The irony of being a South African is that most of us love travelling but most countries also make it really hard for us to visit them. Either the exchange rate is not in our favour, meaning that we will have to spend months saving for a 10 day holiday, or the process to get a VISA is so ridiculously time consuming that we give up before we’ve even started. But there is one place we can visit where we don’t face any of these problems and that is the wonderfully festive country of Argentina. Let me take some time to briefly explain why Argentina is the perfect country for a South African to visit.
Tigre (Tiger) is a town in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, situated in the north of Greater Buenos Aires, 28 km (17 mi) north of Buenos Aires city. Photo by: Wiehahn Diederichs
1.) Flight Time
Even though there are no longer any direct flights available from South Africa to Argentina, even with one stop-over at Brazil’s Guarulhos you can get a flight that would take you just under 13 hours to arrive in Buenos Aires.
2.) No Visa
You can visit Argentina for up to 90-days without needing any kind of VISA. You can get on a plane today and visit Argentina with no hassle. The only requirement is that you need a valid passport.
3.) Exchange Rate
This is always a problem when South Africans are looking to go overseas. The exchange rate is almost never in our favour. Fortunately when it comes to Argentina we don’t have to face this major hiccup. Currently it is only R1.32 for an Argentine Peso and most stuff you will but in Argentina will be on par with the prices you pay in SA.
4.) Meat, Meat and more Meat
SA is undoubtedly a meat loving country. We live from, and for, the art of the Braai. You’ll be glad to hear that Argentineans share our great love for meat. When I visited Argentina I went to a typical Argentine countryside ranch called Santa Susanna. On my day there, the ranch “braaied” (barbequed) delicious variations of meat for over 200 people. Now doesn’t that sound like a dream?
5.) Climate
South Africa and Argentina share a very similar climate. If you drew a line from Cape Town around the world then Buenos Aires would fall almost fall exactly on that line. That means warm summers and mildly cold winters. If it wasn’t for everyone speaking Spanish around you, you wouldn’t even notice that you weren’t in SA.
