06 Febr 2026  These boots are made for walking

Two days of walking – my new Salomon Ortholites were being tested and found to be extremely comfortable.  Thank you to a dear friend who suggested them – she and her husband successfully walked the Portuguese Camino last year, wearing Salomons.  And I bought them in Mossel Bay at a doubly reduced price. 

Today, as I was walking from the bus terminal to the Reserva Ecológica Constanera Sur along  roads devoid of pedestrians, I was thinking how fortunate I was to experience the city on foot.  It is a completely different from riding in a bus or subway.  A person feels isolated, yet connected, vulnerable, yet safe.  Something I rarely experience in South Africa, because I have a car, and who is going to walk from the harbour in Cape Town to the Waterfront, if you can drive. 

The Reserva Ecológica is a nature reserve on the Rio de la Plata, the river mouth formed by the Pirana and Uruguay rivers.  There are different geographic descriptions for it, such as estuary, bay, or indentation, but as a river, it is considered the widest in the world, with a width of 220km.  The water is brown and smells like mud, not sea, so I regard it as a river.  I had not seen it on my previous trip, and was quite surprised by the muddy ‘sea’. 

When I started the walk, I was surprised by the noise, which I initially thought were birds, but of course they were ‘chicharras’ (cicadas).  I battled to see one, until I passed a couple who were pointing, and I saw it in the tree. 

I came across a few ceibo trees (cockspur coral tree) which still had flowers, the national flower of Argentina.  I suppose the English name originates from the shape of the buds, which look like cockspurs. 

Yesterday was a sad and a happy day.  I set out (by bus this time) to visit Rosedal in Palermo, a beautiful rose garden that was not in bloom when I was here in August 2019.  It had been raining earlier in the morning, and of course it was closed.  I was disappointed, but decided to walk back to a popular museum.   It was quite far, and being hot and bothered, I was sorely tempted to rather step into a Japanese garden along the way.   I begrudgingly payed R200 (double the price for foreigners), but enjoyed the coolness, mystical music and greenery. 

Then came the sad part of the day.  I was meeting Romina, an Argentinian friend who had introduced me to the Afrikaners in Comodoro Rivadavia and Sarmiento on my previous trip, at the Plaza Italiano later.  To get there, I decided to walk through the Ecopark, not realizing that it was a zoo.  I was dumbstruck – it is a huge park, and they have built ridiculous buildings and structures, trying to create a jungle effect.   As if the animals would know.  There was an aura of sadness, the animals appeared to be eerily silent, docile  and defeated.  Maybe it was me, projecting my unhappiness, but I felt quite sick.  The only joy I experienced was photographing butterflies – at least they were free. 

After that, I was doubly happy to see Romina again, and she suggested we walk through the botanical gardens, which was just what I needed.  Green, massive trees, tranquil and serene.   There was a whole section of South African plants and trees, and it felt strange to be in Buenos Aires,  yet walk among South African flora.  I saw a hummingbird for the first time in my life, but was unable to photograph it as it moved rapidly and disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

We ended off the day with coffee and alfajores at Havanna, a well-known coffee shop in Buenos Aires.  Alfajores are  traditional biscuits in Argentina and other South American countries, have been for years, and are really yummy.  One can buy them for much cheaper in a supermarket,  but Havanna makes their own brand in different flavours, even salty ones.  “Sweet for life, and salt for the sea” was written behind me on the wall.  They cost about R75 each, and add R80 for a cup of coffee to that – I was relieved when Romina kindly offered to foot the bill.  She intends visiting South Africa next year, which should give me the opportunity of repaying her.