Certain Latitude
Because 50 is just the beginning of the map.
Journey 02◆34°36′S 58°22′W◆Fall 2028 · dates TBD
Fall 2028. At the southern mirror of the Morocco parallel, equidistant from the equator, Argentina stands a world away with its tumultuous history and colonial influences that mix European flair with a more relaxed South American vibe.
Buenos Aires — a city that stays up late and reads in bed. Intellectual culture meets dancing the night away.
After WWII, Argentina served as a refuge for both Jews and Nazis, making the postwar period among the most bizarre in the region. While the Cold War and CIA meddling smashed any hope of democracy in many neighboring countries, Argentina carved its own singular path. Juan Perón’s reign openly admired fascist regimes and actively worked to smuggle war criminals out of Europe. Meanwhile, Argentina’s Jewish community dates back to migration waves of 16th century Spain and 19th century Russia and Eastern Europe, making an uneasy combination of communities calling Buenos Aires home. Two decades later, following Perón’s death and Isabel Perón’s brief government, Argentina fell under military rule throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. During the Dirty War, the junta arrested and “disappeared” between 10,000 and 30,000 Argentinians accused of dissent. In the decades since, Buenos Aires has emerged as home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America.
Why here, why next
Chefchaouen sits at 35 degrees north. Buenos Aires sits at 34 degrees south. Same light, same latitude, opposite seasons — which means when we go, we will be walking into their long golden autumn while home turns cold.
Argentina rewards the way we like to travel. And nobody in Buenos Aires thinks it is strange for women to be out at eleven at night arguing about a book.
Places we’re scouting
Several of these will make the final route. Which ones depends on the season we settle on — and on what the interest list tells us it wants.
34°36′S · Certain
San Telmo on a Sunday, the Recoleta cemetery, El Ateneo in its old opera house, and a milonga where the dancers are our age and better at it. Then Once and Abasto, the Jewish quarters, and the AMIA on Pasteur. Three or four nights to start.
34°36′S · Certain
Templo Libertad and its museum, the delis and bookshops of Once, and the AMIA — bombed in 1994, rebuilt where it stood, and still the center of the largest Jewish community in Latin America. A guided day with someone who lives it.
32°53′S · Likely
Malbec at the foot of Aconcagua, long lunches in the vines, and an afternoon of doing absolutely nothing under a pepper tree.
24°47′S · Likely
The north-west: colonial squares, the red gorge of the Quebrada de las Conchas, high-altitude Torrontés, and empanadas that people will fight about.
50°20′S · Under discussion
The Perito Moreno glacier and the walking country around El Chaltén. Beautiful, and a long way — it may become its own extension rather than a squeeze.
25°41′S · Under discussion
The falls from the Argentine side, where the walkways put you close enough to get wet. Two nights, or nothing.
Throughout
As in Morocco, we build the days around makers — weavers in the north, women-run bodegas, the kitchens where the recipes actually live.
What stays the same
The interest list