Travel Guide Buenos Aires - Tango, narrow streets and boulevards
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Travel Guide
Buenos Aires
Tango, narrow streets and boulevards
02 Quick view 05 Top 10 sights 11 Hotels
02 Argentina 07 Shopping in Buenos Aires 13 The great journey
04 Travel etiquette 08 Restaurants
04 Health 09 Nightlife
05 Phone calls & Internet 10 Calendar of events
© Bernardo Galmarini / Alamy
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Quick view
Buenos Aires: Tango, narrow streets and boulevards
A heady blend of South American frenzy and European chic, Buenos Aires is a city
full of endless options. Colourful architecture and football-crazed locals in La Boca;
swanky bars and ultra hip restaurants in Palermo; world-class shopping in
Recoleta; tango danced on every corner in beautiful San Telmo; history at every
turn on the vast sweep of Avenida de Mayo.
Whether you want to feast on Latin culture at the peerless MALBA gallery, eat your
bodyweight in stunning steaks at a local parilla or shop your way through some of
South America’s finest boutiques, Argentina’s endlessly cool capital has got it
covered.
Argentina
General Information
Country overview
Spirited Argentina, with its frantic capital, vast pampas, rolling wine regions and
snowy peaks, is a land bursting with adventure. In the north, scorched red
mountains and otherworldly rock formations characterise the Salta region, with its
blend of Spanish and Gaucho traditions, and where Argentina’s famous white
Torrontés grape flourishes.
Down south in Patagonia find an astonishing backdrop of expansive lakes, jagged
peaks and mile upon empty mile of space. From its sub-tropical top to its icy tip, it
is impossible to sum up Argentina as a whole. It is a mesmerising and impactful
jigsaw puzzle of extremes, ready to captivate and enthral all those who allow it.
Geography
Argentina is situated in South America, separated from Chile to the west by the
long spine of the Andes. Its landscape is extremely varied, with the top sub-tropical
and sun-baked, and its sub-Antarctic bottom tip glistening with icy waters and
glaciers. It has 3,100 miles (4,989km) of coastline. Its eastern border is the Atlantic
Ocean, with Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil to the north and northeast.
Argentina can roughly be divided into four main geographical areas: the
spectacular Andes mountain range, the dry North along with the more verdant
Mesopotamia, the lush plains of the Pampas and the windswept wastes of
Patagonia. Mount Aconcagua soars almost 7,000m (23,000ft), and waterfalls at
Iguazú stretch out in a massive semi-circle, thundering 70m (230ft) to the bed of the
Paraná River.
Argentina’s lowest point is Laguna del Carbón in Santa Cruz Province, sitting
105m (344ft) below sea level.
In the southwest is the Argentine Lake District with a string of beautiful glacial
lakes framed by snow-covered mountains. At Argentina’s southernmost tip, and so
the southernmost tip of the whole of South America, is Tierra del Fuego (Spanish
for Land of Fire), a stunning archipelago split between Argentina and neighbouring
Chile.
General Information
Key facts
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Population: 42600000
Population Density (per sq km): 15
Capital: Buenos Aires.
Language
Spanish is the official language. English is widely spoken with some French and
German.
Currency
Peso (ARS; symbol AR$) = 100 centavos. Peso notes are in denominations of
AR$100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 2. Coins are in denominations of AR$5, 2 and 1, and in
50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 centavos.
US Dollars are accepted in some hotels and tourist centres. Prices in US Dollars
are typically marked with US$ to avoid confusion, but sometimes both peso and
dollar prices are both preceded by just $, so check if unsure.
Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz. Plug fittings in older buildings are of the two-pin round type,
but most new buildings use the V-shaped twin with earth pin. Travellers should
bring a world travel adaptor.
General business opening hours
Mon-Fri 0900-1200 and 1400-1900, although many workers start late and finish
late.
Country overview
Below are listed Public Holidays for the January 2019 – December 2020 period.
