Argentina & Rio trip notes
 

Howdy! We're just back from 3 weeks in Argentina and Rio. Loved it! :) We went to Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, El Calafate, Iguazu (Brazil and Argentina) and Rio de Janeiro. I'll try to post more info as I have time.

Buenos Aires
We had 7 nights total there, all spent at the Loi Suites Arenales. The hotel is in a great location. For $70US per night we had a 'suite' which was really 2 rooms split by a closet, shelves and an open area. The first room had a mushy bed, pathetic hairdryer and the shower leaked on the bathroom floor. In spite of that, we still liked it well enough. The next room we had was in better shape although the fridge didn't work when we checked in, they promptly fixed it. There were no safes in the rooms but they have some safety deposit boxes at the front desk (not enough for all rooms, though).

We were under the impression that we would always have to wait until late to have dinner, but there are plenty of places that stay open all day or open earlier. I think we always had dinner before 8:00. Puerto Madero is a nice place to dine and many restaurants there serve all day. You can sit outside, it's quiet (no traffic!) and it's just a pleasant place to be.

I read a lot about crime there, but we felt fine, never the least bit threatened. No problems at all with taxis, radio taxis or remises. In fact, some of the friendliest people we met were the taxi drivers. :)

We took the Buquebus to Colonia, Uruguay one day. Uruguay was an hour later than BA. We were told to get there an hour early and it really was necessary to get through check in, immigration and boarding. Colonia is a nice little town to poke around for a few hours and every place seemed to accept Argentine pesos. I bought the tickets over the phone (in English) 2 days before with my credit card. If you go, watch for the old cars!

We took ATM cards, travelers checks and some euro cash, but only used ATMs to get money.

Buenos Aires is a great city to just wander around!

Ushuaia
We spent 3 nights at Patagonia Jarke, a really nice hotel a couple of blocks uphill from the main street. If you stay there, request a room with a view! Many rooms have big picture windows overlooking the town and ocean. We had a small room with a small window and view into the hotel area.

There are several mini-bus companies that go to Cerro Martial chairlift, Tierra del Fuego National Park and other places. The tourist office has a list of bus companies, where they depart from and where they go. Or you can just walk down the the street by the water or the next street up and look for signs. We took one to Cerro Martial for 10 pesos roundtrip each and when we were ready to return to town, a guy at the chairlift called them for us. Took another to the national park for 15 pesos each and the driver told us when and where pickups were to go back to town. Easy.

If you like to hike, there are lots of options in the national park! We hiked 3 hours along the coastal path and wished we had more time for more trails.

There are several options for boat trips in the Beagle Channel. Down at the tourist dock there are kiosks representing all the boat companies. You can get brochures, check prices and times there. When we were there, there was no need to book ahead. We took a 6 hour trip departing at 3pm to see the various little islands with sea lions, seals, birds and onto the penguin colony. That was so cool!!! :)

Restaurants
Casa de los Mariscos - YUM!! It's a little place and has excellent king crab and very reasonable prices.
Tia Elvira - The food was about like the previous place (very good) but more expensive. If you get there early (I think they opened at 7) you can sit by the window and watch the port across the street. We got there at 7 and it was packed by 7:20.
Tante Sara Pizza & Pasta - It was recommended by both of our guidebooks but we thought it wasn't very good.

Lots of shopping opportunities in Ushuaia! Plenty of souvenir shops and shops selling jackets, fleece, gloves, etc.

El Calafate
We spent 3 nights at the Linda Vista Apart Hotel. Loved it! They have several 2 story bungalows just off the end of the main street. It's not right in the center, but close enough. We had an upstairs apartment with 2 rooms and a kitchen area.

Mini-trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier!!! :) That was one of the coolest things we did on the whole trip! Loved it loved it loved it!!! A bus picked us up around 10:30 and it took a couple of hours to get to the glacier after stops for potties, paying the park entrance fees and photo ops. We had 2 hours at the glacier balconies to eat the lunch we brought with us and stare at the glacier. Too cool!!!! There are lots of walkways connecting lookout points. We could've stayed longer. Actually, we could've spent hours there just staring and waiting for pieces to break and fall. :) Back on the bus for a short ride to the water, then a boat trip in front of the glacier then to the side of it where we disembarked. There were many people there but they split us into a few groups and off we went, through the woods and onto the edge of the glacier. They strapped crampons on our feet and then onto the ice! How cool!!! We walked up and down hills for 2 hours. Fantastic!! I highly recommend doing this. :) We got back to our hotel around 9pm that night.

I had heard that there's not much to do in El Calafate but that depends on what you like. We could've spent a lot more time there and stayed busy and entertained. We spent one morning horse riding. :) The town is fun to poke around and there are loads of shops if you are looking for souvenirs. Other stuff to do: hiking up the hills around town, take a 4WD excursion, bird watching, other boat trips. We prebooked a trip on the Upsala Explorer but they had problems with their boat and had to cancel. Hopefully we'll get a refund!

