The Buenos Aires Zoo, Palermo, Argentina

A good place to visit in Buenos Aires is the Buenos Aires Zoo, located in the Palermo neighborhood.
The Zoo is over 120 years old and has always been home to a great diversity of animals. In the last few years, besides being a source of entertainment, the Zoo also carries out research, conservation and educational projects.
Thanks to its leafy trees, the park is one of the city’s green lungs. Here we can take a break from asphalt and cement. Palermo is always bustling and busy, but as soon as we enter the Zoo we feel we are breathing  fresher air, more pure than the air outside.

+ Days, Hours, Schedules
The Zoo is open from Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (ticket offices close at 5:00 PM).
Tickets are reasonably priced. For children under 12, retired people and people with disabilities, entrance is free. The rest of the public has the choice between two passports: the best buy passport costs 27 pesos (less than $7.00 dollars). It includes a boat trip, aquarium, subtropical forest, and snake house. The general passport costs 18 pesos (a little more than $4.00 dollars), but it does not include the attractions.

 
+ The Animals, the Superstars
Zoo managers have replaced bars and cages for more comfortable spaces where the animals enjoy greater freedom of movement. For example, trenches now separate the lions and bears from the public and glass and acrylic separate the monkeys and tigers. Some animals (ducks, geese, and peacocks, for example) are allowed to roam freely.

 

 
Thanks to these changes, it is easier to appreciate the animals and take pictures without ugly bars to block our view.
As we walk around the Zoo, we will find all sorts of species (the park has around 2500 specimens).
Lions are in a special place because they are among the public’s favorite animals. We can see them in the underbrush, enjoying each other’s company.

The elephants, like the lions, have been freed from cages, and are also favorites. A security moat separates them from the public. They walk around and eat under the delighted eyes of children and grownups trying to snap their pictures.

 
Children love the monkeys. The Buenos Aires Zoo has a large variety of species and many examples of each (cai monkeys, spider monkeys, mandrils and orangutans, to name a few). The chimpanzees are very amusing and friendly, and often entertain people with their antics.

 
Giraffes have their own space. They often reach heights of 6 meters (20 feet) and are in direct contact with the public. You can put food directly into their mouths.

 
One of the most beautiful animals is the polar bear; he swims in his icy water pool that duplicates his natural habitat.

 
The highest cage belongs to the condor. His wingspan can reach 3 meters (10 feet) and he can live to be 50 years old.
The Zoo has a space dedicated to reptiles. You can see different serpents, vipers, lizards and turtles (including gigantic ones).

 

The aquarium has a great variety of fish and sharks as well as a sea lion show.

 
In the Subtropical Forest you will find parrots, toucans, lots of other birds and terrifying spiders.

+ How to Get to The Buenos Aires Zoo
The zoo is in front of Plaza Italia, on Sarmiento and Las Heras Avenues, located in an area with a lot of different transportation options. You can get to the Zoo by:
- Bus:  10, 12, 15, 21, 29, 34, 39, 41, 57, 59, 60, 64, 67, 68, 93, 95, 111, 118, 128, 141, 152, 160, 161, 188 and 194
- Metro (Subway):  Plaza Italia Station (D Line and its combinations)
- Train: Palermo Station-Metropolitan Railroad General (Gral.) San Martín

+ Recommendations
The park is huge and there are very many animals. That’s why we recommend:
• Bring your photo or video camera with lots of free space as well as an extra battery
• It will take you several hours to see everything so be aware of opening and closing times
• On weekday mornings schoolchildren often go on guided visits and on weekends the Zoo may be packed. If you want to avoid crowds, avoid these days and times.
• It’s good to stop and eat, at a fastfood restaurant within the park  (where food and drinks are more expensive than on the outside) or with your own pre-packed picnic lunch that you can carry in you backpack.
• You can feed the animals, but only with the food that is specially prepared for them and which is sold in the park. Do not give them any other food (no crackers, bread, or peanuts).

+ Where to Stay in Palermo
You have several options, depending on your budget. If you prefer total privacy, your best option is to rent an apartment. If you prefer to be in contact with other tourists, share experiences and save money, you are best off in a Hostel in Palermo. A less economical option is to stay at a Bed and Breakfast. Here you can find all these options in Lodging in Buenos Aires.

+ More Pictures of The Buenos Aires Zoo

 


Source: Buenos Aires Hostels + www.ba-h.com.ar the principal reference for Hostels in Buenos Aires. The website was created in 1999 and offers an ample selection of hostels, apartments, bed and breakfasts, and university residences in the principal Buenos Aires neighborhoods: Palermo, Recoleta, Barrio Norte, Belgrano, San Telmo, La Boca, etc.

10 advantages of choosing a Hostel

Staying at a Hostel is an advantage in many ways:

1- Rates
Hostels are cheaper than Hotels or Bed & Breakfasts. You will save money and you will be able to afford a longer stay, excursions, outings or visits to other towns.

