Buenos Aires

After a trip to the local Parque Nacional, I boarded my bus early and left Ushuaia. The first 24 hours weren’t bad, but at about hour 28, three babies sat down within two seats of me. I was surrounded by laughing, crying, jumping, and poking. 10 hours later, alter they got off, I had a set of seats to myself and settled in for the last 12 or so hours until arriving in Buenos Aires.

It is difficult to describe the time spent in Buenos Aires, because while doing so much, you accomplish nothing. I have to admit, it was a bit of a culture shock at first. Coming from Patagonia, I recently know early nights and mornings, very few people, and lots of nature. BA is very beautiful, but in an obviously different way than for example, Torres del Paine



The main thing that Buenos Aires has been for me is meeting tons of people. It is a major starting or ending point, so everyone has interesting stories of travel or are excited and anxious for the travels to come. It has been standard for me to converse until the early morning. So far, I've been to a couple bars, one discoteca, and hosted an asado (BBQ) at the hostel.

Adventures during the day have mainly been constrained to failed attempts at getting a visa for Paraguay. The Consulado has had 4 different addresses in the last 5 years, though this has made for some excellent selfguided tours of the city. Walking around it feels like San Francisco, but different and warmer.

There are plazas everywhere celebrating various people; Christopher Columbus has one, as does Louis Braille, and many people whose names and likenesses I don't recognize. One of the nicest places I have been is the Cementerio de la Recoleta, a huge cemetary with exquisite tombs beneath incredible angels. The tombs are all above ground, making the whole place some sort of morbid maze.

I got my Visa today for Paraguay, and will get on an overnight bus this evening. I plan to cross near Iguazu, the waterfalls which Niagara almost rivals.

Somethings Interesting

--From Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, I had 3 sunrises, 2 sunsets, 7 meals, 2 books, 5 movies, and 51 hours, 33 minutes.

--I have been told my Spanish is very good. The secret, I think, is to have the same conversations over and over (i.e. "Soy de California", "un estudiante", etc), get good at them, and then talk really fast.

--I think it has to do with the "Argentinian time" (e.g. late), but the time spent in lines is absurd. Sometimes, 20 minutes for an ATM, over an hour for a human at the bank, the consulado was the worst. Makes for good reading though.

End of the World

The bus from Punta Arencas was incredible. It followed the Strait of Magellen and finally boarded a ferry to cross it. I took a boat across the same East-West Passage that helped prove the Earth is round. Hours later, I arrived in the "Southern Most City in the World", Ushuaia.

After completing the standard tourist adventures in this city include stamping the passport 8-10 times, going on boat rides, and short day hikes, I planned a longer trek with some friends from Torres del Paine. We gave ourselves three days, two nights for a very easy trek with possible side trips. The plan was through a valley, up the side to a couple of lakes the first day. The second, back down in to the valley, up and over a pass. Then a leisurely stroll down and back to civilization.

The taxi driver dropped us off near the trail head, but not at it. We figured this out soon enough, and found the stream we needed to be close to. At this point, a pack of five dogs found us and decided to come along for the adventure. We made it back to the trail head, though without keeping our feet dry. Crossing the valley led us to our first lake, a chilly, glacial bowl for lunch. The nine of us (four humans, five dogs) then backtracked and up the other side to our second lake and first camp. Because we were not in the park yet, we were able to have a warm fire and dry our shoes.

The second day started well, we made good time out of the valley, the dogs leading the way. We made it back to the central valley, and even to the park entrance. After some hiking in the park, we came to a lake/bog that wasn't on the map. The dead trees located throughout gave us the impression it was rather new. We decided to go around, and ended up scaling down some cliffs, wading through rivers, etc. We found what we believed to be the trail, it even had logs cut of out the way. This eventually ended, and we tried to use the compass and map to find our way.

The dogs, at this point, were no longer leading, but following us. We were definitely lost, off trail, and it was getting dark. We backtracked, and eventually found out that we circumnavigated the entire bog lake from before, also discovering the reason for this unmapped lake. Beavers had built a series of damns which completely flooded the valley and trail. We found our way back to the park limits, camping on the outside once again to allow for a fire to dry our things.

The dogs followed us out and left us when we passed their home. We kept on, enjoying an all-you-can-eat dinner and a warm shower that night. Today, I took my muddy things to a lavaropa and bought my ticket north. At 5am tomorrow, I will begin traveling, and will not stop until 8am two days later. That is 12 hours, a 3 hour layover, then 36 hours.

Some photos:

Somethings Interesting
--As big as this continent is, all travelers are going to the same cities and same destinations. I have run into the same people multiple times. This fascinates me.

--I was expecting more violence and bloodshed in Lord of the Flies.

--25 breeding pairs of beavers were introduced here in the 40s in an attempt by the Argentine government to develop trade with Europe. Epic fail. Turns out, beaver pelts were popular pre-Industrial Revolution, not post-WWII. Also, without any natural predators, they have flourished and are destroying Patagonia, literally.

Patagonia is Cold

It has been awhile since the last post, mainly due to the fact that I have kept so busy. I have been to two Parque Nacionales, experienced a 25+ hour bus ride, trekked for four days, and lost my debit card to a cajero automatico.

After crossing the Argentine border, I got my first of the two PN with Parque Nacional Los Alerces. It is a beautiful park in Northern Patagonia with several lakes and the South American equivalent of the Sequoias we have in California. After a glassy boat ride between peaks and glaciers, we got to the old forest with our guide. He spoke only in Spanish, but my abilities have progressed so that I could at least understand what plant or animal he was talking about, and sometimes what was interesting about it. Boat ride back, and a bus ride back to town ended a long day the night before an even longer bus ride.



25 hours is a long time on a bus, but I got through it with the help of lots of food and surprisingly good movies (personal favorite was a ripped copy of Sherlock Holmes). I arrived in Esquel, leaving myself only enough time to let an automatico eat my card before traveling back in to Chile to prepare for a trek in Torres del Paine. I made this trek with Ben Birnbaum, a friend of a friend from the Melville, and our base camp was Puerto Natales, where we enjoyed a night of partying with some locals met through Couchsurfing before taking off into the Parque.

The Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is arguably the Yosemite of South America. It has incredible views, challenging and rewarding hikes, and lots of people. We completed the "W" a hike which doubles back on itself three separate times, forming the shape of a "W" on the terrain. We took our time, completing the entire trek in four nights, and ended with a spectacular sunrise giving amazing color to the Torres. Some happenings of note include several moustaches meeting up, Ben's backpack being chewed into by mice, possibly a dead man in the drinking water, and amazing dinners (salmon with rice, pasta with red sauce and hot dogs, ravioli soup, and macaroni with three types of meet).



Returning to the "real" world, we enjoyed some amazing lamb and chicken barbecue that was near impossible to find. We took the weekend to recover, with laundry and personal cleansings. A second night of partying with the Couchsurfers saw us getting VIP access to a club opening. We shared the night with only locals as we danced and stared from our lounge on the second floor. The next day, I said my goodbye to Ben and got on a bus to Punta Arenas, where I am now.

Somethings Interesting:

--Patagonia is Freezing cold.

--While the continent is large, all travelers are heading in the same direction, going to the same attractions. I run into friends previous all the time.

--Penguins are too expensive to see, sometimes costing $70. Hopefully I can get some cheaper up north.