My mate Dave has a camper for sale eh!

After almost a year in Latin America I took a flight from Santiago de Chile to Auckland in New Zealand. I almost missed this flight due to snow on the roads between Argentina and Chile. My bus was cancelled so I ended up having to fly to Uruguay to get a connecting flight to Chile. The plan for NZ was to spend a month traveling around in a camper van watching some of the rugby and seeing some of New Zealand. It was strange to be back in an English speaking country although it did take a short while to learn kiwi. Here's a quick lesson: finish almost every sentence with 'eh!', call everyone 'bro' and use the phrase 'sweet as, bro' as much as possible.

Auckland City Skyline

We had free use of a friends camper van, the only problem was it didn't start. We found a mechanic who got it started and performed the Warrenty Of Fittness. The WOF is the New Zealand equivalent of the NCT. Not surprisingly it failed, 2 small problems that would take time and money to fix. The mechanic was advising us not to go ahead with the repairs saying that we'd be wasting money as we couldn't trust it and we could end up spending more and more money on it. He seemed rather negative considering we'd be paying him to do this work. We thought this a little odd and even joked that he was probably trying to sell a camper van.


We decided to take some time to consider our options, collect the van and maybe even find a different mechanic. As we were about to leave the garage he told us that his friend Dave had a camper van for sale and that it would be perfect for us! Later that day we passed a camper van rental place in the city center. We decided to venture in and see if they had any cancellations. Everyone had told us that there was no way we'd be able to rent anything due to the world cup. Surprisingly they had one available that we could take the next day. Only downside is that they spray paint all of their campers with graffiti so each has an individual design. This I could have done without.

Escape Rentals Camper

Iguazu Waterfalls

On December 26th we left Buenos Aires. We’d been living there for over 3 months but we felt the time was right to do some traveling. So we took a bus from Buenos Aires to Iguazu. It was going to take 18 hours so this time we went for a “Super Cama” bus. It was expensive but everyone had said to try it at least once in Argentina and they were right. Each person has a bed and a television and you get served dinner with wine then champagne and whisky before bed and then breakfast in the morning.


The waterfalls in Iguazu are amazing. I took some photos and videos but they don’t really express how amazing the place is. We spent 8 hours in the park exploring the waterfalls, taking a boat to the island and a train to the other end of the park.

Iguazu falls

The following day we went to Brazil to see the waterfalls from their side. Again they were amazing but slightly different to the Argentine side. On the Brazil side you had a really good view and lots of photo opportunities whereas on the argentine side you had the opportunity to get close to the waterfalls and the surrounding widlife. At times the landscape reminded me of the movie Avatar.

Iguazu looking like Avatar

When we waned to leave Brazil we had a small problem with our passports because we didn’t have a stamp to say we’d entered Brazil. We had taken the public bus to Brazil and it didn’t stop at passport control but the bus we took back did! As a result of this we ended up missing the bus and the next one was going to be more than half an hour. So we decided to walk, it wasn’t that far. It took us about an hour to walk to the Argentine border control. There was a great view from the bridge that you wouldn’t really get to see from the bus.

Argentina/Brazil Border

Brazil/Argentina Border

The next day we went to Brazil again but this time we went to Cuidad del este in Paraguay. This is a place where many people from Brazil and Argentina go to buy things. It reminded me of Bangkok or other cities in Asia. We had dinner in a restaurant and then walked from Paraguay to Brazil this time crossing another bridge that is know as the ‘friendship bridge’.

Brazil/Paraguay Border

Gualeguay and Galarza in Entre Ríos

Entre Ríos is a provence in the north of Argentina, between the parna and paraguay rivers. We went to Entre Ríos one saturday morning, first we had to take a train to Martinez and from there we went by car. We drank mate in the train and also in the car. In Argentina they drink mate all day, everyday and everywhere!

First we went to Gualeguay and bought food for a picnic then drove to a farm close to the Gualeguay river. It took about one hour of walking through fields to get to the river then we stayed there for the afternoon in the sun. Walking, drinking, eating, swimming and drinking more mate and eating facturas.

Gualeguay River

Afterwards we went to Galarza, a small town near Gualeguay. On the way we stopped in a guacho bar but there weren’t any gauchos there at that time of day. We had a beer and bought beef for the asado. The bar was also a shop and a butcher, for some reason it reminded me of the shop in Father Ted.

