Buenos Aires - Home of tango and crazy football fans

Downtown Buenos Aires

We arrived into Buenos Aires in the early afternoon after a pretty uncomfortable bus journey from Puerto Madryn. Despite frequent warnings about the safety of the metro system we quickly boarded the train (on a serious budget now!) and made our way towards downtown. It was a short walk to the hostel from the subway station and on emerging from the subway it was immediately obvious that Buenos Aires was going to be totally different to any other place we had visited to date. Large high rise buildings all around us, massive advertisement hoardings and wide avenues made up downtown and it was easy to imagine you were in New York and not South America.

Awesome nightlife

We stayed at the Millhouse hostel in Downtown which was a great base to explore the city as it was located close to the main avenue in BA. The hostel also had a bit of a reputation as a party hostel and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We spent a couple of nights hanging out at the hostel with our nice Aussie and Peruvian roommates, which ultimately ended up with us hitting up some random nightclub till the wee hours of the morning.

The downtown area was easily explored from our hostel, and the subway system was so good that most places in the city could be reached without much hassle. The main square in BA, Plaza de Mayo, was located about 10 minutes from our hostel. On the eastern end sat the Casa Rosada (“Pink House”), the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina. There’s a semi permanent protester's campsite located right in the middle of the plaza (the Malvinas belong to Argentina!) and a constant police presence which gave some indication of how much these people love to protest. We saw at least half a dozen protests or marches while we there.

Outside the Casa Rosada

We had read about the famous Recoleta cemetery and wanted to check it out for ourselves. Unfortunately we had a late one the night before, and the 30min walk in the blistering heat to the cemetery was tough going. We could have caught a bus, but funnily enough you can only pay for the buses with coins, and coins are incredibly hard to come by in Buenos Aires and are even traded on the black market! On arriving at the cemetery there was an artisans market and we had a look around before entering the cemetery.

Recoleta cemetery 

The cemetery is so famous due to the large elaborate sarcophagi that the very wealthy families have built themselves here. It’s also the resting place of many important people in Argentina’s history including war generals, politicians, and the main attraction, Evita. Eva (Evita) Peron is lauded in Argentina as the vibrant and political wife of a former president who worked until her untimely death to improve the lives of the poor and disenfranchised. The cemetery is like a maze with narrow roads lined either side with the eerie little houses that people have built. The difference in the styles is amazing, some very gothic and black, some ornate with intricate marble statues all over and others very simple. Given the prestige associated with the cemetery, every inch of available space is taken up by one of this sarcophagi and it’s hard to believe people are still buried here. I couldn't help think that if the people had known that their graves would one day turn into a tourist attraction, would they still have chosen to be buried here?

Evita’s grave was of course the main attraction, and after queuing for a few minutes we got to see where she was buried, only after her body was returned to the Argentine people in 1971. Hers was the only grave that still had fresh flowers adorning it.

Eva Perón's family crypt

Strike a pose!

Buenos Aires being the home of tango, it would be a shame to come here and not at least see a show. We booked a tango show with our hostel which included dinner, a free wine bar and even a tango lesson! The free lesson was the deal clincher for me, and I had notions of dancing like a pro by the end of the night.

The night started with us being picked up from the hostel and brought to the venue. Dinner was then served and I was surprised how good it was. The tango show was after dinner, but before that we were taken away to begin our lessons. The group was split into men and women, as we would be thought different steps. The instructor first thought us guys our few steps, and then the ladies. Then it was time to practice! Unfortunately the class was split about 90/10, which meant that us men had to get around a few different girls and give them their allotted practice time. God forbid that one of these poor girls would be left without a partner for too long. It’s a tough life sometimes!

Disappointed with the standard of the dancing from the ladies, the guys even resorted to dancing with themselves, which offered up a completely different experience altogether!

Showing the ladies how it's done

Lessons over and dessert served it was time for the show. The show took the format of the evolution of tango from its early days to its present form. It was very good, and the dancers moved about the stage with far more grace and speed than we had shown in our lessons.

The weekends in BA are full of things to see and do, forgetting the unbelievable nightlife, Sundays are the day for local markets, so with this in mind we caught the train to San Telmo to check out its famous antiques market. The place was thronged with people and vendors, all buying and selling every sort of trinket and tat imaginable. 



