Cerro Fitz Roy...you can't see it b/c of the bad weather :(
El Chalten. A one road town. Literally.
Glacier water stream
It was a little cold at the top...and windy.
WE DID IT!
Scary bridge. Yes, we did go over it.
Drinking glacier water.
We saw a perfect rainbow!
Glacier, rainbow & mountains?!?!
Awesome =)
At the base of our 8.5 hour hike
It was huge! (Glacier Perito Moreno)
Glacier Perito Moreno
Me on the boat
Amazing.
Pretty much heaven on earth.
SPRING BREAK 2009!
Let me just start off by saying it was absolutely incredible. Whatever I write in this blog will never be able to bring you the feelings and the beauty that I felt and saw during my last week in Patagonia.
Day 1 (Monday): We all wake up bright and early to start our spring break off right. We are at the airport by 9, ready to catch our first flight at 10 to El Calafate. Everybody is half asleep on the flight, that is until we start to fly over Patagonia. Even the view from the plane is unbelievable. The first place we fly in to is Ushuaia (You-shoe-why-ya) in Tierra del Fuego (the land of fire - known for its active volcanoes), also known as the southern most city in the world! I could almost see Antarctica! ....almost - ok maybe not even close. But I did make friends with a penguin! ok I didn't do that either - I can always dream. Everything here is gorgeous! And this is just the view from the plane and the airport - we are only here for an hour...sad. But if this is any indication of Calafate, I'm all for it. The cold air is definitely welcome after the intense heat and humidity of Buenos Aires. It actually kind of reminds me of home.
Our hour of arctic weather is up and we're on another plane to El Calafate. We finally fly into the tiny airport there and catch a bus to our hostel. This place is sooooo pretty! El Calafate actually reminds me of Estes Park, almost identical! Except that the people here speak Spanish. El Calafate is known for a couple of things: 1) Calafate, which is actually a fruit that very closely resembles a blueberry but is still very tasty. 2) The National Glacier Park! Oh yes, we are going on Day 2. To finish up the night at our hostel, we all have somewhat of a hostel room party in one of the rooms! Yay for the start of spring break!
Day 2 (Tuesday): Another early morning for us! We are on a bus by 9 to go to the National Glacier Park. During our drive, we stop at a couple of places that have gorgeous views of the landscape and distant views of the mountians. My pictures don't even do the colors justice. Everything is so pure and vibrant here. We finally arrive to see the famous (yes, it is famous) glacier of Perito Moreno. This thing is ginormous! And just an (I'm already running out of adjectives) incredibly breathtaking sight. I can't even begin to really describe it. We got to take a boat out to get a better look at the glacier - we could almost touch it we were so close! ok that's another lie - but amazing all the same. Don't worry - I have about 100 pictures. No joke. After that we got to wander around the glacier park and get different views of the glacier. Every once in a while we would hear a loud *crack* which was actually part of the glacier breaking off! It was so cool to actually see it! Even the smallest chunks are audible! I can't even begin to describe the beauty of this thing - you can learn about these natural phenomenoms, but to actually see it is something else completely.
After we get back to the hostel, we try and figure out what to do with our 2 days of freedom - we have nothing planned, but would really like to do something while we're here. One of the guys that works at the hostel suggests that we go to El Chalten and hike to the base of Mount Fitz Roy - another glacier. A group of us are all for it! The kicker: it's 3.5 hours away by bus and the next bus leaves at 6pm. It's about 4:30 right now. So what do we do? Call the bus company to see if they have room and book a hostel of course! THEY DO! So we quickly pack a few things, run to the grocery store and make our bus with a whopping 3 minutes to spare. One the way, the bus makes a stop at Hotel La Leona http://www.hoteldecampolaleona.com.ar/history.html (check out the history on it - it's pretty sweet). We finally arrive to El Chalten at about 10:30 or so. El Chalten is a tiny town. And I mean tiny. We're talking a 1 road town here. No joke. But it's so quaint and cute that I immediately am in love with it. And the view of the stars and milky way out here are just the icing on the cake.
Day 3 (Wednesday): Another early day (notice a theme yet??)! We're all up and ready to go by 8am. At about 8:30 we start our trek. The trail is supposed to take about 4 hours each way - so we're all prepared for a long, glorious day of hiking. The weather looks promising to start off, but half way up, it's clear that it won't stay that way for long. We get caught in rain showers here and there, but our spirits are high. We even see a rainbow end to end over a lake! A group of 7 of us are on this journey. Again, the sights are unlike anything I've ever seen and it's hard to believe that they can be more incredible. But they can, and they are. We make several stops on the way up to take pictures, take in the sights and keep reminding ourselves that we are really here, really living, and yes, we really have a long way up to go. We go through water, over tiny bridges, through mud and trees and bushes and rocks; through wind and rain and sleet and snow. And no, I'm not joking. I would have to say that one of the many highlights is that the water from the streams is drinkable because it's glacier water. So of course we have to give it a try!
The last 500 meters of the trail was pretty tough - there was even a sign warning us that it was difficult! The trail was barely a trail and it was pretty much straight up. But when we finally got up to the top, it was all worth it!
The glacier wasn't too visible because of the bad weather but it was still such an adrenaline rush. At the base there was another lake, so we went down and walked around that as well. We did get caught in a brief sleet/ice storm when the wind picked up and blew the snow off the top of the glaciers. Slightly scary and very cold. Don't worry, we survived.
About 3.5 hours later, we were back down at the base: Cold, tired, hungry and so fulfilled and accomplished! :)
We caught our bus back to El Calafate by 6 that night. Again.
Day 4 (Thursday): Didn't do much that day. Took a loooooooooong nap. Did a little shopping. Ate some great food that I cooked with Lauren (girl in my group) at the hostel!!! Orange chicken anyone?! Went out for our last night and just had a good time with everyone.
