January 4th - It's time to go home

We loaded up our suitcases and waited for the La Launcha to pick us up for the 2 hour journey back to the town of Tigre. We have waaay too much luggage. We are sad to leave our little oasis here in South America.

Next time we travel we each bring a back pack only!

We spent the day exploring Tigre, shopping for gifts to take home and eating all our favourite things. It will be years before we get back here again.

We spent the day exploring the town of Tigre, shopping for gifts for friends and family and eating up all of our favourite things.

One of the biggest Mate cup collections we had seen. This one was made from a hoof.

A gigantic alfajore

Our last lunch was a bottle of Quilmes stout, a huge loaf of bread and a charcuterie of local meats and cheeses, fantastic. 

The next 20 hours will be spent on a train, a cab, a plane and then into my parents vehicle at the Calgary airport where we will return to everyday life. We'll miss our travels in South America but leave knowing Remy and I will be back in another 9years after retirement and the purchase of a converted sprinter van to get us there. See you soon!

Jan 1 - 4- Rio MAnso Resort- How we spend our days

Jan 1-January 4 - Rio Manso Resort, Parana River Delta, Tigre, Argentina

We have finally managed to experience the kind of holiday we had sought in traveling south of the equator, and once again serendipity has been our guide. The one part of the trip that we had not arranged beforehand has ended up being the best part of all. We find ourselves at the Complejo Rio Manso, a small resort on the Parana River delta on the banks of the Arroya La Horca ("The Fork"). The Parana is the second greatest river system on the continent, and flows into the Rio Plata just north of Buenos Aires. The second largest hydroelectric plant in the world, next only to some monster in China, is powered by the Parana upstream in Paraguay. Down here, it is a wide, muddy channel feeding the Atlantic Ocean, and we are on one of the many channels or "arroyos" that crisscross its delta.

The weather has been pleasantly warm, in the 30's and sunny every day. We seem to naturally roll out of bed every day around 9:00 or 10:00 AM, and it is a great pleasure to step from the somewhat chilly confines of our air-conditioned cabana into the warm, sultry air of the delta. Liz and Remy make their way to the dining room where breakfast is laid out. Hot drinks, freshly squeezed fruit juice and  fresh fruit licuado are ready, along with heaps of toast made of the leftover bread from dinner the night before. We bring our own peanut butter and Liz her own decaf instant coffee and we load up a platter to take with us out onto the dock. We get an hour or two to ourselves while the boys sleep in. It is a pleasure to just sit out on the dock and watch the world go by, maybe feeding some crusts to the duck that lives across the river. It is the property of the "islenas" (read "cajuns" or "hillbillies") that live across the way, and they sit on their dock and watch us. One morning the Panderia- bread boat , came by and we were able to purchase some alfajores and empanadas as a treat. It's an unusual way for us to live, knowing we have limited food supplies and unless we catch the boat we either go without or take the 4 hour trip back into the Tigre. 

Our two hour breakie! 

We wake up the boys to start their day and have our second breakfast of eggs. Breakfast is not a particularly important or healthy meal down here so we like to augment the local diet. By the time that is done, we are all ready for the first swim of the day. Nobody else will go into the water until Remy has jumped in to scare away whatever toothy creatures the imagination has populated the water with. It is not difficult, as the combination of jungle fauna and the cafe au lait consistency of the water which allows no visibility easily leads one to picture crocodiles, snapping turtles and piranhas under the surface. The only things we have seen pulled from the river are small crabs and fish, some of which we were able to sample one day. The dock, depending on the state of the tide, is anywhere from two to six feet above the water, and Bowen has managed to perfect his front flip and swan dive, all from the top rail of the guard built around the dock. Remy, who has tried both, has not perfected either and has slapped himself quite hard on the surface of the water a number of times. Hollis has incorporated parkour into his leaps from the dock and even Liz has jumped in a number of times. Bowen has proven that he can swim across the river quite handily as well.

Bowens front flip

Other activities which eat up days include hide and seek, which the local boys play endlessly, reading, swimming in the pool (the river is probably a cleaner body of water), walking around the property, boating on the arroyo, sitting on the dock or laying in one of the hammocks. We have lunch around 4:00 PM, with a stout, then cocktails and snacks around 7:00 PM before supper. Supper is included, along with the breakfast, and is generally quite good, if somewhat short on vegetables. The appetizer is usually the best part of the meal, though the ravioli we had which had been purchased from the bakery boat that morning was a treat. We supply our own wine, and the high point is always the ice cream for dessert. A pirated movie played on the DVD player in the cabana usually rounds out the day and we all fall into bed after midnight.

