Buenos Aires Tourist Guide

Is Once a CURSED neighborhood?

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 16:32:50 GMT

The neighborhood of Once in Buenos Aires is known for many things: its vibrant street life, bustling markets, and diverse mix of cultures. This is, after all, a neighborhood where you will find Chinese, Bolivian, Peruvian, Senegalese and Jewish communities. But there is another side to this lively community, one that is shrouded in darkness and shrouded in mystery. For those who dare to delve into the history of Once, they will find a tale of tragedy and terror that has left a lasting mark on the community.

It all began in the early 1990s, with the attack on AMIA, a Jewish community center located in the heart of Once. On July 18, 1994, a powerful bomb detonated outside of the center, killing 85 people and injuring hundreds more. The attack, which was later found to be the work of Iranian-backed terrorists, sent shockwaves throughout the community and left many wondering if the neighborhood was cursed.

But the tragedy didn't end there. Just a few years later, in 2004, the Cromañon nightclub disaster struck Once like a bolt of lightning. On December 30th of that year, a fire broke out in the crowded club, killing 194 people and injuring more than 700. The disaster, which was later found to be caused by poor safety regulations and overcrowding, was a devastating blow to the community and only served to further the belief that Once was cursed.

The Jewish Gauchos - trading kneidelach for asado!

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 18:38:29 GMT

The Jewish gauchos were a group of Jewish immigrants who took their love for kosher deli sandwiches and matzo ball soup to the wild frontier of the Pampas region in Argentina . These immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, were drawn to the Pampas by the promise of land and opportunity (and maybe just a little bit by the thought of being the only Jewish cowboys in town). Many of them had fled persecution and poverty in their home countries and saw Argentina as a place where they could build a better life for themselves and their families.

But life as a Jewish gaucho wasn't all latkes and lox: actually, no lox at all in the beef-producing heart of the Americas. These immigrants had to contend with the challenges of settling in a remote and harsh region, including drought, disease, and isolation. Many of them lived in poverty and worked as farmers and ranch hands, enduring physically demanding and often low-paying labor. However, the Jewish gauchos persevered and made a lasting impact on the Pampas region, establishing farms, ranches, and small businesses, and contributing to the growth of the region's agriculture and industry. They also played a vital role in the creation of a Jewish community in Argentina, building synagogues, schools, and cultural centers.

But let's not forget the real hero of the story: the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA) , also known as the Baron de Hirsch Fund. This organization was instrumental in promoting Jewish immigration to Argentina and establishing Jewish colonies in the country. Founded in 1891 by Baron Maurice de Hirsch, a philanthropist and financier, the JCA purchased large tracts of land in the Pampas and Mesopotamian region and established colonies there, which were then sold or leased to Jewish immigrants. The JCA also provided financial assistance and other support to the Jewish immigrants who settled in these colonies, including loans, agricultural training, and medical care.

Some of the most significant Jewish colonies established in Argentina with the support of the JCA include Moisesville and Colonia Clara. These colonies were home to many of the Jewish gauchos and played a central role in the development of the Jewish community in Argentina. In addition to their contributions to the agriculture and industry of the Pampas region, the Jewish gauchos also helped establish the cooperative system in Argentina, forming cooperatives to collectively manage their farms and businesses.

So let's give a round of applause to the Jewish gauchos, a group of determined and hardworking immigrants who made a lasting impact on Argentina. Their contributions to the Pampas region and the growth of the Jewish community will not be forgotten (even if their love for deli sandwiches might be).

The Argentinian Style - 5 Gestures you have to know before coming!

jana.dostert1@gmail.com (Jana Dostert) — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 17:46:56 GMT

It’s been a few days since I arrived in Buenos Aires for my internship at Lunfarda and I’m only starting to learn about all the cultural differences- it’s the first time I live in a country that is that distinct from mine and, for me, the ways of the Argentines, and their coded body language are still kind of strange.

I’m on my way to the bus stop, not paying attention to where I positioned myself. Quickly, a slightly upset-looking person gives me the four-finger-to-one-thumb-pointing-upside-down-sign or as well known as “What do you think you are doing??” This is when I learned that it does not matter that Argentines are disorderly about everything else: the bus line -and its order- is sacred.

Quick side Note: You have to wave the bus down at a 45-degree angle arm to the body to stop it! Just telling you because on my first day of university here, I missed about five buses in a row running between the different bus stops until I got to understand that.

Entering the bus I get to tell the bus driver where I want to go. I’m still not sure how they determine the name of the bus stop here- I’m from a small village in Germany, and maybe that’s why. I know I’m headed for 2119 Don Pedro de Mendoza Avenue. I take a “wild guess” and I say Don Pedro, and I receive a head nod, sideways, so I say, Mendoza,..the driver still looks at me with a big question mark on his face. Last try before I pull out my google maps: “anywhere close to Rocha?” -aaand finally, we get to understand each other.

That doesn’t matter today though, because I’m going to Bolívar street and the bus is taking me straight without any confusion. I just wanted to prepare you for the kind of street-name-guessing that could face you. I’m happily searching for my place to stand in the bus trying to find a good handle to grab onto because now it comes as no surprise, that the bus driver is speeding through the streets as if it was a German autobahn mixed with a Samba- I’m exaggerating, but I feel this draws the picture pretty clearly,- buses are driving quickly in Buenos Aires.

Close to the San Telmo Markets, I get off the bus and I’m waiting for my bubbly, crazy, beautiful Argentinian friend Agus in front of the restaurant “ El Refuerzo”. To my surprise, she arrives with a friend she has just met on the way. I greet both of them with one kiss on the cheek. Not two, not three, not zero: one! Argentinians give each other one kiss on the cheek to greet one another. That counts for all people that are with the person that you know regardless of whether they are familiar to you or not. So prepare yourself!- if you ever go to an Argentinian party, you will kiss and you will be kissed a lot- on the cheek of course.

We enter the restaurant and as soon as the waiter leaves the menu, I start browsing. One plate catches my attention straight away: the menu of the day “Plato del Dia: Milanesa Napolitana”, my mouth starts watering. I’m starving and there is nothing better than a good old, crispy Milanesa topped with ham and cheese, and I’m getting it.

