Latin Love and The End of The World

I am writing to you from the southern-most city in the world, Ushuaia, Argentina.

Over the last couple weeks, I have enjoyed the sights, sounds and tastes of Buenos Aires with my girlfriend, Sara. I arrived in BA on a Saturday afternoon and headed to a hostel that I knew of, stopping on the way to get some cash from the bank. I had been previously advised by travellers to keep my bank receipts in Argentina because they have a reputation of giving out counterfeit cash. As luck would have it, I would be blessed with two 100 peso bills of this counterfeit nature (200 pesos = $65 CAD). I hit the pub that night with a couple people from the hostel and because I had not slept my last night in La Paz, my body was beginning to wear down. I spent the next two days lying in bed and sipping tea and soup and eventually made a full recovery.

On Tuesday, I checked into an apartment that Sara and I rented for the duration of her stay. It was a studio apartment located on Reconquista, which is a pedestrian street in the heart of the business district. Think one of the cobblestone walkways that intersects Bay street. It is quite a trendy area and the people of Buenos Aires are very beautiful. We were wearing T-shirts and sandals and looked well out of place as they were all wearing their leather boots and winter jackets. We spent most days trekking the city sites and sipping fine (yet cheap, price-wise) Malbec wines. Visited such famed spots as the Recoletta cemetery, where Evita is buried. Evita Duarte was the Charismatic wife of Juan Peron, who presided as president over Argentina twice in the 50´s, once as a decent president and another as a dictator, after Evita had passed away. Evita was a champion of women´s rights and Human rights and gave a friendlier face to the not-so-friendly government of that time. We also strolled past the courthouses, where we stood in awe of the architecture. Think rennaissance period French/Spanish architecture meets Latin American flare and style. La Casa Rosa (The Pink House), which houses the government. The famous Oblisqua in the centre of town. Puerto Madero. The city has lots of green space oncluding a very cool Botanical Garden with French and Japanese gardens contained in it.

We wanted to go to a Boca Juniors football game, but were advised against it by our concierge due to the surrounding ghetto of La Boca, not being very tourist friendly. I did not want to listen to him, as everything I had been told about cities being dangerous for tourists so far along my trip (ie. La Paz, Bolivia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has been complete and total bullshit. Granted, there are certain parts of every major city that you simply do not go. As long as you are not acting up, speak the language and don´t go looking for trouble, you will be fine. In any case, we didn´t go. Good thing too as they got spanked by Huanacu and have spiralled down the standings. The fans surely were not happy and it sould have been a little messy when leaving the stadium with everyone looking to takeout their frustration.

I saw Sara off at the airport last Sunday and got on a flight the next day bound for Ushuaia, Argentina: The southern-most city in the world. It sits in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the very south of Argentina. All Antarctic expeditions and major shipping boats pass by here. The city is beautiful. The quaint harbour is surrounded by awesome snow-peaked mountains in the backdrop. My hostel has great view of both the harbour and the surrounding mountains. There is not much going on in the way of tours and expeditions this time of year as it is on the verge of winter here. Fly fishing, off-road expeditions, canoeing, boat cruises to the Antarctic, etc. all cease to run in April. I indulged in a few whiskeys at the world´s southern-most Irish pub the last couple nights as the city - And the rest of the country for that matter - was pretty much shut down for 4 days celebrating the Bi-Centennial of Argentina´s independence. Tomorrow I depart, heading north for El Calafate, where the world´s only advancing glacier is located, el glaciar Perito Moreno. There I hope to climb the glacier and see this awesome display of nature from up close. From there, I head north again, stopping in El Chalten and Bariloche, which is a tourist hub in Patagonia. Continuing north, I will stop into Mendoza to take in some of the wine it´s vineyards have to offer... Hoping I can maybe get some camping in while in the Lake District as well, but that will be weather permitting.

Hasta Lluego