On our trip, Nikki and I were a bit concerned about coffee because we like the American style rich, strong, and somewhat sweet roasts. So, we brought along some coffee from the US but also found a couple of local places to get our beans for home brews (we also spent tons of time in the cafes of Argentina - it is known for its cafe culture, after all).

Primula 9 Cup Stove Top Coffee Maker

What we ended up buying and carrying with us was an Argentina version of this Primula Aluminum 9-Cup Stovetop Espresso Coffee Maker. It worked really well for our needs, but we are used to more like 12 cups total to share and so we had to adjust to slightly less caffeine...bummer. It's relatively lightweight and produces a decent cup of coffee.

Aerobie Aeropress French Press Style Coffee Maker

A good alternative seems to be the newly popular AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker with Bonus 350 Micro Filters

As this video shows, it requires an external source of hot water, which is often easy to find in South America since they love their mate teas.

Which is better? I'd have to try to find out. Maybe for my birthday I'll get an Aeropress ;)