While sipping on a delicious, refreshing vermouth and eating my “Mila”, we talk about the latest up-to-date tittle-tattle, making jokes about my latest Argentinian food addictions. I end up asking Agus about why Argentinians like to put a lot of cheese on everything. Agus’ answer, one out of the Argentinian-gesture repertoire: launching her fingers from under her chin into an open palm, swiping the air with the hand. Official meaning: “how could I know??”. Agus: “But we loooove to put cheese on everything!”

Time is flying by like it always does with her- she is like a jumping energy ball that brings joy and smiles into everyone's life, and before I know it, three hours have passed by, and even if I don’t want to, it’s time to go. It’s time to order the bill. Now, the place is crowded with people wanting to eat their Sunday Merienda and I can see that the waiter is busy. To fasten it up and save the running waiter a way and me some time I raise my hand and imitate an air-made hand signature, which also translates into: “Can I get the check please?”

With the help of my Argentinian-gesture-knowledge and excellent service, the bill is paid in less than five minutes and we are heading out. Leaving for the bus with a kiss on the cheek for Agus, and a hug because I love her so much, which generally confuses people here, but not Agus: we have been friends for a long time.

Today, I decide to walk the way home. The colors of the sky in the early evening are incredible. I lose myself in the red-orangey-yellowish waves of the last sun rays sinking into the horizon, -a painting mirroring the sky in between the buildings of Buenos Aires. Taken back to reality by the cutting sound of siren-like beeping, I stop just in time before a car almost runs me over as it leaves its garage. While I’m still getting used to quitting daydreaming and stopping in time when I hear that siren so the car can leave the parking lot (a system implemented because the driver usually can’t see pedestrians on the sidewalk), I snap back into daydreaming looking at the vibrant colors of the sunset.

Later, passing by the city center I see people lining up in a 500-meter line for the bus but I already know now to go to the back of the line: Sundays are as busy as Mondays in Buenos Aires, millions of people enter and leave the capital every day by bus, and that is why -keep in mind- the line is sacred!

La Scaloneta brings glory to Argentina, closure to Messi and a new dawn for an inclusive football

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 23:50:04 GMT

After 36 years, Argentina wins the World Cup again.

Here's what it means to the women of Argentina.

Argentina won the 2022 Qatar World Cup and we're still processing the joy, emotions and symbolism of the epic battle the Scaloneta (our pet name for the National Team, after its Coach Scaloni) fought to bring us glory.

Here at Lunfarda, we were mostly born after the famous championship of 1986, when Maradona brought home the most prized of the sports cups, cementing his status as an icon.

We grew up hearing stories about the madness that overcame Argentina then a legendary tale of passion and overcoming all the odds, followed by an explosion of popular joy. We all dreamt of experiencing that until yesterday, when our wildest dream came true, 36 years in the making.

We grew up with football as our main religion, but a problematic one nonetheless: one riddled with misogyny, racism, transphobia, and other undesirable attitudes. Personally, I never connected much to our previous National Teams, who had big ego clashes, huge tabloid scandals, and little respect or appreciation for the women who supported them at great personal cost. Women and dissidences were largely banned from participating in this sport. I have memories from my childhood of being shun out from the patio during break at school, as men took physically over the space we were all supposed to share, so they could play football without us. In the end, sports are a reflection of our society, and for most of our lives, football had the stench of female and trans exclusion and patriarchy.

But countries change. And the Scaloneta was born. A new team for a new Argentina.

A team of people who play with the joy of children and the seriousness of those responsible for making the dream of 47 million people come true. A team of men who are not afraid to cry, hug and kiss each other, who talk openly about how going to therapy helps them cope with their emotions. A team that shows a different masculinity, one that embraces vulnerability. A team made not for egos but for teamplay. Where the eldest pave way for the younguest to shine. All in all, something new, for a new country.

After winning, for the first time, you saw hundreds of thousands of women and girls out, celebrating in the streets, even though public displays of football joy have traditionally been a man's turf. For the first time Ángela Lerena, a female commentator, shared the game live with millions of Argentines and said with a shattered voice as we won the cup and realized her own milestone: 'I was a tomboy who loved football, look at me family! Look where I am today!'. She became the first female commentator for the masculine National Team, and the first female voice I've ever heard while watching the World Cup. But for young girls in my country, this is the voice they will grow up with. And maybe their ambitions will grow taller than Dibu Martinez.

Now, women all over the country are taking over the sport, some in their adulthood, finally making good on that dream they could not chase as kids. This phenomenon that gained steam in 2015 after a feminist revolution, where we started claiming back the ground we couldn't take as kids, will only grow after this victory for our country.

This year, most of our songs were chants for the love of our team and country. Songs about Diego Maradona looking down from the sky helping Messi bring the cup, about the illusion of winning again, about the passion we all share for this sport. For the first time, as some of the old-world fanatics sang songs with racist and transphobic lyrics, this new kind of fanatics told them to stop singing it and, for the most part, they did.

The room for bigotry in our beloved sport is growing smaller and smaller. Football is finally becoming a sport not just for Argentine males, but for all of Argentina.

And Messi, Messi, Messi! Our Captain, the best player in the world: he finally got the prize he so deserves, in the last chance he had at getting it. This cup, he regaled us with magic moments, like the dance he played on Croatians before a pass to the young promise Julian Alvarez, who scored to the exhilaration of the whole country. As always, Leo made a display of humility and solidarity to his teammates that is quintessentially anti-Maradonian. A new star an icon for a new Argentina. Before the final match, Sofia Martínez, a journalist stopped Messi, not with a question but with this statement: "There's not a single kid that doesn't have your t-shirt, whether it's the original one, a knockoff or one they invented. You really marked all of our lives and that's bigger to me than any World Cup. No one can take that from you. It's a thank you for a moment of joy you made people experience, I hope you can carry this in your heart because I think it's more important than the World Cup". She instantly went viral as she said the words we all wanted to say. Messi smirked, close to tears.

Lionel Messi has been playing on the National Team for almost 20 years and has played 5 world cups until he got the ultimate ievement in a career mined with accolades. After, all he is the GOAT. And after yesterday, no one can argue otherwise.

After one of the most suffered, epic games the World Cup has ever wtinessed, Montiel scored the goal that sealed the end of those painful 36 years . It took 90' full minutes of a superior Argentina that ended in an excruciating 2-2, 30' additional minutes of winning only to tie again, and four heart-attack-inducing penalties for us to score the win we have always dreamt about. As Nahuel pierced the net, the country jumped up from their seats and roared, shrieked, fell to the ground, thanked the skies, hugged, kissed. We fought our own disbelief: we did it. We are champions again. And our shirts will forever have a third star carrying the legacy of this larger-than-life team.

