WARNING--ATM's in Argentina

We'd heard that cash machines in Argentina are sometimes (maybe often) hacked so that crooks can steal your debit card information.  We just had that experience in spades.

On our recent trip to South America, we had no problem with ATM's in either Brazil or Chile.  But, several members of our group used an ATM at Iguazu Falls, on the Argentine side, at the visitors' center at the Argentine national park.  These transactions were hacked and the debit card information stolen.  The hackers used that debit card information to withdraw money in the Philippines, so you can get an idea of how far afield this criminal activity occurs.

One bank caught the fraud immediately, before more than a few hundred dollars had been illegally withdrawn from the holder's checking account (the bank is liable).  But, another person only found out about the theft when he tried to withdraw money at an ATM and was denied.  When he called his bank, they told him that he had already withdrawn $28,000 and was far over his limit.  I'm sure the bank was aghast when he told them he had withdrawn nothing.  Their fraud alert system obviously failed.

So, do be careful about using ATM's in Argentina.  You can use US dollars almost everywhere and will generally get the black market rate of exchange in stores and restaurants.  You can also use your credit cards, but do make sure that the transaction occurs right in front of you.  Don't let someone take your card away to record the transaction.  Most stores and restaurants have mobile devices and can make the charge in your presence.

Argentine Patagonia--3 days in Bariloche

 

Lago Nahuel Huapi from Cerro Llao Llao

Patagonia is a huge region that includes all of Southern Chile and Southern Argentina.  The Andes fill the center of the region along with large lakes and fast-flowing rivers.  The hiking and fishing are superb throughout the region, though the winds are often very powerful.  We’ve hiked in Torres del Paine, in the far south of Chile, and many places in Argentine Patagonia, from Bariloche to El Calafate, El Chalten and Ushuaia—all wonderful places to visit and hike and all exceptionally beautiful.

Bariloche's municipal building

This trip, we spent 3 days in Bariloche and hiked one day when the sun came out for a while and the air was clear and brisk.  We hiked to Cerro Llao Llao, high above Lake Nahuel Huapi, with magnificent views across 2 arms of the Lake, surrounded by the Andes.  On our way down a different trail, we were turned back by a large area of downed trees, upended by the high winds of the last few weeks. 

view from Cerro Llao Llao

Our first full day, we had planned to hike, but it was snowy and very windy and cold, so we climbed into our van with an excellent guide, Elisabeth, and toured the town of Bariloche, about 120,000 residents.  With plenty of time, we decided to continue on to the ski area, half an hour out of town and the largest in South America, which hosts 20,000 skiers a day (that would be a very big day for Colorado ski areas).  It was chilly and a bit snowy, but fun to see.  The village badly needs investment to update the base area, lifts and lodging.  It reminded us of Arapahoe Basin in the early ‘90’s before it was significantly upgraded.  The area covers several mountains, much like Breckenridge, with long runs below very jagged peaks.

eagle near Cerro Llao Llao




Bariloche's ski area on a snowy spring day

Our hotel, El Casco Art Hotel, is owned by a gallery owner from Buenos Aires who represents many of Argentina's best artists.  Each hotel room is dedicated to one artist and has his or her paintings on the walls.  Sculptures decorate the public and outside spaces of the hotel.  It's really a treat to live with these artists for several days (and all artwork is for sale, of course).



resident duck

duck sculpture



bunnies on the lawn

Our trip home was a bit of an adventure.  I checked on our 2 flights out of Bariloche early in the morning and saw that all the morning flights had been canceled.  A bit of a problem since most of us had our flights home from Buenos Aires late the same evening.  Aerolineas Argentinas would not help us by phone, so we went to the small airport, swarming with stranded travelers.  The airport had been closed the night before because of a few inches of snow.  But the runways were completely clear and the snow was melting fast.  Imagine closing DIA under such minimal circumstances. 
I parked myself with our guide at a counter staffed by an agent our guide knew well.  We sweet-talked her into taking our boarding passes, pleading our need to make our connecting flight home (United had almost no availability for the next 2 days).  Finally, after 3 hours, a plane from another airline landed and seemed not to have a full flight to Buenos Aires, so Aerolineas grabbed the plane.  After boarding all the passengers from a canceled flight the night before, including a large group of young teens who had slept in the airport (they and their chaperones looked a bit bleary), this lovely Aerolineas agent gave us the last 11 seats.  Watching her print all our boarding passes certainly made my day.  Our luggage stayed behind in Bariloche, but Aerolineas delivered it all to our home yesterday, only 2 days late!  I was impressed. 

