Impressions about a specific argentinian region

Shame on me since there has been a long time I don´t write on this blog, but I´m back and I commit myself to be more disciplined.

On my blog return, I would like to talk about a very recent travel to Argentina. I´ve been to Patagônia visiting 3 relatively small towns: El Calafate, El Chaltén and Ushuaia. The later is the most famous one known as the "Tierra del Fuego". In Argentina, as we had already been told, there is a lively FX black market in which we can exchange Dollar, Euro and even brazilian Real for an advantageous rate (better than the official one). This is a sympton of an economy in which there is constant expectation of Peso devaluation under a situation of increasing inflation rates. Actually, as well as the official FX rate is not considered for FX transactions, the effective inflation rate seems to be way above the official one.

I would have to stay longer to have a better impression of the economic situation of the region, however, the few days I´ve been there let me the impression Patagonian population seems not to suffer from the economic crisis. There are two possible explanations for that: Firstly, given the Peso devaluation trend, it has been cheaper and cheaper to travel to Argentina, and obviously touristic cities are the most benefitted ones. Secondly, Nestor Kirchner (husband of the current president Cristina) was governor of Provincia de Santa Cruz, which is located in Patagonia. In  this sense, Patagonia may have been benefitted somehow during the recent presidential mandates. But this is just an impression from a Foreigner who has been there for a few days, and not necessarily fits to reality, thus I should beg the argentinians pardon if I´m partially wrong on my impressions.

Anyway, travelling is always an interesting manner to have a closer look to the socioeconomic situation of a country, which may be somehow different from what is reported by the international media.