2019
Año Nuevo (New Year’s Day): 1 January 2019
Día de la Memoria (Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice): 24 March 2019
Dia de las Malvinas (Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas War): 2 April
2019
Viernes Santo (Good Friday): 19 April 2019
Día del Trabajo (Labour Day): 1 May 2019
Primer Gobierno Patrio (Anniversary of the 1810 Revolution): 25 May 2019
Muerte del General Martín Miguel de Güemes (Anniversary of the Death of General
Martín Miguel de Güemes): 17 June 2019
Día de la Bandera (National Flag Day): 20 June 2019
Día de la Independencia (Independence Day): 9 July 2019
Paso a la Inmortalidad del General José de San Martín (Anniversary of the Death
of General José de San Martín): 17 August 2019
Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultura (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity): 12
October 2019
Día de la Soberanía Nacional (Day of National Sovereignty): 18 November 2019
Inmaculada Concepción (Immaculate Conception): 8 December 2019
Navidad (Christmas): 25 December 2019
2020
Año Nuevo (New Year’s Day): 1 January 2020
Día de la Memoria (Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice): 24 March 2020
Dia de las Malvinas (Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas War): 2 April
2020
Viernes Santo (Good Friday): 10 April 2020
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Día del Trabajo (Labour Day): 1 May 2020
Primer Gobierno Patrio (Anniversary of the 1810 Revolution): 25 May 2020
Muerte del General Martín Miguel de Güemes (Anniversary of the Death of General
Martín Miguel de Güemes): 17 June 2020
Día de la Bandera (National Flag Day): 20 June 2020
Día de la Independencia (Independence Day): 9 July 2020
Paso a la Inmortalidad del General José de San Martín (Anniversary of the Death
of General José de San Martín): 17 August 2020
Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultura (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity): 12
October 2020
Día de la Soberanía Nacional (Day of National Sovereignty): 18 November 2020
Inmaculada Concepción (Immaculate Conception): 8 December 2020
Navidad (Christmas): 25 December 2020
All information subject to change.
Travel etiquette
How to fit in
The most common form of greeting between friends is kissing cheeks. It is
customary for everyone to kiss cheeks on meeting and departing. Dinner is usually
eaten well into the evening - from around 2100 onwards. While Argentina is
famous for its wonderful wine, Argentinians as a whole do not have the same
propensity for drinking large amounts of alcohol as Europeans, and in bars and
even nightclubs many will be drinking soft drinks and few will appear noticeably
drunk.
Formal wear is worn for official functions and dinners, particularly in exclusive
restaurants.
A smoking ban was introduced in Buenos Aires in 2006, prohibiting smoking in
public areas including bars and restaurants - with larger bars allowed to have a
designated smoking area. Queuing and waiting for things in public places can
seem a little less ordered than in Europe; an example is the Subte in Buenos Aires
– people will continue to board the carriage until the platform is empty, whether
there seems to be space in the carriage or not. It can make for a rather crowded
and sweaty journey.
Health
Health
Main emergency number: 107
Food & Drink
Tap water is generally considered safe in main cities and towns, especially in
Buenos Aires, but otherwise bottled water is recommended. If bottled water is
unavailable then boil water for over a minute before drinking.
Other Risks
Dengue fever, carried by mosquitoes, is present but not common. Leishmaniasis, a
skin disease spread by sandflies, is a low risk. Both can be avoided with sensible
precautionary measures such as using mosquito nets and insect repellent in
lowland and jungle areas. From around March to October time, Argentine
haemorrhagic fever - a viral disease caused by Junin virus – can be picked up in
the pampas. It is transmitted by the corn mouse, by either by breathing in dust
contaminated with droppings or by contact with the creature.
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Psychoanalysis therapy is incredibly popular in Argentina, especially Buenos
Aires; it is said that the Argentine capital has the highest per cent of therapists of
any city in the world. Argentina is also known for its affordable cosmetic surgery
procedures, and a growing number of people visit for this reason. Standards are
erratic, however, and it is incredibly important to make sure you conduct thorough
research on medical centres and physicians, and opt for somewhere with an
excellent reputation.
Contractual physician of Lufthansa
Dr. May, Alfredo H.
Avenido Maipú 1179 – 1 „D“
1638 Vicente López
Prov. Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel. +54-11-4795-9132
Please note that Lufthansa accepts no responsibility for the treatment nor will it
bear the cost of any treatment.
