Roaming South America

Uspallata, AR - Where the Mountain Snow Turned Me Around

October 26, 2026

Uspallata, Argentina, has a population under 4000. Uspallata is the last town if you're westbound from Mendoza to Chile. Here you are at about 2040 meters (around 6700 feet) elevation, and it's rather on the chilly side, especially at night. The town is quite small, it's referred to as a village. There is a new supermarket about a kilometer outside the town center, which means few people walk to it. In town, there's pretty much every kind of shop you'd have a need for, and two ATMs at the one bank. There are lots of shops renting winter sports gear and chains for your car.

Villa Mercedes, AR - A Second Visit was Worth It

October 22, 2026

Villa Mercedes, Argentina, with a population of around 133,000, was founded as a post station in 1706 or so, the locals jokingly called it Las Pulgas (the fleas), then in 1752 the process to establish the town began. Villa Mercedes was named "Río Quinto" because the river Quinto runs alongside and through part of the town. It was founded in 1856, then in 1861 was named Villa Mercedes in honor to Virgen de las Mercedes (Our Lady of Mercy). The town is located right in the middle between Córdoba and Mendoza. My first blog of VM has the full history of the town. I find it a nice stop-over when traveling between those two cities.

Córdoba – A City Founded by Disobedience

October 18, 2026

Córdoba, Argentina, population of around 1,500,000, sits in central Argentina. The metropolitan area has around 1,650,000 people. It is historically known as "La Docta" or "The City of Bells."

Growing Pains

Córdoba was founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, from Seville, Spain, in July 1573, as a Spanish settlement that would serve as a refuge from the indigenous people, allowing the Spaniards to move and trade freely along the route between the silver mines of the Andes and the Río de la Plata. Cabrera had actually been ordered by the Viceroy of Peru to found a city much farther north, but he chose this fertile valley on the Suquía River instead and named it after his wife's hometown in Andalusia. The disobedience cost him his life. His successor as governor had him tried for insubordination, and he was executed in 1574, barely a year after founding the city.

Buenos Aires: Two Days in the Paris of America

October 10, 2026

I arrived in Buenos Aires (Santa María del Buen Aire) via the ferry from Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Buenos Aires is a big city of about 13.4 million. Within that greater metropolitan area is the "smaller" city of Buenos Aires, with about 3.1 million. When I left the ferry terminal and walked to the city center I was rather disappointed in what I walked through. That part of the city is nothing special. Then, as I continued, I passed through some of the historic district, again a bit disappointing - dirty, too many people sleeping on sidewalks. Eventually, I arrived in the city center and things changed a lot - the city became what I expected of BA - very old, clean, and interesting. The city center is loaded with very old buildings and I found to be more interesting than the official historic district. NOTE: You will find people here speak with the Rioplatense accent. This is an accent of Spanish common throughout the greater Buenos Aires area and also heard in Uruguay. If you come across a person with a thick accent, there's a good chance you won't understand them, I sure don't. It's almost as if they're sticking an 'sh' or 'zh' sound between every other syllable. Don't expect to find many who speak a "clean" Spanish, and even fewer who speak English or any other language. I did come across a young woman who speaks very good English, she works in a store that sells wine and other alcohol, but mostly wine. I didn't buy any, and we chatted for a while. I also came across a couple of restaurant servers who attempted to use English, but they were just individual words, not full sentences.

Four small cities, all average cities

September 6, 2026

Posadas, AR and Concordia, AR -

Posadas sits alongside the Paraná River, which forms the border between Argentina and Paraguay. Like Encarnación across the river, Posadas has a beautiful riverfront that stretches the width of the city. Posadas has a population of around 325,000, so it's a medium-sized city, unlike Encarnación, which is a large town. I like Encarnación more. I stayed two nights this time and spent much of the full day with my friend from Encarnación. I visited Posadas in May 2023 and wrote a blog about it, you can read it here.