There were a lot of street performers also, from live tango performances and guitar playing to a very good puppeteer, who performed a harrowing tail about a silly old drunk, impressive!

Poor old drunk

We couldn't stay too long at the market as we were going to see the famous Boca Juniors play that night. Argentinean football fans are famous throughout the world for the atmosphere they create at a game, and seeing a game live is the only way to really experience it. We were picked up by bus and immediately we were treated to some Boca chants on route. We were first brought to a local bar in "La Boca" where we were given some nice pizza and a few beers to get us in the mood for the game. I treated myself to a Boca t-shirt to look like a true fan (or at least a tourist pretending to be a fan) and after another few songs and beers, with excitement levels increasing we boarded the buses again and made for the stadium.

Boca Boca Boca!

We were each given our tickets for the game, which the tour company buys from real fans, so for one night only Cora and I would be Javier Saenz and Matias Bianchi respectively.

New identities

After numerous security checks we entered La Bombonera ("Sweetbox") stadium and made our way to the section behind the goals, which is where the true Boca fans congregate. Getting to a place where we could even stand was hard as I don’t think there is any sort of crowd control in the stadium and we had to push and squeeze our way down the terrace. It was immediately evident that it was going to be a noisy evening, the fans were singing when we got there, and they didn’t stop till well after the final whistle.

Atmosphere before kick-off

The club lovingly refers to the fans as “Jugador numero doce” (the 12^th player), and it was easy to see why as they never let the level of support drop throughout the game.

The elite fans

Deservedly so, Boca won the game 3 – 1, which meant we got to experience the roar of the crowd and subsequent celebrations on 3 separate occasions. This was my highlight in BA!

A couple of days after the game we returned to La Boca to see the area without the thousands of game day fans. It was by far the most touristy place in BA, lots of little shops selling all manor of tat Boca and Argentina related. There were countless opportunities to watch live tango shows while having overpriced lunch, we didn’t avail however and instead wandered the brightly coloured streets and picked up the odd souvenir.

Colourful La Boca

Buenos Aires offered us so much and it’s easy to see why so many people end of staying much longer than planned here. But with our time in South America running out, and still a whole country left to see, we departed BA after 7 wonderful but exhausting days. Football, food, wine, tango, clubs, bars, culture, it had it all in abundance and it still felt like we had more to do. Alas maybe next time! Our last sight of Buenos Aires was on the bus to Iguazu falls as the sun set over the city.

Bye bye BA!

To the end of the world and back - Ushuaia and Puerto Madryn

Ushuaia is hailed as the southernmost city in the world and is perched on the edge of the Beagle channel in Argentina. Most trips bound for Antarctica (1200km away) set sail from here, but unfortunately this was well outside of our budget! The surrounding province is called Tierra del Fuego (land of fire) named so by explorers who could see the lights from onshore fires as they navigated along the channel for the first time.

Made it!

The bus trip from Puerto Natales took 12 hours and was mainly through totally barren swathes of land, aside from a brief ferry crossing and Argentinean border formalities.

Whilst in Ushuaia we had hoped to do a sailing trip out on the channel, but unfortunately due to the totally unpredictable weather it was cancelled, so we took a trip out in a huge catamaran instead. We did see a sea lion colony and lots of birds, but it didn't really compare to an afternoon’s sailing.

Big sky

We also took a trip out to the Tierra del Fuego national park, which although quite scenic, just couldn't stand up to Torres del Paine. (I don’t know if anything ever will!) There is a huge beaver population in Tierra del Fuego and we passed several impressive dams but unfortunately none of them came out to say hello. The species is not indigenous and has wreaked havoc on the forests since introduction.

Damn beavers (geddit?!!)

After three nights we took a flight with some new friends up to Puerto Madryn. The flight was a great find because it cost the same as a 30hour bus, which we were both happy to sacrifice! However it did stop three times along the way, like a bus! I’m surprised Mr O’Leary is not onto this one yet...

Puerto Madryn is on the Atlantic coast and is a friendly seaside town, but the main draw here is the nearby nature reserve of Peninsula Valdes. After a day building sandcastles we rented a car and drove out to the peninsula for a day of animal spotting, starting with the Southern Right Whale.

Masterpiece!

These 15m long beauties come to Valdes each year to mate and give birth. The best way to see the whales is  a boat trip so we all coughed up the €60 for the 1.5hour jaunt around the bay and hoped it would be worth it.

