On Wednesday 24th May, the club welcomed along, via Zoom, Jan and Lyn Roberts who gave us a talk and a look at much of Argentina’s more familiar sights plus an insight into a far lesser-known area of wetlands.
The trip by Jan and Lyn was back in 2010 and it was acknowledged that much may have changed in the past 13 years.
The trip back then began in Buenos Aires and went, via the wetlands, to the famous Iguazu Falls, on the border of Argentina and Brazil. I am not going to run through the itinerary they had planned but suffice it to say, it was clearly well prepared.
They also made a quick trip across the River Plate to Uruguay at the start of the journey to Colonia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Buenos Aires (BA) is the second largest city in Latin America, after Sao Paulo.
Well known for its European feel and as the home of Eva Peron, Jan and Lyn took in most of the more famous sites, one being the heart of the City at Obelisk de Mayo, seen below in more usual times and then after Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
They offered us some interesting facts; one being about Luis Angel Firpo, a boxer. His statue is in BA and he managed to knock down Jack Dempsey in their bout, only for Dempsey to get up off the floor and win with a 2nd round knockout of Firpo.
General Manuel Belgrano also has a statue and was far more than just an army general. A leading politician and economist, he led the country during its war of independence.
BA districts include:
Recoleta, where Eva Peron rests in its cemetery,
and La Boca, home of one the most famous football teams in Latin America, Boca Juniors.
Of course, you also must mention the tango if you talk about Argentina and in the BA district of Camino, dancers can be found in the colourful streets.
From the busy city streets to the quiet and peaceful wetlands, Jan and Lyn took us to one of the largest wetlands areas in the world! I, for one, had no idea this would be found in Argentina! It is called Iberá National Park and is located at the top of the country.
We were then given a show of the many varieties of wildlife and birds that inhabit the park. I am not going to show or list them all here but some are in the photos below.
Lyn and Jan also indulged in some horse riding alongside the local gauchos. The horsemanship of these “cowboys” is highly skilled. There were also lots of smaller creatures to be found in this region with spiders being rather prevalent.
The final call on our trip was to the famous Iguazu Falls. These straddle the Brazil/Argentina border and are the widest falls in the world.
The Devil’s Throat is perhaps the one most want to see and both sides of the falls have taken great care in constructing elaborate and strong walkways to allow access to the best viewpoints. A couple of the resulting views can be seen below.
A warm thanks to both Jan for his images and Lyn for her commentary (mostly). There were lots of fascinating insights and details shared throughout the evening.
Note, all images with titles above are copyright Jan Roberts.
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