Argentina

BUENOS AIRES

We arrived in Buenos Aires on the 15th of February and felt instantly at home in this most European of cities. It was also a relief to be back in a Spanish speaking country having spent a month trying to decipher Portuguese in vain.

In Buenos Aires we were joined for the Argentinian leg of the journey by Rob's sister Britta, who promises to write a more candid account of our travels in Argentina than has been published to date.

When in Buenos Aires it would have been criminal to miss a tango lesson, so we slipped on our dancing shoes and went to an old school dance hall which was packed to the rafters with people from 18 to 80. After a quick demonstration to whet the appetite, we were herded into the beginners section and got to grips with the basic steps. The dance instructors were incredible, and it was great to see so many locals learning tango for the first time. As all the nightclubs are closed because of the tragic New Years fire, many younger Porte?os are looking to tango for entertainment as an alternative for fun.

Every so often you were supposed to change partners, meeting, greeting and stepping on the feet of the locals, but the lack of both dancing skills and copious amounts of alcohol tempered our bravery so myself and Britta tangoed around the floor trying to avoid the mercurial dancing of Rob and his partner. Hopefully this lesson will save many women from the twirly dancing that has characterised both myself and Rob's dancing efforts to date. Apologies to those who have had to endure our pre-tango days...

A highlight of our stay here has to be gorging on the most fabulous steaks that we has ever tasted. For about 7 Euro you get a huge fillet steak cooked to perfection on an open grill. There is no bone, no fat, no grizzle; just a big lump of the most tender meat you could possibly imagine. Throw in a bottle of Merlot and you are swiftly approaching heaven. To complement the culinary pleasures, the cafe culture in the city is a delight, very similar to French and Italian coffee houses, complete with waiters dolled up in penguin suits.

While in the city we visited the marvellous Theatro Colon, one of the most beautiful Opera houses in the world. The auditorium has one of the top 5 acoustics in the world and we discovered how this was achieved while one a tour of the whole place.

While in BA we met up with a few Cork lads that we knew from Rio. We decided to build on the Maracana football experience and went to watch Boca Juniors play away to San Lorenzo. We decided it would be best to stand in the terraces with the home supporters and were rewarded with a 3-0 win. The atmosphere was electric, the fans just as passionate about their team as in Brazil.

URUGUAY

As it was so close, we decided to take a short trip over the River to Uruguay. We got the ferry to Colonia de Sacramento which dates back to the 1680's and hasn't changed much since. It is a sleepy little town, with cobbled streets and lovely old houses. After another steak and bottle of wine we ambled around the streets for a few hours, taking in the scenery and letting the meal digest.

From there we got the bus to the capital, Montevideo, where we were lucky enough to stumble across the street carnival which takes place at this time of year. While nothing on Brazil, it was nice to sit out till the small hours sipping a beer and watching the world go by. Montevideos old market building by the port houses also has the most wonderful array of open steak houses crammed into a tiny area. All around us there were people singing local tunes accompanied by accordion players and the like. This time went for a grilled chicken breast, and a the local variety of black pudding, which is the usual blood pudding infused with orange peel and walnut, much sweeter than what we are used to... delicious.

The next morning we travelled onwards to the resort of Punta del Este for a welcome day on the beach. Punta is very popular with both Brazilians and Argentinians and the peninsula enjoys both a secluded cove stretching 10km and the wilds of the Atlantic waves on the other side. In the evening our quest to find some refreshment was particularly arduous, but after about and hour and a half, we eventually found one with live music and settled in there for the night.

IGUAZU

Although not originally part of the plan (plan ??), we were convinced by many fellow travellers that the Iguazu Falls could not be missed. Time was running short though and I was weary of sleepless nights on 18 hour bus journeys, so we compromised and chose to get the bus up and fly back. As it turned out, the bus journey was the most comfortable of our entire trip, and the complimentary glass of champagne after dinner helped me sleep solidly for the entire journey.

