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!!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, April 28, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
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!!!
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!!!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
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!
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!
Friday, April 25, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
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!!!
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!!!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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!!!!!
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!!!!!
Monday, April 21, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, April 18, 2008
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!
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!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
"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!
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!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, April 11, 2008
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
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.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, April 7, 2008
It's snowing and more trials
This is the latest from Guillermo, sent at 3pm on Monday:
We just got done eating a good lunch: we both had meat that was very rare, and salad and French fries that we shared, and a beer each. It was good and I put it on the credit card because I had not tried the ATMs here yet and I am still a little gun shy. We then went to two different banks and the ATMs were out of order. At the third bank, I got the same message as before, so I asked for a smaller amount and it seemed to go through, but then it said sorry, there is a temporary problem. So I then went to the other ATM machine in the same place and I had to go through the same process as in Puerto Pirámides. With the high prices here, it will probably go pretty fast; however, I am confident that I will be able to get more when I need it, but we should be fine for a pretty good while.
This morning we flew to El Calafate on an Argentine military plane that takes passengers and is a little cheaper than other airlines because it doesn't fly back to Buenos Aires as the others do to get to these places. El Calafate is way down at the very bottom of Argentina, but before Tierra del Fuego, along the Andes and close to Chile. It is 5 degrees celsius and raining and they say it has been raining for the last two days, but that it usually doesn't even rain here, so we are hopeful that tomorrow it will be better and our plan is to go to the Perito Moreno Glacier. We will go to a place from where we can observe it and then get on a boat that will take us closer to the ice cliff. There is another very interesting excursion that goes by 5 different glaciers and apparently the boat circles some of the ice bergs in the channel. Some of the glaciers are larger than the perito moreno and with higher cliffs, but that one would cost more, so I think we will skip it. The snow is very low in the mountains, but no snow here in the town.
Yes that armadillo that looked like it was wearing a skirt was really funny and I could just picture him and the Energúmeno getting into a really funny tussle. Tell Nena my money would have been on the armadillo!!
This website has information and pictures of Perito Moreno Glacier but you can put that in Google and find plenty of other good sites, too. Perito Moreno Glacier
Back at home:
What I did today was go to our credit union (again)to see if they knew anything about why Guillermo can't take out the full amount of money he wants, if they knew why he has to do it in bits and pieces. Apparently, it has something to do with being in Argentina because checking the Thorntree site, there are plenty of other people who have gone or are going through the exact same thing. We also got a call from the "fraud department" today, and they need Guillermo to call them. So, I let him know through email and he called me asking what that was all about. After he talked with them, it came to light that at least one, possibly two ATM transactions that were denied him, in fact did go through to our credit union. (That was probably that transaction he talked about above where the machine said there was a temporary problem.) So, now it's back to the credit union tomorrow for me to try to get that straightened out. This has been a real hassle, but at least they have been able to get money and it did help to read that they aren't the only ones having ATM and money difficulties over there.
When Guillermo called me after calling the fraud department, he told me that it was snowing there in El Calafate. It wasn't actually sticking to the ground, but it was snowing. Oh, and in that sentence where Guillermo uses the word "Energumeno", that is actually what he calls Rebeca's dog Blackjack, a.k.a. Diablillo. That dog has many names and every single one of them fits!!! That's little Diablillo below!
Between credit union and bank visits, I did manage to get in a walk in "our" park today, which is always very pleasant. :-)
We just got done eating a good lunch: we both had meat that was very rare, and salad and French fries that we shared, and a beer each. It was good and I put it on the credit card because I had not tried the ATMs here yet and I am still a little gun shy. We then went to two different banks and the ATMs were out of order. At the third bank, I got the same message as before, so I asked for a smaller amount and it seemed to go through, but then it said sorry, there is a temporary problem. So I then went to the other ATM machine in the same place and I had to go through the same process as in Puerto Pirámides. With the high prices here, it will probably go pretty fast; however, I am confident that I will be able to get more when I need it, but we should be fine for a pretty good while.
This morning we flew to El Calafate on an Argentine military plane that takes passengers and is a little cheaper than other airlines because it doesn't fly back to Buenos Aires as the others do to get to these places. El Calafate is way down at the very bottom of Argentina, but before Tierra del Fuego, along the Andes and close to Chile. It is 5 degrees celsius and raining and they say it has been raining for the last two days, but that it usually doesn't even rain here, so we are hopeful that tomorrow it will be better and our plan is to go to the Perito Moreno Glacier. We will go to a place from where we can observe it and then get on a boat that will take us closer to the ice cliff. There is another very interesting excursion that goes by 5 different glaciers and apparently the boat circles some of the ice bergs in the channel. Some of the glaciers are larger than the perito moreno and with higher cliffs, but that one would cost more, so I think we will skip it. The snow is very low in the mountains, but no snow here in the town.
