Tango and hangovers

Having gone out the night before, I woke up at 3am. My new friend and me went for lunch at a place close to the hostel. We changed money in yet another sketchy way - Buenos Aires really was the place where you had to do really shady things to change your dollars on the black market - as the real rate in official changing places was 30% less than what you got on the black market. 

In the evening we went to a Tango show. They were the funniest marketers I have ever seen - the organizers of this show. We were not allowed to take any pics during the show. On your way into the show, you got to pose with the dancers and then buy the pic from them. As you attempted to get into the room for the show, you first had to pass through their shop where they had all sort of merchandise. 

The venue was amazing. As soon as we got in we realized that we looked like a lovely lesbian couple - the lights were dim, the setting was romantic and most people were in couples. It was a bit funny actually. The dancing was AMAZING - I don't know what muscles these people were using to be able to do some of the amazing things they did. 

After the show we went home, I packed and woke up the next day at 9:30am to make it to the airport for my flight back to Nairobi. Just like that 2 months of an amazing backpacking experience in South America was coming to an end. My flight was crazy long. I flew from Buenos Aires to Porto Allegre in Brazil to Rio to Dubai and finally to Nairobi. 

Of course my adventures were not to end there. I stayed in Nairobi one week, then moved to Abidjan for 2 months to learn French. Those are adventures you will read about soon - but next let's go back in time......to Ghana!

:-)

The World's most beautiful cemetery, Tibetans in Switzerland, Steak and more steak

We had lunch yet again at Don Julio - the amazing steak restaurant just down the road from my hostel. Delicious!

In the evening we attempted to go for a Tango show at Cafe Tortoni - Argentina's oldest cafe - having been established in 1858, but when we got there, the show was oversubscribed and we couldn't get in. I did however get a free history lesson from a Tibetan-Swiss guy with us. Apparently Switzerland has one of the largest Tibetan communities out of Tibet. In the 1960s, Red Cross resettled 300 Tibetans in Switzerland and an additional 150 orphans were adopted by Swiss families. 

The next day I finally made it to Recoleta cemetery, and I admit, it is the most beautiful cemetery I have ever been to. It was almost like visiting a museum - amazing sculptures, beautiful tombstones etc. It was the first time I had seen bodies buried above the ground. I always assumed that "six feet under" was the norm, but apparently in some places, people are buried at ground level. Most of the bodies were in mausoleums. 

I got to where Evita was buried and there were people crying at her grave. It was quite touching given she died in 1952. I recall asking someone who worked at the cemetery to direct me to her grave. He started hitting on me and I remember thinking "how inappropriate is this? Should you really be hitting on people at a cemetery?" The cemetery was huge - I walked around for hours and i'm not sure I got to see everything. Some of the mausoleums were in disarray - perhaps a wealthy family that no longer had money. In some, you could see bones falling out. Some were so touching because of the melodramatic sculptures - the wailing maidens were a fixture throughout. 

There was one mausoleum that had a sculpture of a woman and a dog. I wondered - was her dog buried here? Did she die of rabies that she contracted from the dog?

After the cemetery I went to a brewery down the road where I had a few beer samplers. In the evening I went for dinner with a friend and her friend. After that we partied the night away - highlights include meeting a long haired Chilean artist who played Mulatu Astatke - the godfather of Ethiojazz. It was a great day and night!

San Telmo, Hard rock cafe

We woke up with grand plans of going to Recoleta cemetery - "the most beautiful cemetery in the world." I know, I know, that is quite confusing - a beautiful cemetery? That was what everyone said, "You must go to Recoleta!" 

We walked an hour to get there and when we were a few minutes away, we decided to eat at Hard Rock cafe. We ended up spending an hour there, and by the time we got to the cemetery (5pm) they had closed. It was so funny, how we had sort of wasted the day - walked for an hour, eaten for a few hours and found the cemetery closed...:-) It's good none of us was on a tight schedule.

We ended up going out again that night, but it was not as much fun as the previous night - I think most of us were tired. 

The next day we went to San Telmo - the oldest neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is characterized by colonial buildings, cafes, tango parlors and antique shops. Seeing artists and dancers on the streets is quite common. It was a Sunday and all the streets were lined with people selling all different types of unique items. I really need to apologize to the guys I went to San Telmo with. They mostly wanted to sight see and I mostly wanted to shop (as soon as I realized that there were great things to buy.)

One of my favourite sights was that of an old couple tangoing in the middle of the street. It was so beautiful. I remember wishing that in my old age, I would still be with the love of my life and still feel the love. I really find it so cute when I see acts of affection between old couples - cause you know they have gone through thick and thin, and it's so impressive if somehow even after all that, they have that puppy love.

