Women´s Soccer Team, a Goal unto Itself

Yesterday, the Inspira Travel staff met up with Ginger from San Telmo Productions. She and her Argentine husband Gabriel are currently making a documentary about a female futbol (soccer) team in Villa 31 and just finished months of shooting. For those not familiar with the term, a villa is essentially a shantytown, similar to the Brazilian favela and often on occupied government land . As with most major South American cities, Buenos Aires has its fair share of villas and must deal with both the stereotypes and stringent realities faced by these communities.

In other countries, where women´s team sports are popular and plentiful, the notion of a female soccer team might not be of any interest. Yet in South America, where futbol reigns supreme, there are few female teams, not to mention a complete lack of any women´s professional league. The benefits that come with practicing a team sport - among them, sportsmanship, discipline, support, physical well-being - are many, though the challenges that these young women face make such benefits hard won. While I won´t enumerate them all here (leaving that to San Telmo Productions and other journalists who have committed significant energy to this story), just making it to daily practice can sometimes seem a futile task given the responsibilities and situations that are oft encountered.

For travellers interested in learning more about the Villa 31 girls´ futbol team, please don´t hesitate to contact us. In the meantime, you can read more about these young ladies here and about the documentary filming here.

Green Travel Tips Buenos Aires

With Earth Day tomorrow (April 22), we thought we´d post some travel tips about greener travel in Buenos Aires. For more information on Buenos Aires festivities for the second annual Earth Day here in this grand metropolis, see bottom of post.

“Verde, que te quiero verde” (“Green, how I love you green”), could be the tag of today’s green travel movement. According to a recent TripAdvisor survey, green travel has been steadily growing – in 2009, 34% of U.S. travelers have intentions to visit an environmentally-friendly resort or hotel while 32% said that their travel decisions would be more environmentally conscious, up significantly from 30% and 26% respectively the previous year.

How, though, to be eco-amenable when travel plans lead to big cities instead of rural landscapes?

• Stay in hotels with environmentally-conscious cultures. New boutique hotel Casa Calma, which features organic room amenities in refillable bottles, low-consumption lighting, biodegradable cleaning supplies, and even a vertical garden to help maintain year-round temperature equilibrium.

• Get around green. Built in 1913, the Buenos Aires subway is the oldest in Latin America and the 13th oldest in the world. Carriage cars on the Linea A (the first line built in the city) still retain much of their original features, including wooden side panels, leather straps, and ceiling lamps. At about US$0.40 entry fee, a ride on Linea A is not only an eco-friendlier means of city travel but an inexpensive, first-hand experience of what was once transportation’s grandest innovation.

• Seek out low impact tours. Bike tours of Buenos Aires rank among our travelers’ favorite Buenos Aires experiences. A great way to cover a lot of ground with little impact, these excursions are also ideal for first-time visitors seeking a respite from jet lag, or return guests interested in seeing the city in a different way.

• Give green. With the city’s reputation for avant garde fashion and design, recycled and second-hand gifts are far from second-rate. Vacavaliente, sells playful home and office accessories made from recycled leather at specialized stores throughout the city. In addition to the popular San Telmo Sunday market, Inspira Travel also recommends browsing the lesser-known Dorrego flea market for vintage home furnishings and accessories (a recent find included an art deco silver-plated teapot for US$25).

• Eat locally. For visitors intrigued by South American cuisine, Inspira Travel secures reservations at Casa Felix. Open just three days a week, the restaurant incorporates tastes such as plantains, manioc, fennel, and blue corn. Ingredients are sourced locally and organically. Part of the city’s hip “puertas cerradas” (or “closed doors”) dining trend, this underground locale combines eco-friendly with in-the-know gourmet.

This year, Earth Day in Buenos Aires will be celebrated on April 25th at the Plaza Naciones Unidas, complete with live music and other performing arts, stands for organizations, sale of organic products, and more.