BoliviaArgentinaTidbitssafe 4wd desert travelX-rays
and airport scannerscheck your camera on tourSetting
goalsThis does not attempt to be a comprehensive guide to Argentina. Included here are a few morsels of information that I've discovered in the course of my travels. Popular destinations like Bariloche and Mendosa are not mentioned only because I have not yet visited them.
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Language
A peculiar and very strong dialect of Spanish is spoken in Argentina.
The ll sound is pronounced like a "J" in English whereas
in other dialects of Spanish, it is pronounced like a "Y".
Words beginning with a Y are pronounced with a "J" sound
eg the personal pronoun " Yo " is pronounced to sound
like the English name "JOE"
Currency &
Economy
1 Peso = US$0.30
Since the collapse of the currency, Argentina has
Costs
Clean economy rooms cost about $15 in most places with some locations
such as Buenos Aeres and some resort areas costing much more.
For more elegant surroundings prices rise sharply from the economy
rate.
Meals can cost anything from a couple of dollars up depending on where you go. The continental style food in Argentina is excellent as are many of the red wines and I tend to splurge a bit at meal times. If you are a vegetarian in Argentina you may have to look around quite a bit for restaurants with good vegetarian food.
Buenos Aeres
Airport
The international airport is located 35km from the city. For the
independent traveller, the Manuel Tienda bus service is hard to
beat at $15 each way. A taxi will cost $30-50 depending on how
hard you haggle. For an individual, it is simply not worth the
bother. The bus is comfortable, safely driven and most importantly
air-conditioned. The bus terminal is located just around the corner
from the budget hotel mentioned below. Oncejust once I used the
public bus system to get to the airport. I had more than three
hours to spare before my flight departed. Had my flight departed
on schedule, I would have missed the flight. The public bus took
2.5 hrs to reach the airport standing most of the way. Pay the
$15.
Accommodation in Buenos Aeres
A moderately priced clean, decent and convenient place to stay
in Buenos Aeres is the Hotel Central Cordoba on San Martin 1021/23.
It is just two minutes walk from the airport shuttle and it cost
about US$38/50 with shared bathroom per night in 1998. All the
staff are very friendly and the rooms small but clean & comfortable.
Cataratas Iguazu
These are the most stunning beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen.
I've heard that Victoria falls are as stunning and by comparison,
Niagara Falls don't even rate as worthy of a mention on this web
site. The Falls are located in the Missiones region of Argentina
and straddle the border of Brazil and Argentina. It is definitely
worth seeing the falls from both sides of the border. I have had
the privilege of spending four days at the falls on two occasions
and enjoyed both visits immensely. On the Brazilian and Argentinian
sides, you can walk through rainforest, along riverbanks, stand
in the spray and in the blasting air of some of the largest water
flows. You can take boat rides to the edge and back again. I've
found nature photography easier on the Argentine side as there
is less traffic, less people and more accessible forest. The Brazilian
side has helicopter rides that may be stopped in the near future.
From the Brazilian side you can get a better overall view of the
falls whereas from the Argentinian side, you can get in amongst
it. Both are well worth experiencing. There is a hotel at the
falls on the Argentina side of the falls. Given that it is only
a 20 minute bus ride from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina and Foz de
Iguazu, Brazil to the falls, there isn't much incentive to pay
out the US$150+ per night to stay at the falls. One incentive
for photographer's to stay there is that you can't get into the
falls before about 8.00 am entering by bus whereas hotel guests
can be out at dawn. There is a Brazilian Embassy in Puerto Iguazu
but I recommend that you get visa's if required before you leave
home. On the occasion that I used it, it was slow and they wasted
a lot of our time deliberately. The consular staff were quite
rude. By comparison, the Embassy of Brazil right here in Canberra
was just the opposite. Fast efficient and polite. Never again!
Peninsula Valdez
Peninsula Valdez boasts the world's biggest Penguin colony at
Punta Tombo as well as impressive colonies of Elephant Seals and
Seal lions. At certain times of the year, migratory whale watching
is possible. Christmas / New Year is not the right time. Most
people stay in Puerto Madryn. I stayed with friends so I can't
recommend any hotels. The restaurants are excellent and I recommend
you try different ones each night as they have quite varied menus.
Back to table of contents
Ushuaia & Los Glaciares NP
Accessed via the town of El Calefate. If your time is limited
and you are dividing your precious time between Ushuaia and Los
Glaciares NP, I recommend the following. If you are the type of
tourist who likes to take guided tours with little walking, spend
most of your time in Ushuaia and just one full day in El Calefate
to do the Moreno Glacier tour. If you are an active person and
want to hike, spend your time in Los Glaciares NP and only visit
Ushuaia if you have plenty of time. There are good walks around
Ushuaia but if you have to choose due to limited time, the Fitzroy/
Cerro Torre base camps walk in Los Glaciares is much more stunning.
Don't attempt this walk unless you are reasonably fit and equipped
to camp in cold weather( read my Los Glaciares story when it is
ready). Allow yourself a couple of days at each as there are frequent
clouds covering the mountaintops. Get up at 4 am and you might
have a better chance of seeing the peaks.
Salta & Jujuy
These regions deserve much more description than I am able to
give them here. These relatively poor regions of Argentina are
located in the north west and the landscapes are dominated by
views of multiply coloured mountain ranges. The famous "tren
a las nubes" or "train to the clouds" departs from
Salta. You must book 1-2 months in advance to get a seat. The
capitals Salta and San Salvador de Jujuy are wonderful old colonial
towns that have a lot of character. On my way to Bolivia, rather
than booking a direct bus ticket to La Quiaca, I caught a series
of local buses stopping in a string of little towns between SS
de Jujuy and La Quiaca. Those that I found especially rewarding
were Humahuaca, Tilcara and Tres Cruces. At Tres Cruces, I asked
the guards at the customs checkpoint if they could watch my luggage
and they kindly locked my backpack in a jail cell while I went
walking among the almost surreal rock formations in the hills
behind the town. Likewise, I enjoyed short over night stays in
Tilcara and Humahuaca.
