Argentina: Part 2

    Argentina – Part 2:

El Calafate: We boarded the 8:30 bus in Puerte Natales and soon crossed into Argentina at a small border crossing. We travelled for 6 hours with not much to see except flat wind-swept tundra. El Ovejero is a campsite recommended by the Lonely Planet and it is where we set up camp for the next 2 nights. Apart from a barking dog which kept us awake sometimes, I can definitely recommend the campsite to anyone as it was very good and had everything a camper needed. There were showers with hot water and for washing dishes, laundry service, small shop and an all-you-can-eat parrilla/asado which served spit BBQ lamb and beef! The town on the other hand is very touristy and very expensive.

We met up again with Will and went to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier which is apparently one of the few advancing glaciers in the world.  We walked along the boardwalks and were dwarfed by the impressive towering glacier that almost seemed alive as it emitted creaks and bangs. Huge blocks of ice broke away from the glacier and fell into the water below with a loud bang. I can see why so many people flock down to see the glacier – it is big, it is beautiful, it is intimidating, it is loud and it is advancing! Apart from taking many photos, there is not much to do so we took the early bus back to El Calafate for a nice all-you-can-eat buffet with spit BBQ lamb and steak. The restaurant we opted for that night was interesting as it was owned by a Chinese guy who served food that was half Chinese and half Patagonian BBQ! It was really nice and we were all very full by the end of it.

Our last day we spent packing up our gear and meeting up with Will before his long journey. He couldn’t find a flight to Buenos Aires and therefore had to opt for a 40 hour bus journey! We were really lucky to have booked our tickets well in advance! We also met a very nice couple who camped next to us - frantic charades and “Google Translate” revealed that they are cycling through parts of South America. Sometimes it can be really frustrating when we could not speak Spanish as you get to meet some really cool people but there is no way that you could have a decent conversation.

Buenos Aires: We reached BA at about midnight after a two hour flight from El Calafate. A crooked taxi driver ripped us off getting us to our hostel, Milhouse. We learned the hard way that a lot of taxi drivers are crooked in BA – they overcharge, short change and worst of all, they will give you fake notes! Please be aware of them and have exact change or make sure the notes are not fake. Look out for ragged edges, stain marks, water marks as well as feeling the texture of the note. Fake notes are usually not smooth and have a more “paper-like” texture. Also, hold the note against the light to make sure that you can see a proper water mark as well as a solid line from top to bottom (where the silver striped line is).

Milhouse: This was our home for the next 6 nights and we quickly came to know that Milhouse hosts many a messy parties! Most of the revelers sleep off their hangovers during the day and come out to play during the nights. The hostel itself, although a bit noisy at times, was very well equipped with a kitchen, laundry service, hot showers, nice rooms, wifi and a bar that served both food and alcohol. The staff were also helpful and friendly making our stay there very nice. Although a bit pricey (guess it is expected in a large city) Milhouse is a nice hostel for meeting new people and having lots of parties!

Meat!: Argentina is home to lots of very good meat and chimichurri sauce – a carnivore’s delight and definitely not a place for a vegetarian! The staff at Milhouse wore T-shirts with “Be vegetarian” on the front and “more meat for us” cleverly hidden on the back. La Cabrera was recommended to us as a really good steak house, which it was, as we went back for a second time! The steaks there were to die for – seared on the outside and nice and juicy on the inside. I opted for the 800g Bife de Chorizo (sirloin steak) both times and left a very happy customer. Each steak came with various little side dishes including beans, creamed spinach, artichoke hearts, aubergines, red peppers, mashed sweet potato, cauliflower and many more! I can highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who enjoys a good steak! For those people who have to wait outside for their table, free champagne is served.

Desnivel in San Telmo was another restaurant recommended to us. We went there with Will, Lisa, Alex and Cat. This restaurant is not as fancy as La Cabrera and slightly cheaper, never the less the steaks were also really good. I managed to sweet talk the chef into letting me pose for a photo next to the asado (BBQ) with two huge knifes! Typical meats include chorizo (spicy sausage), chinchulines (crispy intestines), bife de chorizo (sirloin), Bife de lomo (filet steak), Mantambre de cerdo (grilled pork flanks), asado de costillar (beef ribs) and grilled chicken (classed as vegetables by most Argentineans!). A word that I came to like is “chori”: the Argentinean equivalent of a hot dog. They use a chorizo sausage in a bun with chimichurri sauce – brilliant! I’ve since tried making the sauce myself as it is really good and goes well with meat although I have yet to perfect my recipe. Argentina was not good for our visibly expanding waistlines but there was just no way that I could stop myself from eating as much delicious meat as humanly possible!

Tango: We saw many people tango dancing in the most unsuspecting places in BA. Random streets were blocked off and a stage set up, complete with massive speakers, a band and lights. At first there would be only professional tango dancers onstage but as the night wore on locals would also migrate to the stage and take part. Some people would even dance in the streets, including old couples! Tango in BA is not to be missed – there is always a buzz and it is great fun seeing people dancing.  

