Argentina
El Chaltén hiking trails: our top 6 picks
We’ve selected six of the best El Chaltén hiking trails, showcasing the finest Andean vistas around Argentina’s trekking capital Patagonia’s El Chaltén hiking trails should be on the bucket list of every serious hiker. The trekking capital of Argentina provides access to a network of well-maintained hiking routes with some of the most breathtaking alpine viewpoints on the continent. The routes are rambling and chaotic at times (underestimate the ever-present winds at your peril), but the rewards are big. The imposing towers of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre steal the show, but the magnificent UNESCO-listed Parque Nacional Los Glaciares has much to offer hikers of every ability. Best hikes around El Chaltén Most trails are well signposted, but before heading out it’s worth dropping by t...
Non-technical mountain climbs: 13 trekking peaks
There are no ‘death zones’ on these non-technical mountain climbs but they offer plenty of challenges for mere mortals like me As a climber, I have completed several indoor climbing and winter mountaineering courses but my technical climbing skills still leave a lot to be desired. I have mastered basic rope, ice axe and crampon skills but don’t practise them as often as I’d like. All too often I only find time for some wilderness backpacking in Europe or low-altitude scrambling in the UK. Regardless, I still have high hopes of climbing the seven summits (three down, four to go). I’m aware that I’ll never be a Reinhold Messner or Chris Bonington (I’ll settle for reading their books instead) but I still long to pitch myself against tall mountains with imposing names....
Argentines turn to Bitcoin amid inflation worries: Report
Since 2016, Argentina has been engaged in a war against inflation. Caused by multiple factors, like a lack of trust in the central bank or government overspending, the depreciation of the Argentinean peso has negatively impacted citizens’ purchasing power. This has brought 37.3% of the population under the poverty line, and many others have had their savings vanish into thin air. Against this backdrop, many Argentines have turned to Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto as a way to hedge against 60% inflation, despite the market being in the red for several months and the central bank forbidding financial institutions from operating with digital assets. Related: Argentina’s central bank steps in to block new crypto offerings from banks In an Americas Market Intelligence report cited by Reute...
Argentina’s central bank steps in to block new crypto offerings from banks
The central bank of Argentina (BCRA) has put the kibosh on financial institutions offering crypto trading only days after two of the country’s largest banks signaled they were opening up to digital assets. On Thursday, the BCRA said the move was to mitigate the risks crypto poses to users and “to the financial system as a whole,” citing crypto’s high volatility, use in money laundering and absence of regulatory safeguards. The news came hot on the heels of an announcement on Monday from two of the country’s largest banks, Banco Galicia and Brubank, that they would allow their customers to purchase Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC) and Ripple (XRP). The decision to open crypto trading was decided by a poll conducted by Banco Galicia, where 60% of respondents said they wanted easie...
Fitz Roy day hike: an essential guide
A Q&A guide to the Fitz Roy day hike, telling you exactly what you need to know to reach this iconic peak We had unfinished business with Fitz Roy. We first visited in 2015 after a disappointing trip to Torres del Paine in Chile. It was winter in Patagonia and thanks to awful weather we saw absolutely nothing. A local guide told us to try El Chaltén in Argentina where one of the most beautiful mountains in the world looms over the village itself. In an effort to redeem the journey south, we followed his advice and headed to El Chaltén. Alas, it was not to be. After hiking 18km (11mi) to Laguna Torre, we suffered the same fate: a complete and utter whiteout. Peter was especially crushed. As a mountain junkie, he couldn’t believe that he had missed seeing these iconic peaks. ...
Buenos Aires to accept crypto for tax payments, launch DLT-backed citizen profiles
The capital of Argentina and an agglomeration with more than 12 million citizens, Buenos Aires will make blockchain a vital part of its digitalization drive. Specifically, the city will accept public financial transactions in crypto. As city Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta revealed in his Steve Jobs-styled presentation on April 25, the 12-step development plan titled “Buenos Aires +” envisions a significant increase in crypto and blockchain adoption. Con Buenos Aires + vamos a dar un paso más en el camino hacia un Estado facilitador que desburocratice y agilice los procesos. Un camino en el que el Estado sea el que se acerca a la gente, y no al revés. pic.twitter.com/yi6fUMmAUI — Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (@horaciorlarreta) April 26, 2022 The city authorities intend to launch a platf...
