Patagonia #3 and Buenos Aires

For the trip back up to Bariloche to drop the car off we decided to travel along the Atlantic coast then cut back across to the West when we got level with Bariloche, making a big loop. This was so we could check out the penguin colony at Punta Tombo and also the canyons on the way back across. From Ushuaia it was five days of all day driving, stopping overnight in Rio Gallegos, Comodoro Rivadavia, Trelew and with another night in Trevelin. Thankfully we had seen the last of the gravel so it was open freeway all the way.

One great thing about driving in Argentina and particularly Patagonia is that the traffic police don't seem to be interested in doing anything other than ID-ing drivers at checkpoints (luckily they only ask for a passport, I didn't have a licence....). This means that out on the open road anything goes; we were regularly passed while doing 140km an hour. When you're driving over 1000km a day this can save you a lot of time, trust me.


In one little town on the way we stopped for some bakery treats and noticed that Patagonian Santa apparently uses guanacos instead of reindeer, nice!








On the third day we left Comodoro Rivadavia early so we could stop off at Punta Tombo on the way to Trelew. The penguin colony there is home to over 500,000 magellanic penguins as well as a host of other wildlife and is the largest penguin colony outside of Antarctica.




Mother penguin with baby




We saw quite a few cuys scurrying around too, possibly the cutest animal ever?




A rhea


Through the desert canyons on the road across to Bariloche


We got the car back to Bariloche in one piece (thank God) and before giving it a clean we thought we'd quickly take it in to the depot and see what they said. Turns out that despite being covered in dirt and with a big star in the windscreen, a dent on the side and the dodgy spare it was all good so we signed off on it and went out for a big fat loin steak to celebrate.




We then got the overnight bus up to Buenos Aires for Mum's last few days and for me to catch up with Denny from Ecuador for an Aussie christmas away from home.

We stayed right in the centre of town, between the congress and the main square with the cathedral and the "pink house", the presidential palace. Buenos Aires is a huge crazy city and in the week or so I was there I barely scratched the surface of what there was to see. I did manage to check out an impressive cemetery, the colurful painted houses in La Boca and a did a nice walking tour of the old buildings with Mum.


At the cemetery in Recoletta, home to the grand tombs of Argentina's rich and famous


After two days in the City it was time to see Mum off at the airport. Seeing Mum walk into the customs area was quite sad; it was a great three and a half weeks and an amazing trip I'm sure both of us will never forget. I'm sure the rental car won't either!



Back in the hostel I now had a few days to rest after the hectic driving before Denny and her friend Emily arrived for Christmas. I spent those days doing a lot of lazing around and wandering aimlessly through the streets, watching the almost constant street protests and just breathing in the atmosphere of this crazy city.



This march was for marijuana legalisation, definitely the nicest smelling one!




Adding to the craziness were a lot of homeless people camped out in the parks and streets. This is a camp of plastic and paper recyclers in the park out the front of the federal congress building

Christmas was great fun, going out on the town the night before and heading out to a park with the girls for Christmas lunch.

La Boca, home to Maradonas soccer team, Boca Juniors. Unfortunately as we were walking the few blocks from the football stadium to the tourist strip Emily had her bag snatched while Fernando her Argentinian friend was put in a headlock. This was in broad daylight in a relatively safe looking part of town. You can never be too careful....




A few days after Christmas Denny flew off to Africa to complete her around the world adventure and I caught the bus up to Iguazu Falls.

Patagonia #2

Back over the Andes again and into Argentina we made yet another border crossing west of Coihaique and started the long two day drive down to El Calafate. Once over the border and into Argentinian Patagonia the scenery changed almost instantly from the lush steep mountains east of the Andean ridge to the low, arid sweeping scrubland that extends west all the way to the Atlantic coast. The roads changed as well from reasonably good paved roads in Chile to hundreds of kilometres of rough, dusty gravel. The main road we took down through Argentina, the legendary ruta 40, is being remade in bitumen parallel to the current gravel road; it was kind of cool to be able to make this famous journey in its original form before the tourist hoards come streaming through on the nice new road.

Coming up through a pass in the hills we stopped to take a photo of the view and by some freaky luck there was a big fat lizard on a rock right at our feet. Turns out this lizard is well known among the locals as having a poisonous bite (due to the bacteria living in its mouth). Good thing I didn't try to catch it....

That day turned out to be a great one for wildlife, the next sighting being an armadillo streaking across the road. I leapt out of the car and gave chase through the tussocks and after ten minutes of searching I found it hiding between two bushes. It was quite relaxed so we gave it a little pat (the armour was very hard but had little soft hairs between the plates) and followed for ten minutes as he snuffled around looking for bugs. Definitely a wildlife highlight for both of us.

There were also Guanacos (wild Llamas) everywhere and a lot of Rheas too (flightless birds like small emus).

