Notes from our holiday in Argentina
2023
The holiday was a package tour of Argentina and Patagonia, organised by Exoticca. It seemed to offer a lot of holiday for the money, and included 16 night’s accommodation in four locations: Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, then El Calafate in Patagonia, Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, and then back to Buenos Aires. It also included 5 internal flights.
Date
Activity
Thu Nov 23rd
Take train to Madrid, then Uber to the airport hotel
A bit of a stressful time trying to park at the station, so we could drop-off the car.
We had beers and empanadillas for lunch whilst waiting for the train, then got a shock when I checked the train tickets… they were for tomorrow! We abandoned our food and drinks and tried to blag it… and found we were listed for that train anyway. Then the penny dropped… we’d previously booked the train for the following day, but had to rearrange things when the flight got changed. I’d managed to select the wrong train tickets, even though I also had the right ones. Phew!
At Madrid, we called an Uber to take us to the Hotel Axor Feria, and then waisted about 40 minutes due to conflicting information from the Uber app about where to wait.
We were in the ‘inferior’ hotel, so walked across to the main hotel next door for dinner. We found the restaurant didn’t open until 20:30 so had glasses of wine while we waited, then had expensive meals in the surprisingly up-market restaurant.
Fri Nov 24th
Fly from Madrid to Buenos Aires (dep: Madrid 08:30, arr: Buenos Aires 17:35), shuttle to hotel
Took 6 am hotel shuttle to the Madrid Barajas airport and had the quickest check-in I can remember. We’d had the stress of trying to do online check-in the previous day, but kept getting told to ‘enter visa information’, which as far as we knew wasn’t necessary. So there was a brief moment of concern as we checked-in.
Decent but long flight, sitting in a row of two seats. We flew over Portugal, lots of Atlantic, Boa Vista in the Cabo Verde islands, the coast of Brazil, lots of Brazil interior, then a little Uruguay before crossing the Rio Plata and landing in Buenos Aires.
Took the taxi to the hotel (The Esplendor by Wyndham), checked-in, and did a little unpacking before we went looking for a bar. We asked in reception about changing money as we’d brought 500 USD in cash. The official exchange rate was 365 Pesos to 1 USD, and I’d loaded the Wise card with what I thought was enough US dollars for the holiday. But the guy in reception offered a thick wodge of notes and said it was 90,000 Pesos for $100. More than twice the official exchange rate, so his was very good news!
We walked across the road and discovered a decent bar (La Barra). We drank a couple of ‘pintas’ of Quilmes beer. I had a decent burger and Lin had a very generous portion of fish and chips.
Sat Nov 25th
Free day in Buenos Aires
Up early, had breakfast then walked to Puerto Madero area, and then back via La Casa Rosada on Plaza de Mayo. Beers and fries at La Barra. Had a doze, then walked to the green and shady Plaza Martin and took photos of the Edificio Kavanagh apartment building and the Torre de los Ingleses on Plaza Britania.
Back to La Barra for an average steak (for me) and a fairly grim microwaved wok dish for Lin.
Sun Nov 26th
City tour of Buenos Aires, then free time
08:30 Lin’s tummy not happy. Did the four-hour tour of the city. Liked the La Boca district and had beers there.
Had an underwhelming meal at the Hard Rock Cafe on the quayside. I had squidgy pulled pork on a bun, and Lin had a tough NY strip steak. Walked back enjoying the night-time vibe.
Mon Nov 27th
All day in Buenos Aires. Tigre Delta boat and coach tour
08:45 Tigre Delta boat trip (booking ref: 1080220037). A nice 2 hour boat trip along the Rio Plata, and then through the Tigre Delta. Stopped at the Museum of Art where Lin told the guide her nationalistic stuff about the Malvinas and the 1982 war was inappropriate. Stopped again at the Puerto de Frutos. Failed to find a beer, so settled for orange juices.
For dinner, we tried our agent Fer’s recommendation for a restaurant (El Establo) one block from the hotel, and had the best steaks we’ve ever had!
Tue Nov 28th
Free time in Buenos Aires, then fly to Iguazu (dep: Buenos Aires 21:36, arr: Iguazu 23:24)
Rattling around all day, and Lin not well. Took a taxi to the Palacio de las Aguas (water museum!), and then walked to the impressive El Ateneo Bookstore.