How to visit Perito Moreno Glacier: a complete guide
An updated guide on how to visit Perito Moreno Glacier following our second encounter with the giant Argentine wonder When reporting on our first trip to Patagonia back in 2015, Kia lamented that once you’ve been travel writing for a while, it’s hard to come up with fresh superlatives. “I mean, you can’t say gaze-catching instead of eye-catching and you can’t say stride-stopping instead of heart-stopping, can you?” she wrote. The source of her discord was Perito Moreno Glacier, a sight so overwhelming that it’s utterly, er, step freezing. Now, I know that travel bloggers are prone to gasping (“we both gasped”, “we gasped in awe”, “we both let out an audible gasp”), but I’m not embellishing when I say that when I first glimpsed Perito Moreno, I really did gasp at the sight. [...
Best things to do in Ushuaia, the capital of the end of the world
Seven years after our first visit, we return to Tierra del Fuego to rediscover the best things to do in Ushuaia, the capital of the end of the world There are few places left in the world that still evoke the romance of old-world exploration. They inspire nostalgia for a time we never knew; places to which we’ve never been. We know their names in the same way we know Neverland and Narnia: shrouded in legend and lore. Cartagena, Antarctica, the Northwest Passage and Vinson Massif. Even men sounded greater then: Drake, Amundsen, Livingstone and Shackleton. Amid these legendary places surely lies space for Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of Argentina and the famed “end of the world”, the last huddle of humanity before the wilderness of Antarctica. It’s with this sense of awe that we set fo...
Best parks in Buenos Aires
We explore the best parks in Buenos Aires to help you find a spot of calm in Argentina’s whirlwind capital Buenos Aires whizzes past. While its cafés, bars and restaurants spill out onto the sidewalks, honking throngs of traffic hurtle by just inches away. Porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) barely raise an eyebrow over their espressos, but for those of us uninitiated, Buenos Aires can be overwhelming. For all its tree-lined avenues, the ‘Paris of South America’ is among the world’s least green cities with only around 1.8m2 of green space per capita – well below the World Health Organisation’s minimum recommendation of 10m2. Fortunately, respite can be found. In the feverish metropolis nearly 13 million call home, there is a slew of leafy plazas and public areas where the city’s residents...
Argentina vs Venezuela live stream: How to watch World Cup Qualifiers for free
Argentina will be hoping to close the gap with leaders Brazil when they take on Venezuela in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers on Friday night. Argentina vs Venezuela live stream Click here to join Virgin Bet Sign up and deposit any amount into your Virgin Bet account Start watching Argentina vs Venezuela live stream at 23:30 GMT Disclaimer: Geo-restrictions apply. All you need is a funded account or to have placed a bet in the last 24 hours to qualify. T&Cs apply, 18+. Bet £10 Get £20 In Free Bets Claim Offer New members. £10 min deposit & bet on sportsbook, placed & settled at 1.5 min odds within 14 days of sign-up. Win part of E/W bets. 2 non-withdrawable £10 Free Bet Tokens: accept in 7 days, valid for 7 days from acceptance (ex. E/Ws & Multiples), stakes not returned. ...
Arctic or Antarctic: how to pick your polar adventure
Can’t decide between the Arctic or Antarctic for your polar adventure? Our guide will help you choose between 66° north or south The North and South Poles were only “conquered” in relatively recent history. The South Pole was first attained in 1911 by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen after his epic race with the ill-fated Robert Falcon Scott. The conquest of the North Pole is a little murkier thanks to its location in the middle of the Arctic Ocean among waters that are almost always covered with shifting sea ice. It’s possible that Frederick Cook was the first to reach the North Pole in 1908 or perhaps it was Robert Peary in 1911 or maybe Richard E. Byrd who was the first to fly over it in 1926… But it wasn’t until Roald Amundsen’s definitive flight over the Pole...
Tiago PZK, LIT Killah, Nicki Nicole & Maria Becerra’s ‘Entre Nosotros’ Rules Argentina Hot 100 for 12th Week
Tiago PZK, LIT Killah, Nicki Nicole and Maria Becerra are pushing to break a record as their remix of “Entre Nosotros” tops the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 chart (dated Feb. 5) for a 12th week. It’s the third-most weeks at the top, along with Maluma and The Weeknd’s “Hawai” and Pedro Capo’s “Calma” with Farruko (both spent 12 weeks at No. 1), since the chart launched in 2018. They stand just behind Karol G and Nicki Minaj’s “Tusa” with 25 weeks atop the ranking, and “Otro Trago,” the all-star collab by Sech, Darell, Nicky Jam, Ozuna & Anuel AA (13 weeks at No. 1). Here’s the list of the titles with the most weeks at No. 1 on the Argentina Hot 100 ranking: Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist25, “Tusa,” Karol G & Nicki Minaj13, “Otro Trago,” Sech, Darell, Nicky Jam, Ozuna & Anuel AA12,...
