After neglecting the blog for months and months, I now have something to write about. I traveled to Argentina and Antarctica. Words cannot describe how amazing the trip was, but pictures may help. I took about 2000 pictures and have distilled that down to 120 of my favorite, best, or most interesting photos. Take a look at the Argentina and Antarctica Photos to get an idea of what my trip was like. With luck over the next week or so I’ll put the expanded set of images for each site I visited online with helpful commentary in the blog (though don’t hold your breath – as history shows, I rarely actually update this blog).

The trip started on January 29th with flying down to Buenos Aires, Argentina and arrive on the morning of Jan 30th. After checking into the Hotel Colon, which sits right on the plaza with the Obelisco, a monument commemorating the 400th anniversary of the founding of Buenos Aires. I spent the afternoon walking around the Cemeterio de la Recoleta, which is famous for Eva Peron’s tomb. The monuments, mausoleums, and statues are impressive and you can spend quite a lot of time searching for the tombs of famous Argentinians.
Afterwards, I wandered the city, taking in the parks, going to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, and admiring the statues and architecture of the city. Take a look at my photos of Buenos Aires to get an idea of what the city is like.

The next day (Jan 31st) I went bird watching at Costanera Sur, a nature reserve near downtown Buenos Aires. I hired bird guide Sergio Corbet (recommended through birdchat and birdingpal) and was not disappointed. The day was beautiful (if a little on the warm side) and I saw plenty of birds and Sergio’s knowledge and affability made the day a true pleasure. Photos of many of the birds (and other wildlife) I saw are at my Buenos Aires Animals photo page. For those of you interested in birds, here is the full list of what I saw (and new lifers are marked with an asterisk – 81 species, 60 lifers):
Neotropic Cormorant
Rufescent Tiger-Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
*Cocoi Heron
Great Egret
*White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
*White-faced Whistling Duck
*Fulvous Whistling Duck
*Coscoroba Swan
*Black-necked Swan
*Red Shoveler
*Silver Teal
*Yellow-billed Pintail
Southern Crested-Caracara
*Chimango Caracara
*Grey-necked Wood-Rail
*Plumbeous Rail
*Red-gartered Coot
*Limpkin
*Wattled Jacana
*White-backed Stilt
Southern Lapwing
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
*Brown-hooded Gull
*Kelp Gull
Rock Pigeon
*Picazuro Pigeon
*Eared Dove
*Nanday (Black-hooded) Parakeet
Monk Parakeet
*Dark-billed Cuckoo
*Guira Cuckoo
*Glittering-bellied Emerald
*Gilded Sapphire
*Checkered Woodpecker
*Green-barred Woodpecker
*Field Flicker
*Rufous Hornero
*Freckle-breasted Thornbird
*Narrow-billed Woodcreeper
*Small-billed Elaenia
*White-bellied Tyrannulet
*Warbling Doradito
*Bran-coloured Flycatcher
*Spectacled Tyrant
*Yellow-browed Tyrant
*Cattle Tyrant
Tropical Kingbird
*Fork-tailed Flycatcher
*Streaked Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
*Red-eyed Vireo
*Grey-breasted Martin
*Brown-chested Martin
*White-rumped Swallow
House Wren
*Masked Gnatcatcher
*Rufous-bellied Thrush
*Creamy-bellied Thrush
*Chalk-browed Mockingbird
*Blue-and-yellow Tanager
Hepatic Tanager
*Black-and-rufous Warbling-Finch
*Double-collared Seedeater
Saffron Yellow-Finch
Yellow-billed Cardinal
Red-crested Cardinal
*Rufous-collared Sparrow
*Golden-billed Saltator
*Glaucus-blue Grosbeak
*Epaulet Oriole
*Yellow-winged Blackbird
*Baywing
*Shiny Cowbird
*Hooded Siskin
European Starling
House Sparrow

Sergio and I rested in the middle of the day by having a traditional argentine BBQ lunch at a great restaurant at the old port of Buenos Aires. This area of the city is being refurbished and the old warehouses being turned into shopping centers and apartments. At the end of the day I was tired and happy and was content to get a quick dinner and some sleep after sifting through my photos.

I slept in and was about to head out when my roommate for the Antarctica cruise, Vennie Anderson, arrived at the hotel. Once Vennie got settled in the room, we went to breakfast and then started a walking tour to the Plaza de Mayo, seeing Casa Rosada and lots of monuments. Vennie was exhausted from traveling, so she went back to the hotel while I continued wandering around the city.

That evening we headed to a dinner and Tango show at El Querandi and enjoyed great food, dancing, and music.