Navidad en Argentina

Just got back from a family trip (I call it a 'trip' instead of a 'vacation,' because 'vacation' implies relaxation) to Argentina over the Christmas holiday. In spite of the inevitable inconveniences and outbreaks of insanity that come with international travel with 3 small children, we had a good time. You may have seen those picture perfect families with the really well-behaved kids and the really patient parents during your travels...that is not our family. But somehow we made it work and nobody was seriously injured.

IGUAZU FALLS

The first leg of our trip was to Iguazu Falls. If you don't know anything about Iguazu Falls, it is located where the Argentine, Brazilian, and Paraguayan borders meet. There are 2 major rivers that come together there and it creates some spectacular waterfalls.

The coolest part was taking a powerboat up the river right up to the base of the biggest waterfall, la 'garganta del diablo' (devil's throat). Everybody gets soaked, which is good, because it is jungle, crotch-pot cookin' hot there!!

COLONIA, URUGUAY

The second leg was a day trip we took from Buenos Aires to Colonia. Colonia is a little Spanish/Portuguese colonial town that is directly across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. To get there you take a high speed ferry boat (cool). The town itself is rather sleepy, with lots of antiques stores, tourist shops, and old architecture. Cool if it's just you and your spouse enjoying a nice meal and shopping for antiques, not so cool if you have three kids in two. We went with our friends the Gibsons (2 kids). All told, Colonia was just OK for me, but at least I can cross Uruguay off of my countries to visit list.

BUENOS AIRES

Buenos Aires is great city. I'd been a few times before, but this was the first for Tiffany and the kids so we did a city tour. We took in the full flavor of the capital, including a little neighborhood called La Boca, which is really a lower class neighborhood made famous by it's colorful houses, tango clubs, and artists.

Gringos en la Boca

Here I am showing off my mad tango skills...

As you can see, I have some serious moves...

this Argentine girl was blown away.

Tiffany got so insanely jealous...

that she started to tango with this rico suave tango maestro

ZOO LUJAN

Have you ever had the desire to sneak up behind a 400 lb sleeping tiger and pat him on the belly? How about putting your little children into a cage full of lions? No? Then the Lujan Zoo in Argentina is just not for you.

I heard about this place from a co-worker. Only in South America (or perhaps Africa) could a place like this exist as a legitimate business. They actually let you physically interact with wild beasts...under the supervision of teenagers who probably make about 3 dollars an hour and receive about 3 hours of formal training. The place is AWESOME!! I won't lie, sidling up to the big cats scared me...(visions of Siegfried...or was it Roy?).