Buenos Aires...and the sky is blue

We are in Buenos Aires. Arrived with blasting sun and it is still shining. What a city...13 million people. Smog, skyscrapers, too many cars, you name it, the city has it. But also tango, streets like in Paris, coffee bars with pastry, markets, antiques shops, far too much to inhale. We love it...There are big contrasts though, but that's for later. We have nestled ourselves in the "barrio" San Telmo, where most of the tourist are probably. But it really is a nice place to be staying. There are a lot of antique- and handicraftshops, with millions of little things of everything you can't find anymore anywhere else. Here are some impressions.

We went to different "barrio's", as they have so many here and each one has its own specialities. The coloured photo's are of the district where Maradona was born and this you notice. They exploite a few touristic streets with amazing coloured houses, but it does not feel real, nor nice. The rest is poor and neglected, as often. And the advice is to stay out after dark...so we did.

We also went to the cemetary where "Eva Duarte Perón was burried. She died of cancer and did not live to see 34. That day is was the first day that is was cloudy and very, very, very cold. With the wind it felt like -10 or something, so an excellent day to visit a cemetary, but it really did me in...But it was a beautiful cemetary, in the Recolata quarter which is a very rich area. They came from the area where we are now but fled from yellow fever a century ago to this part. The gravestones where bigger than live, so very suitable for this area...

Valdés and mudtrouble

So, whales or no whales. When we arrived in Peurto Madryn we rented a car, the first day with a very nice English couple, Lee and Imogen. The Valdés is all about nature and animals as you can see. It is a very large piece of land without people living on it, except for the rangers. So there we went, even after all the tours had been canceled because of heavy rainfall in the night (the roads are not too solid and we had been warned to check them-which we did) we decided to drive to Puerto Pirámides first (pictures are of this town), because the sun was peaking and with a no rain prediction in the pocket, all seemed well. In this very small town they have filmed a beautiful movie, "la puta y la ballena" (the whore and the whale) and we wanted to see the spot where it was made and at the same time the whales come a-shore to mate. The minute we stepped out of the car, Lee shouted, whale, whale and there it was. The perfect shape of the tale of a whale. And again, it came out of the water, and again. Unfortunately we were still a bit far from the bay and by the time we got there, we got to see the water fountain coming out of the blow-hole. So, there we stood, camera stand-by, and even they were still there, no more signs. So we headed up north to see what was up there. Promises of flocks of sealions and indeed we saw 5 lazing on the beach. When we went back to the same place, we saw fins in the water, probably from whales, but maybe it was an orca. (I have a photo which will be added). But again, just fins. So a tail, a fin and a lion or 5. Maybe more the next day, so we went very early in the morning -and saw this incredible sunrise- (so it promised to be another beautiful day so no worries about the roads) to different parts known for the whales to be seen, we hitted north and south, saw heaps of sealions, because a nice rangerwoman took us over the fence, but whaleswise it was all in vain. Whilst driving back, on this beautiful day, we got stuck in the mud with our car....which was a bit frightening. We had not seen more than 5 cars in total that day and the day before on the Peninsula. There is just 1 road and it is mostly empty, off-season. It was getting dark, I had no reach on my mobile phone, and we could not get it out of the mud. Angels do exist, because after trying for no more than 10 minutes (long, long minutes), and this is for real, a car showed up, and yeaaahhh, it was a fourwheel-drive. We were completey covered in mud, signaling him to stop. He pulled over, and pulled us out. It was rather funny though when we think about it(well, now we laugh about it), he had me pulling grass (I thought it was to put it behind the wheels for grip, by lack of stones, but it was for him to lay on, to stay clean from the mud). Picture us, car in the mud, us in the mud, me pulling gras like a madwoman, Ellen had no idea why and was painfully wondering what the hell I was doing with these long blades of grass...But finally we were really thankful and drove silently back to the hostel. End good all good. Buenos Aires next...

Interlude - Argentinian facts

• Size: 2.8 million sqaure kilometers (size of India)
• Population: 39 Million
• Famous for: Tango, Gauchos (we´ve hardly seen), football, Meat (big, big, big steaks)
• Language: Spanish, Quechua in Andean northwest (native language)
• Money: Argentinian Peso. 1 Euro is ± 4 Pesos.
• Popular linguistic usage: barbáro (means cool), non por favor (they say it always after gracias)
• ll = sj (pronunciation). This is only the case in Argentina (of Spanish speaking countries)
• Time: CET (Central European Time) minus 4 hours.

If you have any questions, you can comment on my blog and I will be happy to reply.

