We spent our last day in Uruguay at the riverside town of Mercedes however we did not do much there as we were preparing the truck for shipping. The next day we crossed back into Argentina, the sixth time we had entered the country on this trip and needed to look for somewhere to park the truck while we went into Buenos Aires.
We found a campsite in Tigre. Unfortunately it was down the end of a muddy lane and as it had just rained driving down it undid the work we had done of having the truck washed. In retrospect it wasn't the best spot as it was still 40kms outside Buenos Aires and 60kms from the port. We later found out there was a good place to park the truck up near the centre of Buenos Aires.
We had rented an apartment in the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires. San Telmo is a fairly bohemian area of town with lots of bars, restaurants, coffee shops and easy shopping for food. Within 100metres we had a great bakery, vegetable shop, butchers, supermarket and an amazing grilled meat take away place. We were going to enjoy a bit of urban living for a few days.
To kick things off Alisha and I went out for breakfast on our own the next morning at one of the lovely little coffee shops.
At the weekend San Telmo has a large street market and we spent the day wondering around the stalls. In the main square there are often some people doing tango and we were lucky enough to see a couple of tango dances.
That evening we met up with some fellow overlanders. Sam and Erica were also coming to the end of their own trip and also had an apartment in a different part of town. We had met them briefly in Torres del Paine and also knew each other through our respective blogs. As they were also in San Telmo for the market they popped by the apartment for a glass of wine together with Jess, Sam's sister who was visiting them. As one bottle turned into another we all became pretty hungry. This is where having a grilled meat take away on your doorstep becomes very handy. We had a great evening with them talking about each other's respective trips and the similar people we had met up with along the way.
We spent the rest of our time in Buenos Aires just hanging around and doing a little bit of sightseeing. Buenos Aires and the apartment seems to have something for everyone. Alisha got to eat sushi, Lucy loved having a bath, Gilly loved having high speed internet and I could not get enough of the fantastic meat. We really liked the city and the general vibe and it was nice just hanging out with nothing really to do for a while.
We did go to see the Pink Palace which is the Presidential government seat and is famous for Evita's(or Madonna's) balcony appearances.
We also went to Recoleta cemetery which is where all the famous and rich people in Buenos Aires are buried. The family vaults are very impressive and grand. It's also the final resting place of Evita which is the vault everyone goes to see.
On our last but one day I had to take the truck to the port. I had been to see the agent earlier in the week and everything seemed to be going smoothly. It was going to be the agents father who would take me to the port 100kms away. He had spent over 40 years working for customs so hopefully he would know his way around. First he drove me out to the campsite to pick up the truck and then it was off to the port. An hour later it was all sorted. Very straightforward and easy, let's just hope the truck gets on the ship alright.
That just left time for one last steak before catching the plane to Spain the next day. We have absolutely loved South America. It's hard to believe in less than 3 weeks we will be in South Africa(all been well). Before then we are off to Spain and England to catch up with family and friends.