In the evening, we ended up going to this massive club called Club One. That was when I realized that I really really needed to sleep. I was drinking the equivalent of Vodka/Redbulls (but in this case Vodka/Speed - an energy drink found in Argentina.) Despite that I was falling asleep, standing up. I gave up and went home to sleep - my body was officially telling me that full days and full nights would have to come to an end soon.....Age slowly creeping in:-)

Steak, music and theater in Buenos Aires

Lunch at Don Julio was amazing - one of the top steak restaurants in Argentina and in the world. What was most impressive was the fair price for the meal. Sometimes I forget just how expensive Nairobi has become. Here I was eating the most delicious steak I have ever eaten, for USD 20 in this amazing restaurant in Buenos Aires, and it made me think of all the mediocre meals that one can eat in some Nairobi restaurants for more than that. There is a good reason why I went to Don Julio three times during my 1.5 week stay in Buenos Aires. 

In the evening a few of us congregated at the hostel lounge. My Scottish friend brought out his guitar, and the next thing I know was that we had started a little singing troupe - me as the lead singer, my Scottish friend as the lead guitarist and a few spectators. It was wonderful - we did a bit of Bob Marley, a bit of Lucky Dube, a bit of Madonna ("Don't cry for me Argentina") etc.

In the evening we went to an amazing gay theater/club. It was quite fascinating - something like moulin rouge - an interesting combination of theater, singing, popular club music. Our merry troupe left the club at 7:30am and went back to the hostel rooftop to watch the sunrise. It was a wonderful morning of laughter fits, fun conversations and selfies. 

Buenos Aires city tour part - The end

SKETCHY MONEY EXCHANGE ON THE STREETS

After the city tour I found myself in the company of Bex and Adam (my two British friends), Usher (a Scotsman), Hank (a polish guy) and his Argentinian girlfriend whose name escapes me now. We needed to change money and this was my first experience with the “blue dollar rate.” I had already been warned about the dollar situation in Argentina. There is the official dollar exchange rate and the “blue dollar rate.” When I was in Argentina the difference in rates between the two was quite high – almost 30%. As such I had carried as many dollars as I could from Brazil, Bolivia and Chile in order to benefit from 30% more cash when I changed the dollars in the back alleys of Buenos Aires. Today was the day of reckoning – the day for me to find that back alley and get my money. Together with my new friends we went to find one particular street that was said to have the best rates. On this street several people stood leaning on lamp-posts pretending to listen to their i-pods whispered as you passed them “Dollars, dollars!” With the one Argentinian in our midst we picked a person who looked legitimate (as legitimate as one can look selling dollars on the black market on the backstreets of Buenos Aires.) We negotiated with the young man and he took us to the building where the transfer was to take place. I was nervous as we got into the building “Do we really need to do this exchange in a building? Why can’t we just do it on the streets where one can’t murder us?” My friend, “Uuh, they don’t exchange on the streets. The cops will see us.” Anyway I am happy to report that we went into the building with US dollars and came out alive and well with Argentine pesos.

AFTER THE TOUR

We went to a steak restaurant down the road that turned out to have one of the worst steaks I’ve eaten in my life. Of course we were all upset – it’s Argentina – how can you serve us bad steak? We complained and were given a discount.

We heard about a bar called Gibraltar that was said to have a great happy hour. We searched and searched and an hour later we actually found it. We had a fun night out where we made so many new friends. I remember meeting two Argentinian girls who told me that Argentinians love tourists, and this is something I got to see during my stay there. People were so welcoming and helpful, especially when they knew you were from elsewhere. I did not sense any xenophobia in my time there- just lots of xenophilia.

Getting home the next morning after partying was quite a funny trial. My friend’s told me of getting on a bus that only accepted Argentinian coins and realizing they did not have any. In their inebriated sense, they tried stuffing British pennies into the machine. The irritated bus driver finally let them on free. For me I stayed out all night and trying to get home on the next morning – Easter morning – involved walking for hours as I couldn’t find a bus or subway. It was all worth it though:-).

Buenos Aires city tour part 3

ECONOMICS

If you’re wondering what happened in Buenos Aires to encourage the development of luxury buildings based on literature, the answer is simple – Money. The story of Buenos Aires and Argentina in general  is one of rags to riches back to rags.

In a nutshell early in the 20th century Argentina became the world’s 7th richest country but since then it has slowly declined with remaining among the top 15 world economies around the 1950s but now only being classified as just an upper middle-income country. Its greatest troubles are credited to high inflation (between 10-25% in 2013 depending on what source you trust (official Government figures of privately estimated statistics), political insecurity through most of the 1900s and lots of economic turmoil including unequal income distribution (which could explain all the strikes in Argentina.)

