Argentina #1

It’s the fourth day of our vacation, and this is really the first chance I’ve had to write much. The first day was all travel, and though I did have time on the plane to write, what was there to say? The second day we arrived in Buenos Aires, tired and travel stained. It was 24 hours door to door, and I don’t sleep well the night before travel, or on a plane, even though we were first class because we couldn’t get business class, and neither of us wanted coach for an 11 hour flight.
So, we spent the second day getting used to the time change, and the Argentine way of life. We went out for a long walk around the Puerto Madero and Microcentro, bought me a new handbag of printed leather to match the shoes I have from our trip here 2 years ago. And bought some interesting Argentine wine to take on the cruise – a bottle of dessert port style wine (who knew they made this here?) and a sauvignon blanc. We also bought a couple of splits of Argentine sparkling wine which weren’t bad, but Napa and France needn’t worry about competition yet. Dinner at a lovely Italian place at 8 PM, which is early for Argentines. And then we crashed.
The third day was travel again. Iguazu isn’t really far, about a 2 hour flight, but we let ourselves sleep in, and had to get the ride to the airport by noon for the 2 PM flight. By the time we arrived at the hotel in Iguazu and got organized it was too late to really see much of the park. We didn’t realize they close the park at 6 PM, one hour before sunset. So, we sat on the restaurant terrace and had drinks and dinner while looking at the falls in the distance and watching the sunlight fade away. Not bad. I suppose I could have written something last night, but I still hadn’t seen the falls!

Today, wow, Iguazu Falls. We got up early so we could be on the trails of the park when it opened at 8, and I’m really glad we did. It is so much cooler earlier. I’m guessing that around 8 AM it was in the high 70s or low 80s, but today was overcast which helped too. By noon when we came back it was probably 90 if not warmer, and sunny, and humid. HOT! I was glad I bought a long sleeve shirt from Pacific Sunwear on a whim one day a year ago. I’m sure that to other people I looked odd in my peach long sleeve shirt, thin grey linen pants,huaraches, what look like stocking socks (really support hose) and my black biker gloves, but I didn’t care. If you looked closely you could probably tell I wasn’t wearing a bra either. But damned if I was going to let heat send me back to the hotel before I was ready, and everything I wore or didn’t wear was in the interest of being cool. Most paras I know, like myself, don’t really sweat – we swell. And if we’re in the heat, even covered up and in the shade, we’l l turn red like a burn. The shirt was quite thin, and loose, and perfect. And my bikers gloves are the coolest I own that still have leather palms, which is a requirement especially when wet.

When you think of Iguazu (pronounced with an accent on the ZU) Falls, it might be best to compare it to the Grand Canyon. It’s a huge natural phenomenon, that you really can’t see all in one view. You need to allow a full day or two, and expect to do some walking to get to the views. I really had no idea what to expect in terms of access, but was delighted that the 2 best walks (out of 3 main ones) were totally accessible. And what views!, so hard to describe. Supposedly 275 individual falls. 2 rivers come together and then just drop off a jagged edge rock cliff, the key word being jagged, though they are mostly flat on top. So sometimes there are a lot of little falls all together, sometimes a large one alone or with side falls that end up crashing together below. Some of the rocks on the cliff edge stick up, so water doesn’t go over them, and then they might be bright green with vegetation, like all the other plants anywhere near the falls. Near the Devil’s Throat Falls, which is the largest, the mist rises up over all the sightseers and bathes the plants with moisture. Butterflies abound, all colors and sizes. I ended up buying a butterfly book from the hotel lobby shop because we just couldn’t get good photos of them – bright red, black with red tips, brown and white swirls, red and white with figure 88 on their undersides, my favorite – a large light blue and brown one that likes the sunlight. One landed on Jim’s nose, but I wasn’t fast enough getting my camera out. We saw a lot of birds too, but not as close up. Only one toucan. Lots of animals called coati, a sort of raccoon sized animal, with a striped tail and a little pointy snout nose. Very very tame, walked around people as if they didn’t matter.

