South America - Argentina and Peru
Posted at 04:38 PM on 12 Aug 2011 under South America
My husband and I have travelled both independently and as a couple through various countries in South America. In our opinion, the top two countries to visit are Argentina and Peru, with Argentina being our favourite. I will mention some of the highlights of our travels through these two beautiful countries.
Argentina:
- The Iguazu Falls in the North of the country is definitely worth a visit. This is where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay unite.
- The Mendoza wine district was wonderful. Argentina is well known for its wine. Make sure you try the traditional Malbec wine.
- Buenos Aeries, the capital, is a large cosmopolitan city. Many people speak English and so communication was not an issue for us. The main tourist attraction is the Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron was buried. Buenos Aeries has great architecture. It is famous for its leather goods - if you need a new leather jacket, this is the place to buy it! There are loads of great restaurants in Buenos Aeries. If you are a red meat lover, you will find it hard to find better steaks than in Argentina. Watching the Tango dancing is a must. If sport is your thing, we would recommend watching football in La Boca. The Argentineans are passionate about their football and the ‘football fever’ is contagious.
- Our absolute favourite place in Argentina is Bariloche in the Lake District, which is part of the world famous Patagonia. There was so much to do that we were spoiled for choice. The lakes are well known for fly-fishing, walks, sight-seeing, skiing, sailing etc. There are circular routes around the lakes and lots of excursions one can take.
- If you are in the South, don’t miss visiting El Calafate to see the glaciers. Make sure to visit the Perito Moreno (the largest) and the Upsala Glaciers. Glacier trekking is interesting and beautiful. It is also a great way to work off the wine and meat consumed the night before!
- Something we have always regretted is not going to Ushuaia, which is only a few hours drive South from El Calafate. Ushuaia is the Southern most town in the world and we believe it is well worth a visit. If you make it as far South as El Calafate, we would recommend going that little bit further South to visit Ushuaia.
- The people in Argentina are very friendly. They are proud of their country and passionate about their food and culture. We had great service wherever we went.
Peru:
- If you are limited for time and can only go to one place in Peru, we would recommend it be Cusco, the heart of the Inca culture
- From Cusco, it is easy to reach the Machu Picchu Town, from where it is a short bus ride up the mountains to the Inca ruins, one of the newly elected 7 wonders of the world. It is also possible to hike up to the ruins. We spent the morning climbing up the sacred peak of Wayna Picchu, which towers behind the ruins, from where we had a spectacular view over the ruins. The short climb was well worth it! They only allow a certain amount of visitors per day to do the climb so we would recommend arriving early in the morning as entry is on a first come-first serve basis. If you have time, try to catch the sunrise over Machu Picchu – to do this, you will need to take the first bus of the day from Machu Picchu Town up to the ruins. The experience was absolutely stunning!
- From Cusco, another worthwhile excursion is to go into the Peruvian Amazon Rain Forest in Manu National Park. We went by bus for a few hours and then the last part of the journey was on a flat boat via one of the tributaries of the Amazon River. We flew back to Cusco on a small charter flight. Our tour was through Pantiacolla tours. We thoroughly enjoyed this excursion.
- We would have liked to do the Inca Trail but were not able to as it is time-consuming and it needs to be booked long in advance.
- People in Peru are generally friendly but they speak less English than in Argentina so communication is more challenging, unless you speak Spanish of course.
We hope you are as fortunate as we were to be able to visit these two amazing countries.
Happy travels!
Jacoleen Simpson
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