The Final Curtain

Well the end is near on this fantastic journey. We ended our last night here Buenos Aires with a big celebration for St. Patricks. We met up with a couple of folks form Ireland (Mark and Karen) and a lad from London (Michael). Mark and Karen were on a year long travel and had some awesome stories about their far east adventures. Michael had been traveling here in South America for about 3 months and told us some great stories in particular about working with pumas in Bolivia. Really amazing.

When we got back to the hostel we pretty much passed out. Tells you what kinda evening that was :) However, I was abruptly awakened to the sound of a body thudding the floor. The girl above me had apparently gotten smashed last night and in her tossing and turning spell she fell from the top bunk and smack the ground pretty hard. I immediately jumped up to see if she was alright. Luckily she was fine. I ran into her a bit ago and asked her how she was, and she said she was fine and that she had gotten pretty smashed last night. I looked at her and said, "you don't remember falling off the bed last night do you?" She said "No." Wow!

Today we just putzed around the city and took in some sights. Found a store that didn't except Visa but to American Express. Visa, Everywhere you wanna be except for that place. wtf.

It's going to be really difficult to top this trip. It's an amazing country with lots to offer. From mountains to falls to big city culture and cuisine. There's something sure to meet your desires. Of all the things we did I'd have to say that Iguazu was the most amazing. The sheer beauty and power of those falls is remarkable. We learned quite a bit in a short period of time (we're smart like that). I'll leave you all with one piece of advice if you decide to visit Argentina. Hit up a mercado for change because the ATMs here only give you 100s and no one seems to have change in this country.

Oh and...

For those of you who still prescribe to the conspiracy theory that Zac and I are not "really" in Argentina, BOOYA!!!

Tango y Iguaza

Well the last couple of days have been jammed with exciting adventures. We left El Calafate Monday morning only to find that the President of Argentina had made a visit to El Calafate and thus backed up traffic at the airport. Thankfully their airport was the size of a podunk country club and thus the delay was only 30 minutes or so.

Upon arriving in Buenos Aires, we found our hostel in the trendy little neighborhood called Palermo. The folks at the hostel were very kind to us and we decided to work through them to take in a tango show. We ended up taking the subte (subway) to a neighborhood called San Telmo (we stayed in this area of town our first night in Buenos Aires) and located a restaurant called La Ventana. The event for the night was called Gala y Tango. It featured a live orchestra and some amazing tango. The grub they served us was pretty good too. Unfortunately the folks at the hostel didn't give us a heads up on the attire, so jeans and t-shirt were our protocol for the evening.

This morning we got up and hightailed it to Puerto Iguazu. Unfortunately the hightailing was brought to a sudden halt when we arrived at the airport only to find our flight had been delayed a couple of hours. No worries though. When we got here to Puerto Iguazu we arrived to beautiful clear skies. Apparently something that this sub-tropical region hadn't seen in several days.

Because of our limited time here in Iguazu we left straight from the airport directly to the park, put our crap in a locker, and set off for the falls. We decided on a trip that trucked you through the forest and then by boat down the the Iguazu River from which the Iguazu Falls are formed. The falls were absolutely amazing. We spoke to both Americans and Canadians who said that these falls blow away the Niagra Falls. You decide for yourself.

Tonight we're staying in the Hostel Peter Pan here in Puerto Iguazu. It's pretty bare bones here, but they have a nice courtyard with a pool and plenty of eateries within walking distance. Oh and litres of Quilmes cerveza for $ARG 8. Muy Bien!

Tomorrow night we're back in Buenos Aires for St. Patricks day. Zac and I are dressing as "white boys wearing green." Should be a real hit. We met some folks at the tango show who were from Chicago (still my favorite city) and recommended a brewpub called Buller. It's right next to the Ricoleta Cemetary where the famous wife (Evita) of Argentine President Juan Peron is buried. They said that St. Patrick's decorations were going up when they were there and that they brewed 6 0r 7 decent brews. Game on!

