Hola Amigos!
As you know, Ajay and I have been having an absolutely fantastic trip. The week I am about to describe however, for me, may have been the highlight of all highlights, primarily because of the actors involved. Last week, we spent 9 days in the area of Puerto Madryn and Peninsula Valdez. This region is located on the Atlantic Coast about a 20 hour drive south of Buenos Aires, so it is considered to be part of northern Patagonia. It is as vast as any other area of Patanogia. It is comprised of extremely long distances populated by little more than sheep and a few estancias (ranches). The landscape is arid steppe and desert. But then, there is the ocean...brimming, or shall I say swimming, with life.
Why do so many animals live here in the ocean, you may ask? We learned in the very well-done Ecocenter in Puerto Madryn that this region is where multiple ocean currents meet (sub-tropical meets sub-antartic), a large continental shelf exists before the deep abyss of the Atlantic begins, and there is an abundance of the -planktons (the smallest organisms in the ocean that many of the creatures higher on the food chain depend upon). Thus, we had the opportunity to meet many new friends who I´ll describe in a minute.
First however, a little bit about the journey to this area. We traveled from Bariloche (remember the Lake District?) to Puerto Madryn on a 12-hour overnight bus ride. It was one of Argetina´s finest with full bed seats, food service and movies. It is very common to take these luxury liner buses across the long distances of this country. It was all rather comfy until....the 10 o´clock movie. Unfortunately, each seat could not control its own audio. Therefore, despite the fact that the majority of the bus was trying to sleep and despite the 4 or 5 little kids on the bus (4 and 5 year olds), the steward put on a VERY violent and loud movie. We are talking torture scenes here. I of course complained to the steward how this was not only extremely disturbing to some of us and that it would have long-term negative effects on the children on the bus (who of course cried the whole night, no wonder?!). To no avail, the movie stayed on, and stayed on loudly. In fact, I think he turned it up! It was at least in Spanish, so with a blind fold and ear plugs, we were able to lightly drift off to sleep. But come on...! Ajay and I have seen enough Argentine TV (late in the evenings) to know there is NO shortage of Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, and Julia Roberts films. Ha!
Anyway, onto cheerier subjects...Once we arrived in Puerto Madryn (PM), we rented a car for the week. This is the fourth car we have rented on this trip. The distances are so vast and often times the buses infrequent, we determined early on this is the best way to see as much as you can for the best price. First we drove south to a tiny town called Gaiman, settled by the Welsh. In the Welsh tradition, tea houses are abundant. We checked in a hotel for the night, had afternoon tea here with an obscene amount of pastries and cakes, and headed out the next morning for our first exciting stop: Punta Tombo!
Punta Tombo is home to 350,000, I repeat, 350,000 Magellenic PENGUINS! As you may recall, in my vows at our wedding, I promised to be Ajay´s personal penguin for life. You see, penguins often mate for life; they leave each other sometimes for long periods of time but always do their best to find one another upon their return; and finally, they share in the care of their young. They are very industrious little creatures and can swim as fast as dolphins! There has been ongoing research of this penguin colony at Punta Tombo (the largest in South America) for over 20 years with scientists from all parts of the globe.
This place was incredible!!! There was a very clearly marked tourist walkway that is intended to be respectful of the penguins. However, the penguins could really care less about the tourists. So, they build their nests along the trail, cross the trail at their discretion and for the most part, ignore us. Both the males and females were here at this time because their babies were still young. Some penguins were still sitting on eggs. We saw one baby that had just been born. It was so powerful being this close to nature. Ajay and I smiled and laughed for the three straight hours we watched these guys. WOW!
After Punta Tombo, we traveled about 2.5 hours north to Peninsula Valdez. We stayed for three nights in a town of about 200 people called Puerto Piramides. We loved it there. This town is the only one town located on the Peninsula which has been declared and protected as a reserve. Until the 70´s, the town used to be the port where they would ship all of the seals that they killed for oil...I know, no blood for oil...sad, but true. Now however, things have changed! The town has become a whale watching mecca (the whale has become a national monument in Argentina) and a beach town, strangely enough.