After only ten minutes we spotted a whale in the distance, a baby according to the guide. At first it was just a bit of splashing and an occasional glimpse of black, but suddenly he began to jump! It was lovely to watch, even with the size of this baby, there was something wild and carefree about the splashing around. 

Splish splash

We followed this little fella for a while and watched his mother emerge. She was huge! About 15meters long and covered in little molluscs that act as identifiers for each of the different whales. The driver had cut the engine and we just sat there bobbing and watching mother and baby swim really close to us. Then all of a sudden they dived in under the boat and emerged the other side, unreal!

The rest of the boat trip was incredible, there was something almost spiritual about being so close to these prehistoric looking, strangely beautiful mammals. The 90minutes ended all too soon and we disembarked on a high.

The rest of the day was spent driving the gravel roads of the peninsula stopping to look at sea lions and penguins. We weren’t lucky enough to spot an Orca but I wasn’t disappointed, we had such a brilliant time anyway.

This little guy came out to say hi!

We had rented the car for two days, so the next day we set off in the opposite direction to Punta Tombo where there is a huge penguin colony. And by huge I mean approximately one million penguins!

Awwwwwwwwww!!!

There is a walkway right through the colony but the penguins of course have right of way! Also it was hatching season so we were on the lookout for chicks. Initially all we could hear was squeaking, but after a little while we began to spot the fluffy, tiny babies eating out of their mothers’ mouths. Lovely! It was great fun to watch the penguins waddle about their business, they seem to have such personalities. 

Got some business to attend to..

The next day our bus was cancelled due to nationwide transport strikes in Argentina. Not too bothered by the change in plan we spent a relaxing day around the town, even managing to spot another whale from the pier!

One day late we boarded the bus for the bright lights of Buenos Aires.. city of Evita, tango and the most passionate football fans in the world...

The W

The W trek is so called because of the rough shape it makes on a map. We hadn't originally planned to undertake it, but as time went on we heard and read more about the experience and it sounded tempting, undoubtedly challenging but also different and rewarding. Decision made, we crossed the border back into Chile and made towards the small town of Puerto Natales on the fringes of the Torres Del Paine national park. The torres (towers) that give the park their name are three huge granite peaks that form an iconic picture often associated with Patagonia.

We had a day in Puerto Natales to organise ourselves for the five day adventure we were embarking on. Unlike other earlier treks, for the W we needed to carry all our provisions, tent, sleeping bags, food, stove, clothes and so on! It was simple to rent the sleeping gear and we hit up the local supermarket for food, 1kilo of pasta being the main staple!

Testing the tent in the town square.. it works!

We planned our route based on some tips from people we met in the hostel and the help of the guys in the rental shop. Excited and a little nervous we had an early night before the 7.30am pickup.

Day 1 – 22kms

Waking up the next day I was really dismayed to see a bleak overcast sky. A bus took us to the park entrance where we paid the admittance. Afterwards we boarded a catamaran that would take us to the western edge of the park, the start point of the five days. We spent our first day with Marguerite, a lovely lady from Australia who may have been a few years older than us, but was just as (if not more!) able for the hike as ourselves. The view from the catamaran was tantalising, glimpses of huge snowy mountains with clouds swirling around the peaks.

Catamaran to the park

Reaching the shore we set up our tent (seemingly successfully), left our packs inside and began the 11km trip up to glacier grey, the first stem of the W. En route we encountered every type of weather imaginable, rain, sleet, hail, snow, ferocious winds and very occasionally a snatch of brilliant sunshine. 

Not actually us, but I love the photo!

A large portion of the park was burnt down in late 2011 by a fire that originated from a camping stove, so on the first part of the hike we walked through acre upon acre of dead black trees. The scale of the damage was shocking.

Burnt trees

When the sun came out though, the beautiful colours of the park began to reveal themselves, burnt orange trees, grey mountains, mossy green ground and the purest of white snow once you looked up.

We finally reached the glacier, and although I thought nothing could top Perito Merino, Glacier Grey surpassed all my expectations. The difference here was how wild and desolate the setting was, with the glacier rising in the distance breaching into a lake strewn with icebergs. The sun came out briefly to illuminate the whites and blues of the ice, gorgeous!