By noon though I was ready to get back to cool air. My thighs, shoulders and cheek bones had turned pink, and my feet were swollen. I headed up to the 65 degree room (the AC has 2 settings ON and OFF) for a wet washcloth to cool down. Jim went out to see that other walk that had stairs. There are other things to do here, and we saw a couple of them – a jungle walk, the visitor center. There are shops too, but very touristy stuff. Besides we really only brought one suitcase here, and left the rest at the BA hotel, so there isn’t much room for more now. There’s a boat ride under the falls, that isn’t accessible, for it docks down below from the walk with the stairs. Jim didn’t really want to take it anyway. Someone said their main objective was to get everyone soaked under the falls. There’s a truck ride through the jungle, and a zipline - forget that! Despite what we couldn’t see, I feel I really have seen it all. In fact most of the other activities seem more like ways to try to catch more of the tourist money, and tourists buy into it because it took so much time to get here. I think most Argentines come by overnight 12 hour bus rides from BA.
Tomorrow we’ll have time for a walk on the Superior Circuit again, a shower and then back to BA and dinner with my cousin. Another late dinner, this time 9 PM. I probably won’t write again till I’m on the ship on Sunday.

Generally speaking all my planning has paid off, and things are going smoothly. Or perhaps I should say they are within limits of my tolerance, which is not to say all has been easy. Keeping in mind that this blog is mainly about my life as a paraplegic, I have to say a few things. I suppose this will sound like complaining,but I intend it to be a list of all the adjustments we’ve made so far.

I could not possibly take this vacation alone. At every turn I needed an able bodied assistant in one way or another. But, with the assistance of one person, it’s been doable.
To start with, Buenos Aires. The sidewalks are terrible, choppy and full of glass. Curbcuts exist but are really just dips in the curb height, so that there is still a 2 or 3 inch curb at the bottom. In Puerto Madero, the newest part of town where we are staying, many sidewalks are cobble stones, or have strips of cobbles. They look sweet, but after a while the bumping gets to you. Last time we were here I didn’t have my puncture proof back tires, and was sure I’d get a flat tire, but didn’t. All the same, I didn’t make the same mistake again. But unfortunately puncture proof tires give a rougher ride. The frog’s legs shock obsorbers on the front tires actually make things worse. Plus by the end of the day Jim’s wrists were bugging him from all the wheelies he had to pop me up. Buenos Aires has wonderful food, lovely people, interesting attractions and music… lousy sidewalks.

I lined up 6 rides altogether – International BA airport to hotel, hotel to Domestic airport, Iguazu airport to hotel and back again etc. So far I have had 3 and they were all ok, but tomorrow’s will be tough. The BA cars are all easy, Toyota Corollas, but the Iguazu car is an MPV – a Chevy Meriva. The seat is a bit high, which was ok at the airport because the driver parked close to the curb. But here at the hotel there is no curb, so I don’t know yet how I’m going to get in, but we’ll do it somehow.
Showers have been tricky. I brought a portable shower chair that I haven’t used, because it is too wide for these tubs. Luckily the hotels have both had a bench shower seat that has worked out, in a fashion. The one in BA has the arm on the wrong side, and the seat back positioned out of the tub. I had to face backwards In the tub to make it work, which meant Jim was managing the controls. The bathroom flooded, which happened even when Jim showered, but was worse with me. It clearly happens a lot, there is a drain outside the tub in the floor. Stupid tub design with water running down the wall going outside the tub on some tile that ran all over. The Iguazu hotel bench seat is better. You have to ask for these seats though, they don’t put them in the room before you get there. But good as they are, these seats are still not like home, and I think Jim’s had 4 showers for each one of mine. He sweats more, yes, but also I put off my showers as long as I can. I’ll take one every 2 days, he takes 2 a day here.

Toilets have been tricky too. Minimal grab bar at the hotel In BA, and a low toilet in Iguazu, though they do have a nice fold down bar. The best bathroom I have been in, in a long time (not counting my own at home of course) was one at the Domestic BA airport – high seat, double fold down long bars, sink with a space to rest your arms, and even a grab bar at the sink! Not every bathroom is hard to use, you just don’t know when and where you’ll find the good ones.
Beds are too high, not that this is new. I think this is the new pet peeve for wheelchair users who transfer themselves – these new deluxe beds with fat mattresses that make climbing into bed impossible without help.

The LAN airline people moved me to the bulkhead row, to be nice, you know, so I’d be closer to the front! I still needed the aisle chair to go 5 feet, why don’t they make those bulk head dividers just a bit wider? Who would it hurt? But the bulkhead row arm didn’t go up, so they had to lift me over, which was more work for them. I’m hoping on the way back to have someone who speaks English to ask them not to be so nice this time.
I can barely get through the room door at the Iguazu hotel, thank goodness my chair isn’t an inch wider! So, it’s a reminder to me to not let myself get any bigger, and to not get a wider chair when I buy a new one. This one has a 17 inch wide seat. This was something I would not have anticipated, so I feel lucky.