The first day we spent in Puerto Piramides, we went whale watching. The Southern Right Whale (only known to this area of the world) visits the area from July to December for breeding, mating and raising of their calves. While we were there, most of the whales were making their way back to the Antartic for feeding. Fortunately, we saw two mamas and their babies. The one mama had a white calf (only 1 in 100 babies born are white). She didn´t want us to get too close so we moved on (the guides are very respectful of the whales). The other mama whale didn´t seem to care that we were there, so we got very close. She started doing the diving known to the Southern Right Whale where her tail fin was raised out of the water. The baby was also playing with the mama swimming on top of her and diving in the water. It was absolutely breathtaking. At one point, Ajay took a picture of me with my jaw dropped. These mammals weigh TONS and are truly majestic. In awe of nature, again.
A couple of the days we were in Puerto Piramides, we took hikes in the area, basically right out our front door. We hiked to a local sea lion colony about 3 miles from town. It was a small colony, and they were a bit in the distance but there was no mistaking the males intimidating one another in pursuit of their harem. Quite a drama to see unfold! We enjoyed all of their antics and the views while walking back to town.
Finally, we visited Estancia Rincon Chico, Ajay´s very special birthday extravanga. Estancias are sheep ranches that populate much of Patagonia. Many have opened their doors to tourists, and we had been wanting to visit one since we arrived here. So, of course, we chose this Estancia that owned 4,000 acres on the coast of Peninsula Valdez with its VERY OWN elephant seal colony. Scientists have been studying this colony for 30 years. It is protected despite it being on private land. The hotel at this estancia was lovely as were all of their pets: dogs, baby rheas (orphaned ostrich-like birds), ducks, horses, and sheep.
On Ajay´s birthday, we had a private tour with the Estancia´s guide. We walked for 5 hours along the beach AMONG the elephant seals. The beach master males get to be 3 tons and quite obnoxious. The females, young males, and pups (mostly who was on the beach while we were there) were precious and amazing. They were on the beach molting, raising their pups, and getting ready to return to sea where they spend 90% of their life. We were also surrounded by stone cliffs, bright blue-green sea, and a complete lack of development. I mean, seriously, what more could we ask for?!!!
Oh yes, then there was the fact that we were the only guests at the hotel on this day. We ate a gourmet meal in the dining room alone, and they made Ajay a CAKE for his birthday. I was so pleased, as you can imagine, that although we were in the middle of nowhere, Ajay probably had one of the best birthdays of his life.
We did lots of other activities during these 9 days, but I have already rambled on enough. We cannot wait to share our pictures with you all. And there is of course more to say about the challenges of all our animal friends, with the overfishing of their food supply.
Two more weeks...more to come.
Love,
Gina and Ajay
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Bellisimo Bariloche!
Hola de Patagonia! In our last update, we were travelling in the southern Patagonia regions of Argentina and Chile, more specifically El Calafate, El Chalten, and Puerto Natales. You probably recall that our friend Noah was traveling with us and left at the end of November to head back to the states. At that time, Ajay and I flew from El Calafate due north to the town of Bariloche in the Lake District of northern Patagonia (about a 2 hour flight for reference sake). We spent a week in this area: four nights in an absolutely lovely bed and breakfast in town that felt more like a chalet in the Swiss Alps and three nights in an apartment on the Peninsula which I´ll describe at length in a bit. Ajay came down with a five-day cold as soon as we arrived in Bariloche and when he finally recovered, I got sick. All this to say, we weren´t moving at lightning speed during our time here, but we made the most of it for sure.
Bariloche is a town of about 90,000 people and is couched among the rugged peaks of the Andes mountains and the majestic lakes of the lake district. It is also the host of one of the largest and most popular ski resorts in Argentina, Cerro Cathedral. I would describe the entire area as a cross between Summit County, Colorado and the San Juan Islands, Washington with a dash of Lake Tahoe. The town was orinally settled by Europeans especially by the Swiss. Hence Bariloche was clearly modeled off of a village in the Alps. The main square has lovely stone buildings, and there are numerous chocolaterias throughout the town. The town is also fairly exclusive despite its remote location (nothing for miles in all directions) with incredible homes built on the hills in town with absolutely stunning views of the surrounding lakes and mountains. Quite a site!
The town of Bariloche sits on the beginning of Peninsula Llao Llao (which in Argetine Spanish is pronounced shou shou, like thou thou). The Peninsula (about 30 KM in length) is full of trees, mountains, lakes, cabins, restaurants, shops, etc. The finest hotel in all of Argentina, the Llao Llao Hotel, is located at the end of the Peninsula with a sheer rock mountain as its backdrop and lakes nearby...one could use the word ¨stunning¨ to describe. There are also a lots of hiking on the Peninsula, bike rides, boat rides, and chair lifts to see the numerous panoramas throughout the region. The town of Bariloche is fairly hoppin´ and busy; the Peninsula in contrast is altogether different...it gives much more of a country feeling surrounded by nature and is quiet. Hence, we spent time in both places, although our activities didn´t differ all that much despite staying in town versus on the Peninsula.
