Buenos Aires: Polo Day

Argentinians love their equestrian activities… horse riding, horse racing, polo, etc.  Buenos Aires in particular takes pride in their elite polo teams, which compete worldwide.  We were able to spend a day at one of the many polo clubs in the area to learn more about this popular activity.  A typical match takes about 2 hours, and is divided into periods called chukkers.  Given the length of play, horses have to be changed out every period.  However, in the more competitive games, players will generally change their horses out every 2 to 3 minutes!  Just one of the reasons polo is so expensive, we learned that, in professional matches, they will generally use about 100 horses per game and it costs several thousand dollars per horse to drive (or fly!) them to various matches.

First, we got to see a real polo match.  They make it look easy!

An asado (argentine barbecue) for lunch and then it’s time for us to give it a go

Learning how to hold and swing the polo mallets:

Getting’ on the horses… I guess we’re really doing this.  :-)

 

Heading out to the polo 'pitch’

Slammin’ one home!!!

As silly as it sounds, I (Jen) honestly thought the horses would be very happy to take us around, and just be totally agreeable and sweet.  But actually, the horses we were riding were already involved in the polo game played earlier, so they were tired and grumpy.  Mine seemed especially grumpy, because at one point he took off galloping, then stopped short so I flew off of him, over his head.  I was actually quite lucky, landed squarely on my back, and just knocked the wind out of me a bit.  I did get back on, but just trotted around the field while the real action was going on… my attempt at polo playing was over at that point!  :-)  As difficult as it was to play this sport, Scott was able to score a goal, which was pretty cool!  All in all it was a great, fun day and we have a new appreciation for the sport (but are not looking to play again anytime soon) !!!

Buenos Aires: Recoleta Cemetery

After spending a while in undeveloped Patagonia and living out of our backpacks, we were actually looking forward to a real city again!  But… it would take a 48 hour bus ride (literally) from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, as all the cheap flights were booked right after New Years.  It went by fairly quickly, since we knew it would be the last big trip any time soon… we were planning to stay in Buenos Aires for about two weeks. 

One of our first outings in Buenos Aires was to visit the famous Recoleta cemetery.  There are 4691 tombs here including 18 former Argentine presidents and other notable politicians (including Eva Peron), military generals, artists and other families of Argentina’s high society since the late 1800s. 

The draw here for tourists is the beautiful mausoleums and surrounding art work in this cemetery.  Of the rows and rows of tombs, some are beautiful and well maintained, while others are very old and fallen into disrepair. 

A street performer stands perfectly still outside the cemetery gates… definitely a little creepy!

The tomb of Eva Peron:

 

New Years at ‘El Fin Del Mundo’

(** Hey all! We are about 1 month behind on our posts and are currently in Brazil!  Please check back often as we intend to catch up over the next couple of weeks!)

After bussing further and further south and reaching southern Chile, our previous stop at Puerto Natales was to be our southern-most point on the trip.  However, after coming this far, we figured what’s another couple hundred miles… let’s keep on truckin’ south until we run out of road.  :- )

 Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world and is part of the ‘Tierra Del Fuego’ (land of fire) region of Patagonia… a desolate and wind-blown place. 

Tierra Del Fuego is actually disconnected from the mainland and getting to Ushuaia would require us to cross the Straight of Magellan.  Not the most comfortable ferry crossing but interesting for sure:

The next day we took a small boat tour through the Beagle Channel… named after Darwin’s famous ship that surveyed the area in 1830 (see, we are learning a couple things along the way!)

The “southern most structure in the world”, a lighthouse in the Beagle Channel. Ushuaia’s most notable landmark.

Sea Lions…

As we came up to this island full of black and white birds, Jen and I were excited to see more penguins! 

But, as they started flying off we realized we were not so lucky.  :- )

Trees growing sideways due to the incessantly strong winds:

 

 

Being the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia is the most popular port city for cruises to Antarctica.  We would definitely not have the budget for that… maybe we can start saving for a 25 year anniversary trip:

Other random pictures around town:

Racks of pork roasting in open fire pits:

A huge penguin just roaming the streets!

Spanish to English translation fail:

 

New Years 2012

In Torres Del Paine, we had met David and Lily, who were also celebrating their honeymoon.  We kept in touch and were able to meet up in Ushuaia for a bit before new years:

As you might imagine, Ushuaia is not exactly known for its night-life.  Nonetheless, we were able to find a friendly pub to ring in the new year.  Some pals of ours we met earlier in the evening… Michael and Catherine.

Outside after New Years, the sun was still setting.  This would definitely rank up there with one of the more memorable places to bring in the new year!