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I joined my parents and my grandmother on a trip to South America as an equally paying adult, organized by a wonderful woman named Diana. After flying into Buenos Aires, I immediately drove to Estancia El Ombu de Areco out in the country. It was wonderful, with real Guachos and legit Argentinain Steak.
After returning to Buenos Aires, we went on a city tour that included visiting La Casa Posada, the Government house, painted with limestone dust and animal blood. Eva Perot addressed crowds from the balcony. If you don’t know who that is, I suggest watching the movie Evita. Since Argentina is home of the tango, going to see a performance makes for a very nice evening.
It’s a short flight from Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls, the widest waterfall in the world. There appeared to be waterfalls everywhere. They run 3km long and have about 270 cascades. There is an upper circuit with pathways to walk and a lower circuit that is easiest seen from the water. I was able to see a Black Fronted Piping Guan, which was (apparently) rarely seen.
We stayed at a hotel right in the park that is now known as the Gran Meliá Iguazú and I could not have asked for a better location. I was able to see Devil’s Throat from my hotel room.
It is quite easy to cross to the Brazilian side, but we did have to pay for a Visa in advance. The Brazilian side offers a more panoramic view in certain places.
A visit to Tres Fronteiras, the area where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil meet in the river is a fun side trip fro the falls.
Buenos Aires is so close to the boarder of Uruguay so it is easy to take a day trip to the town of Colonia del Sacramento. The ferry takes an hour and it only takes a couple of hours to walk around this old charming town that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bariloche is a place of incredible natural beauty. It is located in the Lakes District of Argentina, at the north end of Patagonia. Our time in Bariloche coincided with Christmas, where we stayed at the beautiful Llao Llao Resort. Since Argentina is in the Southern Hemisphere, that meant summer.
Bariloche is also the gateway to the Andean Lake Crossing from Argentina to Chile, which is a series of boat and bus rides. We made one stop where we were able to go on an hour hike to beautiful Lago Cántaros prior to lunch. I made it to the top and took a stunning picture.
Within an hour after lunch I became sick. I am still unsure what happened, since nobody around me was sick. It was clearly food poisoning though and I remember very little of the rest of my trip. I recall the border crossing into Chile (there is one, so you need your passport) and I remember getting to a hotel over the border where the hotel took great care of me. I had to fly to Santiago, still struggling, and somehow managed to see the city.
One of the prettiest places I saw in Santiago was Cerro Santa Lucia, which has a lovely view over Santiago.
The smog was quite thick in Santiago and, even though the weather was beautiful, the Andes were barely visible.
I learned a major travel hack after getting sick on this trip. It has been tested multiple times so I am convinced it works. Pepto Bismol. I take it every morning on vacation in a place I am not sure about the quality of water. Finger’s crossed – I haven’t been sick like that again and neither have my children who take the children’s version. My husband refuses to try my hack and he is the only one who has been horribly ill.
