On May 29th and 30th we went on a jungle adventure with Amazon Green Tours. Elso, our guide (the guy in the green shirt) was awesome. I can't believe how much we did in just two days. Here are some of the highlights:

Piranha fishing, caiman alligator wrestling, sloth and freshwater pink dolphin spotting, checking out the meeting of the waters and giant lily pads... Not to mention great food and excellent company. We lucked out. The two couples who were with us were hilarious. And they were Brazilian, which made me feel less like a dumb tourist paying for the Amazon experience.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the ground lizards that live near the lodge. When it rains for more than three days straight, these lizards stay in their holes and EAT THEIR OWN TAILS to keep from starving. I don't like going out in the rain either, but this seems a bit extreme.

Nature is amazing.

I feel silly trying to find words that adequately describe this place. Rainbows everywhere. Butterflies that land on you and stay for the ride. Exotic birds. The cool mist and the warm sunshine. The sound and the fury... Okay. I give up. Go see it for yourself. You need a full day for the Argentinian side, and a half day for the Brazilian side. Go!

Sadly all we saw of Chile was Santiago and Valparaíso. Like Argentina, we need to return during ski season or in the summer. In Santiago we enjoyed visiting the city's hills, San Cristóbal and Santa Lucía, which were more like small mountains. Of course with the Andes in the background you wouldn't dare to call them mountains.

San Cristóbal has the iconic Virgin Mary statue on top at the Santuario de la Inmaculada Concepción. I initially mis-read the first word as "Sanitario" or the "Bathroom of the Immaculate Conception." Hilarity ensued.

In defense of my roll-y bag strategy, we saw a very together-looking guy on top of San Cristóbal with his roll-y bag. Backpackers who carry actual backpacks are few and far between. And all of them are younger than Fred and me.

Santa Lucía was topped with a castle or perhaps it's a fort... Cerro SC has the funicular, but cerro SL has an elevator.

We also really enjoyed the Museo de Bellas Artes. The highly regarded Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos was brutal but was an important glimpse into the human rights violations during the Pinochet years (1973-1990). 

The smog in Santiago is unreal.

The vegetarian food in Chile rules. Be sure to try "Porotos Granados" - beans with corn, pumpkin, basil and red pepper. Mmmmmmm.

On the 17th, we took a bus to the port town of Valparaíso for the day. What a cool little town with such interesting history! When we arrived at the bus station, I was convinced it was just another dirty, hectic port city. We found our way to the train and went a couple stops to the surf break that was supposed to be small but clean that day. No dice. Surf report said three stars and 2.5 feet. My report: FLAT. Not to mention that it's icky port surfing. You could get an infection by just looking at the water.

Since the surf didn't pan out, we took a 3pm walking tour with a group called Tour for Tips. Our guide, Erica, was fantastic. She showed us a unique, beautiful, historic city, and recommended a great restaurant where I could get a nice vegetarian Chilean dish. (Yes, more Porotos Granados!) We learned about Arturo Prat, the Battle of Iquique and its significance. We traveled up and down the hills, appreciating the architecture, street art and history of the place.

The street art in Valparaiso is inspired. Erica told us that even the graffiti taggers have respect for the street art murals. These guys will write all over your freshly painted walls, but won't touch tag the street art, no matter how banal the painting. 

Then once we were back in Santiago, we watched a movie set in Valparaíso called Aftershock. Seriously? If you've seen the movie you know what I mean. If you haven't, please don't watch it! I know they were going for shock value, and trying to be so grim it's "funny" but watching it may deter you from visiting this great little city. That would be a shame.

Things we've learned so far (South American edition)
or
Nine things I wish we knew before our trip to Argentina

1) Travelers with passports from the USA who are also going to Brazil: You CAN get a visa for Brazil in Buenos Aires, but it's only a 90 day visa and it's the same price as the 10 year. Get yours back in the states if you can. If not, this article will help you do it in one trip to the consulate, instead of four or five.

2) You don't have to pay the reciprocity fee for Chile if you cross the boarder by land or sea. Coming from Argentina, take the bus from Mendoza during the day. Apparently it's incredible. The flight over the Andes was also pretty great. Worthy of a window seat - and I'm an aisle seat girl all the way.

