Quote:
Originally Posted by no_joke
Chris, I saw on that "other message board" that you went to Argentina last year? How long were you there? How reliable were the flights down there? How much time did you spend at Iguazu/Iguassu/Iguacu? If other peeps are looking, flights start at $1120 round trip all in plus airport entry fee in the fall.
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Hey No_Joke,
Yes indeed, Argentina is amazing! So many natural wonders, a huge temperature range from tropical Jungle in the north, to freezing cold in the south, wildlife, cheap food and accommodations, and great people. And Buenos Aires is basically a European version of New York at 1/3 the price.
We were there for about 14 days. We crammed in a lot, but had to fit in a lot of flights to do so, it's a huge country, and there's just no way we could have seen as much as we did in that time span by driving or taking the bus.
When it comes to flights within Argentina, you basically have two options, LAN and Aerolineas Argentinas. Both are fine, but Aerolineas has a reputation of having delayed flights, or suddenly switching airports on you (it happened to us once, they sent us to EZE instead of AEP, Buenos Aires other airport). That being said Aerolineas is generally cheaper, and we had no other problems with them.
I keep a log (ok it's a journal) of our trips, so here's the brief summary with dates. It took quite a bit of planning and luck for it all to work out, but here's what we fit in, in about 2 weeks:
April 3rd - departed Calgary
April 4th - landed at EZE. Took the shuttle to Jorge Newberry (AEP). Caught our flight to Trelew (REL). It's about half way down the length of Argentina.
April 5th - checked out Punta Tombo
http://www.patagonia-argentina.com/i...dryn/tombo.php
500,000 penguins - awesome.
Incidentally, this picture was taken on the same day of the start of the 2009 Penguins Stanley Cup run, which they would go on to win. Coincidence? I think not.
Drove to Camarones.
http://www.welcomeargentina.com/camarones/index_i.html
April 6th - Headed to Cabos Dos Bahias for more Penguins.
http://www.interpatagonia.com/paseos...s/index_i.html
Not as many tourists go here, and we enjoyed it even more. The boardwalk goes right through the penguin colony.
When it comes to the penguins though, they all leave by about Easter time, and then come back later.
Headed back towards Trelew, and stopped in Puerto Rawson to go on a boat tour and check out the black & white dolphins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerson%27s_Dolphin
Apparently there's only 2 places in the world they exist.
April 7
- Took an Aerolineas flight to El Calafate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Calafate
- Booked the Big Ice Tour for the next day
April 8
- Went on the Big Ice Trek to walk along the Perito Moreno glacier, definitely amazing.
http://el-calafate-argentina.blogspo...-calafate.html
April 9
Took the bus to El Chalten
http://www.welcomeargentina.com/elchalten/index_i.html
April 10
Hiked to Laguna Torre
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Sou...hoto217214.htm
April 11
- Hiked most of the way to Pliegue del Tombado. Made it about 2/3 of the way, but turned back because the weather was getting bad.
April 12
Made it to the top of Pliegue del Tombado. The panoramic view was amazing from up there.
April 13
One last hike of the area, on the Lago de los Tres trail, to Laguna Capri. Great views of Fitz Roy, etc.
In a nutshell, if you like hiking, El Chalten is a must.
- caught the bus back to El Calafate. Took a flight from El Calafate to Iguazu (IGR) airport.
April 14
- All of a sudden we've gone from wind and cold, to humid and tropical.
- Visited Las Tres Fronteneras, where Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil all meet at one river.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Frontier
April 15
- Caught the bus to Iguazu Falls (Argentina side). This place should definitely be on everyone's places to see before you die lists.
^ It's basically an entire park of this, and the El Diablo (Devil's Throat) is unbelievable.
April 16
- decided to attempt seeing the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. We went across without the proper visa, by taking a cab. This isn't exactly legal, so beware.
- There's a lot of debate over which side is 'better'. We both liked the Argentina side better, as you could spend a whole day walking around, but it's still pretty incredible on the Brazilian side.
- On the way out of the park we stopped at Park des Aves. Basically a bird zoo.
http://www.parquedasaves.com.br/v2/index.htm
Toucans, parrots, other rare birds etc. I love toucans.
April 17
Woke up, caught our flight back to Buenos Aires.
Explored the city, race track, Palermo district, etc.
April 18
Plaza de Mayo, explored the city some more, eating, shopping, etc. Finished the night at a milongue (where locals go to tango).
April 19
Walked around La Boca. Had a chance to see perhaps one of the greatest soccer matches possible in the south american calendar, and that's Boca vs River (the two biggest rivals in Buenos Aires) in the El Super Clasico at Bombonera stadium. But unfortunately with the timing of our flight it was just cutting it way too close.
Anyways, hope this helps, just let me know if you have any other questions and I can try to help. I'll PM you the full details of our trip with restaurants, accomodations, etc. They're usually pretty well researched.
cM