REGIONAL TOUR PACKAGES (see all)
	El Calafate Travel 4 Days 3 Nights From: Double Room Tehuel 3* Hotel ($570.00)		Ushuaia Travel 3 Days 2 Nights From: Double Room Altos Ushuaia 3* Hotel ($389.00)
	Iguazu Waterfalls Travel 3 Days 2 Nights From: Double Room Orquídeas 3* Hotel ($316.00)		San Carlos de Bariloche Travel 4 days 3 nights From: Double Room Nahuel Huapi 3* Hotel ($360.00)

MIXTED DESTINES (see all)
	Buenos Aires Bariloche Tour 7 Days 6 Nights From: Double Room De Las Americas 3*/Nahuel Huapi 3* ($861.00)		Buenos Aires Tour 4 Days 3 Nights From: Double Room Buenos Aires: De Las Americas 3* Hotel ($395.00)
	Buenos Aires Calafate Tour 7 Days 6 Nights From: Double Room De Las Americas 3*/Tehuel 3* ($1071.00)

FIXED DEPARTURES (see all)
	Iguazu Falls And Salta Travel 6 Nights From: Double Room ($1528.00)		Patagonia Connoisseur Experience Tour 09 Days 08 Nights From: First Class Accommodation ( 4 stars ) Price per person based on double occupancy ($1948.00)
	Argentina Highlights Tour 7 Days 6 Nights From: First Class Accommodation ( 4stars ) Price per person based on double occupancy ($1355.00)		Peninsula Valdes Wildlife, Ushuaia & The Glaciers Area Travel 7 Nights From: Double Room ($2333.00)

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But a moment after ringing the buzzer, meeting my fellow wine tasters from Dallas and the founder and owner of Anuva Wines, Daniel Karlin, my mind is at ease. We enter one of those quintessential Argentine elevators with the manual-fold slide shut door and head up to Karlin’s apartment, office, and for the next hour or so, private wine bar. And it’s here where the dinner table is ready with our place settings for five wines and five food pairings ready to go.

Tonight it’s just the three of us plus our host, but an average tasting can have up to eight guests, though special events for 30-40 people can be arranged with anticipation. The entire experience costs U$40 per person, a great value. Any insecurities from the thought of it originally are quickly laid down as we chat and make ourselves comfortable–it’s clear from the get-go that this is a place for learning, differentiating, and most importantly, desgustación (tasting) of wine. Let the festivities begin.

Right away the presentation begins, but I really shouldn’t say presentation, because that doesn’t quite capture the essence of it. This is not a speech that has been rehearsed a thousand times or practiced in front of a mirror, but rather a conversation given from a man who clearly knows and loves his wine. For the next 90 or whatever minutes, we are not limited by a proprietor/client relationship, but rather it’s like a friend talking to old buddies who are visiting Argentina for the first time. Of course wine is the main topic of discussion, but at any moment the expat recommendation for a great restaurant or an explanation of politics is readily available.

The thing is, Daniel Karlin is an American who came here in 2004 with the intention to travel the world for two years, but somehow 36 hours into his trip met his wife and business partner Lourdes. Daniel fell in love and got married, but you see, it gets complicated from there with a little love triangle. That third party would include Malbec, the little grape that could from France which, like Daniel, found a new home in Argentina. And the rest, as they say, is history. Now, he opens his home to locals and visitors for an intimate and exclusive wine tasting in Buenos Aires as part of Anuva Wines, which is also a distributor to 32 states in the U.S., shipping wines that otherwise never would have seen the far north. This is the only service like this in Buenos Aires.

We start in on a sparkling wine, Hom, pronounced ohm like a Buddhist chant. This tart and fruity drink has strong reminiscence of green apple, which explodes on the scene in my mouth as I try the cream cheese and celery cracker pairing. We continue with information on the wine and its bottling, production, and taste. This is a boutique wine, and it seems as though hardly any is made at all. To taste it is to have a sneak peak into Argentine wine. Hom is produced by Cava La Carmela, and they’ve been producing sparkling wine since 2002.

Next is the Serrera Torrontes, another white wine with potential to bring up the taste of fruit and something sweet. They say it has aromas of orange blossom, jasmin and honeyed white peach, but since I’m not an oenophile, I just take Karlin’s word for it and enjoy the taste. Though it seems like it’s a dessert wine, it holds together on its own, and in fact this wine has been known to turn anti-white wine drinkers into Torrontes lovers. It’s just that good. And matched with a sorbet of two flavors, the berries and terroir are a part of it just as much as the history, originating in Spain.

