Nov 30, Wednesday

Nov 30, Wednesday

I went to sleep at around 11 pm last night and woke up thinking that it must be about 6 am.  It was 12:15 AM !    It must have been that extremely noisy air conditioning unit when it restarts.  It sounds like it is going to come right out of the wall.  Managed to get back to sleep but had crazy dreams.   At 7 am I went to eat my continental breakfast of a white bun, butter, jam and coffee and was outside the Brazilian Consulate by 8 am when they open their doors.   They had not mentioned that the visas would only be available after 10 am.   DRAT !

Back to the hotel for my 8:30 pick-up for the trip to Iguazú falls.  The town is named Puerto Iguasu and is about half an hour drive from the Parque Nacional de Iguazú and the falls.    I shared the tour with a young Argentinean couple and their 11 year old son, and a middle aged couple from Spain.   Everyone was very pleasant and our guide/chauffeur Walter (pronounced Bálter)  was nice but provided no information about the falls;  he simply showed us the way and waited for us to come back from each segment of the tour.

It was another hot and humid day but being in the shade of the trees on the paths provided a bit of a respite.   We walked into the park and made our way to the train that would take us up to la Garganta del Diablo (The Devil’s Throat).   Once off the train, we walked on a series of bridges across branches of the Iguazú River to the north-eastern edge of the falls, the ones closest to Brazil.

  The train to the farthest part of the falls

  One of the bridges across one part of the extremely wide Iguazú River

  Another stretch of the upper river. The spray from the falls is visible

   The Devil's Throat

  Salto Union

  Salto Union

SPECTACULAR !   Not only did I get wet, but so did my camera and my camcorder.  My camera actually stopped working for about 15 minutes.   It would not open,  and then when it finally did, it would not close.   I took out the battery but that didn’t seem to fix the problem so I sat down and dried it as best I could.   Got some nice pictures of really beautiful crested birds however.

  He looks like he is wearing blue eye shadow

Among the critters:  iguana, lizard, coati, butterflies and a lot of spiders and ants.

  Lots of  paths &  bridges

  The back end of a Coati

  The front end of a coati !   Not that he was moving that fast, but the darn thing kept moving.

  One of the beautiful butterflies

We got back on the train and rode back to the main drop off point.  From there we walked along a very long path that led us to the Circuito Superior, all along the top of the falls southern most portion.

  If you look closely at the top of the falls, you will see the lookout points where we could take photos

  Love those falls

   Water dropping off the cliffs

  Tourist boat riding into the mist of the falls

  From the Circuito Superior, looking down at the end of the Circuito Inferior

  Another jaw dropping lookout

  Can this get any better ?

We then partially retraced our steps and went down to the Circuito Inferior, which isn’t right down near the bottom of the river, but rather at a midpoint along the cliffs. 

  More raised paths to protect the land

  Zoom of the Brazilian side of the falls and their mid-point look out

  Water water everywhere !

  Talk about the power of water

  View from the Circuito Inferior up towards the Circuito Superior

  Dos Hermanas Falls ! ! !   Specially for Yvette & Hélène

From this vantage point, we could look up to the top of the falls where we had been before on the Circuito Superior.

The Iguazú River is quite wide at its top, but many of its branches are only about 1 meter in depth.   Hence the 270 some separate falls in this area.   Only the major falls are actually named:  Garganta del Diablo is Salto Union,   along the upper circuit are Salto San Martin, Salto Bosseti, Salto Barnabe Sanchez among others.

After this the Spanish couple and I were ready for some lunch;  the Argentinean couple and their son had stopped to eat earlier and they went off to do the 12 minute river run into the spray of the falls.  (Not recommended for those with bad backs or weak hearts.  See above photo of boat riding into the spray.)   I did not feel like paying a small fortune for an extremely cold shower, so I stayed on shore.    After an hour, the soaked Argentines came back and we walked all the way back to our vehicle for the ride back to town.   It was almost 4 by the time I came into my room to remove my damp clothes (from sweat more than from the spray of the falls) and had a nice cool shower.    I had planned on going out for dinner, but can’t find the energy to get dressed again and head out, so I’m staying in, eating oranges and drinking lots of water.

By 6 pm we had a huge rain storm which really helped to cool things down.  I should be able to turn off the air conditioner tonight and sleep with the window open.  It’s OK, there are mosquito screens on the windows.

PS  -  I added photos to my last full day in Buenos Aires:  Puerto Madero

Nov 28, Monday & Nov 29, Tuesday

Nov 28, Monday  &  Nov 29, Tuesday

Nov 28, Monday 

Was ready earlier than expected so I left the hotel and took off for the airport.  There was hardly any traffic since it was a holiday Monday and I was at the airport very quickly.   Good thing I did because within 10 minutes of getting in line (at least 40 people in front of me) there were 40 more people behind me.

