DAY 12
FOZ DO IGUAÇU (Paraná, BRA) to MAR DEL PLATA (Buenos Aires, ARG)
via BUENOS AIRES (Buenos Aires, ARG)
Saturday September 20th, 2014
TODAYS MILEAGE – 927 miles or 1492 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 14864 miles or 23921 kilometres
Today was a sleep in day, as our flight out of Foz do Iguaçu was scheduled for 3:15PM, that sill meant leaving tour hotel at noon.
The day didn't start or end real well. One of our party left at 4AM as they got bumped off our flight. Whilst waiting for everyone to board the bus, I noticed over ½ of the steer tire wheel nuts had backed off, leaving half of the wheel stud exposed - not a good look. 
We took off on Aerolineas Argentinas flight AR1737, expecting a short layover in Buenos Aires, before grabbing flight AR1601 to Mar del Plata. But due to reasons never explained by Aerolineas Argentinas ground or air crews, our 7:45PM departure was pushed back to 9:00PM in ever increasing 15 minute increments. Talk about frustrating!
After arriving at Aeropuerto Internacional Ástor Piazzolla, the Rugby Festival organising committee had a real SNAFU with the bus transportation, which saw a dozen of us waiting another two and a half hours for a ride to our hotel.
And just to ensure the day continued in the theme of "Travel Trauma", after checking into the NH Gran Hotel Provincial, I went to the bar, ordered a beer, took a mouthful, put it down and the barman reached for it saying "we are closing now". Oh ... FFS, can I get a break!!!
I just hope this isn't a precursor to the rugby festival.
BUENOS AIRES ~ Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (Buenos Aires, ARG)
Just in case you are interested, I've broken down the flight times and distances in getting over there:
∗ Hotel Del Rey (Misiones, ARG) to Foz do Iguaçu (Misiones, ARG)
19 miles or 31 kilometres
• Travel Time: 35 minutes
∗ FOZ DO IGUAÇU (Misiones, ARG) to BUENOS AIRES (Buenos Aires, ARG)
662 miles or 1066 kilometres
• Flight Time: 1 hours 45 minutes & 1 hours 30 minute flight delay
∗ BUENOS AIRES (Buenos Aires, ARG) to MAR DEL PLATA (Buenos Aires, ARG)
238 miles or 384 kilometres
• Flight Time: 57 minutes
∗ Ástor Piazzola Airport (Buenos Aires, ARG) to Hotel Del Rey (Buenos Aires, ARG)
19 miles or 31 kilometres
• Travel Time: 20 minutes