Phone calls & Internet
Phone calls & Internet
Telephone/Mobile Telephone
Dialing Code: +54
Telephone
Phone centres called locutorios can be found in most towns. Users are given their
own phone booth and calls are added up and paid for at the end. Public pay
phones are available in shops and restaurants and on some streets. These take 1
peso or 50 and 25 centavos coins. Most public telephones accept international
phone cards.
Mobile Telephone
Roaming agreements exist with some international mobile phone companies, but
phones must be tri-band. Coverage is good in most parts of Argentina, but may be
lacking in remote and mountain areas.
Internet
Available in most towns and cities in locutorios (phone centres) and internet cafés.
Many estancias and rural areas are cut off from both internet and telephone
access. Wi-Fi is increasingly found in upper range hotels.
Top 10 sights
Top 10 sights in Buenos Aires
Cementerio de la Recoleta
Towering and unique mausoleums make this necropolis an essential visit. The
great and good of Argentina are buried here, including Eva Perón, interred with her
Duarte ancestors.
Azcuénaga Opening times:
Buenos Aires Daily 0700-1730
Argentinien
Tel: (011) 4803 1594
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www.cementeriorecoleta.com.ar
Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (MALBA)
Arguably Buenos Aires’ greatest cultural asset, MALBA’s collection of 20th-century
Latin American art is peerless. Its permanent collection plays home to works by
Diego Rivera, Antonio Berni and Jorge De La Vega, while its rolling exhibitions
always garner critical praise.
Avenida Figueroa Alcorta 3415 Opening times:
Buenos Aires Thurs-Mon 1200-2000
Argentina Tues 1200-2100
Tel: (011) 4808 6500
www.malba.org.ar
Centro Cultural Borges
Nestled in the swanky Galerías Pacífico, this cultural centre is named after Buenos
Aires’ most famous writer, Jorge Luis Borges. Catch an art exhibition, go to a
reading or take in a concert.
Viamonte 500 Opening times:
Buenos Aires Mon-Sat 1000-2100
Argentina Sun 1200-2100
Tel: (011) 5555 5450
www.ccborges.org.ar
Teatro Colón
An architectural marvel and one of the world’s greatest opera houses, Teatro
Colón is an essential stop. There are daily guided tours of the opulent auditorium,
although you’ll need to be quick to snap up tickets for concerts and performances.
Cerrito 628 Opening times:
1010 Buenos Aires Daily 0900-1700 (guided tours)
Argentina
Tel: (011) 4378 7100 www.teatrocolon.org.ar
Plaza Dorrego
The pretty San Telmo Square is a great spot to take in some tango. Take a seat,
grab a cerveza, order a steak from one of the parillas lining the streets and be sure
to have some small bills handy to tip the hugely impressive dancers. Best time to
visit is on sundays when the huge flea Feria del Dorrego market is on.
Plaza Dorrego, San Telmo
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel:
Plaza de Mayo
The home of Argentine protest, Plaza de Mayo buzzes with history. The obelisk at
the centre marks the first year of independence from Spain, while every Thursday
the ‘mothers of the disappeared’ return to fight injustice in the country.
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Plaza de Mayo, Microcentro
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel:
El Caminito
This colourful strip in the working neighbourhood of La Boca is lined with
restaurants and dotted with tango dancers and guys dressed up as the area’s
favourite son, Diego Maradona. Stroll around to see a different side of Buenos
Aires.
El Caminito, La Boca
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel:
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
Fine art from Argentinian and European artists line the walls of this hulking
building, a short walk from the Cemeterio de la Recoleta.
Avenida del Libertador 1473 Opening times:
Buenos Aires Tues-Fri 1230-2030
Argentina Sat-Sun 0930-2030
Tel: (011) 5288 9900
www.mnba.org.ar
Plaza Serrano
A cute, bar-lined square, Plaza Serrano plays home to a daily market selling
trinkets and souvenirs. But this is as much about the people-watching as it is the
shopping. Grab a glass of Malbec and watch Buenos Aires pass you by.