After watching our team raise the cup across the world in Doha, millions of people poured into the streets of Buenos Aires turning the entire city into a party that streched well after midnight. Stangers embraced each other, chanted together, shouted and pranced through the streets of the Argentina Capital and in every park and corner of the country . 'Abuelas' got serenated. At night, the Obelisco was lit with the fireworks and adorned with the smiles of kids of all ages who dream they will one day bring the 4th cup home, and who witnessed a true display of fair sportsmanship, sacrifice, teamplay and national pride that will go down in the history books.

No words can give justice to the outpour of joy we're all experiencing.
Thank you Scaloneta for giving us a day we will all carry with us to our final breath.

We're eternal champions, once again!

This 2022, we walked the talk. Here's how we transformed words into action and positive impact.

mariana@lunfardatravel.com (Mariana Radisic) — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 22:10:27 GMT

This is what we did for sustainability , historic preservation and equality in the last year.

Since our country reopened for international visitors on Nov 1st 2021, here's just some of our most significant actions to promote sustainability and equality in our company + country.

Sustainability.

We planted 55 native trees in Choila and Cordoba via our partners at Reforestarg and already paid for +60 more to be planted during their next campaign!

These lands had been subject to wildfires and our partners went into the field to help restore the native nature of these lands.

During 2023, we will partner with Bosques de Agua , who are not just reforesting with native trees but buying strategic land in places full of water and making them into Preserved Land. The preservation of these strategic areas fights wildfires and droughts through conservationism.

Historic preservation.

This year, our Jewish Heritage deparment partnered with Latin America's largest Yiddish cultural archive, IWO, to open it for tourists and help raise funds to preserve and digitalize over a hundred years of Argentine Jewish History.

The preservation of this archive is paramount to the keeping of the Argentine Jewish identity, and this archive had been subject to immense damage after it was nearly destroyed in a terrorist attack in 1994 against Latin Ameroca's largest Jewish community center, AMIA.

We hope to help this archive finish its building renovation and begin a community outreach program through our intervention.

Equality: racial justice.

As you probably know by now, Lunfarda Travel is the first ever travel company to share Argentina's Black History , which has been largely invisibilized by society and in the history books, as well as by the travel industry.

Since we started running tours for international guests less than a year ago, we've been able to share this tour with +150 guests from all over the world , who said things like:

"Show up and support this REVOLUTIONARY tour that is unearthing hidden Black and African history in Argentina." (Kadisha, 2022)
"A MUST when visiting Buenos Aires if you truly want to understand the authentic culture of the city that is an amalgamation of multiple cultures of which the Afro-Argentine is present. This tour challenges the narrative of those who wrote history and questions the concept of a 'White Argentina'" (Terry, 2022).

This year, we've also run at-cost tours for +100 locals and give this tour for free to +15 kids in our community, creating 3 jobs for Black tour guides in our community. Through our tours, we convinced the National Historic Museum to incoporate pieces of Argentina's Black History, which you can find at their permanent collection today. We hope this is the beginning of a beautiful trend, in which our work pushes institutions and the broad travel industry to act up for racial equality.

This year, we've also supported Black Artists: we restored the Maria Remedios del Valle Mural made by Afroana on our commission for Black History Month and sponsored the first every Black Entrepreneur Pop Up Market in our office, in which we invited 10 artists and artisans from our community to our house so they could share their talents with the world! We hope to run this again in 2023, and to create a mini-store within our office to promote these artists year round.

We have also hired an all BIPOC team of content creators to create a collection of pictures of black people in Buenos Aires, because representation and visibility matter.

All in all, we funneled over 2,500 USD into our local community, and invested 10,000 USD in promoting a Black, anti-racist Argentina, so these numbers can continue to grow year after year. The best is yet to come!

Equality: LGBTIQA+ rights + diversity.

We continued to be the most diverse travel company in Buenos Aires and to deepen our commitement to gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights, both home and abroad. All executive decisions in our company are made by women, and our company proudly employs people with Indigenous, Black, Jewish, Japanese, Arab and European heritage and people across the LGBTIQA+ spectrum.

But because we know that our realities -and privileges- are different, we continued to work towards inclusivity and equality in the LGBTIQA+ community, for which the local Chamber of Commerce and LGBT Tourism awarded us with the Innovation Award of the Year.

This year alone, we donated +1000 USD to Mocha Celis, a highschool for trans and gender non-confoming students that Lunfarda Travel supports through it's LGBT+ tours. Consider making a donation of your own here .

We also proudly sponsored our local drag queen Tita de San Telmo , whom we hired for 3 shows and sponsored her first theatre performance.

But we didn't just make waves nationaly: our founder Mariana Radisic Koliren also participated in Proud Experiences in NYC during June to promote Argentina as a Queer Destination, and was later awarded the David Martin Smalls Fellowship for entrepreneurs by IGLTA. Through this fellowship, Mariana headed to the largest LGBT+ travel show in the world to represent our community with pride, participating in panels. She is now in the process of creating material to help bring an intersectional view to colleges worldwide in 2023/2024 and she has started teaching Intersectional Travel Design at the first LGBT+ Travel Masters' from University of Barcelona.

To cap off this amazing year, Mariana spoke at our local LGBT+ Travel Conference: GNetwork360 , where she addressed the ways that the travel industry can actively use intersectionality to design better experiences across our community, and later joined Meg Ten Eyck and Lunfarda's own Julia Cohen Ribeiro to discuss safe destinations for Queer Women. Thanks for having us, Gnetwork!

In 2023, expect to see our team in local and international LGBTQ+ travel shows, pushing forward an agenda of intersectionality geared towards one goal: inclusivity, visibility and prosperity for our community.

Equality: fair trade and job generation.

Our company proudly employs 30 guides and 2 administrative office managers, all of whom are paid at least 30% over market wages. We continue to grow and provide ongoing training, education and growth tools for our team members.

We have continued to work elbow by elbow with our local community, helping funnel tens of thousands of dollars straight into the hands of small business owners, restaurateurs, artists and artisans.

In 2023, let's continue to walk the talk together.

Showing the travel industry and our guests that positive change is possible begins with enacting and demanding accountability.

Let's continue to set high bars, and take baby steps to get there, inspiring our partner organizations and guests to be a part of the change.

