Argentina - Patagonia - Ushuaia

After our day in Buenos and Aries, we flew to the southern tip of Argentina to the town of Ushuaia. Ushuaia is the closest town to Antartica and is frequently the starting point for cruises to Antartica.

Bottom of South America Continent  

Ushuaia (oo-SHWY-e) is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, bound on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel.

Trafalgar Tour Group

The town has a population of over 80,000. You can book boat trips to see penguins and sea lions. We had a relaxing visit as we stayed out of town at the Los Acebos Hotel. We went for a 31/2 hour hike along the trails behind the hotel.

Mushrooms

View of Glacier along the trail 

Pear Moss Bog

Ushuaia Town and Bay

During the town tour, we went to the Museo Maritimo de Ushuaia which is located in an old jail. Ushuaia was chosen as the location for repeat offenders and serious criminals from Argentina. Inmates spent their time building the town from trees in the forest and the railroad for the town.  The location was considered very hard to escape from as there was no easy access to the rest of South America. The museum provides information on the jail, indigenous people from the area, and the navy base located in Ushuaia. 

We also went to the end of Pan American Highway #3. The highway ends at the Bay of Lapatala in the National Park Fuego.  Fuego means fireland and was named by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan because he always saw smoke in the area due to the fires that were always lit by the indigenous people. These people did not wear clothing and therefore always had a fire going either on land or in their canoes.

We stopped for a short visit at Lake Acigami where we saw Guanaco on a hill. Guanaco is a wild camelid native to South America. Similar to an alpaca

We had a wonderful meal at Chez Manu located on the hill behind the hotel.

Chez Manu Dessert

From Ushuaia, we flew over the mountains to El Calafate, Argentina.

Argentina - Buenos Aires - Tigre and Delta

This is the second time have been to Argentina. After a very long day flying with a 7-hour layover in San Paulo, Brazil we made it to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and is located on the  Rio de la Plata. When you visit the marina all you can see is water but you are actually looking at the river. The Atlantic coast is 240 km away from the city.

We decided that we wanted to do a delta tour before we connect with our Trafalgar tour group.  The tour started from the marina and we took a two-hour boat ride to the city of Tigre. 

The surrounding delta region is a popular destination as it is only 35 km from Buenos Aires and during the summer people from the city will frequent the area. The water in the Tigre river is the colour due to the high iron content from the jungle streams that flow into the area.

There are numerous canals in the area and residents get around by boat. Children take a boat to get to school. While we were touring we saw several boats selling supplies to residents along the canals. Bottled water is also delivered and the empty jugs are collected from the piers.

After the boat ride, we had a lovely lunch at a local canoe club before visiting the market area. The market sells everything that you need from furniture and decorating supplies to groceries. There are several restaurants for a quick meal.

Supplies for the home

Plants for sale

After visiting the market we took the van back to Buenos Aires which is 35 km from the area.

We met with other Trafalgar travellers at the welcome drink that evening before going out to a restaurant for a lovely steak dinner at Parrilla Cero5 which was close to the Alvera Art Hotel.

Rooftop pool at Alvera Art Hotel

During our stay, we made several trips up to the pool to enjoy the hot tub and the views of Buenos Aires. At night the lights make the view very romantic.

Our first day with Trafalgar was a city tour. 

Colonial Building on Government Square

Obisc on Avenue De Julio

Metropolitan Cathedral

Cathedral Interior

La Boca

The buildings in La Boca are brightly painted as the paint initially used was leftover from the ships that came into port. This area is known for street performers dancing Argentine Tango.

 

From La Boca we traveld by tour bus to Recoleta where the first cemetary in Buenos Aires is located. There are many famous people located in this cemetary including Evita Perone.

Evita Perone's Grave Marker

Another interesting stop was at the old El Ateneo Theatre. This building has been transfored into a bookstore with a small resturant located on the stage. 

Theatre converted into a bookstore 

After the city tour, we went to a private house for dinner in a lovely area of the city. This was a be-my-guest experience where the family cooked dinner, shared Argentine traditions like matte, and we learned about three different Argentine tango dances.

After dinner wer returned to the hotel to pack up and get ready for our flight to Ushuaia at the bottom end of Argentina.

Namibia - Windhoek

 Windhoek is the capital of Namibia and the largest urban centre. We stayed at the Hilton hotel in downtown Windhoek.

Independence Museum

The museum of independence was a pleasant surprise. It allowed us to discover the different ethnic groups that had influence over the nation. This makes sense as the language Afrikaans is a combination of all the languages - Dutch, Malay, Portuguese, Indonesian and indigenous Khoekhoe and San languages.

Chrisruskirvhe 1910

Parliament Grounds

Hilton Hotel roof pool

Dinner out

We spent time walking around the downtown area and purchased a picture made of leather of elephants walking. This was the end of our stay in Namibia. We would depart and make our way to Addis Ababa and home. We had a fantastic tour of Namibia with a wounder guide, Charl Schoombee. 

Namibia - Africat Foundation

After a long day's drive we arrived at the Africat Foundation we were upgraded to stay at the Okonjima Bush Camp. This was a wonderful surprise and the accommodation and meals were outstanding.

Bill spent a lot of time feeding the birds.

Hornbill

The first afternoon we went out to track a collared leopard in the private reserve. We could not find the first leopard but we did locate the second cat. This leopard had spotted a waterbuck and was considering it for dinner. There was also a Kudo watching the leopard and bellowing which created an interesting situation. The leopard did not manage to get a meal this time.

Leopard

Damara Dik-Dik

Sundowner

Our next day we went to visit the Africat Foundation buildings and to see the cheetahs. The cheetahs are fenced into an area so that the leopards are kept separate from the cheetahs. 

The Africat Foundation was established for Cheetah that was orphaned or hurt and needed to be cared for. The foundation's goal was to allow the cheetahs to be reintegrated into the wild. The cheetahs can not be reintroduced into the wild as they have discovered that the cheetahs do not survive as they are not able to teach them to hunt.

Kudu watching us in our room.

The last night celebrated our tour with a wonderful meal of Eland steak and a great bottle of wine from South Africa. In the morning we were on our way again to our last stop in Windhoek where we would say goodbye to our guide Charl Schoombee.

Namibia - Etosha National Park - East

On our last day in the park, we had to drive most of the way through the park to exit by the east gate. Along the way, there are multiple side trips and waterholes that you can visit. 

You need to be out of the park by sunset as the gates are closed. Our next accommodation was just outside the park so we could spend most of the day inside the gates.

Ostrich

Yellow Billed Kite

Black Shoulder Kite

Cheetah after the kill.

Oryx and Rhinoceros

Before getting to the waterhole there was a group of elephants eating from the trees. This baby elephant was off to the side. He had to find a tree that he could reach at the other elephants were much taller.

Our last waterhole in Etosha National Park was fantastic. The number of animals taking their turn drinking, or bathing was great to see. We started our visit by watching a group of four lions under a tree.

The activity of animals coming to the waterhole made the lions move and go for a drink. Notice that there are not a lot of animals close to where the lions are drinking.

Zebra and Impala shared the waterhole.

These two zebra kept jostling. When I was ready 

to get a great picture they stopped.

As the elephants started to arrive and the animals cleared the area. Very few animals will challenge the elephants. Elephants a very destructive as they will kill the trees by overgrazing and walking through the fences.

It was so interesting watching the elephants enjoy the water.

Bath Time

Time to go.

Our next accommodation was Mushara Lodge. 

Banded mongoose

Common Duiker

Sunset

Tomorrow we have a longer drive to get to our next lodge. We are heading south toward Windhoek.