Our third wine brings on the reds, and here we start in with the main character, the Malbec. Malbec got kind of a bad rep in France, but only because it never fit in until it found the Argentine terroir. Here it developed into what it is today, and those who know wine know that Argentina sits on a vast expanse of land in Mendoza, known as the Cuyo Region, which is maybe the best in the world for growing this grape. Thinskinned, Malbec requires the arid desert conditions to reach full maturity and grows into a stellar and supple wine with soft tannins.

Our first sample is the San Gimignano Malbec Roble, from the Mevi Boutique Winery. My first sensation is of butter, and breathing in air as I swallow and breath out of my nose, the bouquet opens up and a world of tastes pop in to my memory as if they’d been waiting to be tapped on. It hints of something special, but I just can’t put my finger on it. An assortment of cheeses and meats expand on this as we continue our conversation, and I really forget that I’m at a wine tasting. It seems like I’m just at a friend’s house, and he’s been kind enough to teach me about something he’s well versed on. There are no pretensions–this is very much so a house, and everything from the photos to the menorah on the bureau tell me that this is a family business, and not a faceless corporation. I’ve been to those large tastings where you, like a bottle in the assembly line, are pushed in and out so quickly that you don’t even have time to ask what you just drank. If that was odd, this is even. (HA!)

Mairena Bonarda is next, with an interesting history dating back to the dictatorship of the 80s, and for the first time tonight I taste a wine that belongs with steak, more steak, and potentially more steak after that. This wine speaks to me in terms of experience, with a full body and an after taste that doesn’t linger, but has the sense to know when it should slowly fade away. It’s a keeper alright. This one is paired with a delicious empanada stuffed not with just any old meat, but rump steak. That means it’s kind of like the Rolls-Royce of empanadas.

And last but not least we have Don Juan Reserve from Las Perdices, which matches with two kinds of chocolates, one from Ecuador and another from Cote D’Ivoire, which to me has a coffee taste to it, though it’s listed as having hints of vanilla, raspberry jam and tobacco as well. This is a sweeter wine and seems like a good choice for a night of light eating or munching. Once the five wines and foods are finished, we aren’t rushed out of the door. Instead, we casually converse and discuss options on joining the wine club and shipments of the wines, or whether or not even just one bottle is worth taking home in checked luggage. Because with Anuva, the idea is to bring quality wines to a market that is waiting for it. However, there is no sales pressure and no false pretense. If you didn’t like the wine, then no sweat.

Anuva’s website is set up user-friendly and with the X Generation in mind, aka for those who didn’t grow up with a lap top in their, well, laps. A helpful blog gives information on the company and wines in Argentina, and there are also sections on Argentine culture and life. In short, it ensures that you don’t show up, try wine, and then get left at the doorstep. Rather, you are taken through the entire experience and even given directions to a great restaurant to boot. These wines aren’t mass produced, and are rarely found on shelves or even in the best restaurants in Buenos Aires, so unless you know someone special, Anuva is the place to go for high quality, yet virtually unknown wines. And once the tasting is complete, you can look over options and see whether or not you’d like to receive the wines you tasted at home, choosing how many bottles and when to be sent to you.

Daniel travels around the three wine growing regions of Argentina (Cuyo, Patagonia, and Salta) four or five times a year, tasting and looking for the best wines to distribute and demonstrate. The theory comes across in their name itself. Anuva is not a word you’ll find in any Spanish or English dictionary. It’s a combination of both languages, using “An” from English and “Uva” from Spanish, meaning grape. A new word: Anuva. And from what I can see, a new way to present wine in a country that’s already known for the product. That goes down smoothly with me.

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To be sure, this is no free ride. Farm work is some of the hardest work there is, but also very satisfying and typically in a place of breathtaking beauty. I worked for two weeks at Aldea Luna, a wonderful nature preserve and organic farm near the northern city of Jujuy. The boys cleared nature trails with machetes while the girls pulled weeds, planted and harvested vegetables, helped cook every meal for the big crowd of workers, and shoveled some horse poo from hither and yon to create new compost beds. The farm only accepts a certain amount of WWOOFERS, but you may also volunteer for four (instead of eight) hours a day and pay $30 pesos to cover meals, which are fresh and delicious.

