I started discovering South America a few years ago and having been to Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, this trip was WOW - Argentina! The itinerary on this trip included Buenos Aires, Bariloche, and Patagonia and there is still the northwest to discover.
I traveled with a small company called Blue Parallel who did a fantastic trip for the 5 of us, all travel consultants - it's a top end operation for all my clients who need the very best. I loved the unexpected "surprises" that they put into their itineraries, as well as the high touch service level and quality of all of their guides and destination hosts.
It is a long trip from San Francisco to Buenos Aires, made a little bit longer by going via D.C. which I did because I wanted to upgrade using my United miles. 5 hours from SF and then 10 more to Buenos Aires plus layover time equals a very tired body so being able to lie flat in business was worth it. After clearing customs and paying my $140 entry visa, I was met by my city host and into the waiting car for the 45 min to an hour drive into the city. And it is a big city, a huge percentage of the population of Argentina lives there and in the surrounding suburbs. Walking around in the upscale areas of Recoleta and Retiro definitely gave me a sense of Paris with the many trees and boulevards and parks. Then there's San Telmo, said to be the birthplace of tango and an attractive working class neighborhood, the colorful La Boca area which was once the port of the city where the Italian settlers used the leftover paint from the ships for their houses, and Palermo - an area of lots of cafes and boutiques, kind of the SoHo area. And the famous Recoleta cemetary where Evita is buried -it's a city of the dead aboveground with all sizes and sorts of mausoleums! With only 2 days here there was no time to shop but lots of beautiful leather was certainly tempting. Of all the South American cities I've been to, Buenos Aires is by far the most cosmopolitan and interesting. Interesting detail - so many Italians emigrated here during the war that the Spanish is spoken with an Italian accent.
We stayed at the Park Hyatt in the contemporary building which has views over the lovely gardens and looks back at the original mansion. Nearby is the Four Seasons, also a great choice and some of the best service for any hotel. The well known Alvear Palace is just a few blocks away for those who want some throwback elegance. And for those who need the coolest hippest spot, there's the Faena Hotel on the other side of the river. There's also some very good small boutique hotels so it's not hard to find options, just hard to choose.
Add in a private cooking demonstration at the popular Pure Tierra restaurant with the chef, who showed us how he incorporates traditional foods into contemporary Argentine cuisine - a visit to the private studio of Argentine artist Ernesto Bertani who patiently waited while his explanations of his work were translated by our guide (he does not speak English), he uses fabric in much of his art - a lunch of charcoal grilled shrimp and steak at Fervor in Recoleta- and that's my whirlwind 2days in Buenos Aires.
Next flight - to Bariloche, the lake district and it's absolutely beautiful. It reminded me in a way of Lake Tahoe as it's a huge lake, extremely deep, with mountains all around. But yet it's very different as the lake has many arms, there are the mountains with ski resorts, but with the
Andes as a back drop. You can miss the town of Bariloche, basically one long street of tourist shops and chocolate shops - it's known as the Switzerland of South America! And that's why you also see people asking you to pay money to have your photo taken with a St. Bernard and the puppy which made me sad for the dogs. As the seasons are reversed and we were visiting in April, it was fall and the leaves were turning. For skiing, August is the best time for snow.
Our hotel was the El Casco Art Hotel, right on Lake Nahuel Huapi and the owner is an art dealer so there's wonderful art and sculpture throughout - for sale too. We were able to visit the home of an artist who lives nearby that he represents, Juan Lascano who does gorgeous still lifes and landscapes and was just a wonderful warm man. And the food - again, one of the highlights of the hotel along with the view. Coming here the activities are all about the out of doors and the natural scenery and we certainly covered the options in our 2 days! Hiking with Maxi, our naturalist guide the first afternoon was great to learn about the flora and fauna here including "mini mountain monkeys" which had us all in a quandry. Turned out it's a tiny marsupial, not a monkey at all but it became the laugh line for the rest of the trip. The next day we started out on a "moderate hike" which had me asking for a hand to be hauled up the mountain side - breathtaking views once I got my own breath back! Once we reached the top though, the way down was to rappel over the face or the alternative, slip sliding down a narrow shale trail with a drop off on one side - neither a great option in my opinion so rappeling seemed the lesser of two evils. Note that this was billed as an active trip! We all made it without injury and the reward? An incredible catered lunch on a ledge below, complete with a musician playing a flute to pipe us in to the meal!
Leaving Bariloche, we flew south to Patagonia and this was the highlight for me - the landscape is harsh yet breathtakingly beautiful, a land of contrasts. And I loved Eolo Lodge where we stayed, about 40 minutes past the town of El Calafate where you land and then some miles on a gravel road. It's in the middle of an estancia and I woke up to cows outside of my window - the plains or what's called the Patagonian steppe stretching out to the mountains beyond. The rooms are large, simple and rustic and comfortable, it has charm and warmth and a wonderful staff -and more excellent food. We went out on horseback that afternoon for incredible views, and were lucky to run into a herd of guanaco which is a kind of llama. Wild hares are everywhere, wild ostriches, condors and eagles - not a lot of wildlife as there isn't a whole lot to eat for them.
And then we spent a day on Perito Moreno Glacier, what a highlight. It's about 45 minutes from the lodge, then a boat ride to the glacier itself for those who are going to go ice trekking. Once we were fitted into our crampons, we set off with our guide to navigate the glacier for a couple of hours. It's a unique experience and
the shades of blue were incredible. Plus we were blessed with a sunny day and no wind, highly unusual as it's always a question of how windy will it be on any given day. And to finish the hike off? We rounded a corner and there was a table set up with glasses of whiskey and glacier ice to warm us up - I can see how that would be extremely welcome on a typically cold and windy day! After a picnic lunch brought by our guide Sebastian, we headed back by boat to take a look through Los Notros, the only accomodation in the National Park and has rooms with full views of the glacier. It's a fine place for those who cannot get up close and just want a night there to see it and take the one hour boat cruise around but for me, Eolo was so much better in every way - and the 45 minute drive was interesting so I didn't mind it at all.
It's a vast country with such diverse areas, wonderful wines (Malbecs and Torrontes) and lots of very good beef - vegetarians might have a little difficulty here! From the north and the high deserts and indigenous peoples and villages, to the far south and the granite snow covered peaks of Patagonia, Mendoza and the wine region to the west and Iguazu Falls - I'll definitely return.
