Argentina & Chile Recap

Between these two countries, we spent a wild 7 weeks in the southern section of the continent. These two countries had a very distinct feel compared to the Andean countries we had been visiting previous. Historically, Chile and Argentina have a much more European population compared to Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, which is probably the reason why.

The diversity in landscapes across this massive strethc of land is astronomical. To the north lies the Atacama desert a barren red scarred desolate landscape and the Argentine northers Andes, a stretch of colourful jagged rock. The south has two-tone mountain peaks and massive glaciers. Adn in between are expansives of flat agriculture and forestry landscape.

The food was wonderful too. Right away with the introduction of pil-pil sauce we knew we were in for something special. Then the Asado steaks, ginger lemonade and all sorts of creations came out after it. The food collectively was amazing, and a welcome change from the more monotonous cuisines of the Andean countries.

As alwasy there were a ot of things that we loved, and a few that we didn’t. Here are hits and misses for the continent.

Hits
These all made us really happy.

Street DAWWWWWWWGS
In Salta, they have Super Pancho’s, a long hot dog in a warm bun topped with your choice of 20 or so sauces, and hickory sticks. These went for about a buck a pop, and were served out of little holes in the walls downtown. A great deal, and pretty good tasting as well.

Steak
The steak and meat culture of Argentina was fantastic. Always cooked to a proper temperature, well seasoned, the steaks were always good. The Asado lamb (roast over an open fire) was always wonderful too. Nice smoky flavors were always encorperated.

Cordoba’s Tango Night
A great culture moment for us. Public tango dancing in a square in Cordoba, with Cam and I trying to learn on the side by copying. Many dancers then came up to us to help try and teach us how to tango. We felt very welcomed from this night in Cordoba, and even though we have a long way to go in our dancing shoes, we will always have the best way to start our tango journey.

Buenos Aires
The most logistically sound city we have ever seen. Great public transportation. Clean. Busy. Beautiful parks. Great food. This really is our favorite city, and we would love to come back just to exist in it.

Penguins
Thee little Magellan penguins had so much personality while we observed them in the Beagle Channel. From a little scrap to a chaotic waddle down the hill, the buggers really were enjoyable to watch. They are so adorable and full of life.

O-Trek
An 8 day masterclass of a trek, this was a journey. In the Torres del Paine National Park, we got to see massive glaciers, beautiful unique mountaintops and met some wnonderful people on the way. The final day felt like aproper accomplishment, putting the cherry on top of a fantastic week inthe wilderness.

Perito Moreno Glacier
One of the most visually striking things we have seen this whole trip. A massive glavcier wall up close. Plus we got to see it calve! A really cool day and sight to see.

Iguazu Falls
The most fake looking thing we have seen this trip were the Iguazu falls. They just looked too perfect. The two tiers of thinderous water crashing down around rocks and islands, mist everywhere, and even a boat ride underneath. Great times.

Misses
It was pretty smooth sailing for us down here. But as always, there were a coupe issues we ran into.

Argentina’s Inflation and Economy Problems
As tourists, we have it much better than the locals do. There is no getting around that. Any complaining we do here, the locals have it worse. But it was such a pain in the ass having to figure out a method to get cash every 2 days or so for an exchange rate that wouldn’t bankrupt us. Something that we never want to deal again. We hope they get it figured out

Graham’s Knee
Why did I have to injure it right before all of our hiking!!! Shoutout to my physio Basit for accepting my call and helping me with exercises to get us through.

Thats really it! Below are some of our favorite photo’s from our time in the Patagonia countries.