Andes and lake from Cerro Llao Llao

 

 

Crossing the Andes by boat and bus (boat is better)

Mountains and clouds during crossing of Lago Todos los Santos



We just finished our third (Don’s fourth) crossing of the Andes from Puerto Varas, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina.  Our first crossing was blessed by sunshine and blue sky, though it was pretty cold.  The last two were made in the rain and mist, though last week, we did get a chance to see the magnificent volcano, Osorno, looming before us across the first lake.

Osorno from Puerto Varas on sunny day
 

 

The crossing requires a bus ride to the first lake dock, two buses between lakes in the middle of the trip (one only 10 minutes), and a final ride to a hotel in Bariloche.  Three boats take you across the beautiful, deep lakes surrounded by the Andes, with a lunch stop in the middle at a remote hotel overlooking one of the lakes.  It’s a 12 hour day and one you’ll never forget because of the beauty of the mountains and lakes you cross.

Osorno from Puerto Varas on a cloudy day

 

On our way to our first lake crossing we stopped at Petrohue Falls, rushing with water this year, far more than we’ve seen before.  From there we continued to Todos los Santos Lake for our first and longest sail on a large, comfortable catamaran.  When the weather is good, you get spectacular views of the Osorno and Calbuco volcanos.  On this trip, we could take our photos of Osorno in between rain squalls.  The clouds added to the drama of the setting.


Osorno from lake on sunny day

and in the clouds

Some people stay overnight at a hotel at Peulla, the terminus of the Todos lost Santos crossing.  We had lunch and continued on our way by bus to the next lake, about 1 ½ hours, to Lake Frias, only a 20 minute boat ride, before boarding a bus for the short ride to Lake Nahuel Huapi in Argentina.  You clear Chilean customs in Peulla and Argentine immigration and customs upon arrival at Lake Frias.  The customs officers were very pleasant and, as we were the last boat of the day, rode back to Bariloche with us on our boats and buses.  Quite a long trek to stamp the passports of about 100 passengers, though I’m sure it is much busier in the high season.


Petrohue Falls

Lake Nahuel Huapi is incredibly beautiful.  Our hotel near Bariloche, El Casco Art Hotel (highly recommended for its location, original art by renowned Argentinian artists in each room, and beautiful rooms with stunning views of the lake), is right on the lake about 11 km outside of Bariloche.  We dragged in at 8:30 pm, very happy to slouch into our comfortable rooms and even happier to enjoy some excellent Argentine wine.

Lago Nahuel Huapi from El Casco Art Hotel

Dogs--the strays of Argentina and Chile

Comfy dog bed in Puerto Varas, Chile

Dogs are everywhere on the streets of Argentina and Chile.  Santiago alone is reported to have 400,000 stray dogs sleeping on the streets, wandering through parks and plowing through any garbage they find.  People feed the dogs, but we didn’t see anyone petting them.

Many of these dogs have been dumped by their former families, often if the family moved to a smaller home or another city.  So, these poor creatures are well-behaved and desperate for a kind word of a pet. 

dogs in Puerto Montt

Outside the airport at Puerto Montt, there was a large, pretty dog the porters called Juan.  Like most of the street dogs, he looked well fed, so I imagine the porters fed him.  But no one touched him.  When Don and I walked over to him, he promptly sat down facing us and wagged his tail.  We spent about 5 minutes petting him and stroking his head and ears.  He closed his eyes and sat absolutely still, loving every stroke.  Made me so sad.  Dogs need companions and kindness and pets.  We would have 3 dogs in residence if I could have brought Juan home.

