We have started a collection of the best animal pictures from the trip:
Monday 31 May 2010
Sunday 30 May 2010
Guest Picture Album - Food
A small taste of the Argentinian food, in a gallery pictured by Ohad.
We also added some pictures of us taken by Ohad. See them here.
You can also visit Ohad's blog.
We also added some pictures of us taken by Ohad. See them here.
You can also visit Ohad's blog.
Friday 28 May 2010
The Pantanal
In the Pantanal we met nature. We didn't just watch it, we slept with it and took a shower with it. Since Nature's biggest game is the game of the hunter and the hunt, it is no wonder that we were hunted by a sharp predator. The agent of "Ecological Expeditions" spotted us at the bus station in Foz do Iguazu (about a 1000 km from Pantanal) and offered us 4 days and 3 nights safari in the Panatanal. We were a flock of 4, at that time, after we met another Israeli couple, Ariel & Sharon (read this sentence again without the '&' sign...). A flock does has its strength, so we got a good price and a free night at their hostel.
We didn't spend any time in Campo Grande when we arrived the next morning. The guys from Ecological Expeditions arranged a pickup from the bus station, and after a short shower we were on our way to the camp in the Pantanal.
The Pantanal is a tropical wetland and the world's largest wetland of any kind, it's about 3 times larger than Israel. In its wet season it's composed mainly of swamps and small islands, and the only mean of transportation are boats. Now (May) is the beginning of the dry season.
The whole safari in the Pantanal is around the camp. The camp itself has few huts for sleeping (on hammocks), a kitchen and a dining room. We preferred to sleep in a tent. The camp had also few showers where you can wash yourself in front of the starring eyes of the large (the size of a small melon) toads and all the flying insects around. At night you can actually hear all the mosquitoes calling their families for dinner as soon as you turn on the light. At the first day we put the mosquito repellent every 5 minutues, but by the forth day we had realized that the mosquitoes can't understand the word repellent in English, so it was worthless and we just had to get used to the bites.
Except for the first day, in which we arrived late to the camp, we had activities most of the waking hours. We did a short walk on the second day with our guide, Sandro, and where able to see a marshed dear, a fox, some birds, a Coati, and a family of monkeys that where not so keen to see us so they peed on us from above. We also did a day safari on the roof of a large 4x4 truck and saw plenty of birds, including Toucans, and Macaws. The day safari turned into a night safari. Sandro sat in the front of the roof and searched for animals with his spotlight. Suddenly he signaled the driver to stop, and turned his spotlight to one of the sides. Deep in the sand, hiding from the world was a small (and a deadly) snake. How Sandro was able to see it is beyond our understanding. Maybe it is their pet snake and they put it right before we got there...
The Pantanal is mostly private territories of ranchers and cow breeders. We had one close encounter with the cowboys and the cows on the first day. We were about to get into the truck on our way back to the camp when we heard a full herd of cows going back from their breeding farm. There where skinny cows as far as the eye can see at the front and the rear sides of the truck. Maybe it is not wildlife, but this is also a part of the Pantanal, and the scene was beautiful.
Because most of the territory is private, a lot of the places are fenced. The only time that we had to crawl under such a fence was the time we got into the water with the caimans. A caiman is a medium sized alligator which is very common in the Panatanal. We entered the water right next to their favorite place where lots of caimans use to lay down and worm their cold blood in the sun. We were able to get pretty close to them before they turned and started swimming away while cursing the tourists that come every day and disturbing their rest.
We didn't have to get out of the camp to see the wildlife, though. They came to us. The skies where full with caracaras, a medium sized predator bird, and with green parrots. We also saw an armadillo running just outside the camp.
The third day was the most fun. It started with a boat trip on the river, which gave us the oportunity to see some water birds such as the King fisher, and some predator birds such as the black hawk.
The second part of the day was dedicated to a horse ride through the swamps of the Pantanal. We literraly got into the swamps, when the horses walked with most of their bodies inside the water. The horses where quite well behaved, as opposed to the horses of Cerro Castillo, except for two horses that decided to sit down while gently rolling their riders off their back. Its a good thing they didn't do that in the water...
On the last day we had the choice between Piranha fishing and joining the day safari again. We joined the safari, saw some Capybaras (a 40 kilos version of a rat) from very close, but decided to leave the truck and walked the way back by foot. When the dominant sound of the engine disappears, you can hear the true soundtrack of the Pantanal. You hear all the birds flying, singing, and screaming, while other animals move inside the vegetation, hidden from the eye but not from the ear. We were also rewarded by seeing some giant river otters, which are an endangered specie in the Pantanal. The Piranha fishers, on the other hand, didn't had so much luck. The water wasn't worm enough, so the Piranahs just didn't grab the bait, and they came back empty handed.
We finished the safari and got to Bonito, which is, contrary to its name, a simple and touristic town with lots of travel agencies and great coconut shakes. Bonito is famous for the river snorkeling trips in the rivers around it, so we did one in Rio da Prata. We had a driver that picked us up from the hostel and drove us there. While on the way there, the eagle eyes of the driver spotted an Anteater and burrowing owls, while on the back he found Oren a nice Toucan. We got down to the river with a guide, put the snorkeling gear and started swimming. Actually we didn't have much to say about the direction because the stream took us with it. We took some underwater pictures with a camera we rented. Oren spent most of the time chasing those elusive fish for a quick portrait picture.
The snorkeling was nice, but in our opinion it was too short and lacked variety of fish, while the price was expansive.
We left Bonito after 3 days and took a flight from Campo Grande to Salvador de Bahia.
Tip 1 : The company that took us to the Pantanal, "Ecological Expeditions" is very recommended. The guides are very profecional and the atmosphere is very friendly. You can get a good price if you come in a large group and bargain. You don't need to look for them, they will find you...
