Tuna on a PB&J anyone?Friday, January 30, 2009
finally getting around to some pictures 1
These pics are from Torres del Paine, still.
Tuna on a PB&J anyone?
Tuna on a PB&J anyone?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The last city
First thing first...WE´VE MADE IT TO THE END OF THE WORLD!! We are currently in Ushuaia, Argentina, the world´s most Southern city. Some of you smart alec´s out there might point out that Puerto Williams, Chile, is technically farther south, however, technically, Puerto Williams is only an unicorporated settlement, not an official city. (That is until Chile realizes that they are sitting on a tourist gold mine).
Ushuaia, just 630 short miles from Anartica, founded in the mid 1800s as a penal colony, has grown into a major tourist destination and THE jump-off point to both Antartica and Tierra del Fuego National Park.
Since the 10,000 US Dollar per person cruise is a bit out of our price range, we opted instead for choice numero dos, a gorgeous day hike around Bahia Ensenada. The hike was a 12km mellow trail through a bay off the Beagle Channel, in land formerly inhabited by the indigenous Yámana, whose fires were witnessed by the Portuguese navigator Ferdanand MAgellan in the 1500s thus giving birth to the Land of Fire (Tierra del Fuego) name. (Is that enough trivia yet?) The trail wound through peat bogs, rocky beachlines, forrests populated by hayas (beech trees), beaver dams and spectacular views of the Fuegan Andes, the only section of the Andes that run East-West, not North-South.
Currently we are residing in a beautiful campsite located on the edge of town and overlooking all of UShuaia. After two weeks of hard trekking, we are content to be just sleeping in, visiting museums and generally reaquainting ourselves with civilized life. Tomorrow we are on the 3:15pm flight to Santiago, sadly ending our 1 month long venure into the barren, burly, rugged, trying and unconquorable Southern Patagonia.
Getting down to Ushuaia most definitely is difficult and expensive. So, if you don´t happen to make it down this far, don´t worry, it´s not the end of the world....OR IS IT??!!!
The Ustedes Trio
Ushuaia, just 630 short miles from Anartica, founded in the mid 1800s as a penal colony, has grown into a major tourist destination and THE jump-off point to both Antartica and Tierra del Fuego National Park.
Since the 10,000 US Dollar per person cruise is a bit out of our price range, we opted instead for choice numero dos, a gorgeous day hike around Bahia Ensenada. The hike was a 12km mellow trail through a bay off the Beagle Channel, in land formerly inhabited by the indigenous Yámana, whose fires were witnessed by the Portuguese navigator Ferdanand MAgellan in the 1500s thus giving birth to the Land of Fire (Tierra del Fuego) name. (Is that enough trivia yet?) The trail wound through peat bogs, rocky beachlines, forrests populated by hayas (beech trees), beaver dams and spectacular views of the Fuegan Andes, the only section of the Andes that run East-West, not North-South.
Currently we are residing in a beautiful campsite located on the edge of town and overlooking all of UShuaia. After two weeks of hard trekking, we are content to be just sleeping in, visiting museums and generally reaquainting ourselves with civilized life. Tomorrow we are on the 3:15pm flight to Santiago, sadly ending our 1 month long venure into the barren, burly, rugged, trying and unconquorable Southern Patagonia.
Getting down to Ushuaia most definitely is difficult and expensive. So, if you don´t happen to make it down this far, don´t worry, it´s not the end of the world....OR IS IT??!!!
The Ustedes Trio
Friday, January 23, 2009
back to civilization
Hello everyone. We´ve been trying to get more pictures and entries up, but the internet this far south is so expensive and the connection is crap. Plus, the majority of the last two weeks have been spent backpacking some of the most wild and remote sections of Patagonia: the Fitz Roy range in El Chalten, Argentina, and Torres Del Paine, out of Puerto Natales, Chile.
Both are located on different sides of Heilo Sur, the southern section of the largest ice field in south america. These parks are famous for their jagged, craggy peaks that spring from nowhere and are covered in glaciers and pristine lakes. We hiked all over both parks, doing most of the classic ¨W¨ circuit in Torres (only cut short one day due to rain and 95km wind) and the majority of the trails in Fitz Roy. Both were 5 day trips.
We left Chalten yesterday morning and spent the rest of the day in El Calafate. Today we rented a car and drove to one the of the worlds most famous glaciers, the Perito Moreno. This amazing chunk of ice is 60km long, 5km across and 60 meters high. However, despite it´s size, the most impressive aspect about the Perito Moreno is that it´s fast moving (up to 2 meters a day) and is constantly advancing. Because of this, you´re able to watch (and listen to) huge slabs of ice crashing into the water as they finially lose their battle with gravity. The largest iceburg we witnessed was a five-story-high tower that fell with a booming thud. Extremely impressive.
Tonight at 3am, Katie, Amelia, and Rowan have a bus to Ushuaia, the farthest southern city in the world. We lost a crutial part of Team Ustedes in El Chalten when Brendon stayed for some more trekking. Tonight Leslie will be leaving as well, heading north for 5 months all over the south american map. We will most certainly miss both of them and wish them the best on their continued travels.
