Our next stop was the capital of Buenos Aires where we had an Air BnB for three nights for some much needed rest after the W Trail.
With so much to see in the City we decided to split a walking tour we’d found online over the next few days, allowing us to explore Palermo, Recoleta, La Boca and San Telmo.
Arriving late on Saturday night we spent our first morning exploring the regular antique market which took over the streets of San Telmo every Sunday. The market was huge, and was interspersed with little squares where we caught our first glimpses of the famed Tango. The tour then took us to the main square (Plaza de Mayo), with a view of the pink Presidential building, alongside other important historical buildings.
Our second day focused on La Boca and Recoleta, starting with the street museum of Caminito in La Boca, with its colourful houses. The area was amazing to see, although we definitely found where all of the other tourists in the City are! From here we walked across to Recoleta, with a walking tour of the cemetery booked in for the afternoon. This was definitely well worth doing, as we went round hearing stories about some of the people buried there, including the infamous tale of Eva Peron and the long journey her body went on before her burial, and a tale of a girl who died twice…..Suitably spooked we then decided to end our day with another classic activity in Buenos Aires, watching the Tango. We booked on to an evening show at El Viejo Almacen, one of the most traditional tango shows in town, and were treated to some incredible dancing, all accompanied by some glasses of fizz (a real treat!).
For our final day in Buenos Aires we ticked off Palermo, spending some time wandering around the beautiful green parks, before having lunch in the ‘Soho’ of the City. This area felt so different to the other parts of Buenos Aires, and it was nice to take this at a relaxed pace, having ended up doing over 20,000 steps per day (so much for some rest after Torres del Paine!). Our flight to Iguazu was in the evening, so it was soon time to head to the airport for the next part of our adventure.
We were both really excited to see Iguazu Falls in real life and, with two full days to explore, decided to spend our first day across the border on the Brazilian side, with it’s panoramic views of the waterfalls. Walking down the road to the bus station it turned out to be really easy to cross the border, jumping on a Rio Uruguay bus which took us across to Brazil, only needing us to disembark once for our exit from Argentina. Upon arrival at the Falls we then bought our timed entry tickets, before waiting for the bus to take us to the walkways.
When we first sighted the falls we were taken aback by their power and the amount of water crashing down to the river below. As we walked on the views only got more impressive, until we ended at the final and closest viewpoint. Unfortunately the bridge across to the Devil’s Throat was closed but we were still able to feel the full force of the water, getting pretty wet from the splash back to the path! It was a brilliant first day and we both returned to Puerto Iguazu tired and in awe.
For our second day we had planned to visit the Argentinian side of the falls, allowing us to get even closer to the water. However, upon arrival at the bus station we were informed that the falls were closed. Confused we returned to the hostel where we found out that the closure was due to flooding, with 10 times the normal amount of water being recorded in the falls (we did think they were much more impressive than we expected them to be, especially at the end of what was meant to be their dry season!). In need of a Plan B we decided to head to a nearby animal sanctuary, alongside the rest of the tourists in Puerto Iguazu! After a long queue we managed to secure tickets, albeit with another two hour wait which we passed catching up on some admin. The sanctuary allowed us to see animals rescued from the Amazon, including toucans, monkey’s, otters and even a Puma. The tour was all in Spanish though so we’re not entirely sure of the stories behind all of the rescues. For the afternoon we headed to the Three Frontiers, an area in Puerto Iguazu which allows you to see Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil across a river. Having filled the day we treated ourselves to a steak dinner, ready to return to Buenos Aires in the morning.
Following our flight back we had a few hours to pass before our night bus to Mendoza, so decided to first head to the San Telmo Market for a final Choripan of the trip at La Choripaneria. With an extensive list of different options we went for the Gaucho, with Provolone cheese and a chimichurri sauce, and a World Cup special. Needing to walk these off we then spent some time wandering round the local nature reserve in Puerto Madero, getting some steps in before the long night bus ahead of us.
Having visited Cafayate we were excited to visit more of the Argentinian bodega’s, especially given the good reputation the wine from Mendoza has across the world. Arriving just after 9:30am we were fortunately able to check straight into our hostel to freshen up. After some googling we soon realised that the bikes we wanted to hire to cycle around the vineyards weren’t available on a Sunday, so we quickly rejigged our plans and headed straight out to the Maipu region. After getting our bikes we set off in the direction of the vineyards in the South. Following a slightly wobbly start from Sarah we made it to our first vineyard, Tempus Alba, some 25 minutes later. This was a self-guided tour which ended with a tasting of three wines each. All were delicious, with our favourite being the Cabernet Sauvignon, and were accompanied by some tasty focaccia and local olive oil. Next up was a tour of Trapiche, which we’d managed to book on to for 2pm. With renewed confidence on the bike after some wine we made it there in 20 minutes, cycling down some beautiful back roads surrounded by vineyards. Having had Trapiche wine before we knew we’d enjoy it and the wines we were able to taste here didn’t disappoint! Leaving two hours later we just had time to cycle to our third tasting of the day at Domiciano. Here we made it in time for the final English tour of the day, learning about how they harvest the grapes at night to get a fruitier wine, before trying three of their reserve red wines. After a brilliant day it was time to cycle back to the rental store to return the bikes, before partaking in their happy hour ahead of our return to the hostel.
On our second day we had managed to book in for tours at two of the Bodega’s which were open on a Sunday. The first was Los Toneles, situated close to town and within walking distance. Although the tour was in Spanish we were able to get a basic understanding of the history of the place, and enjoyed being shown the basement with it’s painted casks, and the grand hall with the barrels and vats of wine where we were able to pour our own glasses of wine direct from the vat (needless to say these glasses were slightly bigger than the other tastings we’ve had!). The tour ended in their art gallery with a third and final glass of wine, alongside the opportunity to try their local olive oil and gin. Our second tasting of the day was at Clos de Chacras, a short taxi drive out of the town. This time the tour was in English, and we were greeted with the question ‘Are you ready to get drunk?’. Here we tried four wines, each accompanied by a paired canapé, including a spinach dumpling, chocolate truffle, aubergine dip, and brie cheese with smoked deer. The wines were delicious and the tour which followed was really informative, making this one of our favourite wineries in Mendoza.
This was the perfect way to wrap up our month in Argentina, as tomorrow we head across the border to Santiago for the final, Chilean leg of our journey.