Roaming South America

When “Adiós” Doesn’t Mean Goodbye

October 29, 2025

Today, as I walked down the street (here in Roldanillo, Valle del Cauca, Colombia), an older woman stood in her doorway as she does every day. I walk this block almost every day as it is between where I live and downtown. She smiled, raised a hand, and said, ‘¡Adiós!’, same as she does every day. I waved, said, "buenas tardes," and then kept walking. This has happened in all seven countries I have visited in South America, not just once or twice, but consistently.

Formosa, Argentina

December 7, 2024

Formosa, Argentina, a city of about 235,000 in the urban area, sits on the river border with Paraguay, a few hours south of Asunción, Paraguay (capital of Paraguay). I visited Formosa about a year and-a-half ago and wrote that I liked this small city, I also wrote that it is quiet. And that still stands. And, now they are doing more reclamation work alongside the river which will extend the park space.

Córdoba, Argentina

December 4, 2024

Córdoba, Argentina, population about 1 1/2 million, is the second largest city in Argentina and also the largest city in square kilometers. Córdoba was founded in 1573, when it was to be a refuge from the indigenous people, for the incoming Spanish people. As big as the city is, the vast majority of its buildings are under 20 stories tall. Here is Córdoba is the National University of Córdoba which was founded in 1613, making it the fourth oldest university in all of the Americas. The Rio Suquia runs through the city.

Villa De Merlo, Argentina

December 3, 2024

Villa de Merlo is a town of about 40,000 people. It is a destination vacation town for Argentinos. It's quite a nice little town sitting at the foot of the Sierras de los Comechingones (the Comechingones Mountains). The climate is mild and for this weekend, wet. The average daytime high for summer, right now, is in the mid-to-upper 70s, though today it is only 22° C (72° F). Merlo is known for having its own microclimate.

On the north side of the town is a nature reserve, and in that reserve is a big boulder that is mostly white. That area became known as Piedra Blanca (White Rock). In 1794, Juan de Videla visited Piedra Blanca and saw that the area would be good for a town. On October 1, 1796, the town was given the name of Villa de Melo (Town of Melo), given in honor of Pedro Melo of Portugal.

Rio Cuarto, Argentina

November 29, 2024

Rio Cuarto, in the Córdoba, Argentina, was founded in 1786 and has a population of about 200,000. The Rio Cuarto (Cuarto River) runs through the center of the city. This part of Argentina is mostly agricultural, lots of ranching and farming, and Rio Cuarto is a hub for the slaughterhouses and food processing plants.

Before Spanish colonization, the area where Rio Cuarto now sits was inhabited by the Comechingón people. They were skilled in agriculture and livestock management, living in semi-subterranean dwellings. Traces of their culture remain in oral traditions and archaeological finds, giving an important view into the region's deeper history. Rio Cuarto's establishment in 1786 wasn't just about creating a town—it was a military and logistical necessity. The settlement functioned as a buffer against Indigenous groups during a time when Spanish colonists sought to secure trade routes and expand the empire's influence into the Pampas.