Patagonia and More

As with all good things, there must be ''burdens'' to overcome so that we truly appreciate the good things. After the delayed flight leaving Chicago and having to stay overnight in Miami, finally am airborne and on my way to Buenos Aires, three hours AFTER I was supposed to have arrived! Oh well, such is life. It turns out that there was an incredibly beautiful advantage to having a daytime flight from north to south America - I can now say that I have seen the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and a hint of Haiti. Amazing how the water color changes so dramatically as you leave the Atlantic Ocean and cruise above the Caribbean! We entered South America over Columbia and got to see what I believe to be at least a part of the jungle in Brazil. You cannot see land anyway, the tree canopy is so dense. Definitely on my wish list of places to visit. Things were going well until a bit later in the flight when it seemed that we had slowed down as our anticipated arrival became later and later. Big thunderstorm over Buenos Aires that they were hoping would leave before we arrived. Alas, not to be. We ended up diverted to Montevideo, Uruguay for refueling and about an hour wait for the weather to clear!

Finally arrived at the hotel about 3:30 a.m. with a note from my cousins that we were meeting for breakfast at 7:30 and leaving about 8 a.m. for a tour of the city. I had missed the welcome dinner with our tour group and the tango lessons. Oh well, the way I figure it, at least I didn't get a chance to embarrass myself with the absolute inability to dance! I much prefer watching the tango anyway. Buenos Aires is a very nice city as cities go (nothing against cities, I'm just a country girl). We got to on the old wooden subway which is being taken out of commission in the next few months. So sad to see history disappear, so it was very nice to get to see it. Learned a lot about the history of the city and the country as well. Being Americans from the U.S., we don't really have a feel for the upheaval and unrest that has been the history of Argentina. How remarkably resilient Argentinians are! We visited Caminito which is an outdoor museum / art show where local artists show off their talents. We also visit the Recoleta District of Buenos Aires and the cemetery where Eva Perron is buried. This evening, we had dinner at the home of local family to discover local food and get a chance to talk to a local couple about life in Buenos Aires and in Argentina. As difficult has things have been at times for these folks, they love their country and were very happy to share its history and culture.

This morning we flew from Buenos Aires to El Calafate which is on the western border of Argentina, near Chile and the beginning of our Patgonian adventure! It is a very nice little town and we enjoyed the afternoon exploring. Later in the afternoon, we visited a local dog shelter which was founded by a woman (and now many others who help her) to save the ''town'' dogs from being killed by the local government. Apparently, there is an influx of residents during the tourist season who come to work, find dogs to keep them company while they are in town and then abandon them when they go home. This group collects these dogs, cleans them up, makes sure they are properly vaccinated and get them ready for adoption. The animals were clean and happy and, as we discovered, were very happy there. So happy, it seems, that several adoptions ''failed'' as the animals escaped their new homes to return to the shelter!!

Drove from Calafate this morning toward our ultimate destination of Los Glaciares National Park. We were treated to remarkable view of Lake Argentino as well as the steppes and hills of Patagonia. Got our first real introduction to the winds of Patagonia, as well as a rainbow. The third day of my trip and already I have forgotten the less than stellar beginning. It was worth everything it took to get here! Los Glaciares National Park, created in 1937 is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is over 1700 square miles and is the second largest national park in Argentina. It houses the second largest continental ice field after Antartica. Today we visited Perito Mereno Glacier, named after Francisco Mereno, an Argentian explorer who helped resolve the border dispute with Chile. What a phenomenal tribute to someone! The glacier is nearly 200 feet tall, above Lake Argentino and you can clearly see the history of the glacier in its ice. There are lines of dirt or stone that show how the moraines have been picked up and carried along with the glacial movement. Areas of ice vary from the whitish, less dense ice to the spectacular blue color of the very dense ice. It was difficult to keep moving on the walkways, there is so much to see and listen to. We heard the sharp pings of the glacier as well as the deep thundering of the ice movement and were rewarded at least twice to calving incidents. Also go to walk through some of the surrounding forest areas and saw beautiful greens and moss and lichen covered trees. It was very difficult to leave such a beautiful place at the end of the day!

We leave El Calafate today as we journey toward Chile and Torres Del Paine. We are traveling by motorcoach and have many opportunities to stop along the way to see the occasional guanaco, rhea and were even treated to beautiful gray fox. Alas, the puma remained in hiding, but the condors were out and gliding on the thermals. Oh, have a mentioned yet how windy Patagonia is? I don't mean occasional winds, there is constant wind and gusts that can knock you over if you aren't paying attention. Adds to the power and majesty that is this wild and beautiful Pagagonia! We crossed border into Chile and had to say good bye to our local guide, Elisa, who introduced us to the ritual of yerba mate! An acquired taste, at the very least, but a wonderful sharing of drink and time with friends! We arrived at Paine National park and got our first glimpse of the Paine massif. I hate to be cliche, but OMG!!! I have never seen anything like it in my life. It is a granite mountain that seems to have just popped up out of the valley floor. What happened is that a magma granite intrusion into the sedimentary rock violently thrust upwards about 12 million years ago and created the Paine Massif. It is breathtaking! There were clouds, WIND, and little bit of rain when we arrived, but by the time we had completed our hike around the lakes and back to the trail head, the sky had cleared quite a bit and we were honored with a specatular view of the two towers of the massif.

Hiked to Grey Glacier this morning with great views of the glacier and Lago Grey. Words will never describe and photos will never capture the splendor of the scenery we have all around us! We make a short stop at Lago Pehoe on our way toward Puerto Natales. We enjoyed a very nice box lunch picnic with a last view of the two towers. One could spend an incredible amount of time in this national park. There are so many lakes, trails to hike, mountain peaks to see and explore. We arrive in Puerto Natales which is a port city on the Ultima Esperanza. Our hotel faces the harbor and we can see hints of the fiords that beckon, but alas, there never seems to be enough time.

We leave Puerto Natalas this morning on our journey toward Punta Arenas where we will board our cruise ship for the journey through waters traveled by Magellen and one of my personal favorites - Charles Darwin. One the way, we are fortunate enough to enjoy a visit to the Estancia Fitz Roy. Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy was the captain of the HMS Beagle. The estancia raises sheep primarily but there are llama and the lupines abound! They are nearly as tall as I am. I've taken pictures to show my lupines at home what they can aspire to be! Learned about sheep shearing and saw a demonstration of shearing by hand with shears. I'm not sure if it's because all that heavy wool was being removed or if the sheep just like being handled, but it did not seem to a stressful event for the sheep. The dip, however, didn't seem all that wonderful (they have to be dipped twice) although I'm sure the resulting lack of ticks is a good thing. Enjoyed a wonderful barbeque and had a very nice tour of the ranch. There is quite a collection of... well, almost anything you can think of.. in one of the barns. The estancia is on any island so we experiences yet another mode of tranportation - the ferry! Onward to Punta Arenas where we had time to walk around the town to see the sites and pick up whatever essentials we felt necessary before boarding the Via Autralis at 6 p.m. - our home for the next four days. Tiera del Fuego, here we come!!