As Promised

This blog is being redirected to more of a "Stories from Home" than a "Stories from afar" setting. So, to continue reading what is going on with us, you can go to News from the Campos Home.

See you there!

Final Post to this blog

Ok, this has stopped being a blog about our South American Journey. So, it's time to end this one and possibly start a new one under a different name. I WILL start a new blog, just not sure when and what it will be called. But for those who are interested, I will definitely let you know when something has been decided.

Word from Fernando and updated garden picture

Last Tuesday, Fernando wrote us and this is part of what he had to say:

.... everything went well with my flights and stuff. We
stayed in Accra on the first night, then went out to Cape Coast, which
is a city about 3 hours west of Accra. We're staying here again
tonight, and tomorrow we head north to Kumasi and then maybe to the
field site. Today we went to a small town called Elmina, which has the
oldest European building in Africa -- a huge castle / fort that was
built by the Portuguese and taken over by the Dutch and later the
British. It was mostly used for the slave trade, so it's full of
dungeons and stuff. The place we're staying is not exactly in Cape
Coast, it's about 10 km north on the road to Kakum National Park,
where we're going tomorrow. The hotel here is nice.. there's a large
artificial lake with crocodiles and also lots of birds. I can't ID
them, but we've seen 3 kinds of kingfishers, some cormorants and
herons, tons of weavers, and various other little ones......

They only do internet on Tuesdays there, so if we're lucky we'll hear from him most Tuesdays. They have a lot of business to take care of on Tuesdays, so we'll take whatever we get.

Guillermo has been working diligently in his garden and he's gotten it back in good shape. He cut down all the winter rye, mixing it into the soil in some places and letting it lie where it fell in other places.


This is a view of the entire garden. In the background, you can see the greenhouse, which Guillmero just yesterday finished taking all the plastic off of the sides. It is now just a shell, waiting for winter again. In front of the greenhouse shell are his tomato plants, covered with green cloth. In the foreground, you can see some little cantaloupe plants just coming up. Further to the left, and not visible in the picture are tiny watermelon plants coming up. His garden looks much better than it did in those April pictures, doesn't it??

A picture of Vicki standing in front of a White-Thorned Acacia. While walking the U of A campus back in 2001, Guillermo picked up a seed pod. He grew the seed in a little pot and planted the seedling in our field. As you can see, the tree is actually a beautiful tree here. Rebeca says they usually grow more like bushes. Guillermo really keeps after that tree, to make sure it doesn't ever think it's going to be a bush again!!

There are highs and there are lows

Well, we've only been home a week now, and already Fernando has taken off for his next adventure.
It's been a nice week with him here with us, if only Rebeca and Jason could have been here, too.
Fernando spent most of this past week editing his pictures, getting the necessary medication and shots for his trip to Africa, watching the sad Spurs games, eating out at his favorite restaurants and taking it easy. Today, we took him to the airport for his 2:10pm flight to Chicago, then from Chicago to London, and then from London to Accra, Ghana. He should arrive in Accra at 8pm Ghana time, 2pm our time, on Sunday, May 25th,which means he'll be in transit for 24 hours. I'm sure he and Eva will be happy to be together again. Eva studies the Colobus monkey there in Ghana.
Of course, Guillermo and I feel sad and kind of blah right now. We've been putting away the stuff he left behind, we'll take it to storage one of these days. When we hear from him again, and know he is safely in Accra, then we will feel a whole lot better.
Fortunately for us, Rebeca called RIGHT as we got back home from taking Fernando to the airport, so that was very timely and we thank Rebeca for that!!! That phone call lifted our spirits! She and Jason are driving today to Flagstaff, AZ for a little break from their routine. It should be cold there, with the highs in the 40's and the lows in the 20's. They seem to like Flagstaff quite a bit, as they've been there several times.
So, before Fernando left, he was able to post his favorite pictures to a website. If you go to Fernando's pictures, you'll be able to see some of the pictures he took with his camera.

So, these are the last few pictures from my camera. Enjoy. And guess who the last picture on today's post is for?

This is one of the usual views from the many bridges on the Transpantaneira Road.

These capybaras couldn't ask for a better place to live - the Pantanal!

This is where we'd have breakfast every morning at the Araras Lodge in the Pantanal.

A view of our balcony at the Cristalino Jungle Lodge

The beautiful Cristalino River

Guillermo and Fernando outside the Cristalino Jungle Lodge.

This is the armadillo that is being pitted against the Energumeno. Fernando took this picure in the Peninsula Valdez, Argentina.

That's it!!

A few more pictures

This is one of the first things we did when I got to Buenos Aires - we went to an outdoor cafe and watched displays of the tango dance. It was beautiful.

Guillermo standing at the top of a lighthouse that we climbed in Colonia, Uruguay.

Another view from the top of the lighthouse in Colonia, Uruguay. In the distance is the boat that we took to get to Uruguay.

Another view of the falls on the Argentine side.

Same view of the falls, this time with Fernando in the picture.

Fernando and Guillermo on the walkway to the middle of the falls on the Brazilian side. We got wet here because even though we had rain gear with us, we just never took the time to put it on. But it was a warm day, so it didn't matter. We were more worried about our cameras.

I've got a few more pictures to put on, and I'll do that tomorrow.

A few pictures - finally!

These pictures are taken with my camera. They are decent enough, but I'm sure Fernando's pictures are much better. He has been working diligently, downloading his pictures to the computer, and working on editing them. I had a total of 161 pictures, he has a total of 3,700+ pictures!!!! I don't know where he's going to put them, on a photo-sharing website or what, but stay tuned and we'll post the place when we know.

This picture was taken in Puerto Iguazu, and it shows three countries at one time. Brazil is on the right, Paraguay is on the left and Argentina is at the bottom, from where we took the picture.

This picture was taken at a little restaurant in Colonia, Uruguay.

A picture of Vicki, taken on the Calle de Suspiros, in Colonia, Uruguay.

Iguazu Falls, taken on the Argentine side. The second picture is taken from the Brazilian side. The view of these falls is SO impressive.


Here we are canoeing down the Rio Clarinho. This section of the river was so full of vegetation that Fernando had to stand in front of the canoe and use a pole to push down the vegetation, so the boat could glide through.

A view of the Transpantaneira Road with part of a bridge, in the Pantanal.

This picture shows us just after we had gone with the horses through some really deep water, and this is why Guillermo didn't get his shoes or pants wet, look at him ride like a jockey!!!

Cooking the barbecue on the river. Notice the caiman in the foreground, he got really close to the meat when they took it off of the fire!

The Cristalino River in the evening.

So, that's a few pictures for now. Time to get back to work around the house, writing bills, fixing up the yard, washing clothes - all the usual stuff after returning from a long trip. I'll try to put up a few more pictures tomorrow.

The circle is complete

It's been 3 months for Guillermo and Fernando, and 23 days for me. Today, all three of us stepped back into our home at around 9:15 Friday morning.

On Wednesday, we checked out of our hotel in Chapadas and drove to a look-out point from where we should have been able to see canyons and views of Cuiaba and the Pantanal in the distance, but the view was obscured by clouds. We sat there a little while, hoping the clouds would clear, and they did a little, but not well enough to see much. From there, we drove to a nice little restaurant by a waterfall to have lunch and then it was back to Cuiaba to drop off our rental car back at the Cuiaba airport and wait for our 5:20pm flight to Sao Paolo. That flight didn't actually take off until about 6 and we got to Sao Paolo around 10pm. We found our hotel's shuttle and when we arrived at the hotel, we were a little overwhelmed at how fancy the place was. We felt a little out of place, but the hotel, "Caesar Business", was actually a very good place to stay since it was so close to the airport and it had all the conveniences we needed at that point. We had a good dinner at the hotel and enjoyed a good last night in South America.

