Why to visit Argentina!

                Many people want to visit places around the world, but are faced by the daunting challenge of deciding where to go. Choosing a vacation destination is no easy task, and travelers want to get the best experience possible for their money. Anyone who wants to plan a vacation, but doesn’t know where to go should definitely consider going to Argentina. Argentina has lots to offer for tourists, and is a place where dream vacations can become a reality.

            One of the many great things about Argentina is it has many diverse regions. There is something to do in Argentina for everyone. Whether it’s skiing, hiking, biking, horseback riding, sailing, or swimming Argentina’s many regions accommodate all kinds of activities. Not only are there many things to do, there are many amazing natural wonders to visit. For example, the Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the many breathtaking sights to go see. If a glacier isn’t your thing there are still other limitless opportunities like mountains, beaches, swamps, rainforests, and waterfalls. A waterfall called Iguazu falls is a gorgeous waterfall that many people come to see. It has over 200,000 vistors each year! No matter what kind of experience someone may be looking to get out of a vacation, Argentina has a lot to offer.

            Another great thing Argentina has to offer is their culture. Their food, dance, and traditions are so different than what is in America. Getting to experience all this can really open eyes to how amazing and diverse cultures can be. For example in Buenoes Aires, tango is a really big deal. It seems as if everyone there knows how to tango, and tango shows are almost always sold out. Also at the Gualeguaychu carnival it is clear that Argentineans love to get down and party. It is fascinating be able to experience a culture that is so different and unique compared to what is in America.

            Argentina is an amazing country and a great tourist destination. In 2010, Argentina had a estimated 5.28 million vistors. Everyone knows that choosing where to vacation to can be a tough decision, Since it has many regions there is something for everyone to do, and their interesting culture is sure to make any trip a blast. Anyone who is thinking about traveling abroad should consider going to Argentina. 

