Argentina Countrywide offers comprehensive and knowledgeable Argentina estancias, travel and tours consultancy. 

Sunflowers, we are surrounded by a carpet of beautiful Sunflowers for a far as the eye can see on a bright, warm and sunny (a touch overcast and changeable) New Year’s Day 2010 Argentina. 

We are just 50 kilometers from Tandil in Buenos Aires Province, just 310 kilometers from Buenos Aires City.

We are in the heart of Buenos Aires’ Pampas, the fertile and lush flatlands that makes Argentina South America’s bread basket, or more accurately, South America’s ‘Soy Bean Capital’.

We have spent most of the festive period reviewing estancias in Buenos Aires Province and latterly we have been guests of David Cummings, “the English Gaucho”, at La Margarita, one of the most rustic and beautiful estancias we have visited this year.  More to the point, David’s La Margarita estancia is the only one of three estancias we visited that will feature on our website.  We are not about quantity, we look for quality and value. 

David an ex-musician, an earthy bohemian type, farms soya and ‘lords’ over a late nineteenth century French style Argentine estancia surrounded by nothing, that’s right, nothing, for a far as you can see, walk or ride.  This is a truly idyllic getaway with horse riding, small game hunting in season and comforts of country home for under USD100 a night!!!  Fantastic value!!!

The feeling of space (a very precious commodity) and being at one with nature are key components of David’s estancia experience.  This is not a five star estancia, David has got this just right for those of us who are a little bit country and maybe not quite as rock ‘n’ roll as in the past.

We have eaten well, very well, and enjoyed early morning and late afternoon horse riding every day and lounged ‘like mad dogs and Englishmen’ with our books and mate by the pool.

Our able and loving guides Hero and Jak (two wonderful Pointers) have been our constant companions and showed us every nook and every cranny of the La Margarita estate.  

It is Argentina 2010, we feel at perfect peace, well rested and ready for the next part of our journey to Tandil and then on to Carilo and Pinamar on the Atlantic coast of Argentina.

Next week, check out our blog for further information and our comprehensive review and photo gallery of estancia La Margarita Buenos Aires, Tandil and Buenos Aires’ Atlantic coast where the Argentina Countrywide team will stay just meters from the beach in a luxury cabana.

Argentina Countrywide has stayed at every estancia we recommend.  If you want to know about Argentina ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’ speak to us for comprehensive and knowledgeable Argentina travel, estancias and tours consultancy.

Happy New Year!  Argentina 2010!!

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Situated in Patagonia at the base of the Andes, surrounded by lakes, mountains and forests, San Carlos de Bariloche is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Bariloche is Argentina’s most important year-round outdoor sports resort with first-world facilities to test the skills of professionals, adventurers and outdoor enthusiasts.

Bariloche’s name is a play on the words, Carlos (Wiederhold), the owner of the area’s first general store, and Vuriloche, an indigenous word meaning “people behind the mountain”.

A small settlement built up around Wiederhold’s store and by 1895 Austrians, Chileans, Germans, Italians and Slavs had primarily settled the area.  In 1930, a new city centre with Swiss Alpine looks added to Bariloche’s European flavor and appeal, along with its credentials as South America’s most important Ski Resort.

Much of Bariloche’s famous beauty is born of 1930 design, with the creation of a number of urban works projects by the Directorate of National Parks thus ensuring development not detracting from the regions outstanding natural beauty.

Works included  the creation of the Civic Center, which houses City Hall, a library, a museum, a theater, the post office, police station and a customs office.  In addition, was the construction of the cathedral and the famous Llao Llao Hotel.

Located about 1640 kilometers from the capital city of Buenos Aires, Bariloche is the most famous Patagonian city. Bariloche affords travelers five stars accommodations, and excellent cuisine all year round with a well-established entertainment, travel, sightseeing and adventure tourism that is refreshingly organized and professional – it has a certain northern European efficiency about it!

Bariloche Winter Resort

The mountains surrounding Bariloche afford international competition grade runs. The mythical Mount Catedral is one of the most important ski resorts in all Latin America with 53 ski runs for different levels, as well as off trail, free style and snowboard courses with jumps and rails.

