Argentina – July/August 2008

OK, so after being told a few too many times to get back to it, I’m writing a BRIEF update of my time in Argentina…

On our way to Buenos Aires (BA), my fellow auditors and I (total of 5 – 4 girls and 1 poor guy) decided to go to Patagonia for the weekend. The Chilean side was cheaper, so that’s where we went. Of course we didn’t take into account a heft $135 reciprocity fee that Chile nails you with when you arrive at the airport. That was a fun little surprise. The good thing is that it’s valid for the life of your passport, so if you have a new one like me – I have 10 years to go back! I actually intend to because after spending one weekend in Santiago, I decided that I wanted to see more of Chile.

Patagonia was beautiful! It reminded me of a mixture between Switzerland and Alaska. We got a package deal, so we went to the following places:
Flew into Puntas Arenas
Drove to Puerto Natales (stayed overnight)
Drove to Torres del Paine National Park

The only unfortunate thing is that we went during their “winter season” (our summer time), which has very few tourists, and most things are closed. Specifically, we wanted to go to a Penguin Colony, but it’s only open for a few months of the year.

One side note in Patagonia…be careful what you eat! I’m a little too adventurous and without even realizing that I may not be ordering something appropriate, I got SERIOUSLY sick on some calamari my last night in Patagonia. It probably wasn’t cooked properly, but I’ve never been so sickly in my life….I couldn’t sleep and I could barely function. I also had to deal with this lovely feeling almost the entire Sunday when I had to fly back to BA.

We arrived in BA only to find it cold and rainy…again thanks to the wonderful planning in our department – I missed my summer in Chicago for winter in BA.

My stomach was still a little sensitive, so I kept my eating pretty light despite my urge to get a nice juicy steak…after all, that is what Argentina is known for!

My former roommate Kristin paid me a visit for my first week out there. The first time anyone’s come to visit me on an audit! It was really nice because she’s extremely self-sufficient and planned her entire trip and daytime activities on her own.
Plus, I got some company when I came home from work every day!

Overall, I have to say that my time in BA was a little disappointing for several reasons.
1 – my expectations were entirely too high.
2 – I was disappointed in the food. I think partly because of expectations, but also because we were located close to Puerto Madero. A VERY touristy area with overpriced food that wasn’t really worth it.
3 – the weather pretty much sucked the entire time we were there. I have to say that the one weekend that we actually stayed in BA, the weather was nice and sunny and not too cold, so we explored some of the city and actually found some good places to eat and people watch.
4 – I’m not a night-person and these guys go out WAY too late! Turns out that most people don’t even START going out until 2am. Now after eating a late dinner at 9pm, coming back around 11pm – I still have 3 hours before going out? Obviously I fell asleep and didn’t even make it out the door.
5 – I’ve heard how cheap things are in Argentina and how great the shopping is, but I was also disappointed in that. Due to inflation, things weren’t really that cheap and the quality of the clothes and styles didn’t really appeal to me.
6 – There was some drama with a couple fellow co-workers, which definitely didn’t help my mood.

All in all, I might go back to Argentina, but only to explore other parts of the country.

I was pleasantly surprised by Chile though! Santiago in particular had a great night scene! I didn’t really eat out there so I’m not sure about the quality of the food, but they make some great Pisco Sours! – drinks native to Chile

We went to a little winery (very touristy but lots of fun) called Concha y Toro.
If we had more time (and money), I would’ve liked to go skiing as well, but I guess that’s what I’ll do when I go back to Chile within the next 10 years!

My last weekend in Argentina was by-far my favorite…Iguazu.
Iguazu borders 3 countries: Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

We stayed on the Argentinean side since you need a visa to go to the Brazilian side (even though I’ve heard you can get there without it for a day)
Of course the first day we were there the weather was cloudy and drizzling, but day 2 was gorgeous!! The clouds parted enough to give us some faint rainbows while we walked along the paths to take pictures from various angles of the waterfalls. They were definitely the most massive waterfalls I’d ever seen!

We stayed in Iguazu (Puerto Iguazu to be exact) for 2 days/2 nights…in a hostel. I have to admit, my first real hostel. It wasn’t too bad except for all the mosquitoes and nats everywhere in our room. Since there were 3 of us, we got a private room with a private bathroom. The community area was kinda cool – they had boardgames and a tv (no tv in the room), and that’s also where we had a simple breakfast each morning. I hung out on the hammock by the pool at night while talking to Jason…very relaxing and I loved the atmosphere!

I’m definitely spoiled these days with my Marriotts and Sheratons cause it was pretty tough staying in that hostel. It was nice cause the location was great and the people were really friendly, but the bathroom was pretty disgusting.

All in all, that was my month-long trip to Argentina. Some ups and downs, but I wouldn’t mind going back to check out a few other places. Mendoza would be next on my list since I’m a huge fan of the Malbec wine from that region! I heard that the vineyards are amazing.