Budget

Itinerary

Travel Itinerary

February 5

3:15pm- Arrive at RDU airport

5:15pm- Board flight to NYC

6:10pm- Arrive in NYC

7:00pm- Board flight to Santiago, Chile

February 6

7:30am- Arrive in Santiago, Chile

5:00pm- Board flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina

6:30pm- Arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina

7:30pm- Arrive at hotel

February 7

9:00am Go to Lujan Zoo

6:00pm Visit El Cementerio de la Recoleta

8:00pm Return to hotel

February 8

10:00am- Tour El Teatro Colon and watch ballet

1:20pm- Board bus to Gualeguaychu

5:00pm- Arrive in Gualeguaychu for the carnival

11:30pm- Leave from Gualeguaychu

2:50am- Arrive back at the hotel in Buenos Aires

February 9

8:30am- Check out of hotel

8:50am- Arrive at Caballos a La Par Ranch

12:30am- Visit Museo de la Plata

4:30pm- Go to the beach

6:30pm- Board bus to Peninsula Valdes

February 10

11:00am- Arrive in Valdes Peninsula

11:20am- Check into hotel and unpack

12:00pm- Go to the Visitors Center

1:30pm- Tour the peninsula

6:45pm- Return to the hotel

February 11

5:00am- Board bus to Los Arrayanes National Park

3:20pm- Arrive at Sol Arrayan Hotel

3:40pm- Tour Los Arrayanes National Park

7:00pm- Return to hotel

February 12

8:30am- Depart from hotel

1:00pm- Arrive at Piedra Mala campgrounds

1:30- Set up tent

3:00pm- Kayaking

6:00pm- Fishing

7:00pm- Cook dinner

9:00pm Go to bed

February 13

5:00am- Depart from hotel

12:00pm- Arrive at Hostel Independencia

12:30pm- Start Wine Tour

9:00pm- Return from Wine Tour

February 14

5:00am- Leave hotel

3:00pm- Arrive at Salta

3:30pm- Visit Museo de Arqueologia de Mita Montana de Salta

6:00pm- Futbol game

9:00pm- Arrive at hotel

February 15

7:00am- Leave hotel

10:30am- Check into hotel

12:00pm- Visit Esteros del Iberia

6:30pm- Boat tour

9:00pm- Return to hotel

February 16

8:00am- Leave hotel

10:00am- Arrive at Iguazu Falls

2:00pm- Zodiac tour

7:00pm- Arrive back at hotel

February 17

5:00am- Leave hotel

3:00pm- Arrive in Buenos Aries

3:30pm- Check into hotel

4:00pm- Shopping

8:30pm- Tango Show

12:00am- Return to hotel

February 18

11:00am- Leave Hotel

1:00pm- Shopping

4:00pm- Gardens
5:00pm- Return to hotel
6:00pm- Check out of hotel

6:30pm- Arrive at airport

9:30pm- Board flight to RDU

11:30am- Arrive at RDU

Heading back home!

Day 13:
February 18, 2013

It's Tiffany blogging again! No one wanted to do this blog because they were frantically trying to pack their things up without forgetting anything, but I packed last night so I got stuck with blogging duty. Today is the day that we will be traveling back home to North Carolina from Buenos Aires. Luckily for us, we still had the day to finish up what we wanted to finish up in Buenos Aires because our flight didn't leave until 9:30 at night.

The beautiful Paseo del Rosedal Gardens

We left the hotel around 11 in the morning. We went window shopping around town until we decided to go to the Paseo del Rosedal, or Rose Garden Walk when translated. These are gardens that extremely well manicured and cover a large area of land. We only walked around for about an hour until we decided to head back to the hotel to check out.

We arrived at the airport around 6:30 pm to have time to go through security and customs. Luckily for us, not many people were there since we were leaving on a Monday. Our plane departed around 9:30 at night and it was a no-stop flight so we arrived in North Carolina around 11:30 in the morning.

Our trip to Argentina was one of the best trips of our lives. We had so much fun getting to spend time with one another and getting to expeirence the beautiful culture and nature of Argentina, as well as getting to meet some fantastic people.

Back to Buenos Aires

Day 12:
February 17, 2013

Hey guys it's Tiffany blogging here today! Our trip in Argentina is almost done, but we wish we could stay here forever! So we spending the day today in Buenos Aires and tomorrow we are catching out flight back to North Carolina. We basically spent the day wandering Buenos Aires and soaking in our last bit of time in Argentina.

Mr. Cooper's new tie

Our main mission of the day was to find souvenirs to bring back home. My favorite thing that we  were able to find was a tie that looked like the Argentinan flag for Mr. Cooper. We also got a Argentinan mousepad for Mrs. Blancett and a pencil for Mrs. Lancia. What we are hoping is that they will be so blinded with gratefulness for their gifts they will be left with no other choice than to give us a 100 on our project. Hey, it's worth a shot!

My new bracelet!

We were also able to find some stuff for ourselves too. Livia nearly broke the bank buying herself a pair of $270 handmade leather boots. Lexie and I both got super cute leather bracelets with silver beads. We had to physically restrain Sydney to keep her from buying a poncho made from Alpaca wool that cost nearly a thousand dollars. We compromised and let her buy the alpaca scarf instead which still cost a staggering $200 dollars. Rachel bought a small cowhide rug which I thought was a little creepy, but she claimed would match the new furniture in her room perfectly.

Besides shopping we also went to go see a tango show. Tango is a big deal in Buenos Aires and it's something that we didn't have time to do when we first got here. We got tickets in a package that included a tango class, dinner, and show. After attempting to learn tango we all realized that we were ridiculously uncoordinated, but we still had fun trying. The dinner at the show was great and the tango dancers were really talented. For dinner I had malena which is described on the menu as "traditional steak served with potatoes, herbs, mushrooms, sautéed in syrah wine, with cream and chives"  The dancers in the show had so much passion in their dancing and they were really good at it too. I liked how it wasn't just them doing the tango, they were telling the story of the history of tango with their dancing.