2- Making new friends
Hostels have certain areas that can be shared by guests from all over the world. You will listen to stories and anecdotes, meet people with broad travel experience, you will play pool and table football, watch movies, go dancing or go on excursions with them.

 

3- Activities at the Hostels and outings
Hostels usually organize different activities such as parties, tango lessons, Playstation tournaments, ping-pong or pool games. Sometimes you will enjoy a traditional argentine barbecue.

 
They will offer you a variety of entertainments. There are many options: you may go dancing, watch a football game at Boca Juniors Stadium, go sightseeing, see a tango show, visit a ranch, go on different excursions and enjoy alternative tourism and package tours.

4- Services
The number and quality of services offered by hostels is increasing due to the competition among Hostels. The rate usually includes: breakfast, internet access (very often Wi-Fi), lockers, luggage storage, room service and the use of a fully equipped kitchen for guests.

5- Hospitality
Hostels are well known for the hospitality offered by the young people in the staff who have acquired previous “hostel experience” and have traveled around the world. They know exactly what you need.

 

6- Timetable
If you are respectful of other guests and you do not make any annoying noise, you are free to stay in the shared areas or enter and leave the premises at any time.

7- A variety of rooms
You may ask for a single or double room or for a room for three, four, six or eight guests. These rooms may have private or shared bathrooms. There are different possibilities to suit your budget.

 

8- Cultural diversity
You will practice and improve your Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian or German with guests of different nationalities while staying at the hostel or going out together.

 

9- Welcome presents, promotions, discounts
On your arrival you will probably be welcomed with a drink and after a certain number of days at the hostel you may get a free day stay.
You may also get discounts at bars, discos, theaters and cinemas.

10- Location
There are Hostels in the main neighborhoods of Buenos Aires with easy access to the points of interest. Here you can see a map of Hostels in Buenos Aires.





Source: Buenos Aires Hostels + www.ba-h.com.ar the principal reference for Hostels in Buenos Aires. The website was created in 1999 and offers an ample selection of hostels, apartments, bed and breakfasts, and university residences in the principal Buenos Aires neighborhoods: Palermo, Recoleta, Barrio Norte, Belgrano, San Telmo, La Boca, etc.

Recoleta | Neighborhoods in Buenos Aires | Argentina

Recoleta is a neighborhood in the center north zone of Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires. Well-known for its French architecture, imposing buildings, aristocratic cemetery,  museums and art exhibits, Recoleta is elegant and refined. Shoppers strolling along the Avenida Alvear and the Avenida Santa Fe will find the world’s most sought-after name brands as well as bookstores and art collections.

Recoleta holds a privileged place in the city, between the Obelisco and the Palermo neighborhood, between Retiro and the coastline. The most European of all Buenos Aires’ neighborhoods, Recoleta is not far from any of the capital’s most attractive spots and lies at the heart of the tourist zone. It offers a variety of top restaurants, pubs and discos from which the visitor can taste and enjoy the trendy porteña nightlife.

One of the Recoleta’s biggest attractions is the Recoleta Cemetery, an unusual place with a variety of crypts and mausoleums of dazzling architectural richness. Here rests the aristocracy of Argentina, its presidents, celebrities and politicians. The most visited tomb, however,  is that of Eva Duarte de Perón, champion of the poor and the working class, who now rests in the country’s most exclusive cemetery.

 

Evita's tomb

The Church of Our Lady of Pilar, completed in 1732, is part of the old Convent of the Recoletos, the order of barefoot Franciscan monks who gave the neighborhood its name. This colonial church contains a stunning Baroque altar brought from Perú and decorated with silver from the Argentine province of Jujuy. In front of the church is the Plaza Francia, a green area where lively weekend artisan festivals delight natives and visitors with cultural activities and musical spectacles.

The zone is also the home of the Centro Cultural Recoleta, a major gallery for contemporary visual art and the Buenos Aires Design Center, with original and attractive furniture, decor and design. Also worth a visit is El Museo de Bellas Artes (the Fine Arts Museum) contains paintings done by Goya, Monet and Rembrandt.

Heading north, the visitor will find the Recoleta parks with the modernistic Public Library and the Sculpture of the Rose, a new mobile structure over 20 meters high, opening and closing according to the sunlight. The new MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoameriano de Buenos Aires) is interesting for its architecture and its expositions.

Without doubt, Recoleta symbolizes the most refined, upper class European face of the city, a neighborhood the inhabitants of Buenos Aires love to show off. Don’t miss a visit to Recoleta!


• Where to stay in Recoleta, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Hostels + www.ba.-h.com.ar offeres a complete list of lodgings in the Recoleta (apartments, Hostels and Bed & Breakfast).

SOURCE:  Buenos Aires Hostels + www.ba.-h.com.ar the most important reference for Hostels in Buenos Aires. The website was created in 1999 and offers a wide variety of hostels, apartments, bed and breakfasts and university residences in the main Buenos Aires neighborhoods: Palermo, Recoleta, Barrio Norte, Belgrano, San Telmo, La Boca, etc.