How can you help? Ask your local provider to provide an anual report on initiatives taken for SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) and measures taken to comply with the companies inner policies. Celebrate all the good that's being done, but always push a nudge further.

We are extremely proud of all of what we've achieved as a company this year, and we're looking forward to continue to change the narratives behind tourism in Argentina and abroad. Before we wrap off 2022 and say hola to 2023, let's manifest:

Diversity is tourism's biggest asset. Let's promote and embrace diversity in organizations, tourism narratives and with our diverse guests.
Sustainability is a society wide effort, and tourism can be a vector for people to embrace better travel practices for people and the environment. Let's act as vectors of change!
Tourism can promote social and racial justice and elevate livelihoods. Let's demand that travel companies take an active role in this transformation.

We're looking forward to seeing you and make you part of the change this 2023!

Don’t take it as an insult, it’s just Argentina

jana.dostert1@gmail.com (Jana Dostert) — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 20:19:58 GMT

Language is a way to show norms, and communicate values. It’s a way of expression, status, and policy that reveals the culture that’s lived in one’s homeland. On the Argentinian menu, language comes with a side of insults, jokes, Lunfardo , and Argentinian history. Don’t assume the speaker’s intention too quickly, and even less if you are from a country with a let’s call it: more subtle -or literal- usage of wording.

⚠WARNING⚠ Some ways of expression might sound harsh but they are often not meant that way. On the contrary, it shows how history is carried along and still lived and spoken day-to-day, mouth-to-mouth among 45 million Argentinians, who are the makers of today’s Lunfardo, the local slang. Which is -indeed, a marvelously unique, and eccentric version of its own.

If it’s about the very complex humor that doesn’t only often entail one of the many slang or so-called Lunfardo words but also infinite history-rich anecdotes- including years and years of politics flowing into the subtle humor of an Argentine. Be it a pastry that’s named “Friar balls’ or “Nuns sigh” or a “Vigilant” - coined by the worker's movement, that they are eating in all tranca (chill) while sipping through a Mate’s bombilla , professors quoting the Simpsons in their PowerPoints or a bunch of extremely funny memes digesting the daily life, joking about the president, football, or the seeming immortality of Mirta Legrand, the oldest host of the Argentine TV, who, believe it or not, is still at it at age 95 with the energy of a teen.

Apart from the witty side, that’s characteristic of Argentine speech, depending on which country you are coming from you might be a bit shocked by the amount and intensity of swear words Argentinians use in daily language. Let me tell you, even when an 80 years-old woman uses the words “ Que hijos de puta!” (literally “Sons of a whore”), probably addressing the latest demonstration or the recent inflation that has taken place, it’s just the Argentinian style to express concerns and to have a normal, civil conversation. It’s not meant literally! Except when it is.

And while you are gazing at the gigantic, majestic legacy of the 18th, -19th-century, the historical buildings that will accompany you throughout walks in the beautiful, stunning streets of Buenos Aires, pay a little bit of attention to the form in which Argentines converse. You might have several encounters with the expression Che Boludo ….and if you don’t know what that means by now let me enlighten you because surely this is the most typical way to start a sentence. Che = delicate call for attention (kind of like hey or yo! ) and Boludo/Boluda = idiot. But not literally, of course. Except when it is.

Now, have a guess! Che Boludo, - indeed, is not meant to be offensive at all (for the most part), and it's just a way of getting one's attention. Argentines are just beautifully direct and they simply won’t measure their words. #Filterfree. So it comes as no surprise that when they call a bit more corpulent uncle or friend, they’ll call him just Vení gordo (Come over here fatty), not as an insult but as a matter of fact. It’s a unique way of showing affection for that person and not used as an insult at all, once again. Except, of course… when it is!

Here’s another one: a very charming and kind of cheesy way Argentinians show you their appreciation and affection is when they thank you or answer you by calling you Reina or Rey which means Queen or King- now isn’t that a nice way to be treated?

So now that you’re more confused about language than when we first got started, I wish you enjoy your stay in Buenos Aires and its daily doses of authentic, vibrant, porteño culture, that “si o si” you will get to experience because porteños are so talkative, there’s no way of not overhearing them!

Black History Tour for Kids: finally, it's time to give back

Sun, 29 May 2022 16:28:51 GMT

Black kids with tight curls and broad smiles flocked to the gates of the National Historic Museum on a cool, sunny fall afternoon in San Telmo, Buenos Aires. Just their presence there, running freely and playing tag in the patio of the museum seemed like a small act of justice: these kids were laughing and playing on top of an old slave trade market, by a house that had been built by enslaved Black people. Now, 169 years after the abolition of slavery in Argentina, our young audience gathered to experience something momentuous: a Black History Tour to learn the value and the contributions of the Afro-Argentines.

“There are no Black people in Argentina” , “All the Black people died in the yellow fever epidemic”, “And in the Paraguayan wars too!”: Argentina is a country that has historically denied its diversity to fabricate a mirage of a white, European country… in South America! The travel industry has willingly piggybacked on this fabrication, selling the capital of the country, Buenos Aires as “The Paris of South America”. But in colonial times, up to 45% of the city was Black, and far from disappearing, there are up to one million Afro Argentines alive today. It was time we included their stories in the history of our city.

And so, in 2020 we launched the only tour in the country about Black History . It was emotional as it was intense, and every step of it felt necessary in a country where Black people have literally been counted out of the census for over a hundred years. As we researched the immense contributions of the Afro Argentines to our history and culture, the comment “well I did not hear THAT at school!” became all too common. And so, when we launched the tour for both locals and international tourists, we decided to donate a tour for kids for every private tour we sold.

And on May 28th, 2022, we were finally able to start making good on our promise. We reached out to groups of parents with Black kids and offered to join our tour for free, to revel in the pride of their Blackness and to hear all those positive things about Afro Argentine culture they would not hear in the Argentine education system.

On our tour, we spoke about what we know about Africa, about Black Heroine Maria Remedios del Valle (the Mother of the Motherland!), about the importance of being able to choose our job and who we relate with, about slavery and the value of freedom, about what it means to be an Argentine and about the meaning of quilombo . This word, used pejoratively in Argentina as a synonym for chaos and disorder, originally referred to the spaces where Black people escaped to during slavery times, where they organized raids to liberate further enslaved folk. When our guide Julia asked the kids what they now understood for quilombo , one of them said “protection”.