Flight left on time, and although it was extremely bumpy and landed very abruptly after a steep descent, we were on time and the travel agent was there to greet me and drive me to my hotel.    Had a great conversation with him and found out that I should be able to obtain my travel visa to Brazil within 2 working days.

Very hot and humid here, and the air conditioning in the room is really noisy, but I have no choice but to leave it on and listen to it rattle on and off all night.

Nov 29, Tuesday

Had to get up early to get to the Brazilian Consulate by 8:15.  Luckily it is just 2 long blocks away.  Got the list of things I have to assemble and resubmit to them:     My passport,  1 new Passport photo, go on their web site to complete and print the application form for the visa, pay them an expensive processing fee,  proof of purchase of  an airline ticket out of Brazil,  proof of enough funds to keep me taken care of while I am in their country (copy of a recent bank statement or visa statement ?   Yeah, I’m sure people travel with these all the time! ) 

So off I went to find out where I could get a passport photo (15 minute walk in this heat),  travel agent in front of photo shop (bonus) so I booked a flight out of Brazil and on to South Africa for Dec 16, giving me 3 weeks in Brazil.  Went  back to my hotel to get the form from their internet site and fill it out.  Unfortunately the hotel could not help me with the printing, so I walked a couple of blocks to get to an internet café with my lap top.   No problem downloading the form to their memory stick and printing it, but unfortunately I could not access my bank account from their internet terminals, and they did not have a wifi connection so that I could use my laptop.   So back I walked to my hotel to try to see if I could somehow save a bank statement and go back to have it printed.   Must have something to do with security, but although there is a “print” option, which I could not use at the hotel, there was no “save as” option.   I tried all sorts of things and could not get it to work, so finally I just copied the numbers into another table.   Went back to the internet café to have it printed and continued on to the Brazilian Consulate to submit all the paperwork.    I offered to show them my bank statement on-line if there was a way to connect in their offices, but NO that was not an option.    The guy at the desk spoke Portuguese and hardly no Spanish, absolutely no English or French,  so I have no idea what will happen with my application.         

Tomorrow I’ve got my all day tour that leaves at 8:30, so I’m not sure I will have time to go back to the consulate tomorrow morning  for 8 am to pick it up, and their offices will be closed by the time my tour ends.

Did I mention it was 92 degrees F today and with the humidity, according to the internet, it feels like 96 degrees!    It was  like walking around in a sauna.   (Supposed to go down to 69 degrees during the night.  Forecasting same for tomorrow, about 34 Celsius + humidex factor.)

Anyway,  by 11:30 I was back at my hotel to take a cold shower and maybe go for a dip in the pool to cool off.    The shower part worked fine, but the water in the pool is so scummy that there is absolutely no way that I’m getting in there.    Rested in my room for a few hours researching Rio and more flights to South Africa.    The flight the agent found has me flying back to Buenos Aires from Rio and I wanted to see if there was any better way of doing it.   Sure enough,  I found a direct flight from Sao Paolo to Johannesburg so I decided to go back to the travel agency and change the reservation.   No problem except that it took her over 1 ½ hours to do so.   She was very nice, very young and in training.  Since it was so hot outside and their office was air conditioned, I did not mind the wait at all.   I’ll let the Brazilian Consulate know about my change of plans when I go to check on my Visa application.

Another shower was  required when I returned to the hotel, by a different route,  but although I had checked out some restaurants along the way, it is simply too hot to eat.   I’ll see if I’m hungry later tonight and go out again if I need to.

Sorry, no pics yet.

Nov 26, Saturday & Nov 27, Sunday

Nov 26, Saturday  &  Nov 27, Sunday

Did more walking around on Saturday afternoon, this time in Puerto Madero and back through the historical downtown area. 

  Warehouses turned into shops, restaurants and very expensive condos

  One of the museum ships along the canals

  Woman's Bridge

  Puento de la Muher

  La Casa Rosada, Government House

  You've heard so much about Simon Bolivar.  Here is his portrait

  Inside one of the rooms

 

  Inner courtyard of La Casa Rosada

By 4 pm my feet were dead, and I'd almost been run over twice by crazy drivers,  so I took the subway back to my hotel to rest.

Sunday November 27:   Stayed in all day and researched Visa requirements for the rest of my travels.  

Found out on Friday that I need a visa to enter Brazil, and it must be obtained ahead of time !    Since it is a long weekend, holiday Monday, and I’m flying to Iguazu/Iguasu/Iguassu multiple spellings,  I’m not sure I’ll be able to cross into Brazil without having to come back to Buenos Aires.   Canadian Embassy offices had already closed on Friday afternoon for the long weekend, so I sent them an e-mail and will wait for a response.

There could be a tourist detour in my future.

Nov 25, Friday

Nov 25, Friday

Another late start to the day, but I needed to go down to the lobby to connect to the wifi to upload my blog and do a bit of research for my side trip to Iguasu Falls.    Located a travel agency nearby and booked my flight and hotel to the falls for 3 days.   That should give me enough time to visit, relax and enjoy the sights there.  It took 3 hours to book this!  Nothing is quick in travel agencies here.

