| Argentina |
| Argentina is a very popular destination and it stands out from the rest of South America because it has a large European population. This large country and has everything from the highest mountains in the Americas to miles of beaches and rainforests to the sub-antarctic. The capital Buenos Aires is known for its European style, theaters and tango dances, plus plenty of nightlife to keep you entertained. |
| On the left is a photo of a large plaza in Buenos Aires. Plazas are common in South America, and usually major cities have dozens of them every few blocks or so. Most people come here to take a walk, bathe in the sun, or flirt like the couple on the right. Public displays of affection are very common here, its difficult to walk a few blocks with out seeing a couple making out in broad daylight. |
| During my first trip, I spent most of my time in the southern part of Argentina. The weather in the southern part is pretty consistent staying around 50F in the summer and about 35F in the winter time at sea level. On the left is a photo of a creek flowing down a narrow valley in the mountains. Below is a photo of the city Ushuaia taken from a mountain I had hiked up. Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world. |
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| The pictures above are both of the rivers and fjords surrounding Ushuaia. In the background is the country Chile on the left picture. The last pictures below are of some more hiking I did outside of Ushuaia. On the left is a grassy field with some dead trees in it. On the right is some strange moss growing on rocks in the higher elevations of a mountain. |
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| Argentina Links |
| I have made two trips to Argentina, the first time I only took a few photos of the capital even though I stayed here for several days. Buenos Aires is known for its European style, but I had assumed that this was only with the buildings. I was surprised to find many people in Buenos Aires still have strong ties to Europe, meaning you'll come across blondes and redheads who American or European but only speak Spanish! On the right is a large obelisk built in 1936 that celebrated the 400th anniversary of Buenos Aires. On the left a government building called the pink house. Two political parties, one red and one white combine to make pink. |
| These pictures above are both from the city of Mendoza. Above on the left is a upper class theater located in Independence Plaza, on the right is a five star hotel that is also found in Independence Plaza. |
| In addition to the typical nightlife found in the rest of Argentina, Mendoza is also a very green city where outdoor sports are popular. When I was flying over Mendoza, I could see the city roads were arranged in blocks. Almost all of the streets here are lined with trees, so when my flight began to land all I could see where buildings with green boxes around them. Above are two photos of the shops and tree lined streets in Mendoza. On the left shows the main shopping district of Mendoza, where street performers gather and you can fine all sorts of stores and cafes. On the right is a ski and snowboard rental shop that is probably closed for the season, even though there are many permanent glaciers and snow fields high up in the mountains. |
| Local hiking around Ushuaia has a large variety of scenery and wildlife. On the left is a horse passing by a field, while on the right a large hawk passes by some mountainous terrain. |
| Hiking uphill will take you past some thick forests that cover the mountainous terrain. I saw a lot of species of birds here including a woodpecker that I wasn't able to capture with my camera. Being this far south, it doesn't take long at all to reach the first patches of snow and eventually a glacier like the one I came across on the right. |
| Here are some more photos of people from Argentina. You can see that they can easily pass as Europeans or Americans, and look completely different from people in northern countries such as Peru or Colombia. |
| Welcome to the city of Mendoza! I came here for the sole purpose of climbing Mt. Aconcagua and expected it to be a small rural village among the mountains. Surprisingly, Mendoza is Argentina's fourth largest city, and on top of that it is a popular tourist destination. Many people travel here for the wine tasting in the summer and for skiing and snowboarding in the Andes mountains during the winter. On the left is a photo of the governor's mansion in the city center. In almost every restaurant you pass, you'll see people drinking wines with their meals at all hours of the day. On the right is a picture of a common entrance for Mendoza restaurants, where the walls are stacked with wine. |
| A few hours drive from Mendoza or anywhere along the western border of Argentina will put you into the Andes Mountains. The Andes mountains are an extremely long chain and are the second highest in the world. The mountains give lots of activities for outdoor and nature enthusiasts such as simple hiking and walking to mountain climbing and white water rafting. Click here for photos from my Mt. Aconcagua climb, South America's highest peak. On the left is a photo of a valley with a river running through it in the dry season. On the right is a photo of a permanent snow covered peak that must be over 15,000 feet or 5,000 meters. |
| When I visited Argentina both times it was their summer. You can tell from the photos above it looks pretty hot and dry, and in February it was about 30C in the ski resort of Pentientes. On the left is a photo of Pentientes itself, in the winter everything is completely covered in snow. On the right is a sign of the ski trails for travelers in the winter. |
| Post a question or add a comment about traveling in Argentina. |