We said goodbye to Marguerite who stayed up at the glacier site, and began the trek all the way back, this time faster as we were worried about the onset of darkness. Thankfully we got back in good time and sat down to dinner of pasta (what else!) after a great first day. That night we sat in the refugio, (a guesthouse beside the campsite) for a well deserved few glasses of wine. Then it started to snow! We very reluctantly left the warmth of the refugio at closing time and clambered into our little tent. Now it was the wind's turn. An angry shaking terrifying wind started that howled and shook our tent like it wanted to tear it to pieces. Sleep was out of the question!

Day 2 -13km

After finally dozing off in the early hours when the wind died down, we had a lie in the next morning. This was followed by breakfast of porridge and dried fruit and heaps of sugar (so that Damien could stomach it!). Then we set off towards Cuernos, the next campsite we would stay at. This day was harder as we both had our packs to carry so the going was much slower. 

This actually is Damien's back

The wind had abated a bit, but liked to keep us on our toes nonetheless with unpredictable gusts every now and again. At least there was no snow! After a difficult enough hike we arrived at the next campsite which seemed to be more sheltered, with the tents sitting on raised platforms.

After another carton of wine in the refugio we got into our little tent for the night and mercifully there wasn't much wind so we got a decent rest. 

Day 3 - 15kms

We awoke to the most glorious of things – sunshine! The sky was blue, the wind calm and the temperature much higher than the previous few days. With a new lease of life we set off to compete the middle stem of the W (minus packs), up into the French valley. Everything was so different compared to the day before, we could clearly see the size of the mountains, and the colours of the lakes and trees were much more vivid and bright. Walking through it all was an absolute joy.

The sun has got his hat on...

Once we reached the valley we climbed for about an hour, up to a viewpoint where there was a 360 view of unadulterated splendor  On one side a huge mountain, covered in snow with a small glacier at the bottom, turning round there was more mountains and a series of turquoise lakes and green forests in the distance. It was breathtaking and we sat there for ages in the wind watching little avalanches tumbling down the mountain.

Mission accomplished we walked back to the campsite for our dinner and another evening in the warmth of the refugio, playing cards and chatting to other hikers. There was a really nice sense of camaraderie among everyone on the trek and we kept bumping into the same people at each of the campsites.

Day 4 – 25kms

Again we awoke to beaming sunshine! This was going to be our toughest day as we carried the packs the long hike to the next campsite, and after that up to the climax of the 5 days, the famous torres. 

Our orange, badly assembled chambers! Not a bad view though...

The sunshine really spurred us on as we trudged alongside a perfect blue lake. After a while the path turned inwards and we began to ascend, at this point my bag felt like it was gaining weight with every step I took and my blistered feet got more and more painful. 

Ouchy ouch ouch

And then… we turned a corner and in the valley between two mountains we could spot the refugio and campsite, finally! We reached it and threw up our tent quickly, determined to see the torres in the same day.

Valley with campsite in the background

Leaving the backpacks at the campsite we felt lighter and motivated as we began the hike up to the torres. In less time than expected we reached the sign below and elated carried on with gusto thinking we were only a short walk away.

It actually took 1.5hrs!

Of course not! Suddenly we started to ascend and all the exertions of the previous few days seriously took their toll. I was really exhausted and felt every painful sorry step. But then the torres began to appear, an obstructed view, but a view nonetheless and this was just enough to give me that final push. We clambered up to the mirador overlooking the peaks and finally finally took in the long awaited view.

Worth every step

We sat for around half an hour sharing the torres with only a few other tired hikers as the sun slowly went down. After arriving back at the campsite some celebratory wine in the refugio was more than deserved!

Day 5 - 5km

The final day was the easiest with a downward hike to where we could catch the bus back to town. The day was sunny and bright and the thought of a non pasta based dinner, a hot shower and warm bed were motivation enough to keep going!

The final hike out of the park

As we waited for the bus we got chatting to a really cool Kiwi who worked as a stunt double on Spartacus. Needless to say he was in better shape compared to us post W!

Catching the bus back to Puerto Natales I watched the huge torres fade away in the background. There's no denying it was a tough and exhausting few days, but seeing those beautiful sights, meeting fun and interesting people and the strong feeling of accomplishment at the end of every day are what I'll remember. Well.. once the blisters have cleared up anyway!