Chapelco Ski Resort is another well-known resort, located about 1 hour from downtown Bariloche in the neighboring city of San Martin de Los Andes.  Chapelco has 20 ski runs for different levels and a breath taking view of Lake Lacar.

Piedras Blancas is a family and beginners resort with downhill and cross-country skiing and sledding during the winter.  In summer, family fun is still the theme with mountain biking, hiking and rock climbing.   There is a small indoor ice skating rink located above a live music venue on Juan Manuel de Rosas, a lakeside street.  The rink is located directly on the shore of Lake Huapi and offers skaters a wonderful view.

Bariloche Summer Resort

In the summer time, visitors can enjoy a round of golf at one of the three courses in Bariloche.  The Llao Llao Hotel has a world class course on the shores of Lake Huapi and Lake Moreno; Arelauquen Golf has 18 hole and overlooks Lake Guiterrez and Pinares Golf has a 9 hole course.

The Lakes District surrounding Bariloche is abundant with both course and fly-fishing lakes, streams and rivers.  There are numerous places to kayak.   The crystal waters of Lake Huapi also offer scuba diving.  In Argentina, beaches, even lake beaches are public property so great beaches abound.  Playa Serna and Playa Bonita are two easy-access beaches, wonderful for sitting and enjoying the sights and sounds of the lake.

Boat cruises through the deep blue waters of Lago Hahuel Huapi depart daily from Puerto Panuel, which is located across from the Hotel Llao Llao.   Destinations include Puerto Blest, Parque Nacional de Arrayanes and Isla Victoria.  Water lovers can also enjoy kite surfing, a new comer to Lago Huapi.  Around Bariloche, there are also several stretches of water offering kayaking and white water rafting.

Land lovers can enjoy world class hiking in Nahuel Huapi National Park or at one of the many refuges located throughout the area.  There are mountain biking, motorcycle rentals, paragliding, rock climbing, paint ball and more for outdoor lovers.

Carol Jones, granddaughter to the first white settler in the area from Wales, UK offers guided horse trips, interaction with real gauchos and an asado (Argentine BBQ) .

The more adventurous can enjoy a canopy tour, flying among the tops of old growth Lenga trees.  There are even monthly full moon trips that offer pizza and local beer -speaking of beer – Bariloche has fantastic nightlife.  Famous discos, pubs, breweries and fine gourmet cuisine have led many a visitor to all night partying topped off by amazing views of the sun rising over the mountains and casting its light upon the lake and city.  There are also several casinos in town, many of which offer Las Vegas style entertainment in the evenings.

For families, the Happy Train tours the City of Bariloche throughout the day.   Visitors can train ride to the Patagonian steppe and beyond.  Bariloche has several museums to include a chocolate museum, which takes guests from the chocolate bean to the sweet candy we all know and love.  The Patagonia Museum details the history of the area.  Kids are sure to enjoy Dinosaur Park at Parque Nahuelito, located on the Circuito Chico. There are also underground caverns to explore at Parque Cerro Leones where mystery and adventure abound.

Visitors to Argentina should consider a visit to Patagonia and indeed Bariloche. Argentina Countrywide can arrange travel, accommodation and tours.

Museums include the following locations:

Chocolate Museum
Patagonia Museum

Other resources:

(Spanish) Official Government Website
(English) Backcountry Ski Options
(Spanish) Cerro Catedral (Ski Resort)
(English, Portuguese, Spanish) Cerro Bayo
(English) Fishing
(English, Spanish) Arelauquen Golf
(Spanish) Club Andino Bariloche,
(English, Spanish) Cabalgatas (guided horse trips)
(English, Spanish) Rio Manso Inferior (river rafting)
(Spanish) Parque Nahuelito (Dinosaur Park)
(English, Portuguese, Spanish) Piedras Blancas (family ski resort)
(Spanish) Grisu, Cerebro, Roket, By Pass and Genux (nightclubs)

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El Calafate is a small Patagonian village on the shore of the breathtaking lake Lago Argentina. Known as the national capital of the glaciers, El Calafate is an important tourist destination as it serves as the gateway to the majestic world of glaciers and to Los Glaciares National Park which includes the amazing Perito Moreno Glacier (one of the most popular and visited glaciers in the world). There are two other lesser-known, but spectacular Glaciers – Cerro Chalten and Cerro Torre.