Guanacos

A rare and welcome stretch of bitumen

There were little roadside shrines everywhere, even in the most remote areas. Mostly they are dedicated to the Mother Mary or one of the local gods of traveling. This one was half a boat sticking out of a brick wall, not sure what thats about......

We spent the first night in the unremarkable rural town of Gobernador Gregores and continued down to El Calafate, passing the spectacular lakeside Fitzroy Massif on the way.

We arrived in El Calafate in the early afternoon and after securing a hostel room for the night we drove out along the lake to check out the Perito Moreno glacier.

Coming in on the walkway, this thing is MASSIVE....

The left side

The right side

The 74 metre face close up

Perito Moreno is one of the very few glaciers worldwide that are actually advancing in light of global warming, with several feet of ice being pushed forward every day. We stayed for a couple of hours in the chilly wind, watching for and hearing the frequent calvings of icebergs and big ice chunks crashing down from the face. Then it was back to town for a dinner of supermarket food and another brief rest before more driving the next day.

Our goal was to check out Torres del Paine in Chile for a few hours on the way down and make it across to Rio Gallegos for the evening, which would mean two more border crossings. Unfortunately the weather was not great so our time at the Torres was spent searching for glimpses of the peaks between the clouds but we did manage to get a couple of snaps.

After the night in Rio Gallegos we started the final part of the drive down South to Ushuaia on the Beagle Channel, the Southernmost city in the world.

Ushuaia

In Ushuaia we spent a couple of days walking around checking out the "end of the world", catching up on laundry, shopping and going on a small train trip through the national park to the site of a former prison camp noted for its brutal conditions.

Also the sunset was amazing

The night before we left it snowed heavily, giving us some amazing views as we drove through the pass amongst the jagged peaks of the Martial range.

Patagonia #1

Turns out I was spot on time to pick up Mum so after a coffee and a chat we went into the city to our nice hotel that mum had organised from Australia, a welcome change for me after four and a half months of slumming it. We had a couple of days for checking out Santiago (probably the nicest city in SA I've been to) and giving mum a chance to recover from the jet lag and then caught the overnight bus down to Puerto Varas in the Chilean lakes district.



Santiago




We arrived in the early morning and while we were waiting for the hostels to open we spent a few hours down by the lake eating left over bus food and watching some local fisherman reel in a dozen or so big trout off the pier. The afternoon was spent walking around the lake taking in the stunning volcano views and eating a hearty lunch of paella, a huge wok full of slow cooking rice, seafood and chicken.



The view across the lake from Peurto Varas

From Puerto Varas we caught the bus over the Andes and into Argentina to Bariloche. The ride was pretty horrible as we were seated right next to the toilet and got a big waft of stink every time we hit a bump or turned a sharp corner. Possibly as a result of this our two days in Bariloche were spent moping around with a stomach bug although we did manage to organise a rental car and get in some good steaks and plenty of chocolate (Bariloche is overflowing with chocolate shops).

The plan was to drive from Bariloche down to Ushuaia and back again in two weeks, then spend the last four days cruising up to Buenos Aires for Mum's flight home. Probably should have consulted a map first as a couple of days in we realised we would now have to do 10-12 hour driving days with only two days off in between. It was going to be a mission......

We took it easy for the first day to get used to the car and to driving on the wrong side of the road (which was a lot easier for me because I don't drive much in Australia, Mum nearly killed us at the first intersection) and spent the night in the little rural town of Trevelin.

Nice hostel too

Trevelin

The next morning we drove back over the Andes and into Chile once more for a two day trip down the the Pacific coast via the Careterra Austral to Puerto Aisen, for a boat trip through the fjiords to the San Rafael Glacier.





Through the pass, so cold....



On the first day we picked up a hitchhiker who was lucky enough to witness our only breakdown on the trip; me hitting a head sized rock square on at 50km an hour and almost destroying the front right wheel. None of us had changed a flat before so it took a bit of head scratching to work out what to do but we sorted it out and got back on the road fairly quickly, now with no spare and 300km of rough gravel between us and the nearest proper town. When we arrived in Puerto Aisen we took the wheel in to be fixed and realised the rim was completely bent back upon itself and the tire had a ten centimetre gash in it. Luckily the tire guy had an old bald spare in his repair shack that fit the rim and after ten minutes with a wrench and a hammer had the wheel looking relatively normal again. (when we took the car back they gave the spare a quick poke and that was all, hehe....)



We set off on the boat trip at seven in the morning into the murky clouds which gradually cleared as we went along, revealling more and more of the stunning scenery of steep snow capped mountains jutting out of the sea. The landscape was very similar to Fjiordland in New Zealand, just a little bit bigger and a lot colder.



Four hours later we entered a narrow channel leading to the San Rafael Laguna, a vast iceberg filled lake at the foot of the glacier.



