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A Night of Solitude: Refugios of the Andean Comarca    ...Click to Read...

Every day of the year, Atilio’s home is open to throngs of hikers seeking a warm meal, mate, and a place to the rest their heads. Refugio Cajón del Azul is set against the startling beauty of the Andean Comarca of the 42nd Parallel, a mountainous area west of El Bolsón and Lago Puelo that has become of one Argentina’s most treasured wilderness sanctuaries.

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Ruta 40 – The North    ...Click to Read...

That’s the problem with small towns: the lack of choice. The long, enthralling drive from Salta had left us peckish, but a lack of options meant we had to wait for the curiously named ‘Los 3 Chinos’ restaurant to open at who-knows-what hour. No choice but to watch the handful of village kids spill onto the dirt football pitch. No choice but to watch lightning flash innocuously above the vast mountains. No choice but to place our beer on the jagged mud wall and amble onto the arena for a kick of the ball.

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Ruta 40 – The South    ...Click to Read...

‘Patagonia’s most present characteristic is its endless expanse of nothingness, both an attraction and a lesson in boredom for the overland traveller’, I read as the plane veered its course towards El Calafate.

Having found a direct flight out of Ushuaia for the same price as a 2-day bus/ weather-dependent ferry/bus/overnight stop in ‘wind-pummelled service town’/bus option, I had, happily, forfeited the first leg of the Ruta 40 that starts in Río Gallegos.

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Aliens in Córdoba    ...Click to Read...

Aliens live among us. No, I’m not being euphemistic, referring to the ghastly tourists who swarm upon Buenos Aires and indeed the rest of South America in the hope of ‘finding themselves’. I am talking actual extraterrestrial, Encounters del Tercer Tipo, high possibility of ‘probing’, aliens. And they are right here in Argentina. Specifically Córdoba.

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Little Town, Big Mountains: The Charms of Patagonia’s El Chaltén    ...Click to Read...

Nestled in a river valley with the granite peaks of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitzroy looming in the distance, the Patagonian village of El Chaltén has quickly become one of the most sought-after spots in the region. Yet despite it’s recent surge in popularity, El Chaltén remains pristine – an idyllic counterpoint to its bustling, more tourist-centred cousins like El Calafate and Bariloche.

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Holiday in Ice    ...Click to Read...

Ushuaia, the last town at the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego, quickly became just a tiny bright spot behind the stern. The MS Hanseatic was heading south, towards Antarctica, towards the cold. In the coming three weeks, she would steer us through the icy waters that surround the Antarctic Peninsula, on to South Georgia, and finally the Falkland Islands.

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Carnaval Unmasked    ...Click to Read...

Traditionally, carnaval is a period for people of the Catholic faith to let their hair down and enjoy the vices they are going to be giving up for the 40 days of Lent. Nowadays the religious roots of carnaval are arguably taking more of a back seat, meaning that carnaval typically extends well into the Lenten period. It is not uncommon for festivities to take place throughout the first three months of each new year. See carnaval celebrations in Argentina, Brazil and Boliva for the complete experience.

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Road Trip to Nowhere    ...Click to Read...

In the far northwest of Argentina’s vast territory lies the sparsely populated, seldom visited province of Catamarca. Remote Antofagasta de la Sierra, 500km north of the provincial capital, is about as far from Buenos Aires, literally and figuratively, as you can get.

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Design for Wine    ...Click to Read...

Nothing whets an architect’s whistle quite like a new style to practice. Over the last few years winery design has boomed, capturing the imagination of A-list architects around the world.

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The Falklands/Malvinas: A Complete History    ...Click to Read...

2008 marked the 26th anniversary of the Falklands/Malvinas conflict. The war, although short-lived, continues to weigh heavily on the Argentine conscience. However, the dispute over the islands did not begin in 1982. The territory has been a source of bitter tension since its first sighting by Europeans 500 years ago.

Setting aside the jingoistic proclamations of both sides, what is the true story behind the islands? Who discovered the archipelago and who settled there?