MADRES DE LA PLAZA DE MAYO (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo)

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is an association of Argentine mothers whose children disappeared during the military dictatorship, between 1976 and 1983. They came together while trying to learn what had happened to their children, and began to march in 1977 at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, in front of the Presidential palace in public defiance of the government's state terrorism intended to silence all opposition.

The military has admitted that over 9,000 of those kidnapped are still unaccounted for, but the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo say that the number of missing is closer to 30,000. Most are presumed dead. An estimated 500 of the missing are grandchildren born in concentration camps or prisons to pregnant 'disappeared' women; the babies were given in illegal adoptions to military families and others associated with the regime. Their mothers were generally believed killed. The numbers are hard to determine due to the secrecy surrounding the abductions.

EVITA

She was a legend and what most people know about her is that she was Argentina’s beloved first lady who died of cancer at the young age of 33. What most people don’t know about her is the reason she is still loved in the eyes of many in Argentina and beyond. In my time there I had her being described as an angel, a saint and after reading up a lot on her I see why the people loved and still love her.

Eva was born the last of 5 children in rural Argentina. She moved to Buenos Aires at the age of 15 to pursue a career as a stage, radio, and film actress. She met Colonel Juan Peron in 1944, two years before he became the President of Argentina. She was a proponent for labor rights, championed women’s suffrage in Argentina (resulting in women getting the right to vote in 1947.) She fought for the rights of the poor, the orphaned, the jobless. She fought for the rights of illegitimate children who were marginalized by Argentinian law. She herself was the result of a relationship between her very poor mother and a wealthy rancher who had a family of his own. She grew up stigmatized by the abandonment by her father who had returned to his legal wife and family. She grew up branded a “bastard.” At the age of 15 she ran off from her poverty stricken village with a musician to Buenos Aires to seek a better life. In Buenos Aires she suffered as she had little formal education and no connections. She eventually managed to rise up the ranks of media and have a stable income and an apartment of her own.

It was at this time that she met and fell in love with the future President of Argentina. They met during a fundraiser for an earthquake that had killed 10,000 people. He had organized to have a sort of artistic festival as the fundraiser and she was one of the artists in attendance.

This rise from rags to riches and all her charitable work and support for the downtrodden in Argentina coupled with her early death result in the love that Argentinians have for her. It would be a few days before I would see young Argentinians wail at her burial site in Recoleta cemetery – even though she had been dead for over half a century. 

Buenos Aires city tour part 2

CITY PLANNING

It was so cool to learn the streets were so well planned in Buenos Aires. All the streets start from an avenue called Avenida Rivadaria. From this place each block is 100m long and all streets have a logical naming norm and everything is regularly spaced. I find it interesting when a city is planned in a way that makes it easy to extend it and easy for people to navigate it. It’s hard not to compare with cities such as my very own – Nairobi – where planning is taking place after the fact leading to a lot of demolition and reorganization. When I complain about this to other Africans though, I am told that Nairobi is a success story. There are many other cities where you can have a house next to a bar next to a church next to an office (Addis is one example…I remember being so confused when I was there trying to understand where the residential and commercial areas were – everything was all together….)

We got to see lots of interesting buildings and monuments in Buenos Aires. “The thinker” an iconic sculpture by French Sculptor Auguste Rodin can be found in the city center of Buenos Aires. There are only 28 of them worldwide with most being in museums, but right in the city center, one can be found.

Another interesting building called “Palacio Barolo” is famously known as “Dante’s House” as it was constructed in accordance with the cosmology of Dante’s Divine comedy. Constructed in 1890 by an Immigrant Italian architect, the building has 22 floors, divided into three "sections". The basement and ground floor represent hell, floors 1-14 are the purgatory, and 15-22 represent heaven. The building is 100 meters tall, one meter for each section of the Divine Comedy. The lighthouse at the top of the building can be seen all the way in Montevideo, Uruguay.  When completed in 1923 it was the tallest building, not only in the city, but also in the whole of South America. It remained the city's tallest building until 1935 when, on completion, the Kavanagh Building in Buenos Aires acquired this distinction.

The world’s largest avenue used to be in Buenos Aires, but just recently has been replaced by a wider one in Manaos Brazil. Other sites we saw included Café Tortorni – Buenos Aires’ oldest and most famous coffee shop built in 1858.

There is a huge obelisk in Buenos Aires. It is most notable for a safe-sex campaign in the late 1900s that saw the obelisk covered in a giant condom.  We also saw quite a few places dedicated to Diego Maradona – who is likely the most loved Argentinian in Argentina after Evita. While world famous for his “hand of God” unpenalized foul that saw Argentina win the 1986 World Cup, in Argentina he is known as a demi-god. You can get into real trouble for saying that Argentina won that game unfairly. 

