Heading South!
This year for the Holidays we decided to do something very different. We are headed south. Way south, all the way to Antarctica!
Our journey began in Miami when we boarded a flight to Buenos Aires where we spent two days exploring the Recoleta area.
Florida Street in Buenos Aires. Cambio! Cambio!
First, we needed money, Argentinian pesos. Normally, that would be easy, just go to an exchange booth in the airport or a bank and exchange US dollars for pesos. However, its very different in Argentina. Because of Argentina’s massive inflation, there is a “grey market” for exchanging money that is significantly better than what you get at a bank. Its called the Blue Dollar system. Using the Blue dollar, you can get an exchange rate that is 80%-100% higher than the “official” exchange rate. Thats not a typo. You really can get nearly twice as many pesos per dollar than the official exchange rate that the banks and credit card companies use. There are a few ways to do this. One is to wire yourself money thru Western Union and then go to a Western Union shop to pick up your pesos. This is a popular option but you need to plan ahead and know exactly how much money you will need. You will also have to stand in a long line at Western Union and you can’t get your money on weekends, holidays or days that they decide not to open up.
We decided to use a different system. We headed down to Florida Street in Buenos Aires where there are literally hundreds of people yelling “Cambio, Cambio” as you walk down the street. Cambio means exchange in Spanish and they will exchange US dollars for pesos at the higher Blue Dollar rate. It seems a little sketchy as when you approach one of these folks, they take you into the basement of a nearby building where there is a cashier in a small dirty booth who takes your dollars and gives you pesos. We were a little worried the first time we did it but all went well and we ended up exchanging money that way three times while in Buenos Aires. If you go to BA, I highly recommend exchanging money this way and NOT using your credit card as you get twice as much value this way.
Steve holding up the giant rubber tree.
With pesos in hand, we were now ready to explore the city. We visited many outdoor cafe’s, explored the famous and strange Recoleta Cemetery, saw the giant rubber tree and had an excellent Argentinian steak dinner with some local Malbec wine. It’s a beautiful city and we enjoyed our short time there.
Our timing was lucky as Argentina was playing in the World Cup finals and the city was buzzing with fans.
Fans celebrating an Argentina goal in the airport.
Next we were off to Ushuaia. We happened to be flying in the middle of the World Cup soccer match. When we took off, Argentina was up 2-0 against France at halftime and seemed to be on the path to an easy victory. The game then got crazy but Argentina ultimately won on penalty kicks. The plane load of Argentina passengers where going crazy at every update. Thankfully the home team won which led to some exciting times in Ushuaia.
We had one full day to explore Ushuaia and the Tiera Del Fuego area of Patagonia. We decided to take the train to the End of the World. This is an old small gauge railroad that was used to transport prisoners from the jail in Ushuaia into the mountains to cut trees to provide heat for the town. Its now been refurbished and is used as a tourist train to take passengers into the Tiera Del Fuego National Park. Its a very scenic ride with lots of wild horses to see on the way.
Once in the National Park, we took a nice little hike to the End of the World post office but unfortunately, it was closed. After arriving back in Ushuaia we walked around town and bought some final provisions. The next day our Epic Expedition begins!