We’re now in Argentina for Sally’s IAMSLIC conference in Mar del Plata followed by a short holiday.
To get to Argentina, we first had a long stop-over in Guayaquil (scene of recent police strike) so we took the opportunity to walk along the malecon when we arrived in the early afternoon. Among the attractions along this new area are many sculptures, small food outlets and a tropical garden complete with Jurassic Park like dinosaurs. We also saw a tall ship rigged out for river dinner cruises.
Before taking the red eye out of Guayaquil to Santiago, Chile and then on to Buenos Aires, we were able to score some good java at a Juan Valdez outlet that features hi speed wifi. Yeah! What a treat after dial up speeds in Galapagos.
Mar del Plata is known for its incredibly long coastline and numerous beaches. It was also an introduction to Argentina’s famous cuisine, asado (bbq meats) and wine. The wine is Malbec and the meat is delicious. Can one ever tire of excellent slow fire cooked beef, pork, sausage and chicken? Down here that is a definite maybe.
One day featured a city bus tour that included a stop at the inner harbour. Have you ever seen a southern sea lion? We did, and he was huge! A local dog was very curious until the sea lion’s girl friend showed up and warned him off.
Our final day saw us bus to Estancia Santa Isabel for a genuine asado. On arrival we were handed a glass of white wine and led through the entrance to a very large grassy area where appetizers and more wine awaited. Soon a group of horses and gauchos in riding gear approached and treated us to an exhibition of riding skills after which some of us got to be dragged behing a galloping horse on a cowhide much in the manner of a skim board on water. There is more friction on a cowhide than water………I can vouch for that.
Following this we moved inside for the main event… the asado. Several salads accompanied meats which were cooked on large skewers arranged teepee style around the wood fire. Included were two kinds of sausage, steak, pork and chicken. Hind sight says I shouldn’t have had so many of the excellent appetizers as I couldn’t do justice to the asado. Of course there was lots of excellent Malbec to accompany the feast.
You would think that everyone would be ready for a siesta by this time. No way! The DJ turned on the music and everyone was up dancing, spearheaded by the exhuberant Latin American group. Who said librarians were no fun?
Next is Iguazu Falls in the north and then back to Buenos Aires. See you there.
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