Travel Gear

It seems like I’ve been asking for stuff for this trip for the last 5 years. This Christmas I got waterproof pants which have proven themselves indispensable many times already. My sisters gave us camera memory with a case. Andy gave us an REI gift certificate with which I picked up a cute camera case with a little waterproof poncho. Tricia also gave us a calling card which we haven’t been able to figure out how to use. I am going to try to do just that today from Chile. Last year for Christmas I got my waterproof parka and windproof fleece, Columbia Titanium, also indispensable. Two years (3 Christmases) ago, I got a membership to the South America explorers club from my sisters. The organization was cool enough to let me keep postponing the year that the membership was, now is, good for. I’ll have to try to make it to the club house in Buenos Aires after I leave Wendy in Mendoza. Last year, Michelle & Greg game me (us) the South America Footprint Guidebook. This past birthday, I got Keen Sandals. 2 or 3 birthdays ago, I got a South America Insight guide from Tricia. 2 or 3 xmases ago I got the set of small scale ITMB travel maps covering all of South America. I have older stuff too; my hiking boots are over 10 years old and my running shoes over 5.

¡Hay Carancha!

We first saw the caranchas in Tierra del Fuego National Park. We thought they were really cool. They looked kind of like an eagle or a hawk. Well, yesterday, when we got back from our hike at around 8:30pm, we discovered that the bastards got into our food. They wasted our oatmeal and white crackers, spreading it all around in the dirt. Luckily we were able to salvage our red bell pepper and dried fruit by washing them off. They messed up our bread and took a few bites out of our Montecal chocolate and peanut butter bar. Worst of all, those fuckers took off with our dried sausage and the rest of our mozzarella cheese. I hate those things now. They took our best tasting, most versatile, and most expensive food. They also caused us to lose our pot lid which made it impossible to have a hot meal free from the dust and dirt of the storm. Then, overnight, the bastards returned and got into our trash. Now, whenever they come near, I throw a medium sized stick at them. Breakfast this morning was the salvaged dried fruit, mint tea, and sopa caracol which was a delicious chicken broth soup with little pastas and some dried vegetable flakes.

El Chaltén

This place is utterly amazing. The stark beauty of the jutting, granite, spires of Cerro Poincenot and Monte Fitz Roy are awe inspiring. I have a hard time believing it is real. The easy hike to get to our camp at Poincenot took a little over 3 hours. We took it slow with our full backpacks. Throughout the park, the water is potable. Potable water EVERYWHERE! We don’t have to carry a drop of water with us anywhere we go. Our campsite is 30 steps away from the purest, coldest, freshest water on earth. Can you believe how much I love this place? And the park management here is excellent. They have all the tourist busses that enter the park stop at the info center where it is explained to everyone how to respect the environment so that it can be enjoyed in its present state by future generations. Pretty simple really; don’t leave anything & take care of your dirty business far from any water.

El Chaltén is always accompanied by some cloud. At times cloud appears to be issuing from fissures at it’s top as if it were an active volcano. Sometimes clouds rise from it’s base up to its peak. Presently, the right half is enshrouded in thick cloud while thin wispy clouds blow up and disappear behind and to the left of it. The clouds in this land are a real treat for my eyes. There is constantly some fascinating formation or combination of clouds to admire.

So far, I really, really, like Argentina. Even though we have only explored the southern tip so far, I know this is a country that I could live in. It is so large and diverse. Mountains, ocean, cold, hot, rainforest, dry forest, no forest, desert, tropics, sub-Antarctic, the people seem great. They have already gone through devaluation. Frankly, I don’t understand why it is so cheap here. It is a stable, developed, country and it has amazing natural resources.

We just ate delicious sandwiches of avocado, tomato, mozzarella, a little bit of red pepper & a little salt on little oregano biscuits. Yesterday after tooling around the town of El Chaltén, we stepped into a little brew house for a beer. I had the dark and Wendy had the light. The pipe fitter from the Netherlands we met while waiting for the bus was there and gave us each a piece of his pizza. They also served us popcorn. Later in the evening after going to the store, renting a camp stove, and taking showers, we went to Patigonica and ordered a delicious pizza and a large 970cc Quilmes Bock AR$37 total with tip ($12).

I Joined Wendy at her nap in the tent and after we got up and went for a day hike to Piedras Blancas, We can see a bit of the glacier from here. It looks like white rocks falling off a cliff. That is what I though the name must have referred to. When we got there, I realized that the name refers to all the beautiful white granite rocks everywhere. There were some immense white boulders that were great to admire. It was fun boulder hopping up to the lake and drinking the ice cold glacier milk right from the stream.

Oh, I forgot to mention the dust storm before, during, and after our nap. The wind has been whipping most of the time. Yesterday, It was so dry. When I went to go lay down with Wendy, the sleeping bags and tent were covered with a layer of dust. We decided we should put the fly on the tent. We did so before I layed down for a nap. The wind whipped the dust and when we woke up to hike to Piedras Blancas, we were covered with more dirt and dust than before we put the tarp on. At night, after eating powdered pumpkin soup with red bell pepper, which was surprisingly good, we took everything out of the tent again and shook it off and shook the tent out. We thought we would wake up to dust again, but we were wrong. The dust was no more, the wet was now in it’s place.

On the Way to El Calafate

We our on our way to El Calafate via the special bus. Apparently it is special because they charge more. We hit Patagonia in the height of travel season. This really has a negative impact on our expenses and logistics. Many of the transportation options are full. Unfortunately, we have had to plan out most of our trip because we have to be in Mendoza at a set date. We were up at 5:30 for the free breakfast in the ABRA Hostel at Rivadavia 376. Even though we were 5th & 6th at the bus stop, we barely got seats together on the bus. Competitive tourism can be ugly. Good thing I took our mochilas (backpacks) to the luggage compartment while she went on to get us seats. We just made a pit stop at Panaderia La Union in Tolhuin. My oh my, what an excellent panaderia (bakery). Wendy selected a pastry that had one end dipped in chocolate. What was not immediately apparent was that there was an enormous dollop of dulce de leche ensconced in the heart of the pastry. I don’t know yet what the other pastry we bought tastes like. We decided we needed a break after the first load of fat and calories. I well let you know how it tastes after we eat it. The first one was good, real good. After consuming it, a discussion ensued about just what is dulce de leche? Wendy thinks that it is like caramel but more sauce than goo. I can’t say that I agree with that statement. I can’t say that I have any idea what that statement means. I can agree with her that it is probably more cream based. Just out of Ushuaia the scenery is stunning. There are peaks and a rainbow and right now we are in an attractive, but not beautiful, forest. Some trees have a lot, a lot of moss. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us of at least 18 hours.