More Route 40

This is a baby guanaco. Aren't they adorable? When they are full sized they are roughly six feet tall. This was a pet at one of the estancias we stayed at. At the estancia where we stayed the second night there were 2 guanacos which had been domesticated and were basically the pets of the ranch. I thought they were adorable. Well, they are sort of free to roam the estancia so we would see them grazing and sometimes playing with the guy who seemed to be their owner. The first night, we were drinking wine and playing Phase 10 before dinner and as we played the guanacos came right up to the window where I was sitting to say hello to us. It was shocking but really cute. Then on our way to dinner we saw them at the end of the trail. I called out "Hey guanacoes, come here cuties!" and all of a sudden one of them started charging, making spitting noises and jumped right onto me then stopped, and nuzzled with Harold, another guy on the trip. Well we all thought that was hilarious but quickly walked into the restaurant. End of dinner we joked about walking out but didn't see the guanacos. I was walking down the path when from behind the building the guanaco came charging again right at me! I started running and again Harold grabbed her and everything was fine, but I could see her looking every time I was around. Next day she kept showing up in the windows and doorways of where I was and it was the joke between the group that I was not safe by myself and I quickly came to fear walking alone in case or another charge from an amorous guanaco! Cuerva de los Manos, a highlight of the trip. These caves were discovered in the 30´s and the paintings have been dated back 9000 years! We walked through down the path, through the valley and up to the caves.
At the bottom of the first hill was an El Calafate bush (behind us). The berries are like blueberries, and the plants have giant thorns, so you have to work for your snack. Levi and I really liked the berries, as you can see!
The paintings are famous and there are 37 sights in this area where paintings have been found, and more sights throughout the Patagonian landscape. Archaeologists believe they painted to ask for good hunts etc. Here you can see guanacos painted, a staple for the nomadic tribes who ate the animals and used the skin for leather and the wool for clothing.
The cave is called Cuerva de los Manos becuase of these handprints which are all over the walls. No one knows for sure why they painted their hands, but they think, again, it was a way to ask the gods for things or pray. Unfortunately many people who went to the caves defaced the walls or chipped off pieces to have in their homes, so now you view it from behind a fence. Still it was an amazing thing to see!
The group resting from our walk to the caves.
The valley we walked through after seeing the caves.
Another view from the valley. Aren't the clouds cool? They were so fun to watch, and they were always in the coolest formations!
Ok, so in the end I faced my fears and became friends with the guanacos. Turns out they are so docile you can just grab them and pet them like a dog, and they are so soft they are really fun to pet (especially in that space right between their ears!) This is muñeca, my new friend. She spits but she was really just wanting to play (or mate, still not sure about that one...) You can tell when they are going to charge or are frightened or going to spit by their ears. See her ears working their way up? No longer is she going to try to run me over! Roberto, our guide, told us that the wool is actually being used now instead of sheep wool for some blends, because it is warmer and lighter. So what do you think, should I start a farm?
So we at last said goodbye to the rugged Patagonian landscape, on our way up to the green lake district. It was insanely windy and the hills were dry and barren for the most part, but it held its own kind of beauty. There were so many wild animals we were able to observe, the skies were full of mesmerizing clouds, and the plants were delicate yet so hearty, to be able to live in such a harsh, punishing climate. I was really glad to I got to experience a side of Argentina so different from what I had seen before, and I appreciate even more the vast differences found within its borders.

Route 40

Here we were in El Calafate trying ot figure out where to go next, when we decided to do a safari up to Bariloche. We were going to be in a van for 4 days, going up route 40, a mostly unpaved road, and stopping to see wildlife, scenery and the wilds of Patagonia. We also learned firsthand what the famous Patagonian winds are like (really strong and unceasing!) and also what the local flora and fauna are, including armadillos! This was actually about to sniff my foot! It was a baby and when our car stopped the mom ran away leaving the baby for us to look at and pet (their shells are not as hard when they are babies, and the fur is rather soft) and eventually leave onthe side of the road in hopse that the mom would come back for it. Roberto, our guide said she would, so we hope he's right! The first night we stayed at an estancia, or ranch, where the people raised sheep or and had 17 horses. This is the shed where they kept their equipment. The other room where they sheered an skinned the sheep was pretty stinky. The first night we stayedi n a a dorm and learned who the snorers were (one was me!)
Here I am in the nationl park where we stopped the second day. Unfortunately it was raining that day, so our hike was a wet one, but it was still beautiful and we got to see a lot of aminals, birds and get blown by the wind!
Because of the rain we got to see this rainbow which was out for a long time. We followed it all through the park!
This lake runs through Perito National Park and is actually two colors. The bright blue is from the glacier and the dark is rainwater that runs to the sea, and is shallow. Cool.
Some of the rocks in the surrounding area that we saw while driving around. The earth itself was so cool and full of color!
Entrance to the park.
The mountain view from the estancia where we stayed the first night.
Some of the incredible color we saw as we drove through Patagonia.