Remy purchasing Empanadas and alfajores for a treat from the floating bakery

Alfajores- shortbread type cookies filled with Dulce de leche ( caramel)

A couple of times throughout the day, the boys like to do a "boil up" of mate, for which all the boys (and especially Hollis) have developed quite a taste. It is a type of stimulant, so we have learned to cut Bowen off early in the afternoon or else he bounces off the walls all night. It makes for a nice ritual, and the smoky taste of the herb is reminiscent of enjoying a good Scotch or smoking a pipe, without the residual effects the following morning. It will be interesting to see if the habit continues when we return home. Remy loves the paraphernalia associated with the mate culture, and could easily outfit himself with a dozen different cups and bombillas- metal straws/ sieve

It's mate time

Altogether, it has been a wonderfully relaxing time. Remy has not worn a watch in six days, and we worry sometimes that we might stay a day late and miss our flight home. There has been no internet connection, either, which has made it easy to get the boys outside. We are finding, as our stay draws to an end, that we are slightly bored, which we acknowledge we will look back on with fondness after we have reintegrated into the daily routine back home. Certainly for Remy and Liz, our time spent sitting on the dock will be a "happy place" to which we will retreat when such a place is required.

-Remy

It is important to note that for me the New Year didn't start out exactly as I had hoped. The 4 women staying in the cabana next to ours left their big barking dog outside all night. About 4am I was awakened by the sound and went over to knock on their door to ask nicely and in my very limited Spanish if they could please take the dog inside. My presence made the dog bark even louder and probably woke EVERYONE up in the entire resort!  A short while later the dog was outside again which made me really pissed and it's hard to be mad when you can't speak the language. A brief conversation took place where I pleaded" Por Favour" and" Nino's!!, tranquil" as if to tell her my kids were sleeping and we wanted some quiet. The boys heard ALL of this and have teased me endlessly since about my lack of Spanish skills.That's ok, the dog was brought inside for the night and for the next two nights and we all slept soundly.

`

~ Liz

Bowens new friends

New Years Eve 2010 - Tigre River Delta, Rio Manso resort

New Years Eve- Tigre river delta

We made the fatal mistake of arriving at our resort without enough actual pesos to pay our bill for our accommodations. We don't have many frustrations about travel in South America but not being able to pay for a hotel with Visa is a BIG one especially when you combine that with the fact that the maximum withdrawl amount from the ATM is $250 ( 1000 pesos) per withdrawl  per day that comes with a bank charge of $4. Apparently there is a shortage of paper money in Argentina so they limit the amount available which of course is why most places want payment in cash.

$900 is a lot of money to be carrying around for days at a time. Our plan was to get to another bank machine before the boat arrived but it arrived on time and in the flurry of activity to haul our provisions and our mountain of luggage onto the top of the boat we didn't have enough time to wander the streets looking for an ATM.We reasoned that they must  accept Visa at our resort or they would have said "no Visa" when we made the reservation, right? If not then one of us will take the 3 hr journey back into Tigre in the next few days to get some cash and more provisions should we need them.

Here are a few more shots of our beautiful resort. There are parrots flying around here!!! Green parrots like the kind for sale in the pet store. How cool is that?

Today is the day for some adventure. I will go into town with Hollis to get what we need. We caught the 12:40 Launcha - river boat collectivo, expecting to be back around 4:30 pm. Remy and Bowen will have lunch ready for our arrival!  WRONG again!  The trip back into town on the boat was nearly 3 hours in itself. We toured up and down many arms of this fantastic river delta picking up passengers heading into Tigre. Once in Tigre we completed our errands in record time- Hollis has been a fantastic help on these expeditions. He has a chance to use his Spanish which is coming along quite well and he is confident enough to go off in a different direction inside the store to get 1/2 the supplies while I got the other half. 

Here are some shots of the interesting mix of houses along the many rivers we traveled on today

Our launcha home eventually went off in a different direction than I expected which made me very nervous about where exactly we were going. With several dozen boats at the dock all collecting hundreds of passengers it would be easy to hop on the wrong one and end up miles from our intended destination. I worried for about an hour  about how we would get to our resort, Rio Manso, and about how freaked out Remy and Bowen would be that we were so late. The boat was too full of people to ask the captain if we were on the right boat so I just waited.............not easy for me to do!  Check out the many rings on this woman!

Here is a man drinking mate on the boat. Little did I know I'd be having lunch with him 2 days later!

