Winter Break 2009 in Argentina (and Chile)
Reena and I went to Argentina (and Chile) recently for Winter Break and though we had a originally talked about Brazil and perhaps argued a bit about the length of the trip, we decided to head for Argentina since the parents thought it would be safer and since Reena wanted to see penguins in Glaciers. I had never been on a trip that long before (though 2.5 weeks can go pretty quickly!). I think we lost a few days in transit, which can always be the case, so I'm glad that we didn't make it any shorter. Equipped with my brand new camera, I am ready for adventure!
We left for Buenos Aires on Sunday the 20th and arrived in Buenos Aires on Monday the 21st in the morning. Flew Detroit-Miami-Buenos Aires, which the last flight being about 8 hours long. Reena and I were unfortunately in the back of the plane with the most obnoxious child known to mankind, screaming at the top of her lungs, so we could not sleep at all! But we arrived in one piece, despite the 45-minute delay caused by an individual, who at the last minute, decided that he could not fly anymore and for security purposes, his luggage needed to be removed from the cargo-hold. So we waited as the ground crew went through each and every piece of luggage as they found his.
All is forgotten when you arrive in Buenos Aires though. We shared a cab with a gentleman from our flight and he told us that Buenos Aires is often called the Paris of South America. Is it true? I guess we would find out. We arrive at La Cayetana Hotel and really enjoy the open-air atmosphere and peacefulness of the hotel. We also enjoy the dulce de leche muffins for breakfast and freshly made cafe con leche! Then we go and wander around the city to get a flavor for some of the Buenos Aires architecture. We have lunch at a soon to be favorite restaurant called Filo, with plenty of veggie options. We visit the cemetery that Buenos Aires is famous for (A little weird right? A cemetery?), but Eva Peron's tomb was there.
The next day we try to wander around the city some more to capture more of the atmosphere, but it is just to hot and humid. We seek refuge in a museum, this time choosing the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. As the heat and humidity have not died down, we quickly run to another museum, this time in the district of San Telmo. The two museums (Modern Art Museum and National History Museum) we were interested were closed and we wander around the antique shops in San Telmo.
The next day we fly to Ushuaia (The End of the World or El Fin del Mundo). It's a long flight as Ushuaia is Argentina's southern most city. Landing in Ushuaia, you can already see mountains from above. On our half day, we check in at our B&B, catch our breath, and head to the "prison museum" Ushuaia is famous for.
Ushuaia, for the first half of the 20th century, used to be the place where prisoners were sent. It was concerned torture, for the extreme weather in the winter and extremely short days. After this, we have four full days in Ushuaia! Perhaps it was a bit overkill to spend four days in Ushuaia (you probably only need 2-3 days: one day for Tierra del Fuego and one day for the Canal Fun tour), but we had a really great time regardless and also met a lot of fun people in Ushuaia. Ushuaia is also a major port for cruise ships leaving for Antarctica, so we saw a handful of cruise ships parked in the harbor. Perhaps we will go on an Antarctic cruise sometime later in life!
Our first day, we take a boat ride in the Beagle Channel since I heard this is the thing to do when you are in Ushuaia. We went with Patagonia Adventure Explorer since the B&B recommended this. I was less than impressed with this. (We subsequently heard that boat tours run by Tres Marias were much better!) Sure it was cool to be on a boat, see the town of Ushuaia get smaller and smaller, be surrounded by mountains in the Beagle Channel, but the lighthouse and cormorants did not seem that fascinating.
The sea lions were pretty cool and the social structure was a bit interesting. It seems like for every male there are around 5 or so females in his harem. So what happens to the 80% of male sea lions without mates? Perhaps they are just sexually frustrated for life. Male sea lions look significantly bigger than female sea lions (around twice the size) and have thicker, darker fur. Female sea lions look like they don't really have much fur at all and smooth skin. We got off on a small island in the Beagle Channel and went walking around a bit. They called it a "trek" but it was not really a trek :), just a small walk.
One of the tour guides told us about the local people of the Beagle Channel, the Yamanas, and how they were essentially killed off (inadvertently), when the Europeans came to the area. Today there is only one full-blood Yamana and she is in her 90s, the rest of the descendants of the Yamanas people are of mixed descent. We quickly learn that the weather in Ushuaia is very variable, sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy all within a half an hour's time.