Sweet dog in Santiago, Chile

Later while we strolled along an outdoor market in Puerto Varas, we saw 3 dogs playing in the street.  Suddenly, they stared down the street and then started jumping and yelping in great excitement.  A car pulled up to the curb and out jumped a man with a bag of dog food.  He fed one dog on the sidewalk and the other 2 a few feet away in the street.  Then he climbed back into the car and left.  Not a word or a pet, but food, at least.  And the dogs knew him well.

Bariloche dog waiting patiently in snow for worker to feed him

At Bariloche’s ski area, more dogs lay around the village or played in the few inches of new snow.  I don’t know where they go when it gets really cold, but they look healthy.  Our guide told us that there are sporadic efforts to spay or neuter the stray dogs, but there are never enough funds for that.

leashed dogs in Buenos Aires park

In Buenos Aires, a crowd of dogs, all on short leashes attached to a longer leash, are a common sight.  Dog walkers take them to the parks to play and poop (which doesn’t always get cleaned up).  Some are tied to separate trees—the less socialized I would guess—while others are allowed to play near the dog walker who snoozes nearby under a tree or on a bench.

The Buenos Aires dogs have families and care.  I hope they get lots of pets and kind words as well.  The strays have better lives than stray dogs in most of the world because at least someone feeds them.  Elsewhere their lives are a constant scrounge for food to fill their scrawny bodies.  Tough to take for dog lovers like me.

Barking dog in Bariloche park

 

Santiago, Chile--beauty, great food, Andes, and bad air

Panorama of Santiago

Chile's capital, Santiago, is a pretty city just below the soaring Andes.  But, the smog makes it hard to see these beautiful mountains clearly.  The streets are clean, though, and the subway works well.  While 5 star hotels are limited, outstanding restaurants are not. 

Santiago's cathedral

We recommend Osadia, Como Agua Para Chocolate and Aqui Esta Coco if you're looking for a really gourmet meal.  Or you can go to Domino, the favorite hot dog chain, with more mayonnaise (special recipe) than you can slurp and lots of variety.  The streets have many outdoor cafes and the city has clean water--a very welcome touch!  In fact, you can drink the water just about everywhere in Chile, but do ask first in small towns.

Presidential Palace

Santiago's central government square is home to the presidential palace, rebuilt after General Pinochet's troops bombed it into oblivion and perhaps murdered President Allende.  Their are charming old buildings in and around the square, including the Stock Exchange and cathedral.


historic building in government square

As in Buenos Aires, we met with U.S. embassy officials in Santiago and talked to a number of other people about the politics and economy of the country.  President Bachelet is in her second term, separated from her first by the presidency of President Pinera (presidents in Chile cannot succeed themselves, but can serve non-consecutive terms).  So, now Brazil, Argentina and Chile all have women presidents (Dilma Roussef in Brazil having just won reelection).

Stock Exchange

Chile's economy is quite strong.  The country is very active in negotiating free trade agreements and is trying to diversify its economy away from copper, which accounts for 50% of its exports.  As with most Latin American countries, a few families control the economy.  There are many small, family businesses, but not a lot of entrepreneurs as capital for start-ups is nearly non-existent and banks tend to lend only to large, established enterprises.  Chile wants to expand entrepreneurship and is seeking ways to make more capital available for new businesses.  Besides capital, this is a very risk averse culture, so most people are unwilling to risk failure and the loss of reputation failure brings (unlike the U.S. where failure is seen as a chance to learn important lessons before moving on to the next venture).

I talked to a couple of people who told me the society is very stratified, that if you don't go to the right (elite) elementary and high schools, you won't get into the best universities.  If you don't go to the best universities, you don't have the contacts to get the best jobs.  And so on.  One young person from a working class family told me he couldn't get into a good university and that the public universities don't provide the same quality of education (except the University of Chile) and the relationships he would need to move up economically and socially.

vineyard at Santa Rita winery

One day, we visited the Santa Rita Winery, about an hour out of Santiago, and Chile's third largest wine maker.  Chile, of course, is a large provider of excellent wines and very good prices.  So, we enjoyed their wines very much.  Santa Rita offers an interesting tour of one of their wineries and a good restaurant set amidst beautiful gardens.  A rebuilt church used by the original owners is adjacent to the old estate residence, now a hotel and pretty good restaurant, in need of some renovation, but charming.  Black-necked swans swim lazily in the large pond in the garden.  The Claro family owns the winery now and displays their remarkable collection of pre-Columbian artifacts in the Museo Andino on the estate property.  Well worth a visit.