Last couple of days

Well the last couple of days we've either been travelin or chillin out. Saturday we found this hotel in Puerto Natales, Chile called Indigo. It was really nice inside (very contemporary) and the cool thing about it was that the restaurant inside had satellite radio and they exclusively played chill music. So Zac and I thought we'd try each of the cervezas on the menu. They had some good ones (Baguales: Lagar, Dark Ale, Pale Ale, Austral: Lagar, Corona). There we're others but I don't recall the names :)

We left for El Calafate yesterday morning and arrived here around 2pm. Since we got here in the afternoon there really wasn't much time to do anything of any real significance. So we just kinda chilled out around the hostel, grabbed some dinner, and called it a night.

Today we're headed back to Buenos Aires. We're staying in a pretty trendy section of town this time called Palermo Viejo. There's lots of nightlife to be found in this area so hopefully we can find a cool little spot where we can observe some good tango.

Tomorrow we're off to Puerto Igauzu to see the Iguazu Falls. We'll be checking that out from both the Argentina side of the Iguazu River as well as the Brazilian side. The hostel we're planning on staying at has a large pool. So after the sight seeing is over, it's on. Cannonball!!!

Torres del Paine (Towers of Paine)

Today Zac and I took the rental we reserved last night here in Puerto Natales and hightailed it up to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. The ride required us to travel along a dirt road for a stretch of a little over 2 hours in a Nissan V16 (the V16 stands for ¨bad ass¨ of course). This proved to be the roughest stretch of road that we have ever traveled in our lives (so bumpy). Along the way we pulled over and took in the sights whenever we had the chance. It was then we discovered what high winds and rain on a mountain top is all about (rough).

After being jostled around for 2 plus hours we arrived at the base of Torres del Paine around 11:30. Man what a beauty that structure is. Peaks as sharp as a sharks teeth that rise up into the clouds. Fortunately mother nature gave a moment or two to capture some pictures of this magnificent piece of art.

Without any hesitation we decided to start hiking up the mountain to get a better look at this structure. It was a pretty steep ascent for sure. As I rounded the front of one the smaller mountians the wind began to howl and the rain started to come down pretty good (it stung when it hit your face). Alas the storms started blowing in. I turned to Zac to hear him say ¨This shit sucks.¨ I said well it ain´t looking any better my friend. So we decided another route at a lower altitude and not exposed to the elements was a better approach. From the looks of it, we chose wisely.

Below is a 360 degree view from a spot taken within Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Even with the mountain blocking the roaring wind to the west, you can still here the wind blowing in the video. Chow.

Bienvenidos a Chile

So we made it to Chile yesterday. We took a 5 hour bus ride from El Calafate to Puerto Natales. The wind here is pretty serious. They said gusts would be in excess of 100km an hour plus a 50% chance of rain. Should make for an interesting hike.

Day 2 in Patagonia

Today was an awesome day here in Argentina. Not a cloud in the sky and a perfect day to set off hiking to one of the top 5 climbing destinations in the world, Monte Fitz Roy. Zac and I rented a car from Localiza (it was a Chevy Corsa as seen on the above) here in El Calafate. We then set off this morning around 7:00 and made it to the town of El Chalten (about 220km to our north) by 9:30. As we headed out into no mans land we saw off in the distance some 170km away our destination, Monte Fitz Roy. It just had a presence about it that made you think "yeah that's definitely the place were headed."

Patagonia is inundated with lamas. They were all over along the roadway to El Chalten. The guy at the car rental said to look out for them because they've been known to jump out into on coming traffic and basically destroy a vehicle. This could have cost us big. $AR 8,000 pesos (~$3000 bucks). We got lucky and no accidents occurred.

Once we reached El Chalten we stopped off at the park information center and found a trailhead that would lead us to the Fitz Roy (left) and it's cousin Cerro Torre (below). It was a moderate hike that put you at the base of Cerro Torre. What a site it was. Glaciers surrounded the base of this mountain so anyone wanting to climb it first had to wade through all that snow.

Tomorrow we're off to Chile so it will be mostly a traveling day. Friday we'll be heading to Torres del Paine. Some say this is the finest park South America has to offer. Can't wait to see it!

