Perito Moreno Glacier

February 12

We had a long drive into El Calafate - two hours on a gravel road then another hour and a half into town.  A quick potty break and another 90 minute drive to a massive glacier called the Perito Moreno.  It is 20 miles long,  5 miles wide and 650 feet deep at its front edge with 200 feet above the lake’s waterline.  We were standing 1/2 mile away from its front and could see part of the back edge near a mountain that was 10 miles away, then it turned left and continues on for another 10 miles.

This glacier is neither growing nor shrinking, it’s staying the same from year to year even though it moves 6 feet every day.  It’s static because it gets 30 feet of snow each winter which is what compresses the glacier into ice and pushes it forward.  We witnessed several episodes of calving in the 2 hours we were watching it.

The “small” boat in the far back holds about a hundred people. 

We are spending one night in El Calafate before heading to Chile.

Laguna Azure

February 11, Monday

“The hills are alive…” That was the song that came to mind as we crested the first of two steep grades onto a level valley. 

Today’s hike took us up about 2,300 feet over 7 km (4.5mi) but the last mile was 1,000 feet of vertical elevation.  There was an option to ride a  horse most of the way to the Laguna Azur so 5 folks chose the ride although Mike’s horse was a bit ornery and he ended up walking all the way.

Laguna Azul was formed and filled  by a glacier.  The water broke through at some point to create a beautiful waterfall which we found to be a beautiful backdrop for photos of the group. The Laguna itself was very pretty and we had hopes of seeing an avalanche during our lunch break on this warm day but no luck.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather these past two days!

Hosteria Helsingfors

February 10

In front of El Pilar before leaving. 

After driving for four hours with two of those hours on gravel we arrived at Hosteria Helsingfors and what a beautiful place and they gave us the most welcoming greeting!

Finally a clear view of Mount Fitz Roy. 

The hotel is tucked into a large grove of 100 year old Chinese Cypress trees that totally block the wind that blows almost constantly from the glacier lake.  Waiting for us was a lunch of gastronomic enjoyment! A half lamb was slowly roasting near an open fire where it had been since 9 am. On a log table was a huge platter of meats, cheese, olives and nuts. Then they brought over provolone cheese melted in iron skillets and covered with olive oil, herbs and tomatoes served on fresh baked bread. As we stood around enjoying the sun and the fabulous views they served us Malbec wine and empanadas fresh out of the pan. Lunch was eaten at the picnic table and included the lamb (delicious!) salads, roared potatoes and vegetables.  What a spread!!

And then our leader Karen said we could go for a “short” hike of 4 miles or do as John did and take a nap then take advantage of the Internet that we’ve been without the past 5 days.

I did the hike along the lake out to a windy point with a view of the lake, mountains and part of a glacier.  Wind was about 34mph. I have determined that Karen’s definition of a level hike means that there is little elevation change but there will be several 200-300 foot hills to climb.

Laguna Torre

February 9, Saturday

It rained and was very windy all night and early this morning so we dressed for a rainy hike with rain pants, raincoat and dreading the day.  What we got was very little rain sometimes mixed with a tiny bit of snow, no wind and a great day for a 11-12 mile hike.

Our destination was the base camp and lake beneath Cerro Torres, a difficult but popular mountain to see and to climb. There was a 1,000 foot of elevation change so it was not a very difficult hike.  We walked above the picturesque Cascadia Margarita river gorge before getting our first look at Cerro Torre valley.  Unfortunately the mountain was obscured by clouds as were the mountain ranges on either side of it. Nonetheless it was a beautiful site.  Our pictures and my descriptions cannot begin to describe the majestic, awe inspiring views we experienced.

When we reached Laguna a Torre we had lunch before walking along the river created by the Laguna and then headed back to the bus.  It was 18 km or 11 miles but my Fitbit showed 30,000 steps and 13 miles.  We must be getting stronger as we weren’t near as tired or sore at the end of the day.

Loma del Pliegue Tombado

February 8, Friday

Our hike today started out in El Chaten and took us up about 2000 feet with hopes of getting a good view of the Cerro Torre, the glacier and Laguna Torre. But boy was it windy!  We had some good views of the tops of Fitz Roy and Poincenot as we walked up and before the clouds and rain moved it.  What’s good here is that rain gets blown around and evaporated by high winds so that it doesn’t get you drenched, just damp.

