Argentina to Uruguay

Such a simple plan. What could possibly go wrong?

Fly to Uruguay. Catch transport to the beach resort. Simple, right? 

Next thing we know, we are walking down a gravel road at midnight. 

Aerolineas Argentinas, the airline that I love to hate (for those of you who complain about Air Canada, you should try an airline with 50% of its flights late, hours long line ups, sometimes not to even opening up check in until 45 minutes before flight departure, and a government guaranteed monopoly on most routes!) delays our connection from Buenos Airies, Argentina to Punta del Este, Uruguay for no announced reason. We whisk through customs and immigration is seconds, get our bags in a couple of short minutes, and then have to go back through customs - back packs look like we are trying to smuggle in FRUIT (into a country that recently completely legalized marijuana!). Ok, after trying every credit and ATM card that we have, we conclude that the airport ATM has no cash! No problem - we have enough cash for a taxi and just enough time to make the last bus to the beach! The last bus is supposed to get to the seaside town if La Pedrera at 11 p.m.  Hey, 11:30 is close. 

But there are no taxis at the bus stop, as promised by the resort. And no taxis in the centre of town, as suggested by the bus conductor. But there are some guys barbecuing beef on the street, who point out directions and give rapid fire directions in clipped Spanish when I ask where our resort is. A couple pushing a baby in a stroller down the dimly lit road (yup, at midnight - the locals are just finishing dinner at that time!) give us further directions in pretty good English. We hike down the main highway for a while and turn off down the gravel road that should (could? Might?) be heading to our resort. At the last street light, we stop a young man with a huge fishing rod on a tiny motor bike - " a la derecho, a la derecho!" He says with a smile. Keep going straight. Next we see a glow in the distance.  When we peer through the fence, we see what looks like the swimming pool that was pictured on the Internet. "Where did you come from?" asks the incredulous owner.  "We walked" we proudly reply. "Then how about a glass of champagne on the house?" was his unexpected suggestion.

Life is good. 

We have a cute cabin just back of the beach. Two days of surfing lessons have just made us want to go back for more.  Steve even managed to high five one of the instructors while surfing by him today. Jackie had such a spectacular wipe out that her board was launched ten feet in the air, but subsequently road in three waves all the way to stepping off her board onto nearly dry sand. Most of the class is a lot younger than us - there is one cute little four year old girl who has her own wet suit, her own surf board, and a customized protective bag the same size as her little board. So cute! But I think that the instructors get a bigger kick out of seeing us older kids catch a wave!

Life is good!

CHILE : Pucan

The last week felt less like travel and more like summer in Canmore. We rented a car, stayed in a cabin surrounded by mountains, cooked our own meals and spent our days hiking and climbing. The high peaks are all volcanoes, many of which are still active. The first volcano we saw was Osorno  which was best viewed  from Petrohue waterfalls.

The hiking was through the forest with views of lakes and of course ..... more volcanoes. 

After spending a few days looking at Volcan Villarrica, we decided that it would be fun to climb it. 

The problem was that it is a popular peak and from what we had read, you needed a guide. We talked to one of the CONAF Rangers who had worked in Waterton, married a Calgarian and knew Canmore was a climbing town. What are the odds? After a quick chat about our climbing experience and proof of membership in a climbing club, we had permission to climb unguided so long as we could rent the requisite gear (helmet, mountaineering boots, crampons, ice ax and gators). We managed to rent gear and the next morning we were back at the NP at 7:00 am when the gates opened. 

The climb was an easy snow ascent followed by a short section of lava rock where we dodged clouds of steaming sulphur to the summit and views of the deep crater. 

It was odd to see the crater of this live volcano lined with ice.  

We didn't linger on the summit as the smell of sulphur was strong when the wind changed direction and sent it towards us. The snow on descent was still quite firm so required  crampons for the  first few hundred meters. Luckily Jackie was able to "McGiver"  her broken crampon strap. Did I mention rental gear.....and we rented from the quality shop. Once we reached softer snow, we pulled out the sleds attached them to the waist belts on our packs and soared down the slopes.....FUN. 