While walking to the travel agent, I passed the NH Tango hotel, where they have tango dinner shows, so I went in to purchase tickets for tonight’s performance.  AND,  there are tango lessons from 7:30 to 8:30, just before the dinner, so guess who’s going?

Since I was already on the northeast side of Avenida 9 de Julio  (16 lanes wide ! plus 3 wide walkways in the middle) I decided to keep walking to Avenida Florida, a pedestrian shopping street.

  Avenida Florida

Galleria Pacifico, ready for Xmas

I needed to find some black shoes/sandals to replace my nice black sandals (purchased in Puerto Rico during the cruise for Monique & Steph’s wedding) which I somehow left behind in one of the hotels I stayed at.   I loved those sandals and could walk miles very comfortably in them.   But I now need black sandals/shoes to wear with my dresses and skirts as well as for tonight’s tango lesson.

Did I mention that people still smoke a lot here and in Chile?    They can still smoke in some restaurants and hotels, and obviously out in the streets when they can’t smoke in their work places.  There are cigarette butts and dog poop all over many of the sidewalks, as well as that ever present smell of urine heated by the sun.    But the city itself is beautiful and I enjoy walking its streets.    Found some shoes that will suit for dressing up, but definitely not for long walks.

I got back to the hotel in time for a nice shower and a rest before heading out to the NH Tango.   Almost everyone there who took the lessons were couples, so I got to dance with an instructor for the first part of the lesson.  No one stepping on my toes obviously!   But there were a lot of “ouches” around the room.   For the second part of the lesson they matched me up with the only other male in the room who was alone, unfortunately he was not a very good student, quite shy and only spoke Ukrainian.   He gave up even trying and finally got back on the floor when a lady from another couple went to speak to him and talked him through the steps.   That got me back with one of the other instructors.   Had a lot of fun and there was a lot of laughter in the room.    Gilles and I had taken lessons years ago;  his gift to me at the Arthur Murray Dance Academy in Ottawa.   I can remember him having to dance with the male instructor to learn the steps,  and the look he gave me!   It still makes me laugh.

Anyway, after the lesson we all went downstairs to the main theatre for dinner (my selection: cream of leek soup,  beef steak with herbed potatoes, crème caramel).  The waiters were very attentive and my wine glass kept being refilled.   Good thing there was also a bottle of water on the table because I kept drinking as much water as wine.  At least I think I did.  

 I was seated next to a very nice couple from Venezuela who were very disappointed to hear about my problems in their country.   Ana provided me with her email and phone numbers and promised to connect me with a travel agent in Caracas who could arrange a full “all inclusive” trip for me.  I will keep it in mind when I reach Ecuador on my return trip from the South Pacific.

The show was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 The theater during dinner

  Tango dancers

 The orchestra

 Beautiful number

It was close to midnight when we came out of the theatre and the streets were filled with people of all ages,  even babies and young children.   It is a long weekend I was told, Monday being a national holiday so people are taking advantage of it.    Still, I was glad that I only had four long blocks to walk.  

 My tango certificate and official picture

Tried to upload a video clip, but it did not work.  Sorry.

Nov 24, Thursday

Nov 24, Thursday

Got a late start today since I was updating my blog.  No wifi in my room, only in the hotel lobby.  By 1 pm I was on my way, walking to the Recoleta area to visit the cemetery where Eva Peron is buried as well as other famous Argentineans.  It took me about half an hour to walk there at a considerable clip.  The Cemetery is quite impressive with many monuments.

Recoleta cemetery

  Duarte family mausoleum & Eva Peron's tomb

  Recoleta Church

  Map of the grounds

I walked around the Recoleta Convent grounds, visiting the church (sorry, no pictures allowed inside) as well as the surrounding park.  

  Monument in the park

 Pedestrian bridge across the Avenida del Libertador

  Looking back towards Recoleta Park from the stairs of the Faculty of Law

I then made my way to what I thought was the Museo de Belas Artes, but which turned out to be the Faculty of Law.   Turns out the museum was a smaller building on the same side of the street as the Recoleta.   Sorry, no pictures allowed in the museum either.

  Closer view of the Flower dedicated to all women, from the roof of the Belas Artes Museo

  Statue on the roof of the museum.  If there had been someone up there with me, I would have asked them to take a picture of me, sitting beside her, reading over her shoulder.   Oh well,  you'll just have to imagine it.

My feet were still aching from the day before, and by 4 pm I was ready to sit down and rest my aching feet, ankles and legs  so I waved down a taxi and rode back to the hotel.   Grabbed a bite to eat at the Pizzaria next to the hotel and came back to my room to soak my feet.  Unfortunately there is no tub, and the sink is quite high of the ground.   Shower will have to do.

Early night for me     and my feet.