El Calafate-One or Two Horse Town?

So we decided to come to El Calafate for a few reasons. First of all, everyone goes to El Calafate, and it was the next logical step on our course. Second, there are glaciers to see and hikes to do. Third, our friend Yesica lives here and we wanted to visit and catch up since we haven't seen her for a long time.

Well, turns out this place is like Carmel, as in totally expensive, nothing to do, really, and the shops all have the same junk. On top of that, we are seriously running through our money, as the guidebook I have is usually a minimum of 50 dollars under in everything, so we have been having to pay a lot more than expected. Originally we were going to do a galcier hike here, but we both decided that we don't really care if we do that or not, we saw a lot of glaciers in Torres del Paine and they are pretty much all the same, so we opted instead to spend the money on a 4 day "safari" up to Bariloche. It will be us and 9 other people in a van for 4 days stopping at some national parks and estancias (ranches) etc. Should be interesting...

So once we spent the money for that it pretty much left us to wander this town and do things as cheaply as possible. Yesterday we asked at our hostel what we could do for under 100 pesos, you know, like a half day tour or a boat ride or something, and she looked at me like I was crazy. "Nothing is under $125!" she said, as all the tours are all day and all of them have fixed rates. I was feeling a bit dejected, but Levi and I had decided before I asked that on our last day here we would just wander around town for the 37th time, no big deal, and see if there was an interesting t-shirt or mate gourd we had missed the first time around, when she said "Or, you could go over the little bridge to the duck pond and look at the ducks and flamingos." Well, you don't have to say flamingos twice to get my attention, so today I dragged Levi over to the store to buy some bread to feed the ducks and we headed out to the laguna.

Now, yesterday, as we were looking at the aforementioned t-shirts there was one that said "Patagonia, Land of the Wind," and we thought that was really funny because it is pretty windy here. Well, today it was like trying to cross the Sahara desert during a tornado or something. This town is tiny and only the main street is paved, the rest is gravel and dust and rocks, so there we were, walking over these gravel roads in a terrible windstorm, bag of bread in hand, on our way to the lake. We got there and of course, being so windy, there were no birds to be seen. After an hour of fighting our way around the lake Levi spotted some ducks. We got close, started throwing the bread (more like hurling wadded up pieces so they would go a little further and not boomerang right back at us...) and the little patitos scuddled away! So we ran around to try to throw the bread closer to them and they swam away again! Apparently in Agrentina ducks don't eat bread! Who knew? (When I turned my back Levi ate it, though. He walked away stealthily and when he turned around he had a giant piece in his mouth, shrugged his shoulders guiltily, and gave me a look like "Well at least someone's eating it!")

So now we are just hanging out trying to relax from the fight against the gale and tonight we are staying with Yesica which should be great, and I get to sleep in a hammock! She is cooking us dinner and then we get up at the crack of dawn to start our overland adventure. We will be out of contact for another 4 days or so, but when we get back online we will have (hopefully) tons more pictures and stories to share!

The W-Las Torres-The Grand Finale!

Here is a view from the top of the first hill. It was an hour and a half striaght up. I don't know if he is super-human or what, but Levi was barely tired. I was dying. I think it proves he really could have carried more stuff and he's just a big whiner. But maybe I'm jealous. He just scurried up the mountain like "Hey, this is easy," and there I am, panting and wheezing my way up the hill. He told me he didn't look back because he could hear me coming. Nice.What we worked so hard to see. Los Torres, or The Towers. We met some people on our way up who told us that in the morning it was snowing and they couldn't see anything. While we were there it started to snow, too, but just a little.
Here we are in front of the Torres. I am freezing, it is really windy and I am still trying to catch my breath! To get here was a 45 minute climb straight up granite boulders. Again, people vaguely referenced the last half hour as a climb, but they could have been more specific!
Can you see the trail? It's all fend for yourselves, find a boulder to get over and heave yourself up!
Levi practically skipping down- he had way too much fun!
The view into the camp where Las Torres are. Part of the trail is there on the left.
Our little boulder piles at the top of the climb.
It seems to be a tradition to leave a boulder pile at the top, as you can see here...
Near the end of the hike, the rest is downhill from here. We are exhausted but we did it!
Total: 40.5 miles in 4 days

The W-The middle

French Glacier in the middle of the hike, what makes up the center of the W. We were so tired we didn't actually go all the way up to see it, but we got the idea... Yeah, why am I smiling? I have no idea. There was nothing to smile about, that bag weighed a TON!
Mountains on the way to Camp Italiano.
Alexis: Levi, smile!