However, not all WWOOF farms are created equal. You may preview the 50 or so of Argentina’s registered WWOOF farms and their descriptions on the WWOOF Argentina website, but if you want their contact information, you’ll need to pay the annual membership fee of $30USD (via credit card or PayPal). Be sure to contact a farm via email or phone before showing up. Many farms are far away from internet access, so include all of your questions, information, background, and dates in your initial email and do not be shocked if you only hear back from a few, if any, farms. Work out details such as the type of accommodations offered, as some farms only offer a space for you to put up a tent, the languages spoken, the kind of work you may be doing, what you should bring, and typical meals that are served. Once you’ve set up a time to be on the farm, get ready to get your hands dirty!

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Jardin Escondido

Not only is director Francis Ford Coppola the brains behind some epic works of cinema, he’s also the proud owner of one of Buenos Aires’ most exclusive boutique hotels, Jardin Escondido, in the heart of the trendy Palermo Soho district. Seven beautifully designed guest rooms are set around a luscious private garden that features a heated pool, terrace and outdoor kitchen for asados. A sommelier is on call throughout your stay to assist in your choice of grape. And there’s Coppola’s collection of classic movies to work your way through on a rainy day. The trend for those flush with cash is to hire out the whole place but it is possible to just get a room.

Gorriti 4746, Palermo Soho, coppolajardinescondido.com

Alvear Palace Hotel

This palatial, Louis XIV-style establishment, situated in Buenos Aires’s ritzy Recoleta district, is grandiose with a capital ‘G’ and is one of the city’s oldest and most famous hotels. The phrase ‘no expense is spared’ springs to mind. The deluxe rococo-style guest rooms, most of which are suites, feature antique furnishings and works of art from the hotel’s private collection. The hotel’s La Bourgogne restaurant offers some of the finest French cuisine in the city. What’s more, you get your own personal butler to pack and unpack for you and bath products custom designed by chic French brand Hermès.

Avenida Alvear 1891, tel: (+54 11) 4808 2100, www.alvearpalace.com

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Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt

Just down the road from the Alvear Palace Hotel is another lap of luxury vying for your attention, albeit in a more minimalist fashion. The Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt is a slick, modern establishment offering state-of-the-art comfort. The opulent hotel has the choice of three fine dining restaurants, its own art gallery, the luxury Ahin Wellness Spa, a 25-meter indoor swimming pool as well as a larger than life vinoteca that will impress even the snobbiest of wine connoisseurs.

Avenida Alvear 1661, tel: (+54 11) 5171 1234, www.buenosaires.park.hyatt.com

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Faena Hotel + Universe

You may find yourself rubbing shoulders with rockstars and fashion designers at Faena Hotel + Universe, one of the city’s most-talked-about boutique hotels. The chic Philippe Starck-designed accommodation has picked up numerous awards, and for good reason. Located along the fashionable Puerto Madero strip, the converted factory is full of chandeliers and modish design features. During the day, people watch by the pool or pamper yourself in the Turkish style hamam before enjoying a very English-style afternoon tea in the Library lounge. Spend your evenings sampling the over 400 wines from the Cellar or catching a show in the hotel’s very own cabaret bar.

445 Martha Salotti, Puerto Madero, tel: (+54 11) 4010 9000, www.faenahotelanduniverse.com

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Legado Mitico

As the name suggests, this luxury boutique hotel is a celebration of Argentina’s legends and envelopes you in the history and culture of Argentina in a very tasteful, thematic manner. Each of the eleven smartly-appointed guest rooms is named after and inspired by a different character from the country’s colorful history, from ‘El Pintor’ Benito Quinquela Martin to ‘El Tanguero’ Carlos Gardel and, of course, ‘La Primera Dama’ Eva Perron. There is also a well-stocked library of books and objets d’art to further educate you and a wooden terrace and hot tub for sunning yourself while you read.

Gurruchaga 1848, Palermo Soho, tel: (+54 11) 4833 1300, www.legadomitico.com

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Best For Boho Chic
Local designer Nadine Zlotogora is highly regarded by the city’s fashion elite for her unique, boho chic aesthetic that she applies to men’s, women’s and children’s clothing. Experimenting with different fabrics, embroidery and textures, her designs have a whimsical charm. Her very feminine, layered dresses are a particular standout. Although some pieces are a little off the wall, her collections, for the most part, are very wearable and her rustic-style boutique is beautifully appointed. She also designs an assortment of pretty homeware.
Nadine Zlotogora, El Salvador 4638, tel: (+54 11) 4831 4203, www.nadinezlotgora.com