Approaching the glacier



When the big boat had gotten in as close as it dared the Zodiacs were lowered into the water and we were divided into four groups to take turns weaving our way through the massive chunks of bright blue ice to the foot of the glacier, called the terminus.




We spent a good forty five minutes cruising around through the ice, listening to the creaking and groaning of the glacier and looking out for the occaisional big chunk falling off the face and crashing into the sea. As we first approached a particularly big chunk broke off and actually caused a decent sized wave to come roaring towards us, glad we weren't closer when that one fell....



On the way back to port we were treated to an open bar with live saxophone and dancing, and drinks made with 20,000 year old "milleniary ice" from the glacier. Mum and I opted for a scotch on the rocks each, which in Patagonia means four shots of Johnnie red......



Cheers Mum!


We made it back to the hotel at six that night, and crashed early for a good sleep before a big drive back into Argentina the next day.

From Quito to Santiago

From Quito I had less than two weeks to get down to Santiago in Chile to meet Mum at the airport, a distance of over 5000km. Figuiring that I'd cover the stretch between Lima in Peru and Santiago in one big go of three days I now had a bit of free time to check out a few places along the way.

First stop was Banos a few hours bus ride away to meet back up with Sarah and Natalie from the hostel in Quito and to do some biking in the lush green valleys around town. We stayed in another great hostel called plantas y blanco (plants and white, it was white and there were a lot of plants) with a nice rooftop terrace and bar setup and great breakfasts of gourmetish breads and jams.

Day one the weather was pretty awful so we spent our time just wandering around the pretty town buying supposedly local handicrafts (I saw exactly the same alpaca jumper I bought in a patagonian souvenir shop, 7000km away) and stopping off in the market to sample some BBQ cuy, or as they're known in Australia, guinea pig. These ones were actually pretty big (about the size of a medium cat) but despite their size had very little meat on them, and what there was was mostly chewy, stubbly skin and tendons. We bought a whole one which was chopped with a dirty meat cleaver into six portions and served head, claws and all on a platter with rice and potatoes.

yum yum, Natalie wasn't too keen though


On day two we hired some mountain bikes for the 60km downhill trip to Puyo through the picturesque valley, past some beautiful waterfalls and several cable cars and ziplines rigged up somewhat dodgily by the locals. We didn't make it all the way down but we did stop off at an amazing waterfall with a series of viewing platforms concreted onto and chisled into the cliffs below the falls.

Stopping off for some pics

looking down from the waterfall

One platform was cut in right under the falls, about 40m up

Next stop was Mancora, a cool but touristy little surfing town in the desert just inside the Peruvian border. We spent two days here relaxing on the beach and in the hostel bar and also had a go at a surfing lesson, which was great fun and surprisingly easy to stand up, although my arms and ribcage (from digging into the board while paddling) were killing me the next day.

The hostel was awesome, like a backpacker resort

As time was now running low I bid farewell to the girls and hopped a bus down along the pacific coast the to Lima, which was 20 hours of complete moonscape, just sand and rocks for hundreds of kilometres, not a living thing in sight.


the sunset was pretty amazing too
This was backed up a day later with another two buses down to the Chilean border and finally Santiago, a trip of over 55 hours and 3500km, but on big comfortable buses it wasn't that bad really.

Somehow I'd forgotten a day along the way so I now had two free days to kill in Santiago and what better way to kill some time than go to a Smashing Pumpkins concert! Dave and Alicia, an Irish couple I'd met in Nicaragua were in town too so after a few beers beside the hostel pool we got a cab out to the stadium and to one of the best gigs I've seen in ages.

Go pumpkins!!

Dave was pretty excited

Twelve hours later I was anxiously waiting at the international arrivals gate at Santiago airport, not sure if I'd remembered the right time for mum's flight and with a horrible feeling that it was actually an hour earlier.......

Cotopaxi climb

We set off for the mountain at six in the morning in an old landcruiser; myself, two other backpackers from Ireland and Canada respectively and our two guides. Two hours of bumpy gravel later we arrived at the end of the road and geared up for the hike up from the carpark to the climbing refuge, at 4800m. I had brought along around 8 litres of water and with that in my pack along with all the other gear and food for the next two days I was carrying at least 20kg, and on steep, soft scree at 4500m I was really feeling it. The other guys were streaking ahead and when I finally got to the top I was getting a little worried about my fitness levels, until I felt the other guys bags and they were less than half the weight of mine. Apparently we were going to be supplied with water at the refuge, nice to know.












After setting up our beds in the bunkhouse upstairs (70 people in one room, with bunks stacked three high...) and having a huge and tasty lunch we went up the mountain a few hundred metres to the bottom of a glacier to put on our crampons and practice some ice climbing. We went over the basic walking and rope techniques and practiced braking with the ice axe in case we had a slip in a steep section. After hearing of other climbers' bad experiences (with dodgy tour operators) up here it was good to see that our guides were both very patient and professional and seemed to take safety very seriously. We were also lucky to have two guides for three people, which meant if one person had to turn back the other two could continue with the remaining guide.