That evening we went to Christmas dinner at our B&B where we met a lot of interesting people, ate some veggie stew and devoured many cakes! We had a "Secret Santa", where I got a penguin bookmark and Reena got a stone from a beach in Italy. Not sure if she considered worth it to bring it back to the states with her :) Needless to say she didn't declare it in customs.
The next day we visit Tierra del Fuego National Park. We hike along this lovely trail along the coast with this Slovakian girl and a French couple that we met at our hotel. It was a nice hike and I hadn't been hiking in a while! Luckily, I wasn't super slow :) The snow covered mountains, the greenery of the park, and the peaceful water made for a stunning landscape. There weren't that many people in the park, so it added to the serenity of the environment. We also had plenty of opportunity to take pictures of flowers! :) I could have spent another day at the park hiking, although most of the park is closed off to tourists and only a small section of the park (i.e. a handful of trails) is available to the public.
On the third day we (along with our new Slovakian friend) visit Glacier Marital where you can get views of Ushuaia from up above. You can take the Aerosilla and then hike the rest of the way up, but being the seasoned hikers that we were, we decided to hike the whole way, about 3 km roundtrip, with elevation gain. Along the way, we saw lovely waterfalls and scenary. As we approach the top, we get views of Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel from up above. It was a nice hike with good views!
Our last day we went on a really memorable tour run by Canal Fun, it was a combination of canoeing, penguin viewing, and hiking. Our group of 20 split up into two canoes and went canoeing in the Beagle Channel. It was really fun since we were in this remote area of the Beagle Channel were we could not see civilization. We saw some rock cormorants and sea lions up close. Next we took a motorboat to Isla Martillo to see the penguins. As we approached the island, there were penguins all along the coast. I have never seen so many penguins in my life.
They were Magellanic penguins (maybe one of the least attractive of the penguin variety) with a few Gentoo penguins mixed in (they had orange breaks and orange feet). The penguins were nesting at this time of year, but we did not see any chicks. They also didn't seem to afraid of us, just intrigued, probably they are used to having slews of visitors.
After lunch, we went hiking on Gable Island which seemed to be overrun by beavers. They were introduced into Ushuaia in the 40s (only 50 were introduced) and have no natural predator in this environment so their numbers continue to grow unchecked (over 100,000 in Tierra del Fuego currently). Gable Island was also in a seemingly remote area of the Beagle Channel so it was very peaceful.
We arrive in El Calafate and have two full days. We have one day for mini-trekking (we tried to switch it to Big Ice, but they were all full!) and one free day. The disappointing thing about El Calafate is it's not that easy to get to the National Park (surprising I know). The second day we wanted to go hiking at Lago Roca, but buses only go there on weekends! Annoying right? So we went horseback riding on our second full day in El Calafate. It was fun, something different and we got to see a lot of cows and guanacos (finally!). A guanaco is a beautiful animal that looks like a cross between a deer and llama. I was actually wondering if you could buy guanaco yarn somewhere. Silly me I know! Horseback riding is a little weird if you only have done it once before in your life and takes a little getting used to, but fun nonetheless, and I'm sure I will try it again.
We also visit Laguna Nimez, a quiet and beautiful bird sanctuary, a short walk from the center of town. With two small lakes and some interesting species of birds, this place was especially serene.
The mini-trekking was really fun. Sure it was touristy and Hielo y Aventura operates like a well-oiled machine, but at the end of the day, strapping on those crampons and going hiking on a glacier cannot be beat!
We also got to see the cracks and crevices of the glacier up close, with running water around us.
We got ample time to view the Glacier and ear the thundering icebergs as they fall into Lago Argentino. Our first viewings of the Perito Moreno glacier were really memorable, because the glacier is massive, and we could not see where the ice started from and all the jagged edges of the glacier were fascinating! Not to mention the exceptionally blue waters of Lago Argentino!
I am not at all disappointed we didn't get to do the Big Ice tour, since mini-trekking was so enjoyable, but if I am ever in El Calafate again, I will try it! That, and hiking at Lago Roca, to the top of Cerro Cristal. Hopefully the Perito Moreno glacier will still be there if we decide to visit again, apparently it is only one of three glaciers fed by the Patagonian ice field that are not retreating so perhaps there is a good chance it will be!
