Things to do in Argentina when you’re………….married
Dec 18 – Jan 8
I have recently returned from 3 weeks in Argentina and had a really amazing time. Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to write day to day notes on birds seen etc. but I’ll begin with a few general bits and bobs.
This trip was not specifically for birding; it was in fact my honeymoon! My other half is not a birder and while being interested in seeing the more colourful species, the finer points of Acrocephalus or Spinetail ID still manage to elude her interest. So there wasn’t going to be stopping for every bird seen en route or lots of hanging around to coax out every skulker.
HOWEVER, this trip was going to be the acid test as to how much birding I was going to be able to get away with on future holidays so I was going to push the limits a little bit while obviously not wanting to return a single man!
It was my first time in South America (but not the neotropics) and so most birds were going to be new. Given that we weren’t visiting at the optimum time of year and that this was my honeymoon, my target was to hit the 200 species mark and to include as many new families as possible.
Basic itinerary:
17/12/06 Flew with Air Canada from London Heathrow via Toronto and Santiago (don’t ask) to Buenos Aires
18/12/06 – 20/12/06 Arrived in BA and did some sightseeing and had a morning at the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve
20/12/06 – 22/12/06 Flew with Aerolineas to El Calafate. Visited Perito Moreno Glacier and surrounding area.
22/12/06 – 26/12/06 Flew to Ushuaia. Visited Tierra del Fuego National Park, Martial Glacier and a boat trip down the Beagle Channel.
26/12/06 – 27/12/06 Flew back to BA and caught an overnight bus to Salta
27/12/06 – 01/01/07 Hired car and visited various sites at a range of altitudes in Salta province. Cafayate, Quilmes, Cachi all visited.
02/01/07 Overnight bus back to BA
03/01/07 Day in BA and another visit to Costanera Sur.
04/01/07 – 08/01/07 Flight to Puerto Iguazu and visits to the waterfalls and National Park
08/01/07 – 09/01/07 Flight from Puerto Iguazu to BA and then back to London via Santiago and Toronto.
Many thanks must go to Bird Forum staffer Fritz73 for his advice and input. The whole Salta bit of the trip was his idea. Thanks Fritz.
Weather
We visited in the height of summer. Temperatures varied massively with 5-10 degrees in the south with cold winds to 35-40 degrees and high humidity in the north. We even had snow on Christmas Eve, which was rather festive. There wasn’t much rain during our stay. We had one thunderstorm on our second night in BA and it rained during our first morning in Salta. Apart from that, it was dry. Neither of us suffered any problems with altitude but we only got to about 4200 metres. However, I did really notice the difference when walking uphill!!
Transport
We mainly used public transport (planes, buses and taxis) but hired a car for the five days of the Salta part of the trip. Driving was a little more hectic than the UK but generally fine. One interesting point to note is that on roundabouts, those entering have right of way, thereby making the whole point of roundabouts redundant! A vital recommendation from Fritz73 was that for the return bus trip from BA to Salta we should go “en cama”. This effectively is like flying business class; you pay extra but can fully recline and sleep. Much needed on a 20-hour trip.
People and language
Spanish is the official language but English is widely spoken at the more touristy places. However, I attempted to organise as much as possible in my broken Spanish and although it often took longer and in a couple of cases ending up with not the food I thought I had ordered being served, it felt all the better for having made the effort. We had no hassles at all during the trip, with pretty much everyone we met being friendly and helpful. We left with a good impression of Argentina as a diverse, interesting and friendly place to visit.
Money
The currency is the Peso but US$ are accepted at many places. We paid for things mainly in Pesos and used ATM machines to get cash, where Visa, Cirrus etc are accepted. It is useful to have some small coins handy for tipping people such as baggage handlers at bus stations.
Books
I took Birds of Chile by Jaramillo et al which is great for Tierra del Fuego and west Patagonia. I also took the Collins guide to the Birds of Southern South America. This has quite a few problems, with raptors and furnariids being especially poor. I ended up making lots of notes and then using my appropriate HBW volumes when I returned. However, this did cost me a couple of species as some of my descriptions weren’t quite good enough to clinch an ID. There is a new guide to the Birds of Argentina in the pipeline but it is a few years away I believe.
If anyone has any specific questions then please PM me.
Hi Martin,
And how did the Acid Test go. I can imagine her wanting to await your return lolling on a tepid beach somewhere while you are scaling Aconcagua to see the rare Flute-billed Icebird or something...
Hi Martin
I look forward to following this thread as Argentina is one of the countries I most want to visit with my non-birding wife. The good news is that being married to someone who is not particularly interested in birds doesn't mean the end of your birding exploits, at least it didn't in my case! I've enjoyed excellent non-birding trips with some casual birding thrown in to Australia, Singapore, the US, Turkey and Trinidad & Tobago in the last couple of years. Another great trick to is to negotiate separate holidays. She went to Paris with her friends for a long weekend, I got to go birding in Kenya for two weeks, what a deal! But on our last trip I did notice she borrowed my binoculars more than she has ever done before, to look at Scarlet Ibis and various honeycreepers and hummingsbirds. Could she be turning into a birder? She has even mentioned Argentina as a next destination. Keep the reports coming.
E