My next trip to meet the local Birdingpals.

[birding]

This time last year I went to Cameroon in West Africa to meet the local Pals and do a little birdwatching.
http://www.birdingpal.org/Cameroonreport.htm
So it is time to plan a new trip, and this time I am going back to South America.
There are so many great countries to choose from, and I spend a lot of time thinking about it, before I decided to go back to Argentina for my third visit.
This time I am going to plan it someway different to my previous Birdingpal trips.
My plan is to fly in to Buenos Aires, spend a few days there (it is one of my favorite big cities) and then travel south to Patagonia. We will then cross over to the Andes Mountains, follow it up to Mendoza and then across the pampas to Cordoba, where we plan to rent a small house and spend the next two month.
This is not an easy tour to plan, but with a lot of help from the local Pals in Argentina it is slowly falling into place.
With no direct flight from Toronto, Canada and properly not many other places in this world it is a long flight and not cheap anymore compared to the other two times I visited Argentina. It pays to have a good travel agent and to do some research before buying your airline tickets. Being somewhat flexible with the dates I finally settled with a Delta Airline flight from Toronto to Houston and then Buenos Aires, but it is still a 15 hour trip.
Next installment: How to find a house to rent.

[birding]

To escape the winter in Toronto we decided to extend our trip to Argentina and rent a place for a couple of month.
From previous trips, were we visited many of the provinces, it was somewhat difficult to make up our mind where to stay. Eventually we decided to try to find a place in or close to the province of Cordoba.
To select a final place is not an easy task for a foreigner. Too much information and a picture on a website is not always, what you find, when you get there. Not to worry, Birdingpal is more than finding someone to show you the local hot spots. Sergio Corbet and Juan Carlos Grasso, both local Pals, kindly offered to help us find a suitable place to fit our budget.
It soon came down to two places. Villa de Merlo, San Luis and around La Cumbre. Cordoba.
After many emails back and forward we finally decided on La Cumbre, a place we visited during our last visit. http://www.birdingpal.org/Argentinareport2.htm
Without the help from Juan Carlos I think we would still be looking for places.
Acting as our agent he personally visited a number of homes for rent, negotiated cost and much more. Finally we settled on a small house located next to the local golf club in La Cumbre and within easy distance to parks and fields, where I can bird every morning.
The next thing was to make a deposit for the house, and that was not so simple either, since the owner refused to accept electronic bank transfer. Again Juan Carlos went out of his way to help, so the house is now ours for two month.
A few pictures to give you an idea what the place look like.



Should you be in the neighborhood drop in and say hello? We even have an extra bedroom, should you decide to stay over.

Next installment: Planning the Patagonia itinerary

[birding]

We will be flying in to Buenos Aires and stay for a few days before we start the Patagonia trip.
Here we will rent a car with the help from Sergio Corbet a local Pal. This worked very well doing our previous trips, and it saves a bit of money compared to renting on the internet.
Planning such a trip I soon realized how big the southern part of Argentina is and if one want to drive some compromises has to be made.
We will leave Buenos Aires early in the morning and drive to Claromeco a pleasant tourist town on the Atlantic Ocean
http://www.welcomeargentina.com/claromeco/index_i.html
It is about a 500 km drive and we will only stay for on night.
Driving to Las Grutas in the province of Rio Negro the next morning (about 500 km) we will stay there for one night.
http://www.interpatagonia.com/lasgrutas/index_i.html
Hopefully if all goes right I will be able to bird one of the worlds largest Parrot colonies. Yellow Cardinals and Flamingoes are also possible.
The next day we will continue to Puerto Madryn (about 250 km) were we will stay for 3 nights.
http://www.interpatagonia.com/puertomadryn/index_i.html
This is a place well known for Penguins and other seabirds, but also whales, sea lions and other mammals. Rub?n Manr?quez is a local Birdingpal and I hope to hook up with him for a day of birding.
We will then cross the plains and visit Esquel (about 500 km) and stay for two nights.
http://www.interpatagonia.com/esquel/index_i.html
Los Alerces National Park should be great for birding and Laura y Dario are local Birdingpals.
We then continue north to San Martin de los Andes (about 300km) and stay one night.
http://www.interpatagonia.com/sanmartin ... dex_i.html
The next stop will be Malarg?e in the province of Mendoza. This is a long drive of about 700 km so we will stay for two nights.
http://www.welcomeargentina.com/malargue/index_i.html
The next stop will be Mendoza (about 375 km) for a two nights stop.
http://www.welcomeargentina.com/mendoza/index_i.html
We then leave for La Cumbre in the province of Cordoba where we rented a house for the next couple of month.