Iguazu Falls

Day 11:
February 16, 2013

Hey guys it's Rachel blogging here today! Today was probably one of our most exciting days yet, we went to the amazing Iguazu Falls! Iguazu Falls is the second largest waterfall in the world and 62,000 cubic feet of water pour over it every single second. This has been something that we have been looking forward to seeing for the whole trip and it was probably one of the awe inspiring things I have ever seen in my life.

Our view of surrounding paradise

Since our vacation is almost over and we still have a lot of money left to blow we were able to stay in this super luxurious Sheraton that is only 10 miles away from the actual falls. We were even able to reserve a room that had a view of the waterfall! You can't really see the waterfall too well but you definitely can see the mist rising up and the surrounding jungle. I think it was worth saving our money the whole trip so that we can make splurges like this on these last couple of days.

Wow!

There are free eco buses that go from our hotel to the trails to view the falls so we hopped on the next bus to see the falls. We could barely wait to get there even though it was only a five mintue ride from the hotel. When we got there we walked down one of the many trails to get to an observatory deck. On the way several butterflies landed on me! We were told that this was because they were attracted to our body salt. It didn't take us long to get to the observatory deck and the closer we got the louder the roar of the falls became. When we finally got there the roar of the falls was almost deafining. The view took our breath away. I don't have words to describe it so I hope a picture will do. Viewing the falls from an observation deck wasn't the only thing we did though. We also got to take a zodiac tour and get up close and personal with the falls! It was so much fun and Livia was definately glad I convinced her to buy that waterproof iPhone case. By the end of the zodiac trip we were soaked from all the spray of the falls.

Today has been a rush of excitement and we were all glad we had the nice Sheraton to go back to. We went down to the pool for a quick swim before heading back and getting ready for bed. It's really starting to sink in that this vacation is all over and we are all pretty sad. We were so glum that tomorrow is our last day we didn't even argue over who got to shower first.

Wetlands

Day 10:
February 15, 2013

Hey guys it's Sydney blogging today! Today we went to the region of Argentina known as the Mesopotamia region which is in the Northeast area of Argentina. We started out touring this region by visting the wetlands of Esteros del Ibera. The name means "shining waters" which seems apropriate because nearly 25 percent of the surface area there is covered by water. These wetlands are the second largest in the world, so of course we only got to see a very small portion of the whole thing. It is a protect nature area and is the biggest protected area in all of Argentina.



Don't try to climb this. Ouch!

We are staying at the HA Posada Urbano Hotel in the city of Posadas. The city is located right outside of the Esteros del Ibera so as soon as we got checked into the hotel we went down to explore the wetlands. We had reserved spots for a boat excursion around the wetlands and it was great! We saw lots of crazy plants and animals that I never would have gotten the chance to see back home. We saw lots of cayman alligators and even this really scary spiky tree. The ride was about two and a half hours and we all really enjoyed it. I was expecting it to be really swampy and gross but I was surprised to find out that is was still very beautiful in it's own special way. I was really sad that we didn't encounter any anteaters on the way. For whatever reason they just fascinate me! We did get to see lots of other animals like the pampas deer, yacare caiman (alligator), and a capybara.

When it started getting late our guide had to turn our boat around. The sunset over the wetlands was gorgeous! By time we got back to the dock it was pretty dark out and it was amazing how many stars we could see. I guess there's not as much pollution so all the stars are visable and super bright compared to the night skies in Apex. We all had a great time today, but I need to get some sleep for tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be our most exciting day, we are finally going to Iguazu Falls!


The Northeast

Day 9
February 14, 2013

Hey guys it's Livia blogging here today! We had a great time yesterday touring the vineyards, but today we are in the northwest area of Argentina. We had another 10 hour bus ride to get to our destination. Argentina is such a big country it requires a lot of driving around to experience the whole thing.

A sign outside the city- watch out for llamas!

The Northeast region consists of alot of vast plains with some mountains and valleys. We didn't plan on staying for long because there is not a whole lot of exciting things for tourists to do. We did pay a quick visit to the small city of Salta. The town was founded way back in 1582 and had strategic views of the surrounding areas and natural moats for protection. These factors made it an attractive settlement. We arrived in Salta at about 3 which gave us some time to walk around and check things out. We made a quick stop at Museo de Arqueologia de Mlta Montana de Salta which was the local museum. It's main attraction was a mummy that had been recently discovered in the Andes. Creepy! There were also lots of cool carnival masks on display.