Ajay and I, despite our colds, wanted to explore this area on foot and by bike. We did some spectacular hikes, one to the top of the ski area, another to the top of Mount Llao Llao at the end of the peninsula. We also rented mountain bikes for a couple of days. One day we rode what is called the Circuito Chico (or the short circuit). It was a 20 mile loop around the Peninsula (the only main road really). It was quite challenging as there were many hills, but the views of the lakes and mountains was really incredible. (Oh how I longed for my road bike!). The next day we rode out to the end of a peninsula, off the peninsula...you get the picture :-)!...Lots of water and mountains!
Two notable things to mention during our time here...one were the restaurants Naan and Il Gabbiano. Naan was in someone´s house (about 6 tables) that overlooked the town and lakes of Bariloche with a gourmet menu and a view of the sunset...Il Gabbiano was near our lakeside apt. on the Peninsula and is known as the best restaurant in the area...(yes Italian food is the norm in Argentina). We had a greek salad, salmom sushi italian style and rigatoni with a lamb ragout sauce. We won´t ever forget those meals.
Secondly, we stayed in an apartment on the Peninsula in the lower level of an ultra modern home designed and built by Rodlfo and his partner. Our deck for the apartment was ON the lake. We woke up in the morning to a view that will be forever imprinted in our minds. Getting to the house was quite the adventure as well. Rodolfo was very careful to explain that in order to get up the rutted-out, steep, dirt driveway up to the main road, one had to put the car in first and go consistently speedy, while trying to maintain control of the car, not stall, and not shake the doors off the car. What an adventure!? Let´s just say it was better to have the mountain bikes while staying there...we ditched the rental car soonafter arriving.
Okay, I am at seven paragraphs, and we haven´t even gotten to Puerto Madryn yet which is one of the marine wildlife capitals of the world....Hmmm. Since I cannot let down my new whale, penguin and elephant seal friends, I will return and write more after you have all caught up and tell you all about them.
We miss you all. We only have two weeks left of travel so we are trying to savor every moment, but at the same time, we are getting excited to come home.
More soon,
Gina and Ajay
Bariloche is a town of about 90,000 people and is couched among the rugged peaks of the Andes mountains and the majestic lakes of the lake district. It is also the host of one of the largest and most popular ski resorts in Argentina, Cerro Cathedral. I would describe the entire area as a cross between Summit County, Colorado and the San Juan Islands, Washington with a dash of Lake Tahoe. The town was orinally settled by Europeans especially by the Swiss. Hence Bariloche was clearly modeled off of a village in the Alps. The main square has lovely stone buildings, and there are numerous chocolaterias throughout the town. The town is also fairly exclusive despite its remote location (nothing for miles in all directions) with incredible homes built on the hills in town with absolutely stunning views of the surrounding lakes and mountains. Quite a site!
The town of Bariloche sits on the beginning of Peninsula Llao Llao (which in Argetine Spanish is pronounced shou shou, like thou thou). The Peninsula (about 30 KM in length) is full of trees, mountains, lakes, cabins, restaurants, shops, etc. The finest hotel in all of Argentina, the Llao Llao Hotel, is located at the end of the Peninsula with a sheer rock mountain as its backdrop and lakes nearby...one could use the word ¨stunning¨ to describe. There are also a lots of hiking on the Peninsula, bike rides, boat rides, and chair lifts to see the numerous panoramas throughout the region. The town of Bariloche is fairly hoppin´ and busy; the Peninsula in contrast is altogether different...it gives much more of a country feeling surrounded by nature and is quiet. Hence, we spent time in both places, although our activities didn´t differ all that much despite staying in town versus on the Peninsula.
Ajay and I, despite our colds, wanted to explore this area on foot and by bike. We did some spectacular hikes, one to the top of the ski area, another to the top of Mount Llao Llao at the end of the peninsula. We also rented mountain bikes for a couple of days. One day we rode what is called the Circuito Chico (or the short circuit). It was a 20 mile loop around the Peninsula (the only main road really). It was quite challenging as there were many hills, but the views of the lakes and mountains was really incredible. (Oh how I longed for my road bike!). The next day we rode out to the end of a peninsula, off the peninsula...you get the picture :-)!...Lots of water and mountains!