Yes that armadillo that looked like it was wearing a skirt was really funny and I could just picture him and the Energúmeno getting into a really funny tussle. Tell Nena my money would have been on the armadillo!!
This website has information and pictures of Perito Moreno Glacier but you can put that in Google and find plenty of other good sites, too. Perito Moreno Glacier
Back at home:
What I did today was go to our credit union (again)to see if they knew anything about why Guillermo can't take out the full amount of money he wants, if they knew why he has to do it in bits and pieces. Apparently, it has something to do with being in Argentina because checking the Thorntree site, there are plenty of other people who have gone or are going through the exact same thing. We also got a call from the "fraud department" today, and they need Guillermo to call them. So, I let him know through email and he called me asking what that was all about. After he talked with them, it came to light that at least one, possibly two ATM transactions that were denied him, in fact did go through to our credit union. (That was probably that transaction he talked about above where the machine said there was a temporary problem.) So, now it's back to the credit union tomorrow for me to try to get that straightened out. This has been a real hassle, but at least they have been able to get money and it did help to read that they aren't the only ones having ATM and money difficulties over there.
When Guillermo called me after calling the fraud department, he told me that it was snowing there in El Calafate. It wasn't actually sticking to the ground, but it was snowing. Oh, and in that sentence where Guillermo uses the word "Energumeno", that is actually what he calls Rebeca's dog Blackjack, a.k.a. Diablillo. That dog has many names and every single one of them fits!!! That's little Diablillo below!
Between credit union and bank visits, I did manage to get in a walk in "our" park today, which is always very pleasant. :-)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Guillermo sent an email Sunday morning:
This will be a short one and I will try to write you more later. We are back in Puerto Madryn and came here to confirm our flight for tomorrow to El Calafate, but I have called several times and they don't answer, so my guess is that they don't work on Sundays. I guess we just have to show up tomorrow at the airport and see what happens. Hopefully, we won't have a problem. They told me to confirm the day before, but if they don't answer, there isn't much that I can do.
Before leaving Puerto Pirámide, I went to the same ATM and had to go through the same thing (a little at a time) to get more money, but it worked. Hopefully that will work in other places too, so yes, you need to cancel that Western Union thing and hopefully get all of the money back.
I think we may drive down to Trelew in a bit, provided that we have enough kilometers left on the car, and then come back here to spend the night.
And Sunday evening he called me. I was so happy to hear from him! He sounded like he was in good spirits, and said that he and Fernando had tried several different internet cafes to write from that evening, but they were all packed with people. So, neither of them got to send an email tonight, but at least I got a phone call. Guillermo said they saw a very interesting armadillo on Peninsula Valdez and that it was a little clueless, actually getting within a foot of each of them until scurrying in another direction.
He also said they were excited to see a Rhea, which they were starting to think they weren't going to see. On this website, there's a picture of a Rhea: rhea picture
It was very nice to be able to talk to Guillermo, but we didn't get to say goodbye to each other properly because the line went dead. He tried calling 3 more times, but each time we were again cut off.
Nothing new here at home.
This will be a short one and I will try to write you more later. We are back in Puerto Madryn and came here to confirm our flight for tomorrow to El Calafate, but I have called several times and they don't answer, so my guess is that they don't work on Sundays. I guess we just have to show up tomorrow at the airport and see what happens. Hopefully, we won't have a problem. They told me to confirm the day before, but if they don't answer, there isn't much that I can do.
Before leaving Puerto Pirámide, I went to the same ATM and had to go through the same thing (a little at a time) to get more money, but it worked. Hopefully that will work in other places too, so yes, you need to cancel that Western Union thing and hopefully get all of the money back.
I think we may drive down to Trelew in a bit, provided that we have enough kilometers left on the car, and then come back here to spend the night.
And Sunday evening he called me. I was so happy to hear from him! He sounded like he was in good spirits, and said that he and Fernando had tried several different internet cafes to write from that evening, but they were all packed with people. So, neither of them got to send an email tonight, but at least I got a phone call. Guillermo said they saw a very interesting armadillo on Peninsula Valdez and that it was a little clueless, actually getting within a foot of each of them until scurrying in another direction.
He also said they were excited to see a Rhea, which they were starting to think they weren't going to see. On this website, there's a picture of a Rhea: rhea picture
It was very nice to be able to talk to Guillermo, but we didn't get to say goodbye to each other properly because the line went dead. He tried calling 3 more times, but each time we were again cut off.
