South American Adventures 2024: Argentina, Uruguay and Chile!

 

On my trip to Antarctica, an unforeseen situation arose and I was left with 2 weeks before the departure date of the next available cruise ship. Rather than spend the entire time in Ushuaia, I made a last minute decision to explore 3 cities in 3 South American countries - Buenos Aires (Argentina), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Santiago (Chile). 

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Buenos Aires (BA), the capital of Argentina was a huge surprise in every respect. The main international airport which is about 30km from downtown Buenos Aires was very modern and comparable to international airports in developed countries. The most surprising thing about BA was the sheer size of the city. I had the privilege of being allocated a room on the 39th floor of a hotel in the downtown district and the views were breath-taking with urban sprawl in every direction!  

Argentina is the world's largest consumer of beef and it was easy to see why! I am not proud of it but I ate more beef within a couple of days in BA than I had done in the entire previous year! Beef was the primary component of the menu in almost every restaurant in the city (perhaps the worst city to be vegan). While this will obviously be enticing for many tourists, I thought the city lacked the culinary diversity that one would usually expect for an international city of its size. 

I spent a lot of time walking the streets of downtown BA which was thankfully laid out in a grid pattern hence it is quite difficult to get lost. In a large square in downtown BA is a huge Obelisk, Obelisco de Buenos Aires, constructed in 1938 to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city. It is a major landmark and probably the most iconic symbol of the city. Around the monument on either side of the busy road, were a number of outdoor bars and I stumbled on a Tango performance. The Tango dance is perhaps Argentina's most notable cultural export and attending a tango show is one of the highly recommended activities to do when in BA. 

Apart from the Downtown area where I spent most of my time in BA, there are a number of neighbourhoods each with its own unique character. Just a short walk form the downtown area of BA is Puerto Madero, a newly regenerated neighbourhood near the port which has new modern skyscrapers and a nice riverside walk. There is a huge ecological reserve on the bank of Rio de la Plata which is perhaps BA's largest green space. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the inside of the park as it was not open to the public at the time of my visit. Another neighbourhood to consider visiting is Palermo, a high-brow part of BA which has swanky restaurants, bars and the likes.

While in BA, I realised that it was possible to visit Uruguay by taking a ferry across the Rio de la Plata, a river which empties into the Atlantic Ocean and borders the two countries. To get to Montevideo from Buenos Aires, there are 2 ferry options; a fast service which goes directly to Montevideo and a slower (and cheaper) service which goes to Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay) and the onward journey to Montevideo is by bus. Due to certain considerations, I decided to visit Chile first as there was a direct flight to Santiago from BA. The flight itself was not pleasant. I had a "window" seat at the back of the aircraft (38A) with no window thereby missing the view of the Andes mountains; I made sure this did not happen on the return flight!

Santiago, Chile.

As previously mentioned, this trip was absolutely unplanned, I just wanted to figure things out as I went along. Santiago was again a huge surprise (I guess I did not really know what to expect anyway). It was a very picturesque city with the Andes mountains forming a scenic backdrop! I would also discover that Chile has the highest Human Development Index (HDI) of any South American country and is even a member of the OECD - just some of the amazing facts you learn from travelling!  Refreshingly, unlike BA, I found Santiago far more diverse both in terms of the population and its culinary experiences. It was interesting to note that Santiago has a significant Black Chilean population as well as a considerable number of migrant workers from Haiti and even some African countries. I had a hilarious encounter at a restaurant where I was unable to communicate effectively in Spanish; the waiter went into the kitchen and returned with a Haitian lady to speak to me in Haitian Creole which I absolutely did not understand! I however manged to get the message across in my rudimentary French. 

I stayed in Providencia, a nice part of Santiago which was a few minutes' walk to Costanera, a major shopping complex with Chile's tallest building (and the tallest in South America). The hotel itself was very nice with a rooftop pool offering great views of the city. Santiago generally had a liveable feel to it with many green spaces, parks and walkable streets. The largest of the city's parks is Santiago Metropolitan Park (Parquemet), which has a number of hiking trails, a Japanese garden, cable car and a statue of the Holy Mary overlooking the city. I did a hike up the mountain to the statue of Mary on a very hot summer day but it was well worth the effort! The views at the top of the hill was a great reward for the hike. It also offered an opportunity to see different parts of the city including the less salubrious parts. 

My next adventure in Santiago was to visit the central/downtown area and the destination was Saint Lucia Park which has some colonial architecture and a viewing platform that offers 360-degree views of the city. I also read about the Bio-Bio Market and decided to walk from the Central area to visit the market. Despite online travel guides advising against visiting certain parts of Santiago, I felt quite safe in the city and had no qualms walking around to these places. On my way to Bio Bio Market, I spotted the Basilica de los Sacramentinos, which had a very striking resemblance to The Sacre Coeur in Paris!

