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20 | THE COLONY NEWS | DECEMBER 2022 | SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS By Kathy Sullivan It is good to be back! As far as I know, I am going to continue to write articles for The Colony News. My next two to three articles are about traveling in foreign countries, then I will be back to beautiful Southern California. Well, for a bit! I have a wonderful daughter-in-law from Argentina and was lucky enough to spend three weeks here for their wedding and of course traveling across Argentina. When people ask me where my favorite place is to travel, without hesitation I say Argentina. It has a lot to do with those little Andes mountains that run the whole length of the country right down into the Strait of Magellan, and the amazing Iguazu Falls, the longest falls in the world, and of course the handsome and diverse Argentinian people. Almost everyone enters Argentina through its capital city, Buenos Aires. Walking around Buenos Aires, you would think that you are in a major European city. Many famous Italian, Spanish and French architects designed the major buildings in Buenos Aires. What really intrigued me is that somewhere in the past, whole blocks of these old buildings were purchased, and then all the insides were gutted and several multi-story malls were built inside the exterior facades. Beside the shopping district, Buenos Aires is divided up into barrios, each of which has their own soccer team, and the rivalry is very vocal. La Boca has painted their downtown area in a great variety of colors, San Telmo is noted for their Sunday Market and tango in the street, and El Tigre is on a delta with places that are only accessible by boat bus. One of the most amazing places on earth lies on the Brazil and Argentina border, Iguazu Falls. I visited the falls 15 years ago during the fall of the year and this year in spring. Both times are beautiful and there is still plenty of water in the fall, but not as overpoweringly massive as it is in the spring. The falls are 2 1/2 miles long, with over 200 waterfalls. It is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Get this, on the day I was there, 3,000,000 liters of water went over the falls every second – yes, SECOND! That is almost 48 million gallons every minute. Different from the tropical jungles of Iguazu are the high desert plains of Salta. By now most of you know that I love backcountry dirt roads. On the way to see the vast salt plains of Salinas Grandes, I was on a switchback dirt road that peaked at over 12,000 feet. There is even a small Chapelle at the beginning of the switchbacks for the truckers to get out and say a prayer for their safe passage over the pass. I was in "Kathy" heaven. The vast salt plains cover many square miles and are owned by the local Maca Indians. Table salt along with animal licks and industrial salts come out of the salt plains. I also enjoyed the vast geological, brightly colored hills that are dotted with cacti that resemble Arizona's saguaro cactus. My next destination in Argentina, which is again so opposite from the first three, was San Carlos de Bariloche. Located in the Andes Mountains, Bariloche is studded with all sizes of lakes, lots and lots of lakes, a ski resort and amazing views over the snowcapped Andes. From Argentina, I am embarking on a small ice cutter ship for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Strait and Antarctica. Next month, hopefully my article will have photos of penguins, seals, walrus and lots of ice. Argentina