Levi: I can´t.

Alexis: Yes you can, come on! Smile!

Levi: NO, I CAN'T! Do you SEE the SHIT on my BACK?! I am NOT smiling!

Alexis: Okay. click

Beautiful view of the lake. Right across the way is where our hike started that day.

The W-The beginning

Here I am at the beginning of the adventure! We had a bus ride from Rio Grande to Puerto Natales, Chile, which took about 7 hours and we arrived tired but ready to get walkin'! The next day we went to rent gear in town and get a bus to Torres del Paine National Park. We planned to walk "The W," a hike that resembles the shape of the letter, hence the name. We heard from a lot of people that it was fun and a really pretty hike. Well, they failed to mention that it was also really hard! We learned that part on our own.
The lake that we would be walking around over the next 4 days. The color of the water was amazing! The water comes straight from the glaciers.
Camp Pehoe where we spent the first 2 nights. Can you spot our tent?
The mountians above Camp Pehoe. We are going to climb those to get to Glacier Grey.
Our first view of the glacier. Wow!
Levi making me a tasty drink from the glacier itself.
While I took a break Levi went down to the water front and brought me back a gift. Awww...
Glacier Grey with the mountain behind...

What is the W?

Here is the map of where we walked. We started at the campsite where the W is pointy, at the bottom of the left side, then did a day hike up the left and back, and stayed there a second night. The second day we did the middle part, but not all the way up, and stayed just past the middle. Day three we walked to the bottom right where the dot is just to the right of the W, and the last day we walked up from there to the top of the right side and back down. I hope that explains the W a bit better, and you can see where we were.

Did the W!!!

Well we made it! 4 days, 65.1 kilomneters, 2 sore backs and 20 painful toes later, we are sitting in a cafe ready to have lunch and head to our next destination, El Calafate. We are exhausted and ache all over. We had no idea how hard the trip was going to be- it was really intense hiking, and we had huge packs with us which made it really tough.

However, the scenery was beautiful and we had a great time. We met a lot of people who were also "doing the W" from all over the world, so we were always in good company. The first day we took a catamaran and set up camp. The next day we did a day hike that took us to Grey Glacier. It was 22 km and took us 7 hours. Hello! We went straight to the hostel for a beer after that, but we were staying in a tent so were out in the field with many others til the morning.

The next day we headed fo the center of the W with our packs on. It was SO hard, the were incredibly heavy, and it was really really hot. I have some VERY bronze shoulders now. That night we camped near a lodge on the lake which was really beautiful and met some nice people at dinner. (We treated ourselves to a real dinner instead of another night of eating out of our aluminum pot...) We totaled 13.1 km and it took us all day, another 7 hours or so. It was realy hilly and there were a lot of difficult up and down parts.

Day 3 we headed for the Torres camp site where you can hike up to the Torres del Paine which we were going to do on the last day. This day I had the tent and I literally couldn't put in on by myself, and if I stood up straight I fell over backward. It was SO heavy and we started the trip off with a giant hill that kept going and going and going...it was terrible! But we passed a group of guys who we wound up meeting up with off and on all day so made some friends and took our time which was nice. It was actually a nice day of walking. We made it into camp at about 5, got some stuff for dinner and rested so that we would be ready for the last day.

Last day, the grand finale, Torres del Paine, what we were working toward the whole time. The hike is a continuous steep up or downhill climb. Thank God we only had day packs, it was so so hard. The first part is straight up for about an hour and a half. Then you go down for half an hour. Then you have an hour of really nice hiking through a shady forest. Then you have the last hour. Straight up a giant rock pile. Literally scrambling up boulders for the last 30 minutes til you get to the top. In total in the 9.5 km from camp to the torres you go up in altitude 1 whole kilometer. That's 3000 feet! So we had a 19 km day which we did in about 6 and a half hours, then we packed up camp, got the bus into town, checked into the hostel, had dinner, a bottle of wine, and passed out.