Two notable things to mention during our time here...one were the restaurants Naan and Il Gabbiano. Naan was in someone´s house (about 6 tables) that overlooked the town and lakes of Bariloche with a gourmet menu and a view of the sunset...Il Gabbiano was near our lakeside apt. on the Peninsula and is known as the best restaurant in the area...(yes Italian food is the norm in Argentina). We had a greek salad, salmom sushi italian style and rigatoni with a lamb ragout sauce. We won´t ever forget those meals.
Secondly, we stayed in an apartment on the Peninsula in the lower level of an ultra modern home designed and built by Rodlfo and his partner. Our deck for the apartment was ON the lake. We woke up in the morning to a view that will be forever imprinted in our minds. Getting to the house was quite the adventure as well. Rodolfo was very careful to explain that in order to get up the rutted-out, steep, dirt driveway up to the main road, one had to put the car in first and go consistently speedy, while trying to maintain control of the car, not stall, and not shake the doors off the car. What an adventure!? Let´s just say it was better to have the mountain bikes while staying there...we ditched the rental car soonafter arriving.
Okay, I am at seven paragraphs, and we haven´t even gotten to Puerto Madryn yet which is one of the marine wildlife capitals of the world....Hmmm. Since I cannot let down my new whale, penguin and elephant seal friends, I will return and write more after you have all caught up and tell you all about them.
We miss you all. We only have two weeks left of travel so we are trying to savor every moment, but at the same time, we are getting excited to come home.
More soon,
Gina and Ajay
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Southern Patagonia: Glaciers, wind, and a guest
Hola! Greetings from Patagonia.
The last few weeks have been exciting and crazy, so i will try and catch everyone up....and thanks to Noah, we actually have some pictures to show: http://picasaweb.google.com/noah.kaufman/SouthAmerica2008
A few weeks ago we met Noah in Buenos Aires and then flew down to El Calafate, which is in far southern Patagonia. Most of Central Argentina is ranchland, so as we rose up out of Buenos Aires, we saw lots and lots of flat land. This continued for a few hours until we started to see the Andes in the distance and then as we got closer, we saw a huge rock like a fortress over the valley. We thought that this may be the legendary Fitz Roy peak, but weren´t quite sure until we saw the glaciers in the far distance. Although we claimed any piece of snow was a glacier, this seemed like a definite glacier. Then a lake emerged out of nowhere and we landed...in the middle of nowhere.
El Calafete is a town on a lake near a glacier. It is very harsh in the winter, so things are really open only 6 months of the year. Apparently it used to be quaint in the past, but now it´s main street is dominated by tourist agencies, souvenir shops, and a gawdy casino. So we settled into the city in our quaint posada, found a tour to the Moreno glacier for the next day, and went to dinner. The next morning we met Augustin and our tour to the Moreno glacier and set off. After driving for about an hour, we could see it in the distance and were amazed. Then we boarded a boat to get a closer look and our jaws dropped. The boat got us close, but until we got off the boat and walked on the balconies just across from the glacier, we werent able to appreciate the full glory.
When you walk on the balconies, you will first hear the glacier. Loud pops like gun shots and as you get closer you realize that this is the glacier moving. Large chunks of ice will break loose and cause mini-tidal waves in the water. We saw a 10 meter chunk break loose, caram off of the ice, and dive into the water and it really does make you feel small. These glaciers have been slowly moving for tens of thousands of years and their changes arent measured in our lifetimes but in series of lifetimes. But, then there are also amazing things that happen immediately. Apparently, every few years the glacier will damn the water connecting the lakes, the lake will push and push, and eventually the glacier will give in a tremendous explosion of water and sound. But I digress.....Anyway, we hiked around the balconies for a few hours and saw the glacier from hundreds of different angles and, personally, I was not ready to go when the bus was leaving. I am convinced that if we waited a few more minutes we would have seen a great explosion, but we had more work to do!
