Friday, May 6, 2016

Buenos Aries and the Iguazu Falls.


From Coronel Suarez we headed for Buenos Aries, the capital city of Argentina. Here I must declare a bias. With the exception of Christchurch in New Zealand I have not yet been to a city that I like. Too many people, too much traffic, etc., etc. Buenos Aries is part of the group. There were a few saving graces.

Buenos Aries skyline
The evening view from our hotel window was spectacular.


Some of the buildings were impressive. There were beautiful trees in some parks. We were lucky to meet up with Laura and her son Ethan. We had first met them on our trip over the Andes from Chile and Laura urged us to get in touch once we hit the city.  

Blooming trees in BA
Jo's Tilley hat and one of BA's buildings
They took us to a nice restaurant on the waterfront and we were impressed with the tall buildings across the river that had been built on a reclaimed garbage dump.

A BA yellow bus


We were much less impressed with the  Yellow bus hop-on, hop-off  city tour. If all the buses are the same as the one we boarded they are an utter waste of time and money.   

 The Nauga hide seats had cracks in them. The headphones are unreliable. We had to choose among three of them before we found a pair that even worked.  Every now and again, without any action our part, the commentary would quit, or change into another language. As if that was not enough the recorded voice would seldom tell us about the place or building we were passing.  Useless as tits on a boar. We soon disembarked and headed for the metro, which is excellent.

General San Martin
We did more exploring on foot. A tasty treat at a panaderia for lunch; the famous monument of General San Martin, the national hero of Argentina.  We were impressed with the cathedral and it high altar.  

Unfortunately we fell victim to a pickpocket.  We had heard of the skill of the local members of this brigade. I imagine that the activity is on an industrial scale with gangs acting as teams. Our pickpocketing experience may have been unique. As we emerged from the dark of the cathedral to the bright sunlight of the square Jo put on her dark glasses. We crossed the road, walked fifteen metres and suddenly Jo called out, “my hat!  It was gone.
Jo and her new hat
Her expensive Tilley headgear had been removed from her head. Only one solution. Buy a straw replacement from a sidewalk vendor. 
 
On our last evening we did enjoy a tango show. The intriguing thing was the demonstration of the dancing styles and costumes over the last century.



A special place
Enough of cities for quite some time. One reads of places and things that should be on anyone’s bucket list. 

The Taj Mahal, Machu Pichu, Victoria Falls, an elephant herd in the wild. We are lucky to have seen all four. There are no doubt others. 
A special moment on the shore oif the Kasinga Channel, Queen Elizabeth NP, Uganda
Machu Pichu, another special place



In each case one can read as much as one likes, one can even see photos or watch videos. Then one sees the real thing. The experience is on another level. 






The Devil's cauldron Iguazu

Next stop the Iguazu Falls.  Even in the thirty-four degree and maybe ninety-five percent humidity the falls are stunning.

A raging series of cataracts, crashing sound, clouds of spray high in the air. Enough said. 

The best thing, other than the falls? As we left the little train at the exit gate there were two cold showers to stand under. We soaked oursleves from head to foot, clothes and all. 

The clothes were dry by the time we boarded the bus, but the temporary relief was great.



Despite my statement that photos not doing justice here are a couple that we have kept, if only for ourselves (and to share in miniature here)


A pan view of the Argentinian side of the falls.









1 comment:

Laura Moin said...

I told you about pickpocketers in Buenos Aires, take it as a colorful experience. Some pickpocketers are so "professional" that they even successfully stole Jenna Bush's purse in front of the very eyes of the CIA, which was a matter of national laughter!
Iguazu are so spectacular that after been that many time, I got used to falls looking like that. When I went to Niagara, standing in front of them, I kept asking where the falls were.

All best and thanx for your posts Jerry!

Happy you have met you here :)

Laura