Sat in the Plaza Rodríguez Peña and chilled for a while before getting a taxi to Plaza Serrano for beers and lunch. It was supposed to be Bohemian, but that must have been in the evenings! We found a trendy bar staffed by useless kids, and killed a couple of hours there with beers and lunch, and then took a taxi to the (tiny) Botanical Gardens before returning to the hotel to wait (with our Kindles) for the shuttle.
A night flight to Iguazu, and bought 3 cans of fizzy Chenin Blanc(!) on the plane as they were doing a 3 for 2 deal. Arrived quite late at the impressive O2 hotel, checked-in, and sat in the hotel room and finished off the fizzy wine.
Wed Nov 29th
Iguazu Falls (Argentinian side)
07:30 Full day (9 hour) tour of Argentinian side of the Iguazu Falls. Very impressive, despite the Devil’s Throat viewpoint being closed because of high water.
25,000 steps later and completely knackered, we fetched up at the on-site restaurant for beers and snacks.
Had a doze when we got back to the hotel, then went to the O2’s rooftop bar for Caipirinhas and snacks.
Thu Nov 30th
Iguazu Falls (Brazilian side)
07:30 Half-day (4 hour) tour of Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls including the Salto Floreano viewpoint and the Iguazu River Canyon. Very impressive but at one of the major overlooks, a woman had a very bad fall. And probably a fractured skull. The coming and going through the Brazilian frontier was time consuming and tedious.
Dozed, then went to the O2’s rooftop bar for Caipirinhas and a surprisingly good Wok each, and watched a thunderstorm over the distant rainforest.
Fri Dec 1st
Fly from Iguazu to El Calafate vis Buenos Aires. Took the 11:00 am flight from Iguazu and got as far as Buenos Aires!
Ha! The first flight landed in Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Aeroparque on time, but in heavy rain. We sat on the tarmac for a while, and then entered the very crowded departure lounge. I queued for food while Lin found a table, then we ate our food and waited for our onward flight. And waited, and waited. All the time, the departure board was indicating many delayed flights but our flight was still shown as ‘on time’… until it was time to take off when it suddenly changed to ‘cancelled’.
We then queued for the Aerolineas Argentinas office for more than 4 hours, whilst texting the local agent and Exoticca themselves for help. Firstly to get our flights rescheduled, and then for a hotel. Sadly they were all useless. They said we’d have to re-arrange the flights ourselves, but they’d try to get us a hotel. After two hours of them ‘trying’, we gave up and booked ourselves into the downmarket Roma Plaza Hotel.
Acquaintances Mirim and Richard joined us in the queue as they were in a similar plight. I showed them how to locate their luggage, and we went out separate ways. We later found that Exoticca had found them a hotel!
We took a taxi at our cost to the hotel, checked-in, and had a very strange meal just around the corner from the hotel. Our room was opposite the Luna Park auditorium where they had a VERY LOUD rock concert on. But the music finished at midnight, and we had a surprisingly decent night.
Sat Dec 2nd
Delayed flight to El Calafate (dep Buenos Aires: 17:25, arr El Calafate: 20:30), then to Hotel Sent
We found that Aerolineas Argentinas had scheduled us on a 17:25 flight to El Calafate so we had time to kill, and the hotel agreed to hold our luggage. We walked to Calle Florida and found the street ‘Cambio’ people we’d been told to avoid. We still had $200 in cash and by shopping around, we managed to get an exchange rate of 920 pesos to the dollar. So we walked back towards somewhere for lunch with a very big wodge of cash, and had two large zumo orange juices on the way.
We carried on past the hotel to the Puerto Madero, and stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe again. We had beers while we checked the internet. Then ordered beef and chicken fajitas to share… fairly decent, and quite adequate for the two of us!
At the airport, I thought after we’d dropped our luggage off, that as we had plenty of time, and we’d lost a day in El Calafate but still wanted to do the Perito Moreno Glacier trip, in the absence of ANY help from Exoticca, I thought I’d try the Aerolineas Argentinas office and see if they could reschedule our Ushuaia flight to give us an extra day in El Calafate… and they did!
An uneventful flight to El Calafate, and then discovered in the shuttle to the hotel, that my Android phone had fallen in the airport, when my camera bag fell off the conveyor belt. The hotel arranged a 20,000 Peso taxi, and took me back to the airport. Although the doors were open, everything was dark and so I feared the worst, but fortunately the airport security office was still open, and I found that someone had handed the phone in. Another ‘phew’ moment!
Sun Dec 3rd
Full day Chaltén Soft excursion
07:30 Full day Chaltén Soft trip… 500 km for the day! We stopped to take photos of Guanacos, then again at the hostel La Leona to use the facilities. We even saw some Rheas in a field. Next was the Cerro Fitz Roy viewpoint with views of the distant Andes mountains.