Best For Cutting-Edge Design
This bright, airy atelier-style boutique showcases the collections of some of the coolest home-grown designers in the country. Find funky jewelry, home furnishings, stationery, books and clothing. There is also a selection of contemporary art for sale and the space holds regular exhibitions as well as film nights in their cool, leafy courtyard outback.
Fabro, Nicaragua 4677, tel: (+54 11) 4831 8723, www.fabrolab.com

Best For Making a Statement
Girls with a kooky sense of fashion will find something for their wardrobe at Dam. The quirky local designer makes one-off threads out of loud, colourful fabrics, ranging from cartoonish prints to 70s florals. The collection features 50s style dresses, skirts, pants, shirts and even colourful underwear. There’s a selection of wacky accessories to match.
Dam, Honduras 4775, tel : (+54 11) 4833 3935, www.damboutique.com.ar

Best For Fabulous Heels
With such an abundance of leather shoe boutiques in the Palermo hood, indeed in the whole of the city, it’s hard to know where to look for a good pair of leather shoes. For something chic, colourful and oozing with sex appeal, check out Lucila Iotti’s small yet very on-trend collection. The designer works with leather, patent, suede, satin and vinyl for very feminine footwear, from evening strappies to smart stiletto boots. Some of her designs even appeared in the Sex & the City movie.
Lucila Iotti, Malabia 2212, tel : (+54 11) 4833 0206, www.lucilaiotti.com

Best For When it Rains
When it rains, it pours in Buenos Aires and Seco has all you need in the way of stylish attire to protect yourself from the rain and look cute as a button at the same time. Their collection features a range of dinky, colourful rain boots, umbrellas and reversible rain macs that come in a range of shapes and styles from cutesy floral and heart motifs to animal print patterns. One trip to Seco and you’ll be praying for rain for an excuse to wear your new purchases. On brighter days, you can sport their leggings, T-shirts and other trendy accessories.
Seco, Armenia 1646, tel: (+54 11) 4833 1166, www.secorainwear.com

Photo from Buenos Aires Hostels Argentina on Flickr!

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The distances in Patagonia are great, and even when you finally reach a town after hundreds of kilometers of nothing, you might find that you are just in a small outpost with one gas station. Though you might have enough to get you to the next town, you should always try to top off on fuel, because you never know if the only gas station in town actually has gas that day. This was a problem for my family and I on our trip down the coast. We had planned on getting gas in Camarones, but once there found out there was a gas strike. We had just enough to get to our destination, but then had to beg for gas from an estancia to get to the next city, almost 200 kilometers away.

Wind is going to be a strong factor on the drive. As you head down the paved roads at a smooth 120 kph (technically speeding, but following the flow of traffic), you’ll feel the car being knocked around like a toy, and you have to actually fight against the steering wheel to stay on the road. While I was driving, I normally had the wheel at 10-11 o’clock or 1-2 o’clock, even though I was driving in a straight line. You have to really pay attention because you will most likely get bored pretty quickly; the landscape is unchanging and radio stations are way out of reach. Bring CDs you can listen to over and again, and try to get some good conversation over the sound of wind against the car.

Other dangers on the road are animals. Though it seems like hardly anything lives in the steppe, there are a large number of guanacos and sheep that roam around with freedom. From time to time these animals will get right on the road, and you have to give them the right of way. The guanacos will usually clear out quickly, yet farther down in Santa Cruz Province they actually walk into the road as you drive towards them. Then you also have rabbits, road runners, ostriches, and other species along the trail.

When driving on the dirt roads, you need to measure the quality of the path itself to know how fast to drive. Some are better than others, and I was able to get up to 60 kilometers an hour. Others were terrible, and we struggled at 30 kph. There are large stones all over the road, and you need to find the grooves in the middle to sail through, though those lines are also sometimes blurred. Rocks bump up to the bottom of the car and it feels like a bomb is going off. Throw in the wind, and the car gets tossed around even worse. Once in a while a big dust storm will come through and you have to stop the car and wait because there is zero visibility.

On the rare occasion that you pass a car, definitely slow down to a near crawl, and then there are two schools of thought. You can either get as far to the edge of the road or get as close to the other car as possible without hitting. The idea is that rocks will generally fly farther out, so if you get closer the will pass by. Either way, expect to have some dinks and cracks in the car by the end of the trip. And make sure you have at least one spare tire with you.

With every long road trip you want to be prepared. So get the gas filled up, bring water and snacks, and get your directions down. Luckily, it’s generally a straight shot in one direction with few roads to screw you up, but as you pass through towns, the roads change names and you need to pay attention to get through on the same route.