Buenos Aires city tour part 1

I made friends with such a great girl during my first days in Buenos Aires – Bex from the UK. We hit it off and together we had several adventures in Buenos Aires. We decided to go on a city tour, but Argentinian strikes decided otherwise. Me, Bex and a guy who also became one of my Buenos Aires besties – Adam – had to run around town trying to get a bus to take us where the tour began as the subway was closed. We managed to make it in just the nick of time for the free city tour. The tour was fun, interesting and so eye-opening.

ARGENTINIAN FIRST LADIES

One recurring theme was the role of Argentinian first ladies. Of course the most famous first lady of Argentina will always be Eva Peron (Evita) made more famous in pop culture by Madonna’s depiction of her in the musical “Evita.” Who can forget passionately singing along to “Don’t cry for me Argentina” as a child despite not really knowing much about why this song evoked so much emotion even continents away? I am guilty as chargedJ. I will write a whole section on Evita, but for now let’s focus on the fact that Argentina’s current President – Christina Kirchner – is the wife of the previous president – Nestor Kirchner. Yes, mull on that for a few minutes. It’s pretty cool that Argentina has a female president and sort of bizarre that prior to that she was the first lady. Ok, we are on the same page? Guess what, she is not the first female President of Argentina. Uh huh, and the other previous president was also the wife of a previous president…..yep, you see the pattern? Argentina’s first female President was Isabel Peron – the third wife of former President Juan Peron. This is the same Juan Peron whose second wife was the legendary Evita Peron – undoubtedly the most famous and most loved Argentinian. My advice to any Argentinian woman who wants to become the President, would be to marry a future President….tricky to predict which of the thousands of politicians could be head of state in the future, but you might end up betting on the right horse – hee heee!]

PINK HOUSE

One of our first stops during the trip was the Pink House – the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina. It’s best known for the balcony where Evita gave her speeches to the people of Argentina even when she was close to dying. It gets it’s pink color from the cow’s blood that was initially mixed with paint to prevent the building exterior from being affected by humidity. Yep, you heard me right – cow’s blood.

More to follow in the next blog post

Tigre island, Buenos Aires

After the little shower incident highlighted in my previous blog post, I had exactly 3 hours to sleep/sober up and head to a little town called Tigre in Buenos Aires. 

Tigre (Tiger) is a town to the North of Argentina. It lies on the Parana Delta and is a tourist attraction. The island was created by several small streams and rivers and was founded in the early 1800s.  The name comes from the jaguars that were hunted there in the past centuries. In modern times Tigre is best known for the celebrities who have homes there including Madonna. 

The idea to go to Tigre had been hatched the night before at the hostel - before my night of partying till 6am...As such, when I woke up I really debated with myself if I wanted to go. I was suffering - suffering. In addition, there was one person in this group who I had a serious aversion to. I generally like most people, but there was this one girl who I just did not like. The trip turned out to be ok. It wasn't the most beautiful island I have been to or anything. As such I would advise anyone going to Buenos Aires to skip it - nothing much to see. Buenos Aires itself had many more beautiful sites than Tigre.

We eventually got back to our hostel at 7pm and I went straight to bed. 2.5 hours of sleep after a long night out is no longer what it used to be:-)

Hibernation and partying in Buenos Aires

Sometimes it's easy to forget how exhausting backpacking can be. 24 hour bus rides, hours of walking round cities, nights of endless partying, living off a backpack - going up and down hills with an 18kg backpack:-) At some point your body reminds you that you are only human. I woke up at 4pm on my second day in Buenos Aires. No shame whatsoever. I found something to eat and wondered what to do with all my new-found energy. 

I made some friends at the hostel and we decided to go out clubbing. Every night the hostel had vouchers for different clubs. On this particular day, the deal was a discount offer at a club close to the hostel that would be playing hiphop, dubstep, electro etc. The best thing about Buenos Aires was that no one gets to the club before 2am. As such you can never run late. We first went to a place close to the hostel for some food and drinks. Hours later we walked to the club (yes, walked - it was that close and that safe.) In the club our tickets let us get quite a few free shots. We danced and danced. At some point everyone else decided they were tired and wanted to go back to the hostel. I was not the least bit exhausted (having woken up at 4pm:-) Left alone, I somehow made my way into VIP where I made some new friends - two Argentinian girls. We had a few drinks and off we went to another club. At 6am we were still partying hard and the girls said we should go to yet another club. By this point I was not in any state to be club hopping. I hopped into a cab to get to my hostel. The cab guy got on my nerves and I was yelling at him in my minimal Spanish. He knew I was a foreigner and was trying to rip me off. I knew we were 2-3 blocks away from my hostel, but he kept on driving round and round in circles to charge me more. He only took me back to my hostel when I threatened to get out and not pay a cent. Note to self: Cab guys will generally try to rip off tourists....I stumbled into my hostel, quietly tried to tiptoe past the 5 other people sleeping in my room and get to the bathroom - to take my lenses off and brush my teeth. I have a suspicion my tiptoe-ing was more like an elephant stumbling through the room. In the bathroom, I took my lenses off at the sink - then the strangest thing happened - the shower curtain grabbed me - from out of nowhere - it just grabbed me - I felt my feet give way and I landed butt first into the little shower behind me with my hands trying to grab the sink to hold my balance. 