Thursday, our plane wasn't due to take off from Sao Paolo until 9:15pm and thankfully, our hotel gave us a late check out of 3pm. So we spent most of Thursday morning in our room resting up for what was to come.
Our plane actually left Sao Paolo at 10pm Thursday night and we arrived in Houston at 6am Friday morning. With the time difference taken into account, that was being in the plane for a good 10 hours. We had a layover of about an hour and a half in Houston, and by 7:30am, we were on our way to San Antonio. We are pretty tired, as can be expected. South America is an amazing continent, and it is nice knowing what we now personally know many places there. We know that there are caimans sitting on the banks of the rivers in the Pantanal. We know that there are lots of kingfishers squawking and calling on the Clarinho River. We know that there are people eating at a "per kilo" place called Fellipes in Chapadas. And much, much more!!

Back Tracking a little again

Since we went to two places back-to-back that were very isolated (the Pantanal and Cristalino Lodge), there really wasn't a good opportunity to write about how our days were in the Pantanal. We went from one place to the next rather quickly, so with this post, here's a little summary of those days in the Pantanal.

Our first day in the Pantanal, we stayed at a place called the Pousada Rio Clarinho. It was a very rustic place, our room had 3 twin beds and a small table, a bathroom with no shower curtain and that was it! My pillow was about 1 inch thick. But we liked the place, it was very quiet, the people were nice and the first day there, the food they served was really good. Our guide spoke no English at all, so while we stayed at this place, we picked up a lot of Portuguese!!!! The first evening, he took us horseback riding through the forest, but it was a very short ride and very uneventful. There were a lot of birds at this pousada and that made being outside and walking by their lake very enjoyable.
Our second day in the Pantanal, our guide, Cesar, took us out in a canoe on the Clarinho River, and that boat trip was absolutely wonderful. Cesar never made a sound with the oars while he slowly guided our boat down the river, which was not wide and was so beautiful. We paddled among lots of water plants (lilies and hyacinths), saw many birds and there never seemed to be any shore anywhere. At one point, there was so much vegetation in the river that Fernando had to stand up in front of the canoe and use a pole to push down the plants. Cesar would slowly glide the boat along as the plants were pushed down. When we approached that section of the river, at first it looked like there was no way we would get through, but they did it!! We got through that section, and about an hour and a half later, we came to a place where there was a shore and Cesar pulled the boat up and we were able to get off for a while. As he guided the boat up to this shore, we were lucky to witness a most amazing display of kingfishers on the river. There were probably about 10 kingfishers flying and swooping over the water, screeching and calling and diving right into the water. It was a beautiful sight to see and hear and it made you think that those kingfishers were just so happy because they knew they were living in the most perfect place a bird could live. We spent about 45 minutes on shore, then we got back in our canoe and Cesar paddled us back to the pousada. All in all, we were on the river for about 3 and a half hours.
That evening, we used our own car to do a night drive along the Transpantaneira Road, with Cesar using a poor spotlight to look for animals.
The absolute best thing about staying at the Pousada Rio Clarinho was the amount of birds we saw while staying there, and that canoe ride, which no one else ever came even halfway close to as far as quality.
Our third day in the Pantanal, which I believe was May 6th, we checked out of the Pousada Rio Clarinho and drove the rest of the way down to the end of the Transpantaneira Road. As we drove down, we saw an ocelot, a tayra, lots of capybaras, lots of caimans, and many beautiful birds. As we got closer to the end, the scenery was just beautiful, looking like a wild coastal area, with many big lakes. It was just beautiful. The end of the road was very disappointing, we thought we could get something to eat there, but since there wasn't much of anything, we drove back up the road a little and ate some of our snacks on one of the 125 bridges that are along this road. Then we continued back up the road slowly and we saw a giant anteater very briefly!! When we got to the Araras Eco Lodge, which is at mile 32, we checked in there, just in time for a good dinner!! This place was more upscale than the Clarinho and we enjoyed our nice room and the lovely surroundings.
On the morning of our fourth day, we got up at 5:00am for a 5:30 nature walk. After the walk, it was time for breakfast, and then after breakfast, we did another horseback ride. This ride was a lot better than at the Clarinho, but we think the place assumed a lot of its clients, because the horses took us through some very deep water, which actually almost went up to our knees!!! The only person who didn't get his shoes wet was Guillermo, he rode his horse like a jockey. And I almost had a terrible accident on my horse, because it veered off the trail at one point, and I didn't think quickly enough as I saw him approach two very low branches with thorns on them. I knew those branches were going to knock me off that horse, and the only thing I could think to do was try to lift those branches over my head as the horse went under them. Somehow or another, don't ask me how, I managed to do that, but the force of the branches started to knock me off the horse. I sincerely believe a guardian angel was with me at that moment, because somehow or another, I was able to stop myself from falling off that horse. The other people on the ride who saw this happening to me commented later that it looked real bad for me, and they were all shocked I only had two little scratches on my face.
After dinner that day, we all got on a wonderful vehicle that took us on a night drive. The guide used a powerful spotter, but even so, we didn't see that much. We did see a tamandua eating termites from a termite mound that was in a tree, and that was exciting!
Our last day in the Pantanal, the guide took us again in that special vehicle to a river, and we all got in canoes and floated down the river. This float was nowhere near as good as Clarinho's float was, because since there were so many people, we all had to man our own canoes, and that is not a good setup. It's almost impossible to take pictures when you have to be rowing. The float was also very short, but when we got back they had a good barbecue waiting for us. It was very relaxing sitting by the bank of the river, watching birds and caimans and enjoying a good barbecue. After that, we got back in the vehicle, headed back to the lodge, packed up, and drove back to Cuiaba.
I really wish there was a way to upload our pictures, so that we could include images of what we are seeing, but unfortunately, we just aren't able to do that.
Today we are staying in a little town called Chapadas, but the National Park here is closed, so there is nothing really to do but just hang around. We did drive out to see the cliffs in the evening and they were just beautiful with the evening sun shining on them.
Tomorrow, we drive back to Cuiaba, and catch a plane at 5:20pm to Sao Paolo. We should get to Sao Paolo at 9:40pm and our plane leaves on the 15th at 9:25 at night. That is going to be a long night for us!

May 12 - leaving Alta Floresta

The routine was the same this morning, with us getting up early, having breakfast, and then starting some activity at 6:30am. Guillermo and Fernando decided to do the trail that was scheduled for today, but I decided to take it easy by hanging around the bungalow. I spent my time taking pictures of the place, walking just for a little while down the trail they had gone on and sitting on the floating dock that the lodge has on the river. When they got back from the trail, we had one hour to shower and pack everything up for our boat ride back to the Teles Pires River. The rest of the day was nothing special. The drive in the 4-wheel drive car back to Alta Floresta wasn't as pleasant this time, because the guy drove really fast over those rough roads so it was a bumpy jerky ride. We stopped at the same restaurant for a wonderful lunch again, (buffet style and you pay per kilo) and then it was time to get to the airport and head back to Cuiaba. We stayed at the same hotel as before, and got the rest of our luggage out of their storage.

Day 3 (May 11) in Alta Floresta

Today we got up at the same time and after breakfast, we were on our trail by 6:30, since this trail started right by the lodge. We took the trail to the Canopy Tower, which is 50 meters high and from the top (and what a climb that was!) we could see over the forest canopy. We stayed on top of that tower for probably 3 hours, enjoying the scenery and the hunt for birds. It was always exciting to spot macaws and we'd follow them from tree to tree, hoping they'd get close to the tower for some good photo opportunities. We also saw spider monkeys from this tower, so it was very interesting. Fortunately, it was mostly cloudy this day, so it never got very hot. It was a very nice way to start off Mother's Day!
Once we got down from the tower, we continued on the trail to a tree house, which is by a little place that they call a salt lick. We sat there for a while, went up in the tree house, but didn't see much other than very beautiful butterflies.
We got back to the lodge around 11:30 again, had lunch and then rested.
After dinner, which is at 7:30, we went back out on the trail to the tree house, so it being that hour, it was very dark. We used our flashlights up until we got close to the treehouse, and then we turned them off, because of the possibility that there could be animals at the salt lick. There was really no light to see by, so what we did, is Fernando took the guide's hand, Guillermo took Fernando's hand, and I held Guillermo's hand and we slowly walked holding on to each other the rest of the way to the tree house. That was quite an experience, walking the trail with no light whatsoever, and then climbing up the ladder to the treehouse in total darkness! We sat in the treehouse for about 40 minutes, but nothing ever came. Our guide planned it so that we could be back to our bungalow by 10pm so we could take our showers while the generator was still on for lights. So we rushed back to our room, and took really quick showers and were actually all done right at about 10:30, but it seemed like they kept the generator on a little longer this night (for us, maybe) because it turned off at 10:40. Fortunately the nights get real cool, so we don't really need the ceiling fan during the night.

