Jaunted

Airline Industry / Argentina / Argentina Travel / Airline Strikes / Airline News / Buenos Aires / Buenos Aires Travel / Aerolineas Argentinas / → All Tags

How the Dumbest Airline Strike Ever Shut Down Argentina Over the Weekend

Airline labor unions often have debates so convoluted that we tend to find them just aggravatingly myopic and selfish, but then it goes to another level.

The newest example is what happened in Argentina over the weekend, where Buenos Aires was effectively shut down because two douchebag Aerolineas Argentinas pilots from two different unions got into a fist fight with each other. Instead of saying something like "yeah, our pilots probably shouldn't have done that," their respective unions threw temper tantrums and went on strike to protect them.

The result: the airline had to be shut down. Argentina's chief domestic airport, Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, had to be closed. The country's top international airport, Ezeiza International Airport, tried to handle the overload, and more or less failed. Tens of thousands of travelers saw their flights moved or canceled. Hundreds of thousands saw their travel weekend become a disaster.

more ›

Jet Lag / Argentina / Animals / → All Tags

Hamsters Are Fresh After Long Flights and Viagra

Hate jet lag? So do we. But some researchers in Argentina have found that our recovery from jet lag might be considerably faster using the somewhat unlikely-sounding solution of taking Viagra.

So far they've only tested in on hamsters, using lights rather than flights, but results show that taking low doses of Viagra (not enough to produce any hamster erections, apparently) helped the hamsters adjust to a new time zone about 50% faster. The trick is that it only worked when they simulated eastbound flights, so it looks like we'll need one-way flight traffic plus Viagra to feel good after a long flight.

[Photo: Emuishere]

Related Stories:
· Viagra Hamsters in Jet Lag Breakthrough [ABC]
· Viagra Could Help Jet Lag [Ananova]
· Ship of Tools [Jaunted]

Blogs / Chile / Bolivia / Argentina / Peru / South America / Love / → All Tags

For One Travelin' Couple, Love Does Conquer All

What have YOU done for love? Australian couple Cath and Andy took off on a two-month honeymoon across South America, and if you have any romantic illusions about the aphrodisiac of travel, their blog A Journey To The Altar And South America will soon unburden you of them. Lucky llama fetuses in La Paz. A human sacrifice museum in Arequipa, Peru. A broken toe in... oh, that was just the bachelorette party.

Their time in South America is drawing to a close at the end of the month, so go over there and wish them a slightly less eventful last few weeks.

[Photo: Cath & Andy]

Travel Media / Budget Travel Magazine / Ian Mount / Buenos Aires / Argentina / Uruguay / → All Tags

BT on Buenos Aires: Get Outta Town

So we managed to get our grabby hands on the new issue of Budget Travel, which as usual is packed with fun tidbits. One particular piece snagged our attention: BA blogger Ian Mount's "Buenos Aires... Then What?", an eight-page package on three great places to visit once you've had your fill of buttery beef and sultry porteños dancing tango (too bad that it's not online yet).

Per the article, "The Argentine capital is at the top of everyone's list these days." But the main premise is "Aren't we all tired of that scene?" Yeah, sure. So what's up in the neighborhood, BT?

Idea numero uno is to kick it like a gaucho for a day in San Antonio de Areco, 90 minutes outside of town. Estancia La Bamba has your horse hookup. Also a possibility is Mar de las Pampas, where the sleepy beach scene is a complete 180 from BA nightlife. Ian's final pick is a trip across the river to Uruguay and the UNESCO-friendly Colonia del Sacramento. It's a historic colonial town but that doesn't keep people from "singing Spanish karaoke versions of Eric Clapton." Now that's our kind of place!

[Photo: So Cal Metro]

Related Stories:
· Colonia del Sacramento [Wikipedia]
· Ian Mount's blog [Goodairs.com]
· Basically, You Never Want to Push the Call Button [Jaunted]