Of course I was mortified the next morning when I woke up and was asked by one of my roomies if I was fine after falling in the shower in the morning as I was brushing my teeth in the sink. Of course I was mortified. Who would not be if a shower curtain had sabotaged your morning by trying to make you look like a drunk fool who falls in a shower as they are brushing their teeth in the sink.. Malicious curtain!

First day in Buenos Aires, Argentina

I finally had access to my hostel room around 2pm. By that time I had realized that napping for the day was a total waste of time - sleep is for losers:-) I decided to go to walk to the nearby plaza - Plaza Serrano for lunch. Lunch was delicious, the weather was perfect and I was enjoying the new scenery. After my yummy lunch I decided to walk to the Palermo lakes - errrr, I never got there. I think I went in the wrong direction, but everywhere I went was beautiful. So I decided it really wasn't that important for me to go where I had planned, given where I found myself was still beautiful:-) The joys of being in a city for a long time and having flexibility.

Somewhere along the way I met two Aussie girls who were also lost. We decided to get lost together. We found ourselves in a lovely Japanese garden. The first thing I saw were Mai fish and I instantly thought "Oh gosh! Those are the fish from screensavers." Yes my friends, they are real. 

I eventually parted with my new Aussie friends and tried to get to the Palermo lakes, but again it was all in vain. One hour later I had seen lots of forests and no lakes. Oh, and I had began to experience what I call the "Argentinian cat-call." It is as creepy as any cat-call you will ever experience passing near a construction site. Everywhere "pssssssssssst sexy lady!" "Pssssssssssssst!" Cars slowing down, "Pssssssssssss!" I guess I didn't see any other black women in my time in Buenos Aires.....but the catcalls were a pain. You never get catcalled by Brad Pitt or Idris Elba. It is always very shady characters who you just wish could stop. 

I finally found a lake and took a break. I sat on a bench and watched people roller blading and skate-boarding all around me. After a while I was surrounded by really beautiful but aggressive geese. I waited till sunset then began my long walk back to the hostel. It was a peaceful first day in Buenos Aires.  

Leaving Mendoza for Buenos Aires

Having gotten home at 7am from the club after my last day in Mendoza, I needed to check out by 10am at the hostel. My bus to Buenos Aires wasn't until 5:30pm. I woke up around 9:30am to pack and shower, but could barely get out of bed. Loud drumming was going on in my head. I stumbled to my water bottle - took a few gulps and realized I was now asleep standing up. The Kikuyu in me had to make a tough decision. I am generally good with money, and don't make unnecessary purchases - especially when backpacking for months - and there is a real risk of being broke and homeless in Argentina towards the end of my trip. That morning though I did not even think twice as I walked to the reception and paid for an extra night's stay so that I could sleep in till 3pm. 

I went back to bed, passed out till a more decent hour - woke up and ate some leftovers I had in the fridge, quickly dressed, packed and left for my Buenos Aires bound bus. Calling the bus a "bus" seems like a bit of an insult. That bus was like a plane - no kidding. I had the largest seat I had ever seen on a bus. I was welcomed on the bus with a glass of champagne. There was food served on the bus - inclusive of real cutlery. The seat reclined almost fully and I was able to have a great night's sleep. I read for a few hours and must have fallen asleep around 9pm to be woken up the next morning around 9am once we got to Buenos Aires. I took a taxi to the hostel and that is when I realized Buenos Aires was massive. 

The Japanese garden, Palermo

                                  Tango in San Telmo

                                   One of the tombstones at Recoleta cemetery

Pink House - the mansion and office of the President of Argentina

Buenos Aires is split into at least 5 distinct parts with the main ones being "Centro" famous for having a 67m Obelisk in the middle of it and also housing various famous Cathedrals, theaters and Government buildings (including the "Pink House" - the mansion and office of the President.) The second area is "La boca" that is famous for its artsy vibe including various museums. The third area is "San Telmo" famous for it's huge flea market and wide walkways where on Sundays couples (young and old) can be seen dancing to tango in the streets. The fourth area is "Recoleta" best known for it's  beautiful and massive cemetery in which Eva Peron "Evita" the former first lady of Argentina and the most famous Argentinean woman to date is buried. The fifth area is "Palermo" well known for it's beautiful lakes, forests and gardens."