And I’ve only worried about pressure sores twice! The first time was at the end of the second day, or better put as the first day in BA.On the flight coming down, I just couldn’t get off my butt totally. I tried to get on my side, but it was really hard. Even though it went flat, the seat was so narrow, and once I got myself lowered down it was hard to pull back up again or to move. I’d change the pressure on my bottom every so often by changing position and shift my weight, but I never totally got off it. Then, after we got to BA, and I still hadn’t really laid down, we went out for that walk. I didn’t really think about all the cobbles till we were moving over them, as a problem for my rear end. But by the end of that day, I was glad to get onto the bed. Skin was ok.
Then today, I worried again. I said that the walks were accessible, but that doesn’t mean they were smooth and flat. No stairs, and not very hilly. But, the walks out over marsh and some falls, to get to the best viewpoints, were made of metal grating panels that were about 2 feet wide, attached together with seams that essentially were bumps. With each bump my feet would slowly start bouncing toward the front edge of the foot pedals. About 24 bumps and they would pop off. I’d pull my feet back again. This wouldn’t have been so bad, except that we’re talking about a 30 min walk in and out again, and 2 different walks. I think I got bumped about 2 hours today. And with each bump I felt my ischials digging into the seat cushion. I’m just glad I brought a good cushion. I considered bringing one that’s lighter, but not as much padding. Between the bumping, and the heat, and the hard low toilet, I am still a little concerned about my skin, but I think it’s ok. I’ll have a better idea tomorrow. I could say something here about the wisdom of going braless over these bumps, but this is where perhaps the combination of being small breasted and having not much sensation in my breasts because of being a para, is an advantage!
I could mention a few more little things – couldn’t reach stuff for example – but at some point it starts to be picky. You have to draw the line somewhere. The good news? My wrist feels great, so I guess this is a rest. When I get back I’ll have to figure out what exactly is straining it – pushing myself? Driving? Transfers? Because I’m certainly using it now for hanging on while going over bumpy surfaces. No bruises, which means that even if I have had tricky transfers, Jim is helping me well. Getting off a low toilet I often get a bruise as I cross the wheel brake. I feel good!

I will end with an explanation of what happened with my last short post. The Iguazu hotel has free internet access. But the wireless in the room wouldn’t connect. So, I went to their business center. They have 5 computers at bar height, with bar stools, and 2 on tables. One table computer was being used, so I went to the other. I spent about 20 minutes trying to get that computer to switch to English, and to connect to the hotel system. I finally gave up. Then I tried using a bar computer, thinking I could just lower the keyboard down to my lap. But the cord wasn’t really long enough, so I managed to slowly check email with a dangling key board, until I saw someone who worked here to ask them if they knew how to get the table one started. He only spoke Spanish, so he fetched someone else, who also spent 20 minutes and gave up. By then the other table computer was free, so I started using it. Not as easy as it seemed. For some reason gmail displayed a combination of English and Spanish, and seemed to think I wanted to report some abuse. And I’m a pretty good typist, don’t have to look at the keys, which in some ways was frustrating. The spanish keyboard has the letters in the same places, but all the extra keys are different, and some use an ALT GR key to get what you want, but no instructions about this, it was trial and error to figure it out. Hey, could have been worse, could have been Arabic or something. But all the same, I decided I was better off using my little Netbook. I now have a cable in the room to hook up to the network, and can cut and paste off Word easier.

Gah! This is annoying! They gave us a late checkout of 2 PM, since we aren’t flying out till almost 4. But they didn’t extend our free interent past the usual checkout of 10 AM, so I missed my chance to upload this to my blog! I wrote it last night, thought I had lots of time to kill this morning after a walk and a shower, and I missed my chance. I can’t imagine anyone is going to suffer much if I wait another day, but it is annoying. I have a new respect for Stephen and Alia, and Stephanie who were so good about their blogs while traveling.
So, I guess I’ll write this PS – a short note about Friday morning. Skin is good! Again we got up early for a walk from 8 – 9 AM. That is definitely the best time to get out there. The hotel folk have an advantage over the people who are staying outside the park, because you can get in before the crowd. And today we saw more birds, and monkeys! It was good to do the same trail twice. The first time we focused so much at the water. The second time we looked up at the trees as well. There were several monkeys in one tree eating the fruit, and jumping from branch to branch. A beautiful place.