Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a huge city with the greater metropolitan area including 13 million people, about one-third of the country’s total population. Buenos Aires is a city of contrasts- widely ranging architectural styles, the posh neighborhoods vs the artsy but gritty area of La Boca, the rich and the poor. The tour guide said that residents of Argentina are rarely in agreement on social or political issues.   The ghosts of the dictatorship are still present. The mothers of those who disappeared during the period of military rule protest at the plaza every Thursday.

I was struck by the lack of diversity in the city. There are few people of color. Here’s why.  Historically Argentina did not have the same amount of slavery as did neighboring Brazil.  Argentina had limited agricultural production, therefore they needed fewer slaves. In the mid 1800s, Argentina went to war with Paraguay. The slaves that were in Argentina at the time of the war were sent to the northern part of the country as cannon fodder against Paraguay.  It did not go well for the slaves, leaving few survivors to populate Argentina today.

There are estancias [ranches] near Buenos Aires. Yes, there are still gauchos but their numbers are declining as education levels improve and young people want more lucrative and less demanding jobs.

Mendoza

Can you say “Malbec”? I never knew there are so many types of Malbec nor the complexity of the process that results in a delicious bottle of wine. The Mendoza area is ideal for wine making as it has the right climate, rainfall (not much) and a range of altitudes that produce very different grapes.  There are over 1,500 wineries in the area—enough to keep any oenophile engaged for months. 

Salta

I had never looked at a map of northwest Argentina before I planned my trip. Even after I decided to include a visit to the towns of Salta and Purmamarca in the northwest, I was still uncertain about what I would see. Both locations are well worth the trip. Salta is home to the Mountain Archaeological Museum, or the Mummy Museum as most people call it. The museum has 3 mummies of Incan children that were discovered in 1999. The children had been sacrificed. Their tombs were found at 21,000 feet by a team of high altitude archaeologists who had been sponsored by National Geographic. The mummies were frozen when found and have remained frozen since they were discovered. The story of their discovery and how they have been handled by archaeologists is as interesting as the mummies themselves.

Purmamarca

Purmamarca is a town located in the high desert (over 7,000 feet). To get there, we passed by landscape that seemed to change at every turn. In the course of the trip, I saw vicuna in addition to llamas.  Vicunas are similar to alpacas, only wild. They are one of 4 types of South American animals related to a camel- llamas, alpacas, vicunas, and guanacos. I have now seen them all!  

To reach Purmamarca, we  passed a huge salt flat that looked more like a field covered in snow than the salt flats in Nevada. We ascended a mountain pass of more than 14,000 feet. My friend, Lynne, had a bag of potato chip. Yes, the phenomena with air pressure is real. See the photos. 

Purmamarca  is surrounded by amazing geology. It is known for the its hills of 7 colors. They are appropriately named. Please see the photos. 

Iguazu Falls

There is little I can add to what most people already know about Iguazu Falls.  They are one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. Although they are crowded (more than 1 million people per year), it is still possible to get a good view of the many different sides of the falls. They are vast and  impressive.  My photos are from the Argentina side.