That evening we arranged a kayak tour, had a wonderful dinner at the restaurant down the street, and went to bed. That night we made the escapade to the hospital (see the previous post) so the next morning it was only Noah and I for the kayak tour with the immortal Milton! Milton was our kayak river guide and spoke like a sly Argentino and would occassionally spout strange phrases like, "You look like two boys having fun in the river!" Milton soon became a fixture of the trip and we would imitate him as often as possible and soon used his wisdom to develop our new catch phrase, "What would Milton do!" Anyway, after meeting Milton we hopped into his Land Cruiser with the kayaks, picked up a Columbian couple that would join us, and headed to La Leona. La Leona was reportedly a hiding location for Butch Cassidy and his gang but now it was just a small hotel, with a small cafe, and a pile of dirt near the river to load the kayaks. We put on a ridiculous amout of neoprene (the water was cold) and got into the kayaks and pushed off. The river connects Lago Viedma (lago means lake) and Lago Argentino and parallels RN40, which is the most famous highway in Argentina that runs the country from north to south. Unlike the rivers in Colorado, this river was empty. No other boats or rafts. Only sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. We saw a few condors viewing us as potential prey (I tried to point them towards Noah) and lots of old estancias (ranches) dotting the river. There was a decent current and a strong wind, so we had quite a workout. Well, the other reason we had a workout is that Noah and I decided to attack the small rapids and create obstacle courses in the river. We zig-zagged around giant boulders and tried a sophisticated maneuver under an overhang, but that one didnt end well. For some reason, after all of the playing around Noah and I could barely move our arms at the end. We tried to use our paddles as sails (unsuccessfully) and send out distress signals (unsuccessfully) but eventually caught up to Milton and ended the kayak trip.
We took a day to recover and give Gina a bit more healing time and then headed to El Chalten, which is a town of 500 nestled in the Andes about 30km from the Chiliean border to the West. El Chalten has wind. Lots and lots of wind. Not like a nice fall day with a breeze. We are talking wind. Gale force winds. And it is windy all of the time. So, every walk in town was a struggle against the wind and the dust. The town is surrounded by mountains with Fitz Roy being the king of those mountains. A giant spire into the sky that overlooks the entire town. The first full day was overcast, rainy, and a bit snowy so we saw no mountains but we did a beautiful hike up up to Lago Capri and got a brief look at a glacier to the west. Throughout this area there are countless trails and unlimited hiking. Fitz Roy is an amazing peak that just seems terrifying to attempt to climb. The next day we did an ice trek on the Viedma glacier. Viedma isnt as active as the Morena glacier and not as dramatic, but walking on a glacier gives you another level of appreciation of the glacier. These glaciers extend hundreds of meters below the surface and many kilometers back into the mountains. So, you are surrounded by ice and can see into each crack and crevice. The ice took on different colors from white to blue to black and all the shades in between. We were even given a glacier cocktail of Baileys and glacier ice!
We enjoyed our hike and explored the town a bit and found some surprisingly good food. It is important to note that the staple of the patagonian diet is lamb. You can order lamb, lamb stew, lamb empanadas, smothered lamb, lamb soup, lamb pie, and probably lamb cupcakes. So, we had excellent lamb in this area and enjoyed staying in our little cabin that looked feeble, but was very strong and resilient against the pounding of the winds.
Then we left in Carito (the nickname of our little Fiat) to Torre Del Pain on RN40. Although, Carito isn´t a big car, he has a mighty heart and got us to the Chilean border in no time at all. We had a bit of an incident at the border in that we were found carrying contraband across the border --- yes, we tried to smuggle in apples! It was pretty harmless, but the border official confiscated our 4 apples and made us change our form to indicate that we we bringing apples across. After the brief border escapade, we cruised into Puerto Natales.
Puerto Natales is famous for two things: (1) Proximity to Torre Del Paine (2) The Mylodon. We were going to Torre Del Paine in a few days so we took a day to explore the Mylodon cave. This is a prehistoric giant sloth that created an international sensation in the late 1800´s when the bones and skin were found preserved and people that that there were 9 foot sloths walking around Patagonia. Alas, they are gone, but there is a giant cave where the bones were found that was surprisingly interesting. True to form we got a bit lost on the hiking trails, but this time were rewarded by a beautiful view of the region and the bays that flow down towards Antartica. I did fail in my quest to get a great cheesy Mylodon shirt, but the picture of Noah climbing the fake Mylodon statue was more than worth it.
Successfully seeing the Mylodon cave, we headed back to Puerto Natales with a slight detour to see the ¨beach¨of Puerto Natales (remember, we are pretty close to Antartica right now at the tip of the continent). After driving for a few kilometers on a very dusty road we were stopped by a herd of cattle. Everywhere. Two gauchos (cowboys) were slowing moving the herd, but they were not at all happy about our car or our presence. Gina was able to capture some live action photos while Noah kept us from crashing into them. Slightly later we saw beautiful mountain vistas with lambs grazing in front of them. Gina, attempting to take award winning photos, got out of the car to get better pictures. We aren´t exactly sure what happened but there was a lot of commotion by the lambs and Gina came back saying that they weren´t pleased at all.
