Lucky Lisa, whose Mom takes her on a cruise! When poor Rooster has "a rough year", no one takes him on a cruise! LOL!!!
Yes, it is obviously to be expected that your guides in the South want to get paid in dollars. As I said, "everyone should be happy to take them".
If you are happy with your hotel deal, that's fine. Ask your hotel about picking you up at the pier.
A word of warning: on that first Sunday (a day of the week with little, if any, police presence), you are planning on going to some of THE most touristy places in BA: "Plaza San Martin, La Boca to El Caminito (a particularly dangerous area, if you stray away from Caminito itself), then to the San Telmo market." Since you ARE tourists, that's great, but it is highly likely you will be targeted by the "mustardeers", which are teams of pickpockets who first skirt you out of nowhere with a mustard-like substance and then a respectable-looking couple appears, offering tissue paper to help you clean up, but really are after your belongings. Do NOT allow them to get near you and loudly yell "policía!", if they persist. They usually are NOT violent and should just slink away.
In more general terms, if ANYTHING strange happens near you (someone vomiting, for instance), ignore it, walk away and just hold firmly on to your belongings, as it is likely to be a trick intended to put you off guard. Take this warning seriously: a guy got killed a few years ago in Plaza San Martín, because he wouldn't let go of his fancy camera. I know you are "not intimidated by a big city, touts, gypsies, or pickpockets, and aware of the scams and taxi issues" and all that, but I strongly suggest you heed my advice. This tells you how good our pickpockets are: http://tinyurl.com/5orxvp
You say you'll "pay for the Iguazu Sheraton with blue market pesos", but that may be easier said than done, because the places where you could exchange at the "blue" rate will be closed Sunday and Monday morning. When the time comes, I'll see what I can do to help you with THAT. BTW, exactly on what Sunday in November will you be arriving?
About your: "We may take the local bus from the airport to Retiro station and walk to our hotel since we will only have small overnight bags.", I suggest heeding the Rooster and taking a Tienda León "remise" at the local airport or having your hotel arrange for pick-up. The Retiro area is particularly dangerous for tourists with luggage, even if it is only "small overnight bags".
The rest of your plans sound great. You'll have a wonderful time in our country with your Mom, Lisa.
Yes, it is obviously to be expected that your guides in the South want to get paid in dollars. As I said, "everyone should be happy to take them".
If you are happy with your hotel deal, that's fine. Ask your hotel about picking you up at the pier.
A word of warning: on that first Sunday (a day of the week with little, if any, police presence), you are planning on going to some of THE most touristy places in BA: "Plaza San Martin, La Boca to El Caminito (a particularly dangerous area, if you stray away from Caminito itself), then to the San Telmo market." Since you ARE tourists, that's great, but it is highly likely you will be targeted by the "mustardeers", which are teams of pickpockets who first skirt you out of nowhere with a mustard-like substance and then a respectable-looking couple appears, offering tissue paper to help you clean up, but really are after your belongings. Do NOT allow them to get near you and loudly yell "policía!", if they persist. They usually are NOT violent and should just slink away.
In more general terms, if ANYTHING strange happens near you (someone vomiting, for instance), ignore it, walk away and just hold firmly on to your belongings, as it is likely to be a trick intended to put you off guard. Take this warning seriously: a guy got killed a few years ago in Plaza San Martín, because he wouldn't let go of his fancy camera. I know you are "not intimidated by a big city, touts, gypsies, or pickpockets, and aware of the scams and taxi issues" and all that, but I strongly suggest you heed my advice. This tells you how good our pickpockets are: http://tinyurl.com/5orxvp
You say you'll "pay for the Iguazu Sheraton with blue market pesos", but that may be easier said than done, because the places where you could exchange at the "blue" rate will be closed Sunday and Monday morning. When the time comes, I'll see what I can do to help you with THAT. BTW, exactly on what Sunday in November will you be arriving?
About your: "We may take the local bus from the airport to Retiro station and walk to our hotel since we will only have small overnight bags.", I suggest heeding the Rooster and taking a Tienda León "remise" at the local airport or having your hotel arrange for pick-up. The Retiro area is particularly dangerous for tourists with luggage, even if it is only "small overnight bags".
The rest of your plans sound great. You'll have a wonderful time in our country with your Mom, Lisa.
Ah yes, the mustard or bird poop scam.
Saw some thieves try that one on somebody in Lima.
We intend to be simply dressed, no jewelry, no fancy camera, no large stash of cash or credit cards to steal.
Thanks for your concern about our safety. I didn't mean to sound as if I would take on a thief. I meant that I'm very aware of the scams out there, and pretty street-wise. If someone really wants to steal my little day bag, they can have it. The only thing they would get that would upset me is my pin collection that decorates it.
We'll stick to the main tourist spot (Caminito) in La Boca and be very careful about where we are after dark. Safety in numbers.
I'll take your word for Retiro; we'll arrange pickup or call a taxi.
I think I'll get a SIM for my cell phone when we are in Ushuaia. That way we'll have a working phone when we arrive in BA. I have numbers of several radio taxi companies and can call for one when we arrive in port, and while we are traveling around the city.
We arrive in BA on Nov 17th.
Thanks for your help Alberto.
Saw some thieves try that one on somebody in Lima.
We intend to be simply dressed, no jewelry, no fancy camera, no large stash of cash or credit cards to steal.
Thanks for your concern about our safety. I didn't mean to sound as if I would take on a thief. I meant that I'm very aware of the scams out there, and pretty street-wise. If someone really wants to steal my little day bag, they can have it. The only thing they would get that would upset me is my pin collection that decorates it.
We'll stick to the main tourist spot (Caminito) in La Boca and be very careful about where we are after dark. Safety in numbers.
I'll take your word for Retiro; we'll arrange pickup or call a taxi.
I think I'll get a SIM for my cell phone when we are in Ushuaia. That way we'll have a working phone when we arrive in BA. I have numbers of several radio taxi companies and can call for one when we arrive in port, and while we are traveling around the city.
We arrive in BA on Nov 17th.
Thanks for your help Alberto.
Tienda León has a booth in our local AEP airport, Lisa.
Some people with many thousands of posts suggest hailing radio taxis.
The safest way to take a cab is to CALL the radio taxi company, as that creates a record of who picked you up. If you hail them, radio taxis are no safer than other cabs.
That said, most of our cabbies are nice, hard-working fellows, but there are a few bad apples in any barrel and those bad apples tend to wait in line at touristy spots.
Some people with many thousands of posts suggest hailing radio taxis.
The safest way to take a cab is to CALL the radio taxi company, as that creates a record of who picked you up. If you hail them, radio taxis are no safer than other cabs.
That said, most of our cabbies are nice, hard-working fellows, but there are a few bad apples in any barrel and those bad apples tend to wait in line at touristy spots.