Nothing new here at home.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Things are looking up today
I spent a good part of the morning running back and forth to our credit union, trying to get answers and withdrawing money for a wire transfer. I also opened an account at a new bank, because apparently we can't count on our own credit union! Unfortunately, when I was doing the Western Union wire, at the time, I did not know that in South America, all Western Union places are closed until Monday, as are the banks. So, everything seemed quite useless, and I was so worried all day, until I got Guillermo's email this evening. Here's what he had to say:
Things are looking up, so I would get that money back from Western Union. Tell them the offices here are closed and you want to cancel the whole thing. When we got to Puerto Pirámide, we were told that there is an ATM here, so we looked for it and found it in a little tin building pretty much sitting by itself, but I thought I would try it anyway, as unlikely as it seemed since I had already had been turned by ATMs at 6 or 7 different banks in Bariloche and Puerto Madryn. I asked for the usual amount and it told me to ask for less, so I lowered it and got the same message, so I lowered it more and got the same thing, so I went even lower and it gave them to me!! So then it asked if I wanted another transaction, so I asked for another and it gave me those too, and then I did it twice more and I got the full amount that way. Isn't that crazy?? I'm sure it charged me for each one, but it won't be as expensive as western union or cash advances. I am hoping the thing just started to work as I was in the middle of trying to withdraw money and that tomorrow it will give me all the pesos at one time. I need to take advantage of this ATM while I am here in case we have a problem in El Calafate. So, we get to eat tonight!!
This Internet place is expensive, so I won't make this long. We drove on peninsula Valdez some and saw tinamous, guanacos, a small group of female elephant seals, a colony of sea lions and a colony of Magellenic penguins.
We are fine for the moment and hope that things have been straightened out. I will probably not get a chance to write to you from here tomorrow, but we will spend the night in Puerto Madryn and I will write you from there.
So, the guys now have money in hand and for sure they AND I will sleep better tonight! And adding a picture of flowers seemed appropriate, since the guys situation looks a little brighter and the flowers are a bright spot in our yard!!
Friday, April 4, 2008
ATM Hassles
The word from Guillermo and Fernando today is that they are having trouble getting money from an ATM machine. Unfortunately, Fernando's card expired at the end of March, and Guillermo's card for some reason did not work last night or today. So, I visited our credit union to find out what the problem is and they reassured me that there is no problem with Guillermo's card, it just may have been the machine he was trying to use. Which I have my doubts about, since Guillermo claims he used that exact same machine with no problem prior to going to Chiloe. So, not only they, but I am going to be very worried until this is resolved. Right now, they are on an "all-night" bus ride and when they get to Puerto Madryn Saturday morning, that is where he is going to try to use the ATM again. Good luck to them, they are going to need it!!!
Back at home: my job with removing plants from the greenhouses is over!!! Now, I need to enlist our neighbor's help for the last 30 plants, which are way too big and much too heavy for me to even push or pull, much less lift!
Back at home: my job with removing plants from the greenhouses is over!!! Now, I need to enlist our neighbor's help for the last 30 plants, which are way too big and much too heavy for me to even push or pull, much less lift!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Not yet at Puerto Madryn
This is taken from the email Guillermo sent me this evening:
Well, things didn't go as we had hoped today. We left Castro at 8:00 and got to Puerto Mont at about 11:30, but there were no buses going to Neuquen (toward Puerto Madryn) until tomorrow, so our only sensible option was to catch a bus to Bariloche. We had to wait for the bus for 2 hours, but here we are in Bariloche again. We got here at about 9:45 this evening (it is 11:15 now). The problem now is that the bus for Puerto Madryn doesn't leave until late tomorrow from here, so for sure it will be an all nighter, but we are at least a little closer, and we will only have the rest of the day that we get there and the following day to explore Peninsula Valdez. I will most likely rent a car for at least one day. The following day we have to leave for El Calafate and after that it will just be a couple of weeks until you are with us!!!!. That is the plane ticket I bought some time ago to save about a 35 hour bus ride.
Fernando wanted to try that Mexican Restaurant again tonight, so we just came from there; they had corn tortillas this time and the food was much better. Hasta pasado mañana desde Puerto Madryn.
So, it looks like there won't be any news from them again until Saturday.
And back at home? Well, I had an enjoyable lunch at an English Pub with Sandra, a friend of ours. The evening was spent, yep, taking more plants out of the greenhouse. The smaller greenhouse is almost empty now!!