Los Glaciares Parques Nacionales

Today was epic indeed. We decided to take a group tour of the Perito Moreno Glacier with a guide that was affiliated with the local hostel we're staying at. This turned out to be a really nice time. He showed us an alternate route to the glaciers which proved to be more entertaining than the mundane highway route we took on the way back (which was perfect for a siesta). Along the way we saw plenty of open grass lands with hills off in the distance. The route traveled through what was described as the transition zone (ecotone) which was south of Lago Argentina (Argentina Lake). We were told this area was home to many species of wildlife including; eagles, foxes, lamas, horses, pygmy owls, and rhea (small ostriches). Along the way we also got to sample the el calafate berry, which as legend goes "whoever eats the calafate berry will return to Patagonia." Sure hope I get to come back at least once more in my life.

The Perito Moreno glacier was awesome. They say it is the only glacier in South America that is considered stable. Meaning they know how much it grows and shrinks each year. From what I could tell, the amount of ice we saw was unfathomable. We got to hike up to it as well as see it up close from a boat. Pretty amazing how water can be transformed into such a massive structure. While we were staring at it in awe, we got to see a big chink off it fall off into the lake. It was pretty crazy the wave that thing produced. It rocked the boat pretty good.

Tomorrow we are renting a car and heading to Monte Fitz Roy. They claim that this is a top destination for climbing in South America and a top 5 toughest assents in all of the world. We'll see.

Holla El Calafate

So we landed here in El Calafate after making a pit stop in Bariloche (the Alpines of South America). The arrival here was not without confusion of curse. It all started with the cab driver taking us to the wrong hostel in an area that looked pretty shanty (lot off unfinished exteriors and wild dogs roaming around). Before we discovered we were in the wrong spot, the cab driver had already darted away. Luckily we shared a ride with some other fella that was going to Calafate to meet up with his family from Isreal, and he happened to know a bit of spanish. He asked a women who apparently was living out in back of the hostel if the place had closed down permanently or just had moved. With the help with translation from our compadre, we discovered that the cab driver made a mistake and that our residency was 10 minutes (walking) down the road. So off we went.

Once we arrived at the correct destination we were relieved. Whew!! The town is small and somewhat touristy but still a little spooky on the outskirts, especially when you arrive at the wrong location. Once we settled in, we decided to take in a little of the local scenery. First stop a bar for a couple of beers. Afterwards we stumbled upon a parrilla buffet. This place was different. It was a traditional parrilla joint mixed with an asian buffet. How that got came to fruition, I have no idea, but it worked (we were starved). With food in the belly we hit a grocery up for snacks for tomorrows excursion.

Tomorrow morning we're going to the glaciers. Perito Moreno is where we're headed. It's an all day trip with a combination of trekking and boat excursion all wrapped up into one package. Should be fun. Stayed tuned for pic updates.

Gonna hit the ground runnin

So we arrived in Buenos Aires this morning and made a mad dash to the hostel. Apparently speeding is a local past time here. Passed through some pretty shanty areas of town, but the hostel seems to be in a pretty good area (we're just right down the street from the president's house) and Florida (the I-drive of Buenos Aires) is just around the corner.

We hit up the president's house this afternoon while killing time before checking-in. Looks like she could throw a pretty good party. Open areas all over the place. Afterwards we swung by the Obelisco de Buenos Aires (they're version of the Washington Monument). It's strange that I've now seen the Obelisco before I've seen the Washington Monument. Oh well. Gonna grab a bite to eat here in a bit and then who knows. One things for certain, there's a bar on the roof top of this joint, so that's always in the cards.

Hasta luego! translation: Check ya later!

T-minus 2 days and counting

What's good you all? That's right. I'm jettin out of here Saturday (Mar. 6th) afternoon in route to meet up with Zac in Buenos Aires. All brushed up on my spanish. You can tell by the blog title and the web address. :D Be sure to check back in with this blog often. I recommend during work hours or after a heavy night of drinking. From what I gather when I take a peek at Facebook in the evening, this is when you guys do the most of your slacking.

We'll be on a 12 day journey throughout this beautiful country and hopefully we can enlighten you all on the various places and activities that we discover along the way. Comments are appreciated. Especially the humorous kind ;)