One of the must-visit neighbourhoods in Santiago is Bellavista, a hippy area with a large number of quirky buildings, bars, clubs and restaurants, essentially the centre of Santiago's nightlife! If, like me, you are an admirer of architecture and murals, you will also find Bellavista an absolute treat.

On my penultimate day in Chile, I decided to venture out of Santiago to visit an attraction that I had always wanted to see for myself; the world's largest swimming pool (which I thought it was at the time)! I rented a car for one day and as if I knew what would happen later, I took out full insurance cover. The drive to San Alfonso del Mar in Algarrobo, a seaside resort town just over 100km from Santiago was smooth for the most part with many of the tolls on the highway being taken via an automatic chip reader. I made a silly mistake and followed the road signs to San Antonio instead of San Alfonso and ended up driving back several kilometres! There wasn't much to see in San Antonio; essentially a port city without much for tourists. Algarrobo, on the other hand, had all the usual tourist traps you would expect from a seaside resort town; from overpriced restaurants to souvenir shops. I found my way to the San Alfonso del Mar Estate which has the huge swimming pool. Unfortunately, the use of the pool was exclusively for residents of the estate but visitors were allowed to walk around the pool and dine at the restaurant. It was not clear if it was possible to stay in one of the apartments as a short-let as it was not available on any of the major travel websites. In any case, only small sections of the massive pool were actually for swimming. Most of it was for kayaking, sail boating etc. At the time of writing this post, I realised that a much bigger swimming pool in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt had been completed in 2015, making San Alfonso del Mar's the 2nd largest swimming pool in the world, still worth a visit though!

I initially planned to visit Valparaiso, Chile's second city, which is not far from Algarobbo but as it was already late in the day, I shelved the plan and made my way back to the hotel in Santiago. The drive was not eventful and I simply parked the rented car just outside the hotel overnight. Being a well-to-do neighbourhood, I thought this would be fine. The following morning, I checked out of the hotel and made my way to the car only to discover that the side mirrors had been neatly removed and taken away! A nearby security guard said that some guy went around stealing mirrors form cars the previous night and advised parking in a secure car park in the future! I wondered why he did not do anything to stop the thief or at least raise an alarm?! That was the unfortunate end to my otherwise pleasant trip to Santiago. I had enjoyed every other bit of the visit and felt safe (contrary to warnings on websites). Fortunately, thanks to my decision to take out full cover with zero liability, I returned the car and did not have to pay for the replacement. Needless to say that the drive (without side mirrors) all the way to the airport was very, very interesting!

The next plan was to fly to Montevideo. This time, I ensured that my window seat actually had a window! The early morning flight over the Andes mountains would be one of the most beautiful views I had ever seen from the window of an aircraft!

Montevideo, Uruguay.

Montevideo airport was very nice and modern. I believe it had just been upgraded to enhance the experience of visitors to the country. There was an automated passport reader and I don't remember having to report to to an Immigration desk to have my passport stamped by an Immigration Officer. The entire process through immigration took less than 5 minutes!

Uruguay, despite being one of the smallest countries in South America is home to many firsts. It was the first country to host the FIFA world cup and has a tradition of being more progressive than its Latin-American neighbours. For example, Uruguay (not the Netherlands or Canada) was the first country to legalize the recreational use of cannabis!  

At the time of my visit, there was a month-long Carnival which is believed to be the world's longest. I was definitely in the mood for some carnival vibes however, most of the events were ticketed and held in small venues around the city. There were a few street parties which were open and I was able to attend one. I was really looking forward to Candombe, a dance performance with strong African roots, maintained since the days of slavery. I was actually pleasantly surprised to discover that Montevideo has a black population and Afro-Uruguayans appear to be very proud of their heritage. 

The city of Montevideo itself was a bit rugged and some of the buildings in the city centre were in a state of disrepair. Despite this, the city was safe and I had no issues walking around even late at night. The most notable landmarks were around Plaza Independencia, a large square in the centre of the city which has a large equestrian statue of the founder of the Republic, General Jose Artigas, and an underground complex which houses his remains.  This can be visited by tourists at certain times of the day. The office of the President is one of the high rise buildings on the Square and unlike many similar countries, appeared quite accessible. 

Montevideo receives thousands of day visitors arriving on cruise ships and the port is just a short walk from the centre of the city. Along the coast, there is a long paved seaside walk which is great for jogging or just enjoying the cool sea breeze in the evenings. 

Outside of Montevideo, I hear the swanky place to visit is the seaside town of Punta del Este which is the home of many celebrities. I did not have a chance to visit this place during this trip. Definitely one to visit on my next trip!

For the return trip to buenos Aires, I took the Colonia Express Service; a bus ride to the town of Colonia and then a ferry ride across the river to Buenos Aires. Apart from the long queue at passport control at the terminal in Colonia, the trip was smooth and the entire journey took under 4 hours.

I definitely recommend visiting all three countries as they offer unique experiences; Argentina for Tango, Chile for the hikes and food, Uruguay for Candombe!