Part way down we came across the guided groups......300 people in total. YIKES........we sure glad that we had an early start.  

Next stop.......Bariloche, Argentina 

Argentina - Bariloche

Took a very scenic bus ride from Puerto Montt, Chile to San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. The ride got more spectacular after we crossed the pass in the Andes into Argentina. Ten years ago, Steve worked for a week in Buenos Airies, and then we spent two weeks rock climbing near 

Bariloche.  Ten years later, the place seems to be about ten times bigger! But it is gorgeous - beautiful lakes, rugged mountains. 

We caught a local bus from Bariloche towards the end of one of the local lakes that dropped us off at the trail head for a hike to Laguna Negra. The trail wound its way scenically up the mountains between streams and waterfalls.  

Laguna Negra means Black Lake. The lake is actually very blue, but it reflects the surrounding black coloured lakes. 

It was such a beautiful day that we carried on up to the ridge of Cerro Willis, to get an awesome view of Mount Tronador, one of the highest volcanoes in Argentina. 

We raced down the 19 km and 1200 vertical meters to get back to the bus stop 5 minutes before the bus was supposed to arrive. Supposed to. We ended up waiting an hour and a half! At least we go to chat with a lot of locals. Our Spanish ( more like Spenglish) is slowly improving, but we still make plenty of mistakes. The bus ride from Chile had onboard bingo. Steve was within one number of the full card black out that would have won him a bottle of wine, but it took both us us concentrating to catch all of the numbers. Sixty and seventy, in particular, sound very alike! 

Somebody asked Steve how long he had been in South America. He meant to say two months (dos meses). Instead, he said two tables (dos mesas). We though it would be funny if Jackie said that she had been here for two chairs!  

Off to Uruguay today for nine days of such surfing, then home!

Chiloe, Chile - Penguins, Accordians and Churches

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After getting off of the ferry from Puerto Natales (" all the charm of stowing away on a freighter" according to the Lonely Planet guide!) we went to the island of Chiloe for some culture. The big attraction was Maggalenic and Humbolt penguins.

We also took in an accordion festival. 4 different acts per hour for two days! My favourite was the teen soloist who played death metal on his accordion (Ivan, I have a vague recollection of you once playing some Elvis on your accordion- here is a chance for you to expand your repertoire!). We got to try the local special - curanto, a mix of shellfish, sausage, chicken, potatoes and dumplings. Traditionally, it was prepared by burying coals, putting all of the food on top, covering it with leaves, soaking it in wine and then leaving the whole thing to steam for few hours. Now they just boil them up in big cauldrons. 

The part of Chilean cruise that I like the most is CAKE. They call them tortas, kuchen, tarta or cake - all of them are fantastic! Some people have suggested that it is a German influence. 

European influence is strongly seen in their churches. In the northern most part of Chile, the churches are made of adobe and look Mexican.  In the centre, they are made of stone and look gothic. There are almost a hundred churches for the 30,000 inhabitants of the island of Chiloe and they took inspiration from Europe, but adapted their ship building skills to create some of the oldest standing wooden structures in the world. This church still has most of the original construction and was built in 1730. 

The interior has seen some repairs, but most of the wood is original. A super hard, weather resistant tree called the Accaruia was used to build the churches - the same wood was used in their boats. The tree is now almost extinct, so it is illegal to chop down live ones. Mass is still celebrated every Sunday. While many of our Catholic priests in Canada are from the Philippines, many priests in Chile are from Spain. The current pope is from Argentina, but the locals don't care for him much ( unlike just about everywhere else in the world, where he is becoming one of the most popular popes of all time). It may be because he is Argentine ( neighbours don't always get along) or because the locals still adore pope John Paul, who visited Chile at great personal risk during the time of their military dictatorship. 

I got there just as the opening hymn started and sat in the middle. By the end of the mass, there were twice as many people in the church. I guess punctuality is not highly prized amongst church goers!