Next installment: Planning the details of the trip

[birding]

Birdingpal Sergio Corbet was kind enough to help me find the best deal for renting a car.
He made the reservation at a local car rental and we simply pick up the car Jan 20, and I can then pay with my credit card.
Note: To save a fair amount of money daily, it is important to use a card which covers insurance, when you rent a car.
You need your own driver license plus an international license, otherwise the police at the many check points may give you a hard time and may even want a "tip" before they let you go.
Driving in Argentina outside the big cities is easy because of the many mostly good divided motorways often with sparse traffic, but you still have to watch out for stray livestock and the odd gaucho.
To drive in the big cities you must have a certain amount of nerve especially during rush hours, but with a little practice you will soon drive like the natives. Do not be timid or you will never get anywhere, but remember if the vehicle is bigger than yours let them pass.

Next installment: Finalize the lodging for the trip

[birding]

When one is planning such a tour things can go wrong.
A local travel agent promised to book the lodging for the Patagonia/Mendoza trip, but decided to take a month long vacation without telling me. So I am kind of on my own scrambling to find lodging on the internet before we leave.
Well most of it was done fairly quickly, but I still have three places left find a room.

The agent did book us into Loi Suites on Arsenal http://www.loisuites.com.ar/
We know the place from previous trips, but price went up quite a bit since last time.

The places in Claromeco and Las Grutas never replied to my email, so I am still looking for a room. I think the problem is, we only want to stay one night and it is high season for the beach hotels.

For Puerto Madryn we selected Faro Punta Delgada Hotel de Campo, Pen?nsula Vald?s
http://www.puntadelgada.com:80/
They responded right away to my email and reserved our room. Not cheap, but I think it is worth the extra money.

We had selected hosteria Canela B&B in Esquel http://www.canelaesquel.com.ar:80/_ingles/ingles.htm and they responded right away, but unfortunately could not accommodate us for the dates, we specified. Jorge was kind enough to recommend a local hosteria he thought we may like, and we booked our room here La Chacra B&B http://www.lachacrapatagonia.com:80/en

Next came La Posta del Cazador http://www.postadelcazador.com.ar:80/ in San Martin de los Andes, Neuquen
No reply to my email, but when I asked Jorge in Esquel to contact them, they replied right away, and I was able to book a room.

For Malargue, Mendoza I contacted several places. No reply yet but I will keep trying.

In Mendoza we picked the Grand Hotel Balbi http://www.hotelbalbi.com.ar:80/?i=69dc ... dca60d3df1 and the replied right away and we have booked our room.

From my other trips to meet the local Pals, I have always planned and booked my lodging and managed to find interesting and friendly places to stay, so I am not too worried yet.

One other thing happened, which I did not budget for.
The Argentinean government decided to charge all tourists from Australia, Canada and USA a US$70 fee (good for ten years) for visiting their country and payable in cash, when we arrive at the international airport in Buenos Aires. If you drive or use a different airport to enter Argentina, there is no fee.
Well it cost me $150 for a visa to Cameroon last year so I guess it could be worth. In Argentina its only money, no pictures, visiting embassies etc.

Next installment: Hopefully I book the missing rooms before we leave.

[birding]

Since I only wanted to book rooms for one night, it is difficult to find them right on the beach, so we have to compromise and walk down to the beach and birds.
I managed to book a room at the Nijar Hotel in Viedma, Mitre 490 02920 422833
http://www.hotelnijar.com/index.html
and
Hotel Egeo in Bahia Blanca, Rodriguez 80 0291 4522452
http://www.hotelegeo.com.ar/conozcanos.html
I was not able to find any lodging in Malarque, Mendoza but I am not too concerned, since it is the last part of the journey and I will try to get someone in Buenos Aires to help me. Otherwise we will try San Rafael even if it is a real long drive and I will miss out birding the Liancanelo Lagoon.
We fly out of Toronto to Atlanta and then to Buenos Aires on Monday and can say I am looking forward to it with all the new restrictions. Guess one just has to be patience.
As I have a chance I will post news on the way to La Cumbre.