Looking up to the summit, doesn't look that far.....

With the refuge in the background

After an early but once again massive and delicious meal for dinner it was off to bed at 8 to hopefully get a bit of sleep before heading off at one in the morning. As a result of the altitude, the constant noise of 70 climbers fumbling around in the dark and the palpable excitement of what would be most peoples first climb noone reported getting any sleep, except for the snoring guy two bunks across who apparently slept like a baby.



With nearly everyone leaving for the summit at either midnight or one it became a bit of a mad scramble to get out on the trail first and with a relatively small group we were lucky enough to get out first of the 1am group, having nothing but the faint, grey glow of the snow fading into the darkness ahead of us.




We started slow and gradually picked up pace as we went along, with the lead guide doing a great job of pacing us so that we stayed within our limits but still made reasonable time. At some points it felt a little too slow but this high up just a couple of quick power steps can leave you gasping for air, and even maintaining the same pace I would feel great and strong on one section and then like I was pushing my limit ten minutes later. Apart from being a bit more puffed than usual I wasn't really feeling the altitude at all, no headache, no nausea and a nice clear mind. The two weeks of sitting around in Quito were paying off! Apparently being a smoker is also an advantage, as your body has adapted to regularly being low on oxygen, nice.




Around halfway up the Canadian guy started to get a bit woozy and threw up a couple of times, which I thought was a bad sign but the guides didn't seem worried, and he kept on going as normal. The route was also more precipitous than I had imagined, as it is considered a non-technical climb I assumed we would just be walking up a smooth slope of snow. In reality it was a lot more interesting, with walls of ice, gullys, big cracks and crevasses and some enormous and oddly shaped icicles. Some parts were also very steep, with the lead guide having to kick the path into the slope, and requiring us to use the axe and hug the side, carefully checking each footing before putting weight on it. As it was dark there were no real views to speak of, other than the murky orange glow of Quito down in the valley far below, and the long winding snake of headlamps gradually working their way up towards us.




A few hundred metres before the summit I was feeling great and overtook the other two who had slowed down slightly and by this stage were looking a little haggard. My guide and I steamed off and were maybe 50 metres ahead when he suggested that we wait for the others to catch up, which took a good five minutes as by now they were going very slowly. They caught and passed us and as we started up behind them and attempted to get back into the rhythm I found I was suddenly very weak and right on my limit. The next forty five minutes were a real struggle as countless times we approached what appeared to be the top only to find that there was yet another rise on the other side. I knew we were very close and each time I convinced my body that this surely must be the final desperate push, but as we crested the horizon and I prepared to flop down limply in the snow my heart sank time and time again.




At last, and as I was on the verge of finally calling a stop before I crumpled in a heap the slope opened out and started to descend slightly. Looking around I gradually comprehended that there were no other higher points around, this was it, we'd made it!!!


This was as enthusiastic as we could get

The crater

Upon reaching our goal it was hard to know what to feel. All I wanted to do was to lay down and have a good rest but with so little oxygen in the air (less than half the amount that there is at sea level) this was next to impossible. It didn't really feel like reaching the end of anything at all ( and it wasn't really, we still had to get back down which is just as dangerous as climbing up) so I guess in a funny way the real summit was the biggest false summit of all! There were thick clouds in all directions down below us blocking everything from sight too which was a little disappointing but peering down into the steaming crater was nice, and it really did feel like we were on top of the world.

After taking the obligatory triumphant photos and having a swig of some nasty cooking brandy (?!?) that someone had brought along for the celebrations we thankfully started back down by the same track that we had come up on, and a lot faster than you would think. Yet another funny thing I noticed about altitude is that while it is ridiculously hard to go uphill, on the flat and going down feels only slightly more difficult than at sea level.

Despite being more than a bit stuffed and myself getting along by more of a controlled stagger than a walk we made it down more than half way before we needed a break. We stopped off for ten minutes and then continued down quite uneventfully, taking it easy and getting a few snaps on the way, as we could now actually see what was around us.

It had taken us 4 hours 50 min to get to the summit from the refuge which was a pretty good time for inexperienced climbers ( usual time is between 5 and 6 hours) but a hell of a long way off the record of 1 hr 30! ( our guide had once done it in 1:50, alone and with minimal equipment to save weight)

The whole trip (two days with all food, gear, transport and accomodation) cost 170 dollars, which is a bargain really and a fraction of what you'd pay in a western country. The company I went with (CarpeDM Adventures) were very professional and with great gear and food and I'm currently making plans to return to Ecuador to climb Chimborazo (6300m) with them early next year :)