Deriving its name from from a flowering bush with dark blue berries and yellow flowers, El Calafate is a quaint town lying on a hillside surrounded by small farms.  The El Calafate Stream divides the village into two sections and a few meters from the center of town a rustic stone pathway leads to the Nimes Lagoon, otherwise known as the Birds Lagoon (Laguna de los Pajaros) home to 80 different species of beautiful and colorful birds that display all their elegance to visitors.  The main species there include geese, flamingoes, swans, ducks, herons, falcons, black-faced Ibis and Black-Necked Swans.  The lagoon is an ideal place to enjoy summer sunsets and features bilingual tours covering the characteristics of each species and their relationship to the habitat.
Home to only about 4,000 residents, this quaint community features small rustic homes that give visitors the sense of stepping into another time.  The buildings in El Calafate have gabled roofs to avoid the effects of heavy snowfall.  Its flora is characteristic of the Andean Patagonia woods, with a clear predominance of ‘lengas’ and sour cherrywood trees.  The historic city center is quite picturesque as it actually seems much like it was in the 1920s when the village was founded.  The Santa Teresa Chapel, one of the first structures in town, is a favorite among tourists and appears today much as it always has.
Calafate offers much to lovers of history.  The village is home to the Center of Historic Interpretation, which has a collection of artifacts dating to before the arrival of modern man.  The El Calafate Regional Museum has collections of zoological artifacts and a collection from the Tehuelche people, an indigenous tribe who settled in the area long before Argentines and Chileans reached this remote region.  The museum offers documentaries on the region from November through March and is open daily, Monday through Friday.

Boat excursions are available to witness ice cracking in Los Glaciers National Park. Trails are abundant to get up close to the glaciers and paved roads lead to the far side of Lago Argentino and to the Rio Gallegos.  Visitors can also take dirt road trips by bus to other local destinations such as Esquel and Comodoro.  In addition to glacial tours, the area offers horseback riding, trekking, mountain biking and kayaking.

Eight kilometers from El Calafate, visitors can tour one of Argentina’s most historically significant treasures, the Walichu Caves.  Located just off the shore of Lake Argentina, these caverns are filled with Paleolithic cave paintings.  Created with materials such as gypsum, egg-whites, plant resin and human saliva these paintings transport visitors back  over 4,000 years ago to a time when Argentinean aborigines used the drawings to aid other hunters and gatherers in the region.

Estancia Cristina offers programs that are designed to combine nature and history with leisure.  Their program begins with sailing on Lago Argentino alongside impressive icebergs and mountains.  Other activities include hiking, horseback riding, fishing and a Historic Tour of the Estancia together with a visit to its Museum.

There are several 4×4 excursions available in the area.  Onboard 4×4 vehicles, visitors can travel through the Patagonian Steppe and forests to impressive viewpoints. Some of these exclusive sites have never been accessed by any other kind of motor vehicle before.  Routes include several destinations near El Calafate and Glacier National Park.

Although El Calafate is quite small, it offers a rich nightlife scene.  Restaurants offer a wide variety of fare and include steak houses, pizza parlors and places specializing in regional cuisine.  A casino is located there along with discotheques, music shows, snack bars and pubs.

Museums include the following locations:

(Spanish) Nueva Museologia (Calafate Regional Museum)

Other resources:

(Spanish) Official Government Website
(Spanish) Department of Tourism for Santa Cruz Province
(English, Spanish) Los Glaciares National Park
(English, Portuguese, Spanish) Estancia Cristina (horseback riding)
(Spanish) Glacier Perito Marino Video
(English) Cerro Torre listing on Summitpost.org

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Iguazu Falls is one of the most visited places in the Argentine province of Misiones and one of the most amazing natural attractions in the world.  In the local language, Guaraní, the term “Iguazu” means great waters.  Discovered in 1541 by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and established in 1984 as Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Iguazú Falls, called Cataratas del Iguazú in Spanish, lie on the border between the Brazilian state of Parana and the Argentine province of Misiones surrounded by two National Parks, one in each country. Both are subtropical rainforests that are host to hundreds of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna and are home to the typical wildlife of the region: tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and cayman.