I just received confirmation from a small hosteria in Malarqua, so all is now booked for the trip.
The hosteria Keoken Adolfo Puebla 252 has no website but Paolas email address is hosteriakeoken@yahoo.com.ar 47 2468 Cell 15 580218

[birding]

Jan 20/10
We arrived in Buenos Aires early yesterday morning after a long and exhausting flight. Clearing homeland security to get to Atlanta for our connecting flight was a lengthy process, and since we could not have any hand luggage except for my laptop and Karens purse a bit of a pain, but what can we do.
Sergio Corbet a local Pal in BA picked us up in the airport, and we stopped at the car rental to make arrangements for a vehicle on the way in to the city.
Then to Loi Suite Hotel (I have stayed there several times and it is a bit tired, but for the price and location still OK) for a shower and a bit of rest. Then Sergio picked us up around 20.30(we now have to get used to the Argentinean custom of having dinner late every night) and had our first Argentinean steak (lomo) and a bottle of red wine.
I noticed prices have gone up a lot since my visit three years ago.
Up early this morning for a walk and with all the flowering trees and plants the bird life in downtown BA is very active.
We will hang around in BA until Friday when we drive to Bahia Blanco

[birding]

Jan 20/10
We arrived in Buenos Aires early yesterday morning after a long and exhausting flight. Clearing homeland security to get to Atlanta for our connecting flight was a lengthy process and since we could not have any hand luggage except for my laptop and Karens purse it was a bit of a pain, but what can we do.
Sergio Corbet a local Pal in BA picked us up in the airport and we stopped at the car rental to make arrangements for a vehicle. Then to Loi Suite Hotel (I have stayed there several times and it is a bit tired, but for the price and location still OK) for a shower and a bit of rest. Then Sergio picked us up around 20.30(we now have to get used to having dinner late every night, the Argentinean custom) and had our first steak (lomo) and a bottle of red wine.
I noticed prices have gone up a lot since my visit three years ago.
Up early this morning for a walk and with all the flowering trees and plants the bird life in downtown BA is quite active.
We will hang around in BA until Friday when we drive to Bahia Blanco.

Feb 06/10
We have now arrived in La Cumbre (The Summit) and almost settled in to our little house on the prairie. All is OK, but still no connection to the internet server promised. Sometime things move slowly in Argentina and we are trying our best to get used to it.
Early this morning I birded one of the local streets in the neighborhood and there are plenty of birds to get used to. Highlight this morning was a pair of Green-backed Woodpeckers on a telephone pole, when a second male landed below them. The first male got quite exited and made a lot of noise chasing the intruder away.

Patagonia trip.
Since I did not post on our trip to Patagonia, I will add a note every day until the trip is completed.
We left BA early Saturday morning for Bahia Blanco with a bit of trouble finding the right exit for ruta 3, but we saw a part of the city, we properly would not have seen otherwise. Not everyone live in nice apartments in Buenos Aires.
A beautiful day and we are making good time, stop for lunch and continue our voyage. I see many birds on the way Fork-tailed flycatchers, vultures and water birds.
Mid afternoon we run into a heavy thunderstorm and got lucky, since we just managed to pass before some of the road got flooded.
Arriving in Bahia Blanco we locate our hotel and check in. Few people on the streets. I think they are all on the beach.
Fresh fish for dinner with a bottle of wine.

[birding]

Feb 07/10
This morning I got up very early and birded the neighborhood streets again.
When we decided to spend a couple of month in La Cumbre, we had forgotten one thing from our visit in 2006. The dogs. All Argentineans have at least one dog, but in La Cumbre, I think every family has a dozen, and they are left outside and combined with the stray dogs make a lot of noise every night. It is difficult to understand, why people put up with it and I hope we will get used to it.
A person finally arrived to set up the internet, just to discover, we did not have a telephone hook up. Our local real estate agent Karen Pearson arrived and after a lot of phone calls back and forward with the phone company, found out the technician had gone back to Cordoba for an emergency, but promised to be back tomorrow.

Patagonia trip.
We get an early start and head for Viedma and it should be an easy drive. In Argentina most of the major roads are in good shape, but they have a fondness for rotundas and the signs are not always easy to read. We found out the hard way after driving for a couple of hours and not seeing the sign for Viedma. Stopping for fuel we ask the attendant for directions to Viedma. Just take the next road to the left and it will take you there he said. Sure enough the sign shows Viedma 302 km and we realized our little detour just doubled the distance we had expected.
Anyway we finally reached Viedma, but no time for exploring the beach and the local birds so we just had a nice seafood dinner and prepared for next day drive to Peninsula Valdes.