Our hopes were dashed when we reached the top of the hill as it was extremely windy and the clouds had totally covered the Cerro Torre and the lake below it.  So instead our local guide, Cici, gave us some history of all the men who tried to climb Cerro Torre.  She’s a very good story teller but I didn’t have my note pad so I don’t have any details just that Cerro Torre wasn’t topped until 2002.

We had a pretty quick walk down, clocking 9 miles total, so we stopped in town for a short visit.  Most of the group found breweries while a few of us shopped but the shopping was limited since it was during siesta time. 

A good day for bonding and beer!

Hiking towards Fitz Roy

Feb 7

Today we did the longest and hardest hike of the whole tour - 12 miles (my Fitbit said 14 miles!) We walked along the river for 5 miles then hiked up a moraine so that we had a fabulous view of  Cerro (Mount) Fitz Roy with part of its glacier, Piedras Blancas (stones of white) showing beneath its peak and the glacier lake below that. 

The hike up the moraine was over one mile and as far as we were concerned very brutal! But…the views along the way were beautiful, and our lunch spot at the top of the moraine was a great view of the mountains even though Fitz Roy was covered in clouds. The peak next to Fitz Roy is named Poincenot, after a French climber.

 The glacier is the same one we saw on the way up but from a different point of view.  Mount Fitz Roy is not the tallest in this range but it is technically the most difficult to climb making it attractive to climbers. The lake below the peak is called Laguna de los Tres or Three Lakes.

Parque National Los Glaciares

February 6

Wow!  What a day!

 We flew from Ushuaia to El Calafate ( prounced “Cal-a-fa-Taylor”) on Wednesday and then rode in a van to El Chaten ( prounced “Cha-tan”) and about 10 minutes more to our hotel El Pilar where our group are the only guests.  Along the way we spotted numerous guanacos, a species of alpaca. We also stopped at a wayside inn where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid also spent some time. The route took us around two very large glacial lakes, Lago Viedma and Lago Argentine.

El Pilar  is a lovely boutique hotel with wood burning fire places and pot bellied stoves and is powered by hydroelectric power from the nearby glacier river.  Our drinking water also comes from the glacial river.

Harborton Ranch and Gable Island

February 5, Tuesday

The bus took us all the way through town and over to the west side of Ushuaia to Harborton Ranch which was owned by the missionary Thomas Bridges beginning in 1876.  The government gave him the land if he would become an Argentine citizen and if he would never sell the land.  He agreed. For many years they tried raising horses, cows and sheep but the markets would not sustain them and the weather would decimate the herds every winter.  So he gave up ranching and turned the ranch into a tourist destination.  Today his great grandchildren live on and run the ranch.

We got off the bus and into a boat which took us to Gable Island, a part of the ranch in the middle of Beagle Channel. Our 4 mile hike took us along the shore and then across the middle of the island and back down to the shore where a lunch of baked trout with potatoes was waiting or us.  The island is part forest, part open land, has a few lakes or lagoons and small streams.  We learned about some of the vegetation, and about some of the mammals like the beavers who were brought here from Canada, birds like the Magellanic woodpecker and other small creatures.

After lunch we rode the boat to another island that is occupied by two different species of penguins - the Gentoo like we saw in Antarctica and the Magellanic penguin that is found in only four other locations in the world. They spend their summers here and their winters in the Atlantic north up towards Brazil.  We had one great surprise!  A King Penguin was hanging out with the Gentoos.  He probably got lost or was swept in by some storm.  It’s doubtful he will return next season although they have had King penguins in previous years.

It’s a bit windy here. 

Hiking Along the Beagle Channel

February 4, Monday

After a morning flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia we left the airport and head directly to the Tierra Del Fuego National Park for a 6 mile hike along the shores of the Beagle Channel and through lovely beech tree forests.  They are experiencing unusually warm (translate ‘hot!’) weather so we were glad to be in shorts and t-shirts.  

Along the way Karen pointed out Cara Cara birds, flightless steamer ducks, and we tasted these mushrooms that grow on trees causing them to grow the wood around the mushroom creating huge knots on the trees. The views across the channel to the Andes Mountains in Chile were lovely.

We are staying at Los Yamahas Hotel which is on the far eastern side of the town and right on the channel.  Because of the heat wave there were people all along the shorelines, in the rivers and streams, enjoying the day.  I wonder if any of the stores in town were able to stay open with so many swimming and sun bathing.

Beginning the Next Adventure

February 3, Sunday

We took the high speed ferry across River Plate (actually its an estuary but everyone calls it a river) from Montevideo to Buenos Aires where we met up with our Wilderness Travel hiking group.

