Thursday, February 2, 2023
By the time dinner rolled around, we were still so full from the huge lunch, we had some fruit and cheese at the Lido. We enjoyed the warm weather out on the Sea View, said good-bye to some of our favorite waiters and staff, listened to some of the Dueling Piano players set (Rolling Stone Lounge band had the night off), and then called it a night.
Our instructions for tomorrow had been left on the bed. We put the two large suitcases and one of the carry-ons in the hallway. The directions said we would see them again at the airport. I hoped so.
We were up at 6:00 and at the Lido for breakfast by 6:30. Since the ship had arrived yesterday, the local authorities had already cleared it for disembarkation, so the disembarkation announcements began promptly at 7:00.
Our number was called at 8:30 and we proceeded to the gangway. We showed our ship card one last time and we were out the door. Again, we had to take a shuttle bus to our tour buses outside of the industrial port. Pretty crowded with people trying to juggle luggage and stuff on those shuttles.
We were taking the HAL tour “Spirit of Buenos Aires Waterways with Airport Transfer.” The tour description stated ” This option is available to guests who are disembarking the ship.
The Tigre Delta with its rivers, streams and green islands is one of Argentina’s most attractive areas to explore. For more than 100 years, channels of Tigre Delta have been a favorite summer gateway to porteños — the name describing the inhabitants of Buenos Aires. The Delta Islands are formed by the continuous sediment of the Paraná River, which gives the river and estuary a peculiar brownish-red color. Take a leisurely, one-hour ride on a comfortable riverboat along the waterways.
During the coach drive back to Buenos Aires, you’ll pass through residential areas of Argentina’s capital with some free time to stroll around San Isidro — one of the few remaining areas where style and romanticism are still proudly on display.
Your tour ends at Ezeiza International Airport in time for your flight.
Notes: This tour is available only to guests whose cruise ends in Buenos Aires with flights after 5pm.
Our guide had some of the same information that yesterday’s guide did but she did dwell more on the sorry state of Argentina’s economy. Yet, she would get distracted too – she’d start a dark tale of the dictatorship and then “look – a tree!”
We didn’t exactly follow the itinerary of the description. We headed first to the San Isidro area. We traveled down the street Ave del Libertador for a long way. At first, we went through neighborhoods that all the houses had razor wire and spiked windows. The streets were narrow too. Once, the bus driver had to get a patrolperson to go tell the owner of a car that it had to be moved so he could get the bus down the road.
Eventually, the road came to more upscale neighborhoods that had lots of restaurants and Mercedes and Peugeot dealerships. Didn’t see any more razor wire but a bigger police presence. Lots of dog walkers too. One person I counted had 10 dogs he was walking.
Stopped at a Cathedral. We were told we could go inside but they were having some sort of service, so we stayed outside. It began to rain lightly. We were able to walk over to the square and admire the statues.
Eventually, we arrived at the canal port. The tour boat was comfortable, had air conditioning, a working toilet, and sold drinks and snacks. It reminded me of the ones in Amsterdam. Once we left the dock area, you were free to move about and even go on the outside deck.
The ride was pleasant. We passed some rowers and the rowing club. This area the guide said was mostly for vacationers from the City who wanted to spend time in nature. However, some people were year-round residents. We waved at children who were out of their docks. It was a pleasant way to spend an hour. Some of the places were very nice. Others not so much.
Once we got back from the boat tour, we had 25 minutes to get something to eat at the little shopping area at the dock. We made the mistake of ordering at a bar & grill. It took a while for it to cook so we had to take it with us on the bus. Just around a corner was a McDonald’s that we could have gone to, but we hadn’t seen it. I have to say though that the hamburger from the grill was better than McDonald’s.
Once we were back on the bus, we headed straight to the airport on the interstate. The skies opened up and we had a downpour. I thought it might slow the traffic down but that was not the case. We arrived at the airport at 2:00.
Our luggage was all in a covered area outside of Terminal A. Of course, Delta flyers were going out of Terminal C. Once we found our three pieces amidst all of the luggage, we could have gotten one of those carts and pushed our luggage to the Terminal across the airport. However, a nice young man with the porter company offered to load it on the cart and push it for us. He didn’t speak much English, but he recognized Chuck’s Georgia shirt as “Number 1 American Football.” He walked us all the way to the correct gate in the terminal. He accepted US money as a tip and seemed pleased.
It was quite a long walk from Terminal A to Terminal C. I didn’t see anyone assisting with wheelchairs so I’m not sure what the passengers who may have needed one did.
It was now going on 3:00, there were some of our fellow Delta flyers already seated. Some of us were on the 9:15 flight to Atlanta. Others were on the 11:00 flight to JFK (although they got a notice that it would be 1:00 a.m. before they left). However, right now, the gate area was closed to all, and nobody could tell us exactly when it would open. This did not bode well.
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