Plaza Serrano, Palermo
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel:
La Bombonera
Home of the fiercely supported Boca Juniors, this massive stadium teems on
match day. Pick up a ticket through a local agency to see one of Argentina’s best
football teams in action.
Del Valle Iberlucea, La Boca www.bocajuniors.com.ar
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel:
Shopping in Buenos Aires
Shopping in Buenos Aires
Key Areas
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Buenos Aires is a shopaholic’s dream. Recoleta is the place to go for big-name
international brands, while Palermo Soho’s narrow streets are chock-full of cool
boutiques selling unique, one-off pieces. San Telmo and the streets off of Plaza
Dorrego are great for souvenirs and superb-quality leather.
Markets
Plaza Dorrego plays home to an excellent antiques market every Sunday, ideal if
you’re after a small treasure to mark
your visit. The nearby San Telmo market is alive with food stalls and great spots to
pick up old books and tango records. Plaza Serrano is good for cheap knick-
knacks.
Shopping Centres
Galerías Pacífico is a must-visit for anyone after high-end clothes. The stunning
Abasto mall, once the city’s fruit and veg market, is stuffed with international
brands, as is the nearby Alto Palermo.
Restaurants
Restaurants in Buenos Aires
You’ll probably find the best steak of your life in one of Buenos Aires’ many
parillas.But there’s more to this city than red meat, with it's excellent cafés and
unique restaurants.
Unik
This architect-owned spot serves sensational haute cuisine. Ideal for a special
night out.
Soler 5132 Price: Expensive
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Don Julio
Porteños (locals) rate this steak joint as one of the city’s best and with good
reason. Succulent cuts and Malbec to die for.
Guatemala 4699 Price: Moderate
1425 Buenos Aires
Argentina
Azema
French colonial cuisine might seem odd in Buenos Aires, but be sure to try this
spot. Vietnamese and Moroccan food that seriously impresses.
Angel Justiniano Carranza 1875 Price: Moderate
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Dada
A cosy neighbourhood bar in Retiro, this place serves up superb ojo de bife
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(ribeye), with an impressive wine list to match.
San Martin 941 Price: Cheap
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Ninina Bakery
Super hip, Ninina channels New York’s best bakeries. As well as lip-smacking
cakes, try the kale, mint and apple juice.
Gorriti 4738 Price: Cheap
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Nightlife
Nightlife in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is a town that knows how to party and party late. Things don’t really
get going here until midnight, so be sureto get plenty of rest before hitting the city’s
superb roster of bars and clubs.
Milion
Set in a beautiful mansion, Milion’s courtyard is the perfect spot to grab a pre-club
cocktail.
Paraná 1048
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Cocoliche
With a hefty sound system, this is the place to go dancing to techno and house.
Rivadavia 878
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Frank’s
A speakeasy serving sensational cocktails. Grab someone out front to get the
password to enter.
Arévalo 1445
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Kika
An eclectic array of tunes, from drum’n’bass to hip hop, keep this Palermo Soho
joint jumping into the early hours.
Honduras 5339
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Buenos Aires
Argentina
Niceto Club
Home to some of Buenos Aires’ best DJs and a burlesque show, this is one of the
city’s kookier and cooler nightspots.
Avenida Coronel Niceto Vega 5510
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Calendar of events
Calendar of events
Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine
Independiente (BAFICI)
Argentina has produced excellent movies for many years. The fact that they are
only recently coming to the attention of wider European audiences owes much to
the work of festivals such as this one. The Buenos Aires Independent International
Film Festival is a young, exciting event that has attracted international recognition
for its positive programming, concentrating on quality productions with an
emphasis on director-driven films.
3 - 14 April 2019
www.welcomeargentina.com/ciudadbuenosaires/in...
Venue: Various venues
Argentine Open Polo Championships
Visitors to this, the most revered international polo tournament at club level, can
enjoy many a great polo game, as well as scores of high-end socialising and first-
rate people watching. Expect to see some of the very best players in the game
today, as teams from all over the polo-playing world compete in Buenos Aires. The
popular polo championship has taken place in Palermo since 1893, and is a major
social event as well as a sporting highlight on the Argentine calendar.