Later in the day we were able to watch a futbol game at Estadio Gigante de el Norte. In America we call it soccer instead of futbol. The game was between two local teams so the crowd was fairly small. Everyone there was so excited though yelling and screaming for their favorite team. People in Argentina sure do love some futbol. It's too bad all the major league games in Buenos Aires were already sold out.

We headed back to where we were staying for the night; Hotel Marilian at about nine. Amazingly we were able to get a room with enought beds so no one had to sleep on the floor!

Today was a pretty uneventful day. I think we are all eager to finally get to the Mesopotamia region of Argentina where all the exotic rainforests and swamps are.

Vineyards Galore

Day 8:
February 13, 2013

Hey it's Lexie blogging here today! Sorry about Tiffany being all negative yesterday. She can be so sarcastic. Anyways, hopefully we all will continue to get along because this vacation is barely halfway over. On a brighter note today was yet another great day here in Argentina! We left the gorgeous Andes Mountains area and headed towards a part of the country commonly known as the wine region. We first checked into Hostel Independencia and unpacked our bags. Hostels might not be the nicest places to stay at but we are on a budget. Today we hired our very own personal chauffeur to take us on a tour of Argentina's vineyards and taste some of it's famous wines.

I'm one of those girls that is obsessed with those wedding planning shows so, to see an actual vineyard made me realize why they are such a popular place to get married at. They are simply beautiful! I'm not really sure what makes a field of grapes growing so cool, but I definitely enjoyed getting to see my first vineyard. In many of the vineyards we saw, the Andes Mountains were rising up in the distance making the view even more spectacular.

The first winery we stopped at is called Bodegas Excorihuela and is home to Francis Mallman's famous restaurant. Apparently he is a celebrity chef in Argentina, so of course we stopped to eat our lunch there. I ordered some milanesa, which is breaded fried steak. Milanesa is very popular throughout Argentina and in the rest of South America. Francis has really mastered the art of cooking , so my fried steak was absolute perfection. The chef perfers to cook on what is called a parrilla, which is basically like a barbecue grate, over hot coals. This is a method of cooking that is extremely popular in Argentina.

After our early lunch, we went to the wine museum at Bodega La Rural. They had displays of machinery and presses that make the wine. Making wine is a process that takes a lot of time between growing the grapes, processing them into wine and then storing them until they age to perfection. Wine grapes are much harder to grow than normal grapes that are found in the grocery store and also have much more complex flavors.

Our last destination of the day was Bodega y Cavas de Weinert. There, we were able to tour some of the wine cellars. I was  expecting the cellars to be super creepy and be dark and musty with lots of spiderwebs, but they were actually pretty cool. The cellars had tons of barrels full of wine that had been sitting down there for years, building up their value. Overall our day was awesome and it was nice having a  chauffeur to take us to our destinations.

"Bad Rock"

Day 7:
February 12, 2013

Just some random cows wondering the campgrounds

Hey, it's Tiffany blogging again! Anyways, we woke up at five this morning to catch the bus to take us to some inactive volcano. Oh, I forgot to mention we are staying at a campsite. Gross. There are about three nearby hostels that we could have easily stayed at instead, but no of course we are going to spend the night camping out. Anyways, I had no part of planning out this part of the trip. Our campsite is called Piedra Mala which means 'bad rock'. I guess no one realized when they booked the campsite it was called this because a huge rock blocks out the view of the volcano from the campgrounds. Absolutely fantastic. However, this day won't go to waste because we are right on a beautiful lake and the camp had some kayaks that we could use. We had a great time kayaking around and enjoying the mountain scenery.