Having driven across town from the bus station to my hostel after a 15 hour journey I was really looking forward to getting to the hostel to rest. I got to the hostel around 10am and was bummed out when I was told that check-in was at 10am. I spent quite a few hours on the lovely chairs in the hostel lounge as I waited for my room to be ready. I blogged a bit and was really happy to discover the wifi was great.

Finally - going on a Vineyard tour...about time..

This was a successful day. I woke up, had lunch next door to the hostel and was in great condition to go wine-tasting. Yes, I had to pay again, but that is the price for foolishness. I was happy that my nice German roomie - Barbara and another fun Dutch girl we had met at the hostel - Esther - would be joining on the vineyard tour. 

Our first stop for the day was Bodega Domiciano - a family winery that had been in Mendoza from 1919. We started off with a tour of the vineyards and an explanation of when the best malbec grapes in the area were ready for harvesting - the delicate balance that was needed between sunlight and rain to end up with grapes that were not too watery but also not excessively sweet. After this we were taken to the cellars where the thousands of liters of wine were preserved in oak barrels. The aging process was a delicate one that requires significant amount of time, investment and expertise. At this winery, wine was aged both in the barrels then later on in bottles all underground in the cellar. 

The next part was the most exciting - the wine tasting. Unfortunately we were not given a proper tutorial of how to taste well at this winery, but this was fixed at our last location. We tasted around 4 different types of wine at each place - there were generous servings - at least half a glass per wine. 

Our next stop was an olive farm. Again we had a tour of the farm, followed by the processing section and finally a food tasting session. That was some delicious olive oil!

Our final stop was a winery called Don Arturo. This was my favourite winery. I finally learnt properly how to "taste" red wine. We started off by placing a white napkin behind the glass to see if we had a truly red color. A "brownish" color would be a sign of too much oxidation, and that is a wine that you do not want to drink! After this we swirled the wine in the glass for 30 seconds or so to let it breathe and to see if the wine had "tears." At this stage we looked at the glass to see if there were "streams of tears" coming down the glass after the swirling. In the words of our guide, "If the wine doesn't cry, you will do the crying the day after drinking it." Having ascertained that our wine was enough of a cry baby, the next step was to sniff the wine. You were to let your senses take in the different aromas, flavours etc. and mentally prepare your palate for the tasting. Next, I took a large sip. You were to keep the wine in your mouth for a few seconds and try and really taste it. It was such an enjoyable process. We went through this for quite a few different types of wine. Their wines were great and well priced. I think each of us left with a bottle or two. 

We got back to the hostel in time for free wine. Our refined palates were now able to discern that the wine at our hostel was not all that great (when compared to all the others we had been drinking at various wineries, but likely still more superior than most wines we had drank in our lives:-).....It is from a wine growing region in Argentina after all......I suspect that some of the wines I have drank in my younger years had never ever contained anything from a grape...perhaps they were vodka with red food colouring....) Back at the hostel, everyone was in a good mood. It was an American girls's birthday and her friends were making a huge dinner. They invited all of us to join in and just asked us to bring drinks - which we were more than happy to. I love the communal nature of hostels - can you imagine something like this happening at a hotel? Heeeee heeee! 

After dinner we decided to go clubbing. By this time our group had grown larger to also include a few French backpackers. We got lost walking to the club. We asked a random stranger for directions, and they asked all 6 of us to jump into their car - and drove us there......This was definitely not Nairobi. Reminiscent of Valparaiso, I got to the hostel at 7am even though I had an almost 14 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires the next day......That is a story for my next post:-)

The aftermath of wine country

                                   One of the reasons Thekenyanexplorer needed to reflect on her life

After my fun day in Mendoza - going out to the park, making friends over free wine, going out clubbing and discovering what I believe is the worst drink known to humans - Fernet, getting home at 6am....I woke up at 12:30pm.....Suffering. This was to be the day of the vineyard tour. I had already paid for it and I was not about to lose my money. I showered, drank lots of water and tried to look as functional as I could given my poor state. Around 1:15pm we were picked up from the hostel for the vineyard tour. On the itinerary were two vineyards and one olive farm. The van spent the next 45 or so minutes picking people from various hostels. I was already starting to feel unwell but thought I would survive the day.

Our first stop was the olive oil farm. We were escorted to a lovely room with all sorts of  hors d'oeuvres that either had olives or were to be dipped into different types of exotic olive oil - ginger, garlic, pepper flavoured....everything that would normally entice my senses. I felt a gag reflex. I promptly fled from the room, went and ordered a taxi (that cost me a pretty penny) to get me back to the hostel. I blame fernet. I spent the rest of the day so so sick. At the hostel I was advised to take some flavoured soda water to at least fill my stomach. I couldn't eat anything all day. I bought the soda water, went to a little park opposite the hostel and reflected on my life. My reflections were as follows: "Silly silly girl! You should know better! What is wrong with you? Why did you have to take so much wine, beer and fernet yesterday?" Having self-flagellated to an acceptable extent, I went back to the hostel. I joined people on the patio for free wine at 7pm, but sat there drinking my flavoured soda water. That day we were determined to find the buffet place, which we finally did. By that time (around 9pm) I was ready for my first meal of the day. I stuffed my face at that nice buffet place on Lazarus street. Haiya! I just realized how ironic that is. I felt like I was brought back to life from the dark place I had been during the day...on Lazarus street of all places. 