Day Two (May 10) in Alta Floresta

Today we got up at 5:30am, breakfast was at 6:00am and by 6:30, we were on our way by boat to our first trail which was 4 kilometers away. This trail took us through some dry forest, and eventually to a wonderful lookout point, where we spent quite a bit of time looking for as many birds as we could find. From there, we walked along a ridge, (so we were out in the sun a lot) to the next look out point. After that look out point, our guides took us down a brand-new trail, which was still a little rough, but was actually a very nice trail through some nice forest. We got back to the lodge around 11:30, so it was quite a morning!!
We were hot and sweaty, but since it wasn't noon yet, there was no way to use the fan in our room. That fan was scary anyway because it squeaked and rattled and once it had been going a while, it swung wildly back and forth. But it did give off good air, so when we heard the generator come on, we switched that fan on right away!! Lunch was served at 12:30, and it was delicious! The usual fare was rice, beans, some sort of meat, potatoes cooked different ways, some sort of pasta, salad items, fruit and always a delicious desert. Everything was always very tasty!
After lunch, it's "siesta time", and we rested until 3:30, when it is time for our next activity. At 3:30, we got in the boat again, and this time rode for 8 kilometers to a trail we would walk until about 5pm (it is dark here at 6pm). Then we got back on the boat, and went back the 8 kilometers down the river slowly, while our guide used a spotlight looking for wildlife along the river. All of our boat rides along the river were slow because there were always so many birds to see!! Everytime we were in the boat, it was always amazing to know we were in the Amazon, seeing such beauty.

Our first day (May 9) in Alta Floresta

We just got back from Alta Floresta, and we are trying to decide what to do for tomorrow, since we have an extra day here in Cuiaba.
On May 9th, we flew from Cuiaba to Alta Floresta on a small Trip Airline plane. It made one stop in the city of Sinop before landing in Alta Floresta. Once we arrived at the airport, representatives from the Cristalino Jungle Lodge were waiting for us with our name on a card!! The first thing they did with us, was take us to a nice restaurant, where the food is buffet style and they charge you by the weight of your food on the plate. From there, they took us in a four-wheel drive vehicle to the Teles Pires River, a very wide brown-water river which was one hour away from the town. Once at the Teles Pires River, we boarded a motor boat with our bags and went down the Teles Pires to the Cristalino River, (a smaller black-water river) and from there it was a 30 minute boat ride to the Cristalino Jungle Lodge.
We stayed in a very nice little bungalow at the lodge, and they served us a really good dinner that evening. They also served our new favorite dessert - Maracuya pudding!! Over dinner, we talked about our plans for the next day.
There is no electricity at the lodge, everything is run by a generator. At 10:30pm, the generator goes off. There are candles in our room, but actually, it is nicer without the generator, because that thing is incredibly noisy. The generator is run from 12 noon to 2:30 and then again from 5:00 to 10:30.

We're back!

We are back from the Pantanal, where we spent the last four days! If you are able, you should look it up on the web; the Pantanal is one fantastic place. We drove from Cuiaba through Pocone, and if it weren't for Fernando's incredible sense of direction, we'd probably STILL be looking for Pocone! It was NOT that easy on those highways. A really good road map would have helped immensely. It's amazing, really, that Fernando was able to find his way relying on the maps we had.
Shortly after Pocone, the paved road ended and the next 140 kilometers were on a dusty dirt road. Our first little pousada (place we stayed) was at kilometer 40. We stayed there for 2 nights; the next day, we drove all the way to kilometer 140 or so, which is Porto Jofre at the end of the road. The next two days we stayed at kilometer 32. The drive on the road is very dusty. It didn't happen that much, but every time a car passed us, we had to roll up all our windows, which would make it hot in the car. Then we'd have to wait at least 3 minutes for the dust cloud to be gone before we would roll down the windows again. The scenery was straight out of a National Geographic special. The closer we got to the end of the road, the wilder everything looked. There was one part where it almost seemed unreal, scenery unlike anything we had ever seen before. All around us the lands were flooded or had flowing streams. They were simply beautiful and full of wildlife!
We saw over 100 different beautiful birds and more than 10 different mammals, including the giant anteater, an ocelot, a tayra, tons of capybaras, fox, tamandua, rabbit, red brockett deer, marsh deer, capuchin monkeys, howler monkeys, and marmosets. Every morning we would wake up to screeches, calls, whistles, cries, etc. from many different birds including hyacinth macaws, toucans, chachalacas and a variety of parrots.

We are heading closer to the equator tomorrow, so it is going to be getting hotter. It had been fairly cool until about 3 days ago. Now it is quite warm. We will fly to Alta Floresta where we will spend the next three nights, so it is quite likely there won't be anything posted here again until we get back!

Struggling with the language

Our day started off very early this morning, at 4:15am, and our flight on Gol Airlines took off right at 6:00am. It was so different from our flights here in the U.S. Water was no problem to carry aboard and we were all still walking down the aisle of the plane, looking for our seats and stowing away our carry-ons when the plane started taxiing to the runway. Nobody seemed concerned that everyone wasn't seated, but everyone was seated when the plane actually took off. The plane stopped first in Curitiba, and there we had to get off the plane, get our luggage and switch to another airline. So, from Curitiba, we flew with Trip Airlines to Londrina, then it stopped in Rondonopolis and finally our destination of Cuiaba. From Fos de Iguazu to Curitiba, they served us cookies and a drink (Guillermo called the cookies "dog biscuits"). From Curitiba to Londrina they served us a piece of candy, then a sandwich and a drink. From Londrina they served us some cookies and a drink and from Rondonopolis they served us peanuts and a drink. So, all in all, we didn't go hungry and we arrived in Cuiaba at 11:30am.
We are now in Cuiaba and this city is a lot different from all the others we've been in. We have had to look long and hard for internet cafes and restaurants, maybe we just aren't in the best area for that kind of stuff. We've been using the computer at the hotel, although it is more expensive than at internet cafes. Guillermo and Fernando just took a bus to the airport, they are going to look into renting a car that we can use to drive around in the Pantanal. We have tried looking into getting a tour guide to maximize our visit in the Pantanal, but evidently, that needed to be arranged a lot earlier. There are pros and cons of doing it ourself, so hopefully, it will work out that they can get a car and we'll see the area as best as we can.
We have really been struggling to understand the people here, and have them understand us. No one seems to know English at all, and there are very few people that understand Spanish. We have been trying to get some help from our phrase book, but that can only do so much. So, most interactions with people, since leaving Puerto Iguazu, have been real slow and focused, trying to decipher what words they are using in the context of the situation and trying to recollect words we have already learned and have come to understand.
We might have to take a taxi to find a place to eat tonight, the only kinds of businesses that are around our hotel are clothing and furniture stores, things like that. Our hotel is nice, maybe a little TOO nice, but hopefully we'll only be here one night.
If we DO make it to the Pantanal tomorrow, it is possible that I won't be posting again until May 7th or so. So, if there is nothing new posted here for a few days, it is because we are out in an isolated area.

