Argentina Posts

Journey To Iguazu Falls

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This is my last blog entry until next week most likely. Friday afternoon I’m packing up some of my stuff and getting on a plane to Puerto Iguazu, a small city right on the edge of some of the nicest waterfalls in the world, Iguazu Falls. This will be my first real trip from Buenos Aires, and the first time getting on a plane again since I arrived. To say that I’m looking forward to this trip would be an understatement. Ever since I saw my first photo of the falls a few months ago, I’ve been anxiously awaiting my chance to see them. So this weekend I’ll finally get my chance. Iguazu Falls is located in northern Argentina, right on the border of Brazil. You can see the approximate location in the map on the left. I’m catching a plane around 3:30pm Argentina time and flying for a little […]

Journey To The End Of The World

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Well, I just did it – I booked a trip to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern most city on the entire planet. I was originally going to go to Machu Picchu during that time slot, but once I learned that the southern most Irish pub in the world was in Ushuaia and that St. Patrick’s Day would align with the day I arrived, the decision became easy. As you can see from the above map, Ushuaia is about as far south as you can get on the planet, other than Antarctica of course. In fact, many of the ships that go to Antarctica leave from Ushuaia. If I had more time, I would consider making the journey there, but I’m content on this trip simply to enjoy Ushuaia. To save a bit of cash I’ll be staying in the Antarctica Hostel. I picked the Antarctica Hostel because it has stellar reviews […]

The First Of February, More Trip Ideas

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I don’t know why, but I’m excited that it’s a new month. Maybe because I’m fully booked for my trip to Igauza falls in 17 days, or possibly because it’s a trip to Machu Picchu is probably on the horizon. Either way, I’m feeling fine, and today is a new day in a new month. I left Vancouver on January 4th, so that means I’ve been here nearly a month now. Time flies. I have a little widget on my phone with my rough itinerary in it, and it says I have 57 days left in Buenos Aires. I fly out on March 30th for New York City, where I’ll be meeting my business partner and his girlfriend for a few days of site-seeing, and hopefully some deep dish italian pizza for my birthday! It won’t technically be my birthday until I arrive in Ireland, but it’ll be close enough […]

Planning A Trip To Iguazu Falls

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I’ve spent the last month taking in the sites in Buenos Aires, and am now starting to make plans for viewing a few sites outside of the city. The first location I’m probably going to visit is Iguazu Falls. If you are planning a trip to Iguazu Falls, then this post is for you. Iguazu Falls Iguazu Falls is a massive set of cascading waterfalls right on the border between Argentina and Brazil. People who have seen them say it’s one of the most impressive natural wonders in the world, and it’s something I’ve been anxiously awaiting for since I found out about them approximately six months ago. There are two ways to get to Iguaza Falls from Buenos Aires, by bus or by plane. Unlike North American busses, busses here are very comfortable and posh, often containing DVD players, hot meals, champagne, and the ability to put your seat […]

Save Money By Traveling The World: Update 1

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I’m one month into what could very well be a one year travel adventure, potentially longer, depending on how things go (don’t worry mom, I’ll come home for a visit). My plan has always been to give monthly updates on costs to help those people budgeting for trips such as these. I’ve been told that one of the greatest myths about world travel is the belief that it’s only within reach of those who are very rich. My goal over the next year is to help dispel some of those myths. While I’m not expecting to always save a pile of money while traveling (although I expect in some destinations I probably will), I am interested to see just how different a full year of exotic travel is in terms of costs from my lifestyle back in North America. In terms of flights, I’ve decided to only include the one-way […]

How To Get A SIM Card In Buenos Aires

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I’ve been here three weeks now, and have most of the basics figured out. But definitely one of the hardest problems I’ve had to solve in Argentina so far was how to get a SIM card in Buenos Aires and ultimately top it up with funds. Why Movistar? There are two large GSM cell carriers in Buenos Aires: Claro and Movistar. Having investigated them both prior to moving to Buenos Aires, I came to the conclusion that Movistar offered the best deal for pay as you go plans. First, why Pay As You Go? Unfortunately unless you’re a local and have a DNI card (a local resident card) you can’t get a phone on any type of contract. That means the only option is a Pay As You Go plan, such as the Movistar Prepago one. The main benefit for the Movistar plan is that they offer a 3G data […]

Quick Day Trip To Montevideo, Uruguay

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About a week ago, Gus, Russ and I were talking about how we would all like to visit Uruguay at some point on our adventure. There are two options that most people consider: a trip to Colonia, or a trip to Montevideo. Due to time constraints, most people end up taking the trip to Colonia, since it’s not very far from Buenos Aires. Getting to Montevideo takes more time, and is generally more expensive, so most people choose not to do it. Since it is the capital of Uruguay, we decided that it was the place that we wanted to visit the most. The ferry company that handles transportation from Buenos Aires to Montevideo is called Buquebus (pronounced “Bu-kay-bus”). It turns out that they were offering a Day Tour of Montevideo for only 640 pesos (around $160 CAD), so we decided to do that. The fee included the ferry in […]

Buenos Aires, Day 16

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I’ve managed to do a weekly update on the past two Fridays of the month, so I think going forward that’s going to by my goal for the rest of the trip. First off, I’ve been here a little over two weeks now. The total length of my time in Buenos Aires is about 12 weeks, so that means I have around 10 left I think. My first week here was a bit challenging, mostly for the language barrier. I spent a bit of time brushing up on my spanish, and week 2 definitely was a bit easier. Spanish This week I finally found a private spanish teacher and have been meeting her for two hours a night on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so that’s an extra six hours a week. We’ve mostly been reviewing old content, so I wouldn’t say I’ve learned too much new during lessons, but I […]

Montevideo Trip Planning

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The country of Uruguay is just a short ferry ride away from Buenos Aires. It’s always been on my list of things to see while I’m down in Argentina, but I didn’t have any definite plans in my mind for when I would go over. Usually people go over to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay, since it’s just a short ferry ride away. However, an even greater adventure is the city of Montevideo, which is at least a 2.5 hour ferry ride away from Buenos Aires (if you take the fast ferry, longer if you take the slow ferry). So this weekend I’ve decided to head over to Montevideo with Gus and Russ. We’ve paid for a full tour, which includes both ferry rides, a lunch, and a full day of walking. Here’s a rough itinerary. 5:45am – wake up! 6:15am – head to the ferry port 6:30am – check […]