We woke up today so sore and glad for hot water and a shower. Tomorrow we vowed to do nothing, so we will be dropping off laundry and putting up pictures onto the blog. In all, we are really proud of ourselves for doing it, because we had no idea what we were in for, and there we were in sneakers and jeans facing these huge hikes, but we did it and had quite an adventure. Woohoo!!!

Our Route

Now you can see, on a map, where we are going and where we have been. Start at the bottom and work your way up, and you will be following along! I wrote the main destinations in red and pointed, though we may be in other little towns along the way. Some may not be exact locations, as I am working from memory, but you get the idea. We will be bussing it in between, so wish us luck. Will keep you posted!!! Muchos besos...

Puerto Natales, Chile

We are in Puerto Natales now, about to rent some equipment and get ready for a four day hike through the mountains of Chile in Torres del Paine National Park. We are wearing a lot of layers as it is freezing here-- so much for being happy to be out of the BA heat, now I wouldn't mind a little of it! We are in beanies and jackets, but it is beautiful. We were on a bus for about 11 hours yesterday, though we thought it was only going to be about 7 hours, so we arrived around 10 at night and had to desperately find a room. Luckily Naomi and Brice, who we met in Ushuaia, had recommended a place called the Indigo which was awesome and had a room! Yay! It cost us 30,000 pesos for the night, which is a lot, but it was nice and clean etc. It did only have one bathroom for the hostel but it was never a problem, really. And Thank GOD Bretty and Gina left us with a few Chilan pesos because they have been such a lifesaver! We were able to check email, make calls, get water etc. all thanks to those girls! Yay! Chile in general is a lot more expensive than Argentina, but we are going to be camping so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. We are definitely wishing we had been prepared for, like, skiing weather. People are really in giant down coats etc, it is that cold. We are so tempted to buy some fleece pants or something...I knit myself a scarf on the bus yesterday which was a really useful way to pass the time, I assure you. And I taught Levi to knit-it took him like 4 seconds to get it- so he is working on one for himself (he got sick of waiting for me to do it!). Yesterday there was this really weird guy who was on the bus and he kept his knee in Levi's back and followed him really closely in the lines at the border, it was really annoying for Levi, and the guy was HUGE and cross-eyed and really ugly, it was pretty funny, for me that is, and Levi would just give me these looks...you can imagine. Anyway I am not sure when I will be able to write again, probably not til next week since we will be in the mountains, but wanted to give you a heads up. I will try to put a map up on the blog so you can see where we are, but we really are hanging out at the tip of the world down here, it's pretty cool!!! Oh my God and I have to mention-last night on the table there was black pepper AND hot sauce. We were really excited. We put it on EVERYTHING!!!

Rio Grande

Here we are in Rio Grande. The guide book said it was a very quiet town and boy are they right! We are staying just a block from the beach which is cool, but I seem to be dreadfully allergic to this place (are you noticing a pattern here? I am allergic to all of Argentina, I swear...) so I am seeing it through itchy, watery eyes. Still, even with clear eyes, Levi assures me there really isn't that much to lay your ocular sockets on. Ah well, a good day to rest and do laundry etc. while we prepare for our trip up to Puerto Natales where we will be "doing the W," that is, going on a 4 day hike through the mountains of Chile. Should be pretty cool. In the meantime we are waiting for low tide here to take a walk on the ocean floor because, apparently, they have one of the lowest tides in the world- 5 km out!

