On being 13 in Esquel

After jumping on the night bus in Viedma, we arrived in the early hours to the sleepy little town of Esquel. We were a bit nervous at first because the mountains around us were covered in snow and it felt about 30 degrees, but as the day went on the snow melted away and the sun came out; a weather pattern that we were lucky enough to have stay with us the rest of the trip.

The main attraction for us in Esquel was the Parque Nacionales Los Alerces, populary known as the "Redwoods of the South."

Our first attempt to see the famed trees did not go exactly as planned. We were scheduled to take a boat/hiking tour of the Old Growth Alerces, but upon arriving we were informed that the boat battery was dead!! But that was cool for us, as we were already planning on camping in the park, so we set off to find our campsite, an easy enough task, but the park was bigger than expected! However, after a rather difficult search for the free camping, we stumbled into an empty and incredibly beautiful campsite, just a short walk away from El Lago Verde. It was hard not to think of home that night as the harsh wind blew on the lake, creating waves, whitecaps, and the comforting sound of waves on sand...aaah, California we always think of you. Luckily, before we left the boat that day, the park service told us that we could hop on the boat tour the following day (for free plus a full refund :) ) and thats exactly what we did. Aaand of course, knowing us two and the weird situations we always seem to find ourselves in, the trip just happened to coincide with the entire 6th grade of Esquel field trip, which meant....Up to our neck in, oh nooooo, PRETEENS!!!!

5 minutes into the tour we had already been transformed into the new attraction at the zoo, complete with pointing, starring, and the amazement that the fact that we could speak. It was cute though, as we were the first Americans most of them had ever gotten to speak with. No, we don´t know any celebrities, no our hair isn´t really blonde, no we didn´t bring any boys for you. Haha, all girls think the same!! It was as if we ourselves had been transported back to Junior High...and for those of you who knew us in middle school, yes, we laughed absolutely uncontrolably nonstop for 7 hours.

Giggles aside, we actually did see some incredible trees, including El Abuelo (the grandfather tree) that is 2600 years old. Think about that, older than the United States, older than Christianity, and one of the oldest things that is still around AND ALIVE. They truly are the Redwoods of the South. And so, after a 4 day stay in Esquel, and a last minute addition to our team, a cool Israeli named Eyal, we were off to El Bolson....Donde la mágica es natural!!!