6. Latin America, Caribbean and USA
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A well named hotel we stayed at in Buenos Aires adjacent to Plaza Constitucion station.
The Amerailpass came in useful for our rail travels in Argentina and Brazil,covering at least 7,000 kilometres by train.
Whilst in Buenos Aires, we had afternoon tea at Harrods, of course, before embarking on an epic train journey of 1547km to Ingeniero Jacobacci in Patagonia, followed by another 402km on narrow gauge to Esquel.
With big distances to travel, flying is the fastest option in Patagonia. We flew from Esquel to Rio Gallegos, stopping at Trelew, Comodoro Rivadavia, Puerto Deseado, San Julian and Santa Cruz. The flight was operated by LADE - Lineas Aereas Del Estado - leaving Esquel at 09.45, arriving in Rio Gallegos at 17.15. The plane was a Fokker F27, 44 seater, the pilots were military men who had trained with the RAF in the UK.
Trelew at one time had a 750 mm railway (converted from metre gauge in the early 1920's), while both Comodoro Rivadavia and Puerto Deseado still had isolated 5'6'' lines in 1973.
We wrote to the Donna Teresa Cristina Railway in Brazil and received this delightful reply.
The 'South American Handbook' published in Bath, England, was invaluable for planning trips. It contained details of train, coach and airline schedules, which were probably out of date but gave some indication of what might be available, also accommodation details in places outside the main cities.