Bar, shop, cafe, butcher etc.

Then we went to Tommys family farm. We had an asado that night and after went to the local disco. They played cumbia and reggaeaton all night! We decided to leave early, around 5am, early for Argentina but late if you were in Ireland. As we got close to Tommy's house we realised that it wasn't possible to go further in the car. It had been raining all night so we had to abandon the car because it wasn't going to make it up the hill. We took off our shoes and socks in the car and then walked/ran in the rain for about 2 km to Tommy's house.

It was after 7am by the time we got home so we didn't get up until about 2pm the next day. We had lunch outside in the farm. I noticed that they had a motorbike on the farm. Tommy said I could use it if I wanted so I rode around the farm for about an hour or more. I took a lot of photos as it was a sunny day and the landscape looked great in the sun. Thanks to Tommy, Ariel, Seline and Andrea for a great weekend.

Mate for breakfast.

A long lunch on the farm.

A sunny day in Entre Rios

So what do you do?

Seamus called me one day to say that Jason had invited us to an Irish party. He was a bit vague on the details but I said I’d go. Although I had a question.... “Do we need good clothes?” because at the moment the only clothes that I have are tshirts, shorts and jeans.
I was assured jeans and converse would be fine so that night we headed to the party. When we were walking past the hotel (because we couldn’t find it) a guy asked in spanish if we were looking for the Irish party. We obviously look Irish!


The party was on the 6th floor of an Irish hotel. When we walked out of the lift we could see into the party and everyone was in dressed smartly and drinking champagne. The men were in suits and the girls were in dresses. But it was too late, we’d come too far so we had no choice but to go in. Once we entered a guy says hello to us. Seamus say a few words in Spanish but the guy interrupted and said you can speak English if you want cause we’re all Irish here. So we spoke in English, lots of questions about who we are, where we are from and what we were doing in Buenos Aires. Then there was a little silence so Seamus asked him - What do you do? I think this is a very typical question asked by Irish people when they meet someone for the first time. In China they asked how much money do you earn but that’s another story.


Anyhow the guy seemed to think this was a strange question, well based on his facial expression and his reaction. Anyhow he said that there are a lot of people in Argentina with Irish heritage and that there are many people living in Buenos Aires from Ireland. Later we found out that the guy we were talking to was the Irish ambassador in Argentina. I think he assumed that we knew he was the ambassador and thought we were asking what does the ambassador do!In the end we had a good night, we talked lots about Ireland and traveling and so on. There was free champagne, wine and food as well so that helped.


Want Spanish?

Passion Pit in Buenos Aires

I saw an advertisement saying that Passion Pit would be playing in Buenos Aires. This would be their first time to play in Argentina. Passion Pit are one of my favourite groups at the moment, I've seen them play 5 times in Ireland over the past 3 years so when I heard they were playing in Buenos Aires I wanted to go see them.

An Advertisement for Passion Pit in Argentina

I bought the tickets on the internet but I didn't pay for delivery as there was a place near my house where I could collect the tickets thus avoiding the delivery charge. I'd paid 30 euros for 2 tickets, almost the same as the cost of one ticket in Ireland but Passion Pit would not be as popular in Argentina.


I never collected the tickets until the day of the concert because I went to Uruguay and because I was lazy. When I went to collect the tickets on the day of the concert there was a problem. There are always problems when I want to buy ticket in other countries. The computer in Groove wasn't working so they couldn't sell the tickets but at least this time I understood the girl when she told me this. She told me to call back later.


I noticed that the door was open so I went inside. There were a few guys working but they didn't say anything to me only "hello". I walked around the bar area then went up stairs and watched the sound check for Passion Pit. There were a few guys from the band on stage for this. There was a guy beside me taking photos and after he walked past me I noticed that he was one of the guys from Passion Pit. By the time I realised this it was too late to say anything.

Passion Pit Sound Check

That night I went early to Groove as I needed to collect the tickets before the gig would start. There were already a lot of people queuing outside. I got the tickets and went for dinner. when I got back there was a massive queue. We waited for about 1 hour until we were allowed enter. In Ireland we have support bands that play before the main act but in Argentina this does not seem to be the case. So once inside we waited for another 2 hours listening to a DJ and watching an empty stage. In the end Passion Pit came on stage and played for about 2 hours. At this stage Groove was full and it was really really warm. I don't think I've ever been at a concert where it was this warm before but the music, crowd and the atmosphere was great.