Tip 2 : At the camp, the tents seem to be much better than the hammocks, ask for them when booking the safari.
Tip 3 : The town of Bonito is nice only if you got some extra money. There is a lot to do, but the prices are very high. The snorkeling in Eilat is much more impresive and much cheaper.
We didn't spend any time in Campo Grande when we arrived the next morning. The guys from Ecological Expeditions arranged a pickup from the bus station, and after a short shower we were on our way to the camp in the Pantanal.
The Pantanal is a tropical wetland and the world's largest wetland of any kind, it's about 3 times larger than Israel. In its wet season it's composed mainly of swamps and small islands, and the only mean of transportation are boats. Now (May) is the beginning of the dry season.
The whole safari in the Pantanal is around the camp. The camp itself has few huts for sleeping (on hammocks), a kitchen and a dining room. We preferred to sleep in a tent. The camp had also few showers where you can wash yourself in front of the starring eyes of the large (the size of a small melon) toads and all the flying insects around. At night you can actually hear all the mosquitoes calling their families for dinner as soon as you turn on the light. At the first day we put the mosquito repellent every 5 minutues, but by the forth day we had realized that the mosquitoes can't understand the word repellent in English, so it was worthless and we just had to get used to the bites.
Except for the first day, in which we arrived late to the camp, we had activities most of the waking hours. We did a short walk on the second day with our guide, Sandro, and where able to see a marshed dear, a fox, some birds, a Coati, and a family of monkeys that where not so keen to see us so they peed on us from above. We also did a day safari on the roof of a large 4x4 truck and saw plenty of birds, including Toucans, and Macaws. The day safari turned into a night safari. Sandro sat in the front of the roof and searched for animals with his spotlight. Suddenly he signaled the driver to stop, and turned his spotlight to one of the sides. Deep in the sand, hiding from the world was a small (and a deadly) snake. How Sandro was able to see it is beyond our understanding. Maybe it is their pet snake and they put it right before we got there...
The Pantanal is mostly private territories of ranchers and cow breeders. We had one close encounter with the cowboys and the cows on the first day. We were about to get into the truck on our way back to the camp when we heard a full herd of cows going back from their breeding farm. There where skinny cows as far as the eye can see at the front and the rear sides of the truck. Maybe it is not wildlife, but this is also a part of the Pantanal, and the scene was beautiful.
Because most of the territory is private, a lot of the places are fenced. The only time that we had to crawl under such a fence was the time we got into the water with the caimans. A caiman is a medium sized alligator which is very common in the Panatanal. We entered the water right next to their favorite place where lots of caimans use to lay down and worm their cold blood in the sun. We were able to get pretty close to them before they turned and started swimming away while cursing the tourists that come every day and disturbing their rest.
We didn't have to get out of the camp to see the wildlife, though. They came to us. The skies where full with caracaras, a medium sized predator bird, and with green parrots. We also saw an armadillo running just outside the camp.
The third day was the most fun. It started with a boat trip on the river, which gave us the oportunity to see some water birds such as the King fisher, and some predator birds such as the black hawk.
The second part of the day was dedicated to a horse ride through the swamps of the Pantanal. We literraly got into the swamps, when the horses walked with most of their bodies inside the water. The horses where quite well behaved, as opposed to the horses of Cerro Castillo, except for two horses that decided to sit down while gently rolling their riders off their back. Its a good thing they didn't do that in the water...
On the last day we had the choice between Piranha fishing and joining the day safari again. We joined the safari, saw some Capybaras (a 40 kilos version of a rat) from very close, but decided to leave the truck and walked the way back by foot. When the dominant sound of the engine disappears, you can hear the true soundtrack of the Pantanal. You hear all the birds flying, singing, and screaming, while other animals move inside the vegetation, hidden from the eye but not from the ear. We were also rewarded by seeing some giant river otters, which are an endangered specie in the Pantanal. The Piranha fishers, on the other hand, didn't had so much luck. The water wasn't worm enough, so the Piranahs just didn't grab the bait, and they came back empty handed.
We finished the safari and got to Bonito, which is, contrary to its name, a simple and touristic town with lots of travel agencies and great coconut shakes. Bonito is famous for the river snorkeling trips in the rivers around it, so we did one in Rio da Prata. We had a driver that picked us up from the hostel and drove us there. While on the way there, the eagle eyes of the driver spotted an Anteater and burrowing owls, while on the back he found Oren a nice Toucan. We got down to the river with a guide, put the snorkeling gear and started swimming. Actually we didn't have much to say about the direction because the stream took us with it. We took some underwater pictures with a camera we rented. Oren spent most of the time chasing those elusive fish for a quick portrait picture.
The snorkeling was nice, but in our opinion it was too short and lacked variety of fish, while the price was expansive.
We left Bonito after 3 days and took a flight from Campo Grande to Salvador de Bahia.
Tip 1 : The company that took us to the Pantanal, "Ecological Expeditions" is very recommended. The guides are very profecional and the atmosphere is very friendly. You can get a good price if you come in a large group and bargain. You don't need to look for them, they will find you...
Tip 2 : At the camp, the tents seem to be much better than the hammocks, ask for them when booking the safari.
Tip 3 : The town of Bonito is nice only if you got some extra money. There is a lot to do, but the prices are very high. The snorkeling in Eilat is much more impresive and much cheaper.
Sunday 23 May 2010
The Iguazu Falls and thoughts about the promissed land
We do not want to disagree with God. If he says that Israel is the promised land, then he is probably right. But we do feel that he didn't checked carefully enough all around the world. Had he asked us, we probably would have suggested him to take a closer look at Argentina. If he would have visited the Iguacu falls, maybe Moses would have split the Atlantic ocean apart instead of the red sea on his way to the promised land. We have noticed, though, that a lot of the enormous wonders of nature mention the devil in its names, so maybe God likes churches and synagogues better.