April 2019
www.aapolo.com
Venue: Campo Argentino de Polo de Palermo
Arte BA - Contemporary Art Fair
The Contemporary Art Fair opens the cultural season in the Argentine capital with
an exhibition designed to bring high-quality art closer to the widest possible range
of people. Around 85,000 visitors attend the exhibition each year. A Selection
Committee chooses from galleries at home and abroad to give visitors a unique
opportunity to compare and buy art pieces from a range of regional and local
sources. The event provides a forum where artists, collectors and buyers can meet,
discuss and exchange views, and disseminate their thoughts throughout the
region.
11 - 14 April 2019
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www.arteba.org
Venue: La Rural Exhibition Complex
Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires
This three-week international book fair is one of the five largest book fairs in the
world. The event has been going since 1975 and has grown substantially over
recent years. More than 50 countries now participate, and notable literary guests
have included Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho and Argentina's much-celebrated
author, the late Jorge Luis Borges.
25 April - 13 May 2019
www.el-libro.org.ar
Venue: La Rural Exhibition Complex
Buenos Aires Tango Festival
Dive into the most significant tango festival in the world's great tango capital. Over
nine days Buenos Aires' usual tango furore reaches new highs, with a bevy of
concerts, exhibitions, public dance-offs, classes and general festivities. It really is
not to be missed.
15 - 28 August 2019
festivales.buenosaires.gob.ar/en/tango
Venue: Acrosss the city
Marcha del Orgullo
The annual gay pride parade in Buenos Aires is as vibrant and exuberant as you
might expect. This dazzling outdoor celebration takes over the city’s central streets
in November, with flamboyant processions, and much dancing and music.
November 2019
www.marchadelorgullo.org.ar/
Venue: Plaza Mayo and city centre streets
Día de la Tradición
The gaucho town of San Antonio de Areco, an hour or so from Buenos Aires, is the
place to be on 10 November to celebrate Argentina's Día de la Tradición. The
small, charming town comes alive with a full-on gaucho festival featuring horse
parades, music and, of course, lots and lots of meat.
10 November 2019
Venue: San Antonio de Areco
Hotels
Hotels in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires’ varying neighbourhoods mean a decent range of accommodation is
available. With prices fluctuating due to the devaluation of the peso, costs are
going up though.Those who want luxury accommodation will find some excellent
spots.
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Mine Hotel
A sharp, design-led boutique hotel in slick Palermo Hollywood.
Gorriti 4770 Category: Expensive
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Hotel Boutique Racó de Buenos Aires
A 19th-century gem, chock-full of antiques; each room is designed individually.
Yapeyú 271 Category: Expensive
1202 Buenos Aires
Argentina
Vista Sol Design Hotel
This well-equipped business hotel has sharp rooms and won’t break your budget
either.
Calle Tucuman 451 Category: Moderate
1049 Buenos Aires
Argentina
Hotel Pulitzer
Spacious rooms complimented by a swanky rooftop bar and swimming pool.
Maipú 907 Category: Moderate
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Le Vitral Baires Hotel Boutique
This family-run spot has cosy rooms, a great breakfast and is perfectly located for
all the key sights.
Ayacucho 277 Category: Cheap
1025 Buenos Aires
Argentina
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The great journey
Patagonia – Journey to the end of the world
The great journey:
Patagonia
© Jean-Paul Azam/Hemis.fr/laif
Volcanoes, glaciers, endless plains: The name Patagonia evokes freedom,
wilderness, adventure – but does this rugged land live up to its name? The answer
lies in this tale of wind, shards of ice, never-ending bus rides and Maradona’s
soccer strip.
Day 1: Torres del Paine
national park
© ImagePoint AG
This is the place that the wind calls home. Rushing in from the icy wastes of
Antarctica, it piles up seething waves in the Beagle Channel and charges on over
the Andean foothills until there is nothing left to hold it back. It races through the
mountains and on to the plains, where it sweeps through the pampas grass,
shakes the trees and ruffles the wooly fleeces of the grazing guanacos. Finally, it
swoops up into the clouds above the Cuernos del Paine, the horn-like peaks of
Torres del Paine National Park, until a moment ago still obscured by what
appeared to be a wall of cotton batting. Finding a gap, the wind penetrates the
white swathes, nudging, pushing, and within the space of five minutes totally
dispersing them. And now? After all the days and kilometers you have traveled
through Patagonia, you find yourself sitting quite lost for words, yet again, as you
gaze across at the mountaintops. All that’s missing is a dramatic movie-style
fanfare to highlight the moment.