Iguazu Falls is one of the most magnificent and largest waterfalls in the world.  Iguazu Falls extends over 2,700 m (nearly 2 miles) of the Iguazu River and includes 275 cascades spread in a horseshoe shape.  Devil’s Throat is the tallest at 80 m in height.

The falls are the result of a volcanic eruption.  During the rainy season, the flow of water over the falls can reach 12,750 cubic meters per second.  However, these details do little to describe the actual grandeur of the falls – tremendous amounts of water thunder down 269 feet prompting Eleanor Roosevelt to exclaim “Poor Niagara” her visit.  Taller than Niagara Falls and four times its width, Iguazu falls are divided by various islands into separate waterfalls.  In addition to Devil’s Throat, other notable falls include San Martin, Bossetti and Bernabe Mendez.

Local legend tells of a large snake called “Boi” who lived in the river.  To calm its ferocity, aborigines used sacrifice a woman annually as an offering.  As the story goes, once a brabe guarani aborigine kidnapped the woman marked for sacrifice and saved her by escaping down the river.  Boi burst into anger and bent its body splitting the river into cataracts separating the kidnapper from the rescued woman.

Visitors can access the falls from the two main towns flanking them:  Foz do Iguacu in Brazil and Puerto Iguazu in Argentina, and the Ciudad del Este in Paraguay is nearby.  The Iguazu National Park of Argentina and Iguacu National Park, Brazil shares the falls, but two thirds of the falls are on the Argentinean side of the river.

On the Brazilian side of the falls there is a long walkway along the canyon that extends to the lower base of Devil’s Throat.    From the Argentine side, access is facilitated by an environmentally friendly train, the Rainforest Ecological Train (Ecologico de la Selva) which takes visitors to various walkways overlooking the falls.  The train can transport up to 120 guest at a time over nearly 5 miles to the Cataras and Garganta Stations (the Waterfalls and Devil’s Gorge Stations).  Presently, nearly a million visitors use this train annually.  There is also the Paseo Garganta del Diablo, a one-kilometer-long trail that brings visitors directly over the falls of the Devil’s Throat. Other walkways allow access to the elongated stretch of falls on the Argentine side and to the ferry that connects to the San Martin Island.

From the Argentine Visitors’ Center, visitors can walk down trails separated into two basic circuits: an upper path and a lower path.   The lower path leads to the base of the falls, where the spray dampens visitors. It is a unique experience and well worth the effort and inconvenience.  From this route, visitors may also take a boat to Isla San Martín.  The upper path offers unforgettable panoramic views from a footbridge.

Adventure lovers can find access to more intense circuits.  The jungle surrounding the falls offers many opportunities for tourists to enjoy them including the Macuco Trail, a 3 km. walking path meandering through the dense jungle.   Almost 500 species of wild fowl inhabit the area long with 80 species of mammals along with an extraordinary variety of reptiles, fish, insects and butterflies.

Private operators in the area offer 4×4 excursions into the jungle and semi-rigid rafts with powerful engines are available to take visitors upstream into the mists created by the cascades.  Another option is to take a rowboat in the upper river region to view the wildlife and foliage surrounding this delta region.

The best time to see Iguazu Falls is in the spring and autumn as in winter the water level is substantially lower and summer is sweltering with heat and humidity.  There are hotels on both sides of the falls and Argentina Countrywide can assist you with finding suitable accommodations and arranging tours.

Resources:

(Spanish) Official Government Website
(English) World Heritage Site
(English) The New 7 Wonders of the World
(English) Video of the Falls
(Spanish) Ecologico de la Selva (Rainforest Ecological Train)

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