This 2022, we walked the talk. Here's how we transformed words into action and positive impact.

Mariana Radisic • December 10, 2022

This is what we did for sustainability, historic preservation and equality in the last year.

Since our country reopened for international visitors on Nov 1st 2021, here's just some of our most significant actions to promote sustainability and equality in our company + country.

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Volunteers at Reforestarg planting the trees sponsored by Lunfarda Travel

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Volunteers at Reforestarg planting the trees sponsored by Lunfarda Travel

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Volunteers at Reforestarg planting the trees sponsored by Lunfarda Travel

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Volunteers at Reforestarg planting the trees sponsored by Lunfarda Travel

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Volunteers at Reforestarg planting the trees sponsored by Lunfarda Travel

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Sustainability.

We planted 55 native trees in Choila and Cordoba via our partners at Reforestarg and already paid for +60 more to be planted during their next campaign!

These lands had been subject to wildfires and our partners went into the field to help restore the native nature of these lands.

During 2023, we will partner with Bosques de Agua, who are not just reforesting with native trees but buying strategic land in places full of water and making them into Preserved Land. The preservation of these strategic areas fights wildfires and droughts through conservationism.

Historic preservation.

This year, our Jewish Heritage deparment partnered with Latin America's largest Yiddish cultural archive, IWO, to open it for tourists and help raise funds to preserve and digitalize over a hundred years of Argentine Jewish History.

The preservation of this archive is paramount to the keeping of the Argentine Jewish identity, and this archive had been subject to immense damage after it was nearly destroyed in a terrorist attack in 1994 against Latin Ameroca's largest Jewish community center, AMIA.

We hope to help this archive finish its building renovation and begin a community outreach program through our intervention.

Equality: racial justice.

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Our guide and guests toasting during the Black History tour

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Our guide Julia sharing a free tour for Black kids in our community

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2022 Black Entrepreneur Pop up Market

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Our guide and guests in front of one of the collection pieces of the National Historic Museum, which were brought our for display after our conversations with the museum.

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As you probably know by now, Lunfarda Travel is the first ever travel company to share Argentina's Black History, which has been largely invisibilized by society and in the history books, as well as by the travel industry.

Since we started running tours for international guests less than a year ago, we've been able to share this tour with +150 guests from all over the world, who said things like:

"Show up and support this REVOLUTIONARY tour that is unearthing hidden Black and African history in Argentina." (Kadisha, 2022)
"A MUST when visiting Buenos Aires if you truly want to understand the authentic culture of the city that is an amalgamation of multiple cultures of which the Afro-Argentine is present. This tour challenges the narrative of those who wrote history and questions the concept of a 'White Argentina'" (Terry, 2022).

This year, we've also run at-cost tours for +100 locals and give this tour for free to +15 kids in our community, creating 3 jobs for Black tour guides in our community. Through our tours, we convinced the National Historic Museum to incoporate pieces of Argentina's Black History, which you can find at their permanent collection today. We hope this is the beginning of a beautiful trend, in which our work pushes institutions and the broad travel industry to act up for racial equality.

This year, we've also supported Black Artists: we restored the Maria Remedios del Valle Mural made by Afroana on our commission for Black History Month and sponsored the first every Black Entrepreneur Pop Up Market in our office, in which we invited 10 artists and artisans from our community to our house so they could share their talents with the world! We hope to run this again in 2023, and to create a mini-store within our office to promote these artists year round.

We have also hired an all BIPOC team of content creators to create a collection of pictures of black people in Buenos Aires, because representation and visibility matter.

All in all, we funneled over 2,500 USD into our local community, and invested 10,000 USD in promoting a Black, anti-racist Argentina, so these numbers can continue to grow year after year. The best is yet to come!

Equality: LGBTIQA+ rights + diversity.

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Innovation Award for our company, given in November 2022 by the local LGBT+ chamber of tourism for our work with the community.

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Our founder Mariana delivers a talk about intersectionality and tourism at Gnetwork 360, Buenos Aires.

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Mariana delivers a talk about intersectionality and tourism at Gnetwork 360, Buenos Aires.

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Mariana participates in a panel on how Queer History can be used to bring added value to a destination at IGLTA's conference, 2022

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Our tour guide Santiago at a Queer History Tour

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In front of the only subway station in the world named after a Queer Rights activist

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Queer History Tour coffee break at an LGBT+ owned business

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With the first LGBT+ group to ever head to Antarctica, when we took a day trip to the Iguazu falls in 2022

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Regaling our guests with an 'impromptu' tango drag show by Tita de San Telmo

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We continued to be the most diverse travel company in Buenos Aires and to deepen our commitement to gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights, both home and abroad. All executive decisions in our company are made by women, and our company proudly employs people with Indigenous, Black, Jewish, Japanese, Arab and European heritage and people across the LGBTIQA+ spectrum.

