Last Day in South America

This concludes our 2-week trip to South America, and what a trip it has been.  We've seen the city, the highlands of the Andes, the jungle, and the beaches of Uruguay.  We had initially wanted to purchase a piece of land in Cafayate and retire there, but decided against it due to it's remoteness from civilization.  It is a 3-hour drive away from Salta, the next major city, and my biggest concern is the lack of tertiary medical care.  God forbid if anything were to happen to either of us, it would actually be dangerous.  The things I will miss most are the dogs in Cafayate, the friendliness of the people in Cafayate, the cheap wine and food in all of Argentina, and the beauty of mother nature.  There are of course things here that I can live without, for example, the smog & traffic in Buenos Aires, the nickel & diming in Uruguay, and Spanish :)  The best part is that J & I have been able to share this journey and experience together.
So the search goes on for our retirement place.  Next stops will be Taiwan and Thailand, but that will be next year.  For the time being, we'll need to rest up, continue to work & save, and pray that silver hits $1000/oz, so that we can realize our retirement dreams.

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu falls is located in the Iguazu National Park.  It's similar to the Niagara where it runs through two countries.  So there's a Brazil side and an Argentina side.  Since Brazil requires a Visa for US citizens (reciprocity, i.e., they started requiring visas for US citizens after the US started requiring visas for Brazilians after 9/11) we stayed put on the Argentine side.

Garganta de Diablo (Devil's Throat)

Upper circuit

Lower circuit

Right up against one of the falls, this was the coolest part of the park, as you got drenched by the sprays.

Dos Hermanos (Two Brothers)

A coati, similar to our raccoons.  It later stole this lady's bag of cheese from her bag.

Iguana 'tasting' the air to locate food.

Interestingly, the park charges Argentinians AR$20 and foreigners AR$60.  This is apparently a relatively common practice here.  Some hotels in BA will charge the foreigner more, and the museum we went to in Salta also charged us 3 times as much as the regular Argentinian.  J and I were debating whether this is a form of discrimination.  Yes, all other currencies are stronger than the argentine peso, but don't make the rest of us pay for it, just because your country can't get its act together to strengthen your economy.  I had suggested that the US do the same thing to Argentinian tourists to the US.  It's called reciprocity.  If Brazil can do it, why can't we?

Loi Suites Iguazu

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Salta

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Memorable Experience in Cafayate

Went for my 14 mile run, which later turned into a 12 mile run, on our last day in Cafayate.  The experience left a lasting memory for me of that place.  Shortly after starting our run outside the hotel, a German Sheppard stray decided to join us on the run.  At first I thought it was chasing after us, but noticed that it was keeping pace.  I thought, "oh, it will stop running after a few more paces", but the dog kept running along side us!  There was another dog that joined the fun 1-2 mile into the run, but J tried to shoo both of them away at mile 2.5.

The German Sheppard remided me of Mocha, because she was always by my side, while the other stray reminded me of Truffalo, as she kept to herself and was doing a lot more investigating along the way.

 

J was concerned that the dogs would get too hot, tired, and dehydrated.  Deep down, I had wanted the dogs to continue with us, but realized that J was right.  Each time J shooed them away, the dogs stayed further and further away.

We were running in La Estancia de Cafayate property, hoping to check out the lot we had on reserve.  As we reached our lot, J dropped out of the run to take pictures and survey the area.

Our lot, F15

View of the Andes from our lot.

 

Grapes on the vine.

 

I kept going towards the end of the property, which was another 2 miles, and as I turned around at the cul-de-sac, I was surprised to see the German Sheppard standing 10 feet away looking at me.  She had apparently been trailing me from a distance without my knowledge.  The other dog had stopped following, but I was so happy to see the dog for some reason.  It was hot that morning, and I was worried about the dog getting dehydrated.  I tried giving her some of my water, but she was very skittish, especially after J had shooed them away 3-4 times previously, and never took up on my offer.  As I was doing loops on the property, I came upon a small creek at mile 7, and thought it was perfect for the dog to jump in to cool off.  It took some coaxing, but she eventually did jump in very briefly, and once she was done we resumed the run.  At mile 11, I noticed that she was trailing significantly and knew it was too much for her, so I decided to pare down the run from 14 to 12 miles.  Plus, I was getting too tired as well (from the combination of the high altitude, heat, and altered running mechanics due to my bum knee).  At the end, she even built up the courage and trust to take up on my offer of water I had poured onto my Clif Shot foil.  