In some of the churches, the locals wanted the pillars to look like marble, so they painted them. 

Every church has a bell tower! We're we scared climbing 200 year ladders? Nope. Hmmm. Maybe we should have been. 

In the main city of Castro, a church has been on the same site since 1467, but has burned down three times. The most recent church is very new - it was finished in 1907. The locals wanted the exterior to look like a European cathedral, so hand painted and hammered these tin plates for the exterior to resemble stones. 

The interior is done all in wood, creating one of the most beautiful church settings I have ever seen. 

In Castro, we stayed in a Palafito, a traditional shore structure built on stilts. The tides are so great that during high tide the water is at the top of the stilts!

There is also a lot of varied and beautiful scenery on the island, including huge remote beaches, swamps and some areas of jungle. 

CHILE- Navimag Ferry Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt

The trip takes 3 days and 4 nights travelling through the remote Chilean fjords. There is only one  settlement enroute, the tiny village of Eden with a population of 90 people. The Navimag Ferry that stops 2 times per week is their only mode of transport and  delivery of goods. The port is not capable of handling the ferry, so people and goods are transported to and from the ferry by zodiac.

The scenery varies from narrow passages that are 80m wide to the open sea. 

 

Thankfully the open sea portion is only about 16 hours and half of that time is spent sleeping. We had a very calm time in the open sea as the waves only 3m at their highest. Steve used the last "patch" for this portion and managed the swells much better than on the Antarctic cruise.

The passengers are from around the world some travelling for a few weeks on their honeymoon while others are travelling for much longer. One french Canadian couple is travelling for 2 years. They decided to do a long trip before they turned 50, so will end their trip before their birthdays and celebrate their 50ths when they return home. The couple that I have enjoyed the most is the the first couple that I met. Tony (English) and Jean Marc (French). They are both 70 and live in the north of France in Basque country near the Spanish border. 

The most unusual part of the trip is our cargo. 

Since this is a ferry there are vehicles on board.....and...... about 200 head of cattle. The cows are 7 months old and are being transported to Puerto Montt where they will spend the next 2 years fattening up before becoming steak and burgers. They have been very quiet but the "smell of cow" permeates every corner of the boat.  Wind and temperature are key to how much "cow" you smell. The smell was the strongest on December 31st as it was a hot, sunny, windless day. When relaxing on the outside deck,  I felt like I could have been sitting in the middle of a cow pasture. 

One of the odd rules on the boat is that alcohol is prohibited. We learned this in the safety briefing after we had left shore. After this statement appeared on the screen, you could hear the thoughts in minds of our fellow passengers..."what, did I hear that correctly that there is no bar onboard"....."good call to bring booze on board".....  ......."damn we should have brought (more) booze on board"... and then the really important question......."it's new years eve in 2 days, will we all be hiding in our cabins drinking our prohibited substances like a bunch of underaged teenagers?" We were curious as to how the no alcohol rule came to be so we asked. Three years ago they had problems with a handful of drunk guys falling down the stairs. Two years ago a famous British actress and her boyfriend were drunk, had a heated argument and she fell overboard breaking her neck and dying. Last year, some very drunk young guys decided to have a bbq in their cabin and set the boat on fire. It took 3 hours to extinguish the fire. Hmmmmmm!!

New Years eve was indeed interesting. At 10:00 pm we were cruising around the ship looking for the party girls (from Scotland that were also keen to have some type of celebration) 

and the fun guys (Tony and Jean Marc). We met up with Tony around 11:00 pm. He was carrying around 2 bottles of red wine and looking for friends to enjoy them with. We found a table in the dining room where he discreetly opened one and poured it into plastic glasses. Thirty minutes later, staff was setting out midnight munchies and handing out hats, leis and noise makers. 

We heard the pop of champagne bottles and turned to see little plastic wine glasses being filled with something that looked like pink champagne (no alcohol, of course). Then there was an announcement that all passengers were invited to the bridge where we counted down to the new year. 

