Buenos Aires!
Buenos Aires is ridiculously large. Some 16 million people live in the greater metropolitan area. It is also a ridiculously long way from Ushuaia. When we last reported in we were in the town of San Julian and we had already covered nearly 1,000km and ahead of us lay another 2,100km. The crew at https://compassexpeditions.com/ have worked hard to fit as much diversity into the trip as possible but out here options are limited so we make the most of what there is. We visit nature reserves where we see coastal wildlife like sea lions
Sea Lion Pup
and shore birds. We are also fortunate enough to see a Large Hairy Armadillo (no really…that’s the proper name for the species!)
Large Hairy Armadillo
and Mara which look a bit like a very large, short eared hare but are in fact rodents, the second largest rodents in the world.
As we rush north we stop briefly in small coastal hole in the wall towns like Puerto Pyramides, that look they would be a place you might run to if you wanted to escape the law, a jealous lover or just life in general. In Bahai Blanca we stop at a lonely set of traffic lights on an interminably long cycle. There is not a sole in sight so I proceed through. I repeat this process three times before I crest a rise to find a Police roadblock and a very stern looking Policewoman with her hand up to stop me. I prepare myself mentally for the arrest and torture that must surely follow when I hear the unmistakable sound of “flash bangs” a few blocks away. The officer and several of her colleagues usher us urgently down some side streets and around whatever the disturbance may be. It was Sunday so our best guess is that some football fans have got a little out of hand. Football (soccer) is a legitimate religion here.
Further north we ride and we are constantly battling the thousands of semi trailers that lumber up and down the highways; they easily outnumber the cars. The landscape is still vast and empty. At one point we are moved to ponder if the Flat Earth Society actually know something we don’t. We can stand in one point and turn 360 degrees without seeing a single feature. Even the scant vegetation struggles to reach more than a few cm into the world. Then somewhere near Rio Azul everything starts to change. We leave Patagonia and enter the Pampas. The low scrubby bushes give way to improved pasture, cattle and sheep out number guanacos and mountains rise in the distant horizon. Within 50km the transition is complete and we are transported to central western NSW. The Estancias look more prosperous, livestock are fat, grass is green and crops of corn, soya beans and sunflowers grow right up to the road side. There are even gum trees! The mood of the group is noticeably lighter and we take time to relax a little.
Someone has to do it!
The weather has been good here with plenty of rain; a little too much in some places and broad shallow lakes of local floodwater fill some paddocks.
A little too much rain.
After days of wide open spaces and small provincial cities, Buenos Aires is a total culture shock. The roads are chaotic, sometimes up to 20 lanes wide (each way) at the toll plazas, and often there are no lane separation lines. Small motor bikes whizz about us often carrying a woman and child, both helmetless and the mother making the sign of the cross and kissing a gold crucifix around her neck as she enters the fray.
BA Traffic
We are not even a little bit religious but maybe now might be a good time to start. Eventually JC (our guide, not the walk on water JC) gets us all safely to our fairly swish hotel in the centre of the old city.
We spend a couple of days here, exploring the sights, sounds and sensations of the city. Even though the city was first settled in 1534, there is almost no remnant of that time to be seen. It was not until French, Italian and even British architecture was introduced in the mid 1800’s that more permanent building materials like stone and concrete were employed so the entire city centre has the appearance of being very European. The city is often called the Paris of the south and it’s easy to see why. The buildings are magnificent! We do a guided tour with Fernando, the brother of our support truck driver Juan. He is a superb source of knowledge and very passionate about his hometown, being a journalist and radio presenter for the national broadcaster.
Pope Frances used to work here.
He takes us to the city square and points out all the significant buildings and monuments. We visit the city necropolis, a 5-hectare city of mausoleums where we find the comparatively plain resting place of Evita Peron,
Evita Peron’s modest resting place.
former first lady of the country and hero of the people. After a few more stops in some fabulous and quirky places we finish the tour with a lunch of superb authentic Argentinian pizza and beer.
The two major food groups, pizza and beer.
I’m sitting in my hotel room typing this quickly before we go out again tonight to a dinner and tango show. Sally has even bought new boots for the occasion. Apparently there is a large audience participation element to the show so I shall be hiding anywhere I can for that. But we have decided we like Buenos Aires and that is saying something. We are country folk and we dislike crowds but there is something about this place that just seems kind of right. Maybe we will come back someday.
BA at night.