Instead, you hear the rustling of tin foil. South America’s chocolate manufacturers
wrap their products with great care – an important precaution given the wildly
fluctuating temperatures in this part of the world. It can be icy cold when trekkers sit
down for a break, and boiling hot when they set off again a short while later.
Patagonia is a land of extremes, of totally unpredictable weather, barely
fathomable dimensions. Surveying the vast panorama stretching away toward the
horizon on all sides, your knees almost buckle beneath you. And now there’s a
weird lump in your throat – must be the chocolate.
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Day 2: Ushuaia
© Bildagentur-online/Cavalli-TIPS
At the end of the world, you will find a jersey worn by the man who once needed
the “hand of God.” It is displayed in a glass case behind the bar of a pub called
“Dublin” down by the harbor and was “signed by Maradona himself,” the barkeeper
proudly declares. He can say this in Spanish and English, and also in Italian and
German. To Maradona! To Diego! Salud! Twenty years ago, only a few passing
trekkers would raise their glasses here, but since then business has been
booming. Now tourists from Antarctic cruise ships stand three and four deep at the
bar, straining for a glimpse of this piece of Argentine soccer memorabilia.
Ushuaia’s population, too, has doubled since then to almost 60,000, despite its
remote location.
If any town can truly be said to be at the very end of the world, then that town is
Ushuaia. On sunny days, Argentina’s most southerly town seems to be Tierra del
Fuego’s answer to San Francisco; on bad days, it apparently stands at the gateway
to hell’s laundry room. That’s when the ocean rages around the piers in the bay,
clouds roll in off the mountains, and everyone heads for shelter, preferably the pub
– as soon as it opens.
So Maradona actually came here? Not exactly, says the barkeeper. But he (the
barman) did go to see an international match in Buenos Aires once, when
Maradona was still coach of the Argentine squad – hence the jersey. So before the
last World Cup; before the German team blasted the Argentines off the field 4:0,
right? Our host falls silent, but the next round is on the house. Salud!
Day 3: Ushuaia - Puerto
Natales
© Stefan Nink
When it comes to getting around in this part of the world, buses are definitely your
best option. They will take you just about anywhere: over mountains and across
borders, even across the sounds, riding pickaback on local ferries. But at the very
least, they will take you over the rough roads that in western Europe would be
deemed fit only for farm vehicles.
As a passenger, there are two ways to spend the 27 hours between Ushuaia and
Puerto Natales: You can either watch a stream of Spanish videos on the TV screen
above the driver’s seat, or gaze out the window. Not that there’s anything much to
see, hour after interminable hour. The landscape slides by like a highly elitist
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experimental movie. No wildlife, no plants, and least of all humans to be seen far
and wide. That’s what makes the bus a great place to reflect – on the myths around
Patagonia perhaps.
Patagonia’s mythical reputation is inspired not so much by the steppes and
mountains, by the raging wind, and the waves that crash against the quay wall, but
by all of those other indefinable qualities. By the things you imagined vaguely
before starting out that you still can’t really put your finger on now that you’re here,
but somehow know for sure that they have something to do with windswept hair
and salt spray on your face. With the whinny of horses and the shadow of a condor
soaring high overhead. With the glittering blue of a glacier face, the dull thud of
hooves on the grassy steppe, and the molten crimson corridor conjured onto a
mountain lake by the sun as it hangs low in the sky.
Patagonia has dual nationality. One part lies in Argentina, the other in Chile, and if
it weren’t for the lone checkpoint cabin out there in the middle of the pampas, you
wouldn’t even notice that your dusty track had crossed from one territory into the
other. Everywhere here is desolate. “The plains of Patagonia are boundless,”
Charles Darwin wrote in 1836, “they bear the stamp of having lasted, as they are
now, for ages.” Maybe this is what we sense here today. Maybe this all-embracing
emptiness gives us an inkling of our own mortality – and of how tiny we are, how
insignificant in the great scheme of things. Could be.
