Arriving in Buenos Aires

Rooftop terrace of the Estoril hostel

Three days ago we hadn't even arrived at our destination, and now it feels as if we've been here for a long time already. With the rigors of long travel, a bit of jet lag and the usual adjustment to different surroundings and a different climate I haven't been able to keep up with our experiences in my blog, and since we will spend the next few days visiting people we know it might be a little while until I can report at length.

We have already checked out of our room here at the 'Estoril' hostel, a beautiful old building with high rooms and ornate ceilings, situated right on the busy Avenida de Mayo, and right now I'm sitting in the common space, surrounded by young people from different countries, all busy checking cell phones, tablets and, in rare cases, laptops. From the adjacent lobby fragments of conversation and a few guitar chords drift over from time to time.  

In an email we received from the 'Estoril' we were told the best, cheapest and safest way to get from the airport to the hostel would be the shuttle from the Manuel Tienda Leon company. The next paragraph in the email dealt with taxis:

When taking a taxi or remise make sure to negotiate the fare before getting in the taxi. You shouldn’t pay more than 400 AR$ .

Extra cautions: You could consider telling the driver that the Hostel will pay for the ride, so we can assist you in case they want to cheat you. This can be done only when it´s a group of two or more people, so someone can stay on the taxi and take care of the baggage.
It is useful to write down the license plate number of the taxi before getting in. This will give you protection against scams such as taxi drivers insisting your money is fake, etc. It’s important to try to have small change rather than large bills i.e. 100 AR$ may be a temptation for a taxi driver. Please note, these extra cautions are for the worst case scenario, you shouldn’t feel frightened, but careful.

It's an interesting concept for us, living in a much different culture, to be fully accepting of a high probability of being cheated. I imagine we have been cheated by taxi drivers during our South America travels at one time or another without being aware of it, but we have not ever felt frightened. We habitually check out what the approximate price of a ride should be beforehand, and then ask the taxi driver what he will charge. That way there are no unpleasant surprises. 

 

The shuttle turned out to be a full-sized bus that took us to a point from where passengers were delivered to their respective hotels and hostels by company owned taxis, and a couple of hours after we landed we checked in at the 'Estoril' where we spent the first and third night. 

Views from the rooftop terrace

Right now I don't have time to talk about two interesting experiences of the last couple of days, exchanging money and the Cena Dinner Tango Show, but I hope to do so soon.