After another night on a bus (about 18 hours) we arrived to Puerto Iguazu, the closest Argentinian town to the falls. We left our stuff at a nice hostel (Marcopolo inn) just across the street from the main bus station, and took a bus to the falls. After about half an hour we arrived to the Iguazu National park. We were said that we need at least 5-6 hours to cover the main routs of the park. They didn't take into account Oren's tendency to stop and photograph every 2 minutes.
We took an internal train to our first waterfall lookout, Garganta del Diablo, Spanish for Devil's Throat. Enormous amount of water just falling down right in front of you. The thunder can be heard from far away, but only when arriving close to the falls the full extent of the wonder is revealed. What a scenery! It was like standing in front of an atomic bomb explosion. An average of 1300 cubic meters per second falls down this waterfall. This is almost the entire daily water consumption of Israel in one hour. What a waste of water! This could have saved the pealing faces of Ninet and Bar Refaeli.
We had a great day, the sun was up so we got the combination of two of our favourite physical phenomena: gravity and diffraction. In the language of the common non-physicists, this means a double rainbow above huge waterfalls. The sight was really amazing, and Oren photographed it from every possible angle. But not just Oren, at every other viewpoint there were lots of tourists taking pictures, mostly of their own faces blocking most of the waterfalls. We looked at them and wondered what was the exact thought going through their minds while looking on this divine picture: "What a nice waterfall, but something is missing... I know what! My face!". It seemed like a sin to us to interfere such a spectacular view.
The waterfalls are not the only attractions in the park. All around the park there were lots of butterflies of all kinds and sizes. A lot of them were quite friendly. It seemed that they liked to eat Autan (the mosquito repellent), and one of them stayed on Lilya's hand for almost an hour, eating it. She called him Pablo. The other attraction are the Coatis , which are a sort of a raccoon. They are used to humans, so they just hang around between them, looking for something to steal. It is very amusing to see them so close. One of them stole a Mate bag from an Argentinian tourist. He should have known not to mess with the locals' Mate. She ran after him and wouldn't give up until she returned her Mate.
In the evening we had dinner with a very nice French guy, that happened to be Jewish. It was refreshing to hear such sympathy to Israel from someone from France.
The next day was dedicated to the Brazilian side of the falls. The trail on the Aregnetinian side takes you very close to the falls, on the Brazilian side you can see a more panoramic view of the falls. Unfortunately, we have found on that day what Pacha Mama likes to eat. She likes steaks, so she stayed in Argentina for few more days. This is why we had a bad weather on this day, and the photos you can see looks grey. But sunny or not, this is Brazil and we celebrated our first day there with a coconut shake that made us think that we would trade some of the promised milk and honey with sweet tropical fruits. Chava Alberstein, by the way, got to the same conclusion.
We spent the second part of this day in the amazing bird park right across from the entrance to the falls. They have a huge collection of birds and some reptiles from all across Brazil. Some of the cages are large with a lot of birds and people can get inside. The birds don't look too disturbed by this arrangement. On the contrary! In the cage that was dedicated to the birds of the Pantanal, one of the more friendly Tucans started eating Lilya's pants. He probably wanted to eat the strings which were exactly what he needed for his diet.
At the evening we took the bus to Campo Grande, one of the main cities of the Pantanal to start or tour there.
After another night on a bus (about 18 hours) we arrived to Puerto Iguazu, the closest Argentinian town to the falls. We left our stuff at a nice hostel (Marcopolo inn) just across the street from the main bus station, and took a bus to the falls. After about half an hour we arrived to the Iguazu National park. We were said that we need at least 5-6 hours to cover the main routs of the park. They didn't take into account Oren's tendency to stop and photograph every 2 minutes.
We took an internal train to our first waterfall lookout, Garganta del Diablo, Spanish for Devil's Throat. Enormous amount of water just falling down right in front of you. The thunder can be heard from far away, but only when arriving close to the falls the full extent of the wonder is revealed. What a scenery! It was like standing in front of an atomic bomb explosion. An average of 1300 cubic meters per second falls down this waterfall. This is almost the entire daily water consumption of Israel in one hour. What a waste of water! This could have saved the pealing faces of Ninet and Bar Refaeli.
We had a great day, the sun was up so we got the combination of two of our favourite physical phenomena: gravity and diffraction. In the language of the common non-physicists, this means a double rainbow above huge waterfalls. The sight was really amazing, and Oren photographed it from every possible angle. But not just Oren, at every other viewpoint there were lots of tourists taking pictures, mostly of their own faces blocking most of the waterfalls. We looked at them and wondered what was the exact thought going through their minds while looking on this divine picture: "What a nice waterfall, but something is missing... I know what! My face!". It seemed like a sin to us to interfere such a spectacular view.
The waterfalls are not the only attractions in the park. All around the park there were lots of butterflies of all kinds and sizes. A lot of them were quite friendly. It seemed that they liked to eat Autan (the mosquito repellent), and one of them stayed on Lilya's hand for almost an hour, eating it. She called him Pablo. The other attraction are the Coatis , which are a sort of a raccoon. They are used to humans, so they just hang around between them, looking for something to steal. It is very amusing to see them so close. One of them stole a Mate bag from an Argentinian tourist. He should have known not to mess with the locals' Mate. She ran after him and wouldn't give up until she returned her Mate.
In the evening we had dinner with a very nice French guy, that happened to be Jewish. It was refreshing to hear such sympathy to Israel from someone from France.
The next day was dedicated to the Brazilian side of the falls. The trail on the Aregnetinian side takes you very close to the falls, on the Brazilian side you can see a more panoramic view of the falls. Unfortunately, we have found on that day what Pacha Mama likes to eat. She likes steaks, so she stayed in Argentina for few more days. This is why we had a bad weather on this day, and the photos you can see looks grey. But sunny or not, this is Brazil and we celebrated our first day there with a coconut shake that made us think that we would trade some of the promised milk and honey with sweet tropical fruits. Chava Alberstein, by the way, got to the same conclusion.
