Esteros del Ibera

Don't Step in There
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

After spending 5 days in Iguazu, we decided to head out to the “Misiones” province to check out some famous Jesuit ruins. (San Ignacio being the most well-known) It was a bit of a surprise to come across the ruins, they were quite elaborate with beautifully carved entrance archways and huge “longhouses” built from rock and used to house the natives in the mission. We learned that Portuguese Jesuits entered this part of Argentina (along with bordering Paraguay and Brazil) in the early 1600’s. The ruins are like nothing you’d see in Canada as they were built from volcanic rock “bricks” and other mineral sources.

The native people are called Guarani, and while there are still some full blooded villages in existence to this day, their population has downsized considerably. Many of the people in this region are mixed blood (or Mestiso) which is a mix of European and Guarani. (Believe I’m getting this right).

The next day we made a beeline to a town called Mercedes where we hoped to have the opportunity to visit the Argentinian Wetlands Esteros Del Ibera. The weather was cold and we were glad to have packed the long johns for this part of the trip! Camping was out of the question (most campgrounds are closed for the season and only offer cold water, brrr!). We holed up instead in a great little hostel called Delices Del Ibera and arranged a trip into the swamps.

Another set-back, out little car would NEVER make it on the gravel roads to the base camp Carlos Pellegrini. We needed to travel about 150 km directly into the swamp to get to the national park border. So along with our new travel buddy Adam, we arranged for a “collectivo” (mini bus) to take us in. It took us 3 hours to cross that distance, but it was well worth it!

We arrived in Carlos Pelligrinni at about 4 pm and were immediately greeted by an older gentleman (Martine) and 3 horses. We rode into the sunset while taking in the countryside. The town only has about 1000 inhabitants, 1 grocery store and 1 restaurant (both of which were run out of people’s homes I believe). It had a true provincial feel to it. We took a walk down the main road and were greeted by people on horses (the main mode of transportation here). There were also random horses and cows grazing along the side of the road seemingly with no owners as well as chickens and (yipee!) guinea pigs!

In the morning we went for a hike through the forest bordering the swamp and were surprised to find out they have monkeys! (very very loud monkeys!) There were also millions of birds stopping to check us out. Later in the day, once the sun came out and it warmed up, we went out on a boat to check out the floating islands and were thrilled to get up close (we could almost touch them!) to the swamp deer, capybaras and caymen. These three animals have no natural predators in the swamplands (besides man) therefore were not afraid of us…A capybara waddled right past us for a juicy grass mound when we stepped out onto one of the islands!

And so after our two exciting days on the swamp, we’re back on the road heading back to Buenos Aires to drop off the rental car and catch our flight back to Santiago. No worries parents, we’re on the job and apartment hunt now!

In the Jungle

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

It was a great time in Iguazu. I wanted to put a link up to for our pictures from the last five days here. There’s a ton! I edited some but everything is just so spectacular most of them I just left up.

I don’t really know what to say about Iguazu falls other than awesome....It was a once in a lifetime experience seeing these wonders.

We are heading back to Beunos Aires now but plan on having one more adventure before we do. We’ll write soon!

Along the Rio Uruguay

Banks of the Rio Uruguay
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

We hit the road on Friday. The guys at Alamo were helpful giving us easy to understand directions out of Buenos Aires and onto the main road north over the River de la Plate and into the country. Like any country it was nice to see land outside the big city.

Day 1 - We headed into the Parque de Palmas, a natural palm “oasis” (or savannah to be technical) where we set up camp for the night. After slaving over pasta on the MSR stove (Sean tells me that’s the “gear” term for all you nerdy camp nuts) we didn’t realize night had hit. Two capybaras (or Carpinchos in spanish) were standing just outside of the camp light and waddled into the underbrush (Donnie, that one’s for you).

There are also these really cute giant chinchillas that squeak at each other all night, they’re called Vizcacha (no pics, they only come out at night and run VERY fast!).

Days 2 and 3 - Next stop, Yapayu! This little town had a great provincial feel to it with dusty red dirt roads and horses parked at street corners. Yapayu is set right in the middle of farming country on Rio Uruguay, all you hear when you stand in the town square is chirping crickets, dogs barking and cows mooing.

Yapayu is the birthplace of Liberator San Martin, a prominent political hero in Argentina. We wandered through the old ruins, and then went for a walk on the main streets of the town. Living here is very modest, homes are small and most people keep gardens to grow their own fruits and veggies.

Monday we left Yapeyu for provincia Misiones. The roads got worse but the scenery was much better. We were out of farm/ranch land and into the sub-tropics! Around 2:00 that afternoon we were gridlocked by farmers on strike. They are upset by the unfair prices they are getting for their crops and blocked the two main highways accessing the province to bring attention to their fight.