But because we know that our realities -and privileges- are different, we continued to work towards inclusivity and equality in the LGBTIQA+ community, for which the local Chamber of Commerce and LGBT Tourism awarded us with the Innovation Award of the Year.

This year alone, we donated +1000 USD to Mocha Celis, a highschool for trans and gender non-confoming students that Lunfarda Travel supports through it's LGBT+ tours. Consider making a donation of your own here.

We also proudly sponsored our local drag queen Tita de San Telmo, whom we hired for 3 shows and sponsored her first theatre performance.

But we didn't just make waves nationaly: our founder Mariana Radisic Koliren also participated in Proud Experiences in NYC during June to promote Argentina as a Queer Destination, and was later awarded the David Martin Smalls Fellowship for entrepreneurs by IGLTA. Through this fellowship, Mariana headed to the largest LGBT+ travel show in the world to represent our community with pride, participating in panels. She is now in the process of creating material to help bring an intersectional view to colleges worldwide in 2023/2024 and she has started teaching Intersectional Travel Design at the first LGBT+ Travel Masters' from University of Barcelona.

To cap off this amazing year, Mariana spoke at our local LGBT+ Travel Conference: GNetwork360, where she addressed the ways that the travel industry can actively use intersectionality to design better experiences across our community, and later joined Meg Ten Eyck and Lunfarda's own Julia Cohen Ribeiro to discuss safe destinations for Queer Women. Thanks for having us, Gnetwork!

In 2023, expect to see our team in local and international LGBTQ+ travel shows, pushing forward an agenda of intersectionality geared towards one goal: inclusivity, visibility and prosperity for our community.

Equality: fair trade and job generation.

Our company proudly employs 30 guides and 2 administrative office managers, all of whom are paid at least 30% over market wages. We continue to grow and provide ongoing training, education and growth tools for our team members.

We have continued to work elbow by elbow with our local community, helping funnel tens of thousands of dollars straight into the hands of small business owners, restaurateurs, artists and artisans.

In 2023, let's continue to walk the talk together.

Showing the travel industry and our guests that positive change is possible begins with enacting and demanding accountability.

Let's continue to set high bars, and take baby steps to get there, inspiring our partner organizations and guests to be a part of the change.

How can you help? Ask your local provider to provide an anual report on initiatives taken for SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) and measures taken to comply with the companies inner policies. Celebrate all the good that's being done, but always push a nudge further.

We are extremely proud of all of what we've achieved as a company this year, and we're looking forward to continue to change the narratives behind tourism in Argentina and abroad. Before we wrap off 2022 and say hola to 2023, let's manifest:

Diversity is tourism's biggest asset. Let's promote and embrace diversity in organizations, tourism narratives and with our diverse guests.
Sustainability is a society wide effort, and tourism can be a vector for people to embrace better travel practices for people and the environment. Let's act as vectors of change!
Tourism can promote social and racial justice and elevate livelihoods. Let's demand that travel companies take an active role in this transformation.

We're looking forward to seeing you and make you part of the change this 2023!

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Is Once a CURSED neighborhood?

By Mariana Radisic Koliren • April 3, 2023

The neighborhood of Once in Buenos Aires is known for many things: its vibrant street life, bustling markets, and diverse mix of cultures. This is, after all, a neighborhood where you will find Chinese, Bolivian, Peruvian, Senegalese and Jewish communities. But there is another side to this lively community, one that is shrouded in darkness and shrouded in mystery. For those who dare to delve into the history of Once, they will find a tale of tragedy and terror that has left a lasting mark on the community.

The Jewish Gauchos - trading kneidelach for asado!

By Mariana Radisic Koliren • January 4, 2023

The Jewish gauchos were a group of Jewish immigrants who took their love for kosher deli sandwiches and matzo ball soup to the wild frontier of the Pampas region in Argentina . These immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, were drawn to the Pampas by the promise of land and opportunity (and maybe just a little bit by the thought of being the only Jewish cowboys in town). Many of them had fled persecution and poverty in their home countries and saw Argentina as a place where they could build a better life for themselves and their families. But life as a Jewish gaucho wasn't all latkes and lox: actually, no lox at all in the beef-producing heart of the Americas. These immigrants had to contend with the challenges of settling in a remote and harsh region, including drought, disease, and isolation. Many of them lived in poverty and worked as farmers and ranch hands, enduring physically demanding and often low-paying labor. However, the Jewish gauchos persevered and made a lasting impact on the Pampas region, establishing farms, ranches, and small businesses, and contributing to the growth of the region's agriculture and industry. They also played a vital role in the creation of a Jewish community in Argentina, building synagogues, schools, and cultural centers.

The Argentinian Style - 5 Gestures you have to know before coming!

