Left Iguazu by plane and flew to Mendoza, home of the Argentina wine industry.  Mendoza at this time of year is usually very sunny, hot and dry, but it has been cool, humid, and a little rainy since I got here.  Can only see an outline of the Andes.  I blame Boston (for screwing up the worlds weather), global warming and George Bush, in that order.

Anyway, rented a car today and took to the Argentina roads to visit a winery in the Uco Valley about an hour and half south of Mendoza.  I say a car, but it was more like a ride a mower with  a roof.   A feeling of physical security it did not engender.  If I a collided with one of the ubiquitous motor scooters, it was not clear who would come out worse.  Of course, since the Argentines dirve like mad men, what was the worry.

You do see some unsual things on the road.  While I on the highway, I saw a guy who had set up shop for a barbecue in the median strip, fire burning barrel and all.  Did not have time to inquire whether he was selling anything.  Road signage does not seem to be of concern here. I spent a good hour this morning planning my trip by different route numbers, none of whch I actually ever saw.  And using blinkers to change lanes, well, that is not an Argentine practice.  Out of habit, I did it, but I wonder what any Argentine following was thinking- why is that guy using his blinker?  Is he exiting the highway right here in the middle of nowhere?

Anyway, got to the winery where I had a reservation for lunch and a tour.  When I got there, there was a guard at the gate, who did not seem very impressed either with me or the egg beater I was driving.  He sort of scowled at me and took my name and called the higher ups,  He came back a couple minutes later all smiles and said something about nice car in Spanish, I think, and let me through the chained gate.  Different welcome from your winery in California.

Ended up with this 6 course lunch with accompaning wines from the vinyard.  I cannot remember when I had a better meal, or one with better presentation, though it was a strange experience as I was the only one in this beautiful restaurant overlooking miles of vinyards running up the Andes (I wish the guard could have seen me then).  It was also a lot wine in the middle of the day, though I did not drink nearly all of it.

Anyway, inadvertently half in the bag, I jumped back in the

underpowered John Deere mower, sped down the lane and past the guard with barely nod and roared out into the road with all 3 cylinders firing and headed back to Mendoza not at all worried about no road signs or crazy Argentine drivers.  At least I think I headed in the direction of Mendoza.

Coatis are rare and very shy racoon-like creatures who live at Iguazu.  Very rarely seen.  I was lucky indeed to see a small herd at the gift shop at the Park entrance-

Also saw a few monkeys and a large lizard at the park

Iguazu is a big place with miles of trails along the falls.  Can do it in a day, but better in 2.

So Iguazu Falls.  Located in far northeastern Argentina and on the border with Brazil and Paraguay right before the junction of the rivers Iguazu and Pirana (South Americas 2nd river after the Amazon).  275 falls in all, though I lost count after 5 or so.

It is a good thing few in the US have heard of the Falls, as Disneyworld has nothing on Iguazu in terms of crowds.  The views are spectacular, if you can see over the heads of the roughly 1000 people in front of you.  But the Argentines do a great job putting you close to their sites (same at Perito Moreno Glacier).  You walk over some of the falls, immediately next to them and, if you take the boat (as I did), almost under them.  In fact, I  saw a place that rented new fiberglass barrels so you could go over them if you liked.

Pictures of course do no justice to the expanese, roar and awesomeness of the Falls-

The boat ride under the Falls was way fun.  You get so close that you cannot open your eyes due to all the spray.  Some people wear bathing suits in the boat.  But I think they should implement a new rule and not allow anyone over 40 to wear a speedo or bikini- just too much information.  Does keep your focus on the Falls though.

Also, they might think about renaming them the Falls of Narciss.  Just about everyone seemed to want a picture not so much of the Falls, but of themseleves with the Falls in the background.  They could cut down on the crowds if they just had a big picture of the falls at the entrance to the Park that people could use a backdrop for what they really want- a picture of themselves gracing the falls.  

A pic of the Devils Throat-

Left Buenos Aires and headed to the Iguazu Falls in the far northeast part of the country.  I ended up quite liking BA- more than I thought I would.  Maybe it was the fact that you could get a nice steak dinner with a bottle of good Argenina wine for less than half what you would spend in the US that won me over. The way to many mens hearts is really through their wallets, I am  afraid.

One thing I forgot to mention about the different 100 peso bills.  According to my guide, the Argentine govt simply could not print them fast enough- despite their contention of an inflation-free zone in Argentina- so they asked Brazil to help them.  Brazil said ok, but they could not print them with all of the serial number and other fonts and that they were not going to change their priinting system to do so- and Argentina would have to take it or leave it.  Of course, the Argentina govt took it, though it obviouwly needed it a better solution.

Fortuitously, it turned out that the VP of Argentina had a contact- his brother in law as matter of fact- who could handle the printing.  A contract was signed, the bills printed.  Regretably, in the rush, some mistakes were made and many of bills have the personage depicted with his head half cut off or his nose missing, etc, etc.  An investigation has been launched, but corruptiion has thankfully been ruled out as a possibility.

Took the bus to Iguazu yesterday- was supposed to be a 17 hour overnight bus ride, but ended up being 19 hours (who was counting though?)  The Argentine buses are supposed to be the best in the world- and in fact it was quite comfortable with dinner (with wine), breakfast and snacks served and the seat reclining to about 160 degrees.  Still, 17 hours would have been plenty.  Thankfully we were not charged for the extra 2.

After getting to Iguazu, walked to my hotel with my backpack (about a mile away with the usual wrong turns, etc.).  Forgot what is like in the tropics- the heat and humidity are very intense.  When I got to the hotel, there was nothing left of me except  the backpack and a puddle of water underneath my yellow hat.