While chatting with other stuck motorists we were recommended an alternate route to keep us on our way. So we back tracked a few miles and took a winding roller coaster of a road to another small road that snaked up the banks of the Rio Uruguay. It was slow going but the scenery was just great and there were hardly any other cars on the road! We ended up that day in a wet and muddy city called El Soberbio. We holed up in a cheap hotel and had an early night to recoup for our drive deep into the jungle and Puerto Iguazu the next day.

Food in Buenos Aires

Aregentina Breakfast
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

Well here we are in Buenos Aires, Argentina everyone! The bus ride from Mendoza was long but luxurious (we got to play bingo on the bus for the grand prize, a bottle of wine!). We arrived Saturday May 12 and have now had a few days to walk around the city trying to take in as much as we can. Our Spanish is improving every day!

There are 13 million people here and with all the apartments from the outskirts to the downtown core it’s no wonder. The architecture is old and European influenced and the streets are cafe friendly. Yerba Mate is the Argentine coffee used to aid in night life (it’s something like a strong loose-leaf green tea loaded with caffeine, you drink it through a straw). The party usually doesn’t get started until after 2 am and wraps when most start their work day. We don’t have any picks of this night life (although Sean did fall in with the wrong crowd one night...see photo link), but follow the link from photos for our shots from around town which include Recoleta Cemetery! We’ve also tried including some food and drink pics for all interested. The food portions are big but the menu isn’t too different from home. We are going to a regional food restaurant tomorrow night and bringing the camera. I’m not ordering any guinea pig!
The beers are also big! 750 and 900 mL big! 3$ Cdn at a restaurant or diner and even cheaper at the grocery store!

Paula and I really like El Sol Hostel we’re staying in and decided to extend our stay till the end of the week. This gives us more time to take in the streets and prepare for our big adventure to Iguazu Falls. We are renting a car for a couple of weeks to do some camping and get off the beaten track. It’s a long haul between Buenos Aires and Iguazu and we want to give ourselves enough time to relax and enjoy the land along the way. Check Wiki.com and you’ll see why we can’t pass up the chance to take this trip north.

So...you might not here from us for a few days, but don’t worry we will be taking care and taking care of each other. Hopefully we can get some pictures of our road trip out to you along the way!

Goat for Dayle

Goat for Dayle
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

Dayle you asked for them so here you go...goats and other animals.
Check out this Mendoza link for some pictures of zoo animals and other areas of this high altitude border town of Argentina.
Randy we’re still working on some food pics, but in the meantime there’s a couple restaurant shots for you in the Mendoza set.

We’re on our way to Buenos Aires for a few days folks...
Have a great weekend!

Donde Argentina?

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

After a few conversations with fellow hostelers over a few bottles of wine, we decided to make a change in our plans and cross over to the Argentina border town of Mendoza. We hopped onto a double decker bus at 11:00 am and sat ourselves at the very front, top floor.

Driving through the Chilean countryside is incredible! The scenery is very similar to what you might see in Colorado and Arizona. Very dry, scarce brush and plenty of cactus standing taller than us. The sun beat down on the arid landscape as we drove past cattle ranches and small dusty towns. The scenery started to change the closer we got to the mountains, passing through valleys with vineyards and small streams.

Then the scary stuff! Sitting at the front of a double decker with a first hand view of the scenery is incredible, until you hit the switch-backs just before the Argentina border! Then you get a first hand view of the sharp drop-offs at each turn and the sheer gutsiness of the South American bus drivers! (check out the photos)

But once you get over the pass, it’s just amazing mountain scenery, glaciers and old railway tracks by dried river beds. A cowboy’s paradise!

Surf and Sun

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

Hi folks., we really enjoyed our first weekend in Santiago walking the vibe and taking in the streets,..It’s a great city and we both decided that we really like it here....
That being said we headed for the coast on Monday. We met a girl at our hostel from Brazil who also wanted to see Valparaiso and Vina del Mar so we packed our bags with wine, cheese, bread, flan and caught a bus for the Pacific.
It was such a beautiful day...not a cloud in the sky.
Check out our pictures of the surf. Vina del Mar is the place you should all use as an excuse to come and visit us!

Around Town

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

We spent the day doing a tour of the city. The weather was overcast all morning but the sun came out and made for a great day of walking around. Above is a picture of Paula from high atop Cerro Santa Lucia in the heart of Santiago.

Check out the photo page and the movie page for a look at what we happened upon at the Plaza de Armas....

10 Hours of Flight!

Santiago, May 2007
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

We touched down today at 11am Chile time. Very nice flight down into Santiago. Very much like google earth. The terrain looks so dry with mountains and Pacific coast in distance.

Sean enjoyed the taxi ride downtown to our hostel picking out all the motorbikes on the road. There are really a lot of bikes on the road, the temperatures are fine for riding still(and probably year round) so it’s really a practical way to get around.

The city itself has a European feel to it like Spain or Italy. We walked around our neighborhood after a short nap and had dinner at a nice restaurant named Patagonia.