One of the mates, set off fireworks from the deck outside of the bridge. The cows remained quiet. They were probably grateful that the people were distracted and not staring at them for a change. From the bridge, we moved  to the sitting lounge which had been turned into a disco complete with strobe light. We danced our way into the new year. When we left Tony was still on the dance floor. Yup, out-partied by a 70 year old!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Chile - Torres del Paine Trekking

We spent 11days at trekking through the Torres del Paine national park, at the southern end of Chilean Patagonia. It is touted in marketing literature as one of the m out beautiful treks in the world.  After completing it, we would agree!

The trekking is interesting in that there are numerous private hostels along the way. Most people do 4 to 5 day  trek along the southernmost end of the park.  Because of the shape of the trails, this shorter trek is called the "W". We started with the busy W trek, but then carried on around the back side of the park to complete the circumnavigation of the park on a trail called the "O". 

Many people do the trek by horseback, and the hostels and campgrounds throughout the park are supplied either by boat or by horseback.

We started our trek in the southeast  corner which was accessible by bus. This area of the park still has a private ranch, although the ranch is now dedicated to tourism. 

We had a bit of a surprise on our first morning, as we woke up to find our tent covered in snow. We waited for it to warm up a bit, and then we hiked up to the Mirador de Los Torres - the viewpoint of the towers.

On our next day, we had a pleasant surprise when we bumped into some Australians who we originally met on our Antarctic cruise.  Jaylynn had always wanted to go to Antartica, so she convinced her dad to join her. Brian, her father, had only been out off Australia once before in his life. Also, he had never been backpacking before and had never seen snow! He said that he was loving the backpacking experience, but he wished that they had rented a tent that was large enough for him to actually stretch out in! We actually met a lot of very interesting people on the trek, since we would congregate in the evenings in cook shelters to make supper. Two of the most interesting couples came from England and Germany. The English couple bought a motor bike in 

Chicago and drove it all the way to the southern tip of Chile over a 9 month period. They took a boat to get around the Darien Gap in Panama,  but sent their motorbike by Fedex because couriering it was the least expensive way of getting it to South America. The young German couple told us a lot about what it was like growing up in the former German Democratic Republic. Apparently, when the Berlin Wall came down, birth rates in East Germany dropped 80% because everybody felt so uncertain about their future. 

The stratigraphy of the Torres del Paine is fascinating. 10,000 years ago, the entire area was glaciated. Only the tops of the highest peaks were not covered with ice. There are some fascinating rock layers as a result. Also, because the area was no recently ice covered, there is very little topsoil, which means relatively sparse vegetation, resulting in very little wildlife. 

They get plenty of precipitation - it rained on us every day, although most days it was gently drizzle or a mist. Because of all of the precipitation, their glaciers are very scenic. One amusing bit of scenery was all of the young people who had clearly never back packed before, and were doing the trail with a pair of huge day packs with tents and sleeping bags attached by string and shoe laces. Looked very uncomfortable!

There is also a lot of erosion around the old moraines, so in some places the park has installed ladders. 

One of the most spectacular sites was the Grey Glacier. It is 10 - 12 km wide, and over 70 km long. 

The most impressive a views were from the top of John Gardner Pass. Most guide books, tour operators and park rangers recommended doing the "O" circuit counter clockwise so that you are descending the steep, muddy, slippery slopes on the west side of the pass. We decided that we would rather ascend steep and slippery trails. There were only 3 other people doing the trail in our direction.

Christmas Eve dinner was noodles and dehydrated soy vegetable protein cooked in chicken noodle soup! The next day we had tuna cakes for Christmas Day dinner at one of the hostels. We carried most of our food with us, but planned to eat a few dinners at the hostels to keep our pack weight down.

The back side of the "O" was much less busy than the front, and was just as ruggedly beautiful. 

Overall, a beautiful trip. Glad that we did it - even if it meant 11 days in our tent!