Our new friends getting ready to fish

We soon came to the realization that it was too late to go to the nearest town to grab a bite to eat and we hadn't planned on bringing food with us to cook. Personally I thought we should take advantage of the two random cows wondering the campgrounds but everyone else seemed horrified by that idea. Luckily we made some new friends at the campsite who had fishing gear and taught us how to fish. Only Lexie and Livia caught any fish and they both argued over whose fish was the best. Both fish were about the same size but Livia thought that hers had prettier scales. It didn't matter which fish had the prettiest scales though because our new friends soon taught us how to scale and cook the fish. It ended up being a pretty good meal! Anyways, I'm excited to get back to somewhere that is a little more civilized tomorrow. Sorry for being such a downer (and a little sarcastic) today, it just hasn't been a good day for me. Argentina is still amazing even if this was a little out of my comfort zone.

Bambi!

Day 6:
February 11, 2013

Hey guys, Rachel blogging! We traveled west today towards the Andes Mountains and the border of Chile. We are going to be making some stops to experience the nature for the next couple days as we travel back up North. After a 10 hour bus trip to get here we arrived at about 3 this afternoon. Our destination for today was the beautiful Los Arrayanes National Park. The park was created in 1971 to protect the amazing arrayan trees that grow there. Their roots are so delicate a wooden path had to be created for tourists like us to walk on so we won't damage the tree roots. Apparently it is normally pretty windy here and today was no exception. Luckily I had a ponytail holder with me to keep my hair in place.

The artist who drew the scenery for the Disney movie, Bambi, spent a lot of time in this forest for inspiration. This is pretty evident because the scenery in both the movie and in the forest are really similar. We may not have seen Bambi, Thumper and the crew along the way but we did get to see some of the native Huemul deer that live there. Overall, it was a really cool experience spending the day wandering on wooden boardwalks around this amazing forest.

Oh I forgot to mention our hotel accommodations for the night. We are staying at the Sol Arrayan Hotel and Spa. It's alot nicer than some of the other places we have been staying at recently. Our room had a gorgeous view that looked out onto the mountains. We also had a great time taking a quick dip in the nice indoor pool. We all enjoyed it while we could because tomorrow we are going further north and making another nature stop for the night along the way. Don't tell Tiffany, but we are going camping! If she finds out, she is going to freak because she absolutely hates camping.

Heading South...

Day 5:
February 10, 2013

Hey guys it's Sydney blogging here today! We ended up getting on our bus leaving La Plata at about seven last night and we made it to Peninsula Valdes at noon. It was the longest I have ever been forced to sit down for, and everyone's butt was in major pain after the first eleven hours. And I thought our ten hour layover in Chile was bad! Anyways, the temperature here is a little colder than what we have been used to the past couple days, it's in the mid 60s today. In Argentina the farther south you travel the colder the temperatures get since it is located beneath the equator.

Image of Valdes Peninsula from above

We checked into our hotel, Faro Punta Delgado, which is one of the few hotels on the peninsula. It was strange to be staying in a hotel where when you look out the window instead of just seeing tons of buildings and people you just see a wide expanse of land. It is so beautiful and quiet here. The first thing we did after checking in to the hotel was go to the Visitors Center. In there is a small museum which introduced us to the the unique flora and fauna that we might encounter. I learned that the Valdes Peninsula is almost an island, it is only connected to the mainland by 11 kilometer strip of land.

A colony of sea lions!

Getting around the peninsula coast on our own would have been a challenge so we went on a brief tour with InterHabit Tours. Peninsula Valdes is considered to be one of the best places to go whale watching in the whole world, but unfortunately it was not whale watching season. However, that did not mean that we didn't see lots of other cool animals along the way. The tour was mostly on boat, and we saw some colonies of sea lions when we passed the villa of Punta Piramides. Luckily we had brought binoculars so we could see the cute faces of the sea lions better. We also saw penguins and sea elephants on the coast of the town Caleta Verdes. Mostly on the tour we just got to take in some of the natural beauty of Argentina. It was really relaxing to be in nature unlike the past days that we have spent in cities. We then headed back to the hotel room where we could finally get a good night of sleep in.