 

The 3 of us walked back to the hotel.  Since the dog could not enter the hotel, she ended up waiting for us outside as we were packing up to leave Cafayate.  It was sad to leave her behind, because I would have loved to adopt her.  What an endearing dog with such great temperament (even more so than Mocha, I hate to say).  I was later told by the hotel manager that a lot of the strays used to be pets, but irresponsible owners would eventually abandon them to the streets.  What an awful thing to do to such beautiful animals.  I really hope that this dog will be OK, and maybe someone will open his/her heart and home to her.

I had wanted to give her something to eat after the run, so I asked J to get her a banana from the breakfast table, but she was not even remotely interested in the peice of banana J had tossed at her.

 

Hotel Killa

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Day Three in Cafayate

Cafayate is wine country.  We drove around outside of town center and all we saw were vineyards lining both sides of the road.  The best wine made in Cafayate appears to be Laborum from bodegas El Porvenir.

There are probably 8 to 10 bodegas around town.  Bodegas El Esteco, which produces Don David, is one of them.

Cafayate is also known for its empanadas, and the best in town is from La Casa de las Empanadas.

J in search for food...

The inside of the joint.  People scrawl messages on the walls complementing the food.  We even saw some written in Chinese.  I had wanted to write something, but J wanted nothing to do with it.  Surprise, surprise...

The best helado de vino (Torrente flavor) in my opinion is actually not from Miranda's, but from Heladeria Barbara because of it's creaminess.

Cafayate is located 5500 ft above sea level, so running was actually tough this morning.  With the thin air and the bum knee I was having a hard time with my 4 mile run.  I have a 14 miler tomorrow, and I'm dreading it.

Day Two in Cafayate

We spent most of the day with the sales rep from La Estancia de Cafayate.  This is a luxury development just a few blocks outside of town.  J has had his eye on this place for at least a year, and one of the reasons we came to Cafayate was to check out the development.  He was thinking of buying a lot site-unseen, but I thought it was too risky.  Currently they are in phase 2, and the prices go up by 20% each phase, and the next phase starts Jan 2010.  Of the 350 lots, 160 have already been sold to mostly American and Canadians, although it sounds like more Argentinians are buying.  So far only the clubhouse and golf course have been built, and anticipate the rest (spa, community gym & pool, town center for retail and farmers market, bodega, polo fields, horse stables, etc) to be completed by 2012.  There are some already mature vineyards with others that are only a year old.  None of the houses have been built up, but there are 2 in progress right now.  We looked at a couple of lots ranging from 1/2 acre to 1 1/2 acres, and reserved one of the smaller ones (a little under 1/2 acre).  We plan on running through the property tomorrow morning to get another look.

Vineyard and the Andes

View of the Andes from the ranch

Llamas on the ranch.

Some pictures of the town at night...

Day One in Cafayate

We took the 6 AM flight out of BA yesterday and arrived in Salta with one piece of luggage missing.  We weren't the only ones missing bags, as we found out that there was a full cart of luggages that never made it onto the plane that morning.  The missing bag contained mostly of dirty clothes, but also my running shoes, so I was fretting a bit since my next scheduled training run was today.  However, the airline had promised to deliver it to the hotel we're staying in Cafayate, which is a 3-hour drive from Salta, once it arrives with the noon flight.  Since there wasn't anything else we could do about the situation, we went ahead and drove to Cafayate.  Prior to our arrival, it had rained in Salta, and the streets were flooded.

