Apart from Banks, dont rule out using exchange bureaus.... which are sometimes more flexible with all the requirements, especially with less than perfect notes.

Dear FT travellers: I've been corresponding with Dante http://dantesairporttransfers.hazedaze.com/, who is recommended in this site. (BTW, he's quick to return emails.) My partner and I have set up a milonga evening with him for next week. He's going to pick us up at a restaurant, take us to a milonga place (or two?) and then take us back to the hotel. Very reasonably priced. He also agreed to give us a city tour for US$40 for 3-4 hours. Unfortunately, he was booked for the time we requested and we're going with a different (and more expensive) tour company. I'll post about my experiences after we return from our trip the second half of December. Adios!

Bs As
 

Gday, I'll be in Buenos Aires later this week and was wondering if there were any long term storage places there. I have to store a surfboard and some bags for a few months. Cheers

Appropos nothing, here's the saga of my family's return series of flights from EZE back to ANC. WARNING: Contains amusing remarks about Chileans.

Great question.... to which Im afraid I dont have an answer. Long term storage in the sense its available in the USA and other OECD nations is not very widespread here in Argentina. Many moving companies offer storage space for your household goods... but their setup and operations is nothing like what you may know from the States. I dont think the airport left baggage service is an option, as a few months there may well cost you an arm and a leg.

Sorry I cant be of more help... many some other of the resident EZE experts can help you, perhaps some of the larger full service moving companies have something they can offer you? Some names I suggest you Google are:

- TransPack
- ArgenMove

Ah, what would Argentina be without a scandal du jour?

Is it just me, or is the Argentine gov't not behaving like they're "innocent" here?

http://www.reuters.com/article/world...rpc=22&sp=true

In any event, it sure doesn't look like this will help already-strained US-Argentine relations.

I saw this today also. The US arrested 4 men who broke US law in the US. How is this a "trick?"

http://www.reuters.com/article/domes...38194220071212

....A complaint filed in a federal court in Miami said the men met with Venezuelan businessman Guido Antonini Wilson to "procure Antonini's help in concealing the source of an intended $800,000 cash contribution to the political campaign of a candidate in the recent Argentine presidential election."

The candidate was not identified.

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/arg...hideIntro=true

... MIAMI – The 800,000 dollars in Venezuelan cash brought into Buenos Aires by Guido Antonini Wilson in a suitcase was intended as a political contribution for the campaign of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, according to a man charged in the case, US prosecutors said yesterday.
The disclosure came in a court hearing for a criminal complaint against four men accused of being illegal Venezuelan agents who attempted a cover-up and intimidated a witness in the case....

Does anyone know if taxi prices from the airport into downtown BsAs have gone up significantly?

Around 75 pesos is what I would guess for EZE to say the Hilton.

they are charging 78 pesos it has gone up in last few months.. along with taxis around town they now start at 350

Ah, what's a US$1, unlike the difference between AR$3.50 and 350. :D

I think you mean AR$3.50 not 350.

Puerto Madero to EZE:

-asked a driver who delivered guests ARS70.00 ... he drove me to Palermo Viejo for fixed ARS30.00
-ordered a car through the hotel, was told ARS65.00, but driver asked for ARS90.00 at EZE. Did give him ARS70.00, which I wanted to give him anyway.

About 90% of our trips we had honest taxi/car drivers. 40% of our trips we had "safe" drivers ... the rest driving like hell. However, we have never seen an accident.

Who knows where I can get a 75 AR$ rate from EZE - Palermo Soho?

answered above:
Yes BsAs Drivers are amazing. At first I likened it to driving in a place like Tiajuana where everyone drives insanely and it is due to a lack of discipline. And this (TJ driving) is evidenced by the number of dented up cars.

In BA they drive insanely by US standards (fast, passing with almost no room to spare, ignoring lane markings, etc.) but I quickly realized that this is due to the drivers being so proficient and disciplined, that they do not need to have the automobile equivalents of training wheels such as observing lane markings as we do in the US. And this skill is evidenced by the lack of dented fenders that you see on cars.

We only saw the aftermath of a single accident, and no more than a few dented fenders during our trip there.

It is one of the few places I would never drive - I'm simply not good enough. :)