While the hikers were getting a tour of the city, we did our own tour of the residential neighborhood near the hotel.  There were tree lined, cobble stoned streets, old homes, large parks with active flea markets and we wandered  through a huge building with antique and flea market booths being serenaded by a country western band.

This evening was an orientation meeting before a dinner at a nearby restaurant.  We met Tom & Sally from CA, Steve & Angie from MN, Seth and Ann from MO, Mike from IN, John from Boston & his friend Martha from NC, Juda & Makayla from CA, Jeff & Roseanne from OR and of course our leader Karen from Buenos Aires.

Back in Ushuaia

Jan 29, Tues

We disembarked from the Hebridean Sky at 8:30 this morning and shortly after that checked into the Hotel Lennox.  After settling into our room we started walking, and we walked a lot!

Most of the day was spent exploring the Ushuaia Jail and Military Prison Museum. In 1896 prisoners we sent to this area to begin the establishment of a prison for second-time offenders and to possibly start a penal colony like they did in Australia. By 1920 the prison was mostly completed and housed over 600 inmates who had built the structure out of block and stone.  To do so they had to build a railroad to haul lumber and rocks to the building site.  The prison has 5 arms radiating out from one central court and is two stories high.  Today each arm has a different themed museum such as a Maritime museum filled with model ships that sailed these seas, an art gallery, a jail house history wing and an Antarctic Museum. Between the arms is a reproduction of one of the original lighthouses on the Beagle Channel and two train engines. The model ships were all created by one navel modeler and cover 50 years of sailing.  The H.M.S. Beagle was Darwin’s ship.

We walked the business district again and then the bayside park, and then up the hill to check out a restaurant then back down town.  Are you tired yet?  We are!

The Adventure of a Lifetime

This is probably the craziest itinerary we have ever put together!  We start in Ushuaia, Argentina where we will catch a cruise to Antarctica.  Then we’ll stay in Montevideo, Uruguay for a few days until we join Wilderness Travel for hiking in Patagonia.  At the end of that adventure we will board a cruise ship in Valparaiso, Chile bound for Tahiti.

We left home right after a 10 inch snow storm and before an ice storm.  We landed in balmy Buenos Aires for one night then we’ll fly to Ushuaia.  We spent our time in the city locating the apartment where we stayed 5 years ago and dining on empanadas and pasta.

We’re off to a good start!

Cry for me Argentina

Or better - I’m crying because I have to go home! Thursday was our last day in Buenos Aires and we all agree that we have enjoyed visiting this lovely city and we would like to come back and explore more of Argentina.

It poured down rain most of the morning so we stayed in, played bridge and read books. Lunch was at a small cafe around the block from the apartment and across the street from the fine restaurant where we dined last night. John had seen news crews with cameras on this street a few days ago so he asked the owners, who speak English, if they knew why. Three men tried to rob the restaurant but one of them got punched in the face by a waiter. The owner laughed and said she thought it must have been a very slow news day!

Susanna and I went shopping as we both wanted to buy souvenirs or remembrances for ourselves or our daughters. Since it is nearing the end of summer in Argentina there were lots of sales on summer clothing so we found some really nice bargains.

The check out from the apartment went smoothly and our ride arrived on time; the drive to the airport went faster than we thought it would during rush hour so we had lots of time to get checked in and then to wait. Our flight left BA at 9:30 pm and arrived 10.5 hours later in Atlanta, two hour layover, then a 2 hour flight to KC. The flight attendant welcomed us to “Alaska!” As cold as it is, it sure feels like we flew past Missouri!

Jack and Mary picked us up at the airport with a sign reading “Sedalia Four” like we were greeted in all the airports on our trip. The drive home seemed to go quickly with all the talk about our stay in BA and all the fine memories we shared of the early parts of the trip.

We have had a great experience in South America and John and I would have no problems traveling with Susanna & John or Mary & Jack in the future. But for now we can’t wait to give our kids and grandkids a big hug and then take off in the RV to warmer climes!

MALBA

Stores and museums do not open early in BA. I guess because everyone is up late at night! So a leisurely morning, walks around the neighborhood, and a bank run filled our time until the museum opened at noon.

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) was a highly recommended museum by almost every tour book I read.  Modern art is so strange sometimes. And the artists description and reasoning for their work is highly confusing.  But we spent the requisite two hours looking at the art.  

 

It was a very hot and humid day so the walk back required us to stop for beer.  We love the corner bars and cafés. 