[birding]

Feb 08/10
Again up early to bird the neighborhood streets and this time I got a little exited passing a bush with small blue flowers and spotted a small hummingbird (Glittering-bellied Emerald) and then a male Red-tailed Comet. Coming back to the house I found two Schimitar-billed Creepers feeding on the ground.
It is now 10.40 and still no technician, but we are hoping he will show up, so I can start working on my websites.
A few site for La Cumbre
http://www.alacumbre.com/
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&view=t ... earch+Maps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Cumbre,_C%C3%B3rdoba

Patagonia trip.
To day we are traveling to Peninsular Valles, where we will stay for a couple of nights.
The peninsular is a World Heritage site and a must for visitors to Patagonia. Driving the last 70 km on a dirt road, we arrive at the resort Faro Punta Delgada. I booked this place on the internet and was quoted a price, but when I paid my bill it was doubled to US$400 a night all incl. For that kind of money I would expect better facilities, so make sure to check before you arrive at this place.
The nature was stunning and different to anything I have seen. The star here is of course whales, but we were too early for them and had to be satisfied with the many elephant seals and sea lions. Plenty of lesser Rhea, Elegant Crested Tinamou and of course Magellanic Penguin. Many seabirds such as three different kinds of cormorants, gulls, two kinds of Oystercatchers etc.
Plenty of Guanacos, Patagonian hare, Maras and even a family of Patagonian Fox one of the kitchen staff was feeding with scraps of meat.

[birding]

Feb 09/10
Last night Birdingpal Juan Carlos Grosso visited us to show me how to barbecue the Argentinean way. First we visited the local butcher store and bought, I think, 2 kg of meat, which JC ensured us, would be just right for dinner. He showed us how to lit the charcoal fire and get just the right temperature for medium rare meat. A long procedure, but well worth the afford, and I am now ready to become an Argentinean meat eater.
Still no telephone but maybe tomorrow.

Patagonia trip.
Today we leave for Esquel a small town in the foot hills of the Andes. It is a long drive but roads are good with little traffic and as we preside west the landscape start to change dramatically. We reach Esguel late afternoon and will stay at a small hosteria owned by a woman of Welsh decent, who speaks English and Gaelic very well. She offered us a home cooked dinner that night and we had the best empanadas ever.


Spectacled Tyrant compliments of my Friend Juan Carlos a long time Birdingpal

[birding]

Feb 10/10
Again we spend the whole day waiting for a technician to show up and install our telephone. It is 17.30 now so maybe tomorrow?
At 19.00 Karen Pearson our local real estate agent (who has been a lot of help to us) showed up with two trucks and three technicians and we now have our telephone connection hooked up. Now I just have to get the internet technician to come and I will be back on the net
.
Patagonia trip.
I bird the fields behind the hosteria and there are many birds singing and moving around. Manny hares are also sitting in the fields, but then realize not all of them have four legs. A small group of Black-faced Ibis is also feeding in the grass. A new lifer for me.
The rest of the day we explore this pleasant little town in the Andes.


Typical landscape on the way to Esqual compliments of my Friend Juan Carlos a long time Birdingpal

[birding]

Feb 11/10
Talked to the internet technician early this morning and he promised to drop by tomorrow, so I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I also found out the telephone company has to come and digitalize the phone. Not a good sign.
I am beginning to master the parrilla.



Patagonia trip.
Today we leave for San Martin de los Andes in the province of Neuquen driving through some absolutely stunning scenery. Snow capped mountains, strange rock formations looking like they are from a different world, lakes and small towns.
We also hit serious construction for the first time doing the trip with very bad roads and even worth dust (some times the visibility was zero and knowing the Argentinean drivers a bit scary).
Arriving in San Martin we check into La Postal del Cazador a small somewhat tired chalet type hotel. For 400 pesos per night I think it was a bit overpriced.
San Martin is a typical tourist town and very busy. Since the restaurants do not open until 20.30 or so, I decided to go and buy a bottle of wine in a small kiosk. I paid with a 100 peso bill but realized I only got change for 50. I pointed it out to the clerk and he gave me the correct change but did not even say sorry. Tourist towns all over the world are the same and you have to be alert.


