Airport Diaries 2
I have been finding it stressful to be on the move and it feels like continually looking for accommodation .
Back in the UK my plan was to go to 5 different places in 5 months but the lure of beautiful places , the difficulty of getting to some places , of finding affordable accommodation as in El Calafate , in Patagonia, has been challenging and meant I am on the move more than I had anticipated. However uncertainty and changing plans has also meant I can change direction (literally and head east before I headed west.
Where to hang my 3 hats (made another one and bought a third in Ushuaia - you know me and hats) has been a learning curve, from my hostel on a dodge edge of San Telmo to a roof-top pool air bnb in Palermo Holywood to the wonderful view from the Lighthouse with the hairy hound on Ushuaia Everywhere has been different.
My recent diversion west instead of north east brought me to sunny, relaxing and friendly San Clemente del Tuyu (San Clemente in the mud!! because it’s on an estuary) I spent a wonderful 10 days with a friend and her family. They have very young children so days were perfectly made up of jumping Atlantic wavs, building sandcastles, playing football ( I've found my league - I'm ace against a couple of 4 year old!!), beach lunches, naps and searching for shells. It was a lovely rest and tonic. I even learnt a few Argentinian games; 15's played with an adapted pack of cards (Argentinians have different symbols - who knew!!) and Ladder - a game played with 5 dice. Flor was a merciless competitor and i had to have my wits about me.
My lovely friends, took such good and loving care of me and insisted on vetting the area I was to stay in after they returned home to the capitol and this led to kind Oswaldo driving me round different area until he was satisfied. Even this didn’t work out completely- acceptable area but yours truly was in such a panic to book somewhere for the next night with hours to spare that I didn’t read the full ‘amenities’ - non- amenities more like!! and I booked somewhere that not only didn’t have Wi-Fi, (manageable) it didn’t have internet coverage a pain but there are cafes etc) but the tipping point was no sheets, no hot water and no loo paper as well as being filthy and cold. This place was marketed as ‘cosy and warm’!!
Again I was so lucky because a call my friends and Oswaldo picked me up the next morning and took me to a sweet 1* hotel with everything I needed including loo paper and breakfast. The manager was thoroughly interrogated and room inspected before it was deemed acceptable.
But 10 days in this gentle town with nurturing friends and I’m ready for a new destination; San Carlos De Bariloche, the Lake District of the Patagonian mountains and gateway to Chile. I’ve booked a week in the town and if it’s nice I’ll stay out for 3 weeks before heading on to Santiago de Chile, Easter island and beyond.
I’m soaring over La Pampas on my 4th flight in 12 days 😳 (global warming) thanking God for my blessings, my friends and family at home on zoom and in person here Argentina and this amazing adventure that I could never have foreseen just a few years ago.
My flight from Mar del Platter to Buenos Aires ( a city I enjoyed again from the air and the airport )
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