The seasons in South America are opposite ours here in the United States. That’s why we chose February to visit Chile and Argentina.
These two countries offer a great deal of variety, and we explored them from Cape Horn in the south to the Atacama desert in the north. Their diversity partly stems from their size, and geography. Were they in North America, they would stretch from Guatemala to Alaska. At the same time, the land rapidly rises from the Pacific coast in Chile, up to the peaks of the Andes, and then back down to the Atlantic coast in Argentina. The widest point across the two countries is roughly equal to the distance from Boston to Chicago.
Since we previously wrote about exploring Patagonia in the south, let’s talk about things to see and do in the central and north of Argentina.
I’ll cover Chile in a future post.
Buenos Aires
This city has been called the Paris of South America. There are several wide, tree lined avenues across the city, reminiscent of the broad boulevards of Paris. For example, Avenida 9 de Julio encompasses 16 lanes of traffic and landscaped medians. Getting around the city by taxi is easy and inexpensive. We never spent more that $10 USD on any taxi, and we travelled all over the city.
We were able to communicate with some basic Spanish, and found English spoken at most tourism sites, hotels and restaurants.
Evening Fun
When visiting the city of Buenos Aires, our recommendations include the Rojo Tango dinner and the Argentine Experience. For example, our tango evening included a great meal, very good wines and of course the Tango. The live music, great dancers, and traditional Argentine cuisine made for a great evening. (Fortunately, the evening involved watching rather than dancing!)
Another evening, we learned about Argentine culture, and prepared our own empanadas. The Argentine Experience brings fellow travelers together for a fun evening to enjoy fantastic local dishes and wine. Our only regret was not having enjoyed this night earlier in our trip.
Food and Day Trips
Six of us spent several days exploring the city both on our own and with private guides. Our top choices for things to see and do include the following:
- National Museum of Fine Arts – An excellent collection of art ranging from Rembrandt to Rene Rodin and Jackson Pollock.
- La Recoleta Cemetery – It’s most famous resident is Eva Perón or “Evita”, listed under her maiden name “Maria Eva Duarte”.
- El Cuartito – lunch at this famous pizza restaurant is a must! (Talcahuano 937, Buenos Aires)
- Sunday La Recoleta Market – Food, local crafts and art is on sale in the park near La Recoleta
- Biking Buenos Aires – Enjoy a day exploring the city by bicycle.
Biking Buenos Aires
Iguazu National Park, Argentina
2.7 km of falls
Iguazu Falls are in Iguazu National Park, about 700 miles north of Buenos Aires, on the border shared with Brazil. From talking with the tour guides in the park, the summer is the best time to visit here. Reaching the park requires flying to Puerto Iguazu in the northeast corner of Argentina. We took the two hour flight from Jorge Newberry Airport along the River Plate in Buenos Aires Buenos to Puerto Iguazu. From there, we headed south to a hotel cut out of the jungle. The follow morning we headed out early to the nearby park.
| Niagara Falls | Victoria Falls | Iguazu Falls | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water drop in feet | 167 | 360 | 269 |
| Length in feet | 3,940 | 5,604 | 8,858 |
As the largest waterfall system in the world, Iguazu Falls consists of multiple separate waterfalls and cataracts, with drops between 197-269 ft. Cataracts are spread along 2.7-kilometers (1.7 mi) with islands separating the individual falls. The park has a network of trails and engineered walkways across the expanses of water that offer a variety of amazing views. To get to the falls, we took the small park train to the end of the line(3 km), Gargenta Station. From there we headed out across the water on an elevated walkway.
The Devil’s Throat
Cataracts
The walkway (Paseo Garganta del Diablo) is a 1 km (0.6 mi) segment that brought us right to the edge of Devil’s Throat, the highest and deepest of the falls. Amazing! Roaring water got louder and louder as we approached the rising clouds of mist. Suddenly, we were at the edge, looking down into the maelstrom of the Devil’s Throat.
We spent several hours exploring the many distinct falls. Each turn in a trail seemed to take us to a new and vivid view of another waterfall. Along the way we also encountered an amazing variety of birds and butterflies. After a leisurely lunch in the park, we were ready for our last adventure of the day. We headed down to the lower Iguazu River, buttoned up in life vests over swim suits, and headed up the river in a jet boat.
Jet Boats
Racing up the river over the rapids we could see the approaching falls. Our boat pilot repeatedly edged us close to the deafening roar of the falls, including Devil`s Throat. After our third trip under pounding torrents of water from the falls, we were all completely soaked. We loved it!
From the Jet Boat
What an amazing place Iguazu Falls is. Like Patagonia, this is a visit you have to make if you travel to Argentina!
There is so much more to say about Argentina. We are so glad that we made the trip. If you haven’t been there yet, you should strongly consider adding it to you future travel plans.