Argentina Trip 2008

I realize that it has been almost a year since our trip to Argentina.  Oddly enough, I still feel I can blog about the trip.  Go figure…..

It had been 8 years since I’d been in Buenos Aires when we landed.  The view of the neighborhoods off the hwy — they seemed the same — and there was a sense of falling into old patterns of comfort and familiarity.  Sadly, as Dad explained to Toni in the cab to the hotel, things were very much the same as ever:  economically un fracaso total.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same” is probably the best way to describe my feelings of the time we spent in Buenos Aires.  The city feels as familiar as my home town of Chapel Hill.  The distance between visits makes it hard to really land and know exactly where I am going (the way I used to), but I think Toni and I did fairly well in our days of wandering around (re)discovering the city.

I was very nervous before we went, wondering how Toni would feel about this country I love so much, and the people there that I love as well.  Fortunately, he seemed to enjoy it as much as I did, and wants to return to explore more.  In planning the trip I decided that we would go to one place from my travel abroad days (Iguazu Falls) and one place I had never been before (Peninsula Valdes).  The two side trips had a common theme “nature’s beauty and bounty” and highlighted the widely divergent geography of the country.  We went from tropical humidity to desert and cooler when we changed locales.

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls are on the border of Argentina and Brasil and I believe they more than earn their place as one of the modern natural marvels of the world.  Walking into the national park we immediately saw an amazing toucan.  It was just one of the first of many exciting sightings for the day.  Other animals:  a guinea pig, “falso coral” snake, coatis (the raccoons of the park, I saw them mug tourists for their food!), many butterflies, and lizards.  (I’m sure I’m missing more!).  We also came home with many images of mushrooms, and are pretty sure we saw some boletus.  This is all on top of the images of the falls themselves.  I thought it was pretty funny that I kept trying to remind Toni to look to the left side of the trail where the water was at first.  Pretty soon he was as hooked as I was at the sight of all that water rushing over those cliffs in a never ending stream.

We had to take a short break because of a torrential downpour after walking around the trails, but we did make it out to the Devil’s Throat (sadly, not before our camera battery died, so no pics).  The mist and power of the falling water are beyond words.  What I marveled at tho’, were the birds darting around in the splash and spray — these delicate creatures were making their home in the falls!  Walking back, I read a plaque that told me the ruined walkway that had been washed away in a flood was the walkway I had used when I had visited the park back in 1990.  It was a reminder of time passing and the power of a river that I thought was already pretty impressive.

We did not have a lot of time, so skipped the view from the Brasilian side of the falls, but I did take a short walk from our hotel to snap a picture of the Tres Fronteras — the spot where you can see Argentina, Brasil, and Paraguay.  The next day we had the morning to tour before flying out, but the heavens opened with a deluge of rain so strong you couldn’t see very far outside the door of the hotel.  I was VERY glad we had seen as much as we had the day before!

Our next stop, Estancia La Ernestina on the northern tip of Peninsula Valdes.  I can’t say enough about this guest house.  Itis a working sheep farm with a few rooms.  The owner, Juan, acts as your guide and takes you out to see the many animals that live on the estancia (in addition to the sheep).  All meals are included in the cost of housing.  Yes, it is a desert region, so water is at a premium, and the lights at night come from a generator that is turned off on the early side if you are a night owl, but the people we met there were warm and open — what I like about traveling in Argentina a little off the beaten path.  Juan is mad about Orcas, and there is a resident group he studies in collaboration with scientists.  We spent a large portion of the day following them (Mel is the big star, you can see him hunting on you tube if you google La Ernestina — warning, it can be graphic.)

The big bull elephant seal

It was an amazing few days.  We got to see Guanacos, Maras, Lesser Rheas, Orcas, Right Whales, Elephant Seals, Sea Lions, Magellanic Penguins, any number of other birds I should know.  I’ve included what we call our “money shot” of the bull elephant seal roaring with a wave crashing behind his head.  And yes, we were very close to him.  Part of the perks of sitting with someone who knows the animals that visit his land, and sitting with a very small group.

The one disappointment from this part of the trip was that our one day to get out on the water and closer to the Right Whales did not happen because the wind was blowing too strongly.

We wrapped up our trip with a few more days in Buenos Aires before flying home to San Francisco.

I’ll leave you with a package of me sitting in front of the statue of San Martin — I used to play on this statue when I was a kid living on Carlos Pellegrini.

me sitting in front of the statue of San Martin, where I used to play as a kid.