We finally arrived home at 8:30 pm.  Remy and Bowen were there on the dock waiting to greet us just like all the other passengers had family waiting as they departed!  Dinner would be served on the beach around 10pm tonight so we had lots of time to relax and shower up for the end of the year party. After dinner on the patio the boys set up their big fireworks display on the beach.  Three young boys, including the owners son, joined in and between the 5 of them kept us all entertained  with explosions of color over the river until well after 1am. For our boys this was better than Christmas!!  Our New Years resolution was to try to spend as many of our future New Years Parties with our feet in the sand.

~Liz

Dec 29- Train trip from Buenos Aires to Tigre River Delta

Dec 29  Tigre We have landed in paradise!........Let me start from the beginning,

We left our hotel in downtown Mendoza with a plan to get on the 7:30 pm bus for  the 12 hour overnight trip to Buenos Aires where we would then get on another bus headed for Mar del Plata ( 5 hrs away) and hang out on the beach for the last week of our journey. I suddenly became concerned that perhaps the beach on the Atlantic in Argentina would be the same as it was on the Pacific in Chile- cool, breezy,  sometimes foggy and not at all how I wanted to spend my last week of travels. I bought the perfect bathing suit and had not yet been able to wear it! I suggested to Remy that perhaps we go elsewhere or stay in BA where at least it was hot and if we could find a place with a pool the boys would be happy too. Given that we had already spent 5 hours searching the internet looking  for accommodations during the busiest holiday of the year I deserved the look I received from him.  BUT..... we haven't been through 20 happy years of marriage for nothing, he knew we should change locations too  but just didn't want to face the seemingly impossible task of finding an alternate. Together we would conquer!

We arrived in BA quite bedraggled and bleary eyed from a restless night on the luxury bus. The sleeping pill and the 1/2 bottle of wine had little or no effect on me at all- mental note- get proper sleeping pills from Canada next time we travel. Do not depend on broken Spanish at the pharmacy of all places, goodness knows what it was that they gave me. The boys were chipper though and were very patient as we inquired, searched the internet, read our guide book and then finally our angel was sent to us. The man at the bus station suggested Tigre for it's river delta, beautiful scenery, wildlife, cabana type accommodation and tranquility. It's located just one hour north by train  is a favorite destination of portenos- Buenos Aires locals. A quick search 

on the internet gave us a list of about 20 resorts to choose from. One Skype call later and we were booked in at the Rio Manso. For $900 for 6 nights we had a place to stay with a pool a little kitchen and breakfast and dinner included. This would be where we would ring in the New Year!!!

Here is the river boat loaded with supplies for the 1.5 hr journey to our resort:

** Interesting observation- it is NOT possible to buy wine from any other country in Chile or Argentina. They both export all over the world but neither appear to import, not even from each other.

After an uneventful train trip north we were in Tigre. A beautiful small town located on the river Parana . We shopped for supplies then boarded the beautiful river boat for the final leg of our bus, train, boat trip. We were totally out of place with our mountain of luggage but it didn't seem to matter. All our stuff including boxes of wine and loaves of bread were tossed onto the roof of the small cruiser and we were off. The huge delta  is unlike anything either of us has ever experienced. The large river splits off into tiny tributaries much like the veins on a leaf.  Houses of all descriptions from mansions to tin shacks dot the river banks. All have a wooden dock that allows the owners to jump off the river cruiser to their own property.

1.5 hours later we arrived at the dock of our small resort. Everything is perfect! We have a small cabana built on stilts to ourselves, a pool outside our door, a river for the boys to play in, lots of space for them to light fireworks off in,  a canoe and kayak to explore and best of all... it's HOT. I plan to live in my new bikini!! I shudder to think we nearly ended up in some 4 star hotel in the big city with a pool that was 10 floors or more below our room. This just reinforces for me the notion that EVERYTHING happens for a reason. 

~Liz

December 28- last day in Mendoza

It was a strange start to the day. Our checkout was 10am and our request for a later checkout was refused as the room was booked for the next guests. However, breakfast was either at 8:30 or 10:30am. We chose 10:30  because we needed the extra sleep for the long journey ahead. We got ourselves all packed up and brought our luggage to the front desk to be checked in. Turns out breakfast is served in the room- our room! So... off we go back to our room to wait. What about the 10am checkout? oh well. We get served a scrumptious if not very nutritionally great breakie of croissants, cookies, juice and  thin coffee... lots of white starchy stuff- the usual.

Next we were off to the market to pick up a few last minute things. We found this cute little thing all curled up like it was sleeping. I should have asked how much it was.

