Tripping the Life Fantastic

Buenos Aires, Argentina (March 8-21) Evita Peron, and to a lesser extent her dearly-departed husband Juan, haunts the city of Buenos Aires. You can find her proudly beaming down at "her people" from the side of a skyscraper along the Carlos Pellegrini Avenue, which,at 20 lanes,is reputed to be the widest avenue in the world. Or you can visit her bones at the Duarte family's vault in the magnificently ornate Cemetario Recoleta. But perhaps best (or worst for those who hate all things Andrew Lloyd Webber ) you can simply take a stroll down the main pedestrian thoroughfare of Florida Street and hear the familiar ear-worm melody of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" being sung en Espanol or en Ingles. The one thing you can NOT do in Buenos Aires, however, is AVOID her! Buenos Aires clearly has its famous heroes. In addition to Peron, we have the likes of Carlos Gardel, the "King of Tango," Mr. "Hand of God" himself, Diego Maradona, and the ...

San Ignacio Miní, Argentina (March 5-7) San Ignacio Miní can be aptly summarized by quoting a truly rockin' reggae song by the band Inner Circle, "Girl, I want to make you sweat, sweat till you can't take no more..." I cannot remember a time or place where I have sweat as profusely as I did in this town. In San Ignacio, I could have foregone showers and simply bathed in my own perspiration! It was just so. so . so damn HOT ! Excuse me while I wipe my brow in remembrance. Phew. And this is coming from a gal who lived for 8 years in the United Arab Emirates where temperatures in the summertime reach 50 degrees celsius and the humidity a whopping 100%! But the crucial difference was that in San Ignacio, most places did not have air conditioning, so it was practically impossible to escape the heat. And yet, despite the relentless heat, humidity and hungry mosquitoes nibbling on any/all of my exposed extremities, I had a friggin' BLAST in San Ignacio! It is a ...

Puerto Igauzú, Argentina (March 2-5) When Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of the White House, first laid eyes upon the Iguazú Falls, she was reputed to have said, "Poor Niagara!" and frankly, I think she probably summed things up accurately. So yes, this entry is going to delve into my time visiting what was recently voted by Internet users worldwide as one of the "New 7 Natural Wonders of the World". But before I dive into the specifics of my visit to this incredible feat of Mother Nature, I have to get something off my chest. Feel free to skip the next paragraph if you wish to avoid the rantings of a dissatisfied Argentinian long-distance bus traveler... I had previously sworn backwards and forwards to myself that I would refrain from using this blog any further to slag off Argentinian buses, but I just can't help myself! You see I finally broke down and splurged on a "cami" ticket (rather than a semi -cami) for my bus journey from Salta t...

Salta, Argentina (Feb 26-March 1) It should go without saying that my bus journey from Mendoza to Salta was no cakewalk, but instead of reliving the ordeal by writing about it, I will simply say this...I boarded, endured hours upon hours of tedium and arrived unscathed. To my delight, Salta was akin to a good luck charm on a silver bracelet. The city itself was rather picturesque with its colonial architecture and surrounding green hills. It was big enough to offer a fine selection of boutiques, eclectic cafes and shops full of handmade curiosities, yet small enough that urban pollution (i.e. car exhaust fumes, bleating horns, smelly rubbish bins overflowing into the street, etc...) was insignificant. My first full day there was spent exploring the sights, albeit on a reduced scale as it just so happened to be a " major " Argentinian holiday- the bicentennial of their flag (excuse me while I try to suppress a chuckle) so most museums were closed as well as all public b...

Mendoza, Argentina (Feb 21-25) Way back when I was touring the Salt Flats of Bolivia, there were a couple of Argentinian gals in my tour group who hailed from Mendoza, and it became a running joke that Mendoza was pretty much the perfect place on Planet Earth. Their exuberant chorus-like refrain of "Whatever you want, you can find in Mendoza!" drew giggles from the rest of us actually. Naturally enough, my expectations were quite...errr... HIGH upon my visit. But you know, to be perfectly frank, I just wasn't that blown away by the place. It is in many ways a typical urban environment full of traffic, shops, noise, the smell of urine, and pedestrians. On the plus side, it is relatively clean and quite green with numerous squares and avenues adorned with tall trees. And yet...ehhh. However, I should make allowances for the fact that I am much more of a nature-loving gal and had just spent nearly a month in Patagonia, one of God's most awe-inspiring playgrounds ...