So if you do decide to drive through Patagonia one day, you now have a bit of advice from someone who has done it. Get ready for a long and boring, though worthwhile drive.

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At Comedor Nikkai, Ave. Independencia 732 in San Telmo, the sign is barely noticeable, a big wooden door with mysterious Konji characters. However, the sushi is fresh, hot entrées delicious, and the lot of it truly authentic. It is a scant surprise given that the restaurant shares a building with the Japanese Association of Buenos Aires. Serving Argentines, tourists, and expatriates (Japanese or otherwise) this non-presumptuous comedor has a relaxed atmosphere with soft green walls and the usual accents such as an aquarium behind the sushi bar and geisha paintings on the wall.

However, you may not get a chance to see the fish in the tanks or décor on the wall for all the fish on the menu and entrées listed. If you are out for sushi and nothing but a long list of sushi, nigri, and sashimi options are available. If you are a Japanese food neophyte, you have an array of hot entrées to choose from or the menu of the day which includes a teasing three pieces of sushi, and then a mixed match of other items such as a flavorful plate of mixed vegetables with white rice, small plate of pickled cucumber, goyza (dumplings), a udon soup I highly recommend, yakitori (skewers of spiced chicken), tonkatsu (a breaded and fried piece of pork with a sweet katzu sauce), salad, and more.

We went twice, the first time ordering the menu of the day #1 choice which featured the tonkatsu which got favorable reviews for $38 pesos. The second time we went all out and ordered a large combination plank that included seventy-five pieces of sashimi, nigri, and sushi of salmon, white fish (dorado), California, Boston, and other rolls as well as shrimp for $260 pesos. There was an obvious odd man out as the white fish (dorado) was the last sushi and sashimi standing after everyone had gobbled their favorites. It may be best to order salmon combinations, which are sure to please.

At the end of the meal, go with the exotic flavors of ice cream (ginger, green tea, wasabi) or cakes for dessert in lieu of the mysterious doriyaki and kurmimanyu, breads filled with bean paste, as they are a little dry, the only disappointment in an otherwise delectable meal.

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Le Parc Day Spa offers a wide choice of head-to-toe treatments from nourishing facials to hot stone massages, hydrotherapy baths and other beauty treatments in modern, comfortable surroundings. Don a white robe, lie back and allow the team of professional therapists to work their holistic magic. You can also get a day pass to use the gym and swimming pool if you fancy a good work out at the same time.
San Martin 645, Microcentro, tel: (+54-11) 4311 9191, www.leparc.com

New York-born masseuse Katrina Alexander is trained in Trigger Point Therapy, Neuromuscular Therapy, Spa massage, and Sports massage. And the best part? She will come to you in your hotel or home with every aspect of a top notch salon in tow, including a full-sized Custom Craftworks table, her own special blends of lotions, freshly pressed linen and soothing background music. Alternatively you can visit her in her conveniently located downtown studio.
Mobile: 15 6010 0419, www.relaxbsas.com

Sink into a plush arm chair for an hour or two and give your tired feet and hands some well deserved scrubbing and buffing at one of The Nail Company’s cozy nail salons. The company has two locations, one in Belgrano and one in Barrio Norte, and offers a selection of hand and foot treatments using their own brand products including exfoliations and moisturizing paraffin treatments. You can spruce up your talons with French polish or fake it with a new set of acrylic or gel nails. Waxing services are also available.
Av. Federico Lacroze 2109, Belgrano, tel: 4776 8626 / Riobamba 1164, Barrio Norte, tel: (+54 11) 4815 2139, www.nailcompany.com.ar

In this day in age, men have beauty needs too and Markus Day Spa caters for men’s needs and men’s needs only. The smart spa offers a range of treatments to suit his every need, from express 30-minute back massages to three-hour therapies and an indulgent seven-hour day spa that includes a bodyscrub and winetherapy, a four-hand massage, a facial, aromatherapy shave, a healthy Caesar salad and a glass of champers. The spa also has a Jacuzzi, a barbers and a siesta room for a quick 40 winks post therapy. For men looking to further embrace their metrosexual side, image consultations and personal shopping services are also available.
Av. Callao 1046 PB, tel: (+54 11) 4811 0058, www.markusformen.com

