mosquitoes | Go Go Chlo

Following my first trip to Buenos Aires, I returned to the capital city at the end of my three month trip around Argentina to have a final week there, enjoying some attractions I had not been able to visit in my first visit. This time I was joined by a travel companion and was staying in a luxury hotel.

A focus on Evita

Following my first visit to Buenos Aires, and visiting the grave of Evita, a famous Argentine first lady, this time round, I visited the Evita museum. I was keen to learn more about her life and work for the state. The museum is housed in a previous home for the poor that was set up through a foundation that Evita begun. The museum has several rooms with projections of Evita’s film clips as an actress, her speeches as an activist and also a viewing gallery for her red carpet gowns.

I found the museum to be really interesting but unfortunately photos were not allowed. The information was really good about her early life, career, relationship with president Peron, and her death. I learnt that she had a lot more involvement in charity work than I had realised. She also won the vice presidency but turned it down, which I was not aware of. After finishing our look around the museum, we had a tasty lunch in the museum’s restaurant which has a very nice courtyard.

A walk around the parks

I was able to visit a few more of the park’s in Buenos Aires this time, although not all of them, as the rosalade (rose garden) was closed for upkeep.. very annoying. I did manage to visit both the Botanical Garden and the Eco Parque which are next door to each other. This took a full morning, and both parks were worth a look, and free to enter.

The botanical garden has many exotic plants and large trees as expected, and had attempted to theme different sections by different garden styles, for example french or italian.

The Eco Parque is a very different experience. This pretty park used to be a zoo with many large exotic animals, and elegant victorian styled animal houses. In recent decades, most of the animals have been moved to other locations, or sent back to their natural habitat.

There are a few that still roam through the park though, because they are either too old or unwell to move, or do not need to be relocated. The park still has an old camel, plenty of capybaras, strange half rabbit half deer things, and even some monkeys. It is a pleasant place to take a walk in the middle of this huge city, as you never know what new animal will be around the corner.

Nightlife

In the evening, I was lucky enough to be rejoined by my German traveller friends again as they also finished their journey in BA. We headed out to Palermo Hollywood for a night of clubbing and mischief. After a night that lasted until around 6am, I was glad for my full hotel continental breakfast the next day!

La Plata

For a day out, we decided to visit the capital of the Province, the city called La Plata. The city was easy to get to, only 90 minutes on the train, and the main attraction there is a beautiful cathedral.

The cathedral is gorgeous on the inside, and as well as the main church, the attraction offers exploration of the crypt with a museum about its construction and original pieces, the opportunity to be lifted up the tower, and a sweet restaurant. A lovely morning out.

Horse riding in the Pampas

The province of Buenos Aires is part of the ‘Pampas’ region, and this is where the gauchos (Argentine cowboys) farm cattle the most. So, I decided to book us a day of horse riding in the area.

The four hour riding experience included a traditional asado lunch at the house of a local which was pretty special, and the horse riding itself was an unforgettable experience. For good and bad reasons…

The horse I was given, was a little young and barely broken in. This was coupled by the style of gaucho riding which is very different compared to english riding. The saddles and riding kit on the horse is very different and there is no front to the saddles. You are also expected to ride one handed and without a riding hat.

Whilst a little nervous about my horse’s behaviour, I took on the challenge. We rode through long grasses, roads, ditches, and woodlands and after trotting, cantering and a little bucking by my horse, I did manage to stay on the horse! Even though I was a little banged up. The experience was good fun, but the major downer was the extreme amount of mosquito bites I endured all over my legs i was rubbing toothpaste on my legs for days after! (Fun fact: it takes out the itch).

Lunch in Uruguay

We became aware that you could visit Uruguay easily from Buenos Aires’ port by crossing in the river ferry for around an hour. It’s always tempting to cross another country off the list if the opportunity arises, so we booked our ferry tickets and took the pleasant ride across to a town called Colonia del Sacramento. From here you can also take a bus to Montevideo (Uruguay’s capital) but we decided to save that for another trip. Colonia del Sacramento is a picturesque town with a very portuguese style to it, from when it was colonised by Portugal.

There are a couple of small museums and a church in the town to enjoy, and we had a long and luscious lunch of a traditional Uruguay dish called ‘chivito’. This is like a giant inside out meaty sandwich. Like Argentina, Uruguay also does not skimp on food portions.