This image has given me nightmares

You can buy ham 1000 ways here in Argentina. The dried kind is our favorite! Proscuitto, proscuitto everywhere! 

Even though the market is one of our favorite places to be in any country we decided to hail a taxi and see the aquarium. Other than the giant sea turtle named George, it was a bit like visiting any slightly decrepit  pet store back home. The Giant toad in all its stages of development was kinda cool too.

Hollis and Bowen are all stocked up on fireworks to let off on the beach for New Years. These temporary stores have popped up everywhere and judging by the  brisk business, New Years Eve will be a noisy and smoky affair in this country. Fireworks weren't allowed in Chile which made the boys "hate that country" so we hope this purchase will lift their spirits.

A quick trip into the Art and Cultural Center was a nice respite from the heat and an opportunity to check out some cool art made entirely of spoons.

The boys were stoked to get the luxury treatment on the bus again. Turns out we had the same hostess as we did on the trip coming to Mendoza. What a hard job she has especially when two giggly Canadian boys are aboard! It was an uneventful trip. We were served ham 4 ways (again) and a bunch of cheap alcohol ( again). Our hotel is fantastic! 2 bathrooms and a separate bedroom- yahoo!

~ Liz

Dec 28- travel day from Chile to Mendoza City

The 28th saw us awake at the ungodly hour of 6:00 AM in order to be at the bus station in time for the day long bus trip back to Mendoza. The trip was far less eventful than our entry into Chile, with no mechanical breakdowns and little delay at the border. We still had to face the ludicrous experience of lining up with all the other passengers for the wicket to be signed out of Chile by their border police, and then line up again to attend the wicket right beside it in order to be signed in by Argentine customs. Heaven forbid that the two, who were literally seated beside each other in the same office, should be able to deal with each passenger simultaneously. It is not like there could be any other country that one would be leaving and/or entering!

We checked into out apartment hotel in Mendoza, which was a luxury of living space after having spent the past week living the four of us in about 120 square feet. Unfortunately, the hotel staff were slightly useless and unable to slow down the  tremendous rate at which their highly inflected Argentine was spoken, even when asked. we did receive a very good restaurant recommendation from them, however, and had excellent Italian food at a nice restaurant downtown (where we felt distinctly under-dressed especially once we learned that Brad Pitt and Gweneth Paltrow had once eaten there. We have the day to kill tomorrow before we take the long trip to Buenos Aires tomorrow night, which we will spend picking up some final souvenirs. It's HOT here and we love it. Hollis has a new way to fend off the heat!

-Remy

Dec 25, 26 and 27 Vina del Mar, Chile

Dec 25, 26 and 27- Vina del Mar, Valparaiso, Concon and travel to Mendoza.

Christmas Day was a marked departure from the routine at home in that the boys actually slept in, knowing not to expect any big gifties from Santa this go-around. They were still greeted with hiking socks stuffed with candy which Santa had managed to sneak into the room overnight. After the usual leisurely breakfast, we filled our water bottles, packed clothing and umbrellas for every weather contingency, and struck off north up the beach. We had committed to spending Christmas Day on the beach, and that was what we were going to do.

It was fun to pick out all the new Christmas gifts being tried out for the first time along the malecon. New bicycles, rollerblades and radio controlled vehicles abounded, the southern corollaries of the new tobaggans, ice skates and skis found under the tree at home. We had set out on what was to become an epic foot journey from the south end of Vina del Mar to the beach town of Renaca. We had passed through Renaca a couple of times on various bus trips and liked the beach vibe there. Various people we had spoken with had all told us that it was not a long walk to get there there, usually citing times of about 1 1/2 hours. We now realize that we were likely the victims of either   inexactitude or boastfulness on the part of our informants, as the walk took us most of the day. Here is a neat sand sculpture of Mary, Joseph and the three wise men.

Today was significant in that the many difficulties explaining to Bowen how Santa would be able to visit anyone in the southern hemisphere has finally led to his having an adult understanding of the actual situation. He is no longer the young child that he has heretofore been. He is becoming a smart aleck just like his brother.

There was a lot going on along the beach, but with a conspicuous lack of food. All the food stands served junk (churros and the like) and the one actual sit-down place we found only served the deep-fried empanadas that seem to be favoured on the coast. Bowen signed up to do the bungee jump, which was fun until his crotch lost feeling, and both boys  allowed themselves to be zipped into the "water balls", which they spun like hamsters until they had worked themselves into a steamy lather and ran out of breath.

