Now in Patagonia

New Year´s in BA

After leaving Rio we spent a couple of days in Buenos Aires, including a very chill New Year´s. Our evening consisted of hanging on the hostel roof deck, drinking with travelers and eating an obscene amount of grilled meat (see the photo) - a classic Argentinean asado. Fireworks were few and far between (unlike Manila, which becomes a warzone) and nobody really left their homes before 2am (like Manila, where people hang with their families though midnight).

The morning after we checked out the BA Chinatown, the only place with open shops. It´s about two blocks worth of so-so restaurants and one super expensive Asian supermarket. Instant ramen for $1/pack. The noodles at the restaurant really made Jen´s day, though.

BA Impressions

We took a 4-hour guided bicycle tour around town, seeing the neighborhoods on big orange beach cruisers. In addition, we made the obligatory pilgrimage to Evita´s tomb, and spent some time in the shopping districts, which are really cheap. Like Jen said, we also ate a ton of ice cream, which kicks ass here. Homemade shops offer two scoops for $0.75 to $1.50. The ice cream is smooth, creamy, and rich - more like gelato than the American stuff.



I´d heard how gorgeous BA was, Paris of South America etc. etc. But honestly, I didn´t think it was all that. Definitely way more European than any other South American city we´d seen, but it lacks the unique beauty of Barcelona or (I imagine) Paris. It reminded me of Madrid, which I never thought that much of. Also, it was hot and the parks had become dusty and dry with the lack of rain. The piles of dogshit on the sidewalks don´t help, either. Somehow professional dog walking has emerged as a major industry here, but laws regarding dog crap are regularly ignored.

Patagonia

After the dry heat of BA, we were relieved to find cool weather in El Calafate, a hub for trekking the Patagonian Andes. The once tiny town has blown up, thanks to the new airport, completed only three years ago. Now El Calafate looks like a little ski resort, with tons of stores selling cheezy sweatshirts, fancy mate gourds, and outdoor gear. Everything is way more expensive than BA, partly because it serves tourists, but also because it´s pretty tough to ship goods there.

Most folks come to see the enormous 70-meter tall Perito Moreno Glacier, actually 1.5 hours away. But we decided to skip it and hopped a bus for El Chaltén, a much smaller town (only dirt roads) at the base of the Fitzroy range in el Parque Nacional de los Glaciares. We spent the next 8 days backpacking in some of the most spectacular spots I´ve ever seen. The Fitzroy area is remarkably accessible - we could hike out from any point in the park in half a day. Unfortunately, this means the park is swamped with day trippers. On the plus side, though, this meant a mellow intro to fully loaded backpacking for Jen. Important because we lacked good gear, it was cold and rainy, and Jen´s ankles crumple if you give them a mean look. It also let me walk into town to resupply after 3 nights.

We loved the camping. In contrast to the constant decision making of traveling, all we had to think about for 8 days was eating, keeping warm, and appreciating the view. Admittedly, it was a long time to go without a shower. Jen´s ability to stay in the same tent as me was more likely a testament to her poor sense of smell than her love. But we did pretty well.



Top 5 Things on the Fitzroy Trek

1) Lunch all alone by a milky blue lake and hanging glacier.

2) Drinking pure glacier water straight from the streams. No need for pumps or iodine.

3) Hot powdered baby food for breakfast, surprisingly good with syrup and jam. Argentines eat a piece of toast and coffee in the mornings, so I couldn´t find instant oatmeal anywhere.

4) Warming up in the ranger´s tent for a couple of hours passing around the mate gourd. He gave us a little tutorial on mate customs.

5) Eating a huge plate of steak, fried eggs, salad, and french fries right after getting back into town.