Nahuel Huapi Lake, Bariloche, Rio Negro compliments of my Friend Juan Carlos a long time Birdingpal

[birding]

Feb 12/10
10.30 and still no internet technician but I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Had a female Campo Flicker visiting the back yard this morning but still no Condors. Black and Turkey Vultures every day and a lot of noisy Monk Parakeets.

Patagonia trip.
We leave very early for Malarque in the province of Mendoza. It is a long drive again with stunning scenery, but we also experience the worst road conditions for much of the drive. Very bad gravel roads with hairpin turns, but we some how managed to get to Malarque and find our hosteria. I had a lot of problems finding lodging until Paola the owner emailed me saying he had a room. Hosteria Keoken was a bit of a disappointment to put it mildly. Small room with only a bed as furniture, no air condition and other guest playing loud music late at night, but the price was right only 120 pesos.
We had dinner at a nearby restaurant and I ordered lomo, but when it arrived it did not look like lomo, so I asked the waiter and he told me it was pampas lomo. Well even if I got ripped off, the meat in Argentina taste great but I did not tip the #$@*.


Mirrow Lake, Nahuel Huapi N P, Neuquen compliments of my Friend Juan Carlos a long time Birdingpal

[birding]

Feb 14/10
Today we decided to drive to Cordoba (about 80 km) and Birdingpal Juan Carlos will be our guide. When we got to Villa Carlos Paz the motorway was closed, so we had to take the scenic way. Extreme winding road and much longer through the mountain.
First I went to a bookstore to by Tito Naroskys bird guide Aves de Argentina y Uruguay After we played tourists in this pleasant and one of the oldest cities in the Americas.
Upon the return to La Cumbre in the evening we discover the phone company finally came through and we have internet so now I can work on www.birdingpal.org again (38 new Pals to post plus all the other maintenance work).
Karen Pearson the real estate agent let the phone company in to the house and she left a jar of her excellent homemade raspberry jam, a box of chocolate and three bottles of beer for me.

Patagonia trip.
We had planned to spend two nights in Malarque but decided after breakfast to leave and spend and extra day in Mendoza.
Good roads all the way to Mendoza (guess the province spends all it money on roads in the northern part of the province) and we arrive early afternoon and check into Grand Hotel Balbi located in the downtown area.
Mendoza is a very nice city and known for the many wineries producing excellent wine.
We will stay for three nights and play tourists for the two full days we have here. Visit wineries, olive oil producing farm, museums etc. Many fine restaurants with friendly staff and reasonable prices serve excellent food. The sidewalk cafes are all over and everyone seams to have time for a coffee anytime.

[birding]

March 02/10
We have now lived here in La Cumbre for more than a month and in general we like it very much. For some reason the dogs stopped hauling at night (I have a feeling someone talked to the neighbors) and that was our only serious complain.
We now know the local stores, so we can buy almost any food we want here and cook most of our meals at home. A mixture of what we are used to at home, but I have also mastered the parrilla. When I grilled my first lomo (beef tenderloin) it took me 40 minutes to finish a medium rare piece. I paid 35 pesos (about $10) for two Argentinean fillet mignons which would have cost me at least $35 at home, but people here still complain about the high cost of meat.
We have visited some of the small towns in the surrounding area doing a little shopping and relaxing sitting in one of the many sidewalks cafes typical here.
We have had quite a bit of rain (still better than snow) and the temperatures are comfortable. People tell me that this was the wettest February in memory and last year they had little rain and many brush fires. Maybe climate change has reached La Cumbre too.
Last week I visited Maurice Rumbolt a resident of La Cumbre and well known birdwatcher and co-author of Collins Field Guide - Birds South America. A very nice man and he were kind enough to sign my copy of the book.
Over the weekend my friend Juan Carlos, the Birdingpal from Villa Carlos Paz, visited us and we birded a close by lake. Along a small river we spotted Blue-crowned Parakeets at their nesting site, a pair of Narrow-billed Woodcreepers, three kinds of Coots and a pair of Great Grebes to name a few.
We got up early Sunday morning, since we planned to visit Hernan Casanas, a local Birdingpals estancia. Suddenly during breakfast we felled a tremor and later realized, it originated from the 8.8 earth quake that hit Chile. Good thing the ground is solid here in Cordoba.
In the evening we had dinner at a local restaurant called the Owl (I try to support birds as much as possible) with a Eddy Kinast and his wife. Eddy helped me get my laptop up and running, when the internet finally arrived. He recommended a local specialty, that turned out to be venison, and we had a very pleasant evening. Power went out at 21.00 and did not come back until after midnight. Power shortages are rather common here and I learned quickly to save often, when I use my computer.
Now that the internet is working, I am again in touch with the world (I even listen to my favorite radio station in Toronto) and can receive and send email, catch up maintaining my websites and work on other projects.
We did watch Canada beat US for gold Sunday evening on a local Spanish TV station. Rather interesting to listen to the Spanish announcer, who sounded like he was describing a major football (soccer) match.