By Jana Dostert • December 29, 2022

It’s been a few days since I arrived in Buenos Aires for my internship at Lunfarda and I’m only starting to learn about all the cultural differences- it’s the first time I live in a country that is that distinct from mine and, for me, the ways of the Argentines, and their coded body language are still kind of strange. I’m on my way to the bus stop, not paying attention to where I positioned myself. Quickly, a slightly upset-looking person gives me the four-finger-to-one-thumb-pointing-upside-down-sign or as well known as “What do you think you are doing??” This is when I learned that it does not matter that Argentines are disorderly about everything else: the bus line -and its order- is sacred. Quick side Note: You have to wave the bus down at a 45-degree angle arm to the body to stop it! Just telling you because on my first day of university here, I missed about five buses in a row running between the different bus stops until I got to understand that.

La Scaloneta brings glory to Argentina, closure to Messi and a new dawn for an inclusive football

By Mariana Radisic Koliren • December 19, 2022

After 36 years, Argentina wins the World Cup again. Here's what it means to the women of Argentina.

Don’t take it as an insult, it’s just Argentina

By Jana Dostert • October 5, 2022

Language is a way to show norms, and communicate values. It’s a way of expression, status, and policy that reveals the culture that’s lived in one’s homeland. On the Argentinian menu, language comes with a side of insults, jokes, Lunfardo , and Argentinian history. Don’t assume the speaker’s intention too quickly, and even less if you are from a country with a let’s call it: more subtle -or literal- usage of wording. ⚠WARNING⚠ Some ways of expression might sound harsh but they are often not meant that way. On the contrary, it shows how history is carried along and still lived and spoken day-to-day, mouth-to-mouth among 45 million Argentinians, who are the makers of today’s Lunfardo, the local slang. Which is -indeed, a marvelously unique, and eccentric version of its own. If it’s about the very complex humor that doesn’t only often entail one of the many slang or so-called Lunfardo words but also infinite history-rich anecdotes- including years and years of politics flowing into the subtle humor of an Argentine. Be it a pastry that’s named “Friar balls’ or “Nuns sigh” or a “Vigilant” - coined by the worker's movement, that they are eating in all tranca (chill) while sipping through a Mate’s bombilla , professors quoting the Simpsons in their PowerPoints or a bunch of extremely funny memes digesting the daily life, joking about the president, football, or the seeming immortality of Mirta Legrand, the oldest host of the Argentine TV, who, believe it or not, is still at it at age 95 with the energy of a teen.

a group of afro argentine kids sit by a church with a guide explaining about Black History

Black History Tour for Kids: finally, it's time to give back

By Lunfarda Travel • May 29, 2022

Black kids with tight curls and broad smiles flocked to the gates of the National Historic Museum on a cool, sunny fall afternoon in San Telmo, Buenos Aires. Just their presence there, running freely and playing tag in the patio of the museum seemed like a small act of justice: these kids were laughing and playing on top of an old slave trade market, by a house that had been built by enslaved Black people. Now, 169 years after the abolition of slavery in Argentina, our young audience gathered to experience something momentuous: a Black History Tour to learn the value and the contributions of the Afro-Argentines.

Argentine Money, Explained

By Mariana Radisic • December 6, 2021

Argentine currency is messy . Its value changes daily, there’s an official rate, a parallel “blue” rate, different looking notes, reduced daily ATM withdrawal fees, and navigating it can be frustrating. Do not worry though, we’ve got you covered! Here’s how to get the best value for your money when you travel to Buenos Aires and across Argentina.

Our Black Heroine's Homecoming

By Mariana Radisic • December 2, 2021

It was 5.30pm, the print shop was about to close, and our files were in the wrong format . While Analía -known as Afro Ana , a 30 year old digital artist- cursed, I sprinted towards my apartment to get a laptop to hopefully fix the issue. In less than 24hs, on November 20th, the day of Black Awareness on Argentine Black History Month, those files would be turned into the first ever mural about Revolutionary Black Heroine María Remedios del Valle, an obscured character with a Netflix-binging story.

Why is Argentina so OBSESSED with fútbol?

By Agustín Canzani, Fernando Olomudzki • November 19, 2021

Every Argentinian can include a football-related memory as one of their earliest memories. It is either the first World Cup match you got to watch, a historical goal by your favourite team, or just playing a good old picadito on the streets of your neighborhood. Don't get us wrong, though, not everyone is maniacally obsessed with the sport. It just happens that most of us are. The truth is that barely anybody can remain indifferent about football in Argentina, as it has played a central role in the development of the folk of our country. Whether we like it or not, fútbol as a practice is deeply interwoven with our history and its events; people have extended the jargon used in the pitch, recalling it heavily for everyday things regardless of age or gender * . Others denounce the show-biz around it, pointing out its use as a distraction from every other thing, from organised gang violence to the atrocity of state sponsored terrorism decades ago.

Was Evita a feminist?

By Maru Bobadilla and Vicki Catta • November 2, 2021

With the notoriety that the women’s movement in Argentina acquired in the last couple of years - starting with the massive #NiUnaMenos demonstration in 2015 and climaxing with the legalization of abortion in 2020 - many people have turned to the country’s past to look for the feminist pioneers that laid the groundwork for this revolution.