Buenos Aires, Argentina

The official title of this post is Buenos Aires, Argentina but I should have included a sub title noting the 2200 mile bus route it required to get here. My original travel plan tethered the cities of Arequipa, Arica, Iquique, San Pedro and Salta through one of the driest regions on planet earth along a southern trajectory terminating in Mendoza at the heart of Argentina's wine region. However, my travel partner became overly anxious about half way down as we crossed the Argentina border where she began to focus her sights and emotions on home in Buenos Aires. So, I agreed to exchange Mendoza for the lessor known wine region of Calchaquí Valley in the north which allowed for a direct route to the city of Tucuman and a short flight to our final destination. And so it was, a memorable bus trip through the fascinating landscapes of Western South America followed by a seventy day experience in one of the worlds largest cities.

 

Aurelie and I left Arequipa, Peru at the end of June via bus traveling southwest to the coast of Chile and the border town of Arica. From there we continued due south to Iquique, a modern city surrounded by massive sand dunes along the Pacific Ocean. From Iquique, we headed east to higher elevation and the celebrated Atacama desert. For anyone unfamiliar, do a search to view some incredible photography of a region that is more reminiscent of Mars than the planet it resides. We spent a week in the town of San Pedro enjoying the austere beauty of desert landscapes and the cerulean blue skies of high elevation before continuing towards Argentina and ultimately, the UNESCO city of Salta.

 

This leg of travel was one of the most spectacular and fortunately, viewed from the front row on the second floor of our bus. Miles and miles of dramatically eroded cliffs and strange land formations provided continual entertainment as we meandered in and out of canyons throughout the high plains of northern Argentina. After a few days in Salta we were off to Cafayate at the center of what I consider the least known and most underrated wine region of the world. Beautifully crafted wines from grapes grown at high elevation on land that´s technically catagorized a desert. Unfortunately, the final leg to Tucuman was experienced during the early morning hours of darkness and impossible to fully appreciate but it appeared on par with previous legs from the bits and piece's I was able to gather enroute.

 

And then came Buenos Aires. I had been here before but my time was focused on a specific part of the city during a two weeks stay in 2004. On this visit, I had my local guide, Aurelie, with friends and their knowledge of where to go, when and during what days of the week. Our first month was spent in the trendy barrio of Palermo before moving over to the historic San Telmo which provided easy access to La Boca and Puerto Madero along the water.

 

Buenos Aires is a massive city of fourteen million spread across a flat piece of earth along the Rio de Plata estuary and the Atlantic ocean. Often referred to as the Paris of South America, Buenos Aires is rich in European culture including 19th century architecture representing French, Spanish and Italian styles of the era. The city is also home to the dance of Tango where it holds international competitions annually, many of which we attended during the month of September. Tango is a beautifully complex dance representing two people in a poetic walk of improvisation and a real joy to watch for those unfamiliar. 

 

Overall, Buenos Aires was a very happy accident. The city was not in my original planning but a desire to help Aurelie return evolved into the highlight of 2023. New friends, the discovery of incredible wine, the creation of new art and the re-examination of a world class city during the spring of their year provided a backlog of memories and a strong desire to return in 2024. 

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* After this initial post in the fall of 2023, I returned to Buenos Aires on six separate occasions. None of it was planned, it just evolved from the dynamics of travel and people you meet in route. Essentially, the city became my South American base camp representing a necessary dose of familiarity and the comfort of friends in a foreign land that lies at at the southern extension of planet earth.

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Like a magnet, side trips to cities and countries of interest were eventually met with a natural draw back to the Argentinian capital, its grand boulevards, eclectic architecture, nostalgic proclivity and poetic dance of Tango. I spent hundreds of hours meandering its streets within multiple barrios including the old, the new, the dangerous and the artificial. I shot hundreds of photographs on subjects of all interests including a specific focus on Aurelie and Dorrego Square in San Telmo, the heart and soul of CABA’s Tango culture. See link above.

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Unfortunately, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. 

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In less than a year, the Milei government created a toxic environment of unrest that fueled further class division, doubled the price of groceries and pushed hundreds of thousands over the poverty line (currently sitting around 60 percent). Upon my return in 2024, there wasn’t a day that past where I did not observe people crawling in and out of dumpsters in search of food or something to sell. Meanwhile, bond holders in the wealthier neighborhoods enjoyed full payments on their investments while entire (and important) government departments were completely dismantled and destroyed. And to run full circle on the con, Milei, the self proclaimed libertarian, anarcho capitalist, pursued and received a 20 billion dollar loan from the IMF, furthering the countries dependance on western banking cartels and all the austerity demands that come with it. 

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Sound familiar? 

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It should. Milei is using Wall Street´s playbook-the same strategy that destroyed the American middle class. The only difference, Argentina is being attacked from a position of significant weakness. It will not end well.

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Time to move forward. La Paz, Bolivia awaits my arrival.