietnam vets.

We enjoyed a local Patagonia beer with our guide Ceri at a cafe.

Later we stopped at a local hole in the wall for empanadas and a "penguin" (liter carafe) of wine. Truly yummy. Ordered it all in Spanish even though we don't speak the language! Picking up key phrases ...

And we enjoyed really tiny ice cream cones in a local mall. Debb did the ordering again in Spanish with no mishaps!

Tonight we'll take it easy at the hotel in preparation for tomorrow's flight to Iguazu. The hotel will let us store our checked baggage so that we can fly up there with just carry-on. Woo hoo!

 

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Arriving in Buenos Aires

A long flight to BA (as it's known to those in the know) and we're checked in at the Four Seasons. For reasons thoroughly unclear to me, they gave us a complimentary upgrade to a suite in a section of the hotel called "the Mansion." We're loving it! Now to unpack, cool off (it's *hot* here!) and then go walk around the city and figure things out.

 

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Terra Firma!

We're docked back at Ushuaia and fly this morning to Buenos Aires. More tomorrow!

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Penguin Poo

A codicil to our Antarctica trip: You truly cannot understand how pervasive, and permeating, is the smell of penguin guano. All the landfalls we made in the Zodiacs ... we knew we were approaching the shore when we smelled that familiar smell. Oh my god I think we'll never get that out of our lungs ... or our parkas.

Above is a pic of our routine each time we returned to the ship: Scrubbing down our boots and rain pants with disinfectant to ensure we tracked as little guano as possible back onto the ship. That said, I can tell you that despite best efforts our cabin always smelled awfully funky!

 

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The Drake Passage

We spend today and tomorrow crossing the Drake Passage, a channel of water that separates the tip of Argentina and the Antarctic peninsula. It is notorious for having very swift currents as the Southern Ocean is squeezed through, aided by strong westerly winds that, at this latitude, have no land (let alone mountain ranges) to slow them down.

Now this said, so far so good. The ship rocks pretty severely from side to side; standing is difficult and barf bags are set out every few feet on the handrails. Half the passengers wear a seasickness patch. But we're doing okay, especially when we lie down (the rocking isn't such a big deal if we're not trying to hold our balance).

We should dock at Ushuaia early Thursday and catch a morning flight to Buenos Aires.

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Last Stop in Antarctica

We make one final landing on the continent at Portal Point, where there are a few seals but the primary attraction is a beautiful sunny day and a gorgeous view of the harbor. Debb gets a photo with her two favorite Scotsmen Tom and Russ, our Patagonian leader and our Antarctica leader respectively.

 

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Orcas!

Leaving Port Lockroy we encounter a pod of orca whales that start swimming with (and under) our ship, giving us quite a show. Here's one pic showing a profile shot of one with the head of another behind. Very exciting!

 

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Port Lockroy, Antarctica

Our last day of landings in Antarctica before heading back to Ushuaia, Argentina, across the notorious Drake Passage! It's a beautiful day, and we pay a visit to Port Lockroy, used by the whaling industry from 1911 to 1931, as a British naval base during WWII, and then as a British research station until 1962. Now it is preserved and maintained by the British Antarctic Heritage Trust and has a fine museum showing how researchers lived and worked. It also has an equally fine gift shop and museum! I got a mug from Port Lockroy, Antarctica!!!

Since it was the site of a whaling station, there are multitudes of whale bones around, including this nearly complete skeleton. Note the massive skull and jawbones at the back.

 

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Pleneau Island

Another day, another trek in Antarctica and more wildlife to see. We're further south now, nearly at the Antarctic circle (60 degrees South latitude) where the sun doesn't set at the height of summer. It's snowing but not windy, and we have many landings and Zodiac cruises today.

As always, there are penguins wherever we stop. This solitary guy is enjoying the view of the icebergs. If you think those are pebbles in the snow you'd be wrong: that's penguin guano. It's everywhere.

A leopard seal sunning herself on an iceberg. These creepy, reptilian-looking creatures are about 12 feet long and prey on swimming penguins! Dastardly beasts.

Our first view of a crabeater seal! Here are two in repose, one raising his head.

And we saw four humpback whales swimming together, and I finally got a shot of the whale's fluke! That's the money shot for whales.

 

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