We have been born in an unequal and difficult world. But everyone has a choice to try to transform the spaces where they live. In an industry that has largely profited from perpetuating a racist version of history, this is our grain of sand and our statement: diversity is our biggest asset and our biggest pride. Sharing the diverse stories of our society brings nuance and depth to what we share, and it can empower local communities that have been shun out, in our case, from the tourism industry and its storytelling.

This tour will now start running once a month, completely for free, for Black kids and their families. It is our dream to enlarge this to bring people from the broad society into this tour, and to bring this tour into the classrooms of our city to help raise a generation of people who can take our country forward in all of its glorious diversity.

Argentine Money, Explained

mariana@lunfardatravel.com (Mariana Radisic) — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 18:11:25 GMT

Argentine currency is messy . Its value changes daily, there’s an official rate, a parallel “blue” rate, different looking notes, reduced daily ATM withdrawal fees, and navigating it can be frustrating. Do not worry though, we’ve got you covered!

Here’s how to get the best value for your money when you travel to Buenos Aires and across Argentina.

The official currency in Argentina is the Argentine Peso (ARS).

There are coins of 1, 5 and 10 ARS and notes of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 ARS. Some of them have national figures like Evita Perón or San Martín; others will feature animals. They are all valid.

Argentina has been dealing with lots of economic problems lately, experiencing an annual average inflation rate of over 100% for the last year. During this period, the 200, 500 and 1000 peso bills were introduced, and the 2 and 5 peso bills were decommissioned.

To shield their savings from the effects of inflation, locals save in USD as many things (like property, gas, cars, etc) will be “tied up” to the value of the dollar.

You will notice locals know quite a bit about the economy, since they are always finding creative ways to buy dollars, despite the restrictions enacted by Argentina’s dollar-starved government which needs them to pay its international creditors.

Exchanging Money

OFFICIAL RA TE

To sell dollars legally, you need to go to an official money teller, where you’ll be required to present your passport and asked to provide your accommodation address. It is a time-consuming process : in the busy summertime it’s common to wait up to an hour to exchange money. Despite the fact that this is the legal way of changing currency, you will get about 40% of the price you’d get if you exchange in the “blue” market.

BLUE MARKET RATE

The “blue” market is the unofficial, free-trading currency exchange market, where you can get up to double the amount of ARS than you would trading in the official currency tellers.

You will find the “blue” market in Florida Street, where traders known as arbolitos ( little trees ... full of green dollars!) will shout “Cambio, Money Exchange, Troco” and arrange a value before taking you to often shady looking offices to do the trade. We only suggest that you exchange in the blue market if your travel agent has a recommended arbolito , since changing on Florida Street can be a gamble and scams are sadly common. Trusted arbolitos will go to your hotel upon request.

CREDIT CARD AND ATM RATE

If you purchase items with your credit card you will get a similar rate to the blue USD.

So... how do I get the best value for my money?

STAY CLEAR OF ATMS

You can withdraw your money easily at ATMs across Buenos Aires at the official rate, but there are daily caps to the amount of money you can withdraw , and the withdrawal fees are very high (between 5-20 USD for a 50 USD withdrawal).

BRING 100 USD NOTES TO EXCHANGE

Both the official and unofficial markets will take different notes at different values. Usually 50 and 100 dollar notes have better exchange rates than small notes.

USE SMALL NOTES FOR TIPPING

If you brought small notes, don’t exchange them: they are worth around 10% less than big notes. Instead, use them to tip your guide, driver or waiter.

EXCHANGE ENOUGH IN BUENOS AIRES FOR ALL YOUR TRIP

Buenos Aires has the best exchange rate across Argentina. Plan to exchange enough for the rest of your trip when you stop at Buenos Aires, since finding good exchange rates -official or “blue”- outside of the city is rare.

Our Black Heroine's Homecoming

mariana@lunfardatravel.com (Mariana Radisic) — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 18:41:40 GMT

It was 5.30pm, the print shop was about to close, and our files were in the wrong format . While Analía -known as Afro Ana , a 30 year old digital artist- cursed, I sprinted towards my apartment to get a laptop to hopefully fix the issue. In less than 24hs, on November 20th, the day of Black Awareness on Argentine Black History Month, those files would be turned into the first ever mural about Revolutionary Black Heroine María Remedios del Valle, an obscured character with a Netflix-binging story.

Storytelling is our weapon

I had first heard of María only years before, at a talk on intersectional feminism. I could not believe that such a powerful character had been completely erased from our textbooks: an enslaved woman sent to fight for the Independence of Argentina along her family, who lost everything and everyone but became so focused, so resilient , so feisty , she’d end up becoming a Captain with the nickname of “the Mother of the Nation”. But as it often happens with Black Excellence, María’s bravery had been all but erased and she had spent her final years begging in the streets of San Telmo, just steps away from the place where two hundred years later, I’d end up founding a travel agency with a mission to shed light on the untold stories of Buenos Aires.

This mission of mine had led me to work with many groups whose stories had been buried, and in November 2020, with face masks, social distancing and a raging pandemic, our storytelling magic beat the odds: Julia Cohen Ribeiro , -an Afro Argentine activist, tour guide and artist with both Brazilian and Jewish roots- took a group of people through San Telmo in the first Afro Argentine History Tour .

ARTIVISM is our tool

Flash forward to November 2021, Black Pride Month in Argentina. We had survived the pandemic, and our tour was finally starting to take off. Black activism had turned María into an emerging force to question and enlarge the idea of what our country is. But she was still largely an echo, and I felt she needed an embodiment. A place where people could stand in front of her name, and learn her story. A place to show her our neighborhood hasn’t forgotten her, a place for tour guides, Black Activists and the world to give passionate speeches about her life and her doings.

I put Ana in a tight spot: we settled on the project and developed the whole thing in only 8 days. In any other context, we’d both be freaking out. But for some reason, we were instead entirely trusting of the project’s outcome: it would work out. And as we were at the print shop, with the wrong file format, fighting to print them at the last minute, Ana told me: “ this thing we are doing would make our ancestors proud. They are the ones who will help us see it through”. And even though we don’t share our ancestry, I knew exactly what she meant because in a sense, I heard María’s voice calling me too.