Brazil side of the falls

After getting dressed this morning, we went down to our hotel's lobby for breakfast and what a spread they had!!!! There were eggs, empanadas, many different kinds of cakes, puddings and flan, cereals, breads and rolls, cheeses and cold cuts, lots of different kinds of fruit, juices, tea, coffee, and probably many more things that I just didn't see. It was an amazing spread and we enjoyed having a variety of items to choose from, which is so unlike in Argentina. In Argentina, the usual breakfast offerings are small croissants, some bread, one kind of juice and either tea or coffee.
After breakfast, we caught a city bus to the airport to check on our flight tomorrow to Curitaba. Everything is ok with that flight, and we felt better as we headed out to the Brazil side of Iguazu Falls. We had been a little worried about that flight since we haven't yet paid for it, but we are scheduled on it and so all is ok.
The Brazilian side of the falls is set up quite differently from the Argentinian side. On the Brazilian side, you HAVE to take a bus to the various stops in the park, and only one of the stops you don't have to pay for. We got off at that free stop which has a walkway which takes you to views of the falls and it was very interesting to see the falls from this side.
The weather was not as pleasant today, it was very cool and cloudy, and it started raining before we left the park. We are glad we got to see the falls from this side, but we believe that Argentina has a much better set-up in their park. At least in Argentina you can choose to walk or ride their train and access to all trails is free. Also, the trails in Argentina are for walking only. There is a charge for all the trails in Brazil, and the trails are also used by bicycles and jeeps. So, those trails can't be all that serene.
Needless to say, we were disappointed about that. We were looking forward to some more hiking and seeing more animals and birds. The weather also was not the greatest today, so we had a quick lunch there in the park and headed back to our hotel way earlier than we had planned. Right now, we are waiting for our clothes to be returned to us from the cleaners and then we are going to head out to dinner.
Our flight to Curitaba leaves at 6:00am, so we'll be getting up pretty early tomorrow!!!

Now in Brazil

We are just so surprised how cool it is here in Puerto Iguazu!! We had breakfast in our hotel, and then bundled up our dirty clothes to take them to a lavanderia. Guillermo and Fernando walked all over the place looking for a lavanderia that was open, while I spent time in an internet cafe looking up the weather for today. They finally came back after a while saying that nothing is really open in the town. We found out later that the reason for that is today is Labor Day here in South America.
So, we packed up all our dirty clothes again, stored our stuff in the hotel and then caught a bus back out to Iguazu Falls National Park. At least we got to sit down on the bus today, yesterday we had to stand the whole way to the park. Once back at the park, I had planned on joining Guillermo and Fernando on their hike on Macuco Trail (Sendero Macuco), which is 4 miles long, but several people were turning back right after they started the trail because it was so muddy. I told them to go on without me, and we agreed to meet at the visitor center several hours later. There is plenty to do in the park and I had almost three hours until meeting up with them again. There is a free train you can ride so I did that for a little while and then decided to walk very slowly along the Green Trail (Sendero Verde). While slowly meandering along this trail, I came upon the sound of something jumping among the branches in the trees. At first I thought maybe it was coatis (which we saw a lot of), but then I felt extremely fortunate when I realized that it was Brown Capuchins jumping from tree to tree. I placed my pack down and stood there and watched them for at least 15 minutes and the good thing is that only one group of people passed by during that time. There were only two capuchins in the trees as far as I could tell, and they passed so close to me, actually crossing over the trail right where I was standing. I hung around that spot for a long time, even after they had left, hoping they'd come back but they never did. I felt happy that I had seen those capuchins, because I was so certain that Guillermo and Fernando were going to see capuchins on their trail also, but unfortunately, they didn't see any at all. But they did see a Toucanette and a Robust Woodpecker! Fernando had wanted to see a Toucanette and the woodpecker was also special to see. It is really big with a big red crest. They were happy that they got to see those two birds.
Right about the time I figured the capuchins weren't coming back, it started to rain, so I headed back to the visitor center. The sky was getting dark, it was starting to thunder, and I was glad I wasn't on that long Macuco trail with the guys. When they came back an hour and a half later, they were pretty wet! We had lunch there in the park and then caught the bus back to our hotel where we picked up our luggage. We then caught a taxi which took us to Foz de Igauzu, Brazil. Tomorrow we plan on going to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls. It is also quite cool here in Foz de Iguazu and still raining a little.

Iguazu Falls - Oh, Wow!

That is what we said upon seeing the falls for the very first time. Oh, Wow! Oh, Wow! Oh, Wow! There are really no words to describe seeing the initial view of the falls, about all I can say is they are simply beautiful and definitely a sight that fills one with awe. The National Park of Iguazu Falls is very well set up for the regular tourist, so it is quite easy to get to good views of the falls. We took both the upper trail to view the falls from the top, and the lower trail, which takes you down to the Iguazu River. The upper trail is fairly easy, but the lower trail has LOTS of stairs. When we got to the bottom, we took a boat over to San Martin Island, where we did more climbing of stairs, but got to good views of the falls.
After doing all those trails, we took a train to the most impressive fall, which is named Garganta del Diablo. That was the icing on the cake! We followed an elevated walk which took us over the waters that lead to this fall, and that walk was beautiful in itself. But getting to end of this walk, and seeing the falls from that vantage point was very impressive. When we got back from this walk, instead of taking the train back, we got on a big raft and drifted slowly back on the waters that lead to the falls. That was also a highlight of the day! Our guide slowly led the raft along the waters, pointing out caimanes, turtles and many water birds. In some places the waterway was very narrow and thick with vegetation. We saw plenty of Toucans on this ride also, which was exciting!!! What beautiful birds they are!!
This was a fantastic day, the weather was sunny, but surprisingly cold!! I guess that night we had those thunderstorms, a cold front came through here. A cold front from Antartica, I imagine! It was a perfect day to see the falls, and we plan on going back there tomorrow to do one other trail that we didn't have time for.
We are all doing fine and becoming quite familiar with the town of Puerto Iguazu!!

In Puerto Iguazu

Whatever sleep we got last night was WAY better than the sleep we got the night before on the bus, but we still had a little trouble sleeping. During the night here in Puerto Iguazu, very heavy rains fell most of the night, and there were also strong thunderstorms. Our hotel has tin roofs, so of course the sound of the rain was magnified. All in all, though, it was nice hearing the rain, knowing we were safe in our room. The next day was overcast and drizzly so we felt that it would not be a good day to go to the falls. So, we pretty much just took it easy around here. We went to the Brazilian Consulate and got our visas and did quite a bit of walking around the town. Guillermo and I also took a taxi out to an overlook named Hito, from where you can see the the confluence of the Parana and Iguazu Rivers, and at the same time see Brazil across the Iguazu River, and Paraguay across the Parana River. We thought that was very interesting to be able to see three different countries at once!!
I haven't been in South America even a week, and already I'm a little tired of the food here. So, you can imagine how Guillermo and Fernando feel!!! Pretty much, everywhere you go, it's some kind of beef or chicken with fries or potatoes. There isn't much variety, although of course they do have pizza and some pastas but it usually isn't that good. Fruits and vegetables are in short supply around here!!!
Tomorrow we are thinking the weather will be better for seeing Iguazu Falls, so that is our plan for tomorrow!

