In retrospect we should've gone to the town of Puerto Iguazu first, and THEN Iguazu Falls. It was a bit of a let-down staying at Peter Pan Hostel after experiencing the luxury at the Sheraton overlooking the waterfalls. It was too much for Wayne and Lenore especially with the accidental breaking of a vanity mirror at the hostel, so they moved on to a nicer hotel, where we all enjoyed their pool and breakfast buffet. The town itself is a transfer point for tourists continuing their journeys to Iguazu Falls, so mainly we saw restaurants and a few tourist shops. Not much to see otherwise, but this cool car overgrown with vegetation...
After much deliberation and many stops at various tourist agencies and car rentals (where we sent Juan into find out the details) we decided to go to Posadas from Puerto Iguazu. There we spent 3 nights at a very nice hotel called La Mision, where we relaxed by the pool and enjoyed some live entertainment by a saxophonist. The main attraction for coming to Posadas was going to the San Ignacio Jesuit Ruins. The ruins are some of the best preserved in the area and help tell the history of the Jesuit communities that were founded in the early 1600s. These communities, run by the Jesuits, were populated by the Guarani, a group of people indigenous to the area. The missions were used to educate and evangelize, but also to protect the Guarani from slavery and colonial society. The museum does a great job of giving both perspectives of the mission's impact on the Guarani. The town of San Ignacio was also really nice. It was probably quieter than normal as the night before they had celebrated Carnaval, but we had a really nice lunch and headed back to Posadas. Another highlight of Posadas was the costanera (or riverfront) where we had a nice relaxing meal in the evening overlooking the river.
We left Posadas in the early afternoon so that we'd be arriving in Colon by 10:30pm. The 8 hour bus ride was easily doable on most occasions, but no A/C for the first hour and no food or drinks were pushing our limits. At about 10pm we made a stop at a station only to find out there was over 4 hours left on our journey! Thirsty and starving I booked it into the station to buy 4 litres of water and 4 sandwiches. I (Juan) saved the day. A few minutes after the bus left the station, the stewardess came by with pop and sandwiches for everyone...well a hero for a moment anyway. At 2:30am, we were dropped off at the side of the road in no-man's land - we could only see a Shell station across the highway. After a longish wait, we finally got a cab and landed at El Futuro Hostel in Colon, while Wayne and Lenore stayed at the nicer Hotel Plaza, in front of a beautiful plaza (hence the name I guess). The blue walls and blue worn-out carpet at El Futuro didn't quite give me a glimpse of the future, except maybe of one with us not staying there. It seemed to give me a nasty allergy too, so the next day we found a homier place.
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| Aqua-sizing at the Thermal Pools |
And Juan does mean homey, the Hosteria La Posada de David, is inside of a family's home. We are slowly discovering the various forms of accommodations that exist in Argentina and a hosteria is different from a hostel because it doesn't have a space for cooking or a shared common space, but they do provide a room and breakfast in the morning. Colon is about 5 hours from Buenos Aires and is a popular summer destination for Argentines and porteños (people from BA). We really liked Colon. The small town has beaches, great restaurants, a wonderful winery, and thermal pools. Of course, when traveling things are usually not as you expect them to be, as was the case with the thermal pools, which reminded us more of Fun Mountain then the steaming natural mineral springs we had in mind. We did go on a boat ride and hike through a deserted island with a great trekking guide named Charlie. He spoke fantastic English - a relief to Dad and Lenore and myself - and we had a great time lounging in the shallow waters of the Rio Uruguay, walking a pristine deserted beach, and learning all about the various flora and fauna on a hike through a deserted island. It was definitely a highlight of Colon. That same day we did what we had been avoiding the entire trip...a group tour. Karma perhaps? I do remember us talking about how awful it would be to be apart of a large tour group at Iguazu Falls and then all of sudden there we were....walking at turtle speed (or not at all) looking at what seemed to be a stream or some vegetation. We were in Parque Nacional El Parmar and we were being tortured by the slow pace, hot sun, the rambling guide (who, even though he said everything in Spanish, I could understand that he wasn't saying much), and the fact that with such a big group there are no animals to be found. What was amazing were the palm trees. The park is home to the remaining palm savanna in the area, these trees are over two centuries old. It was very beautiful.
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| A Blue Heron on our Tour |
The winery was also a highlight of Colon. We visited Bodega Vulliez-Sermet just outside of Colon. They grow many varieties of grapes including Chardonnay, Malbec, Tannat, and Merlot. The tour was wonderful...I know Juan and I learned a lot. After the tour we had a wine tasting of their refreshingly dry rosé and their Tannat, which was very rich and bold. We bought 6 bottles between the four of us, including one bottle of their champagne which we opened later that afternoon on Dad and Lenore's balcony overlooking the plaza.
It was then time to head back to Buenos Aires, what now has come to feel like our home away from home, where we've spent a good 18 out of 41 days so far in this trip. Wayne and Lenore rented a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment in the Recoletta neighbourhood and we all had a chance to live where the action is. Plentiful delicious restaurants and cafes were all around, as well as the Recoleta cemetary we spoke about earlier in the blog, and a fabulous artisan weekend market just outside of it. The museum of fine art was a quick walk away too, where we loved works by Jorge de la Vega, Luis Felipe Noe and Romulo Maccio, which I believe are all Argentinian. We spent a fair bit of time browsing the stylish shops of Palermo Soho and checked out some outlet stores and leather specialty shops a bit further south. Not one day went by without eating delectable meals - some that come to mind are a lasagna with the softest mozzarella I've ever tasted, a bife de chorizo (meat cut) with grilled tomatoes and sweet corn, chicken ravioli, salmon steak, lamb shank, brushettes (meat and veggie skewers), mediterranean stuffed peppers - tabouli salad and fried keppes, sushi, pizzas, and for Wayne endless lomos (beef filet). Beer and wine ran a-plenty with Malbec wines and Patagonian beer coming out as clear winners. We are now officially in-debt to say the least, and a few pounds overweight, so exercising and soup dinners are in our future.
