My 58-day trip to South America began on October 19th and included travel through Argentina (40 days), Uruguay (10 days), Paraguay (8 days), and a day trip to Brazil to view the Foz do Iguazu falls from their boardwalks just above some waterfalls.
Trip Costs
The cost was $3,488 for a daily cost of $60. Food costs were $1,799 for a daily cost of $31 per day. Lodging costs for 51 nights were $1,008 for a daily cost of $20 per night—5 nights were on night bus rides and 2 were on air flights.
Travel/tour costs were $1,178. I used 92,292 Barclay MC points for the round-trip flight with LATAM Airlines from Seattle to Buenos Aires.
My flight from SEA to JFK passed over huge areas of smoke and forest fires that plagued the Northwest all summer.
It was clear all the way to JFK where we passed over Manhatten on our approach and where I would board a night flight to Santiago, Chile (SCL).
From SCL the following morning, we had spectacular views of the snow-covered Andes on our way to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The 2-hour Bondi Air flight from El Calafate to Buenos Aires cost $143. It was a clear flight up the east coast of Argentina.
This is the last leg of this long flight as we pass over the snow-covered Cascade Mountain range on a clear day where we could even see Mt. Rainier.
Both floating bridges over Lake Washington could be seen as we began our approach to SEA.
Bus expenses were about $390 for travel from city to city and within the cities in all countries I visited. I really enjoyed traveling long distances on these comfortable buses.
Unlike in the US, there were frequent departures from a large number of bus companies, and they were inexpensive. These two-level buses have toilets and comfortable reclining seats. Many had Wi-Fi along with chargers, as well as TV screens featuring movies in Spanish--lots of action movies. I slept pretty well on my 5-night bus rides.
This pink Marga bus from Bariloche to El Chalten was a 14-hour night bus ride on the renowned Highway 40 across vast open ranges of sagebrush with a scattering of grazing sheep and cows until we approached the Andes mountain range highlighted by Fitzroy peak.
There was very little traffic and for three hours of the journey, we were on a gravel road.
When there was pavement, the driver kept swaying the bus to avoid the many potholes. Quite an adventure.
The remaining Travel/tour costs of $645 included seven local tours—Boat to Uruguay, Boat under the Foz do Iguazu Falls, Paragliding, Train to the Clouds, wine tours, Bariloche boat tour, Perito Glacier boat tour, park fees, museum tours, and the Tango dancer performances.
COVID-19 Restrictions Are Gone
This was my 6th international trip during the COVID-19 era. There were no COVID-19 documentation requirements at the border crossings. Mask-wearing was almost non-existent. Some restaurants had hand sanitizers at the entrances and on tables, but they were probably just using them up.
Border Crossings were Simple
Chile and Argentina
The Chile and Argentina border crossings had short lines and they did not stamp my passport—just electronically recorded, and then my backpack was scanned at the Customs checkpoints.
Argentina-Uruguay
When crossing by boat from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, I cleared the Argentina and Uruguay immigration—stamped my passport— before boarding the one-hour boat ride to Uruguay. Once in Uruguay, my backpack went through the Uruguay Customs checkpoint which included an X-ray scan.
Uruguay-Argentina
The international bus took me from Salto, Uruguay to the border at Concordia, Argentina. The line of cars and trucks waiting to go through the border was very long, but since we were on the international bus, we went to the front of the line and quickly went through both Uruguay and Argentina Immigration checkpoints and the Argentina Customs Xray scanner quickly, and reboarded our bus to the Bus Terminal and took another bus for a night ride to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. In all of the Immigration checkpoints, I still did not have to pay anything or provide additional documents like COVID-19 vaccination records, photos, or financial statements—just my passport.
Argentina-Brazil-Argentina
When I stayed at Puerto Iguazu I took a local bus to the Brazil side of the Foz do Iguazu falls where we went through the Argentina and Brazil Immigration checkpoints by disembarking from our bus and going through both immigration offices. Argentina scanned my passport and Brazil stamped it. We then had our bags scanned for the Brazil Customs and then re-boarded our bus to Brazil Foz do Iguazu Park. We went through the same process upon returning. Very simple and quick.
Argentina-Paraguay
In planning this trip, I saw that to get a visa for Paraguay, I was required to have a passport photo, and a financial statement and pay $150. When I got on the one-hour bus ride from Puerto Iguazu for just 800 pesos to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, it drove right passed the Immigration office. I got off at the first stop and walked back to the Paraguay Immigration office I quickly got my Paraguay Visa stamp and there was no X-ray scanning of my backpack. Also, with the onset of COVID-19, Paraguay eliminated the $150 fee, the photo, and the financial statement to increase tourism. It was a very uncontrolled border crossing which would have been easy to slip through. I guess the priority here is to get as many people here to shop at the place called ‘The Supermarket of South America”. Remember the hostel owner in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina frequently comes over here to shop for her Hostel and family needs.