[birding]

March 07/10
We have now lived for more than a month here in La Cumbre and are settled in, familiar with the locals, butchers etc, the birds and enjoying every day, except for the @%$# dogs, but even them we are getting kind of used to.
It rained quite a bit for some days (one night about 50 mm), but now the sun is out every day. We always have some clouds, but they make a pretty and interesting reflection on the surrounding mountains.
I get up early morning, make my mate, drink it with a silver straw, check my email and read a few newspapers on the net to keep up with the world.
Then I go for a walk or I take the car and go birding.
After breakfast we drive to one of the many small towns surrounding La Cumbre and have now found a few favorite restaurants for alfresco lunch with a glass of wine or a local beer.
Most of the time we use the parrilla, and I am getting pretty good in lightning the charcoal. I even bought an ax for 35 pesos, so I can chop wood to get the fire going.
As everyone knows, Argentina is a carnivore land and we eat a lot of meat here.
In North America, when one goes to the butcher, every piece of meat is wrapped up and looks a like (the same for the fruit and vegetables). Here everything is individual looking. At home I doubt people would buy it looking like that, but the truth is, it taste much better, because it is more naturally produced even if Frankenstein food is beginning to show up here too.
Well, my little pitch against factory food.
For a birder and sometime retired person life can not get much better I think.
PS: My neighbor did surprise me a few days ago, when he trimmed his hedges with a chainsaw. Only in Argentina I guess.



As you can see the British railway engineers lived well in La Cumbre

[birding]

March 11/10
I did not sleep too good last night because of $#&# dogs so I got up early and made some mate to calm my nerves. Checked email and the latest news from a world far away, I then decided to go birding in the hills south of La Cumbre.
Backed the car out of the driveway and got out to close the gate. The leader of the $#&# dogs casually walked up to me, allowing me to scratch him behind his ears and then promptly lifted his right leg and peed on my front tier. I guess with the Argentineans love of dogs, they can afford to be arrogant. Funny thing is that 90% of the stray ones happen to be male.
Trying not to get mad at Mr. Gaucho as I call the leader, since I do not know his name, I hit the gravel roads and my first bird was a pair of Guira Cuckoos, then a small tree with a half a dozen Campo Flickers and a bunch of Eared Doves. Further up the road many Southern Lapwings made a lot of racket and at one fence I counted 26 Chimango and 2 Southern-Crested Caracaras. Many flycatchers and the little brown ones I always have trouble with. Beautiful landscape and the road were not too bad but very few people live here. Turning around after an hours time a resident Burrowing Owl was sitting on the road and I know where it lives now.
Even more Campo Flickers and many Monk Parakeets feeding in the trees.
Salame colonial with Dutch cheese and olives plus a glass of red wine for lunch made my birding perfect.
Tomorrow Juan Carlos takes me birding to north and we will look for Condor and woodpeckers.
I had an email from my friend Meseret in Ethiopia telling me, he just returned from an 18 day birdwatching tour and found 457 bird species. I thought I did well with 419 in 21 days. but when it comes to birding, there is always room for improvements.
If you want to go birding with Meseret check out his tours
http://www.birdingpal.org/tours/EthiopiaItinerary.htm

[birding]