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1. Be flexible with dates of travel. Most search engines now offer this option, and unless you are strict about when you need to travel, this allows you to see the cheapest options available.
2. Going along with being flexible, fly midweek. Flying on a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday have the cheapest fares because most people fly on a weekend. This is also true if you don’t mind flying ON a holiday, such as Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years Day.
3. Also, try to travel during the ‘off season.’ Flight prices drop dramatically to Buenos Aires in October/November, as well as March/April. The highest prices are for Dec/Jan, and June/July, as this is when most people plan their vacations. Traveling during the spring or fall often provides the best weather in Argentina and the cheapest prices overall, no matter where you’re flying from.
4. Book your flight a 20 days to 1.5 months ahead of your travel time. Any later is risking a higher price, and any earlier and the airfare typically hasn’t gone on sale yet.
5. Try to book a flight from a hub, or large city. In my own experience, JFK in New York City has the cheapest flight prices of anywhere else in the United States. Sometimes it is worth purchasing the flight from JFK to EZE (Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires) and then buying a separate flight to JFK from your home airport. A little inconvenience can save hundreds of dollars. Some other cities to check in the USA are Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles, which also offer cheaper fares.
6. Always buy a round trip flight even if you’re planning a one way. Often times the round trip flight is hundreds of dollars less than the one way, sometimes under half the price. You don’t have to take the return flight, or you can cancel it and use it another time.
7. Use the right search engine. Use Kayak.com, Momondo.com, or Mobissimo.com for flights to Buenos Aires. These check all other search engines for you (like the big guys: Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia) and don’t charge you for purchasing. The other option is to check individual airline companies for deals they are advertising only on their websites: Delta, American Airlines, and Continental often times do this. LAN, TACA, and Aerolineas Argentinas are all South American companies that fly to the USA.
8. Subscribe to an airfare tracker, or search often yourself. Searching often allows you to monitor he influx of prices and know what you’re dealing with. Too little time? Subscribe to an airfare tracker, which sends emails when prices go on sale direct from companies. Airfarewatchdog.net does this, as does Kayak.com and a few others.
9. You could also give up your seat, if you don’t mind the extra time. Once in a while someone is in a hurry to get to Buenos Aires on a full flight and the airline may offer a free flight voucher for your seat. Don’t worry, they put you on the next available flight if you can wait a few hours or a day. It may play a role in your next adventure!
10. Try working with a travel agent. It doesn’t cost you a thing (the airlines and hotels pay the commissions), they know most of flight options off the top of their heads, and they’ll save you time. The trick to working with them is to pass along the results of any research you already did, so they don’t have to duplicate your efforts.

Of course, there are always airline miles to redeem or old travel vouchers to use up. With these tips, flying to Buenos Aires should get a bit cheaper, which means more funds for you and the rest of your Argentine travels.

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The concept is simple, members run, jog, or walk along a trail, as long as 10km or short as 6km, marked with mounds and dusts of flour and at the end of the trail several bottles of cold beer await attention at a host’s house. The host and trail are on a rotating schedule to ensure a unique experience every time. The drinking also has a wee bit of method and songs applied to the madness. Yes. Songs! At the last Hash meeting, we were ‘virgins’ which, of course, merited a downing of Ishenbecks and one (of many songs) that went something like this:

“Here’s to ‘the hasher’
He’s true blue,
He’s a Hasher,
Through and through,
He’s a pisspot,

So they say,
Tried to go to heaven,
But he went the other way,
So drink it down, down, down . . .”

While the group continues on the “down, down, down…” all the drinkers are to down their beer as fast as they can, only showing they’ve completed the task by upturning the cup over their heads. If you’re a bit too slow, the chorus of “down, down, down” turns to “whyyy are we waiting, whyyy are we waiting…” but do not let this unsettle you. The group is friendly and you can take your time. Or, dump the foam behind your back. One can notice that more tame or experienced hashers sit safely in the background while those more fervent, or new, are at the fore.

The best part of the Hash House Harrier experience is the hashers themselves. There is always a combination of friendly expats and locals alike, one may find themselves talking about futbol, politics, business (with a beer penalty of course), or the happenings about town. You’ll leave with a warm feeling, either from the beer, the new found friends, or both.

It costs $15 pesos to attend a meeting, which pays for all of the beer and some heavy snacks including, at the last meeting anyway, cookies, potato chips, potatoes, and a chicken curry. The best place to find out where the next Hash House Harriers meeting in Buenos Aires will be is to visit the ‘Expat Events in Buenos Aires’ Facebook page found at this link:

Expat Events in Buenos Aires

Happy hashing!

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