We spent the second part of this day in the amazing bird park right across from the entrance to the falls. They have a huge collection of birds and some reptiles from all across Brazil. Some of the cages are large with a lot of birds and people can get inside. The birds don't look too disturbed by this arrangement. On the contrary! In the cage that was dedicated to the birds of the Pantanal, one of the more friendly Tucans started eating Lilya's pants. He probably wanted to eat the strings which were exactly what he needed for his diet.
At the evening we took the bus to Campo Grande, one of the main cities of the Pantanal to start or tour there.
Saturday 22 May 2010
Thursday 20 May 2010
Mendoza and Buenos Aires - A tale of two cities
It was the best of times...
It was the age of wisdom...
It was the epoch of belief...
It was the season of fun!
We intended to stop at Mendoza for only a short time on the way to Buenus Aires, so Lilya can find a place for rock climbing, but Mendoza is not a town you just stop on the way in. Located at the center of a large winery district (about 1100 different wineries!), Mendoza had turned itself into a center of attractions. It didn't take more than 2 minutes from the time we got off the night bus until we were hunted by Raul, an owner of a hostel nearby the bus station. Raul also turned out to be a paragliding instructor and other tours organizer. He lives with 3 of his 7 children (a single parent) at the hostel, while his older children come to help, whenever needed. Raul is a very fun guy and also very helpful, he called different companies every day in the attempt to organize some rock climbing for Lilya, but that didn't help...
We spent our first day just hanging around in Mendoza. Mendoza is a vivid and a lovely city with large avenues full of plane trees and people, it reminded us Tbilisi. We passed through a huge park and watched the richer folks of Mendoza doing their jogging. But walking around is not what we came for. On the next day we took a bike winery tour, guided by Raul's son (only the biking part). We visited 2 wineries and a chocolateria. The wine tours weren't that good, the wine we tasted wasn't great, and they are much less generous with the tasting comparing to the Israeli wineries. The bike ride was fun, though. Since it is autumn in Argentina the yellow and the red leaves of the grapevines created a very nice decoration.
One of the most important concepts you need to know when visiting in Argentina or in Chile is "Tenedor Libre", which means a free fork, it's an "all you can eat" restaurant. They are usually consist of free buffet and a grill. The price is relatively low, and all is included (except the drinks). There is a very large variety of such restaurants, some are pretty good, and some (the really cheap ones) are quite disappointing. The one we have visited in Mendoza was the best we saw. The meat was great, the variety was enormous, there was a special chef for every type of dish (pastas, seafood, oriental...), waiting to prepare it just for you. And all this heaven costs about 10$!
On the next day we took the "Alta Montana" tour. It was a minibus full of local tourists, most of them Argentinian and all were older than us. The guide spoke only Spanish, which we couldn't understand, but we did understand that he was very funny. Although the difficulties in communication, after half a day half of the bus were our friends (or parents to be precise). That really reminded us of our trip to Georgia. The tour took us to the mountains surrounding Mendoza. On the way we passed a lookout on the Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain outside Asia, 6962m. We also stopped at the amazing Punta del Inca, a natural bridge covered with a yellow-orange mineral of some sort. Later the minibus climbed to a lookout at 4200m, which was on the border between Chile and Argentina. Both countries' flags were on the top, right next to Jesus. While the Chilean was new and tidy, the Argentinian was old and torn, which didn't seem to bother our Argentinian friends, which started singing "Viva la Patria".
The last day was dedicated to paragliding. Lilya doesn't like paragliding, because it is not extreme enough for her. So Oren was the only one to jump. Although short, it was very very fun, and not that expensive at all. We left Mendoza that night, taking a "Cama Suite" bus to Buenus Aires, which is similar to a 1st class seats on an airplane (including champagne and all). We got to Buenus Aires on the next morning, and a new world was opened to us.
In Buenus Aires we felt again the power of a large city, and immediately got addicted. More than 13 million people live in this beautiful city. This number really puts the small villages we come from (Tel Aviv and Haifa) into perspective. They call it the Paris of South America, they must be right.
After finding our hostel and Ohad inside of it, we went to tour the city. We started with Plaza de Mayo. On its eastern side sits the Casa Rosada, which is a sort of a White House of the Argentinians, only pink. It was a Sunday, so it was open to visitors. We found ourselves standing in line to enter it without even knowing what is this building. Only in the president's chamber we understood where we are. On the main balcony we waived to the public downstairs, Evita style.
From there we continued to a large (more than 15 blocks) Sunday street market. Most of the streets of Buenus was very empty, since it was Sunday, but the market was full of people. It was something between a flee and an art craft market. Lots of street shows and people dancing tango. For the first time, Lilya justified her new camera and photographed a lot of people.
That day was a very important day, because it was the final round of the Primer League, that should have determine which team will be the Champion. Lilya didn't want to get updates during the match (not to bring bad luck to Chelsea) so she was very nervous during all the game. At the end of it we went into an Internet cafe and spent the best peso (worth 1 shekel) Lilya had ever spent. Chelsea won the championship! Oren, on the other hand called it "a shekel worth of championship".
That day there was also a Boca Jr. game in their own stadium in La Boca neighborhood. Since we have just arrived, and didn't have tickets, we went there only to feel the atmosphere. The atmosphere was tense, but we didn't see any real action, even though Lilya insisted on running in the direction of every explosion she heard.
