Argentina & Ecuador 2024

  We spent today wandering the foreshore near the Port of Ushuaia and organising boat trips and bus trips for the coming days.  There has been fresh snow falls on the hills around Ushuaia and the wind when it blows is biting - which ever way it comes from it blows across snow! There were lots of birds by the water and Steve is also seeing plenty near our apartment.  He will put some photos up soon.  I have some photos from in town and along the water. Steve beside a railing covered in knitting in the Argentine flag's colours.  There was plenty of 'yarn bombing' happening. The sky was not always that blue but worth capturing when it was. The new building was built around this old one. A man and his dog near the Maritime Museum School uniform of grey box pleat tunic and maroon tie is the same as we wore at Wodonga State school nearly 60 years ago! More fresh snow, this time looking south. Dolphin Gull and Southern Lapwing - hopefully more and better birds to come

  We've had our first of 3 short stays in Buenos Aires.  This time we stayed in a B&B in Belgrano, a leafy suburb where there are many embassies including the Australian.  It was a great (and safe!) place to walk around and there was a lake near a golf course which was excellent for birds.  I especially liked the Black-necked Swans.  We did all the 'housekeeping' things we had to do - getting Argentine SIMs for our phones and pesos to pay for the little items where we can't use credit cards.  The biggest Argentine note is only 1,000 pesos - a bit less than 1US dollar.  This is not good for shopping! Even dinner in a restaurant would mean counting out 20 to 30 notes.  Luckily use of VISA and Mastercard is widespread (unlike Tanzania which also has low value bank notes) and tourists getter a good deal on currency exchange. We are now in Ushuaia, Patagonia for a few days.  We have gone from temperatures in the 30s to cold and rain and 6 degr...

 The flights all went well and our luggage arrived with us.  Flying over the Andes was spectacular!  The photos are taken with Steve's phone from the seat second from the window.  I don't know if the view is always so great - there may often be cloud though maybe not as it so dry! We're now in Buenos Aires and will spend today getting organised with pesos and phone SIMs. Tomorrow we fly to Patagonia. The Bird Count for Chile through the airport window was 1 - the Chimango Caracara - plus a feral pigeon. This morning from the apartment balcony the Argentine list is at 3!  Plus several more yet to be identified.

  Practicing touristing in Melbourne this afternoon.  It was a glorious sunny day, perfect for enjoying the Royal Botanic Gardens and environs. We fly to Buenos Aires via Santiago de Chile tomorrow.

 

 Steve and Jenny are heading for Buenos Aires on 20 Feb 2024 for 8 weeks of exploring / hiking / birding over the length and breadth of Argentina, cloud forest in Ecuador and the eastern Galápagos Islands.  We'll put our best photos and commentary here for you, our family and friends, to enjoy.  Please send us feedback - we'll love to hear from you!