Hopefully we´ll have better access to internet over the next few days to get some of these amazing pictures posted. We can´t wait to share them and all the stories. Until then...
Both are located on different sides of Heilo Sur, the southern section of the largest ice field in south america. These parks are famous for their jagged, craggy peaks that spring from nowhere and are covered in glaciers and pristine lakes. We hiked all over both parks, doing most of the classic ¨W¨ circuit in Torres (only cut short one day due to rain and 95km wind) and the majority of the trails in Fitz Roy. Both were 5 day trips.
We left Chalten yesterday morning and spent the rest of the day in El Calafate. Today we rented a car and drove to one the of the worlds most famous glaciers, the Perito Moreno. This amazing chunk of ice is 60km long, 5km across and 60 meters high. However, despite it´s size, the most impressive aspect about the Perito Moreno is that it´s fast moving (up to 2 meters a day) and is constantly advancing. Because of this, you´re able to watch (and listen to) huge slabs of ice crashing into the water as they finially lose their battle with gravity. The largest iceburg we witnessed was a five-story-high tower that fell with a booming thud. Extremely impressive.
Tonight at 3am, Katie, Amelia, and Rowan have a bus to Ushuaia, the farthest southern city in the world. We lost a crutial part of Team Ustedes in El Chalten when Brendon stayed for some more trekking. Tonight Leslie will be leaving as well, heading north for 5 months all over the south american map. We will most certainly miss both of them and wish them the best on their continued travels.
Hopefully we´ll have better access to internet over the next few days to get some of these amazing pictures posted. We can´t wait to share them and all the stories. Until then...
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Torres de Paine Pictures
Rowan below the torres´ at the first mirador.
Chicas on the bridge just heading into the first day of hiking.
Amelia in her hiding hole.
Nice little spot along the river, after a long day of hiking.
Above the valley, hiking into our first view of the torres.
Penguin Pictures
Rowan and Katie at the reserve.
Adult and baby penguin outside their burrow.
A bunch hanging out on the beach.Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Real Patagonia
We left Argentina´s lake district and made our way to Puerto Montt, Chile where we met up with our friend Leslie Camacho. We are now traveling five deep: Rowan, Katie, Amelia, Camacho, and Brendan (our awesome friend we picked up in El Bolson). After considering our options, we made a collective decision to head south on the next available bus to Punta Arenas. Since we had a few days before our bus we decided to spend that time in Chiloé, a nearby pacific island scattered with small family farms, unique coastal environments, and incredibly warm people.
We made our way south on Chiloé to the small, central town of Chochi where we found camping in Juan Carlos´ backyard. Juan Carlos is a very nice Chiloé native who offers his backyard and his home to backpackers such as ourselves. At times he houses up to 80 campers but aside from two other campers, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It rained the majority of the two days we were there so Juan Carlos invited us into his home to cook meals and dry out. He has a cozy little house where he lives with his 101 year old nana, who Katie became oddly attached to (see photos). On one occasion, Abuelita accidently put her hand in the dinner, and the joke was made that it was seasoned with el sabor de abuela (the flavor of grandma).
On our second day on Chiloé we took a bus into the national park along the western coast. Despite occasional downpours, we hiked the network of trails through the diverse forest habitat that was a unique mixture of Alaskan muskeg and Humboldt fern understory. We then made our way through the dunes and towards the beach, and after cresting the last dune, Rowan, Katie and Camacho simultaniously realized that they were staring at the mirror image of the Manila dunes outside of Arcata. Super eerie.
We made our way south on Chiloé to the small, central town of Chochi where we found camping in Juan Carlos´ backyard. Juan Carlos is a very nice Chiloé native who offers his backyard and his home to backpackers such as ourselves. At times he houses up to 80 campers but aside from two other campers, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It rained the majority of the two days we were there so Juan Carlos invited us into his home to cook meals and dry out. He has a cozy little house where he lives with his 101 year old nana, who Katie became oddly attached to (see photos). On one occasion, Abuelita accidently put her hand in the dinner, and the joke was made that it was seasoned with el sabor de abuela (the flavor of grandma).
On our second day on Chiloé we took a bus into the national park along the western coast. Despite occasional downpours, we hiked the network of trails through the diverse forest habitat that was a unique mixture of Alaskan muskeg and Humboldt fern understory. We then made our way through the dunes and towards the beach, and after cresting the last dune, Rowan, Katie and Camacho simultaniously realized that they were staring at the mirror image of the Manila dunes outside of Arcata. Super eerie.
After departing from Chiloé, we headed back to Puerto Montt and stayed one more night in a great hospedaje run by a very kind woman named Nancy who let us stash a few items while we were in the island of Chiloé.