Passion Pit in Buenos Aires

Want Spanish?

Tango in la Boca

I've been in Buenos Aires for almost two months yet last weekend was my first time to visit la Boca. It is a very popular tourist spot in Buenos Aires yet it has a very bad reputation.

La Boca

I took the 29 bus there and got off in the touristy area. I could see how if you ventured outside the tourist area that it could get dangerous pretty quick but once you stick to the main tourist streets its fine.

Probably one of the most photographed streets in BsAs

Maradona Street Art

We stopped for a drink in one of the many cafes with live tango. Mic had the best view so he recorded some of the tango.

More Mendoza - vineyards and mountains

On Monday I did a wine tasting tour, visiting two vineyards. The first was a traditional vineyard that only used traditional methods for their production. The second was a new modern vineyard that used modern techniques and processes for production. Both vineyards export almost all of their production to Europe and Brazil.

wine, wine, wine

more wine

Malbec

Mendoza offers a range of outdoor activities such as mountain biking, rock climbing, quad biking, rafting, sky diving and paragliding. They needed a group of people before they would do the downhill mountain biking or the quad biking so I didn't get to do either. Its not high season yet so think I'll return again when its busier. Instead I did a tour of the mountains. Mic (Italian guy), Joe (English guy) and I decided to do the tour as it was the best way to see the Andes, Puente del Inca and Parque Provincial Aconcagua in one day.

can't remember where, one of the many photo stops

Puente del Inca

Parque Provincial Aconcagua

This was my first "tourist bus tour" and probably will be my last. I didn't like the idea of being herded around for the day, 2 hours on the bus stop, take photos get back on drive for another few hours, stop take photos, eat in the restaurant they choose (although we didn't), more bus more photos. The rest of the tourists on the bus were considerable older than us and they spent their time taking photos or videos, even when they were on the bus. When we stopped at a shop there was a queue of them wanting to buy batteries for their cameras!

life through a lens

A clown that is not a clown

A clown in south America is more like a comedian than a children's entertainer. I've been to two clown shows since arriving in Buenos Aires. The first was a one man show by one of the guests at the opening party in Baradero.

The second was a bigger show by the students of a clown school in Buenos Aires. The show was held in a theatre and lasted about 2 hours. The entire performance was in Spanish. I could only understand some words but the combination of the music, sounds, lights and gestures meant I could understand the show.

The opening scene.

Asado does not mean Barbecue

Asado is considered to be the traditional dish of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and southern Brazil. I had heard about it and read about it but I had not experienced one. On one of my last days in Baradero I heard we were going to be having an asado for lunch. I asked Agustin if this was the Argentine barbecue that I'd heard about. He agreed that it was somewhat like a barbecue but advised that it was best not to compare it to a barbecue as some Argentines may take offense to this!


So what is an Asado? There appears to be a cut of beef that is called asado but it is also a way of cooking and is somewhat like a barbecue but after seeing the amount of work and effort that goes into preparing an asado I can see why people may get offended when someone says "oh its a barbecue".


Preparations for the asado started early on Sunday morning. A wood fire was started and constantly topped up with firewood as the morning progressed. Close by a small pit was prepared and a grill was setup. The grill appeared to be an old metal frame from a bed but I maybe wrong on that!

Preparing the asado

The meat was not marniated just well seasoned with salt. There were lots of different cuts of meat (all beef) and also some chorizo like that used in choripan. I got a picture of the last few cuts of beef before they went on the asado.

Beef for the asado

The cooking process lasted for 3 or 4 hours. New coals were taken from the fire and placed under the grill as required whilte the meat slowly cooked.

Asado coals and the asado grill

There was always someone tending to the asado ensuring the temperature was correct and everything was in order. The result was some really tender, juicy steak.

beef cooking over the coals

More beef!

Almost ready!