Ushuaia, Southermost Town in the World

We got here three days ago. OK, it´s kind of lame, and looks like Fisherman´s Wharf. Apparently, Ushuaia is a major rookery for fuzzy stuffed penguins. But the town is a nice size - not too big or small, and we´ve hooked up with Alan and Janine, our friends who got engaged on the Inca Trail. The first night we joined them on a beaver "hunt" (insert beaver joke here). Apparently the animals were introduced from Canada in the 1940s in the hopes of starting a beaver pelt industry. But the entrepreneurs quickly found that Ushuaia´s milder temperatures led to pretty poor coats. So now the beasties are all over the place, busily flooding areas with their dams. And with no natural predators here the creatures can reach 50 kilos. (Twice the maximum load for a Inca Trail porter, by the way, so you´d have a tough time bringing your beaver on the Trail.) The trip was surprisingly fun; we got really close to them and warmed up afterwards in the cabin with cheese, bread, sausage, wine, and tea.

Antarctica or Bust

We used the entire next day tracking a rumor of cheap boat tickets to Antarctica. Alan had heard of some for 1000 euros the night before, not bad considering the "cheap" cruises usually go for 3000 euros. Janine and I weren´t convinced we wanted to spend that money or a week on an ocean liner, Antarctica be damned, but Jen seemed intrigued. Alan quickly seized her interest, sparking a 6 hour epic quest across downtown Ushuaia.

The Marco Polo left that night, so the four of us hurried through a dozen travel agents, shipping offices, and tourist information centers, and twice tried to sneak through port security to speak to someone on the ship, docked only a few meters away. One false lead led to another. Throughout this search we argued the merits of the trip and discussed the possibility of supernatural "signs" telling us to go to Antarctica. (Alan was convinced of them.) I eventually realized there was no way I could ditch the voyage if we actually located these mythical tickets.

Finally, one agent gave us the number of a Buenos Aires travel agent who *supposedly* sold last minute fares. At this point, the passengers had boarded the ship, and I doubted the agent´s claim after so many false leads. I began to look into a half-day penguin tour, instead. Janine was done for. For god´s sake, the ship was scheduled to depart in 2.5 hours. But Alan and Jen, the Antarctica champions, doggedly ran to a phone booth and called Buenos Aires.

To make a long story short (the phone calling continued for another hour or so), Alan ended up talking to a lady in Miami who managed to locate four tickets for the unheard of price of $678. Understand this includes the works - luxury cruise, jacuzzi, food, etc. for 7 days - and was way less than we had hoped for. Alan pumped his fist, the onlookers in the hostel lobby gawked jealously, and all thoughts of abandoning the trip evaporated. It was now 6:45 and the ship left at 8pm. Jen and I ran back to our hostel to stuff our packs and we all hopped a taxi for the port, arriving, breathless, at 7:10.

That´s when we noticed that - wait for it, wait for it - the ship had departed. Port security said it had been gone for a couple of hours, in fact. Apparently, the captain, not having received the message that some flithy backpackers had scored last minute tickets, decided to leave early.

Stunned, we rode the taxi back to the hostel and in our daze, the driver managed to get us to double pay for the cab fare, adding insult to injury.

Antarctica Epilogue

Alan and I immediately called the Miami travel agent who apologized profusely and assured us that our credit cards wouldn´t be charged. Remembering the look on Jen´s face when it became clear we wouldn´t be having captain´s cocktails that night, I asked Miami Lady if we could get a similar deal next week, when the Marco Polo would be back in town. I figured we might spend a few extra days in Ushuaia, but wouldn´t really lose much. Miami Lady assured us that yes, we could just confirm on Monday.

Alan and Janine were in a crappier position, having already cancelled their flights out of town upon booking the cruise. It´s impossible to get flights leaving Ushuaia without two weeks notice at peak season, so they were staring at the bleak possibility of another two weeks at the Southernmost Town in the World or paying for business class seats.

Anyway, Jen and I decided overnight that we wouldn´t ever get to Antarctica again at this price, so what the hell. After some painful soul searching and coin flipping, Alan and Janine decided to join us.

So in 7 days we´re off to Antarctica. While I´m appalled at being trapped on a floating hotel for a week (on-board casino, 24-hour buffets, and duty free shopping), it could actually be fun with Alan and Janine, and - hell, it´s Antarctica.