Argentina (final leg)

Argentina by Cameron

After the pack trip we spent a relaxing night in Puerto Natales that included an overpriced steak dinner and drinks with our friends from the trail. The following day we set out by bus for El Calafate, Argentina, to visit the famous Perito Moreno Glacier in Parque Nacional Las Glaciers. This was the second boarder crossing for Debbie and I, counting our entry into Chile, and both times it was very awkward (re-entry to Chile was no exception, either). Because we have “Student Visas”, immigration officers ask questions such as: “Where do you study?” “What do you study?” “Do you have a student ID card?” “Do you have a Chilean ID card?” “Who is your supervisor?” The officers don’t seem to slow down or articulate as well as other Spanish speakers who recognize a gringo with limited grasp of the language, like many waiters and grocery store clerks have done for us. Instead, they looked upon us with blank stares as we fumbled to form answers that would satisfy, but it’s not all that easy to explain. We are actually English teachers, not students, who receive payment by scholarship, and we do not yet have a student ID or Chilean ID. Just look at the stinkin’ Visa stamp jerk! I swear they do it for entertainment. Meanwhile, those traveling with tourist Visas only have to answer the question “Where are you going”? This is just one of the many times I have felt like a total idiot down here, but all I can do is chalk it up as a learning moment and just continue to try.
El Calafate is one-trick-pony of a town, completely economically dependent on the Perito Moreno Glacier that lies 80 km away. It’s a plastic tourist town littered with hotels and hostels, restaurants and gift shops. The only things authentically South American in the center of town are the stray perros that follow gringos around. El Calafate must be the bottleneck of the gringo trail in the Patagonia, all of whom are there to take a one day tour of the glacier. Two nights in Calafate felt like one too many, but there was good company. We were still running into many of our friends from earlier in the trip and Matt was still with us, but all where headed home, or north from Calafate to hike in the Fitz Roy mountains, Argentina’s version of Torres Del Paine.
Debbie and I have been fortunate enough to see many impressive glaciers up close by now, but the Perito Moreno is special because it is an advancing glacier that calves every few minutes. We could literally sense the stress of the glacier, and paying close attention we could predict with some accuracy where the next calving would occur based on the locations of the low grumbling in the ice. When calving occurs, you see the ice slip away from the face and an instant later you hear a startling crack. Then, when the ice hits the water it creates massive waves of displaced water. The whole event is very intense, and well worth the wait even if it takes a couple of hours to see an ice chunk the height of the whole face break away. Unfortunately, the crowds were irritatingly large until the late afternoon when a fleet of buses left the park, carrying hundreds of tourists whom we guessed must have been cruise ship passengers on an extended land excursion. Just like previous moments on the trip, I was finally able to really appreciate the wonderment of the place when I could hear it speak.
We flew south from El Calafate to Ushuaia, adjacent to Parque Nacional Tierra Del Fuego. Debbie’s bag did not arrive at the airport, which caused some temporary stress, but fortunately it arrived the next morning in time for her to enjoy our first full day. Ushuaia stakes its claim as the Fin Del Mundo (End of the World), though a smaller and more remote community of Chile called Puerto Williams is actually further south. Ushuaia has its tourist strip downtown, but the town has a great deal of character on its own and a spectacular back-drop that had us comparing it frequently to a certain funky little town we love in Southeast Alaska. We stayed at a hostel called Cruz Del Sur owned by a very helpful Italian guy called Luca. There were several interesting people staying at the hostel, from places like Ireland, Israel, Canada, Switzerland, and also Argentina. Luca gave us a recommendation for a spectacular day hike in Tierra Del Fuego, called Cerro Guanaco (see photos). Tierra del Fuego is mostly off limits to back country travel (nearly inaccessible and/or not navigable), except for this small section of the park with 30-40 km of trails. The park stretches from Argentina across the tail bone of the Andies into Chile, where most of the region is covered by huge ice fields (we were fortunate to have window seats and clear skies when flying to/from the region). Though we were only able to explore a small section by land, it was very beautiful and far less crowded than the previous two National Parks we had visited.
The following day we visited nesting colonies of Humbolt and Magellenic Penguins on Isla Martillo. The tour consisted of a 1.5 hour bus ride (mostly dirt roads) along the Beagal Channel and a half hour boat ride to the island. Our tour guide was a young kid named Pablo from Buenos Aires who was only working the tour season in Ushuaia. Remind you of anything Sitka Crew? I wondered if he lived in a bunkhouse, if he made up bs when he didn’t know the answer to a question, or if he had any laughs at our expense that night with his fellow tour guides over beers at the local bar. He did a pretty good job of managing the groups and giving information, but I could find 10 Alaska tour guides who can do it better right now ;) Obviously, walking with the penguins was incredible. We stayed on a narrow path because we needed to respect the nesting grounds, but the penguins were pretty comfortable with our presence so we would often meet them right up close (see photos). Our group was small, and food was strictly prohibited on the island so I was satisfied that our level of intrusiveness was somewhat minimal. The whole island was an ecological wonder. The natural predator of the penguins is a condor (the name escapes me) that preys on eggs and young chicks and makes regular fly-bys. Since penguins mate for life, the mother and father always work in tandem to protect the offspring. For example, if one is out fishing the other is with the nest. I could go on longer, but I’ll let the pictures do the talking.
My last night at the hostel was a rough one. I was up all night hurling until stomach acid was all I had left. Meanwhile Gavin, our Canadian buddy from the hostel, was puking all night in the bathroom next door. The next day, as both of us struggled to hold down an agua breakfast, we narrowed the culprit down to some cake we both snaked at the end of the penguin tour. How fitting it was that I ended this trip as it began, only this time I was fortunate that my food didn’t burst out the back end. Without any sleep, an empty stomach and no appetite, the flight back to Santiago was pretty brutal. Nonetheless, we were very happy to be back at the Oveja Negra Hostal, greeted by our friendly hosts Alejandra and Marcos. Good bye Patagonia and fellow wanderers. I will not forget you.