Paraguay-Argentina
I again boarded an international night bus from Asuncion, Paraguay to Salta, Argentina where we went through the border crossing checkpoint at Formosa, Argentina. Since we were on the bus, we got priority treatment going through Paraguay and Argentina Immigration. The X-ray Customs check was done near our bus with a portable X-ray van. When that was done, we were on our way to Salta, Argentina.
Venezuelan Refugee Hopes
When I was in the Mundo Medio Hostel in Montevideo, Uruguay, I heard the story from a Venezuelan who had come here to apply for a tourist visa—not political or violent asylum— to the US. Now at the US-Mexican border, the majority of refugees trying to enter the US are from Venezuela. He was trying an alternative approach. I gave him some suggestions and wished him well.
Homeless
I saw very few people sleeping along the sidewalks or people begging along the many walking streets. Unlike the US where most urban areas now have tent cities filling up the parks and sidewalks. Here in Argentina, they have FREE MEDICAL CARE. People with addictions or who are mentally ill get treated unlike here in the US where the insurance companies and their lobbyists continue to oppose medical care for all.
Getting Money
I started off at the Buenos Aires Airport by getting Argentina pesos at the ATM machine getting about $100 worth of them at a rate of about 158 per $1.
While in Buenos Aires for three days most places honored using my credit card with rates ranging from 158 to 175 pesos per USD. No wonder they never told me about the blue rate money.
When I got to Puerto Iguazu Tucan Hostel, the owner, Mariel, told me about how I should consider using my cash or debit card at a Western Union office to get the blue rate of 287 to 330 pesos per $1. They even post the blue rate in the national newspapers daily.
After three days of using the official rate of 158 pesos per USD in Argentina, I began using the blue rate by cashing in my USD cash and using my debit card registered on the Western Union app and then going to a Western Union office to get pesos at the rate ranging from 305-330 Argentina pesos per $1. By doing this, I was saving about 50% on all expenses in Argentina going forward. It was hard to stash this brick of $300 worth of Argentina pesos each time I left Western Union.
A few of the hostels I was booking with recognized this big difference and only processed payments in USD. At Western Union, it was very easy to use my debit card to transfer $200 or $300 to Argentina pesos to be picked up at a local Western Union store. Unfortunately, some of the WU stores had withdrawal limits, had long lines—especially on Mondays, ran out of money, and required additional documents like copies of passports. After doing this, I now know how foreign workers can send money to their families back home.
Getting Bank Fees Back
When I travel internationally I always take about $300 in USD and then rely on ATMs for funds. I recently got a Schwab ATM card which reimburses customers for all ATM bank charges and exchange fees. For this trip, Schwab reimbursed me $70.40 on these charges.
Weird Electrical Plugs
I quickly found out that in addition to my slot and round plugs, I needed an angle plug. Fortunately, I brought all three and found myself using all three in different situations. Some of the hostels I stayed at had a choice of all three. Others just had the angled plug, and many times the connection was iffy because of the loose connections. It was good to see that most hostels I stayed at had charge plugs within the bed area.
Late Dinners
Many of the restaurants in the cities have an opening of 8 pm, and fortunately, many others are open throughout the day.
Tango/Samba Dancers
I enjoyed watching the dancers who performed at Dorrego Square, San Telmo, and several restaurants in the La Boca area. I also saw samba dancers at many Salta restaurants. After watching them, I did not feel the need to go to the Tango Show.
Coffee with Water
I was pleased to get water or sparkling water whenever I ordered coffee. It refreshed my mouth.
Full Pour
Time and time again when I ordered a glass of wine, they would serve me a glass with the wine near the lip of the glass. As my Canadian hiking buddy, John Filby would say, "A full pour is at least 4 servings per bottle". Most Argentina servers adhered to this approach.
World Cup Frenzy
I was lucky to watch Argentina's three matches with Poland, the Netherlands, and Croatia.
I went to the town center of Bariloche after Argentina beat Poland to enjoy the celebration.
I was at the Hostel Rancho Grande balcony in El Chalten when Argentina beat the Netherlands and the crowd went wild. I was worried the balcony might collapse from all the jumping up and down.
I was at the Che Juan Hostel in Buenos Aires when Argentina beat Croatia. I then went down to the Obelisk and was with the 100,000+ people celebrating the victory.
One-Way Streets—Garbage
I really enjoyed seeing that the city streets were mostly one-way.
In the city centers, they usually had walking streets along with broad sidewalks that were filled with restaurants and bars.
Most of the cities had covered their streets with big leafy trees that helped keep the temperature down, especially in Cordoba and Mendoza.
In Buenos Aires, they had central collection bins on the streets rather than individual garbage cans.
Delightful Food Choices
As you can see, my major trip expenses were for food. You can see that Argentinians really like meat. Here are some of the meals I enjoyed:
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