Whales - to see or not to see?

After a week in Ushuaia we had to move on. We took a plane, a nightbus and arrived at 07.15 in the morning in Puerto Madryn, a town just before the Peninsula Valdés. In December you can find many sorts of pinguins, orcas, all kind of whales, dolphins, sea-lions, seals and much more animals here. In May they have only seals and lookalikes, birds, a kind of dolphin, but.....maybe also suddern right whales. They have been spotted a view days ago, so we´re going to rent a car to observe the inner coastline of this peninsula. We have a very small chance but hey... who doesn´t try sees nothing. Temperature rised: 15º d. We can take one layer of clothes away. In a few days we´ll be in Buenos Aires where it will be warmer again and with the tango coming up I don't worry about temperatures anymore...You can witness soon wheather the big whale-tail has been within eye-sight.

Flora and Fauna in Ushuaia by boat and by train..

Wednesday we went on a boat trip in the Beagle Channel (water under Ushuaia) to see some animals other than dogs. Seedogs (seals or sea-lions in fact ) this time it was, which is quite different though..By the island were we stopped some jumped in front of the boat and others lounged comfortable on the rock.Normally there are loads of pinguins in this aerea but in this time of year they move to Brazil or Australia. So we'll see them in Brazil in a week or three. It was a small trip, the water was calm, Ellen was very happy about this ;-). Next day it was time for the lowest train on the planet, which goes to a National Park (ofcourse). They should make the whole continent a National Park, it is that beautiful and it avoids confusion). We determined that it is also the slowest and hottest (with regard to the heat not looks, although it is a pretty train) on the planet. We walked in the park that had fairy-like features and fantasy movie moments. I felt like I was in Lord of the ring. We were completely alone. Wild horses coming out of the woods in lingering pace, like they were imaginary or unicorns. It was as if we weren't really there. Beautiful coloured woodpeckers wildly pecking away. I'm grateful..

Today we went with Huskies on a sled. This was a very short trip but very nice. There was not enough snow for the long tour which was a shame. I would have liked it longer. Here are some pictures...Tomorrow we fly to the next pitstop. A shorter stop but hopefully just as nice.

"The beginning of everything"

At least that is how they like to call it here. "The end of the world, beginning of everything". How true this is I don't want to debate. I am pleased with the fact that we made it despite warnings of many backpackers that the cold would do us in. Softies...We arrived after a bustrack of 14 hours from Puerto Natales.
We found this peculiar but pleasant hostel a bit uphill, which gives us the opportunity to a marvellous frontal harbour view and a magnificient rear-view of the mountains covered in snow. It is a very pleasant town. However the people are not very friendly (Argentinians are known for their stuck-up attitude). I got myself in a nasty fight in an Internetcafé. I only changed a headphone from a computer and the owner acted like I just started worldwar III, and due to my reaction in an Italian manner, I have been banned from that store. This is another record, banned at the end of the world. It feels quite harsh I would like to add. Thank god they closed the very famous prison that we visited later that day, otherwise I would have seen it from behind bars. No, it is not all glamour, backpacking...As for this penitentiary, in 1902 they moved it from "isla de las estados" (an island just offshore, circumstances were too extreme) to Ushuaia, don´t think it changed much for the prisoners. (You can see how it looked on the photo´s). I am happy it is a museum now....

In the harbour they have lots of boats, working ones, black non-working ones and I´ll bet they all have a story to tell. It makes the look of the harbour a bit gloomey at times. There is a lot to tell about the town, how settlers first founded it whilst trying to convert the Yámana (the Indian species that lived here in the most southern part) after Spain already did it´s colonial "duty". But now, again it´s tourism that made it how it is. In the museum the Falkland war (Malvinas Islands) is heavily exposed. I think the Argentinians were very hurt in their pride. There are no flights to the Falkland Islands and they do not mention the name "Falkland", just Malvinas..So far for the history lesson. As to culture, yesterday evening we went out to witness how the cold does not kill the passion of the tango. In a large, bingolike restaurant hall, locals dressed up for the evening, showed their finest moves. Age nor size mattered. Legs swaying and curling in the air, faces with total concentration. Chest to chest, heads bowed forward, the key of the tango...It was a fine night...until we had to dance in our mountain-shoes and michelin (8 layers of clothes) outfit. I´ll wait for Buenos Aires...

Just Animals..along the way

The dogs will walk with you along the way all the time. They have millions of them here, beautiful well kept dogs, but all outside. Birds in the harbour of Ushuaia

Just children..along the way