Working with Ana is a joy. She’s brilliant, talented and authentic. Just by looking at her work, you can tell it's hers, speaking volumes about her African and Indigenous roots and telling a story of pride, empowerment and excellence. We had already worked together on an animated project to promote our Afro Argentine tour and I knew anything she’d propose would be amazing and embedded with her unique point of view. So when I asked her to ditch her computer and work on her first mural, it came as no surprise that she’d tell me: “I want to portray María in a different way. I don’t want to give her a sword and a military uniform. I’m sick of that. I want to imagine María as a child in an afro-utopía. What if things had been different?” “I have no idea how that’d look” I replied “ but I can’t wait to see it”. And she set off to work.

It's all about community

You never know whether it’s fate, destiny, serendipity or just sheer chance, but sometimes things align in the most spectacular fashion. Only about two weeks before we settled on doing the mural that’d show María as a child, I was droning in San Telmo and met Fátima and her histrionic and energetic daughter, Madeleine Nkonda . As children usually are, she was fascinated with the drone, we started talking, and I suddenly made two new friends.

When I told Fati and Made about the project, they told me they wanted to participate in whatever way we needed. And so, planets aligned and we found our María.

This project really took the phrase “ it takes a village” to the next level. Ana brought Sole Gabriela Velázquez, AKA La Negra Chimba , an experienced plastic artist and muralist, to help her translate her digital design onto the walls of San Telmo. Salvina Chunco, the owner of Sach , a boutique art gallery in Balcarce and Estados Unidos, gave us a wall from her shop to make this piece in the most trusting way, since she OKeyed the project without even seeing a sketch. Throughout the day, there were moments where we thought we wouldn’t finish. And every time that doubt arose, neighbors, friends and community showed up, helping with everything from putting together the collage, to bringing food, drinks and encouragement to the artists.

San Telmo has an undeniable magic and power: the power of our community. As the sun was hitting hard on this warm spring day, I called up Beto from El Gauchito to bring over some empanadas for our famished artists. Made, our young María, was hanging around when she saw him, he came over with a docena : her face lit up and she ran to him, and both merged together in an embrace. Little did I know, Beto had been in Made’s life since she was no more than an embryo, and he had been there for her mom through her challenging pregnancy, just as he had helped me stay focused and in tune with my inner self as my life fell apart during the pandemic. Beto is one of my favorite people on Earth and seeing his joy witnessing our project lit my heart.

Welcome home, María

It was well past nightfall when María came to life in the mural. Ana was right: it had all come together, and it felt like some otherworldly power had helped us through. As we stared at the mural, and it stared back at us, we were all overcome with so much emotion: María was finally home. Now, every person who walked in front of her would be able to scan a QR code to bring them to a hub to learn about María’s History , to discover Afro Argentine art and to keep on revisiting and challenging the story that we were told as kids. History belongs to those who were shunned from it, and one mural, one tour and one story at a time we are claiming it back.

Thank you, María Remedios del Valle for your bravery, your resilience and your power: it will never again be forgotten in the streets of San Telmo.

Why is Argentina so OBSESSED with fútbol?

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 17:23:16 GMT

Every Argentinian can include a football-related memory as one of their earliest memories. It is either the first World Cup match you got to watch, a historical goal by your favourite team, or just playing a good old picadito on the streets of your neighborhood. Don't get us wrong, though, not everyone is maniacally obsessed with the sport. It just happens that most of us are.

The truth is that barely anybody can remain indifferent about football in Argentina, as it has played a central role in the development of the folk of our country. Whether we like it or not, fútbol as a practice is deeply interwoven with our history and its events; people have extended the jargon used in the pitch, recalling it heavily for everyday things regardless of age or gender * . Others denounce the show-biz around it, pointing out its use as a distraction from every other thing, from organised gang violence to the atrocity of state sponsored terrorism decades ago.

But how did this country that is so far away get so hooked up with it? We'll explain: some 150 years ago Argentina began to develop its railroad network. As was usual during those times, the job was done by British workers, who provided the technology and know-how. Among other things, they also brought their preferred pastimes. Football pitches sprawled all over and around the tracks, often built rudimentarily with no goalposts or a clearly delimited perimeter. These shabby, vernacular gathering points became potreros , the birthplace of our footballing stars. The disorganised, cheeky and dynamic style of playing that developed from these places is now a trademark of argentinian football.

The British heritage of this era is still very much present in the names of the clubs in the country: Newell's Old Boys, River Plate, All Boys, Argentinos Juniors, Pinocho Baby Fútbol Club (as pictured below), etc.

Later on, as immigration increased and demographics exploded, people from all over the world integrated into argentine society and began to make use of our customs. As such, and to this day, kids would get to know each other through playing fútbol ; having a well-kept ball could make you immensely popular. In any case, improvised pitches and balls would be built ground up, using clothing as posts and socks and cloth to kick around. No matter the class, ethos or religion, anybody could play. Or a conversation between strangers hailing from different continents could finally have an innocent bridging point: ¿Ha visto usted el partido de ayer? (Have you seen yesterday's match?). As decades passed, football ingrained itself onto us.

Nowadays, it's bigger than life. Politics and other issues tend to tear people apart, and Argentina has graciously found a way to bring it all back together (at least for some ephemeral 90 minutes). When the national team plays, it feels as if cities as a whole went to sleep under liturgical obsession and concentration; the streets breathe with relief at the sight of a missed goal against, and cry in excitement when a win is secured.

In any case, bienvenidos amigos del fútbol !

* Some colloquial idioms that involve fútbol :

“ Picado ”: Literal meaning is 'minced'. Refers to impromptu matches at potreros .

” Potrero ”: Basic football court, barely maintained.

“ ¡Tirame un centro! ”: Help me out!

“¡ Golazo !”: Used to describe something that’s great, positive or uplifting.

“ Pecho frío” : Literally cold-chested, used to describe cowardice.

“Aguantar los trapos”: To hold your own, being brave against odds.

Was Evita a feminist?

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 17:12:30 GMT

With the notoriety that the women’s movement in Argentina acquired in the last couple of years - starting with the massive #NiUnaMenos demonstration in 2015 and climaxing with the legalization of abortion in 2020 - many people have turned to the country’s past to look for the feminist pioneers that laid the groundwork for this revolution.

Women Suffrage: the most feminist moment in peronism?

Naturally, among many names, there is a very famous one that in Argentina tends to be related with the legalization of women’s suffrage in the 1940s: Eva Perón. Her feminisit “credentials” - if such a thing existed - seem to come from the fact that she campaigned actively as the First Lady of the country making speeches on the radio where she claimed that women “could and must vote ”. Countless images show her in rallies surrounded by thousands of members of the Female Branch of the Peronist Party and - such was her commitment - she was even awarded the first document that was issued to allow the members of her gender to legally exercise their voting rights.