We arrived in a fabulous hostel with a massive swimming pool, an added bonus that was gratefully received given the heat and humidity of the region. Having little time to explore the area, we concentrated on the Argentinian side of the Park. We went straight out to the falls and spent a good few hours taking in the views from every available vantage point. The national park is very well organised and maintained, complete with a little gas train which chugs along from one point to the next. A highlight of the park is a speedboat ride right into the heart of one of the falls. As you can imagine, we got thoroughly soaked, but emerged from the impenetrable mist with grinning from ear to ear, eager to go under again. The falls are about 2.5 km long and 75 m high at the highest point. The most spectacular view is certainly that of the Devils Throat, a huge cascade of water which marks the boundary between Argentina and Brazil.

USHUAIA

After a night back in Buenos Aires we hopped on another plane down to Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world. The local tourist office was very helpful, suggesting a plethora of the most southerly things we could do in the area... play golf (certificate included), hop on a boat, or even take a trip on the magnificent "train del fin del mondo". It was actually quite a pretty place, which had the stark beauty of a small coastal town in the west of Ireland. It certainly quite similar. The icy wind took a bit of getting used to after 6 months in the sun. I now can relate to those Spanish language students who clog the streets of Dublin in the height of summer dressed up in fleeces. 2 degrees feels much colder when you are used to 25. A large part of our time there was spent in cafes sipping on delicious hot chocolate's. Our quest to board a cruise ship to Antarctica will have to wait for another time... all the cheap seats were long taken, and to be honest, we would have needed more time.

We did venture out on a few occasions and walked up to the foot of the Martial Glacier behind the city. Unfortunately the weather prevented us from reaching the glacier itself, but we did get to have our first snowball fight of the trip, which ended im a score draw. We also took a day trip on a boat down the Beagle channel to the (most southerly) Harberton Ranch, stopping off to see sea lions, seals, penguins and cormorants on the way. We even saw a few killer whales, which is rare around those parts.

CALAFATE and EL CHALTEN

From Ushuaia we flew to El Calafate, and one of the sights I was looking forward to the most of the whole trip, the Perito Moreno Glacier. We travelled with a gang of about 20 along the dirt roads to reach the National Park, stopping along the way to look at the wildlife of the area. The national Park covers an area of 600,000 hectares. Among the 356 glaciers, Perito Moreno is the most outstanding one, having a front of 5 km long and a height of over 60 meters above the level of the water. We finally arrived at the viewing points, one more spectacular than the next. The glacier winds from the South Patagonian Ice Field for 80 km through the cordillera until it comes to an end in a blue-ice wall fronting onto Lago Argentina.

Every few minutes we turned to hear the thunderous sound of huge chucks of ice tearing away from the glacier and plunging into the lake below. We sat for hours trying to guess which slab of ice would fall next, predictably guessing wrong each time. We went hiking in the area and took a boat trip on the lake to get a bit closer to the glacier.

The food in Calafate was also excellent, and between us we sampled mouthwatering steak in filo pastry, hare in wine sauce, Patagonian lamb stew and many other culinary delights.

After a couple of days we took a bus a few hours north to El Chalten, a bleak little frontier town which didn't exist 20 years ago. Its existence is solely due to the wonderful trekking opportunities available in the northern end of the Glacier National Park. We duly donned our gear and set off in the rain one our first of 2 treks, to Lago Torre. The trek itself was quite enjoyable, even if it rained for most of the journey. The lake itself was unremarkable and the dirty glacier which provided its water was not up to much.

Thankfully we had saved the best till last, and set off the next morning on the more challenging 8 hour trail to Lago Tres, which boasted spectacular views of Fitzroy mountain. There is only so much you can say about walking through forests, along picturesque lakes, and up rather steep hills, so best to say you should come and see it all for yourself. We had planned to continue our trekking adventure into Chile and visit the famous Torres del Paine National Park, but unfortunately some foolish camper set the place on fire with his stove and about 10% of it was reduced to smoldering ashes. They closed many of the trails so we just cut our losses and didn't bother. Another time !

Back to Buenos Aires where we were kindly invited to stay with Will, who had survived the Bolivian Jungle and rented an apartment in Buenos Aires for a couple of months. A veteran of these parts from previous adventures, he introduced us to the best steakhouse we are ever likely to come across, "Cabana Las Lilas". If you are ever in Buenos Aires, you must go there. Throw in a swanky bar afterwards where the beautiful people of BA hung out, and we were happily dancing the night away until about 5am.