View form a helicopter, Iguazu Falls, Brazil
No matter how many waterfalls you have seen in your life, these leave the most experienced travelers mumbling all kinds of words of excitement when you finally stand in front of the “Garganta del Diablo” or the “Salto San Martin”. In my opinion, these are the most spectacular waterfalls in the world, far more impressive than Niagara Falls (USA), Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) or Angel Falls (Venezuela). Continue Reading →
Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) or Ballena Franca Austral, Peninsula Valdez National Park, Northern Patagonia, Argentina, South America
We spent 74 days in Argentina, Chile & Uruguay and 54 in Argentina alone: since major points of interests are in nearby places in Chile or Uruguay, travelling in Argentina most certainly means crossing the borders into these countries. In Argentina, we visited most of the classical tourist destinations: Buenos Aires, Misiones, Iguazu, the Andean Northwest, Mendoza, Peninsula Valdez, the Lake District, Southern Patagonia with El Calafate & El Chalten, and Tierra del Fuego. Add to this Chiloe, the cruise between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales, Torres del Paine & Punta Arenas in Chile and Colonia & Montevideo in Uruguay, and we can say we almost visited it all! Continue Reading →
The dancers were a swaying sea of colours of elaborately designed costumes, headdresses made of feathers and beads, more beadwork for ankles, necks, belly and wrists. The costumes can be made of lots of material or of very, very little, Carneval of Gualeguaychu, Argentina
“The greatest parade in Argentina and one of the three most famous carnivals of Latino-America” that is how this carnival promotes itself. Although we lack the expertise to verify this, we definitely can say that it was very, very impressive and a lot of fun. We definitely would recommend everybody to do the trip while it is still kind of an informal event. Tours from Buenos Aires, only 3 hours south, especially for foreign tourists, just started last year! Continue Reading →
View form a helicopter, Iguazu Falls, Brazil
No matter how many waterfalls you have seen in your life, these leave the most experienced travelers mumbling all kinds of words of excitement when you finally stand in front of “Garganta del Diablo” or Salto San Martin. This place was definitely one of the highlights of our trip through South America. These are some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world, far more impressive than Niagara Falls, for example. Continue Reading →
Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) or Ballena Franca Austral, Peninsula Valdez National Park, Northern Patagonia, Argentina, South America
The Peninsula Valdéz is one of South America most popular national parks, with 80.000 visitors a year, which is for instance ten times more than in the beautiful and very pristine Madidi National Park in the Amazon Basin in Bolivia. With 3.600 square kilometers and especially 400 kilometers of coast, it is home to many species like sea lions, the only colony of sea elephants on a continent apart from Antarctica, graceful guanacos, Magellanic Penguins and the endangered Ballena Franca Austral or Southern Right Whale, to only name some of the species we could spot, and of course many kinds of birds … Continue Reading →
View from the boat – Glacier Perito Moreno, El Calafate, South Patagonia, South America
We spent 74 days in Argentina, Chile & Uruguay and 54 in Argentina alone: since major points of interests are in nearby places in Chile or Uruguay, travelling in Argentina most certainly means crossing the borders into these countries. In Argentina, we visited most of the classical tourist destinations: Buenos Aires, Misiones, Iguazu, the Andean Northwest, Mendoza, Peninsula Valdez, the Lake District, Southern Patagonia with El Calafate & El Chalten, and Tierra del Fuego. Add to this Chiloe, the cruise between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales, Torres del Paine & Punta Arenas in Chile and Colonia & Montevideo in Uruguay, and we can say we almost visited it all! Continue Reading →
Palacio de la Moneda, Santiago de Chile
Our farewell to Argentina was appropriate, a spontaneous party with Argentineans at our hostel. We sampled the food and wine people had bought touring the bodegas that day and everybody shared whatever they had. We were particular proud to be able to follow the conversation in Spanish about any random topic. Continue Reading →
We celebrated Heidi´s birthday at Restaurant 1884 Maximilian Mallmann: great atmosphere, excellent wine from Familia Gascon, but the food did not live up to the restaurant’s reputation, Mendoza, Argentina
We stayed 58 days in Argentina and spent no less than 2.840 Euros per person, which means an average of approx. 53 Euros per person and day. No need to say that this is a lot, even much more than Brazil, where we spent an average of 40 Euros per person and day, not to talk about Bolivia … What made our stay in Argentina so expensive? Continue Reading →
Hostel Estacion Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina
At Hostal Estacion Mendoza, we found everything we wanted: a quiet place with a swimming pool, which we actually never used, Internet and kitchen use, plus a little garden, a friendly staff and lots of common areas to relax or mingle with other travellers! We had also a large and quiet room on the top floor. Continue Reading →
Rio Mendoza is just ideal for beginners who are looking for strong adrenaline output. It was truly exhilarating to zigzag between the rocks at high speed in the muddy glacier waters. The temperature of the water was 11 degrees and when the first waves hit us, at times more than one meter high, we even got a good taste of it
On Sunday, we went towards the mountains again and spent the whole day white water rafting, horseback riding and “canopying”. We both loved it so much! In the morning, we separated since Heidi had been too impressed by a video presentation that showed rafting through category III rapids. So instead, Heidi went horseback riding in beautiful landscape with the Andean backdrop, while Gilles tried White Water Rafting for the first time. This was an incredible experience! Continue Reading →