Markets: BA also has many arts and crafts markets throughout the city. We visited the antiques market in San Telmo (open on Sundays) and were amazed by the bric-a-brac on offer. It seemed that match box collections (all with different pictures) are quite common in Argentina as we saw many vendors selling them. Yerba Mate is also very common in Argentina – we saw many of the locals walk around all day with their cups and thermos flasks filled with hot water. I thought my dad was an excessive tea drinker but these guys take tea drinking to a new level!

We also visited the colorful La Boca later that day. The streets were lined with brightly painted houses and caricature mannequins of famous people looked down from the balconies. La Boca is a vibrant and eccentric little place complete with street vendors and restaurants, most of which had stages where tango dancers entertained the diners. We had a drink (and some empanadas) at one of these restaurants while watching the tango – cheesy but great fun!

Polo: This is one of Argentina’s key sports and the final was on the weekend we were there. It attracted a lot of wealthy people all dressed very smartly in their designer clothes. We felt somewhat outclassed in our flip flops and T-shirts and we were unable to afford the ludicrous prices for last minute tickets.  We found a spot next to the fence and watched all the pre match entertainment. There was dancing horses, Indians, a brass band and tango dancers to entertain the hordes. We managed to see about 3 minutes of the game before the heavens opened and it literally pissed down with rain! We all got absolutely drenched as we ran for the cover of a pub at the other end of the block. Needless to say the polo was cancelled as everyone fled for cover with only the lucky ones getting a taxi! Although a wet and cold outing, seeing the polo was a great experience! Buenos Aires was great city to visit although not good for the budget! There were many markets, good restaurants, tango, polo, nice meat and nice people (excluding taxi drivers!). Overall the city had a nice buzz and comes highly recommended!

Iguazu Falls: From BA we took a flight to Iguazu and from there a transfer to our campsite where we pitched up our tent. After spending lots of money in BA we felt camping was a good option to save some money. The campsite (recommended by Lonely Planet) was a bit run down and I wasn’t that impressed. A noisy dog kept us awake most nights, even though we wore ear plugs, and to top it off the showers were cold. Most of the tables were wonky and threatened to fall over any moment and some of the electrics were really dodgy. I guess you get what you pay for…

I hadn’t managde to get a visa for Brazil in BA as I only discovered when I got to the embassy that you have to book an appointment online. My only option was to get my visa from the small embassy in Puerto Iguazu. I got up early and set off with my stash of paperwork only to discover that South Africans don’t need a visa for Brazil! This is unheard of especially since Australians and Kiwis need visas. At least it was a great weight off my shoulders and we could happily look forward to a visit to the falls the next morning.

We left early the next morning to take a bus from outside our campsite to Iguazu National Park. The falls consist of various sections which can be reached by either walking along jungle paths or taking a little train. We first walked down to see the lower falls and were quick to see a Tucan and woodpecker with a crazy yellow mohican. We’d seen Tucans in a rescue centre but never in the wild before which made it even more special! What made the lower falls special for me was a vivid rainbow in the spray of one the many smaller waterfalls. Gillian nearly had a heart attack when a large lizard (that looked like a snake!) darted out of the forest near us. There were also many black urulus circling in the sky above the waterfalls preying on dead animals.

After visiting the lower falls we stopped for a coffee at one of the restaurants. Sitting outside was a very bad idea as a coati jumped on our coffee tray as soon as Gillian walked out of the restaurant. It managed to spill one of our coffees and run off with a sachet of sugar! The coaties are as cute as they are cheeky and we always had to keep a watchful eye on them so that they did not get a chance to steal our sandwiches. After the coati incident we walked to the upper falls which were very beautiful indeed. The boardwalks overlooked a whole series of very impressive waterfalls - there are a total of 275 waterfalls in Iguazu! At that point the paths were filled up with tourists and we made our early escape to avoid the stampede.

To get to the “Devils Throat” we boarded the train where we met a friendly Canadian guy called Don. He told us not to bother with the Niagara Falls when in Canada as he didn’t think they were anywhere near as impressive as Iguazu Falls. The Devils Throat was a fairly long walk along a boardwalk but so worth it! We were awed by the vast amounts of water thundering down over the edge creating a spray of water. The thunder was so loud we almost had to scream at each other! I can’t recommend highly enough a visit to the falls.

That was also our final day in Argentina and we had to, yes you guessed it, have another steak of course! We bumped into a French couple, Cedric and Stephanie, at the falls (who we had met before in Torres del Paine through Will). We invited them to have dinner with us at a recommended restaurant called El Quincho. I opted for chorizo sausage and crispy chinchulines for starters followed by a nice juicy bife de chorizo steak. All of this was washed down with a good bottle of red wine! Great food, great wine and great company. What a nice way to spend our last night in Argentina!  

Argentina has been my favourite country in South America so far. The steaks alone had the unfair advantage of trumping all the other countries although there were many other good things like the amazing Iguazu Falls, Perito Morino Glacier, good wines, outdoors activities and many more! 

Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=312123&id=749927742&l=716b1e9906