We spent the next day with Gabi and touring the beautiful and noisy city center. At night we met them again for a pub tour in the Palermo neighborhood, the young a trendy Soho of Buenos Aires, but since it was Monday, most of the pubs were closed so the tour included only two pubs. On the next day we hanged around the rich Ricoleta neighborhood and visited the old and impressive cemetery, which is considered a must for tourists, there we saw the graves of half of the streets' names in the country. Oren never really understood the point of visiting cemeteries, except for the morbid sculptures of archangels that guard the graves. The graves themselves are not plain gravestones but a full burial estate that could have made a nice apartment in Tel Aviv today. We left the cemetery after we got tired from being hunted by ghosts from someone else's past, and went to eat. All those righteous archangels and figures of the suffering Jesus made Lilya very sinful so she ordered the largest hamburger ever seen, combined with every unhealthy addition you can think of, and served with an appointment to a cardiologist. After the meal we continued touring the plazas of Ricoleta, which by no doubt has the largest ratio of plazas per person in the world. At the afternoon Lilya finally went rock climbing (indoors). She found a small gym place one hour from the center, and was determined not to leave Argentina without climbing. The way there was an experience by itself. We got to the local subway (called "Subte"), and took the busiest line in the middle of the rush hour. If you visit in Buenos Aires, this is certainly a must. You do not enter the train, you are pushed and dragged into it by the crowd around you. And when you're inside you are squeezed until it hearts. The good thing about that is that you don't need to hold anything, there is no chance you will fall when the train will stop. Even after enormous amounts of Sundays on the way to Be'er Sheva, struggling with armed soldiers trying to get on the bus ahead of you, this was indeed a constructive experience. We got a sauna and a massage for less than 2 pesos! The rock climbing itself was much less exciting. We got back just in time to take a quick shower and run to the Tango show (Sabor de Tango). This show is something all tourists must do in Buenos Aires. It included two annoying singers, 8 quite professional tango dancers, a really nice music band (2 accordions, 2 violins, a contrabass and a piano) and practically no soul. Since Tango is a dance of passion, the lack of it really harmed the show. It looked more like a good acrobatic show. But this is only Lilya's opinion, all the rest seemed to enjoy it.
Half of the next day was spent on buying a third digital camera. A small pocket camera that we can take with us in our pocket in more dangerous areas. On the way back we stumbled upon a demonstration. It started from a small group with very loud drums, and turned out to be a swarm of thousands of people. It took us a while to understand what is the demonstration is about. They were gas station workers and their families from all across Argentina protesting against gas stations being closed. We followed the crowd and took lots of pictures. Democracy can be so exciting sometimes.
At the evening we went to see Puerto Madero, a port near the Rio de la Plata riverbank. It was a very nice place to hang around. There are a lot of nice restaurants and a Calatrava -like bridge (as you can see at the pictures), dedicated to women.
We left Buenos Aires the next day on our way to the Iguacu falls, without feeling we had enough of this great city.
We'll be back!
Tip 1: All the activities we have done in the Mendoza area were booked through Raul. Raul is the owner of Casa del Sol hostel. The hostel itself wasn't great, but Raul's presence improved it a lot. He was the one that recomended us the great "Tenedor Libre" restaurant on the Katamarca street, few blocks from the hostel.
Tip 2: You don't have to book the whole wine tour in advance, you can go to the wine region, hire a bike and choose the wineries you like to visit by yourself.
It was the age of wisdom...
It was the epoch of belief...
It was the season of fun!
We intended to stop at Mendoza for only a short time on the way to Buenus Aires, so Lilya can find a place for rock climbing, but Mendoza is not a town you just stop on the way in. Located at the center of a large winery district (about 1100 different wineries!), Mendoza had turned itself into a center of attractions. It didn't take more than 2 minutes from the time we got off the night bus until we were hunted by Raul, an owner of a hostel nearby the bus station. Raul also turned out to be a paragliding instructor and other tours organizer. He lives with 3 of his 7 children (a single parent) at the hostel, while his older children come to help, whenever needed. Raul is a very fun guy and also very helpful, he called different companies every day in the attempt to organize some rock climbing for Lilya, but that didn't help...
We spent our first day just hanging around in Mendoza. Mendoza is a vivid and a lovely city with large avenues full of plane trees and people, it reminded us Tbilisi. We passed through a huge park and watched the richer folks of Mendoza doing their jogging. But walking around is not what we came for. On the next day we took a bike winery tour, guided by Raul's son (only the biking part). We visited 2 wineries and a chocolateria. The wine tours weren't that good, the wine we tasted wasn't great, and they are much less generous with the tasting comparing to the Israeli wineries. The bike ride was fun, though. Since it is autumn in Argentina the yellow and the red leaves of the grapevines created a very nice decoration.
One of the most important concepts you need to know when visiting in Argentina or in Chile is "Tenedor Libre", which means a free fork, it's an "all you can eat" restaurant. They are usually consist of free buffet and a grill. The price is relatively low, and all is included (except the drinks). There is a very large variety of such restaurants, some are pretty good, and some (the really cheap ones) are quite disappointing. The one we have visited in Mendoza was the best we saw. The meat was great, the variety was enormous, there was a special chef for every type of dish (pastas, seafood, oriental...), waiting to prepare it just for you. And all this heaven costs about 10$!
On the next day we took the "Alta Montana" tour. It was a minibus full of local tourists, most of them Argentinian and all were older than us. The guide spoke only Spanish, which we couldn't understand, but we did understand that he was very funny. Although the difficulties in communication, after half a day half of the bus were our friends (or parents to be precise). That really reminded us of our trip to Georgia. The tour took us to the mountains surrounding Mendoza. On the way we passed a lookout on the Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain outside Asia, 6962m. We also stopped at the amazing Punta del Inca, a natural bridge covered with a yellow-orange mineral of some sort. Later the minibus climbed to a lookout at 4200m, which was on the border between Chile and Argentina. Both countries' flags were on the top, right next to Jesus. While the Chilean was new and tidy, the Argentinian was old and torn, which didn't seem to bother our Argentinian friends, which started singing "Viva la Patria".