Before we knew it, it was time to take the ferry back across the river. We had a good laugh about how we left the country just fot lunch though! 🤣

Tango

You can’t visit Buenos Aires and not watch a little Tango, as the traditional dance of the city. Not only can you see people dance this in the streets of Caminito in Boca, there are also plenty of theatres offering shows and classes. I wanted to do a class but they were multiple hours and I felt too lazy about it, plus I only had walking boots to dance with.

I did decide to book a show and after a little research, I booked a show at Teatro Porteno. You had an option of paying for the show on its own or with dinner included. I chose to purchase just the show which was about £23 but then on arrival, we were also provided with another menu to pick and choose food. We went for some empanadas and a delicious ham and cheeses board.

The show itself was amazing! Focused on locations around Buenos Aires, there was a variety of styles of Tango on display. They also had an act that used drums and cattle whips to create impressive rhythms with the music. I was really glad I visited.

Another location where tango can be viewed and learnt is Cafe Tortoni. This is one of the oldest and most fabulous cafes in Buenos Aires. The decor is very traditional italian/ bohemian and many famous faces have eaten here. We decided to visit for a merienda (afternoon snack) and really enjoyed our visit with some great sandwiches and cake.

There were plenty of other bits and pieces I experienced in this bustling capital, but these were definitely the highlights. My return to the UK following Buenos Aires was a very long journey, but also gave me time to reflect on my amazing journey around this beautiful country.

After my return to the UK, I will soon be embarking on my next journey, working on board a cruise ship around the Mediterranean…

Mendoza is located in the North of Argentina, close to the border of Chile and it’s capital city of Santiago. It is well known for being Argentina’s key wine making region, as well as being a small city with several suburb neighbourhoods. I visited Mendoza for a few days on my way across the North of Argentina.

I travelled to Mendoza from Ushuaia over several days, mainly by bus. My main overnight stop being in Bariloche again, where I enjoyed an unexpected hostel party before my final bus. On arrival to Mendoza, I checked into my hostel, (which was not very desirable), and relaxed quite a bit on my first day, but the humidity of the city did mean that I was eaten alive by mosquitos.

Following my rest, I began to explore. Mendoza is a reasonably small city with many small suburbs and hills surrounding it. The city has plenty of restaurants and shops, and of course several opportunities to taste wine along side Argentina’s famous asado dish. Unfortunately, the city is lacking in other things to do and see. There is a museum dedicated to the city’s foundations, which was somewhat interesting, but it is quite small and with little information in english. Next door, are the ruins of the original church, but the entire experience takes less than an hour.

The other thing to see is the Parque San Martin. This is a huge park which you can relax within, it has a huge lake, and a museum of natural sciences. I did enjoy a pleasant lunch in front of the lake following the one exciting thing there is to do in this city… paragliding!

I decided to ‘tale the leap’ and enjoy a short paragliding experience from the 100 metre cerro (mountain). I thought it would be more scary, but you did not have the chance to get scared, you are simply strapped in and pushed off! Then you can float over the city for 15 minutes, and enjoy some complimentary acrobatics from the pilot, which were fun but almost made me vomit!

As well as paragliding, there are other adventure sports available around Mendoza, for those that do not want to spend their time just drinking and eating. Rapid rafting, repellling, climbing and hiking are all available, and Mendoza provides accessible trips to the tallest mountain in the Americas, Mount Aconcagua. I was happy with the paragliding as my bit of adventure for that time, as I was only there a few days.

I realized that I could not come to Mendoza without visiting the wineries, even though I do not drink much wine normally. There are countless tours selling full day and half day guided tours to the ‘bodegas’ which are the wineries. These were quite pricey, and as I knew this was not very important to me personally, I decided to find a cheaper way to do it. I found out that some of the bodegas offer tours for free, so I made a reservation directly with one of them.

I booked a one hour tour with the Lopez family Bodega in Maipu which is only a 25 minute bus ride from the centre. Down the road from there is also an olive growing farm where you can also access tours directly. So my day became sorted for very little money at all, saving me around £100, and I still got to have the tastings. The winery had giant wooden barrels storing their oldest wines, and a small museum about the history of the bodega, and it was quite interesting to learn a little about the process. Equally, the olive farm was very pleasant, and I learnt that to have a mature olive tree that produces enough olives to be commercial it takes several decades, so they have to be quite dedicated.

Overall, I think Mendoza is a pleasant city and especially well suited to those visitors that like a little luxury and love their wine and grilled meat, but if you are a little more of a commoner like myself, it is best not to visit unless you are prepared to part with a good bit of your cash and have some adventurous activities!