Matthew's web log

We have an all day trip throughout Misiones Provence for three separate stops.  First we visit the Wanda Mine, then the primary stop at the Jesuit mission of San Ignacio Miní, and finally the maté factory.

The mission is by far the highlight.  The reddish sandstone beautifully compliments the green grass and blue sky.  The current structure dates from the l690s.  It was abandoned by the Jesuits in the late 1700s.  The jungle took it over and it was rediscovered around 1900.  Unlike the Spanish conquistadors or other European explorers, the Jesuits converted the natives in peaceful, non-violent ways.  The Jesuits learned the native languages and slowly started interacting with the locals (who are the Guarani).  Knowledge was shared and at one point there were about 6,000 people living at this particular mission. 

Our guide is very knowledgeable and I’m fascinated about how a few Spanish speaking priests were able to get the whole thing going. After touring the mission, our tour group makes a brief stop at a maté tea factory which is mildly interesting, although I take a short snooze during the video portion of the tour.  Finally, we return to town where we have an enjoyable dinner with a British couple who was on our tour.

Pictures from today are here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/ArgentinaDec2011/Day%205,%20San%20Ignacio%20Min%C3%AD/index.html

Iguazú Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the world.  It’s composed of about 275 separate waterfalls and straddles the border of Brazil and Argentina.  Our initial plan for today was a morning trip to the Brazil side of the falls and then an afternoon trip to the Argentina side.  Brazil requires US citizens to obtain a visa, but we were led to believe by multiple sources that visits of a few hours were a grey area.   While technically required, no visa was normally needed for such a short visit.  It turned out that the information was incorrect and we were denied entry into Brazil.  We walked back from the Brazil checkpoint to the Argentina checkpoint (about 1.5 miles in hot, humid weather), and re-entered the country we left a short while ago.  We had managed to leave a country, but not enter a new one (at least in the passport sense).

We walk into Puerto Iguazú and catch the bus to the falls.  While getting bounced from Brazil was annoying, it really just cost us a couple hours time and a walk in the sun.  We arrived at the National Park in Argentina, paid our entrance fee (at the usual “rich foreigner fee” that is much higher than for locals), and we’re on our way.

Iguazú Falls can only be described as amazing.  It’s many big waterfalls and a few huge waterfalls.  We spend the rest of the day (right up until closing time of the park) exploring the upper and lower loops, San Martin Island, and the train to El Diablo del Gargantua (Devil’s Throat) which is the centerpiece of the huge waterfall.  We can see the viewpoints on the Brazil side, too.  To top it off, on one of the trails, we saw some toucans, baby coatis, and my personal favorite, the monkey.  By the time we get back to the hotel, we are beyond hot and sweaty.  A quick dip in the hotel pool is fantastic (and the temperature is around my pool optimum of 87 degrees) before we clean up and have dinner in the hotel.

Pictures from today’s adventure are here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/ArgentinaDec2011/Day%204,%20Iguazu%20Falls/index.html

We make use of the morning to pack up our stuff and again wander around near our hotel.  The Plaza de Mayo is much more crowded today and we wander past it to some other government buildings, monuments, and churches.

Our time in Buenos Aires is drawing to a close for now, and we return to the hotel to get our bags, check out and go to the domestic airport (Buenos Aires has a large international airport south of the city center and a smaller airport for mainly domestic and regional flights closer to the middle of town).  The airport is not nearly as smooth and organized as US airports, but we arrive in Puerto Iguazú safely and take an airport shuttle to our hotel. 

The hotel is outside of town so we get some exercise walking in to the town of Puerto Iguazú.  Puerto Iguazú is on the border with Brazil and also near the border with Paraguay.  The primary tourism center is where we are staying since it is tourism focused and safe, unlike the other two. 

While in town, we book a tour for Wednesday to visit the remains of a 17th century Jesuit Mission and then have dinner at a restaurant (Aqva) that was recommended in several guide books.   The recommendation is well earned and the food is very good.  After dinner we walk back to our hotel for tomorrow we have a full day visiting Iguazú Falls. 