Closer to El Chaltén, we stopped again and did the 2 km each way walk to the El Mirador De Los Condores. Took many photos, including some nice wildflowers.
Had a passable lunch (and beers) in El Chaltén, then an underwhelming visit to the Chorrillo del Salto waterfall, and finally, a rather pointless return to El Chaltén for some ‘free time’. Pointless because it was cold and windy, and there were no shops nearby, so nothing to do except drink, and that was the last thing we wanted before the 3 hours return trip!
Beers and empinadas in the hotel restaurant.
Mon Dec 4th
Full day excursion to the Perito Moreno Glacier
09:00 Full day (8 hour) excursion to the Perito Moreno NP and Glacier. Explored the various walkways and viewing platforms looking down on the glacier (and the occasional Condor), taking many photos.
Then had lunch and beers at the cafeteria. I ordered a chicken sandwich to share, which seemed safe, but it came smeared with cream, so I complained and they did a gluten-free one for Lin, so we ended up with one each!
Afterwards, we took the catamaran ‘Massimo’ for the ‘Boat Safari’ to the edge of the glacier. Fantastic, but chilly!
We were the last off the coach, had a doze in our room, then more beers and guanaco stew(!).
Tue Dec 5th
Fly to Ushuaia (dep: El Calafate 13:00, arr: Ushuaia 14:15)
Uneventful flight, but with stunning views of lakes mountains and glaciers shortly after taking off. One we’d landed in Ushuaia, we took the shuttle to the hotel (with a nice room, and balcony), had beers, then dozed.
Dinner in the hotel restaurant; a nice chunk of salmon for Lin, and a Bife Chorizo (ie. cheap steak with a fried egg on top) for me. Mirim and Richard walked in halfway through, and we chatted with them until bedtime.
Wed Dec 6th
Tierra del Fuego NP excursion
We did the excursion to Tierra del Fuego NP. Not much to look at for the most part, and it was constantly raining in the wind. The excursion was memorable only for the hour long wait at the park entrance, while 40-odd people bought their tickets in an office with one clerk and one cashier. Neither of whom seemed to know what they were doing.
The trip included (for some) a trip on the Tren del Fin del Mundo but this was scheduled for 1pm and as we’d lost so much time at the entrance, everything was compromised so when the guide pointed out a red fox, we didn’t have time to stop for photos.
We’d had the option of paying 23,000 Pesos each (about $25) to take the 60-minute train ride, but it sounded overpriced, so we declined. While we waited at the Tren del Fin del Mundo station, we had beers and empinadas.
We got back on the coach just before the train arrived and discovered that I didn’t have my cagoule! I had looked for it in the cafeteria and thought I must have left it on the coach. So I went back to the station in a bit of a panic as the phone was in the pocket. The cagoule hadn’t been handed in, but we found it had slipped off the seat and somehow disappeared under it. Yet another ‘phew’ moment!
Then we found that the afternoon (3 hour) boat trip on the Beagle Channel had been cancelled due to high winds.
We thought about taking a taxi (and 2 km walk) to the local glacier, or to the down-town museum, but instead, we opted for beers in the hotel, and then a doze.
In the evening I had a chicken dish with fries, and Lin had some very unappetising looking pieces of veal.
Thu Dec 7th
Fly back to Buenos Aires, (dep: Ushuaia 13:15, arr: Buenos Aires 16:40) taxi to hotel
An uneventful flight with good views shortly after take-off, of the Beagle Channel and Chile and then the mountains of Tierra del Fuego. Then a long taxi ride in the afternoon rush hour to the original hotel. We walked across the road to La Barra for our last ‘pintas’ of Quilmes beer.
In the evening we returned to El Establo for steaks again, and a decent bottle of Malbec. Mine was just as good as before, but Lin said hers wasn’t as tasty as the last time.
Fri Dec 8th
Fly Buenos Aires to Madrid (Dep: 13:40)
Taxi arrived at the hotel early, then a long ride to the airport due to road works. We’d managed to eek out our remaining cash and had enough for beers and lunch in the departure lounge. Then a tedious 12 hour overnight flight back to Madrid.
Sat Dec 9th
Land in Madrid at 5:55 am. Then home
Big queues at passport control in Madrid, then took an Uber to the train station. Train to Malaga, picked-up the car, then picked-up Bowie, and drove home to a cold house!