With livestock adventures behind us, we headed to Torre Del Paine. Although none of us knew much about the park, it was supposed to be Chile´s greatest park. We were not disappointed. When approaching the park, you can see the Cuervos Del Paine (Horns) and a few large glaciers on either side of them. At our first stop, we were greeted by a pristine lake with floating icebergs, glaciers in the background, and greenery everywhere. Our second stop, had a thundering waterfall and direct views to the towering Cuervos above. Our final stop was our Hotel, but getting there was an adventure. About 1km prior to the Hotel, there is a tiny bridge and a sign that says that all passengers must exit the car to reduce the weight. A bit nervous, Noah and I exited and let Gina drive across the bridge (chivalry at its pinnacle). She screamed a few times but made it.
Our road trip was worth it. The Hotel is nestled under the Torres Del Paine in a beautiful pasture. Just minutes after arriving the gouchos stampeded the horses across the property as we stood slack-jawed. We settled in, had a bit of a hike, a decent meal, a few beers at the bar (while fighting the older tourists that have no manners!), and called it a night. The next morning was horseback riding!!
We woke up to lots and lots of rain, nearly called off the horse ride, and then decided to give it a go. We started harmless enough although my horse was a bit gassy and Gina´s had a bit of a wild streak. The gauchos and guide lead us off the property and we stayed at the base of the mountains. The clouds had started to lift, so hints of the Torres and neighboring peaks were visible. The lead us through creaks and streams and up and down fairly steap hills. Then they asked, "Do you want to gallup?" This seemed like a good idea, right? Horses gallup all the time. Although I looked at Gina and she was nervous and she has been riding horses for years. Apparently, galluping is sprinting really fast on the horse, aka -- Seabiscuit. Well, we got in a line, the gaucho took off and then the horses were following but still trotting until the gauchos in the back slapped the horses and then we took off. Noah was barely in his stirrups. Gina was out of hers, but she was flying past everyone. And I was too zapped on adreneline to know what I was doing. We did this a half dozen more times and soon we were all yelling gouchos and gouchas. What an experience!
Sadly, we had to leave Torre Del Paine and Chile that day and head back to El Calafete for our flights the next day. The roads were pretty dusty and difficult and tiring, but the border crossing was eventful again. This time we crossed at a very, very small town and couldn´t even find the border. When we did find it, there was a Chilean who wasn´t too interested in anything, but when we drove through the Argentine side (just a few kilometers down the road), it got fun. We pulled up and there were two people sitting outside with a dog. We got out of the car and heard screaming inside. I thought the worse. When we got into the border station, we discovered that we were disturbing a very intense game of ping-pong, hence the screaming. We all breathed a sigh of relief, laughed, and then off to Argentina.
One more night in El Calafete and then we parted with Noah. He was off to Buenos Aires for a night before heading home. We were off to Northern Patagonia and the town of Barriloche.
Ajay
The last few weeks have been exciting and crazy, so i will try and catch everyone up....and thanks to Noah, we actually have some pictures to show: http://picasaweb.google.com/noah.kaufman/SouthAmerica2008
A few weeks ago we met Noah in Buenos Aires and then flew down to El Calafate, which is in far southern Patagonia. Most of Central Argentina is ranchland, so as we rose up out of Buenos Aires, we saw lots and lots of flat land. This continued for a few hours until we started to see the Andes in the distance and then as we got closer, we saw a huge rock like a fortress over the valley. We thought that this may be the legendary Fitz Roy peak, but weren´t quite sure until we saw the glaciers in the far distance. Although we claimed any piece of snow was a glacier, this seemed like a definite glacier. Then a lake emerged out of nowhere and we landed...in the middle of nowhere.
El Calafete is a town on a lake near a glacier. It is very harsh in the winter, so things are really open only 6 months of the year. Apparently it used to be quaint in the past, but now it´s main street is dominated by tourist agencies, souvenir shops, and a gawdy casino. So we settled into the city in our quaint posada, found a tour to the Moreno glacier for the next day, and went to dinner. The next morning we met Augustin and our tour to the Moreno glacier and set off. After driving for about an hour, we could see it in the distance and were amazed. Then we boarded a boat to get a closer look and our jaws dropped. The boat got us close, but until we got off the boat and walked on the balconies just across from the glacier, we werent able to appreciate the full glory.