Tables and chairs were moved out to the garden and about 25 of us had a lunch that lasted about 3 hours! I never got a photo of this :(

Almost Famous in Argentina

One of the last tasks I did in Baradero was to paint their logo on a big tank. Daniel knew I liked sketched so he asked if I’d like to do it. It was challenging due to the size and height of the tank. Normally I sketch on paper so sketching on the side of a tank while on top of a ladder was quite different. Once I was happy with the sketch I painted the design in white.

Work in Progress

The end piece worked out quite well and is visible from almost everywhere on the site. In hindsight it probably would have been much easier to have sketched the design on paper and created a stencil to paint the design on the tank.

Swimming pool and sports grounds with Logo visible in background

After a week I left Baradero returned to Buenos Aires, moved into my apartment and started Spanish school. My intention was to return to Baradero for their official opening which was a weekend a few weeks later. I went to the bus station after Spanish class on the Friday to get a bus ticket but they were all sold out. Baradero isn’t a popular tourist destination, actually I should say it isn’t a tourist destination so this was surprising. Turns out the weekend in question was a long weekend in Argentina so the same as in Ireland everyone goes away from the long weekend. All buses for Friday and Saturday were booked out so the earliest I could get was Sunday morning. I’d miss half of the party but seeing as it was a long weekend it wasn’t too bad. When I got to Baradero I saw their invite/flyer for their opening party. I am now famous in Baradero.

Almost Famous

One week volunteering in Argentina

I spent a week in Baradero, working on a range of different tasks each day. They are very flexible in relation to what work you do. You don’t have to do anything you don't want to do and if there was something you interested in then you can ask to work at that.

Some days I was working in the vegetable garden and feeding the animals, another day I cleaned out a room, helped lay carpet and assemble the gym equipment. The room is now the gym! Another two days were spent digging a trench around the swimming pool and another day I helped with some tree’s that needed to be cut down.

Emptying the trailer!

Feeding the Chanchos (pigs)

My time in Baradero was a great introduction to the way of life in Argentina. I was introduced to Mate (This deserves a blog post of its own), how people greet each other (again maybe a blog post in itself), food and meal times.

From the time I had spent in Buenos Aires I knew it was common for people to have dinner late at night. For example many restaurants are full of people eating dinner at 12am in Buenos Aires. Breakfast isn’t really a meal in Argentina, well not like it is in Ireland. Generally people will have a drink such as tea, coffee or mate and maybe a pastry. Lunch is usually around midday and in Baradero was a large meal. Then around 5 or 6pm people generally have an afternoon snack (biscuits or pastries) again accompanied by tea, coffee or mate. And finally dinner is normally around 9pm or later and it is a big meal.

Getting to Baradero and la comunidad

I heard about a project to build a sustainable community (Comunidad Hogar German Frers) on couchsurfing. I arranged with one of the project founders to go and help them out for a few days. The project is in a place called Baradero which is about two hours from Buenos Aires.


I decided to take the train and got to the train station about 45 minutes before the train was due to leave. There were a few different train stations all beside each other, after trying a few I eventually found the correct one and found the correct counter to buy the ticket I needed. But they would not sell me a ticket, I know the Spanish for why so I said that, it was a bit pointless as I still don't know any Spanish so I didn't understand his reason. I concluded it was full as there is only one train per day.


The bus station was nearby so I went there and got a ticket. I had an hour to wait before the bus so I found the correct platform and decided I'd wait there listening to my iPod. 3:00pm, 3:15pm, 3:30pm and still no bus. I knew the final destination of the bus and it was never displayed on the list of departures. Eventually I asked someone if they spoke English (I know this much in Spanish) and they said 'un poco' which is a little. So I showed them my ticket and they said bus not arrived yet. So I waited and eventually at 3:45pm the bus appeared on the departures monitor and soon afterwards it arrived.


2 hours later I was in Baradero. I tried calling the guys who I'd been talking to on email to get them to collect me but I couldn't get in touch with them. So I got a taxi, luckily I was prepared for this and know how to say my destination in Spanish. Baradero is quite a small town and after driving for about 2 minutes the road disappeared and we were driving on a dirt track, eventually we came to a junction with a main road.

Here I saw the sign for la comunidad. I paid the taxi driver, got my luggage and was greeted in Spanish by lots of people. The guys who I'd been talking to that spoke English were away and not due back for another hour. Next week I'm going to start learning Spanish.