‘Superb’ guide in BA

The owner/operator of a taxi in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pablo Menendez (phone 15 5613 4386 or e-mail pablo336menendez @hotmail.com), was superb in transporting my husband, Dave, and me from the international airport to the domestic airport and, on our return, to our hotel in March ’06.

We were so impressed, we engaged him further for a day tour of the city and surrounds. We saw, complete with his political, historical and personal perspective, not only the ritzy part of Buenos Aires but the area where the workers live.

Pablo speaks English, and his charges were very reasonable. For transporting us from airport to airport, we paid him double his asking price of 40 pesos (near $13). That service included meeting us at the international gate, shepherding us through baggage and money exchange, and delivering us to our domestic carrier. We can’t remember what he charged to take us from the domestic airport to our hotel except that it was very reasonable; we think about 30 pesos.

As for the city tour, that charge was 150 pesos ($50). He took us wherever we wished: La Recoleta, the cemetery where Eva Perón is buried (he waited with his taxi and we found a free guide in the cemetery); the suburb that looks like Eva Perón from the air (Ciudad Evita); the areas where the immigrant workers live (our choice, as we wanted to see more than just the tourist areas); San Telmo, and Tigre, a small town north of Buenos Aires from which boats leave for the islands of the Rio de la Plata. Tigre had craft shops and good places for lunch.

Since our tour with Pablo was on the last day of our three days in Buenos Aires and we had covered most of the town by underground (subway), we selected out-of-the-way areas to visit.

We spent a month in Argentina, going from Ushuaia to Puerto Iguaçu. Having Pablo’s help at the beginning and the end of our journey was terrific.

JAN STELLER

San Diego, CA