When you walk on the balconies, you will first hear the glacier. Loud pops like gun shots and as you get closer you realize that this is the glacier moving. Large chunks of ice will break loose and cause mini-tidal waves in the water. We saw a 10 meter chunk break loose, caram off of the ice, and dive into the water and it really does make you feel small. These glaciers have been slowly moving for tens of thousands of years and their changes arent measured in our lifetimes but in series of lifetimes. But, then there are also amazing things that happen immediately. Apparently, every few years the glacier will damn the water connecting the lakes, the lake will push and push, and eventually the glacier will give in a tremendous explosion of water and sound. But I digress.....Anyway, we hiked around the balconies for a few hours and saw the glacier from hundreds of different angles and, personally, I was not ready to go when the bus was leaving. I am convinced that if we waited a few more minutes we would have seen a great explosion, but we had more work to do!
That evening we arranged a kayak tour, had a wonderful dinner at the restaurant down the street, and went to bed. That night we made the escapade to the hospital (see the previous post) so the next morning it was only Noah and I for the kayak tour with the immortal Milton! Milton was our kayak river guide and spoke like a sly Argentino and would occassionally spout strange phrases like, "You look like two boys having fun in the river!" Milton soon became a fixture of the trip and we would imitate him as often as possible and soon used his wisdom to develop our new catch phrase, "What would Milton do!" Anyway, after meeting Milton we hopped into his Land Cruiser with the kayaks, picked up a Columbian couple that would join us, and headed to La Leona. La Leona was reportedly a hiding location for Butch Cassidy and his gang but now it was just a small hotel, with a small cafe, and a pile of dirt near the river to load the kayaks. We put on a ridiculous amout of neoprene (the water was cold) and got into the kayaks and pushed off. The river connects Lago Viedma (lago means lake) and Lago Argentino and parallels RN40, which is the most famous highway in Argentina that runs the country from north to south. Unlike the rivers in Colorado, this river was empty. No other boats or rafts. Only sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. We saw a few condors viewing us as potential prey (I tried to point them towards Noah) and lots of old estancias (ranches) dotting the river. There was a decent current and a strong wind, so we had quite a workout. Well, the other reason we had a workout is that Noah and I decided to attack the small rapids and create obstacle courses in the river. We zig-zagged around giant boulders and tried a sophisticated maneuver under an overhang, but that one didnt end well. For some reason, after all of the playing around Noah and I could barely move our arms at the end. We tried to use our paddles as sails (unsuccessfully) and send out distress signals (unsuccessfully) but eventually caught up to Milton and ended the kayak trip.
We took a day to recover and give Gina a bit more healing time and then headed to El Chalten, which is a town of 500 nestled in the Andes about 30km from the Chiliean border to the West. El Chalten has wind. Lots and lots of wind. Not like a nice fall day with a breeze. We are talking wind. Gale force winds. And it is windy all of the time. So, every walk in town was a struggle against the wind and the dust. The town is surrounded by mountains with Fitz Roy being the king of those mountains. A giant spire into the sky that overlooks the entire town. The first full day was overcast, rainy, and a bit snowy so we saw no mountains but we did a beautiful hike up up to Lago Capri and got a brief look at a glacier to the west. Throughout this area there are countless trails and unlimited hiking. Fitz Roy is an amazing peak that just seems terrifying to attempt to climb. The next day we did an ice trek on the Viedma glacier. Viedma isnt as active as the Morena glacier and not as dramatic, but walking on a glacier gives you another level of appreciation of the glacier. These glaciers extend hundreds of meters below the surface and many kilometers back into the mountains. So, you are surrounded by ice and can see into each crack and crevice. The ice took on different colors from white to blue to black and all the shades in between. We were even given a glacier cocktail of Baileys and glacier ice!
We enjoyed our hike and explored the town a bit and found some surprisingly good food. It is important to note that the staple of the patagonian diet is lamb. You can order lamb, lamb stew, lamb empanadas, smothered lamb, lamb soup, lamb pie, and probably lamb cupcakes. So, we had excellent lamb in this area and enjoyed staying in our little cabin that looked feeble, but was very strong and resilient against the pounding of the winds.
Then we left in Carito (the nickname of our little Fiat) to Torre Del Pain on RN40. Although, Carito isn´t a big car, he has a mighty heart and got us to the Chilean border in no time at all. We had a bit of an incident at the border in that we were found carrying contraband across the border --- yes, we tried to smuggle in apples! It was pretty harmless, but the border official confiscated our 4 apples and made us change our form to indicate that we we bringing apples across. After the brief border escapade, we cruised into Puerto Natales.