The last day was dedicated to paragliding. Lilya doesn't like paragliding, because it is not extreme enough for her. So Oren was the only one to jump. Although short, it was very very fun, and not that expensive at all. We left Mendoza that night, taking a "Cama Suite" bus to Buenus Aires, which is similar to a 1st class seats on an airplane (including champagne and all). We got to Buenus Aires on the next morning, and a new world was opened to us.
In Buenus Aires we felt again the power of a large city, and immediately got addicted. More than 13 million people live in this beautiful city. This number really puts the small villages we come from (Tel Aviv and Haifa) into perspective. They call it the Paris of South America, they must be right.
After finding our hostel and Ohad inside of it, we went to tour the city. We started with Plaza de Mayo. On its eastern side sits the Casa Rosada, which is a sort of a White House of the Argentinians, only pink. It was a Sunday, so it was open to visitors. We found ourselves standing in line to enter it without even knowing what is this building. Only in the president's chamber we understood where we are. On the main balcony we waived to the public downstairs, Evita style.
From there we continued to a large (more than 15 blocks) Sunday street market. Most of the streets of Buenus was very empty, since it was Sunday, but the market was full of people. It was something between a flee and an art craft market. Lots of street shows and people dancing tango. For the first time, Lilya justified her new camera and photographed a lot of people.
That day was a very important day, because it was the final round of the Primer League, that should have determine which team will be the Champion. Lilya didn't want to get updates during the match (not to bring bad luck to Chelsea) so she was very nervous during all the game. At the end of it we went into an Internet cafe and spent the best peso (worth 1 shekel) Lilya had ever spent. Chelsea won the championship! Oren, on the other hand called it "a shekel worth of championship".
That day there was also a Boca Jr. game in their own stadium in La Boca neighborhood. Since we have just arrived, and didn't have tickets, we went there only to feel the atmosphere. The atmosphere was tense, but we didn't see any real action, even though Lilya insisted on running in the direction of every explosion she heard.
We spent the next day with Gabi and touring the beautiful and noisy city center. At night we met them again for a pub tour in the Palermo neighborhood, the young a trendy Soho of Buenos Aires, but since it was Monday, most of the pubs were closed so the tour included only two pubs. On the next day we hanged around the rich Ricoleta neighborhood and visited the old and impressive cemetery, which is considered a must for tourists, there we saw the graves of half of the streets' names in the country. Oren never really understood the point of visiting cemeteries, except for the morbid sculptures of archangels that guard the graves. The graves themselves are not plain gravestones but a full burial estate that could have made a nice apartment in Tel Aviv today. We left the cemetery after we got tired from being hunted by ghosts from someone else's past, and went to eat. All those righteous archangels and figures of the suffering Jesus made Lilya very sinful so she ordered the largest hamburger ever seen, combined with every unhealthy addition you can think of, and served with an appointment to a cardiologist. After the meal we continued touring the plazas of Ricoleta, which by no doubt has the largest ratio of plazas per person in the world. At the afternoon Lilya finally went rock climbing (indoors). She found a small gym place one hour from the center, and was determined not to leave Argentina without climbing. The way there was an experience by itself. We got to the local subway (called "Subte"), and took the busiest line in the middle of the rush hour. If you visit in Buenos Aires, this is certainly a must. You do not enter the train, you are pushed and dragged into it by the crowd around you. And when you're inside you are squeezed until it hearts. The good thing about that is that you don't need to hold anything, there is no chance you will fall when the train will stop. Even after enormous amounts of Sundays on the way to Be'er Sheva, struggling with armed soldiers trying to get on the bus ahead of you, this was indeed a constructive experience. We got a sauna and a massage for less than 2 pesos! The rock climbing itself was much less exciting. We got back just in time to take a quick shower and run to the Tango show (Sabor de Tango). This show is something all tourists must do in Buenos Aires. It included two annoying singers, 8 quite professional tango dancers, a really nice music band (2 accordions, 2 violins, a contrabass and a piano) and practically no soul. Since Tango is a dance of passion, the lack of it really harmed the show. It looked more like a good acrobatic show. But this is only Lilya's opinion, all the rest seemed to enjoy it.
Half of the next day was spent on buying a third digital camera. A small pocket camera that we can take with us in our pocket in more dangerous areas. On the way back we stumbled upon a demonstration. It started from a small group with very loud drums, and turned out to be a swarm of thousands of people. It took us a while to understand what is the demonstration is about. They were gas station workers and their families from all across Argentina protesting against gas stations being closed. We followed the crowd and took lots of pictures. Democracy can be so exciting sometimes.
At the evening we went to see Puerto Madero, a port near the Rio de la Plata riverbank. It was a very nice place to hang around. There are a lot of nice restaurants and a Calatrava -like bridge (as you can see at the pictures), dedicated to women.
We left Buenos Aires the next day on our way to the Iguacu falls, without feeling we had enough of this great city.
We'll be back!
Tip 1: All the activities we have done in the Mendoza area were booked through Raul. Raul is the owner of Casa del Sol hostel. The hostel itself wasn't great, but Raul's presence improved it a lot. He was the one that recomended us the great "Tenedor Libre" restaurant on the Katamarca street, few blocks from the hostel.
Tip 2: You don't have to book the whole wine tour in advance, you can go to the wine region, hire a bike and choose the wineries you like to visit by yourself.
Friday 14 May 2010
Guest Picture Album
Ohad has some great photos from the Chilean lake district of us, the Villarica and the waterfall reppeling from Pucon.
You are also invited to visit his blog at: http://awadosa.blogspot.com. You'll find more pictures and stories there.
You are also invited to visit his blog at: http://awadosa.blogspot.com. You'll find more pictures and stories there.