I took a couple of walking tours of Buenos Aires yesterday (7hours to be exact).  I like walking tours.  The one in the morning was just ok, but the one in the afternoon was excellent.  Interesting how the Argentines seem to like talking about Argentine politics, which they all agree are perpetually corrupt and a mess.  It seems like that and futbol (soccer) are their national past times.

The tours pointed out that almost all of the great/interesting buildings of BA were built during the countrys golden age- 1880-1930.  And many of the buildings are impressive and remind one of europe.  In fact, one guide pointed out how the Argentines of this time wanted to emulate Europe and would travel there and come back with ideas.  The trouble was, he said, they did not really know what they were doing and would construct  buildings that did not reflect a particular style or epoch, but would be a jumble of different styles from different centuries.   Below is a picture of one building which incorporated different architectual styles from Florence-

  So, the guide said, the city has no real architectual style, just a jumble.  here is the Presidential palace- from which balcony Evita Peron famously spoke- which for reasons of politics, notably lacks a certain symetry-

Still, being no aficianado of architectural styles, I enjoyed the buildings and thought many attractive.  And they had some pretty churches too-

And one that was half a Greek temple in the inmitable Argentine style-

That was originally Pope Francis church while he was a cardinal.

The tour guide also pointed out how, for reasons of politics, the Argentine govt has printed 4 different 100 peso bills (the largest in circulation, he said, because the govt refuses to recongize any inflation in the economy).  Some of the bills are of different quality and look different, which evidently has created confusion in the counterfeit market.  It seem like nobody can tell which is a real bill which is not, so the counterfeits do not go to much trouble to produce high quality counterfeits (particularly as the 100 peso bill is only worth $8).  So, as they say, even the counterfeit business is a mess.  Still, I find the Argentines somewhat lovable.

So I left the beautiful but somewhat cold city of Ushuaia and flew north to the Paris of the South to get warm.  And warm it is here- maybe 75-80.  Seems odd to be going north to get warmer.  One final picture from Ushuaia with some lazy but well insulated sea lions (the only type I saw).

Buenos Aires is intereting, alternately pretty and disheveled, and kind of a whacky place.  The Argentines- from the various tours I had and people I met- seem to have this fierce pride in their country all the while criticizing it as a complete mess.  Here is a picture of my hotel (which was only $60/night including vat of 21%).  BA is pretty cheap, especially for a big city.  You can get a nice steak dinner with a bottle of wine for $25-30.  Maybe Sam and Bridget should go here for their honeymoon.

In my strolls, I passed through the cambio (exchange) capital of BA- Florida St.  In my original cambio exchange with a BA contact, I had an unanticipated problem.  The highest Argentine bill is only 100 AR$ (pesos), which is worth about $8 at the black market rate.  So as I exchanged $1000, I ended up with huge pile of 100 AR$ of which only about 10% could fit in the hairbrush safe  What to do with the other 50 lbs of bills?  Well, I got a separate backpack just to hold all the bills, as a wheelbarrow seemed impractical.  I got a cheap one with $$ label on the back- I do not think any thief will notice.

Anyway, i expected the cambio guys all to be yelling CAMBIO!! at the top of their lungs as I passed by, liked at some Turkish bazaar, but it was not the case.  They just sort of mutter cambio as you walk by, though you do hear this incessant mutter as you walk down the street.   It is not that they are worried about the police- they are all in on the deal.  I guess there is just a sense of decorum among cambios.  The other thing that surprised me- given that it is an illicit activity- is that a good half of the cambios are not cambios at all, but cambioinas (female cambios).  Who knew?

Another thing perplexed me.  You see all these people lined up at a bus stop- nothing unusual there.  However, when a bus approaches, the lead person or 2 raises their hand as if to hail the bus, like a taxi.  Sometimes the bus stops, and sometimes it roars by leaving diesel smoke it in its wake and the patrons gasping for breath.  Who actually hails a bus at a bus stop?  Is it like a cab so that when you get on, you get to tell the bus driver where to take you?  Or does the bus driver decide where he goes?  I am guessing the bus wins out in this arrangement.  Why then hail it?   And what is the bus driver thinking as he approaches a bus stop?  Gee,  I wonder why all those people are lined up at that bus stop?  Or does he think, I do not like the look of that group, I think I will just keep going to the next stop?

Spent 2 more days touring in Ushuiai, though the weather was cool, cloudy and rainy much of the time.  One day had an all day trek and boating excursion in the Tierra del Fuego National Parque.  The guide was good- it seems most Argentine have a good sense of humor..  He said most people think that TdF is the end of the world.  That is wrong, he said, the end of the world was when Brazil lost to Germany in the World Cup final.

After trekking through the woods and along the shore in the Parque, we came to lake where we were to kayak back to the bay and ocean.  Well tour description said kayak, but in reality we rowed these rubber boats as a crew.  Fortunately, we had a crack team- something to analogous to Seal Team 6 to man the boat-

 I and this other fellow were the lead rowers and sometimes i would look back at the rest of the Seal team and find that he and I were the only ones rowing.

On the bus going back, these French girls were asking this Brit what the W in Torre del Paine was like and how comfortable were the Refugios.  I almost spit my water out when he said they were pretty comfortable, except that the showers did not always have hot water.  The French girls shrugged at that and then he said - oh, yeah, you are French and so you wouldnt care about that.   They seemed to take no offence.

The next day I went on a hike to glacier that overlooked the city of Ushuaia and which supposedly had a magnificent view of the city and Beagle Channel.  And i am sure it was, if I could have seen any of it.  The higher I hiked, the more the clouds closed in and by the end I could barely see my boots, much less the city.  Here is the view at the top-

Still Ushuiai and TdF is spectacular setting (and a lively little city) and i recommend it to anyone who is in the neighborhood.