Puerto Natales is famous for two things: (1) Proximity to Torre Del Paine (2) The Mylodon. We were going to Torre Del Paine in a few days so we took a day to explore the Mylodon cave. This is a prehistoric giant sloth that created an international sensation in the late 1800´s when the bones and skin were found preserved and people that that there were 9 foot sloths walking around Patagonia. Alas, they are gone, but there is a giant cave where the bones were found that was surprisingly interesting. True to form we got a bit lost on the hiking trails, but this time were rewarded by a beautiful view of the region and the bays that flow down towards Antartica. I did fail in my quest to get a great cheesy Mylodon shirt, but the picture of Noah climbing the fake Mylodon statue was more than worth it.
Successfully seeing the Mylodon cave, we headed back to Puerto Natales with a slight detour to see the ¨beach¨of Puerto Natales (remember, we are pretty close to Antartica right now at the tip of the continent). After driving for a few kilometers on a very dusty road we were stopped by a herd of cattle. Everywhere. Two gauchos (cowboys) were slowing moving the herd, but they were not at all happy about our car or our presence. Gina was able to capture some live action photos while Noah kept us from crashing into them. Slightly later we saw beautiful mountain vistas with lambs grazing in front of them. Gina, attempting to take award winning photos, got out of the car to get better pictures. We aren´t exactly sure what happened but there was a lot of commotion by the lambs and Gina came back saying that they weren´t pleased at all.
With livestock adventures behind us, we headed to Torre Del Paine. Although none of us knew much about the park, it was supposed to be Chile´s greatest park. We were not disappointed. When approaching the park, you can see the Cuervos Del Paine (Horns) and a few large glaciers on either side of them. At our first stop, we were greeted by a pristine lake with floating icebergs, glaciers in the background, and greenery everywhere. Our second stop, had a thundering waterfall and direct views to the towering Cuervos above. Our final stop was our Hotel, but getting there was an adventure. About 1km prior to the Hotel, there is a tiny bridge and a sign that says that all passengers must exit the car to reduce the weight. A bit nervous, Noah and I exited and let Gina drive across the bridge (chivalry at its pinnacle). She screamed a few times but made it.
Our road trip was worth it. The Hotel is nestled under the Torres Del Paine in a beautiful pasture. Just minutes after arriving the gouchos stampeded the horses across the property as we stood slack-jawed. We settled in, had a bit of a hike, a decent meal, a few beers at the bar (while fighting the older tourists that have no manners!), and called it a night. The next morning was horseback riding!!
We woke up to lots and lots of rain, nearly called off the horse ride, and then decided to give it a go. We started harmless enough although my horse was a bit gassy and Gina´s had a bit of a wild streak. The gauchos and guide lead us off the property and we stayed at the base of the mountains. The clouds had started to lift, so hints of the Torres and neighboring peaks were visible. The lead us through creaks and streams and up and down fairly steap hills. Then they asked, "Do you want to gallup?" This seemed like a good idea, right? Horses gallup all the time. Although I looked at Gina and she was nervous and she has been riding horses for years. Apparently, galluping is sprinting really fast on the horse, aka -- Seabiscuit. Well, we got in a line, the gaucho took off and then the horses were following but still trotting until the gauchos in the back slapped the horses and then we took off. Noah was barely in his stirrups. Gina was out of hers, but she was flying past everyone. And I was too zapped on adreneline to know what I was doing. We did this a half dozen more times and soon we were all yelling gouchos and gouchas. What an experience!
Sadly, we had to leave Torre Del Paine and Chile that day and head back to El Calafete for our flights the next day. The roads were pretty dusty and difficult and tiring, but the border crossing was eventful again. This time we crossed at a very, very small town and couldn´t even find the border. When we did find it, there was a Chilean who wasn´t too interested in anything, but when we drove through the Argentine side (just a few kilometers down the road), it got fun. We pulled up and there were two people sitting outside with a dog. We got out of the car and heard screaming inside. I thought the worse. When we got into the border station, we discovered that we were disturbing a very intense game of ping-pong, hence the screaming. We all breathed a sigh of relief, laughed, and then off to Argentina.
One more night in El Calafete and then we parted with Noah. He was off to Buenos Aires for a night before heading home. We were off to Northern Patagonia and the town of Barriloche.
Ajay
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