 

The rest of the day was spent napping, finding a place for dinner and playing bridge.  And the place we found for dinner was the perfect place for our last dinner in South America. We shared several seafood small plates which rather confused our waiter but we had fun and enjoyed our food without being stuffed.  On the way back to our apartment we stopped for a drink at an tiny eclectic bar. 

Recolota Cemetery and Tango!

Hey no rain today!

On the top of my list of places to see in BA is the Cementeria de la Recolota (Recolota Cemetery).with over 4,000 crypts there are a lot of famous Argentinians buried there but the only name I recognize is Eva Perón.   All of the crypts are above ground and one can look inside many of them to see the caskets, even the caskets below the floor of the crypts which is still above ground.  The crypts are very large and elaborate, some in black marble but most white marble, granite or even clay and brick.  Greek, Roman, and Egytian styles, modern and ancient, a pantheon and many other domes, lots of angels and personal busts.  

After leaving the cemetery we stopped for a cold drink and I realized my reading glasses were gone!  I think I dropped them in the taxi so I will never see them again. It's really hard to read indoors with prescription sunglasses!

Our next cab driver ripped us off with a meter that ran up too fast.  What should gave been a $6 ride cost us $12!  But we didn't have to walk to get to the Botanical Gardens. John had no interest in looking at trees and flowers so he walked back to the apartment while Susanna & John and I strolled through this quiet park.  It was a short walk home. 

We had a big evening with a steak dinner at a place in San Telmo Barrio before attending a Tango performance at El Viejo Almacèn, the oldest and most traditional tango show in BA. Sitting in the balcony we had a great view of the stage and not many other people around us.  These dancers are so impressive with wild kicks, fast moves and sexual inuindo.  Had a great time!  Remember I've mentioned the late nights in BA, well dinner was at 8:30 and the show didn't start until 10:15 pm.!

Barrio Norte, Retiro and Puerto Madero

It rained again this morning but stopped about the time we were ready to go exploring.  Today's tour was a walking tour of Barrio Norte, Retiro, and Puerto Madeo.  This is the very center of BA with lots of traffic, shops, restaurants, bars, colleges, and sky scrapers.  We saw old churches, palaces now used for offices, and lovely, shaded parks.  Plaza San Martin has a statue commemorting General San Martin who is to Argentina as George Washington is to the US.

We lunched beside the Rio de la Plata (La Plata River) and enjoyed the old wood ships and odd shaped pedistran bridge named Puente de la Mujere.  Its form supposedly reminds one of a male dancer pressing into his female partner in homage to the tango.  I don't see it!

We probably walked 5-6 miles before grabbing a taxi back to the apartment for naps.   It didn't help that we drank two bottles of wine with lunch.  Our new favorite white wine is called "Torrontes" (tore- rrrr-ron-tays).  Susanna and I are ready to ditch the guys and go shopping soon!

San Telmo

San Telmo is an area of Buenos Aires that was considered the first suburb of the city and was built along the river.  It was originally settle by sailors and those in the fish industry but the rich liked the area too and built big houses and mansions there.  In 1871 a Yellow Fever outbreak devestated the area, lots of people died and many more moved away from the river and into newer districts like Barrio Norte.  It wasn't long before the abandoned mansions were converted into tenement housing for the poor.  Today it is seeing a revival.  Artists, antique dealers, restoration of old homes, tango and tourism is helping to renew the whole area without taking away its charm and curtural identity.

Today, it again started out with pouring rain that cleared up in the late morning.  But because of the rain, our first stop was the Museo de Modern Arte.  Some pretty weird stuff showing.  We then wandered around for a bit and took in the San Telmo Antique Fair on Plaza Dorrego before visiting the indoor Mercado de San Telmo where we found fresh fruits & vegetables next to leather coats and antique/junk shops.  When we came out of the building, the vendors on the street had increased in number as well as the number or tourists.  

After lunch we toured El Zanjón (Spanish for creek) which is a 1840's mansion that was built by a rich family, then turned into a tenement house for 23 families then sat empty for 30 years.  When a gentleman bought the house, he was going to restore it as a home until tunnels were discovered running beneath the foundation.  These tunnels were built to cover unsanitary creeks that ran through the area and then these were used as foundations for homes.  The restoration of the house and tunnels took almost 20 years but they now have this great representation of what life was like 150 years ago.

We dined at La Cabrera, just below this apartment, then watched the Bronco's succumb to the Seahawks with the sound muted as we didn't understand the Latino talking heads.