January 22 - Buenos Aires, Argentina

I am not entirely sure what I expected from the tour today but whatever it was most certainly was not met. The brochure read, "Av Costanera, Trip on the Coastline Train, Tigre - sailing the Delta of Parana River on a panoramic boat". If I was on Costanera Avenue it is news to me. As far as I know the guide never mentioned it. She did point out a number of major buildings as we whipped past them. Most often by the time she got through the Spanish and gave the abridged version in English we were too far past to see anything. Sometimes the Spanish went on so long my mind wandered and I missed the transition to English.

After an hour's journey by bus (I had already been on board for an hour as we stopped at other hotels to pick up people) we arrived in Tigre about 36 kilometers from Buenos Aires. The drive was through a mixture of downtown narrow, one way streets (as I described yesterday), a major highway with little to see and a short stretch along the Plata River (reported to be the widest river in the world at 220+ kilometers). Tigre is so named because when the Spaniards arrived here they saw animals they thought were tigers. I missed the name of the animals they saw. :(

At Tigre we boarded the "panoramic boat". Why it has that name is beyond me because you certainly did not have a panoramic view (not that there was much to see in any event). To make matters worse they insisted you remain seated at all times so you were restricted even more in what you could see (no decks to view from either). I guess I have been spoiled by other river cruises elsewhere because this was one was extremely disappointing. It was like cruising through cottage country anywhere. The homes/cottages are used primarily by people from Buenos Aires on weekends and holidays (about 3,000 people live in the area full time). Sound familiar? I finally took a few pictures just for something to do. All of this is disappointing because there must be a great deal to see in the delta - wicker plantations, pulp and paper operations, etc. in the 21,000 square kilometers and hundreds of islands (over 5,000 waterways). We did see a couple of "supermarket boats" however and I saw one guy fishing.

From the boat we proceeded to the "Coastline Train". Yet another misnomer as there was no sight of the coast or river bank anywhere along the journey. It is an electric train, quiet and smooth. We were only on board for fifteen minutes at most and then disembarked in San Isidro where we spent a little more than an hour allowing people to go to see the cathedral (not me) and to wander through the flea market. It isn't a flea market in the sense that I know it, more like a series of tourist shops selling overpriced goods. Nothing tempted me for more than a few seconds.

On the return bus trip I saw the barrios (not mentioned by the guide) and, as always was apalled by the conditions in which some people are forced to survive. Like other barrios this one was a conglomeration of tin, wood, paper and cardboard "shacks" (to be polite). Unless my eyes deceived me there was even a store of sorts in the middle of it.

When I got back to the hotel I went across the street to a huge shopping mall four stories high. Like so many of these monoliths it appears to be pretty well all high end shops - primarily clothing with a few electronics stores thrown in for good measure. Of course it has a food court complete twith McDonald's and Burger King. The only thing one might classify as Argentinian was one place specializing in beef. I had spinach ravioli with a very good four cheese sauce. That will probably constitute my only meal of the day (got up too late to have breakfast before the tour). I bought some cigarettes, some bottled water (not sure if the tap water here is safe or not) and a bottle of wine "Del FIn Del Mundo" (the End of the World I think) made somewhere in Patagonia (Argentina).

That pretty well wraps up my visit to Buenon Aires as I doubt that I will be going anywhere tonight - still tired from the flight and I have to be up early for the flight to Usuaia tomorrow. I read somewhere that no one in Argentina goes to the clubs before 1:00 am and I know they often don't eat dinner until after 11:00. Much too late for this old body.

I can't say that I have been overly impressed with Buenos Aires. I didn't see anything that really distinguishes it from any other large city. Traffic, traffic and more traffic, grafitti everyewhere, storefronts with iron gates, hordes of people walking with downcast eyes rushing off to somewhere or nowhere. Very few people appear happy. Other than one type of skirt I didn't see any clothing that would distinguish the place either. Well, the women do like to wear their skirts, shorts and dresses short and tight! I very much doubt that I will return......