Bonnie Tucker / FST
Several tourist spots or activities that once operated only during the warm or cold months have stretched their seasons in order to increase their revenues, and their “promos” (“promotions,” or bargains that come very early or very late in the low seasons) are the bait with which they tempt bargain-seekers. Unfortunately, the best weather conditions, the number and quality of excursions available, the presence of wildlife, and other items that guarantee visitor satisfaction, do not always coincide with those slots on the calendar. So the “goodness” of a travel deal depends entirely on what you really want to see and do at your destination.
In July we mentioned the risks involved in booking an early winter low-season ski week in the Andes; good snowfalls have of late been coming later than that – in August and September in some cases.
Chilean fjords cruises offered in a September promo regale passengers with fantastic views of mountains that still have a lot of snow, but that time of year is too early to see penguins on Magdalena Island in the Strait of Magellan. There, the season for observing these migratory sea birds extends from October to the end of March (as opposed to September to April along the Chubut coast in Argentina, further north). Those who don’t give a hoot about penguins aren’t bothered by this detail. Those who do, have to pay more in December to be able to photograph thousands of these and other sea birds on their nests or with chicks on this enormous bare island with an old lighthouse.
People who want to see wildlife anywhere in the world should check the Internet for the breeding seasons in the different locations before setting out. For Magellanic penguins in Chubut, the best time is never at the beginning or end of the season, but rather from November, when the chicks hatch, to January, when they are walking around and the rookery teems with birds. In February they begin to molt and look scruffy.In El Calafate (Santa Cruz), some hotels that remain open all year close their restaurants during the low season. That’s fine if your accommodation is downtown, where the restaurants that remain open are clustered. But if it is out of town, be sure to pack good walking shoes, because you might have to wait a long time for taxis to take you to town and back. It’s best to inquire about this detail when booking.
The attractions included in an excursion, or in a given destination, can also diminish during the off-season.
When booking the Todo Glaciares cruise in El Calafate, try to make sure that on the day of your trip passengers will be able to disembark in Onelli Bay (the place where the Upsala branch of Lake Argentino is separated from Lake Onelli by a spit of land). For many, this landing – the only one during the full-day cruise – is the biggest attraction of the excursion, as it involves following a path through a lovely beech forest and coming out on Lake Onelli full of little icebergs from three glaciers. At times the bay is so full of icebergs that the boat can’t get to the wharf. And if the Onelli Bay restaurant is closed, as it usually is during the low season, you will have to eat a box lunch (made by you or brought from your hotel) elbow-to-elbow with 300 other passengers on the catamaran. (Many people think it is best to bring the box lunch anyway, so as to be able to dedicate the little time allotted to this stop, to looking at Lake Onelli instead of waiting for a place in the restaurant.)
In Pampa Linda, a unique hiking and horseback riding center at the foot of Mount Tronador outside Bariloche, you can ride in the lower valley in the spring. However, experienced riders who want to see the top of the Andes should consider that the snow on the upper reaches of the surrounding mountains takes a long time to melt, so the center’s all-day horseback rides to really interesting lookout points can’t be done until December or January.In Patagonia, the end-of-season deals are the best with regard to the weather and landscapes. Spring and summer are windier than fall and winter, and the beeches turn fantastic shades of red and yellow in April.
PHOTO CREDITS: Cerro Bayo ski center, Villa La Angostura. Cerro Bayo. Birders on Magdalena Island in December. Bonnie Tucker. Bahía Onelli, Los Glaciares National Park. Bonnie Tucker. Ride to Cerro Volcánico, Pampa Linda. Pampa Linda
The deadline for sending prints or 300 dpi digital images in 30cmx40cm format is Oct. 1. The photos must show how the mate sipping habit has overcome economic and cultural barriers in Argentina. For more information, contact him at (03757) 423-099 or 
The club is 50 km from Buenos Aires – a 40-minute drive in a car or minibus, or 15 minutes by helicopter. Visitors are picked up at their hotels at 11am and are taken back at 4pm, or later if they want to see all the chukkers played by club members during the rest of the afternoon. Upon arrival they are treated to empanadas and a glass of fine wine, and during the following tour of the premises they are told about the history and rules of the game; the selection and training of horses; and riding tack and gear. They watch club members play two chukkers, and later sit down with some of them to a sumptuous barbecue lunch beside the playing field. The game continues while they eat. Afterwards there are two options: expert riders can learn how to do a bit of stick-and-balling (US$50 extra), and those who know little or nothing about horses can ride some tame retired polo ponies around the property beside the Luján River (included in the rate). The polo day costs US$140 per person, including minibus or car transport. Minimum group: two. For more information, visit 
The parades are led by the “Black Monk” (in reality a pretty blonde woman who sports a gigantic pretzel pendant on a black cowl robe), followed by kids dressed like sausages, adults dressed like German peasants, and the dance delegations. This year, the Beer Festival queen will be chosen and crowned on the night of October 3. According to the program, the keg will be tapped on five different days, and there will be six parades. Get the details at 
Montecarlo and seven other small towns along a 90-km stretch of National Route 12 heading north from Posadas stand out for their plant nurseries, bathing beaches, and farms that receive and/or lodge tourists.
All other activities are free. Inscription for workshops led by artists from Argentina and abroad will be open until September 25 at 
On Saturday Oct. 3 at 7pm, a parade of floats bearing Flower Show queen candidates; horse-drawn carriages, and vintage cars will begin to wind its way through the streets of Escobar. On Sunday Oct. 4, the Flower Queen will be chosen and crowned. If it rains, these events will be postponed until the following weekend.
