Patagonia/Antarctica Christmas 2022

[starwarsdad]

Our family is under a week from heading out to Buenos Aires for our third ABD. Got a large ABD box today. I’m terrible about doing trip threads but there is so little information about Patagonia/Antarctica. Our guides from our last trip, Tiffany and Kira, convinced us to do this. They have given us a lot of great advice to get ready. So here we go…

 

[starwarsdad]

Well headed to Buenos Aires. Packing was tough. We got DD, DM, son 17, daughter 14, and daughter 11. Packing the cold gear took a decent amount of space because we are limited to two bags 50 pounds and 18 pounds due to the internal charter flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. Going to have to do some sink laundry.

 

[aggiedog]

So jealous! Have a great trip! Looking forward to a trip report.

 

[sayhello]

I saw on instagram that two of your Guides should be Dusty and Chris Brown!

Sayhello

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Is that 2 bags for all of you? When we went I took 2 big bags (approx. 50 lbs each), dd took a 50 lb bag and we each had a carry-on. A&K told me that we might not be able to check one of the big bags but I was willing to take my chances and no one said a word to us. The bags all fit in our room (under bed storage). It was nice to have a small Christmas tree in our room, stockings, decorations for the windows and small gifts for the guides with us. Plus I had gym clothes and outfits for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, my birthday, and NYE and NY day! I don’t know how strict ABD is, but they also use Le Ponant I believe, so who knows? There is NO way I could have packed all my gear into 1 x 50lb bag — I tried and tried and it was not going to work.

 

[starry_solo]

Our family is under a week from heading out to Buenos Aires for our third ABD. Got a large ABD box today. I’m terrible about doing trip threads but there is so little information about Patagonia/Antarctica. Our guides from our last trip, Tiffany and Kira, convinced us to do this. They have given us a lot of great advice to get ready. So here we go…

View attachment 724792View attachment 724793

Could you take a closer picture of the pins so I could see the characters/words clearer? Does this mark which day you would have gotten the pins?

 

[starwarsdad]

Is that 2 bags for all of you? When we went I took 2 big bags (approx. 50 lbs each), dd took a 50 lb bag and we each had a carry-on. A&K told me that we might not be able to check one of the big bags but I was willing to take my chances and no one said a word to us. The bags all fit in our room (under bed storage). It was nice to have a small Christmas tree in our room, stockings, decorations for the windows and small gifts for the guides with us. Plus I had gym clothes and outfits for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, my birthday, and NYE and NY day! I don’t know how strict ABD is, but they also use Le Ponant I believe, so who knows? There is NO way I could have packed all my gear into 1 x 50lb bag — I tried and tried and it was not going to work.

It is two bags each person. The restriction comes for the internal flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. One checked bag at 50 pounds per person and one carry on only at 18 pounds. Did my first load of sink laundry last night. We are also using Le Ponant. I can’t say yet how strict they are. Our adventure officially starts today.

 

[starwarsdad]

Could you take a closer picture of the pins so I could see the characters/words clearer? Does this mark which day you would have gotten the pins?

Sorry. The pins are at home but it is pretty obvious what day each pin is for as they follow the title to our itinerary. Remind me when I get back home but it is going to be a few weeks down the road.

 

[starwarsdad]

So as an added bonus, today Buenos Aires could take the title away from WDW as the happiest place on earth. The president declared today a national holiday. The football team just came home. We toured plaza de mayo, saw the presidential “pink” house, and walked to the grounds where the celebration is going to occur. Crowds already gathering for the parade tomorrow. Energy in Buenos Aires is electric!

Wish I could post a quick 10 second video of the crowds chanting at the obelisco.

 

[starwarsdad]

We bought our Argentina kits yesterday on Florida street. You know, when in Rome…

 

[AgentMama]

Following along!

 

[starwarsdad]

Scraps all plans for today. We are just going to party and experience the team parade. We figured this could be a once in a lifetime experience.

 

[jimmymc]

Scraps all plans for today. We are just going to party and experience the team parade. We figured this could be a once in a lifetime experience. View attachment 726422

Definitely go party! I was in Paris for the 2018 Cup and it's like nothing you've ever seen before.

 

[Mathmagicland]

So as an added bonus, today Buenos Aires could take the title away from WDW as the happiest place on earth. The president declared today a national holiday. The football team just came home. We toured plaza de mayo, saw the presidential “pink” house, and walked to the grounds where the celebration is going to occur. Crowds already gathering for the parade tomorrow. Energy in Buenos Aires is electric!

Wish I could post a quick 10 second video of the crowds chanting at the obelisco.

I think I this is SO exciting you are there to celebrate the win! Saw an article where Messi’s Instagram post of the win is the most liked ever, passing the egg, at almost 61 million likes so far.

 

[sayhello]

Scraps all plans for today. We are just going to party and experience the team parade. We figured this could be a once in a lifetime experience. View attachment 726422

It *is* a once in a lifetime experience! That you just happen to be there when this big win occurs... Go and enjoy!!!

Sayhello

 

[starwarsdad]

 

[starwarsdad]

As an American, I cannot think of any experience that would unify us as a country as we are experiencing today in Argentina. Crazy energy and excitement. The only other time I got goose bumps watching a crowd celebrate in unison was Pirates Get Wet show at Tokyo DisneySea

 

[starwarsdad]

First official day wrapped up. Incredible once in a lifetime day. We had planned to attend The Argentine Experience, a dinner, cooking experience as someone teaches about Argentine culture and history. Sadly we could not make it due to streets being blocked. It was prepaid so we probably lost out on the money. They don’t refund if canceled within 24 hours of the experience. We tried to plea our case and they said they would run it by a manager but no resolution yet. Traffic was pretty crazy. No cab company was open and Uber and cabify would not locate us a driver after trying for three hours. The team couldn’t even get to the obelisco or the central plaza.

Regardless, the cost lost pales in comparison to the experience we had today. How many times do you get to celebrate a World Cup victory?

 

[starwarsdad]

Oh one quick lesson that was given to me by a super friendly BA native on the plane. Argentina essentially has “two” currencies, the blue dollar and the official dollar. Official banks exchange the USD for Argentine pesos. Currently that rate is 1USD for 170ARD. However, instead of changing money at the airport or bank, we waited and got advice from our hotel to exchange at a cueva which got us a rate of 1USD for 310ARD. So if you can pay in cash and exchange through a “black” market exchange, your buying power is much greater.

So I went to the Adidas store and bought a Messi jersey 24,000 ARD. If I pay in cash that is about 78 USD. If I pay with a credit card they have to use the official exchange, so that same jersey is 140 USD.

I was warned some of the people asking for exchanges on the street, those saying cambio (exchange), could give fake dollars. We bought a knock off jersey for our kids and paid in USD and he wanted no part of a dollar bill that had a slight tear. The suspicion for fake bills was high.

 

[starwarsdad]

Our hotel was the Alvear Icon hotel. It is a hotel that seems to cater to English speaking guests. The area is nice and very safe. The area seems to be less authentic Buenos Aires and a bit segregated from the rest of Argentina due to its location.

Not sure about internet starting tomorrow as we have an early flight to Ushuaia. I’ll do my best to update if only to have more information about this trip. Forgot to mention, we passed our Covid tests. Today was a day completely on our own. The guides were at a desk orienting guests to the logistics for Covid testing and the travel tomorrow for Ushuaia. Advice for dining and activities were more run through the hotel concierge who was excellent.