Then came the bus ride from hell.....Imagine this, 33 hours, no meals(just cookies and a juice box), no beverages provided, and the 6 of the worst movies fathomable. Four words: Keanue Reeves, Action Movie. Four border crossings. A questionable mother who was bent on either posioning her children by constantly spraying them and herself with massive amounts of perfume, or giving the baby boy brain damage by "accidentaly" lifting him up too high and banging (smashing?) his head on the ceiling of the bus. And finally, perhaps the craziest of all, one extremely scary moment when we lost Leslie for an hour in Rio Gallegos. Yes, thats right, the bus left without her and it took Rowan trying to point out some native birds to her only to turn around and find that her seat was empty.
"Where´s your seat partner", Rowan asked to the boy who had been sitting next to her.
"I don´t know", he replied.
"Well, did she get back on the bus?"
"I didn´t see her", says boy.
"Did you see her at the stop?"
"Yeah, she was buying a liter of cola"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Katie, wake up!!!! Stop the bus!!!! We´ve lost Leslie!"
Fortunately, the experienced traveler that she is, Leslie had a great head on her shoulders and was no worse for the ware by the time the bus had returned to the site of dissappearance. She had smartly contacted local authorities and even if we hadn´t realized that she wasn´t on the bus, we would have been turned around at the frontera and sent back for her.
Some great highlights, however, about the bus ride is that upon our arrival to Punta Arenas we were able to catch a glimpse of the island of Tierra del Fuego and the straights of Magellan, confirming that we truly had arrived at the end of the world. Yesssss. Also, we saw some amazing local wildlife as we passed through the pampas, including guanacos (a southern relative of the llama) and the Ñandu, an ostrich-like flightless bird, and flamingos.
We will be in Punta until Saturday when we embark upon the next epic part of our journey, a 5 day hike in the most visited national park in South America, Torres del Paine. So if you dont hear from us for a week, know that we will be on a mountain somewhere, doing something amazing. Pictures to follow.
Thanks for reading and talk to you soon.
Team Ustedes
pics 1
Rowan in El Bolsón.
Our group at the "dirty hiker cherry heaven".
Rowan at a mirador overlooking the Dunes in Chiloé.
Katie and her new best friend, abelita.
Everyone in Juan Carlo´s house, right before we headed back to Puerto Montt.
pics 2
The dunes in Parque Nacional Chiloé.
Brenden getting ready to enter el bosque.
Katie and Leslie on the ferry from Puerto Montt to Chiloé.
Katie and Amelia in Lago Puelo.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Oh El Bolson...how we love you so
Happy 2009 to all you crazy blog followers!! Hope everyone had a wonderful time celebrating the nuevo año. We brought in the new year with our new friend brendon (a fellow traveler who spends his summers in alaska and his winters in latin america), a baby lamb skewered over an open fire, and a group of rowdy argentines with a guitar and a love for cheesy international pop hits. We couldn´t have asked for a better entrance into the new year!
We have been thoroughly enjoying our time here in El Bolson, chillin in the shade of our beautiful campsite, eating incredible camp cooked meals, visiting the feria (local crafts market), going on day hikes, and soaking up the buena onda of our favorite home away from home. This place is amazing... there are so many hawks living in our campground its like eagles in Alaska... Boring. No but seriously though, they are beautiful and so much fun to watch.
Yesterday we went to lago puelo where we hiked up to a mirador (lookout) looking out over the lake and the surrounding mountains. We were still in argentina but from our vantage point we could look across the lake and see the chilean andes. We continued up the mountain and stumbled across an old dilapidated farm along the hillside. It was long deserted but the fruits of the previous farmer´s labor still remained-literally, there were dozens of beautiful ripe cherry trees bursting with unpicked fruit. We were in hiker heaven! After gorging ourselves on cherries we headed down to the lake for a refreshing swim in the crystal clear waters of lago puelo.
Tomorrow morning, bright and early we are heading to Puerto Montt, Chile to meet up with our friend Leslie Camacho. We already know she will be an amazing addition to team kamelian and look forward to once again traveling with her. we will then continue down the Carretera Austral to our next amazing destinations.
hasta pronto!!
We have been thoroughly enjoying our time here in El Bolson, chillin in the shade of our beautiful campsite, eating incredible camp cooked meals, visiting the feria (local crafts market), going on day hikes, and soaking up the buena onda of our favorite home away from home. This place is amazing... there are so many hawks living in our campground its like eagles in Alaska... Boring. No but seriously though, they are beautiful and so much fun to watch.
Yesterday we went to lago puelo where we hiked up to a mirador (lookout) looking out over the lake and the surrounding mountains. We were still in argentina but from our vantage point we could look across the lake and see the chilean andes. We continued up the mountain and stumbled across an old dilapidated farm along the hillside. It was long deserted but the fruits of the previous farmer´s labor still remained-literally, there were dozens of beautiful ripe cherry trees bursting with unpicked fruit. We were in hiker heaven! After gorging ourselves on cherries we headed down to the lake for a refreshing swim in the crystal clear waters of lago puelo.
Tomorrow morning, bright and early we are heading to Puerto Montt, Chile to meet up with our friend Leslie Camacho. We already know she will be an amazing addition to team kamelian and look forward to once again traveling with her. we will then continue down the Carretera Austral to our next amazing destinations.
hasta pronto!!
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