Contest #2 - Argentina

Question:
What does this image depict and what is the significance to the location?

Rules:

1- first one to answer correctly wins a prize
2- only one guess per question
3- you must be an official follower of the blog to win

Glaciers are cool

What's cooler than being cool? Ice cold! We spent the day exploring the glaciers accessed by Lago Argentino. Ten hours is a long time to be on a boat but it was definitely worth the amazing views of the Perito Moreno, Upsala, and Spegazzini glaciers. We even saw a large chunk of the Perito Moreno fall into the water. Too bad we weren't able to capture that moment with our camera. All of glaciers in the park, except for the Perito Moreno, are shrinking.

Gauchos - Patagonia Part 1

Patagonia almost didn't happen - we got our flight times mixed up and missed our original flight by several hours (yes, we will be triple checking our flight times from now on). Thank goodness there was a later flight in the day that was able to take us from Buenos Aires to El Calafate. We spent the evening strolling down main street and enjoying some of the famous Argentinian beef for dinner.

Today we spent the afternoon horseback riding to Punta Soberana. It was a pleasant trek that had some amazing panoramic views of Lake Argentino and the Andes Mountains. There were four of us on horses and four scruffy dogs that followed us on our journey. Tomorrow we will be spending the day exploring the glaciers.

PS - in case you are wondering, we are 10,867 km from NYC!!!

Iguazu Falls - Argentina Side: Trails of Death

We crossed from Brazil into Argentina on our second day in Iguacu (Iguazu in Argentina) to see the falls from the other side of the river. From what we had heard and read, the Argentina side of the falls was far more extensive and would take five or six hours to explore. After our short/long journey crossing the border (short geographically, long due to bus transfers, immigration, currency exchange, etc.), we didn't have time to see it all before the park closed but we had a very different experience from our prior day at the falls. While the Brazil side is new and modern and relatively "user-friendly", the Argentina side is much more rustic. You walk through the entrance and are almost immediately in the jungle. You know this by the signs warning of dangerous animals that could kill you (see pictures below). The signs aren't accompanied by any tips on what to do if you come across these deadly creatures, just that you have a good chance of meeting them and good luck on your journey. I guess the snakes and rabid monkeys were out of town or sleeping because we were lucky to avoid them. Once we got to the falls, we took a long slippery stone path down to the river and boarded a boat that would take us under the falls. It was quite an experience and despite our panchos, we got soaked. After the boat ride, we hiked back to the exit and returned to spend our final night in Brazil.

Tip: When visiting the falls, be sure to wear pants or use bug spray. We got tons of mosquito bites and have been itching for days. We were also attacked by these tiny biting flies that make you bleed. They don't really hurt but you look down and all of a sudden you're bleeding. The joys of the jungle.

P.S. - The creatures below will steal your food...right out of your hand. We don't know what they are but they look like a cross between raccoons, opossums, and ant eaters. As soon as Sara opened a package of crackers, about six came out of the woods and one jumped on the table to try to steal a snack. We witnessed one steal someone's sugar packet right off their table. Aggressive little things.