Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
43
offers a 8-day biking tour thr ough
Northwest Argentina, with stops in
Cachi and Cafayate, staying in luxur y
accommodations such as Estancia
park lodges. E co-tourism is an integral
part of Wildland tours. P rices star t at
$2,500 for the 8-day S alta tour and
continue up wards of $4,125 for the
10-day Patagonia trip.
PRIVATE TOUR GUIDES
It's easy to hir e
guides thr ough y our hotel or any trav el
agency in Buenos Aires. You may also want
to contact
AGUITBA
(Asociación de Guías
de Turismo de B uenos Air es), Carlos P el-
legrini 833, S ixth F loor C, B uenos Air es
(
&
11/4322-2557;
www.aguitba.org.ar), a
professional society of tour guides that has
tried to pr omote licensing and other cr e-
dentials legislation to ensur e the quality of
guides. Its offices are open Monday to Fri-
day from 1 to 6pm.
Private guides I r ecommend include
Buenos Aires-based Marta Pasquali (
&
11/
15-4421-2486
[cell]; marpas@uolsinectis.
com.ar) and M onica Varela (
&
11/15-
4407-0268
[cell]; monyliv@hotmail.com).
Both have conducted tours for several years
in B uenos Air es. They offer high-quality
specialized tours on v arious themes, and
often work with corporations. I highly r ec-
ommend them for their specializ ed knowl-
edge of the city , which goes far bey
Colomé. Costs run from $4,498.
•
Wilderness T ravel,
1102 N inth S t.,
Berkeley, CA 94710 (
&
800/368-2794
or 510/558-2488; www.wildernesstravel.
com), offers a mor e mellow sightseeing/
day-hiking tour ar ound P atagonia,
including Los G laciares, U shuaia, E l
Calafate, and P erito M oreno G lacier.
Prices start at $4,295, depending on the
number of guests (maximum 15).
•
Wildland Adventures,
3516 NE 155th
St., S eattle, WA 98155 (
&
800/345-
4453
or 206/365-0686; www.wildland.
com), offers a fe w adv enture tours of
Argentina. The “Salta T rek Thr ough
Silent Valleys” tour takes in Salta, Jujuy,
and the Andean plain. Two P atagonia
tours ar e offer ed: “B est of P atagonia,”
which concentrates on Argentine
Patagonia (including P enínsula Valdés,
Río Gallegos, Perito Moreno, and Ush-
uaia), and “Los G laciares A dventure,”
which visits E l Calafate, F itzroy
National Park, and Perito Moreno Gla-
cier, among others. A ccommodations
range from hotels to camping to r ustic
3
ond
what many other tour guides kno w.
10
STAYING CONNECTED
CALLING HOME
Every street corner in Argentina has a
locu-
torio,
a small stor e with phone booths and
often Internet desks. As you enter, say
“Una
cabina, por fav or,”
and the cler k will dir ect
you to a booth. There, a small monitor will
display how much your call costs, and y ou
pay the cler k as y ou leav e. I nternational
calls can be pricey , so it is best to use a
such as Skype. Most Internet cafes are now
fitted with headphones and w ebcams, and
you just need to open a S kype account to
call anywhere in the world. When entering
an I nternet cafe, say
“Una maquina, por
favor,”
and the cler k will dir ect y ou to a
computer. S ome I nternet cafes use pr e-
charged car ds that y ou pur chase at the
counter before logging on.
INTERNET ACCESS
ABROAD
Travelers hav e any number of ways to
check their e-mail and access the I nternet
telephone card such as
Teletele
or
Hablemas.
These ar e av ailable in most corner stor es
and come in denominations of 5 pesos and
10 pesos. I ncreasingly popular and much
cheaper are computer-based calling systems
