1989: Adventures in Argentina Part one, Iguazu Scot Walker © Copyright 2026 by Scot Walker

Photo of Scot at Iguazu Falls.

December 2, Saturday.

I left for South America, flying from DC National to NYC Kennedy. I had a smooth flight all around and rode with Chinese exchange student from NYC to Rio and a native Buenos Aires couple from Rio to Buenos Aires.

December 3, Sunday. I arrived in Buenos Aires; my hotel was the De Las Americas on Libertad 1020. In the afternoon, I walked up and down Ninth of July Avenue, the widest avenue in the world—which is grossly deceiving since there I a huge median strip that is counted as part of the overall width.

At 9 PM, I ate dinner at the Marlene Restaurant and saw fireworks (I'm not exactly sure what they were celebrating). Most Argentine don't eat until 10 PM, so you can bet I was the first person in the restaurant, but it gave me time to see a late showing of "Indians Jones" at one of the many local movie theatres. The weather was beautiful! 80 degrees and the people were warm, kind, wonderful and sophisticated!

December 4, Monday. In the morning, I took a half day tour to la Boca, Mar Del Plata and Recoleta. La Boca is the arts district where I bought a small original painting. Later, I ate lunch at an all-you-can-eat buffet; then I shopped on Florida Avenue, the major shopping street. I spent several hours exploring on my own, then rode the subway for one stop for the hell of it!

Later, I mailed 17 postcards and took a wonderful siesta. Then I enjoyed another beautiful evening outside—picturing what DC and NYC are like in December as I basked in mild days and pleasant evenings. That night, I saw "Rainman" for $2 and ate a great dinner for $7. And in between I admired the "Washington Monument" and shopped some more along the Avenue 9 de Julio.

December 5, Tuesday. I slept until 10 AM, tipped my guide Grace, then double packed. First, I packed my hand luggage for my 2-day trip to Iguassu Falls, since it would be sizzling hot, I'd travel light! Then I packed my suitcase, Bariloche on the bottom, since it was my last stop in Argentina and Ushuaia on top, since it was my next stop after returning from Iguassu. I left my suitcase in storage at the hotel and took my carry-on.

I flew to Iguassu and sat with the 16-year-old San Paulo Judo champs who were hyper. When I arrived in Iguassu, I was met by the person scheduled to meet me and driven to the hotel where I met Silvio, my guide and my co-tour participant, Vince Lynch, from Sydney. I took 2 walks to the Inferior Falls, rested an hour because the temperature was over 120 and then walked on the catwalk to the Superior Falls, which was like walking on water! That evening, I ate dinner with Vince, the only other English speaking person in the hotel, even though he was anti-homosexual, we had an intelligent conversation (it's good to be a minority where you can size up an audience before admitting who you are so I kept my secret). After dinner, I astonished Vince by going downstairs and speaking in Spanish to a cabby and arranged for a tour of the Brazilian and Argentinean sides of the falls for both of us for 9 AM the next morning. Silvio, my Argentine guide, had quoted us $100 per person for this excursion. The cabby agreed to take us for $25 TOTAL for both of us. I'm not bad at negotiating and Vince was impressed with my Spanish and my negotiating skills. That evening I ate dinner at the hotel and then stayed up and watched the spectacular view of the falls from my balcony. The view of the falls and the hotel grounds from my balcony was Glorious!

December 6, Wednesday. Vince and I had breakfast together. Our guide was prompt and drove us to the Power Plant and dam for the 90-minute presentation tour, which was 89 minutes too long! The TV show/presentation keep stressing that "we did nothing to destroy the ecology." Right! Then, we went for a 2 hour walk along the Brazilian side before starting the adventure of walking on pontoons to get to the top of Devil's Throat, Diablo Gargantua, which was Fantastic! I think it was one of the most unforgettable days of my entire life and was like walking into a maelstrom as I stood directly on top of the falls! The view from the pontoon bridge as I neared the falls. I had no idea what I was in store for: the most spectacular view of my life! Yes, I looked exhausted—the temperature was 120 degrees at Devil's Throat—but this may have been the grandest day of my life. I walked across a pontoon bridge to the mouth of the waterfalls! The sound, the breeze of fresh cool water, OMG, bliss! It was like going over the falls in a barrel. We returned to the hotel, and I spent 35,000 ($12 dollars US) for my share plus 2,000 (about 80 cents US) for postcards and drinks. Dinner with Vince only cost 3,500 (a little over a dollar: the value of the Argentine Peso fluctuated day by day—inflation was running rampant, but it was about 3,000 pesos to the US dollar. However, I found myself exchanging small sums of money each day, that's how horrible the inflation was!) Silvio took me to the airport, and I gave him a tip. A short flight brought me to Buenos Aires but my local guide, Gracie, wasn't there. I hopped a cab to the Hotel de Las Americas, using my ever-improving Spanish. The cab ride cost 3,000 (about a buck) and the tour company reimbursed me. ALTOGETHER, THIS MAY HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!

Part 2: Ushuaia soon.