Today’s photos are here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/ArgentinaDec2011/Day%203,%20Buenos%20Aires/index.html

Nearly everything is closed today, so our travel agent wisely recommended we book a day trip out of town.  We go to visit the Pampas (grassland area, outside of Buenos Aires) to see the Argentine Cowboys, known as Gauchos.   We visit a farm and see the gauchos.  It’s very touristy, but with limited choices today, it was fine.  We take a ten minute horseback ride around the farm and visit the small museum.  There is then a lengthy meal (an asado) of various grilled meats.  L’ gets pasta while I enjoy my first taste of excellent Argentine beef.  We talk with a couple of guys from Puerto Rico who are pleasant and speak English (it seemed as if most people on the tour did not). 

After lunch, there’s some music and tango dancing.  This is followed by the demonstration of a gaucho skill of called “La carrera de Sortija”.  This trick involves racing on your horse and trying to grab a small hanging metal ring with a small stick as you race underneath it.   It was fun to see and certainly appeared to be challenging.  We had a little more time after the demonstration, but then it was time to board the bus and return to Buenos Aires.

Since we got a little dusty, we take showers and then track down a kosher restaurant so L’ can try the kosher version of the local beef.  We’re off to the Palermo section of Buenos Aires which we reach by a short taxi ride.  We stop at a park with the hope of seeing the menorah lighting, but no one is in sight.  Since we’re hungry, we go to the restaurant for dinner.  Without an English menu, determining the steaks is a bit hard, but the limited English of one of the waiters helps enough.  The steaks were fair and I continue to wonder why the kosher steaks I grill at home are always much better than ones in restaurants (see, I’ve earned the grillmaster title that’s on my apron). 

I make an ice cream stop on the walk back to the main street where we then catch a cab and return to our hotel.  Tomorrow we’re off to Iguazú Falls.

View the photos from the Pampas here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/ArgentinaDec2011/Day%202,%20The%20Pampas/index.html#

Because we were flying Delta, our trip was less direct than it could have been as we had to fly through Atlanta.  Delta must have thought I really missed the Atlanta airport since our flight to ATL was rescheduled to leave almost an hour earlier than when we booked it and our flight to Buenos Aires left an hour late.  We had almost six hours in the airport during which we had lots of food and even got massages.  Buenos Aires is two hours ahead of the East Coast of the US, but is a ten hour flight from AT which combined with the time in the airport, made for a long travel day.

We arrived in Buenos Aires in the morning and met our driver to go to our hotel.  Luckily, the room was ready so we could check in and clean up after about 24 hours of travel.  We then walked to nearby Plaza de Mayo, home of the Casa Rosada, where the president works (and Evita’s balcony).  We also take in the other buildings around the square, including the monument to Argentine Independence.  The weather is near perfect and not the hot sticky conditions we were lead to believe occurred in summer (and which we would experience on our return to Buenos Aires at the end of our vacation).  We wander around Florida St. (not named for the state) and its many shops and trinkets for sale.

After a pizza lunch, we explore other parts of the city like Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world (supposedly) at 12 lanes of traffic.  There are various monuments to see and we make it to the Plaza del Congresso to see the legislative branch of government.  We take in the various statues and architecturally interesting buildings en route. 

For a snack on the way back to the hotel, we eat at Gran Café Tortoni , the oldest such place in the city, dating from 1858.  I order a milkshake which seems to have almost no ice cream, but is still good.  As most museums are closed, we return to the hotel for some naps. 

Feeling refreshed, we then search for a dinner place.  While the man in the hotel this morning said everything would be open it (which seemed surprising), it turns out that almost nothing is open.  We finally track down a Chinese place that’s not too far and not ten times the price of what dinner should be.  It was more of a big buffet, but at that point we couldn’t be picky.  Finally, having had dinner, we’re ready to get some sleep and be ready for tomorrow’s trip to the Pampas.

View the photos of our travel and arrival in Buenos Aires here:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/ArgentinaDec2011/Day%201,%20Buenos%20Aires/index.html#