Well, things didn't go as we had hoped today. We left Castro at 8:00 and got to Puerto Mont at about 11:30, but there were no buses going to Neuquen (toward Puerto Madryn) until tomorrow, so our only sensible option was to catch a bus to Bariloche. We had to wait for the bus for 2 hours, but here we are in Bariloche again. We got here at about 9:45 this evening (it is 11:15 now). The problem now is that the bus for Puerto Madryn doesn't leave until late tomorrow from here, so for sure it will be an all nighter, but we are at least a little closer, and we will only have the rest of the day that we get there and the following day to explore Peninsula Valdez. I will most likely rent a car for at least one day. The following day we have to leave for El Calafate and after that it will just be a couple of weeks until you are with us!!!!. That is the plane ticket I bought some time ago to save about a 35 hour bus ride.
Fernando wanted to try that Mexican Restaurant again tonight, so we just came from there; they had corn tortillas this time and the food was much better. Hasta pasado mañana desde Puerto Madryn.
So, it looks like there won't be any news from them again until Saturday.
And back at home? Well, I had an enjoyable lunch at an English Pub with Sandra, a friend of ours. The evening was spent, yep, taking more plants out of the greenhouse. The smaller greenhouse is almost empty now!!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Phone calls are better than emails!!
Guillermo called this afternoon, and it was so nice to hear his voice. It's so much better to hear him, hear him laugh, all the things that you can't get with an email. We talked a long time about how the day went, how today he walked along the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and either tomorrow or the day after, they'll be on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, in Puerto Madryn. Evidently both he and Fernando were a little disappointed with Chiloe Park - but both of them seem to be in good spirits. Fernando commented that it's a good thing they both enjoy birdwatching, because Chiloe Park would have been a total disappointment otherwise. As usual, it was difficult hanging up with Guillermo, but at least we got to talk to each other!
Back at home, I've been removing plants from our two greenhouses for probably over a week now and even though the greenhouses are emptier, there are still TONS of plants still left to take out. Instead of placing them strategically around our yard, they are all going under 3 different trees, and will stay that way until we get back. We haven't had much rain here, but the flowers in our yard are beautiful!! We've got poppies, daffodils, irises, and roses blooming now, and the sweet-smelling jasmine and honeysuckle are just starting to come out!!
Back at home, I've been removing plants from our two greenhouses for probably over a week now and even though the greenhouses are emptier, there are still TONS of plants still left to take out. Instead of placing them strategically around our yard, they are all going under 3 different trees, and will stay that way until we get back. We haven't had much rain here, but the flowers in our yard are beautiful!! We've got poppies, daffodils, irises, and roses blooming now, and the sweet-smelling jasmine and honeysuckle are just starting to come out!!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
In Chiloe
So, the guys are in Castro now and this is what Guillermo wrote the night of March 31:
I will send you a quick email tonight to let you know we are in Castro, Chiloé. We left Bariloche at 7:30 this morning and got to Puerto Montt at 2:00. We were on another bus headed for Castro in Chiloé 20 minutes later, so our timing was good. Then we had about a 45 minute ferry boat ride and then some more time on the bus. Fernando took everything well and we got to Castro in the early evening. On the way over here we saw a lot of ibises and lapwings in fields and as we were crossing the channel on the ferry, we also saw quite a few blacknecked swans, which was kind of neat. The island has very green rolling hills. It feels colder than it was in Bariloche, but it isn't too bad. It is probably due to the higher humidity. Tomorrow we are going to try to get to Chiloé park and do some walking. Some of the houses here are up on stilts, or at least the side that is toward the water, and many of the houses have their sides covered with different shaped wooden shingles.
This person's site on the web has many great photos and since it gives an idea of what Guillermo and Fernando might be seeing, I thought I'd add it to this blog. Chiloe photos
And Guillermo wrote this on April 1:This person's site on the web has many great photos and since it gives an idea of what Guillermo and Fernando might be seeing, I thought I'd add it to this blog. Chiloe photos
We had planned to go to Chiloé park today, but when we got to the bus station, the bus that goes to the town near the park had left about 20 minutes earlier and the next one didn't leave until 12:30, so we decided to go to an island instead. It was an interesting ride there, but there wasn't much to do in the town of Achao other than to look at the houses and buildings covered with those wooden shingles in a variety of styles and all different colors. They really are very unique looking. I have been a little disappointed in that Chiloé is much more developed and deforested than I had expected. We have seen a few monkey puzzle trees in yards, but that is it. They grow a couple hundred miles north of where we are, so we won't see any forests of pehuenes in Chile. There was also a very picturesque wooden church in the town. We then went to another town, where we did more walking around and taking pictures of the houses and of another neat wooden church. We then returned to Castro, did a lot more walking and saw the palafitos, houses on stilts. Well, that is about all we have done today. Tomorrow we will try to make it to the park and the following morning we have to head back toward Argentina.
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