Elite Traveler September-October 2015

EXPLORE ARGENTINA

One week in… Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Iguazú Falls Allow two days minimum for BA

The Sheraton Iguazú Resort & Spa is the only hotel inside the national park, with the 168 rooms enjoying private balcony and terrace views of the falls. The Terrace Suite is $735 a night including breakfast. The best times to visit the falls are spring and fall; summer is hot and humid, and the waters recede in winter. While here, take the opportunity to tick off two more countries: Brazil is less than an hour’s drive – from there you can also take in a panoramic view of the falls and enjoy an al fresco caipirinha and a classic feijoada (meat-and-beans) buffet at the five-star colonial-style Belmond Hotel Das Cataratas. And if you need a little R&R, stop by the hotel’s spa and book in for the clay detox therapy. After which you’ll be raring to go again, so why not drive another hour to admire the huge Itaipu Dam on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, which sparred, until recently, with China’s Three Gorges dam as the biggest hydro power generator in the world, and take in the contraband and commercial bazaar that is Paraguay’s second largest city Ciudad del Este.

the signature Malbec, but excellent Bonarda and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. An emerging trend is selling lots to small winemakers, available via The Vines of Mendoza and La Morada. The former is a luxury resort well worth a night or two, while the latter offers Gourmet Andes Crossing horseback rides every February if you have the time and saddle-hardiness to handle it. The towering cascades of Iguazú Falls lie at a seismic fault where the rushing, sediment-rich waters of the Iguazú river plummet 270ft to meet the wide course of the mighty Paraná – South America’s second biggest river. Some 275 separate falls lie along a great horseshoe-shaped canyon; dedicated trails and raised walkways allow visitors to get up close to the mighty torrents of the Salto San Martín and Devil’s Throat. For well-traveled waterfall hunters, Iguazú beats Niagara, Victoria and all the better-known falls for sheer spectacle, and the setting – lush subtropical jungle, with toucans hopping across the canopy and coatimundi scuttling up to meet tourists – is dreamlike.

and then explore two of Argentina’s best-known far corners: Mendoza, to the west, and the Iguazú Falls, in the north east. The former will be familiar because of its association with the excellent wines that Argentina has been exporting for two decades. Book into a well-tried luxury lodge such as the Relais & Châteaux Cavas Wine Lodge (villas from $1,573 with breakfast) and let the concierge organize trips to vineyards, up into the mountains – where there is excellent white-water rafting, zip-lining and all levels of hiking – and into Mendoza city, where you should lunch at Siete Cocinas, which – as the name indicates – pays homage to the seven distinct regions of Argentina. The whole region of Mendoza sits in a rain shadow beneath the Andes, which are at their most imposing here. The summit of mighty Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Southern Hemisphere, is at almost 23,000ft above sea level. Mountain streams are channeled into the foothills and low plains to irrigate around 400,000 acres of vineyards, producing not only

From left: Visit the Relais & Châteaux Cavas Wine Lodge; check in to The Vines of Mendoza resort; or take in the magnificence of Iguazú Falls