All of us went back to the hostel and watched "Taxi driver" followed by "The others." That reminds me I need to watch "The others" again. I love horrors!

Heeee- so this is wine country!

Picking grapes off the "roof" at the hostel patio

The park close to our hostel in Mendoza

In my first official day in Mendoza I woke up at around noon. I was in a 6 person room and was woken up by the sounds of new people moving in. I jumped out of bed. This was late! I had planned to go on a vineyard tour that was to depart around 1pm. My two new roomies turned out to be a really great German guy and girl. We instantly hit it off speaking German and hearing from them about their adventures in South America. I believe the standard list of questions for other backpackers I had met along the way was 1. So where are you coming in from? 2. How long will you be in South America for? 3. What does your itinerary look like. We quickly got up to speed with Max and Barbara. The best advice they gave me was to change the hostel I planned to stay in Buenos Aires. 

Max and Barbara: It is a party hostel

Thekenyanexplorer: Sounds like my type of hostel.

Max and Barbara: No, really! It is full of 18 year olds who don't know how to drink. You will wake up to puke on the floor. You can never sleep as people party 24 hours a day.

Thekenyanexplorer: Uh huh! Ok. Time to cancel my "Milhouse hostel" booking and change to this Eco Pampa place you guys have recommended.

They also had plans of doing the vineyard tour, but we quickly discovered there was a nationwide strike that day. Everything was closed. This actually became quite common during my stay in Argentina - nationwide strikes. The weather was rainy, but we all decided to go to a park nearby that was meant to be quite pretty. We waited at the hostel for a Norwegian friend of theirs and together we went to the park.

It was half an hour's walk away, and we spent an hour or so walking around at the park. I was so thankful for all the speed-walking I have been doing at Jaffreys as this was no normal stroll in the park. We were walking quite fast - which I actually enjoyed a lot. I am one of those people who get irritated when I am in Nairobi CBD and people are walking slowly as if they are in a wedding procession. 

After our cardio session at the park we went back to our hostel and had a few beers as we waited for the 7pm free wine. Now that I think about it, I don't think we ate anything that day other than some yummy chocolates that Jonas (our Norwegian friend) bought us. After the beers, we had lots and lots of wine. More and more people streamed onto the patio and at "free wine time" was when I realized just how many people the hostel had. Friendships were quickly made - lubricated by bottle's of wine and cemented with memories that none of us would clearly remember at a later date. The patio was something from another planet. I only realized that the plants hanging from the patio "roof" were grapevines, when we were provided with bowls to grab as many grapes as we wanted to have with our wine...Yes, true story!

At some point someone mentioned there was a great buffet place that cost around $10. We all walked there - by this point we were a group of around 15 or so very loud tourists. We never found the place and ended up eating somewhere along the way - no real recollection of where exactly. At some point Jonas mentioned he knew a cool hip-hop club in the middle of Mendoza. Off we went! I was out till around 6am and clearly remember hearing Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby got back," in Mendoza:-) Wonders never cease. My one poor decision for the night was having a few shots of some Fernet - an Argentinian liqueur. It was a decision I would really regret all of the next day. 

Going to Argentina baby!!

With a heavy head (terramoto hangover) I left for Valparaiso in Chile for Mendoza in Argentina. I really should learn to read maps. My original plan had me leaving Santiago in Chile for Argentina with Buenos Aires being my first stop, followed by Bariloche then Mendoza (wine country). Anyone who can understand maps would tell you that this made no sort of sense. Mendoza was closest to Chile. While in Chile someone told me how cold and empty Bariloche was, and I scrapped it off my itinerary. My main reason for going there was because I read the beaches were amazing - I had no plans whatsoever to end up in a coastal town during winter.....I also realized that it made most sense to get to Mendoza first then end my trip in Buenos Aires.

From my hostel in Valparaiso I took a cab to the bus-stop around 7am. Within 2 minutes of getting on the bus, I was out cold. I slept all the way till we got to the Chile-Argentina border hours later. The border process was a jistier version of the Kenya-Uganda border. We all got off the bus, went to "exit" from Chile then went to a different queue to "enter" Argentina. It was relatively painless as these were 2 countries in my South America trip I actually had visas for......heeee heeee. Tulivuka border - crossed the border.