El Calafate is touristy and expensive and all the restaurants you need reservations for. The first night Reena and I decide to eat at Pura Vida, which is a bit of a trek from the town center. But it was definitely worth it. The veggie options were plentiful (for Argentina), unique and tasty! Reena got a veggie lasagna filled with zucchini and squash and topped with carrot sauce and I got an eggplant potato pot pie topped with Parmesan cheese (there was no actual pie crust here, for the better I think!). The next night we eat at and get really good deserts, I get fried milk topped with milk ice cream and Reena get's apple cannelloni's.
After El Calafate, we head to Torres del Paine in Chile. The bus ride is a bit annoying because it takes so long and is very disorganized! After getting a Chile stamp in our passport :), we get there and the park is beautiful and we forget our annoyance at the disorganization, there are many lakes that are a very beautiful color of blue. To my delight, we see guanacos galore!
We check in at our Refugio, dump off our stuff and go hiking around a bit. We make it to Lago Nordenskjold, which is quite peaceful and tranquil with lovely views of mountains. That evening we have New Year's Eve Dinner at the Refugio, which is quite nice (suprisingly so for a Refugio) and go to bed at 10 pm (lame I know, but we did get up at 4:30 am that morning).
For our only full day in the park, we have trouble deciding what to do. The woman working at the Refugio tells us to hike to the base of the towers and back (one of the "legs" of the W). It is a long hike 8 hours and 22 km round trip. Reena scoffs at the notion that this is hard! "We can do it!" she says. Little did we realize how uphill this hike would be! So much huffing and puffing, yet trying to keep your mouth closed at the same time so you don't swallow any bugs. When we make it to the base of the towers it is well worth it!
What a memorable hike! We will go home, prepare, and come back and do the W sometime in the future! Before we head back on our second day, we hike to some waterfalls near Lago Pehoe and the famous "Los Cuernos", but it is very windy and cloudy so we don't make it all the way to "Los Cuernos". We also take a boat ride over Lago Pehoe which is also stunningly blue and finally get a somewhat clear view of Los Cuernos after the clouds have cleared.
Then we head back to El Calafate by bus (on a late and disorganized trip of course), to head back to Buenos Aires the following day. Too bad we did not get to see Glacier Grey and Lago Grey, especially since Glacier Grey is retreating!
Finally back in Buenos Aires for the two days of our trip, ready to take it easy and eat something other than pizza, pasta or cheese sandwiches! We visit Filo again and find a vegetarian organic restaurant called Bio and get some fresh juices (with ginger), veggies, and tofu! We like it so much we go back the next day for lunch! We also visit the MALBA (the newest art museum in Buenos Aires) and the botanical garden, where we are eaten alive by mosquitoes. I really enjoy the MALBA for the Andy Warhol exhibit and the modern art in general. We head to Bar Sur that evening for a fun and intimate tango show. We don't realize that when they say the show starts at 8:30, we are supposed to show up at 10:30. It was a bit awkward :) But hey, we are tourists!
It would have been nice to be in Buenos Aires on the weekend, so we could go to one of their many markets, but probably Reena would have gotten on my nerves for taking too many pictures! :) Nothing is more photogenic than piles of fresh colorful produce!
All-in-all, a really amazing trip. Though I may have blogged about what I would do differently, it's only in the event that it may be useful to someone who comes across this blog while they are planning their trip. It was truly a memorable trip! We got to hiking, ice-hiking, canoeing, penguin viewing, horseback riding, boating, and I know I am missing something... museum-ing, tango show viewing, etc! Can't wait to head back to Argentina, though I suspect it won't be for a while, perhaps to visit Iguazu Falls, Mendoza, Bariloche, the lakes district, and El Chalten!
It was also really fun to practice my Spanish. My Spanish vocabulary needs a lot of brushing up on and the only grammar I really remember are present tense, preterite and the present participle (I am doing...). I am motivated to study it again and then visit another Spanish speaking country in December. The Colombian family we met horseback riding was trying to convince Reena that Colombia should be next, but she was less than convinced!
posted by Mango Kiwi @ 10:54 AM
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