March 21/10
It is amazing the way times fly. Next Sunday we leave our little paradise on Solis in La Cumbre. One knows that life slows down here, when they do not bother with house numbers. We tell the taxi drivers to pick us up in the court on Solis and no problems.
I bird the gravel roads in the morning, but I am beginning to notice some of the birds, I saw, when we first arrived, are no longer here. Fall has arrived in Cordoba. I did have Cattle Egrets for the first time a few days ago on the road to Estacia Cuchi Corral.
For lunch we often drive to the small towns around here and then back to the house for siesta. Everything here closes around 13-13.30 except the restaurants and then open up again around 17.00 (maybe).
Friday a week ago Juan Carlos arrived from Carlos Paz and we drove to the valley of La Toma in quest for Condor and woodpeckers. Not a very nice day and no Condor, but many Red-tailed Comets and a few Glittering-bellied hunting for mosquitoes. We did se a Chiguanco Thrush feeding a huge Shiny Cowbird fledgling.
Finally giving up on the Condor we stopped for coffee in a small town before we started to bird a gravel road off ruta 38.
A few birds such as singing Stripe-capped Sparrow and Stripe-crowned Spinetail, but then we spotted a Cliff Flycatcher eating a huge caterpillar, just before it started to rain buckets. It rained all day (55 mm), so we picked up Karen and drove to Villa Giardino for a nice long lunch.
JC dropped by again last Friday and I impressed him (I think) with my new skills on the parrilla doing bife de chorizo (only in Argentina is choriza meat. The rest of the world its a sausage). After 25 minutes on the grill they were nicely rare, but I am not sure he liked it this way. Argentineans tends to like their meat well done.
In the morning we birded the gravel road I often spend an hour or two on. Besides the usual birds we had three Burrowing Owls having a good look at us, as soon as we started to drive up the road..
Later we found a small three with two Flycatchers and a Blue and yellow Tanager. After much discussion we decide it was Swainsons Flycatchers. The illustrations in field guides for Argentina are not the best to put it mildly.
The road is pretty bad for a small Renault car, but we did make it to the end with a spectacular view of the valley below (Cuchi Corral is famous for paragliding) and a very friendly Rufus-collared Sparrow came right up to my feet.
Returning to La Cumbre we picked Karen up and drove to our favorite restaurant in the hills above Villa Giardino, where I enjoyed pickled Vicunas and a beer. JC tells me it is an animal who lives underground and has long whiskers. Not sure that I believe him, but it taste fine.
Next Tuesday I have been invited to visit an estancia about 100 km north of La Cumbre and I am very much looking forward to it.


Cuchi Corral view

[birding]

March 22/10
Last night the @%$# dogs kept me awake all night, especially the psycho one, who lives in the corner house and has one ear standing right up and the second hanging right down. Must say I am kind of growing attached to some of them and properly will miss them when we leave, but they can have their owners.
We brought a number of books in English with us, since we knew they would not be available here in La Cumbre. You can find some in Cordoba but very limited selection.
We also bought a Kindle from Amazon. After a couple of weeks it stopped working and we could not find anyone to fix it. So much for electronic books.
I just finished reading my last book. Andrew Westolls The Riverbones, Stumbling after Eden in the jungle of Surinam. With a different perspective on saving the last natural forest you may want to read it too.
Luckily enough Karens Spanish teacher is English and she kindly let us use her library.

[birding]

March 25/10
Our stay in La Cumbre is almost over and we leave for Rosario early Sunday morning.
The last couple of month has been very pleasant here in our little corner of Argentina and we enjoyed very much the good weather, we had most of the time even the #^%$ dogs began to grow on us.
Last Tuesday I was invited to an estancia by one of the local people, we have met here. The estancia (1600 hectares) is about 100 km North West of La Cumbre, has no electricity, a wind mill to pump water and with much of the forest left alone for many years to grow naturally.
A gaucho and his family lives there permanently and looks after a small herd of dairy cows.
The main reason for going there was for the owner to brand his cows and horses and for a veterinarian to vaccinate the livestock. For me it was a chance to see a working estancia and do a little birding.
Since we did not get there until about 10.30 I missed the morning birding, but there was still many flycatchers, cuckoos, parakeets etc. active.
We had a bit of excitement, when the gauchos wife discovered a rattle snake close to the house and shortly after two corrals snakes, which her husband promptly killed. With small children around I can somewhat understand him, but it was still too bad.
Before the excitement of branding the cows we had a parrilla with chorizo and blood sausages, bread, fresh tomatoes from the garden and of course vino tinto. Excellent.
Late in the afternoon many Black Vultures began to arrive at their roosting trees behind the estancia and as we left to drive back to La Cumbre, we saw at least a dozen Scissor-tailed Nightjars and also Brushland Tinamou. The owner, Javier, told me they have a lot of wildlife and he is very interested in preserving it for the future. Lets hope so.
We were also treated to the oldest girls (7 years) bareback horse skills, as she fearlessly galloped up and down the hills. Later I was told, she rides her horse to school (it takes about an hour) all alone and then back in the afternoon. A delightful day and a little taste of rural Argentina.


