Ravens Travels

Okay so we hired a car originally for four days but extended it to five days because we had so much to see. The best deal was with a large company that ended up being about 1000 peso between the four of us including insurances etc for a group b car. The car was a corsa, not the ones we’re used to but a Chevrolet, it was a decent size and the boot fitted the four large backpacks so we were happy. Our travel companions were Chris and Helen, a couple from the UK that we had met before at a campsite in Ushuaia, really good people to travel with. For insurance and cost etc Chris was the driver and for her sense of direction Helen was the directions person, Arjan and I, well we tried but we don’t drive and our sense of direction doesn’t take into account one way roads, ...

On the first day we left Cordoba around noonish and headed about 35km to Alta Gracia, now dubbed forever Andy Garcia.... here we visited the Museo Casa de Ernesto Che Guevara, the museum is in the old family home, and a bargain at 3 peso entry fee. Che’s family moved here originally because of the drier climate, which would help with his asthma. Many the photos are many recognisable ones from various biographies and documentaries. As Arjan had just felt one such bio before we left he was able to add to the information provided. Even though it was informative it was very hero worship and tries to make you think that he was perfect, but nobody is.... I suppose like everything memories get distorted over time and stories grow lives of their own. I was tempted to give into the shopaholic side and buy loads of cheesy souvenirs but in the end the budget side one and I settled on a replica Cuban note with Che's face on, something small to stick on the wall.... After the museum and some lunch we headed to the local Jesuit estancia, I can’t say too much about it, the building was nice but the inside rooms did little to appeal to me.

From here we headed to the resort town of Villa General Belgrano. It’s a quirky town that is very proud of its German origins advertising German microbreweries, black forest gateaux and goulash. The town main street has many restaurants displaying cheesy photos of people in traditional clothes etc but it seems like a theme park more then anything. There is even a children’s amusement ground called Oktoberfest, which borders on the main roundabout, which displays large beer kegs. The hostel we’re staying in is set in a forest at the edge of town and is really nice, though the mosquitoes are treating us like we’re the three course meals, they keep anyone looking for the swimming pool on the grounds. (Stats - dorm 15 pesos, 4 pesos for breakfast).

The next day we head to Le Cumbrecita so we can walk up Cerro Wank and giggle and take silly photos of the sign, yeah yeah I know, but its fun to not grow up the walk isn’t too bad in itself but the mosquitoes are vicious, they’re huge and bite through your clothes...

From here we head to Mina Clavero, this town is nice but in itself there’s not too much to see, we use it as a base for other sites close by. The hospedajes primavera is nice and quite cheap, double rooms ensuite for 4 pesos (10 euro)... but it and the place across the road seem to have been hijacked by senior citizens... at least we know they’re quiet, though they did have a party.... The first day we get up early and head to the Parque nacional Quebrada del Condorito but before we can get there we end up in a fog that is quite dangerous, we can’t see anything, by some stroke of luck we manage to pull the car over and after nearly driving into we see we are at el condor cafe, as its too risky to keep going we try to waste some time by having food and playing coin games which are still going through my head.... after the air clears a little we decide to change our plans and go somewhere else for the day as no one wants to take a risk in that kind of weather especially on cliff roads.... we head instead to Rocsen Polyfacetic museum.
This is another addition to the weird and wacky visits. The outside is decorated with nearly 50 statues that are supposed to 'represent the evolution of thought´, they show philosophers, historic leaders, religious figures and writers.... the inside itself is a huge warehouse filled with everything, thrown together by a man.... You enter an area filled with chaos, there are old cars, bikes, tractors, trailers, bottles, posters, dolls, toys, stones, books, lamps, stuffed animals, musical instruments, cameras, type writers, record players, medical equipment , even skulls and a shrunken head, I could go on forever trying to list it all, its just crazy !! I know there is some order to it but it doesn’t jump out directly.... what’s more scary is that Arjan seems to feel at home, we even spot similar items to his own, camera, glasses, old bibles, voodoo stick... when i was there i could see what our house could end up like.... at least i can charge an entrance fee after the museum we head to see a damm,

it was smelly, enough said about that!!!

