Hola!
Hope all is well way up there in Canada land. We have been here for less than a week but it seems much longer for some reason.
Argentina is turning out to be much more expensive than anticipated. The inflation rate here is 28% and all the prices in our Lonely Planet guide - 2012 version - have gone up by around 50%. The official exchange rate is about 5 pesos to the US$. In Buenos Aires they told us that you can get up to 8 per $ on the black market. This would put prices where they should be. Should have brought bag loads of US cash!
Spent 3 nights in Buenos Aires - walked our feet off. One highlight believe it or not was a cemetery. The Recoletta Cemetery was founded many years ago when the city was one of the richest on earth. Huge mausoleums and crypts worth 2 - 3 million $ each. Some have fallen into disrepair as the descendants cannot afford the upkeep. We will be returning to Buenos Aires and spend more time at the end of the trip.
We are now in Ushuaia - the most southerly city on earth. What a setting - surrounded by snow capped mountains and glaciers. Pretty forbidding. Yesterday we went to the Tierra del Fuego National Park and went hiking for a few hours. Today we took a boat trip into the Beagle Channel - one side you can get to the Pacific - the other the Atlantic. Saves going around Cape Horn. Absolutely fantastic scenery. Photos just cannot do it justice. Only 5 of us on board and we got up close and personal to the wildlife. Landed on one of the islands for about 45 mins. Saw sea lions, seals, penguins, small dolphins and a huge variety of birds, including many albatross. We have been so lucky with the weather as it can rain here for days on end.
Off to Punta Arenas, Chile by bus on Sat. - 11 hrs. Yikes! So far the hostel route has worked out well although everyone else is about 1/3 our age. Have met some really neat people and we don't have to eat out all the time.
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