Argentina - Cordoba to La Angostura

Cordoba Argentina

 Today we say goodbye to our stint in Cordoba Province. Facing the speed humps in Carlos Paz for one last time!
Goodbye dogs!

The drive to Cordoba airport turned out to be a nightmare due to roadworks. The GPS just does not cope to well under these conditions and it took us all over the place before getting us onto the airport road. And then to crown it all James misses the airport turnoff! Luckily there was a small portion of shoulder so he could back up. With cars turning onto the airport road at speed this was not good for my nerves!

Cordoba airport is modern, fairly large but very quiet. This was our first flight with the local Argentina Aerolinas. Despite the fact that the plane looked and sounded rather ancient, the flight was excellent. The stewardess greeted us in English and ended up giving us some tips on the best place to enjoy beer in Bariloche! Needless to say, no alcohol on this flight!

The landing was flawless so compliments to the pilot.

The queue to get out of arrivals once we had collected our luggage was LONG! The only have one X ray machine so it took forever. Thankfully, our Europcar guy was waiting for us so that we could still reach Baia Monzano before dark.

Stunning landscapes greeted us - lakes and snow capped mountains. Truly beautiful!

Reception at Bahía Manzano was very pleasant. All info is in Spanish - OMG - don't understand anything! So we headed back to ask for an English translation.

At the Welcome meeting we enjoyed a drink and some snacks and then the Manager came to call us. He took us into his office and explained most of the activities. This was most appreciated!

Our apartment has a wonderful view of Lake Huapi and has 3 floors! So lots of stairs up and down!

The restaurant is good - a varied menu to suit all tastes.

For now, a good night's rest required.

The view from our balcony at Baia Manzano

The morning dawned bright and sunny.

After breakfast we joined fellow guests on the lawns to await our guided walk. Now this is where one's lack of Spanish comes in - the guide was extremely vocal about heaven only knows what but we had no clue what he was saying except when he shouted "auto" - in other words get off the road, a car is approaching!

The walk around the peninsula near Baia Manzano Resort

It was a good walk nevertheless as we passed numerous private homes tucked in the forest and numerous hotels and cabanas. Those set right on the lake have amazing views over the water with the snowcapped mountains in the background. The area is obviously geared towards many tourists.

After our visit to a supermarket in Villa Angostura where there are no free bags, we headed back for lunch.

Our afternoon drive took us down to Puerto Bahia Bravo where there were many locals catching the sun on the deck chairs. This despite the rather chilly wind factor!

The views are very spectacular and we hope to do more scenic drives in the days to come.

Villa La Angostura

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

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Argentina - 100 Curves Drive and Cordoba

100 Curves Drive Argentina

A chilly morning at 8 degrees! Our first outing of the day was to do the 100 Curves route around the lake. The houses here are much more palatial with glorious views. At one of the view spots, littered with rubbish, I spotted a pink bra hanging from the tree. The mind boggles as to why this was left there! Further brought us to Dique San Roque Dam. 

Dique San Roque Dam
 Argentina

100 Curves Drive - Argentina!

The huge drain hole at the dam is very scary, so much so that there is a friendly guard on duty! The sidewalk stalls were open and the smell of braaing meat made us think of home.

From this point we took the scenic route to Cordoba - this meanders along a river where we spotted a number of black comorants, each sitting on their own rock.

And what did I spot on the way into the city? A huge Makro store!

Cordoba was founded in 1573 and is the 2nd largest city in Argentina. With a population predominately of Italian descent, it has some interesting colonial architecture which includes the Jesuit Block.

Traffic into Cordoba was via a 4 lane highway, going in only. I suddenly saw the sign that said trams, busses and taxi in the 2 right hand lanes only. As this was where James was driving, he had to switch to the car lanes quickly!

We spotted a car park so decided that was the best option at 18 pesos per hour.
Everybody reverse parks - no idea why.

Our first sighting was an "Oscar" look alike. He moved at a fast pace on his prosthetic legs so we could not get a glimpse of his face.

On foot we headed towards the centre of the city and suddenly came upon a lady wearing a South African sweatshirt. She very kindly pointed us in the right direction and also said to take care with 

my camera.

We found Plaza San Martin and the monument to Jose San Martin, the liberation hero. This part of the city is pedestrian with stalls and cafes set amidst some beautiful old buildings. 

Street Music - Cordoba Argentina

 Pedestrian traffic is heavy; I always wonder where people are coming from and going to. Cell phones are very visible with the ladies texting and talking, mothers with babies, school children, university students and even a lone black busker.

We stopped at El Ruedo for an interesting salad. The ham here is delicious. Beers are served with peanuts - yum! 

 

The waiter also told me to put my camera away. To be honest we did not feel threatened in any way as there are no beggars about - maybe the criminals are well dressed?

Students selling their wares Cordoba Argentina

Everywhere we have been there are thousands of shops. I am convinced that every local family must own a shop somewhere. Shops are just EVERYWHERE! But the supermarkets still remain elusive. 

And the buildings remain rather drab and ugly to my jaundiced view.

The Tourist Information was very helpful and some of them speak English!

Many trucks here run on gas - the very large gas cylinders are fixed in the back.

Finding our way back to the car park?  Yes!!! We asked again at the tourist office for the road that has the trams and taxis. Apparently there are 2 of those but we did narrow it down to Av Colon. Off we headed and thankfully found the car park!

On the way home we stopped at a Shell Service Station.  The petrol attendant was most interested that we were from South Africa and mentioned Nelson Mandela and the Springbok Rugby team! This young man collects foreign money but unfortunately we had no South African coins or notes on us.

We passed a number of horse and carts on the way out of the city. ...However the highway got us back to Villa Piren in about an hour.

A long but fun day!

Graffiti in Cordoba Argentina

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

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