Calafate berries
Travel with Tobey and Sue
Tobey and Sue in Africa
Sunday, February 12, 2023
February 12, 2023 - Argentina Flowers
We have seen so many beautiful flowers and interesting fungi on this trip that I wanted to share some of my favorites with you. Needless to say, there are SO many! I don't know most of them so I won't try to identify any! 
Calafate berries
Calafate berries
Saturday, February 11, 2023
February 5-8, 2023 Buenos Aires to Puan to Buenos Aires, Argentina to Arizona!
We had a transfer to the airport this morning and picked up our rental car so we could drive to Puan to visit Mateo, one of our Lions Club exchange students who was with us in 2011. Google maps said it was about 6-1/2 hours, but it took us closer to 8! Of course, we were cautious with the speed and we did stop for lunch.
We went through lots of farm country and saw large fields of corn, sunflowers, and cattle. The sunflowers are used primarily to make sunflower oil and is one of Argentina's largest exports. We also saw lots of birds that look like hawks.
We stopped in the town of Bolivar for lunch and walked around the town square and checked out the church. It was huge – and beautiful!
We arrived in Puan about 5:30 and were warmly greeted by Mateo, his mom, Vivi, and some friends. Before we knew it, we were off to his uncle’s lake house for a “small” family get together and “asada” (barbeque). Mateo got right to work, building the fire in the grill and cooking all of the meats. Tobey and I got to go for a boat ride with Mateo’s brother, Juaquin and his cousins, Angela and Antonia, and see the sunset over the lake.
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While we were gone, more of the family arrived and the table was set! There were over 25 people there and the food just kept on coming!
Tobey and I both tried a drink similar to "mate", but this one is served cold and was much better.
And of course, there was dessert!
By the time things wrapped up, it was well past midnight and we headed back into town. WOW!
February 6, 2023
On Monday, Mateo and Vivi took us to visit the senior retirement home that the Puan Lions Club, along with some funding from Lions Club International, established in Puan. It is called the Hogar de Ancianos, Melvin Jones, Puan. (Home for Old People, established by the Lions Club - Melvin Jones is the founder of Lions Clubs - in the city of Puan.) The staff gave us a tour of the facility, met several of the workers, and we met two other Lions club members, Beto and Christian. They have a wheelchair lift vehicle to transport residents to appointments outside of Puan. It is located next to their hospital and houses 35 residents. It was impressive to see what their club has done in this small community of Puan (about 5000 residents) since Tobey and I are both members of our Lions Club in Fort Collins.
Later in the day, we went to see the “Templo-Mirador” Millennium Puan. It was built to celebrate 2000 years of the Christian Era. It was started in 1998 and not completed until 2010. 
There were beautiful views of the surrounding area and the town of Puan.
Mateo, Vivi, and Tobey
We continued on to visit the monestary located just outside of Puan. There are 13 nuns living here.
February 7
We had an early start today - about 7:30 am - when Tobey, Mateo, Vivi, and Mateo's dad, Ricardo, and I went for a hike. I can't even begin to tell you where we were, but it was beautiful! It doesn't look too steep, but it was!
We don't have any idea whose dog this was, but she went all the way to the top and back to the bottom with us, so of course she had to pose in the picture with us!
We also went to "La Ventana" (Hole in the Rock). We didn't hike it but enjoyed the view. Later in the afternoon, we stopped by a river and enjoyed the shade and had sandwiches before our drive back to Puan around 7pm.
Our last evening we enjoyed a beautiful dinner with Mateo and his family at one of the local restaurants. It was so great to get to know everyone and they treated us just like part of the family.
February 8, 2023
This morning we were on the road by 8am heading back to Buenos Aires. The drive was a little quicker and we only made five or six wrong turns getting to the airport because their roundabouts are a bit strange! Car returned, we chilled until our flight at 9 pm. From Buenos Aires to Dallas is 10 hours, then we cleared customs and flew back to Phoenix.
It is good to be back in the USA, but we had an amazing month and were so happy we went. I will have one more post with pictures of flowers. That's it, no explanations!
We went through lots of farm country and saw large fields of corn, sunflowers, and cattle. The sunflowers are used primarily to make sunflower oil and is one of Argentina's largest exports. We also saw lots of birds that look like hawks.
We stopped in the town of Bolivar for lunch and walked around the town square and checked out the church. It was huge – and beautiful!
We arrived in Puan about 5:30 and were warmly greeted by Mateo, his mom, Vivi, and some friends. Before we knew it, we were off to his uncle’s lake house for a “small” family get together and “asada” (barbeque). Mateo got right to work, building the fire in the grill and cooking all of the meats. Tobey and I got to go for a boat ride with Mateo’s brother, Juaquin and his cousins, Angela and Antonia, and see the sunset over the lake.
.jpg)
While we were gone, more of the family arrived and the table was set! There were over 25 people there and the food just kept on coming!
Tobey and I both tried a drink similar to "mate", but this one is served cold and was much better.
And of course, there was dessert!
By the time things wrapped up, it was well past midnight and we headed back into town. WOW!
February 6, 2023
On Monday, Mateo and Vivi took us to visit the senior retirement home that the Puan Lions Club, along with some funding from Lions Club International, established in Puan. It is called the Hogar de Ancianos, Melvin Jones, Puan. (Home for Old People, established by the Lions Club - Melvin Jones is the founder of Lions Clubs - in the city of Puan.) The staff gave us a tour of the facility, met several of the workers, and we met two other Lions club members, Beto and Christian. They have a wheelchair lift vehicle to transport residents to appointments outside of Puan. It is located next to their hospital and houses 35 residents. It was impressive to see what their club has done in this small community of Puan (about 5000 residents) since Tobey and I are both members of our Lions Club in Fort Collins.
Later in the day, we went to see the “Templo-Mirador” Millennium Puan. It was built to celebrate 2000 years of the Christian Era. It was started in 1998 and not completed until 2010. 
There were beautiful views of the surrounding area and the town of Puan.
Mateo, Vivi, and Tobey
We continued on to visit the monestary located just outside of Puan. There are 13 nuns living here.
February 7
We had an early start today - about 7:30 am - when Tobey, Mateo, Vivi, and Mateo's dad, Ricardo, and I went for a hike. I can't even begin to tell you where we were, but it was beautiful! It doesn't look too steep, but it was!
We don't have any idea whose dog this was, but she went all the way to the top and back to the bottom with us, so of course she had to pose in the picture with us!
We also went to "La Ventana" (Hole in the Rock). We didn't hike it but enjoyed the view. Later in the afternoon, we stopped by a river and enjoyed the shade and had sandwiches before our drive back to Puan around 7pm.
Our last evening we enjoyed a beautiful dinner with Mateo and his family at one of the local restaurants. It was so great to get to know everyone and they treated us just like part of the family.
February 8, 2023
This morning we were on the road by 8am heading back to Buenos Aires. The drive was a little quicker and we only made five or six wrong turns getting to the airport because their roundabouts are a bit strange! Car returned, we chilled until our flight at 9 pm. From Buenos Aires to Dallas is 10 hours, then we cleared customs and flew back to Phoenix.
It is good to be back in the USA, but we had an amazing month and were so happy we went. I will have one more post with pictures of flowers. That's it, no explanations!
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