Grueling bus ride

Now I know what an overnight bus ride is like!!! And the ride was not without its drama! We got to the bus station in good time, and when it came time to take our seats, our numbers on our tickets did not match the numbers on the bus. Then we were told that our seats were on the top floor, not on the bottom where the supposed sleeper seats are at. We had no choice but to take the seats up on top where our seat numbers on the ticket corresponded, and as it turned out, the same thing happened to many people on this bus so there was a lot of grumbling before this bus took off!!
And to make matters worse, not one of the three of us had seats together. Some kind soul traded his seat with me so I could sit with Guillermo and before the night was over, they moved Fernando to another seat so the lady with the baby sitting next to him could have more room.
So, we finally take off at around 2:30pm, and probably not more than 30 minutes later, we can hear someone from down below saying that a person down there needs an ambulance or a doctor. The bus quickly pulls off the highway and the young lady gets out and she looks like she is in pain. The police finally arrive about 20 minutes later, but the lady is looking better and when the ambulance finally gets there about 30 minutes after that, the lady is talking and laughing. Everyone on the bus was disgusted with her, because it appeared to be theatrics after all. See, she also was supposed to get a seat on the bottom, and we think she was just so upset about having to sit on top that it just freaked her out.
We finally take off again, an hour lost already just sitting there in that one spot. The farther we drove out of Buenos Aires, the smokier the air became and then we heard the bus drivers talking about having to take a detour that will delay us an additional two hours because the roads we were going to take were shut down due to the smoke. Even on this detour road, the smoke was so bad that at times visibility was only 25 feet or so. It was like being in the worst fog possible. The smoke did seep into the bus, and it actually burned our throats a little. It was so sweet when we finally got out of the smoky areas, which was probably at about 6:30pm.
It gets dark here around 7pm, and we could see thunderstorms in the distance as we traveled. They served us food on the bus around 9:30pm (mashed potatoes, breaded chicken, bread, dessert and soda) and then we were pretty much on our own. The bus made no stops where we could all get off, until breakfast the next morning. They showed several videos which helped pass the time, and at around 2:30am, they finally turned off the TVs and then it was dark and quiet. All three of us slept some, but of course it wasn't the greatest sleep. We passed through several heavy rains during the night, but by morning, the sky was partly cloudy.
We finally got to Puerto Iguazo at around 1:20pm (23 hours on the bus!!!)and the first thing we did was get a hotel room. Fernando and Guillermo wanted to get something to eat, but all I wanted to do was rest, because my throat was still sore, my nose was running and I was just beat. So, the two of them went and ate, bringing something for me to eat back to the hotel.
Puerto Iguazu and the surrounding area is really beautiful, very tropical. I'm feeling more rested now, and after we're done here at this internet cafe, we are going to go have dinner!
Tomorrow our plan is to go the Brazilian Consulate for our visas and possibly go see Iguazu Falls.

Just hanging around

In the last post, I had said we were going to have dinner on our last night here in Buenos Aires at a Scandinavian restaurant, but when we got there, we were told we needed a reservation. So, we walked around a little bit and came upon a Colombian Restaurant which was excellent. The food there was really good, which was a perfect way to end our stay here!
We checked out of our hotel earlier this morning and right now we are just passing time until we need to get to the bus station. The room our hotel switched us to last night was a nice room, but we preferred our old room. This new room was facing Avenida de Mayo and there was loud traffic all night long!
The next time I´ll have a chance to post will probably be in Iguazu, after that long, long bus ride. At least on that bus we´ll be in the sleeper section, and supposedly, the bus will make a few stops of 15 minutes or so. We´ve got lots of snacks with us, so we should be set!!!

In Uruguay today

We had a very good day today! First, we had to pack up all of our stuff, because we asked the hotel for one more night and they said fine, but we´d have to move to another room. Then, we took some of our clothes to get them washed and from there we caught the subway to a stop that would take us fairly close to the port from where we would catch the ferry. The ferry was really big, but not like we had expected it to be. Our "tourist class" section was nothing but seats from one side of the boat to the other, with some aisles in between. It was like being in a movie theater. Since we didn´t know how the ferry was set up, we had to sit in the middle and if we wanted to see outside we had to walk to the sides. But there was no going to the actual outside, which was disappointing to us. Anyway, the ride was smooth and it took one hour to get to Colonia. Colonia is a pretty town, with lots of Sycamore trees and all cobblestone streets. The weather was nice, sunny and cool and we walked from the dock to the first little outdoor cafe we saw and had lunch. After lunch, we walked around the town, stopping to climb a lighthouse and also walk out on a wharf, where we sat for a while over the water and enjoyed the scenery. The ferry trip back was better, because this time we knew to be one of the first ones in line, and so we got seats by the window. When we got off the ferry and started walking back to the subway station, we saw and heard lots of ambulances and police cars going by, but who knows what that was all about. When we came out of our subway station by the hotel, we saw that they had blocked off Avenida de Mayo and set up a huge stage. It looked like they were going to be holding a concert right there in the middle of the street, and right exactly in front of our hotel. Turns out, they had a tango performance there, and it´s too bad we missed that, we could have watched it from the balcony of our new room here in the hotel. We also found, when we got back to our hotel, that they had not delivered Fernando´s clothes. What a disaster that would have been if we hadn´t gotten back when we did. The cleaners is open until 7:30, and the time when we discovered Fernando´s clothes missing was 7:07. If we had caught a later ferry, which we were contemplating doing, then who knows what we would have done, because the cleaners is closed on Sundays, and we leave on Sunday for Iguazu! But everything turned out ok, and that´s what´s important.
Tomorrow, we catch a bus at around 2:30pm and we should get to Iguazu around 10am. We will see how comfy those "Sleeper Buses" are. :-0
I really like Buenos Aires. It´s a wonderful city, and to get around we take subways or we walk. Believe me, I´ve walked more in these last four days than I have walked all year. Good thing we have good shoes!! The food has been a little disappointing. We´ve had some really good steaks, which Argentina is famous for, but unless you eat steak, the food probably won´t be that great. We ate at an Asian restaurant the other day for variety, and tonight we are going to eat at a Scandinavian restaurant. We´ll see how that goes tonight!

San Antonio de Areco

We tried to take a ferry today across the Rio de la Plata, but it was kind of late and we felt rushed, so we bought the tickets for tomorrow.
So, today, we took a very nice one hour bus ride out to San Antonio de Areco. It's on the edge of the pampas and is a very small town, but we had a great dinner there and enjoyed walking around the area. Our bus back to Buenos Aires was thirty minutes late, so we got back to our hotel kind of later than we had planned. Right now we´re trying to decide if we should go out to a restaurant that is pretty far. Guillermo has a sore throat and is a little hoarse, but other than that, we are doing fine. So, tomorrow we are going into Uruguay, which is where the ferry is going to take us.

Day 2

Today was a very interesting day. One of the first things we did was catch a subway to the Brazilian Embassy to find out about gettting visas for when we are in Brazil, but they said it would take 3 days to process, and we aren´t going to be in Buenos Aires that many days so we decided to wait until we get to the Brazilian border. From there, we went to the Recoleta district, which is one of the wealthier areas of Buenos Aires. We just walked through it on our way to the Recoleta Cemetery, which has many amazing mausoleums. There are some famous people buried there, like Evita Peron, but mostly they house prominent citizens. We had lunch in a beautiful outdoor cafe under huge trees. The weather is nice and cool. From that cafe, we walked back in the direction of our hotel, stopping once to buy bus tickets from an agency. We are going to take a 20 hour, overnight bus ride to Iguazu Falls on April 27. The bus is a sleeper bus, which means it has beds, so we´ll see what that is like. After buying those tickets, we went to Plaza de Mayo, where we saw the mothers who meet there every Thursday at 3:30 to protest the disappearance of their family members during the 70's. As we walked back to our hotel, we saw a street that was totally congested with traffic, and then we saw why. There were a lot of people who were sitting down, right in the middle of the street, and they were surrounded by police!!! We found out that they were resident doctors who were protesting their salaries. We've seen several demonstrations of protest, and I forgot to mention the one we saw yesterday in front of police headquarters. Those people were protesting that they were being stripped of their right to exhibit their art in certain places. Also, yesterday, when my plane landed, you could hardly see Buenos Aires because it was so smoky, presumably from the fires that the farmers have set in protest of taxes that are imposed on agricultural products that they export.
Today the air is a lot clearer. Tonight we are going to the Palermo district to have dinner. Tomorrow we plan on taking a ferry across the Rio Plata and going to a town called Colonia, which is in Uruguay. That should be interesting!!!

Back together

After a 9 hour and 45 minute flight, I am finally in Buenos Aires! The flight left Houston at 9pm on the 22nd of April, and I arrived in Buenos Aires at 9:30am on the 23rd. The flight was a good one, although it was very long and very boring, most of the time was spent trying to find a good position to try to sleep in, which failed every time. Needless to say, I was tired when I arrived, but very very happy to see Guillermo and Fernando. We caught a taxi back to our hotel and rested a short while, and then we went out into the city. Buenos Aires is incredible, it is a very vibrant city and has lots of architecturally beautiful buildings. We ate at a wonderful outdoor restaurant, where Tango dances were performed every 20 minutes. So, it was lovely, sitting under the trees, with warm weather, good food and incredible music and dancing taking place in front of us.