All of this seems to put her unmistakably in the realm of Feminism with a capital F, but as with many things in History, nothing is so simple.

Because yes, it was in 1947, during Juan Domingo Perón’s presidency, that women finally were legally allowed to vote. But did that mean that Peronism and, specifically, Evita represented feminist ideals?

When we look at the history of women’s struggle to achieve this milestone, we find all sorts of people that, from the late 19th century, had systematically through grassroots efforts fought for gender equality. Socialist women, liberal women, free thinkers like Julieta Lanteri - that in 1911 found a legal loophole in the electoral law that allowed her to vote - and many others tried and tried again to change a reality where women were the legal equivalent of a child.

It was not until the 1930s, though, that the movement to legalize women’s suffrage really started picking up pace. At that point, women in most Western countries could already vote and Argentina was dramatically falling behind on this trend. That’s why, by the time Juan Domingo Perón became the president in 1946, whether women could attend the polls in the future was no longer a matter of if, but when.

This is the time when Eva Perón made her first appearance in relation to the movement. Until then she had not yet “become” Evita, but the preliminary approval of the law that allowed female suffrage in August 1946 provided an ideal opportunity for her to shine as a political individual. Immediately she was given a column in an official magazine and a radio show in which she gave speeches to promote the campaign that would lead the Senate to ratify the law by the end of 1947. So far everything sounds great, but the thing is that the content of these messages was not as radical as one would imagine. Evita, in fact, positioned herself as “a bridge” between Peron and the people, addressing specifically the housewives of the nation. Following the Peronist ethos that cherished the traditional family as a national value, she asked not so much for the liberation of women, but for their support in “feminizing” politics. It was in this fashion, as the domestic “Other” to men, that female voices would enter the political arena and make themselves heard in their roles as “wives, mothers and homemakers”.

Shocking as it may sound, it was, after all, the late forties and most women were still confined to the realm of domestic life. So, even if many of the “hardocre” feminists that had kept the movement alive through the decades resented Evita and her discourse, in reality her speeches really resonated among the women of the nation.

In the end, it took time for Peronism - and politics in general, for that matter - to come to terms with society’s demands for gender equality. As of today, within the ranks of the political party, many feminists consider Eva Perón’s role as a political woman in a time when such a thing was not common as the ultimate feminist move and see her as an inspiration. However, it is impossible to adscribe feminism to only one political tendency, since it includes influences from different political and social backgrounds. So, one should not be surprised if some people reject Evita altogether.

Where do you stand on this debate? Let us know in the comment section!

If you haven't tried these foods, you haven't been to Buenos Aires.

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 18:42:14 GMT

Empanadas

Oh, pocket sized bliss, I love you. Empanadas are made of a corn shell with whatever filling you can imagine, that can be baked or deep fried in oil or lard. The traditional ones are meat (duh), humita (corn), chicken, ham and cheese and onions and cheese... but that's just the baseline.

Every province has its own traditional recipes for empanadas , and luckily you can find almost all of them here! For some Riojan style empanadas you can head to El Gauchito in San Telmo, or to Mercat Villa Crespo for some authentic empanadas from Tafi, Tucuman. If you feel a little experimental, you can try the blood sausage or vegan empanadas at El Banco Rojo . If you're that sort of person who's definitely not a vegan, head to El Baqueano for some exotic meat empanadas: they usually have llama empanadas if you can stomach them... you monster!

Fugazzeta Rellena

It's no secret that people from Buenos Aires deface everything that italians hold sacred, starting by pizza! Pizza in Buenos Aires is almost a religion, and its highest deity is the fugazzetta rellena, what we can only describe as a pizza-pie topped with onions. The most legendary fugazetta rellena in the city can be found at La Mezzeta, but don't miss out on trying El Cuartito's, Banchero's or Guerrin's options... for science, right?

Asado (wait, there's also vegan asado!)

Argentines are kinda obsessed with meat. One of the most traditional meals to have is the asado, an assortment of meat cuts, innards, sweetbreads, sausages and blood sausages, splattered with the occational potato or pepper... 'cause balanced diets, I guess? In any case, we put chimichurri sauce on top of the meat, which technically makes it almost into a salad.

The asado is a meal full of rituals: if you're ever invited to one say yes as it's a great experience full of nuances.

If the idea of such a meat centric meal reppeals you, head on to try the first vegan asado place in the city, called La Reverde.

Facturas

What's the bastard child of a croissant and a cannoli? Well, a factura , of course! Facturas are the uber-sweet, diet wrecking pastries Argentines love from Patagonia to Iguazu. They are sold by the dozen, and each design has it's own name. Because many bakeries were owned by anarchist groups in the late 1800s, many facturas have fun and ironic names such as the monks balls (bolas de fraile), cannons (cañoncitos), cops (vigilanetes) or the nun's sigh (suspiro de monja).

These pastries come in many shapes and forms, topped or filled with delicious dulce de leche, quince jam, or crema pastelera.

If you're an expat in the city, bringing a dozen facturas to the office or to a merienda is a sure way to collect points and make new friends!

Milanesa

We are really sorry, Italians from Milano: we honestly don't care that the Milanesa is completeley unrelated to you, nor do we care about the sass involved in creating something called a napolitan milanesa. That's just the way we are!

The milanesa -a breaded and baked or deep fried meat- actually stems from Germany and the Yiddish world, where it's called a schnitzel. Here, milanesas are one of the favorite meals of the porteñes and they can be found in many different ways. The classic one is of veal, using mostly peceto, bola de lomo or nalga, which is soaked in beaten eggs with whatever spices you can think of (but parsley and garlic are almost mandatory). You can also find chicken milanesas, known as supremas , and other meats like pork or fish. For all the vegans out there, you can find soy, aubergine or pea milanesas.

Milanesas can be eaten alone, on a sandwich or with different toppings. The napolitan milanesa is topped with fresh mozarella, tomato sauce and herbs... and that's just the baseline. You'll find milanesas topped with everything, and usually served with potato puree or french fries. One of our favorite takes? The one in the picutre, called milanesa a caballo ( mounted milanesa), which has fried eggs on top.

Bad for cholesterol, maybe, but nothing fills our souls more than this!

Which neighborhoods you should you stay in Buenos Aires (and which ones you shouldn't)

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 03:24:39 GMT

Colonial, artsy and foodie? San Telmo

San Telmo one of the oldest parts of the city and a place with so much to see.