Thursday 6 May 2010
Pucon and the Villarica volcano
All across South America there are people that are willing to take care of Israelis (for money of course). They get discounts for Israelis all over the town, they sometimes own a hostel full of Israelis, they organize tours, and most important, they speak Hebrew. There is Juan in Puerto Natales, there are Ido & Leon in El Chalten and in El Calafate, and there is Gideon in Pucon.
The Israeli tourists are very different from the European ones. They are usually much younger (right after the Army), and some of them you wouldn't let cross the road by themselves. They sometimes travel in a large and "happy" (loud) groups. Lots of them haven't experienced much in their life, that's why they are willing to climb on very high mountains or take part in rapid 5 rafting (the stormiest one), without being at the Banyas even once. This is why traveling in large groups and getting help from people like Gideon helps those who are less oriented. So if you are parents to a 21 year old girl that can't tie her own shoes, and she decides to go to South America by herself, don't worry, she will find her herd here and manage just fine.
Pucon was the first place we had to deal so closely with all the Israelis. We came to Gideon's after getting a recommendation from friends (Gabi & Achia) in order to book a place on the next morning climb on the Villarica volcano (2847m). It was the first clear day after few rainy ones, so there were a lot of people planning on climbing that morning. You can't climb it without a guide, since the top of the mountain is covered with snow and ice, so you need special equipment for that part.
The next morning, after a "joyful" ride in a minibus full of Israeli kids, we arrived to the lower slopes of the Villarica, only to find out that the ski-lift, that should have save us 400m of climbing, doesn't work (even though there were dozens of people willing to pay for it). So now there were about 1600m for us to climb. Our group consisted of 31 people and 9 instructors. We stopped from time to time for a break and at some point we reached the snowy part and had to put on the crampons on our feet. The climb was quite difficult and the pace was quick. Some of the instructors were very anxious to return before the Inter-Barcelona game at 14:45, so they kept encouraging us to go faster. The last 400 meters were the steepest and it took some time for the instructors to decide whether we can climb it (because of the wind, the ice and the smoke coming out of the volcano). At the end they decided that only those who think that they can keep up with the fast pace can continue, they also asked us to be honest with ourselves. Oren, who was an honest person, and also short of breath, decided not to go on. Lilya turned out to be less honest, but very anxious to see the top of the volcano. The rest of the climb wasn't easy, mostly because of the pace, but not very long. The last dozens of meters of the climb weren't so pleasant, mostly because of the Sulfurous smoke coming out from the crater. But the magnificent view from the top was worth it all. All around the volcano there was a blanket of low clouds, and from a distance we could see the Lanin volcano on the border with Argentina and two other volcanoes peaking from the clouds. The Villarica crater itself was quite deep (about 150 meters), but from time to time the volcano got angry and spit a little bit of lava. Since Lilya didn't carry her own camera, the only pictures from the top were taken by Ohad.
The way down was the fun part. There were some routes on which you can slide down, while sitting on your behind. It kind of reminded the sliders of water parks, except for the freezing cold.
The day ended with Inter passing over Barcelona on the way to the Champions League finals, which was a proper ending for Lilya's good day, and a poor ending to Oren's.
The next day was Oren's birthday, so in addition to the every morning pancakes, he got a stupid looking birthday hats, we all had to wear in the hostel all day long, to the great amusement of the hostel owners, and their kid. Unfortunately, Oren stomach had a celebration of its own, so we decided to spend the day in Pucon.
The town is pretty touristic, full of tourist agencies, restaurants, a "North Face" store and a lake of course. Because of the proximity to the volcano, on the main street there is a special traffic light, that informs you on the condition of the Villarica. We checked it each day, but to our disappointment it stayed green all the time. We did get a chance to see a performance by the Villarica whenever the night was clear. The lava painted the gas coming out the volcano in red so it looked as if it was erupting. Oren spent half an hour taking the picture of it...
That day we met two very nice dogs that kept following us for the rest of our stay and wait for us every time we entered a building, even though they didn't get any food for four days. Their love was truly unconditional (are you listening, cat lovers?). Only on the last day Lilya prepared one of them a chicken soup from some leftovers. The look on their faces when we got on the bus out of Pucon was heart breaking.
On our fourth day in Pucon, Lilya and Ohad went canyoning (SNEPLING MAPALIM in hebrew). It seemed that most of the tourists have left Pucon, and we got a private instructor. They give you a full diving suite and even a waterproof coat, that protects you from the cold water, at least for the first waterfall...
You´re supposed to decline beside the waterfalls, but you can jump in and out of them, while hanging from the rope. All together there were 4 waterfalls to descend. On the next day, the three of us took a half our bus to see the beautiful Ojos de Caburgua waterfalls, and lake Caburgua. Don't miss these if your in Pucon.
We left Pucon (and Chile) on the next day. On the way to the Argentinian border, while crossing the Andes, the scenery was amazing. May is the middle of Autumn here and the rainforest was painted in different shades of yellow and red. We also saw the most breathtaking lake, surrounded by colorful trees covered with mist. It felt like Chile is telling us not to leave, maybe we haven't seen enough of it yet. After crossing to the Argentinian side of the Andes, all the colors magically disappeared.
Chile is definitely the most beautiful country we've seen so far.
Tip 1: Gideon's tourist agency on the main street of Pucon (O'Higgins, what else?) is very recommended. The guys at the office are very nice and helpful, the guides seemed to be very professional, and the prices are relatively low. Don't be intimidated by the large, noisy (or jolly, depends on your perspective) Israeli groups.
Tip 2: The guys at Gideon's recommended us a good place to have lunch at with only one condition: We can't tell anyone else (in Pucon) about it. If you are in Pucon right now, go to the next tip. The place is a very small and local and they want to keep it that way. It is in a private house, with no sign on the door. It is called "La Picada" and it is located on 215 Paraguay street. They only serve two dishes but they are very good and very cheep.
Tip 3: Our hostel is one of the main reasons for staying in Pucon for so long. It is called Maitahue and it is on 965 Cacique Paillalef. The señora of the hostel will probably wait in the bus stop when you'll arrive.