At 4pm I got to Mendoza. The hostel was decent and it's main selling point was that they served free Malbec wine every day between 7-8pm. Malbec is a type of red wine whose origin is in Mendoza in Argentina. Think of it as a type as "Cabernet sauvignon", "shiraz", "merlot" etc are types. It's a bit of a big deal, but not found in general shops in our parts of the world. I went out to a nearby restaurant - ate pork, got back to the hostel and enjoyed lots of free wine and made good friends at the hostel. 

I knew I would enjoy my time in Argentina!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and suggestions.

So I am compiling a list of some of the questions that keep coming up every time I say I am going to South America backpacking alone. 

1. Aren't you scared? Well, honestly I am a bit nervous, but I wouldn't really use the word scared. In fact my biggest worry is that I will not be able to pick up Spanish as quickly as I wish and I will be that person at the table who just smiles and nods.....because they don't understand anything. My other worries are more mundane - how do I actually get from Brazil to Ecuador? How will I make sure my gadgets (phone, samsung galaxy tab, kindle etc) don't get wet as I sleep on a hammock on the amazon river for three days? What is the longest I will have to go without wifi? What will life be like without whatsapp when I am offline?
2. Make sure you don't end up being given drugs to transport! While many have inadvertently become drug mules I think I am one of the least likely options. Seriously who thinks giving the lone African girl with dreadlocks and a funny accent your very expensive drugs is a good idea? I am sure I will be under close scrutiny at all entry points - if for nothing else, for kind of sticking out:-) I do however assure all that I will be extremely cautious. "No, I cannot carry your cute little bunny to Bolivia to give to your long lost niece." I will also ensure that my backpack is sufficiently disorganized so as to deter anyone from sneaking in drugs in there - for fear that they will surely disappear
3. Wow! South America! I hear the men are hot - like the ones on those shows on TV! I will have to report back on this. My previous experience abroad always makes me a bit wary of trusting TV. If we believe everything we see on TV then the average person on the streets in the US should look like Morris Chestnut or Angeline Jolie....
4. Your mum gave you permission to go? Yep, she's cool like that. I also don't like to think of it as "permission" but more of "her blessings" to go on with the trip. 
5. Bolivia? Why? Lots of reasons to go to Bolivia. First, it is the highest altitude country in the world. Rumor has it that I will need to take altitude sickness meds when there or have headaches and nausea. Apparently Bolivia has a terrible football team, but they always defeat other countries in their home territory.....cause they can't breathe:-) Second, it has the largest salt flat in the world (think Lake Magadi on steroids). Third, it is really really cheap - a consequence of being the poorest country in South America. Fourth, it has the largest indigenous population of any South American country with 60% indigenous population and over 30 ethnic groups (I guess in some books I am referred to as "native" and we have 42 tribes in Kenya.....so I can dig this.......support for my other indigenous people! Wooop wooop! 
6. Was it easy getting visas? No, not at all. It was a serious pain in the butt actually - and I only needed three of the six. There was one particular embassy I went to at least 7 times. I almost gave up when they asked for my great-great-grandmother's palm print.....just kidding, but really it was a process and a half for one of the countries while the other two were quite quick to get. I can't imagine if I had needed all 6 of them. Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador don't have embassies in Kenya so you get your visas on arrival.
7. Will you wear one of those Brazilian bikinis and tiny clothes people wear at Carnival? In public? Ngai, I wish:-) I have African parents though, I live here in Nairobi and I have a serious job too when I am not globe-trotting. I will have to live vicariously through the other revelers. Maybe I will wear thong sandals:-)
8. South America? Are there any black people there? Loads actually, but most did not get there on their own volition. 
9. Do you speak Spanish? Well, it really depends on what you mean by speak. I know stuff like "Hasta la vista baby", "Tengo la camisa negra", "living la vida loca" etc. I am listening to a few CDs and trying to pick up some basics in the mean time. I worry though since my first country will be Portuguese speaking Brazil. Will all these words and phrases I am cramming into my mind really survive through the two weeks of disuse? Only time will tell.
10. Wow, South America? You might even come back with a husband! A rich one with a huge cattle ranch in Argentina! No comment. 
11. I wish I could do a similar trip! You can. I am hoping that through this trip, I can show loads of people (especially Kenyans) that such trips are possible on a shoestring budget. Backpacking culture hasn't yet taken off here and so people always think that such trips are only for the wealthy. I will be staying in hostels (not hotels) and also possibly couchsurf in some of the countries. I will be using public transportation to get around, eat at the most local places (everyone knows that's where the good food is found anyway), drink the local drinks and ensure that I do not get charged "tourist prices" anywhere. I will bargain in my limited Spanish. I will walk, I will hike, I will travel on small boats........and you can too.