Like art? From contemporary arts museums like MAMBA or MACBA, to cool little art galleries like Sach and Quorum, to crazy performances at CCMA, to antiquing in Defensa, San Telmo's got you covered. During the weekends you can get a glimpse of Max Regueiro's drag performance as Tita Merello, catch living statues at the San Telmo fair or enjoy some live candombe on Sunday evenings.

Getting hungry from all that culture? Head to the San Telmo Market or to Caseros Avenue to try amazing restaurants and food stalls. Eat asado at Hierro or La Brigada or go 180° with a vegan meal at Jaam. If you feel like empanadas, try out the famous deep fried meat empanadas Beto does at El Gauchito or go for an unconventional spicy lamb at El Banco Rojo.

Nightclubs, graffiti and vegan dogs? Palermo it is.

We ain't even joking. Palermo was the first neighborhood where the trend of veganism first began... and it even took over petshops! Jokes (and unconventional veterinary decisions) aside, Palermo Soho and Hollywood is the area with the highest amount of cool restaurants, vegan or otherwise.Here you'll find 2020's Latin America's Top 50 Best List #1 choice, Don Julio as well as places like Chori, El Preferido or Lo de Jesus.

Hollywood and Soho area also the epicenter of nightlife, with some of the coolest nightclubs in the city around the Niceto Vega and Juan B. Justo area. This area is full of hostels and small boutique hotels just steps away from wineries, restaurants, bars, clubs and shopping!

If you feel like living a slightly less nocturnal, greener version of Palermo, stay in the area closer to Libertador Avenue, where you'll find nice, small hotels by some of the largest green areas in the city, and just steps away from the Evita Museum.

Live out your fanciest life in Recoleta and Retiro

Recoleta and Retiro have some of the fanciest, classiest hotels in the city. If you are not much of a night explorer but enjoy a great hotel, then look no further than the hotels on Alvear and Posadas streets, which have amazing restaurants, high teas and even rooftop bars.

Stay clear of the areas around the Recoleta Cemetery and Plaza San Martin, tho: they can get kind of sketchy at night.

Dubai... my bad, Puerto Madero.

Puerto Madero is the newest, glossiest district in the city... and one of the most expensive neighborhoods in all of South America. It's certianly a romantic neighborhood, with many high end restaurants facing the glimmering lights glistening on the water. It also has the hotel rooms with some of the nicest views of the city, the Rio de la Plata and the green expanse of the Ecological Reserve.

Feel like making worse choices than drunk-dialing an ex? Then head here.

If you are up to making some regrettable choices, stay in the city center. The city center has some of the coolest places to visit in Buenos Aires. That doesn't mean you should stay there. Plaza de Mayo definitely is both sketchy and uninteresting at night. Same goes to the area around the National Congress and the area of Tribunales and Microcentro.

4 ways to get around Buenos Aires (and one to avoid)

Sat, 07 Aug 2021 04:51:23 GMT

Buenos Aires is a huge city, but thankfully our founding people made it easy to get around!

From its creation in 1580 the city was laid out as a grid of blocks of 100mts of length, with very few diagonals or exceptions.

There are many ways of getting around, here's the what's what by a born and raised porteña.

Oh, I didn't see you there!

Traffic regulations are considered more like suggestions than rules! Always check both sides of the road, even if it's one way... we are all one hurried UberEats away from collision!

Let's take a w alk

With its flat geography and easy grid layout, walking is a great way of both navigating and discovering the city. Get your favorite playlist, your reusable bottle water, and prepare to meet a sea of eclectic architecture of the city, green and clean parks and -of course- the fast paced, intense and friendly porteñes!

Cruise in style

With exclusive lanes all over town, a near-flat city and a grab-and-go biking system, Buenos Aires is officially a bike friendly city.

Visitors can download the app Tembici, create an account and take a bike for a spin. It'll cost you about 5US per day, for 6 one-hour trips, or about 20US for a monthly pass of 6 one-hour daily passes. That's what you call a ganga!

Cruise through Puerto Madero and the green corridor between Palermo and Recoleta, or go off the beaten path into residential neighborhoods like Boedo, Colegiales or Villa Crespo.

SUBE (hop on) to the public transportation network

Public transportation of Buenos Aires is inexpensive, quick and convenient, as long as you don’t mind the crowds.

Buy a SUBE card at any subway or train station, or at many kioskos or lottery shops- and charge it up. Boom, that's all you need to get around.

Find the SUBE logo in train or subway mills and by the driver in the bus, tap your card and listo el pollo! Fares are pretty cheap -about 0.20USD and less.

Use Google Maps to get around: it will tell you how to get anywhere in the city, how much it will cost and even when to expect the next bondi ... As someone who experienced waiting for a bus for well over two hours I'm still gagging.

Subte

Best and quickest way to get around the city center and many residential neighborhoods. Trains run from 5am to 11.30pm.

Bondi

The faithful bondi or colectivo - the bus- runs 24/7 accross the whole city. You will find stops at almost every corner, and on big avenues you’ll see the platforms known as MetroBus stops. These have big maps showing the routes of the bus lines, show countdowns to the next bus and have very accessible information.

Tren

There are 4 train terminals that connect Buenos Aires to the suburbs. The main ones are the Retiro train station -a fantastic belle èpoque building that deserves a visit on its own- that connects to Tigre, San Isidro and the Northern suburbs, and the Constitución train station, that connects to La Plata, a beautiful university city 40 miles south of Buenos Aires. If you're headed to the suburbs, the train's quickest way.

No taxi was ever a friend of mine

Taxis in Buenos Aires are a big no-no. Smoking reggaeton-blasting drivers are the lesser problem: it is quite common to hear taxi drivers scam tourists, giving them bad rates, fake notes and taking the longest and most expensive routes possible.

Taxi drivers almost certainly won’t take credit cards, and will find ways to charge extra for handling even the smaller bags. Of course, there are great taxi drivers out there. When you find one, remember to bring them to the closest Endangered Species office.

Cabify, Uber or private car.

If this is all a little mucho and you want to travel in the comfort of a private car, you can use Uber (tip: UberX is not much more expensive and it's totally worth it) or Cabify. If you want a car available to go out and about, you can hire a car with a professional driver with us (and we'll offest twice the CO2 emissions of your ride by planting native trees in Patagonia).