The Israeli tourists are very different from the European ones. They are usually much younger (right after the Army), and some of them you wouldn't let cross the road by themselves. They sometimes travel in a large and "happy" (loud) groups. Lots of them haven't experienced much in their life, that's why they are willing to climb on very high mountains or take part in rapid 5 rafting (the stormiest one), without being at the Banyas even once. This is why traveling in large groups and getting help from people like Gideon helps those who are less oriented. So if you are parents to a 21 year old girl that can't tie her own shoes, and she decides to go to South America by herself, don't worry, she will find her herd here and manage just fine.
Pucon was the first place we had to deal so closely with all the Israelis. We came to Gideon's after getting a recommendation from friends (Gabi & Achia) in order to book a place on the next morning climb on the Villarica volcano (2847m). It was the first clear day after few rainy ones, so there were a lot of people planning on climbing that morning. You can't climb it without a guide, since the top of the mountain is covered with snow and ice, so you need special equipment for that part.
The next morning, after a "joyful" ride in a minibus full of Israeli kids, we arrived to the lower slopes of the Villarica, only to find out that the ski-lift, that should have save us 400m of climbing, doesn't work (even though there were dozens of people willing to pay for it). So now there were about 1600m for us to climb. Our group consisted of 31 people and 9 instructors. We stopped from time to time for a break and at some point we reached the snowy part and had to put on the crampons on our feet. The climb was quite difficult and the pace was quick. Some of the instructors were very anxious to return before the Inter-Barcelona game at 14:45, so they kept encouraging us to go faster. The last 400 meters were the steepest and it took some time for the instructors to decide whether we can climb it (because of the wind, the ice and the smoke coming out of the volcano). At the end they decided that only those who think that they can keep up with the fast pace can continue, they also asked us to be honest with ourselves. Oren, who was an honest person, and also short of breath, decided not to go on. Lilya turned out to be less honest, but very anxious to see the top of the volcano. The rest of the climb wasn't easy, mostly because of the pace, but not very long. The last dozens of meters of the climb weren't so pleasant, mostly because of the Sulfurous smoke coming out from the crater. But the magnificent view from the top was worth it all. All around the volcano there was a blanket of low clouds, and from a distance we could see the Lanin volcano on the border with Argentina and two other volcanoes peaking from the clouds. The Villarica crater itself was quite deep (about 150 meters), but from time to time the volcano got angry and spit a little bit of lava. Since Lilya didn't carry her own camera, the only pictures from the top were taken by Ohad.
The way down was the fun part. There were some routes on which you can slide down, while sitting on your behind. It kind of reminded the sliders of water parks, except for the freezing cold.
The day ended with Inter passing over Barcelona on the way to the Champions League finals, which was a proper ending for Lilya's good day, and a poor ending to Oren's.
The next day was Oren's birthday, so in addition to the every morning pancakes, he got a stupid looking birthday hats, we all had to wear in the hostel all day long, to the great amusement of the hostel owners, and their kid. Unfortunately, Oren stomach had a celebration of its own, so we decided to spend the day in Pucon.
The town is pretty touristic, full of tourist agencies, restaurants, a "North Face" store and a lake of course. Because of the proximity to the volcano, on the main street there is a special traffic light, that informs you on the condition of the Villarica. We checked it each day, but to our disappointment it stayed green all the time. We did get a chance to see a performance by the Villarica whenever the night was clear. The lava painted the gas coming out the volcano in red so it looked as if it was erupting. Oren spent half an hour taking the picture of it...
That day we met two very nice dogs that kept following us for the rest of our stay and wait for us every time we entered a building, even though they didn't get any food for four days. Their love was truly unconditional (are you listening, cat lovers?). Only on the last day Lilya prepared one of them a chicken soup from some leftovers. The look on their faces when we got on the bus out of Pucon was heart breaking.
On our fourth day in Pucon, Lilya and Ohad went canyoning (SNEPLING MAPALIM in hebrew). It seemed that most of the tourists have left Pucon, and we got a private instructor. They give you a full diving suite and even a waterproof coat, that protects you from the cold water, at least for the first waterfall...
You´re supposed to decline beside the waterfalls, but you can jump in and out of them, while hanging from the rope. All together there were 4 waterfalls to descend. On the next day, the three of us took a half our bus to see the beautiful Ojos de Caburgua waterfalls, and lake Caburgua. Don't miss these if your in Pucon.
We left Pucon (and Chile) on the next day. On the way to the Argentinian border, while crossing the Andes, the scenery was amazing. May is the middle of Autumn here and the rainforest was painted in different shades of yellow and red. We also saw the most breathtaking lake, surrounded by colorful trees covered with mist. It felt like Chile is telling us not to leave, maybe we haven't seen enough of it yet. After crossing to the Argentinian side of the Andes, all the colors magically disappeared.
Chile is definitely the most beautiful country we've seen so far.
Tip 1: Gideon's tourist agency on the main street of Pucon (O'Higgins, what else?) is very recommended. The guys at the office are very nice and helpful, the guides seemed to be very professional, and the prices are relatively low. Don't be intimidated by the large, noisy (or jolly, depends on your perspective) Israeli groups.
Tip 2: The guys at Gideon's recommended us a good place to have lunch at with only one condition: We can't tell anyone else (in Pucon) about it. If you are in Pucon right now, go to the next tip. The place is a very small and local and they want to keep it that way. It is in a private house, with no sign on the door. It is called "La Picada" and it is located on 215 Paraguay street. They only serve two dishes but they are very good and very cheep.
Tip 3: Our hostel is one of the main reasons for staying in Pucon for so long. It is called Maitahue and it is on 965 Cacique Paillalef. The señora of the hostel will probably wait in the bus stop when you'll arrive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