Santa Rita's black-necked swans



Santa Rita church

Buenos Aires--elegant city of the South



Casa Rosada, Office of the President

Buenos Aires is a beautiful and slightly faded city, suffering from Argentina's latest financial crisis, with a plummeting peso, very active black market for trading dollars for pesos way above the official bank rate, and crumbling infrastructure.  But, it is charming and lively and full of busy restaurants serving lots of meat, some fish, and delicious empanadas.

Caminito with pope

The old fishing area of La Boca sports a new icon on its flagship building, the Caminito, Pope Francis.  Argentines are so proud of the first South American pope who came from their country.

macrame'd tree trunk, La Boca

We highly recommend our hotel, the Hub Porteno, a very small hotel in the heart of Recoleta, Buenos Aires' premier shopping district, with lots of high end hotels.  The rooms are very spacious, the restaurant is excellent and the staff more helpful and thoughtful than any I have encountered in any other hotel in the world (quite a superlative, I know, but true).

La Boca window

We met with U.S. embassy officials--always a must for us and always valuable--as well as an Argentine university professor who also gave us an excellent and informative presentation about Argentina's economy and politics.

We met at the U.S. Ambassador's official residence, a beautiful palace built by the Bosch family between 1920 and 1925.  We enjoyed a tour by the architect in charge of maintaining the palace before our briefing.

salon in ambassador's residence where we met

We learned a lot about the current debt crisis, triggered when several U.S. hedge funds refused to accept a negotiated "haircut" on their Argentine bonds that was agreed to by 93% of the other bondholders.  A U.S. judge refused to let Argentina pay off the majority of bond holders unless they also paid the hold-out hedge funds.  That triggered yet another Argentine default which is still ongoing.  Everyone we've talked to seems to be waiting for elections a year from now when the current president, who is term-limited, is replaced by someone new (though all 3 candidates are from her party).  The hope is that the economic policies that have brought the current slump will be changed.

doorway in ambassador's residence

These policies include both import and export restrictions, so that companies have difficulty importing raw materials for their products as well as goods of all kinds.  Shops have closed because they can't get the products they need to import.  On the other side, companies cannot export products without paying a 35% export tax, hard to understand when the country is desperate for trade and foreign exchange.  So, some companies have resorted to doing an exchange of goods, such as exporting wine in order to import tractors, thereby avoiding the financial penalties of doing business here.  There are also draconian currency controls, making it nearly impossible to repatriate profits or to move money out of the country.  Add to that high inflation and you have a dismal economic picture.

Education suffers from a lack of funding.  Teachers and professors are underpaid or not paid at all, so that the public schools are terribly inadequate.  On one international measure, for example, 80% of Chinese students typically score in the 80th percentile and above while only 3 - 5% of Argentina's students hit those high scores.  Parents who can afford Catholic and other private schools send their kids there, but the vast majority of Argentines can't afford that for their children.

Tango--Argentina's famous dance

The professor gave us an interesting characterization of Argentines:  They are Italians who speak Spanish and think they are British.  Despite the Falklands (Malvinas) War years ago, Britain continues to be influential in Argentine history and culture.  But, the Falklands War is still a real sore point here.  Nonetheless, it was that war that spelled the end of the terrible military dictatorship of the 1980's that resulted in 30,000 deaths of regime opponents from torture and murder.  That, too, remains a brutally sad part of Argentine history and culture. 