Argentina by Debbie –
I’ve decided to compile a list of the most memorable moments (some good and some bad) of our time in Argentina. So here in no particular order are the highlights of our trip.

1. Arriving in El Calafate and quickly realizing that other than the Perito Moreno Glacier, the only thing this town has going for it is the Carne Tenedor Libres (all you can eat steak houses).

2. Waiting over an hour with hoards of tourists to see the most active glacier in the world calve. It wouldn’t have surprised me if after 4 hours of waiting I was the only person to not see it. It finally took threatening to leave for the glacier to show us some action. The next 3 hours were spent wagering on what part of the glacier would go next. I believe our buddy Matt won the prize for predicting the most action.

3. Arriving at the El Calafate airport 3 hours early to save money and share a taxi with Leroy, a Navimag buddy, only to learn (after much broken Spanish and an impatient desk attendant) that our flight was delayed and we had to wait outside of the security screening because the boarding area was too small to allow more than one flight in at a time. We also couldn’t wait in the café area where the comfortable seats were unless we were going to buy something, so we ended up on hard chairs, sulking about how tired we were and our inability to entender espanol.

4. Finally arriving in Ushuaia only to find that my backpack didn’t make it and the airline didn’t know where it was in transit. Apparently the baggage tickets you receive with a tracking barcode when you check your bags mean nothing in South America.

5. Learning the airline found my bag within 24 hours, but we had to go back out to the airport to retrieve it after they told me they’d deliver it, however, it was a happy reunion and the cloud that arrived with me to Ushuaia finally lifted and I could appreciate being in el fin del mundo.

6. Meeting Luca the Italian owner of Cruz del Sur, who spoke three languages and was more than willing to pick up the phone to book a bus or tour before we could say “bueno.”

7. Eating dinner and drinking wine with other hostel residents from Canada, Israel, France, Ireland, and Sweden, and learning about the Israeli military, politics, and geography, with Israel earning a place on my list of places to visit.

8. Hiking an awesome trail in Tierra del Fuego, nursing my Torres del Paine blisters up the steep and painful climb, but deciding it was all worth it with our 360 degree view and knowing we were alto del mundo en el fin del mundo (on the top of the world at the end of the world) with our only companion a feisty fox who feasted on crumbs left from day hikers.

9. Caminando con pinguinos (walking with penguins) in their natural breeding colonies!!! My Happy Feet thirst has now been satisfied.

10. Pissing off every shop owner, waiter, and clerk we dealt with because we could never pay in exact change. Here’s a little fact for anyone planning to visit Argentina, when you take money out of the ATM you only receive large bills, however the Argentines love change. Everyone wants small bills and change, but no one is willing to part with it. They would round down to the nearest peso rather than give up their precious change. Needless to say we received lots of eye rolling and loud sighs when it came time to settle up anywhere.

11. Putting off going to the post office to receive my Fin Del Mundo passport stamp until the last day and realizing it was Sunday and therefore closed. Keep in mind this was a driving motivation for me since I read about the prospect 3 months ago. Big disappointment!

12. Waking up at 3 am our last night at Cruz del Sur to Cam bee-lining to the bathroom to puke his guts out. As conspicuous as he tried to be, our 6 other bunkmates in our dorm room couldn’t help but wake to the simultaneous retching of Cam and Gavin. It just goes to show you can never let your guard down and a piece of chocolate cake can be as dangerous as a completo at 2am.

13. Surviving our 12 hour travel day back to Santiago with a nauseous Cam, bad airport food, and almost losing Cam’s backpack switching planes in Punta Arenas, to return to our beloved Oveja Negra after a 17 day hiatus.

Reflecting not only on our time in Argentina, but our whole trip, it is apparent to me that the things that seemed negative at the time are actually some of my favorite memories. The hiccups and temporary crisis’ are the ingredients that spice up the experience and make it memorable. Cam and I have spent lots of time laughing about our stupid gringo mistakes and (mostly his) bodily functions that seemed tragic at the time. As we settle into life in Santiago, I raise my Pisco Sour and say Salud to the imperfections.