I was so afraid that our little rental car wouldn't make it.

Scenery along the way to Cafayate.  Reminds us of Arizona...

We had lunch at Posta de las Cabras, a family joint located between Talapampa and Alemania.  The owner is an ex-goat farmer who makes his own cheeses.  

Cafayate is a tiny and quaint town with mostly native Argentines.  The town is very laid back, and hasn't been 'tainted' by Western culture.  Children bike all over town, even at night.  There are hardly any cars on the streets, which makes it very quiet and clean.  Dogs (and other animals) are allowed to roam free on the streets.  It is, however, becoming more of a tourist destination thanks to its vineyard and quality wine.  

Cathedral at the town center

Town square

A mule just sauntering down the street

Dinner was at Macacha, where I tried llama for the first time.  It actually tastes like beef, not chicken : )  

The waiter introduced us to a very smooth local Malbec, produced in Cafayate.  We both thought it was better than the Simi Cabernet Sauvignon, and as good as Heitz Cellar, but at a fraction of the price of the HC.

During dinner, a cute little dog walked into the restaurant and came up to our table.  As soon as it got our attention, it looked at us with its big eyes and started wagging it's tail furiously hoping to get some scraps.  It reminded us of Truffalo, and I was very tempted to throw it something, but thought it was better not to as it would encourage this 'begging' habit.  Later as we were walking back to the hotel, we saw the same dog at a different restaurant chewing on a bone.  I guess it worked its charm elsewhere and scored.

After dinner, we had to try helado de vino (wine gelato) at Miranda, the creator of wine gelato.  Since it is made out of wine without cream, I thought it tasted more like sorbet and didn't really like it as much, due to its lack of creaminess.  

As for the missing luggage, it was finally delivered this afternoon, which means I missed this morning's training run.  As for my knee injury, I may have bad news as it looks a little infected, and I have started taking antibiotics last night.  The knee is swollen with limited range of motion, and I am a little distraught that this injury may just prevent me from running a Boston qualifying race : (

Last Day in Buenos Aires

I've been running for years and never have I ever tripped and fallen while running.  However, thanks to the 'wonderfully and smoothly paved' sidewalks here in BA, I tripped while running this morning, scraping both knees, left hand, and right elbow.  The best part is I tripped early on in the run; since I did not want to stop to clean out the wound, I became quite a sight at the park, with blood trickling down my right lower leg.  I was able to eke out 7 miles, but I was in pain at the end.  I'll be fine as long as it's just a simple skin wound; but I would be mighty upset, if this messes up my knees and puts me out of commission for the race (after months of training).  
One thing I did appreciate was the fact that I could purchase Cephalexin from the pharmacy without a doctor's prescription (I bought it just in case the wounds get infected).  

On top of that, the entire purchase (16 tabs of Cephalexin, 10 large bandages, 1 tube of antiseptic ointment, and a box of small bandages) cost us AR$54 ($14 US).  Normally the antibiotics alone would have been $10 (with insurance coverage) in the States.  Just goes to show how expensive everything is in the US.  If we end up liking Cafayate, we could easily stop working and retire in Argentina.


Lunch was at El Sanjuanino, located on Posadas and Av Callao.  J had the locro and I had the chorizo pomerol; dessert was flan with dulce de leche (caramel).  Lunch came out to $20 US.  This place is known for its empanadas so we picked up 10 of them (way too much) and 1 tamale for dinner, which came out to AR$42 ($11 US).

The take-out counter.  Empanadas are AR$3.50 each, which amounts to less than a dollar each.

Locro, a very hearty stew that has sausage, pork, and beans.

Chorizo pomerol, huge sausage with mash potato.

Empanadas with different fillings - spicy beef, chicken, ham & cheese, corn, cheese & onion.  Each is a little bigger than J's palm.

While here, we discovered carbonated pomelo (grapefruit) drink.  It's actually quite refreshing & tasty, and I wonder why we don't have anything like this in the States.