Pictures from Ushuaia

We made it to the end of the world! The rest of this wall says USHUAIA: End of the world, beginning of everything! That's sort of how we feel, end of the world, beginning of our big adventure!We took a tour with a fantastic group called Canal Tourismo and the first day we went to Harborton where we got into canoes and paddled through the Beagle Channel. We ended up in a spot where we unloaded from the canoes and got on a boat to head for an island where there is a penguin colony. One of the best parts of this boat trip was that we had lunch which included 3 bottles of wine for the tour group to share. Needless to say, we were all really excited to see the penguins 20 minutes later! The canoe trip hard work, but the trek around the island which followed was really relaxing and fun, adn the scenery was breathtaking. We also totally lucked out and were with a great group and really friendly guides.
Dork on a dam!!! Beavers were introduced 60 years ago and because of that they have no natural predators, so they are taking over the forests and proving to be quite a nuissance! The government, effected by the "green" movement (so says the guide), is not doing much to curb the problem, offering only 10 pesos for every beaver skin turned in, so the long-toothed workers are pretty much left to chop, or should I say chew, and build to their little hearts' content. They do make some cool structures, though!
Flat tree. Ushuaia is famous for these. We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day with a bright sun and warm weather that at the time we couldn't imagine weather that could do this. As I sit typing this today, the wind is blowing and it is freezing and all of a sudden I can see why this tree is shaped like this.
Gable Island, looking onto a part of the Beagle Channel. We trekked around this island after our canoe trip and visit to the penguins. We saw Fake Mistletoe, Bollox, Ñires and lots of other kids of plant species. We also saw a grey fox and tons of birds. Cool.
Pinguinos!!!
Getting ready for day 2 of adventuring, this time we were sea kayaking up through the natural park and into the Beagle Channel. It was much colder, as you can see the sky was grey, and we had to wear wet suits. The orange "skirts" are the things that cover our legs when we sit down in the boat. It was quite an ordeal to get all geared up and strapped in. The water was soooo cold, but Levi and I were a good team out there, when he wasn't "teaspooning" with the paddle, taking little dinky strokes, while I was stuck with all the work! For the first half of the day he was in front and had to use the rudder, so we would get going then every 5 strokes he would stop and fiddle with the rudder which made it really hard to keep in a rhythm. You have to paddle on the same side to keep from tipping over, so as the back person I was constantly kept on my toes trying to figure out where he would paddle next. Then after lunch we switched (I think he was tired of hearing me give paddling advice...) and I was in the front which is actually a really hard job, so now I understand the teaspooning, and I would gladly do the trip again...from the back seat!
The town of Ushuaia on a grey day. Our third day, as I write this, it is freezing and raining and windy. It feels like it could snow. Still, the air is so clean and fresh, and it is so nice to not be sweltering in the Buenos Aires heat that we are more than happy to sit with a coffee and watch the trees bend and the clouds blow. We also saw an awesome double rainbow on the way up to the hostal. It is so beautiful here!
Again on a sunny day, and you might not be able to tell but this picture was taken around 8 p.m.
Levi's long lost buddy. Can you see the resemblance? I think they might be related! OR, has Levi found a new profession? He does look good in hats...
So here is one of those stories that just makes me cringe. On the first day when we had the canoeing tour we were all picked up at our hotels/hostels around 8 in the morning. There were people from France, Spain, England, America and Argentina on our tour. As we were heading out of town the guide turns around and starts in on what our day will be like. He says we are heading to Harborton, about 90 km out of town to the harbor where we will get into the canoes. Well, before he can get the next sentence out the guy in front of us, a guy from the U.S, there with his wife, starts yelling. "What??? We are going to be on a bus for how long??? 90 minutes!!! I don't want to do this! We were supposed to be on a boat tour. I want off this goddamn tour, I never would have signed up for this if I had known!!!" And the whole bus gets quiet. The guide says well, i am not sure what yourtravel agent said, but this is not that kind of tour, we don't to a boat ride through the channel. And the guy says "Well let me off. Stop the van, I want to get off!" SO the guide says Ok, tells the driver to stop, and says he will call a cab, the guy can go to the port and get on a boat, they leave in 30 minutes and he can do the tour he wants to do. Then the guy in front of us says "There is no was they can get a cab here and get us to the harbor, oh this is ridiculous, and waht, he is just going to leave me on the side of the road now? Oh this is ridiculous!" And the guide is like No, I am calling a cab, and he also went so far as to call two companies and reserve spots for them so that when they got to the port they could get right on the boats. The guy was just losing it, saying to his wife "I can't believe this, this is ridiculous, and to think of the money and what the hell bla bla bla..I can't wait when people stop making my blood pressure go through the roof." Like the world was out to get this guy because he had to sit in a van to get to the trip. AND, with his hissy fit he took up time and made the rest of us miss a part of the trip because we didn't have time after waiting for his cab. Then he gets off the van and continues to yell at the guy outside of the van as he gets into the taxi to head back to town. You could feel the whole van sigh with relief when they got off. He was so embarassing. And it was not the fault of the guide, it was the man's travel agent who booked it, and we all thought the guide had gone above and beyond trying to help this obnoxious guy. Anyway his being an American, I know exactly why we have the reputation we have, thanks to people like that. We hope the reason he didn't want to sit was because he has hemmorroids (sp?).