We are all doing good, our hotel is very nice, it´s called the Gran Hotel Hispano and in a little while we are going to go have a nice dinner at the Cafe Tortoni. Our hotel is on a very bustling street, and we have already enjoyed some refreshments sitting at one of the outside tables close to our hotel.

It goes without saying that I did not get an email from Guillermo today, but instead got something better - his actual presence!!!!!

Getting closer

Guillermo called me after they got settled in at Rio Gallegos. He said the crossing of the Strait of Magellan wasn't too bad this time as the seas were a little calmer. He also said that on their way to Ushuaia, it was dark the last few hours of the trip so they didn't get to see the surrounding landscape. He thought that now, on their way back from Ushuaia, they'd be able to see what they had missed, but again, the bus left so early that it was STILL dark when they passed through that same area. Tomorrow, the 22nd, they fly from Rio Gallegos to Buenos Aires, where they'll arrive at around 2pm. They will meet me at the airport on the 23rd at 9:20am. Yes!!!

Guillermo and I spent quite a bit of time instant-messaging each other after he called, so there wasn't an email from him today. What is quoted below are some of the things he wrote while we were chatting.

Pretty much all we did today was ride that bus. We got up at five amd got here at 5:30. We saw lots of geese again, rheas, guanacos and some flamingos. That has been our day. We also had to go through 4 border checks.
Río Gallegos doesn't seem to have much character, so I am glad we are only going to be here tonight. It is quite cold here too, as it has been everywhere for weeks now, so it will be nice to get back into warm weather tomorrow.
I will probably send you an email from Buenos Aires after we get there, but I won't expect an answer from you.

A great trip on Beagle Channel

The trip on the Beagle Channel was fine; our son handled it with absolutely no problem. The day has been nice and the channel was relatively calm. We saw a couple of kinds of sea lions (one type chased after the boats jumping out of the water like porpoises), steamer ducks, tons of cormorants and other birds. We also did some walking on an island It was an interesting trip and we got some very nice views of Ushuaia with the mountains in the background.

The boat was a little smaller than I thought it would be and it also has an engine, so the sails were not used. We got back at about two and then went to have some lunch. Tomorrow we leave for Río Gallegos at 6:00 a.m. and should get there at about 6:00 p.m.

Terra firma today, but not tomorrow

Guillermo wrote early today!
Yes, it is amazing what those Spaniards were able to do so many years ago without all of the fancy equipment and technology that we have now. They were really tough, and they also had some luck. Those who didn't have luck, did not survive.

Today we went to Ushuaia National park and did a 7 or 8 kilometer walk. A piece of cake compared to Torres del Paine!!. It was a forested, winding, undulating - sometimes hilly - trail that followed the shore line of the Beagle Channel for quite a while before cutting through the forest. On the other side of the channel there were snow capped mountains. It was very pretty, but we didn't see a lot of wildlife - some rabbits (introduced here from Europe years ago), a couple of steamer ducks, and two or three female and one male magellenic woodpeckers, a few small birds and a type of cara cara that we have seen everywhere. About the last tree kilometers, we had a cold, light rain falling on us, but it wasn't too bad and not much wind. I had read that Ushuaia was very windy, but we have found it is much less windy than other places we have been. I believe it is because it sits a bowl completely surrounded by snowcapped mountains that I think they shield it some from the wind. The rest of Tierra del Fuego does seem to be very windy.

Tomorrow, Fernando will be taking some dramamine! We are going to go on a sail boat for four hours on the Beagle Channel. He wants to do it, so I have already bought the tickets. It is a large sail boat and no more than 10 people will be on it. The water was really rough when we crossed the Strait of Magellan yesterday and it affected our son some, but he thinks he can handle this 4 hour trip if he takes some dramamine before. We are also hoping the water will be calmer because the Beagle channel is more protected than the strait.

When we got back to the hostel, we got to watch the two overtime periods between the Spurs and the Suns, so that was a bit of luck! Well, that was our day and I will report to you tomorrow on how our Beagle trip turns out. The following day we leave for Río Gallegos, another long bus ride (I already bought the tickets), and from there we will fly to Buenos Aires (I already bought those tickets too).

Fernando is very brave, that's all I've got to say.

Appreciating Past Explorers

A short email today from Guillermo:
When we crossed into Argentina from Bolivia, there was a sign that said: Ushuaia 5121 kilómetros. We are now at kilómetro 5121. We left at nine this morning and got here at about 9:00 p.m. We couldn't see much the last three hours of the trip, so we watched No Country for Old Men on a little tiny bus. Right after we left Puntarenas, we saw many rheas alongside the road and geese and ducks all over the fields. Even though Puntarenas is on the Strait of Magellan, it would take a ferry over 4 hours to cross it there, so we drove a little over three hours to get to a point where it was much narrower. It took us about 20 minutes to cross on the ferry and the waves were pretty rough and really rocked the ferry. It is amazing that Magellan and his men were able to take their little wooden ships through those rough waters almost 500 years ago on their voyage to circumnavigate the globe. It is hard to imagine how rough the waters must have been today if we had had to go aroud Cabo de Hornos.

Guillermo and I did spend some time instant messaging each other and one thing he did say was that there has been a little excitement around Buenos Aires today. He said the airport where Fernando and he are supposed to land was closed due to fires that those farm people set!! Here's hoping that all gets straightened out soon!

Catching up on the last several days

Guillermo's email today:
Lashed, buffeted, and staggered by the wind, stung by the snow, and bruised and bloodied by the rocks, our prodigal son and the old man have returned from Torres del Paine.

It was great talking to you last night and I can't wait for the next 5 days to go by so that you will be with us. We left Puerto Natales at 10:00 today and are now on the Strait of Magellan, in Puntarenas. P. Natales only has about 15 or 20 thousand people?? but this place is much bigger. The population has to be over 100,000.

Torres del Paine was kind of a frustrating place in some ways because of the way the buses run, the expense, the services provided, etc., but it is also a very impressive.

First day: We didn't get to the albergue (Paine Grande) until well after noon due to waits for a bus and a ferry. During one of the waits, we took an hour hike to a waterfall and after we got to the albergue and had lunch, we took a four hour hike through a valley, part of it between a snow capped mountain on our left and a pretty lake lake on our right, and another snowcapped mountain ahead of us. We got back after sundown and there was a very pretty half moon rising over the mountains.

Second day: We did a nine hour and 15 minute hike. The first 2 hours of the trail were fairly easy, no snow, but wind gusts that I would guess were about 60 miles per hour, especially on the ridges. They would knock us off balance and coming off of the snow and ice on the mountains made them quite cold. After two hours we got to campamento italiano and took a left into valle francés. The trail started getting steeper, we got into snow, and the trail itself was covered with snow and ice. We also had to go through a snowy, icy, inclined bolder field that was tough and very slippery, but we continued on past it, had our lunch at the top of it and then continued along a narrow ridge, past campamento británico and on beyond. The views looking back and to the sides were spectacular of mountains and lakes. On our immediate left, there was a jagged peak with glaciers. We heard six avalanches, but only saw the snow flying up from one of them. The trail back was even more difficult to manuever because of the wet and slippery conditions. We slid a lot and both of us went down hard twice. I cut my finger and banged my knee hard and Fernando cut the palm of his hand and one of his fingers too. The last two hours from campamento italiano to the albergue were like a nice stroll in the park compared to what we had faced in valle francés.