Restaurants
La Lechuza Pizzeria - Yum!!
Casimiro - Oh my, this place was wonderful. It's casual, but the quality of food is 5 star. There are 2 places near each other with the same name, one is a wine bar and the other is this restaurant.

Iguazu
We spent 3 nights in Puerto Iquazu at the Esturion hotel. It's ok, a bit out from the center of town. Parts of our room were nice and other parts looked like they really needed to be updated. Just out the front gate is a taxi stand with the friendlist drivers! :) The bus to the falls stops right outside or you can take a taxi for 20 pesos.

We arrived in the afternoon around 2pm and immediately hired a taxi for the afternoon to go to the Brazilian side. We already had visas. For 70 pesos, we had a taxi for the afternoon and a super-friendly tourguide/buddy for 5 hours. :) He of course knew what to do at the borders. We spent about an hour at the bird park near the falls. Loved it!! They have zillions of beautiful birds, many in big open pens that you walk through. Cool! Then onto the Brazilian side of the falls, where we left us for a few hours. We poked around for about 2 1/2 hours which was plenty of time to see everything. Cool!!!

The next day we spent on the Argentine side. We got there around 9, bought tickets for the Jungle Explorer Pasaporte Verde (Gran Aventura and a slow boat ride) and got to go right away. Our driver told us it was a good thing we were so early, otherwise we would have to make reservations for later in the day. The Gran Aventura is a hoot! It's a jeep ride through the jungle, a boat trip up river then the famous drenching in the falls. You really do get completely and totally soaked! And don't think you'll dry any time soon when there's like 95% humidity out! ar ar Word to the wise: either wear your swimsuit or bring dry underwear to change into. ar ar They give you plastic shopping type bags to put your stuff in. Later we walked around Isla San Martin and did all the walking circuits and took the train to the Garganta del Diablo. The falls there are truly amazing!!! Then the rest of our package, a slow boat down the river for 30 minutes or so. That was nice and we saw a baby alligator. :)

We were there from 9-5 or so that day and went back the next morning. If you plan to go back, get the ticket checkers to stamp your ticket and it will be half price the next day. The 2nd day there we only hiked along Sendero Macuco to a little waterfall. If you do this, go early otherwise you probably won't see any critters. We saw interesting little beasties (can't remember their name) and monkeys. It took about an hour each way with plenty of time for critter watching. :)

Restaurants
La Rueda - Recommended by guidebooks but we thought the food was awful.

Rio de Janeiro
We spent 6 nights at the Ipanema Plaza Hotel. Great location and nice rooms. I booked on ipanema.com for $115US per night with breakfast. The first night there, our room had no a/c. The front desk didn't seem inclined to do anything about it so we changed rooms the next day, but had to upgrade for $30US more per night. At least the a/c worked in the new room! Other than that, the rooms were nice, have big safes, nice bathrooms, etc.

I had also read a lot about crime in Rio and I can say that I didn't feel 100% safe there. I just had the feeling many times that there were vultures circling looking for easy prey. For example, we were in a taxi cruising along slowly in the pokey traffic right next to the beach boardwalk at Copacabana. While we were sitting at a light, I was watching a drinks stand by the beach. An obvious tourist, a middle aged pale man with a large bag over his shoulder, was ordering a drink. An apparent local, a younger man with a dark tan in swimming trunks, sidled up next to the tourist and proceeded to try to unzip his bag! Right there, in broad daylight, right next to the busy beach street! The tourist noticed it, jerked away, swung at the other guy, who laughed at him, grabbed his bag and pulled it close to him, all the while watching the swim trunks dude who just shrugged it off and walked away. Anyway, if you stay alert and watch your stuff, I think you're fine.

We wandered all over Ipanema, Leblon, Copacabana, Sta Teresa and Urca. The coolest thing we did was a daytrip with Rio Hiking (riohiking.com). Our guide, Thiago, was the nicest, friendliest, laid back guy. He picked us up at 9:30 and took us to Tijuca National Park where we climbed Tijuca Peak. It took about an hour to go up along a dirt trail through the woods, then another 45 minutes back down. We hung out at the top for a while and stared at cool views all around. :) From there we went to Corcovado and saw the Christ statue, then to Sta Teresa where we poked around and rode the tram. What a fun day!! Everyone I talked to at Rio Hiking was super and I can't recommend them enough. :)

That's it for now! If you have any questions I'm happy to try and answer them! :)

Peep, I enjoyed reading your trip report, especially the parts on Buenos Aires and Iguazu falls. We'll be there in May so the information about the taxis, for phoning to get the Buquebus tickets, and timing issues for Colonia was informative. Thanks. Glad you had a great time on your trip. Kathy

Peep - great report. We will be in Buenos Aires, Ushuaia and Iguazu next February before/after an Antarctic cruise, so your information was very helpful. It sounds like you had a wonderful trip!

Thanks for posting this report . . . loved it!

Sandy (in Denton)