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| Clothing Store in Soho |
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| Tomb of General San Martin |
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| Patagonian Trout |
On Friday we had to say good-bye to some fine travel companions. Dad and Lenore headed back to Winnipeg as we made our way to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. It's always sad to say good-bye but at least we know we'll be back in four and half months to see everyone again soon.
Love,
Kelly and Juan
In retrospect we should've gone to the town of Puerto Iguazu first, and THEN Iguazu Falls. It was a bit of a let-down staying at Peter Pan Hostel after experiencing the luxury at the Sheraton overlooking the waterfalls. It was too much for Wayne and Lenore especially with the accidental breaking of a vanity mirror at the hostel, so they moved on to a nicer hotel, where we all enjoyed their pool and breakfast buffet. The town itself is a transfer point for tourists continuing their journeys to Iguazu Falls, so mainly we saw restaurants and a few tourist shops. Not much to see otherwise, but this cool car overgrown with vegetation...
After much deliberation and many stops at various tourist agencies and car rentals (where we sent Juan into find out the details) we decided to go to Posadas from Puerto Iguazu. There we spent 3 nights at a very nice hotel called La Mision, where we relaxed by the pool and enjoyed some live entertainment by a saxophonist. The main attraction for coming to Posadas was going to the San Ignacio Jesuit Ruins. The ruins are some of the best preserved in the area and help tell the history of the Jesuit communities that were founded in the early 1600s. These communities, run by the Jesuits, were populated by the Guarani, a group of people indigenous to the area. The missions were used to educate and evangelize, but also to protect the Guarani from slavery and colonial society. The museum does a great job of giving both perspectives of the mission's impact on the Guarani. The town of San Ignacio was also really nice. It was probably quieter than normal as the night before they had celebrated Carnaval, but we had a really nice lunch and headed back to Posadas. Another highlight of Posadas was the costanera (or riverfront) where we had a nice relaxing meal in the evening overlooking the river. 
And Juan does mean homey, the Hosteria La Posada de David, is inside of a family's home. We are slowly discovering the various forms of accommodations that exist in Argentina and a hosteria is different from a hostel because it doesn't have a space for cooking or a shared common space, but they do provide a room and breakfast in the morning. Colon is about 5 hours from Buenos Aires and is a popular summer destination for Argentines and porteños (people from BA). We really liked Colon. The small town has beaches, great restaurants, a wonderful winery, and thermal pools. Of course, when traveling things are usually not as you expect them to be, as was the case with the thermal pools, which reminded us more of Fun Mountain then the steaming natural mineral springs we had in mind. We did go on a boat ride and hike through a deserted island with a great trekking guide named Charlie. He spoke fantastic English - a relief to Dad and Lenore and myself - and we had a great time lounging in the shallow waters of the Rio Uruguay, walking a pristine deserted beach, and learning all about the various flora and fauna on a hike through a deserted island. It was definitely a highlight of Colon. That same day we did what we had been avoiding the entire trip...a group tour. Karma perhaps? I do remember us talking about how awful it would be to be apart of a large tour group at Iguazu Falls and then all of sudden there we were....walking at turtle speed (or not at all) looking at what seemed to be a stream or some vegetation. We were in Parque Nacional El Parmar and we were being tortured by the slow pace, hot sun, the rambling guide (who, even though he said everything in Spanish, I could understand that he wasn't saying much), and the fact that with such a big group there are no animals to be found. What was amazing were the palm trees. The park is home to the remaining palm savanna in the area, these trees are over two centuries old. It was very beautiful. 
The winery was also a highlight of Colon. We visited Bodega Vulliez-Sermet just outside of Colon. They grow many varieties of grapes including Chardonnay, Malbec, Tannat, and Merlot. The tour was wonderful...I know Juan and I learned a lot. After the tour we had a wine tasting of their refreshingly dry rosé and their Tannat, which was very rich and bold. We bought 6 bottles between the four of us, including one bottle of their champagne which we opened later that afternoon on Dad and Lenore's balcony overlooking the plaza. 
It was then time to head back to Buenos Aires, what now has come to feel like our home away from home, where we've spent a good 18 out of 41 days so far in this trip. Wayne and Lenore rented a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment in the Recoletta neighbourhood and we all had a chance to live where the action is. Plentiful delicious restaurants and cafes were all around, as well as the Recoleta cemetary we spoke about earlier in the blog, and a fabulous artisan weekend market just outside of it. The museum of fine art was a quick walk away too, where we loved works by Jorge de la Vega, Luis Felipe Noe and Romulo Maccio, which I believe are all Argentinian. We spent a fair bit of time browsing the stylish shops of Palermo Soho and checked out some outlet stores and leather specialty shops a bit further south. Not one day went by without eating delectable meals - some that come to mind are a lasagna with the softest mozzarella I've ever tasted, a bife de chorizo (meat cut) with grilled tomatoes and sweet corn, chicken ravioli, salmon steak, lamb shank, brushettes (meat and veggie skewers), mediterranean stuffed peppers - tabouli salad and fried keppes, sushi, pizzas, and for Wayne endless lomos (beef filet). Beer and wine ran a-plenty with Malbec wines and Patagonian beer coming out as clear winners. We are now officially in-debt to say the least, and a few pounds overweight, so exercising and soup dinners are in our future.