Day three: We did a 3 and one half hour hike to see glaciar Grey. We didn't have much time because we wanted to get to Albergue Las Torres and we had to catch the catamarin headed in that direction at 12:30. They don't serve breakfast until 8:00, so you can't get an early start unless you skip breakfast. It was a good hike, not easy, but no significant snow. It was very windy and cold, but we made it to the mirador to see the glacier and ice bergs in the lake. We got back in time to catch the catamarin, but then had to wait for a little bus to the Torres albergue which was 7 kilometers away. By the time we got there, the weather was bad and too late to do any more walking. Our problem was that the Torres hike is listed as a 9 hour hike and the bus for Puerto Natales was going to leave at 2:00 the next day. So, we considered skipping breakfast and trying to leave at 6:00 a.m. the following day, hiking with our headlamps for about an hour because it doesn`'t get light until about 7:00, but that would still only give us 8 hours and we didn't think we could knock off a whole hour from the usual time for that hike. So we decided we would leave after breakfast and hike for a couple of hours, if the weather was good, we would keep going and spend another night there, if it was bad, we would turn back and try to catch the bus for P. Natales. The problem with that hike is that the valley is so narrow that you don't see the towers until the last 5 minutes of the hike. We left at 8:30. The first hour and a half was an incline where every step put you higher than the previous one, but we never stopped, just kept going and cleared the ridge. The patches of blue sky were larger than when we started, so we decided we would would go for the towers. We had the usual cold wind, but we had gotten used that and expected it. We past campamento chileno and then the trail got prettier through trees, but it also stared getting icy and slippery. Eventually we got to campamento Torres, and from there, a steeply inclined field of rocks and bolders several hundred meters long covered with snow, some over two and a half feet deep, separated us from the ridge that was hiding the towers. The climb up was tough, but we made it and what a spectacular sight as we cleared the ridge. We were able to see the towers from top to bottom and the lake in ftont of them. The sun shined on them for about 10 minutes and then a cloud came over them from behind, shaded them and a few snow flakes started falling. The wind was fierce and very cold, so we took shelter behind some big rocks, and ate our lunch. Some other guys got to the ridge just as we finished our lunch, so we took one more look and headed down. We stopped only one time to eat a little bit of dried fruit and made it back to the albergue at 3:48 -- so if we had left at 6.00, we probably could have made it to the towers and still caught the bus back to Puerto Natales.

Day 4: We had breakfast and went back to the room thinking we would just have to wait until 2:00 to catch the bus down to the ranger station from where we would catch another one to Puerto Natales. We also thought we would go crazy doing nothing all morning. So I asked for my money back for the almuerzos I had paid for, and when they gave it to me, we packed our things and headed down to the ranger station. It was 7 kilometers, so we thought it would be easy compared to what we had done. We only walked about half of it because a worker came by in a truck and gave us a ride to within about thre quarters of a mile of the ranger station. In fact, we got off because we saw a bunch of condors. We then walked the rest of the way, left our big bag at the ranger station, and walked another 3 or 4 kiilometers to Laguna amarga, a bright green lake beyond the ranger station. However, the weather was bad, cold, sprinkling and we didn't see much other than guanacos. So we waited at the ranger station and caught the bus back to Puerto natales and you know what I did as soon as I got there.

Well, I sure did sleep better last night, knowing my two guys were fine. Today, I walked in our park, the weather was "beach-like" again. With the wind and the humidity, if I closed my eyes, I could almost feel like I was by the ocean. The only thing missing was the sound of seagulls. I met my friend Sandra at Mimi's Cafe in the afternoon and we enjoyed a great lunch!!

The hikers have returned!

What a relief to get this email today!!

Just a quick email to let you know we just got back from Torres del Paine. It is 5:00 and have not eaten lunch, no clean clothes, and the boy is very hungry, so we are going to go eat, but I knew you would be worried and I wanted to send you this first. I will call you tonight. We stayed longer than expected in T. del Paine (PAIN) for my feet, we hiked a good bit and I think we did it well.

This evening, Guillermo did call me and he sounded very upbeat! He said their plan was to only spend 3 night in Torres del Paine, but they ended up spending 4 nights. Each night was spent in some place that was expensive, but provided no linens, no soap and the room had to be shared with 3 or 4 other people. Guillermo talked excitedly about the hiking they did each day, usually hikes of 8 - 9 hours in length. He said the trails were mostly deep with snow, rocky, incredibly steep or very icy, which led to several falls, some of which cut their hand or fingers. Despite all that, he seemed happy about their hikes, and a lot of it has to do with the beauty of what they were seeing. But some of it also has to do with how well he felt, unlike when he hiked in Peru and felt so out of breath and had continuous coughing. He realizes now that it was more the altitude in Peru than anything else, and that is a relief for him. He is grateful (and proud) that he was able to keep up with Fernando with no problem.

I think I'll be able to sleep a little bit better tonight!!

"A couple" doesn't necessarily mean two!

Ok, so it's been 4 days since I've heard from Guillermo. I can only assume that he and Fernando are now or have been in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine and are either still there or are on their way to Ushuaia.
The following website has more pictures of Ushuaia but also pictures of several places they've already been - Puerto Madryn, Calafate, and Bariloche. Click on the link for the photo gallery on each site. Visit the site

By the way, it did NOT freeze again here, so all our plants are doing fine!

Close to freezing again here in town?????

Well, like Guillermo said in his last email, he probably wouldn't be writing for a couple of days. So, today it just felt a little unreal to not be receiving any word at all from him. I thought about them all day, hoping, if they did attempt that 8-mile hike, that they were both doing ok.

I do believe I have been to our credit union every single day for the past week or more. The last few days have been for relatively better reasons, but it it so weird to walk in the door of that credit union now and have the people that work there greet me by name! When I go there, I feel like I'm in a small town where everybody knows your name.

My mom, sister Linda and nephew Jacob came over today. We looked at all the indoor plants and discussed their care. We also had quite a time trying to capture a stink-bug that was on one of the dining room plants! We managed to get it and release it outside without it smelling up the place! We then went to eat lunch, after which I took them to "our" park. We all had a wonderful walk down the sunny paths to the "tree tunnel". The weather was sunny and breezy and cool, so it was a perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon.

It just figures, but now that every single plant is out of the greenhouses, the weather is going to get close to freezing Monday night!!!! That is UNHEARD of here this late!!! Several days ago they forecast the low for Sunday night at 50 degrees, and it's been dropping steadily for the last few days, and now, as of Saturday night, they predict the low Sunday night will be 39! That is getting too close for the plant's comfort.

Tons of snow

Guillermo sent this Friday afternoon:

We caught our bus at 8:00 this morning and we are now back in Chile in Puerto Natales. It is cold and rainy here, and on the way we went through areas that had a lot of snow. Tomorrow we are going up into the mountains where it will really be cold and the snow will be deep. It is likely that we will stay in a shelter up there for a couple of days, so there will be no Internet. Fernando wants to try to do a couple of 8 hour hikes, so that is what we will be attempting.

As we came into Puerto Natales, we saw a lot of geese and black necked swans. We haven`t done much else today, with the bus ride and the weather the way it is. We have walked around in the town some, but it is prertty miserable outside.

I don't know if I will be able to write you later today and I am almost sure that I won't be able to write for the next couple of days, but I just wanted to let you know how things have gone and you can tell Nena I read her comment on the blog and what I said in my email last night still stands!!.

What he said in his email last night was: I will read the blog tomoorow, but I can just imagine what Nena has to say, but you can tell her I would still put my money on the one wearing the skirt.

Email from very late on April 10th

I received this email at almost 10:30 Thursday night, which meant it was about 12:30 in the morning for Guillermo!!