Those who feel like seeing more of the Delta can return to Buenos Aires from Isla Margarita via Tigre with the Delta boat company (4749-0537), and the train from the Tigre terminal. The trip through the Delta takes nearly two hours. Information: 4728-2495 or 
The return cruise from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia on October 13 lasts four nights and calls at Ainsworth Bay, Tucker’s Islet, the Pía glacier, Glacier Alley, Cape Horn and Wulaia Bay. The cost varies according to the cabin and whether the season is promotional, low, high or special (Christmas and New Years). Hence the least expensive cabin can cost from US$840 to US$1,930 and the most expensive one from US$1,359 to US$2,500 for three nights, and US$1,120 to US$2,590 and US$1,800 to US$3,340, respectively, for four nights. The first Australis fjords cruise of the season leaves Punta Arenas on September 19 and the last one departs from Ushuaia on April 14, 2010.
The 17 suites reflect the spaciousness of the scenery with a décor set by the hues and textures of the surrounding land and the colors of the seasons. The smallest is 38 m2, the largest 60 m2. They and the shared areas (including a heated indoor swimming pool that guests tend to use only if the weather turns inclement) surround a grassy inner compound, protecting it from the wind. The simple architectural style of Eolo suggests a Patagonian ranch house like the ones that were brought over from Europe in a kit at the beginning of the last century. It’s bigger and better, but the comfortable ranch house feeling has been kept intact. The dining room menus are gourmet versions of Patagonian home cooking.
On Friday Sept. 18 the show will be open for travel agents from 10am to 9pm in the Ocher Pavilion of the Rural Society grounds in Palermo and on September 19 and 20 it will be open to the general public from 2pm to 9pm. General admission is 12 pesos. For more details, see 
They are fried in lard, or baked in a mud oven that is so hot that a paper put inside bursts into flame. There is a bit of rivalry between the province of Salta, where the filling includes potato, and Tucuman, where it does not. But for the past 40 years the National Empanada Festival has been held in Tucumán – in Famaillá, a town 35 km from the provincial capital. Here, in the Luis Sandrini auditorium, a jury of folk singers and chefs decides who will be the winning empanada cook of the year, and the fairgoers are free to try the output of all the contestants to see if they agree with the verdict. Tucumán empanadas are famous for being especially juicy. This is achieved by hand-mincing the meat very finely, adding a bit of boiled egg to the mixture to help retain the juice, not completely precooking the filling so it can finish cooking inside the crust, and taking the empanadas out of the pot or oven at the right moment. A typical Tucumán empanada is filled with minced beef, hen or chicken meat, or tripe, as well as green onion, cayenne pepper and cumin.
They also compete in music, singing, dance, art, crafts, photography and graphic design.
In addition to the famous ski center on Mount Catedral 20 km out of town, this Río Negro city of more than 100,000 inhabitants has recreation centers on three mountains that also offer other snow activities, in particular walks on snowshoes. All are in Nahuel Huapi National Park, but they have different concessionaires and vary with regard to landscapes, accesses and clientele.
Mount López (2,075 m)
Here, tourists who come in the winter participate in guided walks with or without snowshoes (according to snow conditions), and can also go cross-country skiing if they are proficient in the sport.
This mountain area, which lies within a strict park reserve, occupies an interesting transition zone between the humid Andean forest and the Patagonian steppe. During excursions through the woods, the guides explain the different means of transport on snow, or regional geography, according to the interests of the group. A half-day hike leads to a frozen lagoon, which in the summer is home to an endemic frog species. Day hikes in winter and summer include an ascent of Mount Challhuaco for a view of three surrounding mountains. Moonlight walks end with a three-course Patagonian dinner. The hiking and cross-country skiing programs include meals and lodging in the refuge. Those who book a full-day backcountry skiing excursion must be in good physical shape and know how to use the special “randonnée” skis that allow one to walk uphill cross-country style, and descend Alpine style.
Mount Otto (1,405 m)
Before sitting down to eat, visitors can contemplate the reproductions of statues by Michelangelo in the complex’s art gallery, and the restaurant’s photo-museum dedicated to Bariloche’s pioneers.
Then a priest heard the voice of God: they had to take the image of Christ off the humble spot they had assigned it and carry it through the streets if they wanted an end to the aftershocks. They did so and the earth stopped trembling. Nevertheless, the feminine image was the one that was immediately assigned her Our Lady of the Miracle title; the masculine one had to wait until 1760 to become Our Lord of the Miracle. At any rate, the two of them have presided over processions every September since 1692, and are credited with having saved the city from severe damage from two other quakes in 1844 and 1948. Every year, the first novena is said on September 6, and in the afternoon of September 15 more than 250,000 pilgrims from all Argentina and neighboring countries come to join the big procession through the streets of the city. The images are taken from the Cathedral to the intersection of Paseo Güemes with Avenida Irigoyen, where the townspeople renew their oath of fealty to the figures that they represent. When they return to their places in the Cathedral, a shower of white, pink and red carnation petals falls from the belfry of the Cathedral.
the performances of the different dance groups, and a light and sound show that moves from house to house in the Park of Nations. General admission is free the first night, and ranges from 5 to 35 pesos, according to the program (but never exceeds 5 pesos for retirees).