So far, 2014 has been absolutely exhausting. And most of it has to do with "Argentina being Argentina."
We spent so much time in line--or en route--on the way to El Calafate, I finally hit a wall the day we saw Perrito Moreno, which ironically, was to be a trip "highlight."
Leg One: Punta del Diablo to Punta del Este
We left Punta del Diablo after an amazing New Years for Punta del Este.
We had heard Punta del Este was where the beautiful people of South America vacation, like a Nice or a Newport Beach, so we wanted to see it on our way out of Uruguay. We got up as early as we could drag ourselves out of bed (after another late dinner in Punta del Diablo) and headed for Punta del Este.
Unfortunately, the AMAZING thunder and lightning storm we watched from our balcony the night before had moved to Punta del Este, resulting in one of the scariest drives of my life.
It took us much longer to get into town than we had anticipated, on account of having to drive 40 kph (or about 25mph) the entire way.
We got into town around noon, and since we had to be at the airport by 3:30, we decided to make the most of our time by visiting La Vista, a restaurant/hotel/museum where you can see the view of Punta del Este from the top. It was good to get a lay of the land, but I was bummed we didn't get to see El Monumento del Ahogado (monument to the drowned) close up.
We also made a quick pit stop at Casapueblo, this really cool property built by Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró for his son, who had survived a plane crash. The story goes, he built one room at a time by hand, until eventually it became a labyrinth of an art project/property. Now of course, it’s a hotel, restaurant, art museum, super commercial, but still beautiful to see. I was just sad we had to rush through it on our way to the airport.
Leg #2: Punta del Este to Buenos Aires
We got to the airport with time to spare, returned the car, got through security (which is still easy in South America) and went to the gate.
About an hour after we were supposed to take off, we were still stuck in the waiting area with no word as to what was going on. Not surprisingly, people--like myself--started to get restless.
Fortunately, it was only about 2 hours after our departure time that a plane finally showed up, so without any further ado, or explanation about what happened, we boarded the bus that takes you to the plane, and off we went.
Leg #3: Overnight in Buenos Aires
After a super bumpy flight back to the airport in Buenos Aires and a 30 minute cab, we got into town with barely enough time to return to Florida street to exchange the rest of our dollars for pesos, which was a critical part of this trip.
The plan originally had originally been to arrive in town by 5:30pm, head to Florida street to exchange our money, do a little bit of shopping, catch an 8:30 dinner, and get back early, but we didn't get into town until closer to 9pm.
Exchanging money felt a lot more sketch at night, especially since the “officinas” were all closed, and there were police strolling the parkway. (While the blue market seems universally accepted in Argentina, I think it’s still illegal in the eyes of the law.) We settled for changing $1000, got dinner, and got to bed by 1am.
Leg #4: Buenos Aires to El Calafate
The alarm went off at 6am, which felt like a 2-3am wakeup call.
We had estimated that we would get out of the house by 6:30, get to the International airport by 7:00-7:15, and be all checked in and boarding at 8:15.
Somehow, in spite of the fact there was zero traffic, and our maniac cab driver lane-split the highway the entire way, we didn't end up checking in until about 7:30am.
I went to the Argentina Aerolinas machine to print out our travel documents. My boarding pass printed, but we got a notification that there was a problem with Dan’s. Turns out, the couple right in front of us—who was also going to El Calafate, got the last seats on the plane. There was a seat for me, but not for Dan.
I don’t know if I have ever gotten bumped from a flight in the US, I hear it happens, but there is usually some big voucher payout involved. To be a paying customer, and to show up on time, to hear “Nope, sorry, the plane is full, you can’t go today” is absolutely ridiculous.
The check-in agent was sympathetic but, “No hay disponible” is a pretty irrefutable statement around here, and one we had heard quite a bit at this point.
We waited at the kiosk for about 30 minutes, watching boxing on the airport TV (what?!) and trying to figure out what we’d do if we had to spend another night in Buenos Aires.
Pay-per view TV at the Airport in Buenos Aires
Finally, we found out that there was a 12:30 flight, but we’d have to go back to the other airport across town. As “compensation” for kicking us off our flight, we’d get a free bus ride to the airport, and more free airline food.
Leg #3 Buenos Aires to Punta del Este: Take Two
40 minutes later, we arrived at the domestic airport—the same one we had flown into the day before—and waited.
Fortunately the airlines have free wi-fi, so I was able to work on some datasheets I didn’t finish before leaving, and do a little bit of writing. It was about 10:00am. So, we had 2.5 hours to sit in the terminal before takeoff. And because this flight was delayed too, so it was actually about 3 hours in the terminal.
The flight to El Calafate was 3.5 hours long, and was turbulent, so I spent the time in a fear-induced sleep. Once we got to the airport, it took about 30 minutes for our bags to arrive, and then it took us about 30 minutes to get to the hostel. I think we finally checked into our hostel, America del Sur, around 5:30.
Welcome note at the entrance of America del Sur, El Calafate
So 48 hours after we were supposed to leave Punta del Diablo, we finally made it to Patagonia.
I know travel in South America is rough, but sometimes its surprising just how rough.