For six days they were cloaked in fog and clouds, invisible to the human eye, but on the seventh day, the rays of the sun burned through the veil, and as the fog and mist fell away, the spires revealed themselves in all there splendor.
We had a good day today and Ushuaia is still in the picture.
We got back to Calafate at 10:00p.m., and got a hotel, although I wanted to run here as soon as we got to town, the boy was hungry, so you know what we did.
After I wrote you last night, we walked out of the Internet place and it felt warmer. There was not a sign of snow anywhere and it was drizzling, so we thought it was bad news for today. However, when we walked out at 8:30 this morning, everything was white, several inches deep, so it must have snowed most of the night. The strrets were really tricky walking because the snow froze on top of the rain. The boy and I had breakfast, and at nine, we walked ot of the town looking for a trail. It was partly cloudy and didn't know whether the weather would hold. We also had to decide wheather to close our return on the bus for 6:00 today, because I had left it open. Another decision was whether to take a trail that would get us closer to Fitzroy, but where we would probably not have good views of Cerro Torre, Eggers or Standhardt, and those are very impressive peaks. We were told that Torre was the more difficult one to sse and that it clouded up quicker than the others, but I think we made the right decision. We decided to go for Torre lake in front of the peak, a six hour round trip walk to the lake. So we walked through the snow, plenty on the ground and the trees were loaded. We saw an austral parakeet, some flickers, a rabbit and some torrent ducks on the way there. The torrent ducks were really neat; they were able to swim upstream in very swift water. We got to the lake in 2 hours and 45 minutes, so we did well. We also walked around the rim of the lake to a place where we could get a better look of the glacier that feeds it. On the way there, we heard, but did not see, two avalanches that sounded like freight trains. The wind coming off of the glacier and downslope from the peak really buffeted us on the rim. The wind was blowing snow really hard horizontally and it pelted our faces. Although my feet hurt a good bit as they usually do, I felt good otherwise and was able to match the boy stride for stride. We both fell a couple of times. He caught himself with his hands both times and I did once, but the other time I landed on my shoulder, but no harm done. All in all, we walked from 9:00 until 4:00 when we got back into the town. During that time, we only stopped when he took pictures and for about twenty minutes to eat lunch. So, I felt that I did well and did not hold him back today, but I am sore and I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. Even he said his legs and anklies were sore. It was cold, but beautiful walking in that snow and I really did not find the trail that tough, other than the slippery conditions and a few climbs. By the time we got back, the snow had all melted in the town. The peaks reamined clear until we were abut two hours down the trail toward the town. I know you would have just loved seeing all the snow on the ground and trees and those peaks are something else. They look practically impossible to climb and I understand there is a cemetary in El Chalten for those who have died trying to do it.
Well, it is very late, well after midnight, and I need to get up early and carry all of my stuff about 8 or 10 blocks and hope to catch a bus to Chile.

Really cold weather

Guillermo's garden doesn't normally look like this, it is usually well-kept and full of beautiful vegetable plants! That is winter rye growing so tall in there! The purple martins wonder why their house is still down on the ground.

Here's what Guillermo wrote today:
We are now in El Chalten, but it seems our luck has run out as far as the weather is concerned. It looked promising as we left El Calafate, but as we got closer to this place it was more overcast, and from a distance, we saw the bottom part of those very impressive peaks, but as we came into town, the clouds rolled in and we couldn't see much at all. It started snowing then and it has been snowing all day, but mostly little tiny flakes that aren't sticking and it is colder here than in El Calafate, so I wore my gloves when we hiked a little.
When we were close to El Chalten, we saw about 10 condors and a bunch of cara caras along side of the road. When the bus stopped, they all flew except one; we got excellent views from up close, but the bus took off again right away and we couln't get any pictures. We did a lot of walking with all our stuff before we found a place to stay. Some of the places were closed, others full, etc. After we had lunch, we got our warm clothes on, walked to the other side of town and then hiked up a pretty big hill along a trail called los condores. As we approached the trailhead, we saw three condors fly over, but they were high and it was snowing pretty good, so again, no pictures. We ony saw a hawk up on top and on the way down, we thought there was another condor flying, but when we saw it better we saw it was a black chested buzzard eagle.
We had hoped to take a longer hike today, but the mountains wouldn't have been visible. So, we have some decisions to make. If it is really cloudy again, we can go see another glacier, larger, but not as famous as Perito Moreno. If it looks good, then we take either a 6 hour or am 8 hour hike, and I understand that both are tough with quite a bit of climbing and it will be very cold, but with spectacular views of a lake and the Fitz Roy and other peaks. My main worry are my feet that hurt pretty bad sometimes, but Fernando really wants to hike in this area. He has even said that if the weather is still bad tomorrow, we should perhaps stay around here a day or two longer and skip Ushuaia, so I don't know how it will turn out. Everyone in El Calafate and here says that these snows are a month and a half earlier than usual, so I imagine Torres del Paine and (The computers went off about 20 minutes ago and I have been waiting until they got them goimg again. Fortunately, there was a draft this time). Ushuaia are even worse. So, we will see what happens.

On the homefront, every last plant is finally out of the greenhouses. Our neighbor brought over a dolly which we used to help move the biggest plants. The trick is placing everything just right so that the wind doesn't blow them over. It has been really windy and humid here today, it feels just like being on the beach! There has also been an exciting, regular customer at our bird feeders - an American Goldfinch! He is bright yellow and black, looking quite striking among all the other birds.

The amazing glacier!

From Guillermo, sent at 5pm this evening:
After I talked to you last night, we walked back to the hotel, probably 8 to 10 blocks, and the snow was really coming down. This morning, the snow was all the way down the mountains and there was snow in the town on some rooftops and cars. It has been an interesting day today, the Perito Moreno glacier was very impressive. A bus picked us up at 9:00 and it took about an hour and a half to get out to where the glacier is. On the way there, we drove along the shores of Lake Argentina. It was snowing and the clouds were so low you couldn't see much. Some places the bus had to go very slowly because the snow was accumulating on the road, the trees and vegetation were covered by snow, but it didn't seem all that cold, so I am still saving my gloves for Ushuaia! However, I did wear a T-shirt, that quilted blue long sleeve shirt, my gray striped shirt, my fleece and my jacket a good part of the time, so I shouldn't have been cold!!

We stopped along one of the arms of Lake Argentina and got on a large catamarin that went along the north face of the glacier, but not too close. The ice cliff of the glacier varies from 40 to 60 meters (about 130 to 200 ft) and it is a very impressive sight. Some of the ice is very blue and there are huge cracks in the ice. While we were out there, huge chunks of ice broke off the cliff making a very loud cracking noise and crashed into the water. There were two especially large ones where whole sections of the cliff from the top to the water surface broke loose and crashed into the water making a huge wave that really rocked the boat. Fernando and I spent almost the entire time (1 hour) on the top deck and while we were up there, the snow let up for a little while and the sun even tried to show itself for a moment. It was really pretty, we took a lot of pictures. I wish you could have seen it and I know your mother would have loved seeing that too.

We then went to a place where there are well designed walkways that allow you good views of some sections of the glacier, but before we did the walkways, Fernando and I ate our bread, cheese, salame, potato chips, pears and drinks that we bought at a grocery store after talking to you last night. We also had bought some dried fruit and nuts, but we didn't eat any of that until after we got back on the bus a couple hours later. It was snowing the whole time we were eating and it was very pretty.

It also snowed on and off when we did the walkways and there were some very impressive sites of the glacier, some through the trees. We could also see where the glacier has blocked off one arm of the lake and the water in that part of the lake is at least 25 feet higher than in the rest of the lake. Eventually, the weight of the water will break that dam and I imagine it will be a spectacular sight. The last time it happened was in 2006 and it makes me wonder what will happen if the catamarin is out there when that occurs, because there will be a huge amount of water rushing down to the lower level of the lake. Shortly after starting our walk, we saw a good sized parakeet on a tree. It was strange to see a parrot in the snow and when it flew off, 7 or 8 others that we hadn't seen flew off with it.

Well, that has been our day. Tomorrow we leave for El Chaltén at 7:30 and we are hoping for good weather, otherwise the trip up there may be a waste because the Fitz Roy peaks will not be visible. We will come back here Thursday night or Friday morning and then head to the bottom of Chile as soon after that as we can.

It seems like they had an amazing day today!! I also wrote Guillermo this morning, after I talked with the people at the credit union. I wanted him to know that the ATM transaction that went through, that he didn't receive but we were charged for, was reversed, so everything is, at least up to this point, fine again.

Today, here at home, I picked up my sister Linda from SAKS Fifth Avenue, where she works, and we had lunch at a great Korean restaurant. We had Beef Bulgogi and also a Shrimp Pancake and it was so delicious. After lunch, I went to the park by our house to walk because I didn't have many steps yet on my pedometer and my goal is to get over 7,000 steps every day. As it turned out, I didn't need to go walking because I ended up mowing the garden around Guillermo's garden this evening and ended up way past 7,000. But that's good!!
Our neighbor also came over and helped me move the last of the plants out of the small greenhouse and the three huge plants that were in our garage. So now, the garage is cleared out and the little greenhouse is totally empty!!! The ten biggest and heaviest plants are left to move, and those are in the big greenhouse and we tackle that tomorrow!