Don Federico getting ready to brand his cattles

[birding]

March 28/10
This is our last night in La Cumbre, and the @$%# dogs were unbelievable.
I think, some people stayed at the posada behind the house and left their dogs to run loose all night.
What a party and it went on all night, even if I got up several times and chased them away with my broom.
I have to say, it is difficult to understand the mentality of the owners, and to me they have none, or to tell the truth none what so ever, consideration for neighbors or community.
In all fairness I did not experience this, anywhere else, where I visited during my trip to Argentina. Sure they have dogs anywhere, but this was completely unacceptable, unless you are an Argentinean from La Cumbre, I guess.
Since we slept little the last night, we had no problem getting up early to leave for Rosario.
Backing the car out of the driveway, all the dogs showed up to say goodbye, and I must admit a couple of them almost became friends, when we stayed at the house, and I think they are going to miss the foreigners on Solis.
Heading to Cordoba we passed all the small towns, we had grown used to during our stay and hit the autopista. Being Sunday, traffic was light and we only had a short detour to a two line highway halfway to Rosario (about 400km) so we made good time and arrived there at noon.
Lunch, a short siesta and we took a taxi down to Rio Parana for a 3 hour boat cruise. Its a big river, and many pleasure boats from small sail boats to million dollar yachts plied the water. In the middle of the river you will find a number of small mainly uninhabited islands, but I was surprised how little birdlife, I saw. Maybe just too much traffic on Sundays.
Returning to the hotel we stopped at a restaurant to enjoy grilled Golden Dorano (fresh water fish) with a bottle of Argentinean white wine. Highly recommended even if they have a lot of fine bones.
PS: I forgot to tell you we shared the Garden hotel with La Boca Juniors football team. They looked pleased, since they beat the river people the night before.

[birding]

March 29/10
We leave early to drive the 300 km to BA. All on excellent Autopista but heavy truck traffic. Arriving at noon we check into the good old Loi Suite hotel on Arenales and have a quick lunch, before I return the car to the rental place.
Buenos Aires is a delightful city and it is good to be back again

[birding]

March 30/10
Next morning I am up early to buy The Buenos Aires Herald (an English newspaper) down the street in one of the many kiosk you will find here. I only had a 50 pesos bill, and when I got my change back the crook was charging me 13 ? pesos for a paper, that cost 3/ ? pesos. When I complained, he told me this is the price, so I gave him his paper and change back and asked for my 50 pesos. I did get it, but he called me something, I can not write in this blog.
One thing in BA is, that there are lots of competitions around, so I just walked a little further, and a lady sold me a copy for 3 1/2 pesos. Coming back I could not help showing my paper to the crook and telling him what I paid for it. He called me something even worse this time.
Spend a pleasant day meeting old Birdingpal friends and Karen did a bit of shopping.

[birding]

April 01/10
This is our last day in Argentina and we got up early, paid my hotel bill and took a taxi to spend the day in La Boca. Always an interesting place, and this time I run into a guy who asked me if I spoke English. I then asked him in Danish if he spoke Danish. He did not, but he showed me a 5 kroner coin, he had in his wallet.
A nice lunch with a bottle of rose wine watching the tango dancers perform on the street made it a perfect good buy to Buenos Aires.
Oh, and I bought a La Boca Junior t-shirt to irritate some of the Argentineans in Toronto.
The night before my friend Sergio and his wife Matilde picked us up at the hotel to take us for dinner at a little red meat place. Have to say the beef was as good, as the one I produced on the parrilla in La Cumbre, once I learned how to use it.
Sergio was kind enough to drive us to the airport (thank you Sergio) for a 20 hour long flight back to Toronto including delays, security checks etc.
I think, in some ways both Karen and I were sorry to leave Argentina, even if it is always nice to come home after a long trip.
Chucked away in the corner of the world it is a beautiful place to visit and with more than 1000 species of birds a heaven for birders.
I have never met anyone, who have visited Argentina and not like it, even with the @%$# dogs and too much red meat and wine. I am sure we will be back.

PS: Should you care to read more about my trips to Argentina got o
http://www.birdingpal.org/Argentinareport2.htm

A good book guide is Discovery Channel's Insight Guides to Argentina
Best trip maps can be bought from ACA Automovil Club Argentino gas stations.

For your info only one dog barked the night we spend in Rosario and none in Buenos Aires and Toronto so far.