It could also be that these landscapes attract a very special type of person. Today,
my fellow travelers on the bus are a group of athletic Californians who have come
down here to break some speed-trekking record or other; a handful of Israelis who
have fled their country’s military draft, their faces all but obscured by giant
headphones; three English ornithologists; a Dutch couple traveling around the
world and two other Germans. Hour after bumpy hour, this motley crew is making
its way across the countryside on board a bus. The myths about Patagonia don’t
say anything about stiff necks and discs that threaten to slip at every new pothole.
Many other dream destinations fail to stand up to scrutiny, and expectations
frequently dissolve into disappointment on arrival, or soon after. In Patagonia, it’s
different. Here, you immediately get the feeling that the myth lives up to the reality –
and that’s something even the longest bus ride in the world can’t change.
Day 4: Glaciar Perito
Moreno
© Jean-Paul Azam/hemis.fr/laif
“What size? Maybe this long... “ The ranger indicates the size with his thumb and
index finger. But it’s not really their size that matters, he says, it’s their speed. The
people on the observation platform look bewildered: Why their speed? The ranger
lifts his thumb and index finger to his forehead. “When a shard of ice hits your head
in slow motion, you get away with a scratch. If it’s moving at 150 kilometers an
hour, it becomes lodged in your skull.” He waits a beat. “Then you’re dead.” The
people on the platform nod, they get the point (no pun intended.)
But they find it harder to imagine how entire sheets of ice the size of an apartment
block can break off a glacier at any moment and hit the water, sending a hundred
thousand splinters of ice flying in all directions. Normally, when people think of a
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glacier, they picture one of those dismal expanses of ice in the Alps, but they are
laughable compared with Perito Moreno. This glacier shimmers an unearthly blue
and doesn’t just lie there, inert; it sweats and wheezes and groans. When the next
ice wall breaks off, the world is plunged, for a moment, into absolute stillness. Then
the ice crashes to the water below and seconds later, the sound wave reaches your
eardrums. If you are close enough, it will even continue to echo somewhere inside
you for a few seconds longer. Perfectly still, you listen for the next rumble.
Witnessed from the observation platform, this spectacle is better than any movie, so
there’s absolutely no need to get any closer to the action.
Day 5: Seno Otway
© Stefan Boness/Ipon
On the final day of the journey, the weather behaves as though the four seasons
had got together for a party, boozed for days on end and were still pretty much the
worse for wear. At the Seno Otwas penguin colony, at least, you can expect to see
hail, snow, and pouring rain all within the space of an hour – and in between, the
sun will blaze hot enough to give you your first sun burn. Then suddenly the wind
will get up again and the rain will begin to pelt down in big, heavy drops that
gradually turn into tiny blades of ice and, luckily, fall very slowly. And maybe just
because it looks so good against a sky of violet cloud, a rainbow will arch above
the ocean. If only it weren’t so cold, you would sit down among the penguins, drink
a brandy with them and join them in gazing at the sky.
Later, at the Pionera Hotel, the receptionist asks if I’ve been to Patagonia, which
surprises me because according to my travel guide the Pionera itself is in the heart
of Patagonia. This, too, is part of Patagonia’s mystery – no one seems to really
know where it is. To some, it’s everything south of Santiago. To others, it starts
thousands of kilometers further south. Some include Tierra del Fuego, others don’t.
But if you ask the people in Patagonia to define where Patagonia lies, they will tell
you that Patagonia is where they live. All it takes is the landscape stretching as far
as the horizon. Oh yes, and you must be able to feel your soul breathing and hear
your heart beating – amid the wind’s incessant roar.
Lufthansa Tipp
Lufthansa flies daily nonstop from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires, and is the
only airline to operate a nonstop service between Germany and Argentina
lufthansa.com. Domestic airlines offer a daily choice of onward connections
from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia and Punta Arenas. Use the mileage
calculator in the Miles & More app now and find out how many award and
status miles have been credited to you for your flight. Download now on
miles-and-more.com/app.
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