Buenos AiresMoney, meat and dog shitWell I’ve been in B.A for about 36 hours and I have my first punt all arranged and to look forward to later this afternoon. Tardy of me to take so long? Yes but when you fly direct from Australasia, it doesn’t just upset the bodies inbuilt body clock but rather subjects it to a weird Tardis like shock effect which needs a little getting used to first. Because of the oddity of crossing the date-time line, following a flight of nearly twelve hours, you actually arrive a few hours before you left. So although my delayed flight left Auckland in the early hours of Monday morning, it arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday evening. It’s a bit disorientating to say the least.
First impressionsB.A is a big, modern city, but at the same time has a dated feel to it in a similar way to what I found in Bogota and Nairobi. The streets are full of old fashioned momma and poppa shops with shit in their dusty display window such as you used to see in UK about 40/50 years ago but which have long since gone out of business in these days of decaying high streets and large shopping malls full of nearly identical and anonymous chains.
MoneyI should have researched this better before I arrived. Cash is king out here and as I have been on the road two and a half months I have used most of the cash pound and dollar notes that I set off with. Debit and credit cards are virtually useless in the banks out here as the withdrawal limits are ludicrous. The withdrawal limits vary from 2-4 thousand Argentinian pesos which is £43-86. But despite this there is a crippling bank charge of about £5 levied on every transaction. On top of which you will have the UK foreign exchange fees. So it quickly became apparent that I had to find an alternative and so, after some hasty research online, I came up with Azimo. This is a Western Union type online money transfer outfit but much cheaper than WU. So, on downloading their app onto my phone and after going through a few security hoops one of which involved scanning my passport, I was able to use my debit card to transfer £500 to myself here in B.A. It worked a treat and as the first two transfers are free, the only cost was the slight loss on the exchange rate which works out at about 4 pesos per pound. But it is an infinitely cheaper option than the thieving bank ATMs.
However it meant that, to get my pesos, I had to find a branch of Argenper, which is the local agent for Azimo. Luckily they had a branch within easy walking distance of the centrally located apartment where I am staying. It turned out to be a relatively painless experience, showing my passport and a little paperwork by the tasty eye candy teller and I was handed two brick sized bundles of notes each containing 100 x 100 pesos notes. This appears to be the largest denomination note in circulation!
Luckily I had brought a bag with me.
But I would advise anyone coming out here to bring as much cash as they will need for the trip.
MeatI love a good steak and intend to visit a few of the renowned parrilla steak restaurants here in B.A. But I couldn’t be bothered with going out last evening so popped down to the supermarket the nearby. Here I was able to pick up a pair of enormous juicy rump steaks, one of which I seasoned and quickly fried up. It was heavenly, literally melted in my mouth and has to be the best steak I have enjoyed in years. The price. Less than £2 for two. Unbelievable. Having the other one tonight with a glass or two of the eminently quaffable local red.
Dog ShitThe Argies are unrepentant dog lovers and pooches are everywhere but they have no dogshit discipline so the streets are full of poo. I nearly stepped in a fresh steaming pile when I first ventured onto the streets so I’m now extra careful of where I step.