3) Bring USD to Argentina. Don't take money out of the ATMs. Many stores will give you a much better exchange rate if you pay in USD. You might also find someone to buy your USD for Pesos at a MUCH better rate (we found a gent offering nearly double the official exchange rate).

4) Prepaid mobile internet and phone service is cheap. Bring your smartphone and get a Argentinian sim card ("chip"). You need an unlocked GSM phone (AT&T or T-Mobile).

5) Ski season doesn't start until mid-June. Penguin season ends in March. May is a good time to visit Glacier Perito Moreno because it's almost the end of the season and you can get good discounts on lodging. However if we were to do it again we'd come in mid-September for skiing and then stay until mid-October for whale watching and penguins.

6) As mentioned in the post on Glacier Perito Moreno, don't bother bringing your hiking boots and other trekking gear if you are only trekking on the glacier - you can rent boots, gloves, ski pants and a jacket for about 130 pesos total.

7) Neighborhoods in Buenos Aires: For those of you who know NYC, Palermo is like Soho or the West Village, Recoleta is like the Upper East Side, San Telmo is like St Mark's Place, Centro, near Casa Rosada and 9 de Julio, is like Midtown. Personally, I liked staying in Palermo the best. 

8) The Subte and buses are a great way to get around - no need to rent a car. You can pay for both with a Sube card. You can buy a Sube card for 15 pesos at any kiosk with a 'Sube' sign. It does NOT come with any credit on it, you need to add money to it. We did this in the Subte station. When you get on the bus, you need to tell the driver where you are planning to get off so s/he can charge you the appropriate fare.  

9) Taxis are pretty cheap but traffic can be bad near Centro, day or night, as there always seems to be some kind of demonstration happening.

The bus drivers are on strike. So we ditched our plans to take a bus to Foz do Iguaçu, and instead hopped a flight to El Calafate to go glacier hunting.

El Calafate is in Patagonia on the edge of Lake Argentino. Really far south in Argentina near the Chilean border. It's a cute little mountain tourist town. Reminds me of Colorado ski towns like Breckenridge 25 years ago (before Starbucks and such). At zero degrees Celsius, this is probably the coldest place we will visit on our journey. Luckily, we are able to rent cold weather gear for our "Mini Trekking" adventure.

Some observations and tips for those of you considering a visit to El Calafate and the Perito Moreno glacier:

1) You can rent jackets, boots, pants and gloves in El Calafate for 130 pesos
2) It's not as cold there as you think it's going to be
3) Crampons - that's what the spikey ice climbing shoes are called
4) Exchange your dollars for pesos in Buenos Aires, where you can find people who will buy your dollars for almost twice the official rate. Not so in El Calafate

Happy glacier hunting to you!

On the glacier, we met super-cool Anna, who happens to be from our old 'hood in Brooklyn. Small world...

Okay, I admit it. I've been singing songs from the musical Evita since we arrived in Buenos Aires. I even forced Fred to watch some of the 1996 movie starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas. To Fred's credit, he made it 30 minutes into the film before begging for mercy.

Today is the anniversary of Eva Peron's birthday and we just happened to be visiting the Recoleta cemetery, where she's buried. Evita would have been 94 if cervical cancer hadn't taken her at age 33. Here are some photos from our visit to the cemetery:

It's raining today in Buenos Aires. We got caught in it while walking around Palermo. I struck out trying to find a yoga class as well. The heater was broken at the Bikram studio, I couldn't find the Ashtanga place, and I missed the morning class at Buena Onda... but no matter. It's all perfect. We are loving it here.

Last night we saw the most divine Tango show at Esquina Carlos Gardel. This is coming from a very critical ex-dancer (me) and someone who couldn't care less about tango or any other dance show for that matter (my amazing punk rock husband).

The dancers are New York City Ballet-quality in their technique and beauty, with the intense passion and occasional flash of true artists. The food was superb as well (save room and order the bread pudding for desert).

Tonight we will see the show at Tango Porteno, which I understand is more "Broadway" to last night's "traditional" offering. I can't wait... bring on the flash and crowd-pleasing tricks, please!