Grandmothers' scarf painted on pavement

During this time, young women who were arrested and pregnant were kept alive until they gave birth.  Then they were murdered and their babies given to an Argentine family--not the young woman's family.  For decades, the grandmothers of these babies have marched in the Plaza de Mayo, the central government square, demanding to reclaim their grandchildren.  They would march around the Plaza de Mayo, the central government square in Buenos Aires, because they were not allowed to "gather and protest".  They wore white scarves so everyone knew who they were and now these scarves are painted on the pavement of the square.  Several of these poignant reunions of grandmothers and grandchildren have happened, including the reuniting of the leader of the grandmothers with her grandson several months ago. 

roses blooming in Palermo rose garden

On the bright side, the gardens are in full bloom.  We walked through the beautiful rose garden in Palermo.  The jacaranda are beginning their burst of purple flowers which turn Buenos Aires into a cloud of lavender in November.  Many people feel optimistic about the upcoming elections and expected changes in their country.  Argentines dance the tango with zest and skill.  One person characterized tango to us as "a sad thought that one dances.".  Indeed, we preferred the dancing to the singing.

Stunning Iguazu Falls

long wall of Argentine Falls

walkway over the Brazilian Falls at sunset

Even when the water is low flowing over Iguazu Falls, they are magnificent.  Winding around nearly 2 miles in a huge horseshoe, they are much longer than Niagara Falls, but are not as high and carry less water.

Brazilian Falls on day 1

You wouldn't have known that over the last few days, though.  Our first day there, the water was at normal springtime levels, which is pretty high.  The next day, we could see that the flow was significantly greater, nearly twice the volume of water.  That resulted from what must have been a large rainstorm about 500 km upstream of Iguazu about 24 hours earlier.

The power of the water tumbling over the Falls is mesmerizing.  The noise is thunderous and the mist from the pounding water soaks you through and through in seconds. 

Brazilian Falls on day 2

We took a zodiac up to the Falls our second day.  The goal of the boat driver is to get everyone thoroughly wet.  There isn't even much point in wearing a poncho because when you're nosed up under a huge volume of water, it slithers down your neck, pours through the bottom of the boat and sloshes on your seat.  It is just so much fun.  We were all shrieking with truly uncontrollable laughter.

We stayed at the Hotel das Cataratas inside the national park on the Brazilian side of the Falls.  We think it is by far the best place to stay in Iguazu--a lovely old hotel first built in the 1920's and now run by the Belmond Orient Express hotel chain.  Wonderful setting right next to the Falls, so you can just wander out and down the path to see the Brazilian falls.  Small rooms, but great service, a charming garden around a huge pool, and good food.

Argentine Falls on day 1

The Iguazu River, host to the Falls, divides Argentina and Brazil.  A little farther downstream, the Iguazu joins the Parana, forming a triangle of land that is part of Paraguay.  The Falls, however, are only between Brazil and Argentina.

Argentine Falls on day 2

On the Argentine side, the Falls are also incredible.  You can walk on pathways and bridges out over the Falls and the river.  There used to be a raised pathway across the river to one of the most spectacular sections of the Falls, the Devil's Throat, which we have enjoyed in the past.  But, last June, torrential rains raised the level of the Iguazu River about 12 feet and washed out the walkway.  While Argentina is rebuilding the walkway, it is far from complete.  Nonetheless, we loved the roar and might of the Argentine Falls.

We also visited Itaipu Dam, the second largest hydroelectric dam in the world, after China's Three Gorges Dam.  It has 20 turbines, one of which is dedicated to Paraguay and provides 75% of Paraguay's power.  The rest of the turbines send power to Brazil, meeting about 15% of that country's needs.  Paraguay and Brazil jointly built and run the dam and generators.  Driving across the dam, you actually enter Paraguay, but the area is considered an international zone.

Itaipu Dam

This is a hot and humid rain forest zone with beautiful birds and many small and large creatures.  There are beautiful jaguars and pumas living in the forest, sometimes seen by hotel guests, but we, sadly, did not see them.  Maybe next time.

Swallows flit in and out of the thundering falls, which seems like a miracle.  They nest behind the falls and seem oblivious to the enormous power of the falling water as they slip behind to their nests.  There are clouds of colorful butterflies everywhere, some even landing on people's hands and arms and going along for a ride.

millipede sunning itself
 

gorgeous butterfly

and another

coati

Monitor lizard

swallows clinging to cliff by waterfall

toucan