Here is a post from Bowen about today:

Today we went to the beach. we all had a great time but it was a long walk to get there(we walked for over 5 hours). me and hollis had a lot of fun using the air filled balls. what you do is the people fill the ball up with air and its a big ball then you get in and they push the ball into a pool and you try to stand up but you fall down really easy. me and hollis got good at it but with the glaring sun it gets hot in there and if you try to run like a hamster you start to breath really heavy and it gets hard to breath. but before that i tried  the bungie it was really fun then i tried to do a backflip... it was really easy but then... i tried to do a double backflip i was so close i did the first one then i still had 6 or 7 feet of air and i went for the next one .. i got soooooooo close but i landed on my head. i was fine and it was fun.

~Bowen

The boys made an attempt to go into the water at one point, but the ferocious surf and the incredibly chilly water temperature, delivered straight from the Antarctic thanks to the Humboldt Current, repelled them. We had to whip them like mules to keep going as we made our way along the incredibly beautiful oceanside walkway. Finally, after about six hours on foot, we reached Renaca, where Mom and Dad pickled themselves on pisco sours while the boys wrestled on the beach.

The following day, Sunday the 27th, saw us on the train back to Valparaiso to catch the flea market. It was truly one of the greatest collections of junk we had ever encountered, with throngs of people necessitating that we keep our bags close for fear of a repeat pick pocketing. After a few minor purchases and some pretty good street food, we caught the bus up  one of the cerros to Pablo Neruda's house. It is a museum dedicated to this Chilean poet, thinker and national hero. He was a Marxist who heavily influenced and advised Salvador Allende. Along with General San Martin, who led the Army of the Andes in liberating Chile, Argentina and Peru from Spanish rule, these three form the big three heroes of modern Chilean culture.

Having heard from a number of people that the seafood culture in Concon was a must-do to experience, Liz and Remy sent the boys back to the B&B to watch a movie while the parents had a date. We rode the bus up the beautiful coastal highway to Concon, where a request to the driver had us dropped off right in front of the the restaurant, La Gatita. It was telling that this particular establishment had a line up outside and a waiting list inside, while all the other restaurants nearby were nearly empty. We waited our turn and were finally admitted inside for what was to be one of the best seafood meals either of us had ever had. There was nothing fancy about it, just really fresh ingredients prepared well. There was a real buzz in the restaurant, as it was apparent everybody else there appreciated the food as much as we did. After another pisco sour and a bottle of wine, we wobbled back to the B&B on the bus. We cooked up our last BBQ that night and shared with the boys a package of crab claws we had bought at La Gatita, surf and turf a la Chileno.

~ Remy

December 24- Christmas Eve in Vina del Mar- Chile

It was hard for all of us to wrap our minds around the fact that today was Christmas Eve. We were so far removed from the hustle and bustle that is typical of Christmas back home and we were out wearing t -shirts and shorts! It was sunny this morning which is unusual in Vina del Mar at at this time of the year. Most mornings have been overcast and so foggy that you can actually feel the wet on your skin even though it's not raining.  The temp usually hovers around 19c - 25 c when the sun comes out in the afternoon. The boys were very excited about the upcoming party knowing that ALL  of the guests of Casa Del Sol B&B would be attending. We have raised some die hard social butterflies who were missing the usual party circuit we are lucky enough to be a part of at home.

Ninfa- our host and her 3 friends from Santiago were organizing the whole evening by purchasing food, wine and pisco to make pisco sours! (Liz's new favorite cocktail) It's a combination of Pisco, massive amounts of lemon juice, sugar and egg white. The best way to describe it is like the South American equivalent of the margarita but served in a champagne glass- Yummy and powerful.

We ventured back to Valpariaso today for the boat tour of the harbor. It was there we met Sasha, an Israeli who had just finished his conscripted military service and was now traveling  for 6 months. He accompanied us on the 1/2 hr boat trip captained by Leonardo on his craft he named I LOVE JENNIFER. He also owned 2 other boats named "I LOVE LISA and I LOVE ANALISA - obviously a ladies man. All three sported spray painted Canadian flags so when our captain found out WE were Canadian he got even more animated and friendly.

Our tour  gave us close up views of the military ships, sea lions and an awesome view of "his Valpariaso"

Dinner is late here and tonight was no exception. We didn't even start to prepare until 8pm. All 18 or so of us pitched in while the family from Santiago prepared the parilla. The boys opened small gifts from us at midnight and the party continued till about 2:30 am. We kinda like this Chilean tradition because it means a good sleep in the next morning! It was a very memorable party for all of us and for the first time the boys weren't moaning about not spending Christmas at home.

~Liz