A three hour flight over large dry agricultural fields, some sapphire ocean and an expanse of Patagonian desert to El Calafate in the south. In the dry,sandy, stony Patagonian steppe are low tussocks of yellowish grass and short spiny green bushes with occasional yellow flowers we catch sight of a couple of wild rheas and guanacos, the local llama. El Calafate is a small backwater which has rapidly tripled its population to cater for tourists visiting the Perit...

Reluctantly we leave our country retreat. As it is early autumn we have been the only guests and had the place to ourselves, waited on hand and foot although it was a struggle to do justice to a large breakfast and two large three course meals a day with afternoon tea and cake thrown in for good measure. We are slowly recovering but are left with a wheezy cough. At the airport pharmacy we are able to buy a prescription-only Ventolin inhaler for US$5 without a pre...

Our first few days in Argentina are on a small estancia in the Pampas a couple of hours drive south of Buenos Aires where we rest and recover from the bad flu-like bug we picked up in Spain a few days earlier. We are happy to sit on the verandah for hours looking out over the fields and gardens. To my surprise the Pampas are indeed full of pampas grass, extensive large clumps where not cleared for buildings or pasture. Despite our enfeebled state we swim in the ...