The next day we try again to go the condor park and we succeed with big blue skies. The walk to the balconies takes 2-3 hours, from here you can see young condors learning how to fly but they were on the other side of the gorge so you couldn’t see them properly without binoculars.... when we decided it was time to leave two large birds landed near us and then it was time to take out the cameras and become trigger happy, Chris claimed the best photo point on top of a rock which he creeped to, he got some really good shots and now I’m curious if any of mine did...

as we were leaving we bumped into Jeff an American guy we had met before, he knows everything about birds or at least seems to, he’s traveling around most of the parks in Argentina with his tent and binoculars...he’s a nice guy but I kept finding myself drawn to the tattoos on his arms, they’re all of different birds, and really detailed, I’m impressed but ouch ! We couldn’t spend too long talking to him as Helen and Chris were waiting for us in the car, those guys are quick!!!

The next day involved a lot of driving and a detour into a hippie town, it seemed like an interesting place but we didn’t have time to explore though we did count some tie-dyed hippies the local tourist office told us about the most amazing river in the Cordoba region but we ended up taking the wrong road and didn’t see it.... we did end up with a long scratch along the car though... this led to some humming and hawing about trying to cover it but whats done is done.... we keep travelling through dirt roads over and around the mountains with pitspots to take bird photos (damn birds wouldn´t stop flying away or stayed out of range), we arrived in Estancia Santa Carolina in good time, its a nice church but well i was expecting more then mozzies.... the caretaker was quite nice and very informative ,

he said he like punk music and then ran to a cd player so i was wondering what he was going to play but to my ear it sounded religious though he swears it wasn´t , ah well it was a church.....

That evening we reached the town of Jesus Maria, the cheapest place we could find was booked out so we ended up paying 90 peso for a double room, the hotel was nice but the air conditioning drowned out all noise including thinking... the next morning and our final journey before heading back is to the local estancia.... we were there just after its advertised opening time of 8 to find that it officially opens at 9 but they opened a little earlier for us, similar to before, nice building but could have done without going into all the rooms......from here we made it back to cordoba in good time and bidded bye to our travel chums.... wonder what they thought of us....

We decided to stay another night in Cordoba just because , the next day we headed to Puerto Iguaçu, the journey was 20 hours long but who can complain when you get champagne on the bus.... ahhh this is the life.... at the final end of the bus journey we transferred in posada and met Naomi and Israeli girl who was traveling alone for a few months, she’s a nice girl, the next day we head to the water falls, the Iguaçu waterfalls border Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, though only the first two have the view points. On the bus there we bumped into Naomi who came along with us.

On arrival in the park (30 peso entry fee) we are covered by butterflies, they’re so tickly, they ´re very beautiful and hopefully a few shots turn out. The waterfalls themselves are quite impressive and we walk to most of them, the main one at the devils throat is huge and covered in mist from the power of the water as it falls.

The next day we headed to the Brazilian side were there is less butterflies but a better view of the falls from a panoramic aspect, same price again, 30 pesos, the choice of which I prefer well the Argentinean side if I’m honest, its less organised but you have more a sense of nature and animals...I know I know, I’m turning into a nature freak but its so beautiful in many of the parks or even just gazing from bus windows...


We also visited a little hummingbird garden in the town on the Argentinean side, it was very cute and there were so many birds, at one stage I was holding one of the food supplement bottles and there was many fluttering around me....

Okay onto the next town, from here we headed to posadas; this was just a stopgap to head into Paraguay. That’s were we are now and I’ll fill you in on that later.... tomorrow we’re going on a boat trip for a few days, lazing in our hammocks, mine is a crazy purple and yellowy mustard colour , gazing at the scenery... traveling can be hard but its so rewarding to see so much....