South America - Argentina

The tango emerged in Boca, Buenos Aires. Originally a dance for men, when they waited in line to get into the brodel. Since then the tango has developed...

Bjørn and Eva at the Plaza Mayor in Buenos Aires.

Mate is a kind of tea. It originates from the amerindians, but the serving was improved by some nuns. The mate is passed around to all who wants, and there are some rules to follow. The mate was nothing special to us, and we did not quite like sucking on the same straw as all the others. But it is very popular in Argentina, and is regarded healthy.

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Salta was our base after Buenos Aires. From Salta we went over to Purmamarca in the Andes, and we passed higher than 4000 m. This picture is from a salt lake. Under 15 cm of water there is crystallised salt that we walk on. During the dry season a new layer of salt is added when the water evaporates.

In Purmamarca they have the "Seven Colour Mountain".

This is our hotel in Purmamarca.

In Purmamarca most of the inhabitants are amerinadians. Here in the street they offer their handicraft for sale. Very good quality and the prices were ok, but we could not carry anything more.

This is from a peña in Purmamarca. Peña is a traditional way of singing. Google it and find out more.

This picture is from a peña in Salta. These people were very good. Look at the painting on the wall. They are the same people. Everybody in the restaurant had to present themselves and tell where they lived. When we presented us, we were asked how long we had been married, and we had to prove that love lasts with a kiss in the public, standing by our table. It added to the good atmosphere in the restaurant, and we were not the only ones, but just a few other Europeans.

After Salta we went down to Patagonia. We stayed in El Calafate first. Here we went to see the Perito Moreno, a fantastic glacier. We saw a lot of calfing from the ice barrier, and here we were lucky to get a photo of a realy big poece of ice falling into the lake.

A better  view of Perito Moreno.

From El Calafate we went to El Chaltén. Here we had some good hiking tours. The hardest was to Lagoona de los tres. The lake that is fed from three glaciers. The picture shows Eva looking into the wild mountains in the Andes, and the highest peak in the area, Fitz Roy.

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Fitz Roy on a calmer day and from a distance. It is popular among climbers.

Another Fitz Roy view.

From El Chaltén we went by this bus over to Chile, to the national park "Torrs Del Paine." The name is from the inginious people, probably meaning "the blue moutains". Or it could also mean "the mountains of the blue sky".

Explaining the geology was part of all guides' program. The Andes was once  seabed. It still raises 15 cm per year. This means that a lot of the mountains are sediments, but because also millions of years ago lava streamed out, and some of it became harder formations. In this picture from "Torres Del Paine" the layers are clearly visible.

The last place we visited in Argentina, was Iguazú. The biggest waterfall in the world, and very spectacular.

Here we are standing in dry distance fom one of the several hundred waterfalls, but we also went by speed boat as far in as it was possible, and the spray was so heavy that we could almost not see anything, and of course we were wet all through. Lovely.

More Iguazú. This picture is taken from the Brazilian side. The falls are shared by the two countries.

After Iguazú we went back to Buenos Aires, and one of the days we took the ferry over Rio de la Plata to Colonia in Uruguay. Colonia was nice. This is from the old town, the only attraction there.

These ferries on Rio de la Plata did not seam very environmently friendly...

What we had not noticed was that the time in Uruguay was one hour ahead of Argentina (and also of Brazil, the othernabouring country). The result was that we cme to late to our retur ferry. Luckily there was a later connection that evening. It cost us a lot of money, but wehad no choice, for the day after we were to fly to Rio de Janeiro.