Once more we had to rise early to move on in our journey to Antarctica.
We had a wonderful time in Rio de Janeiro but were really looking forward to the Expedition cruise to the icy continent in the south. It was both exciting and daunting. How cold would it be? Coming from a coastal city with a warm climate, where the winter temperature never drops below 8degC, this would certainly be very different. Rio temperatures had been scorching, 32-39degC, so we really were going ‘from the frying pan into the fire (of ice)’.
We still had 2 days of travel to get to Ushuaia, Argentina from where our ship would sail. Most of these 2 days would be spent travelling, first to Buenos Aires and then to Ushuaia. We had to be up at 05:00 to meet the taxi which would take us to the airport for an 08:00 flight. On our arrival in Buenos Aires 3 hours later, there to meet us were representatives of Viking Cruise Lines, all in distinctive red shirts. From now until we returned to this same airport 3 weeks later, they organised everything and they did it really well.
From the airport we were transported to an hotel in town, either the Hilton or Intercontinental, for an overnight stay. We had the afternoon to ourselves and as our room would not be ready, the luggage was stored for us and we went out for a walk around the local area. On our way to the hotel, we had seen a beautiful park and been shown the Cathedral where Pope Francis had been Cardinal before being elected as the Pope 12 years ago.
Inside the Cathedral
We found a lovely little bakery where we bought some empanadas for Trevor and a delicious mutton pie for myself. As he was about to pay, the lady owner and baker said that she did not take credit cards as she had been scammed too many times. After chatting for a bit and learning that we came from South Africa she must have decided that we are honest people as she changed her mind and so we got lunch. There was sufficient for supper as well.
We walked up to the park, Plaza de Mayo, we had seen from the bus and where I sat and watched the world go by, while Trevor wandered all over taking photos of the beautiful buildings and scenery. There was a statue, the Piramid de Mayo, in the centre of the park and a group of about 50 people were marching around it chanting some phrase that the leader called out first. What their protest was about we don’t know as it was all in Spanish, but it was really rather boring. They eventually got tired and grouped under an awning where the leader addressed with a booming voice. They did not want photos taken of themselves.
On his return, Trevor and I walked back to the hotel, visiting the Colonial Courtyard of the Cabildo of Buenos Aires. This is the public building in this city that was used as a seat of the Town Council during the colonial era and the Vice-royalty of the Rio de la Plata. The Río de la Plata , also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.
Entrance to the Cabildo
At the hotel we collected our room key and luggage and enjoyed an early night. We were fortunate that our Charter flight to Ushuaia would be the last to leave at 11:00 so we would enjoy a late morning for a change.
Below are photos of some of the beautiful buildings in the area around our hotel