Day 5 (Friday): Back on a bus by 10am to go to the airport to go to Buenos Aires. Due to some apparently bad weather, though, we got rerouted. 4 airplanes and 16 hours later, we finally made it home at about 4am (we were supposed to be back by 7pm the previous night).
But hey, no complaints. For an extra 9 hours, I'd do it all again.
That was my trip to Patagonia. Check out this website to see El Calafate, El Chalten, Perito Moreno, and Cerro Fitz Roy. http://www.calafate.com/Ingles/index.htm
I'll post pictures soon, I promise!
That Sunday I also survived my first Futbol game. And when I say survived, I mean it. I have never seen such a display of athletic enthusiasm and intensity and just complete and utter loco-ness (spanglish people)! Those are insane! Don't worry, I'm hoping to go to another one next Sunday that's supposed to be even more out of control. I'll be sure to put my football pads on - I'll probably need them.
XOXOXOX
Let me just start off by saying it was absolutely incredible. Whatever I write in this blog will never be able to bring you the feelings and the beauty that I felt and saw during my last week in Patagonia.
Day 1 (Monday): We all wake up bright and early to start our spring break off right. We are at the airport by 9, ready to catch our first flight at 10 to El Calafate. Everybody is half asleep on the flight, that is until we start to fly over Patagonia. Even the view from the plane is unbelievable. The first place we fly in to is Ushuaia (You-shoe-why-ya) in Tierra del Fuego (the land of fire - known for its active volcanoes), also known as the southern most city in the world! I could almost see Antarctica! ....almost - ok maybe not even close. But I did make friends with a penguin! ok I didn't do that either - I can always dream. Everything here is gorgeous! And this is just the view from the plane and the airport - we are only here for an hour...sad. But if this is any indication of Calafate, I'm all for it. The cold air is definitely welcome after the intense heat and humidity of Buenos Aires. It actually kind of reminds me of home.
Our hour of arctic weather is up and we're on another plane to El Calafate. We finally fly into the tiny airport there and catch a bus to our hostel. This place is sooooo pretty! El Calafate actually reminds me of Estes Park, almost identical! Except that the people here speak Spanish. El Calafate is known for a couple of things: 1) Calafate, which is actually a fruit that very closely resembles a blueberry but is still very tasty. 2) The National Glacier Park! Oh yes, we are going on Day 2. To finish up the night at our hostel, we all have somewhat of a hostel room party in one of the rooms! Yay for the start of spring break!
Day 2 (Tuesday): Another early morning for us! We are on a bus by 9 to go to the National Glacier Park. During our drive, we stop at a couple of places that have gorgeous views of the landscape and distant views of the mountians. My pictures don't even do the colors justice. Everything is so pure and vibrant here. We finally arrive to see the famous (yes, it is famous) glacier of Perito Moreno. This thing is ginormous! And just an (I'm already running out of adjectives) incredibly breathtaking sight. I can't even begin to really describe it. We got to take a boat out to get a better look at the glacier - we could almost touch it we were so close! ok that's another lie - but amazing all the same. Don't worry - I have about 100 pictures. No joke. After that we got to wander around the glacier park and get different views of the glacier. Every once in a while we would hear a loud *crack* which was actually part of the glacier breaking off! It was so cool to actually see it! Even the smallest chunks are audible! I can't even begin to describe the beauty of this thing - you can learn about these natural phenomenoms, but to actually see it is something else completely.
After we get back to the hostel, we try and figure out what to do with our 2 days of freedom - we have nothing planned, but would really like to do something while we're here. One of the guys that works at the hostel suggests that we go to El Chalten and hike to the base of Mount Fitz Roy - another glacier. A group of us are all for it! The kicker: it's 3.5 hours away by bus and the next bus leaves at 6pm. It's about 4:30 right now. So what do we do? Call the bus company to see if they have room and book a hostel of course! THEY DO! So we quickly pack a few things, run to the grocery store and make our bus with a whopping 3 minutes to spare. One the way, the bus makes a stop at Hotel La Leona http://www.hoteldecampolaleona.com.ar/history.html (check out the history on it - it's pretty sweet). We finally arrive to El Chalten at about 10:30 or so. El Chalten is a tiny town. And I mean tiny. We're talking a 1 road town here. No joke. But it's so quaint and cute that I immediately am in love with it. And the view of the stars and milky way out here are just the icing on the cake.
Day 3 (Wednesday): Another early day (notice a theme yet??)! We're all up and ready to go by 8am. At about 8:30 we start our trek. The trail is supposed to take about 4 hours each way - so we're all prepared for a long, glorious day of hiking. The weather looks promising to start off, but half way up, it's clear that it won't stay that way for long. We get caught in rain showers here and there, but our spirits are high. We even see a rainbow end to end over a lake! A group of 7 of us are on this journey. Again, the sights are unlike anything I've ever seen and it's hard to believe that they can be more incredible. But they can, and they are. We make several stops on the way up to take pictures, take in the sights and keep reminding ourselves that we are really here, really living, and yes, we really have a long way up to go. We go through water, over tiny bridges, through mud and trees and bushes and rocks; through wind and rain and sleet and snow. And no, I'm not joking. I would have to say that one of the many highlights is that the water from the streams is drinkable because it's glacier water. So of course we have to give it a try!
The last 500 meters of the trail was pretty tough - there was even a sign warning us that it was difficult! The trail was barely a trail and it was pretty much straight up. But when we finally got up to the top, it was all worth it!
The glacier wasn't too visible because of the bad weather but it was still such an adrenaline rush. At the base there was another lake, so we went down and walked around that as well. We did get caught in a brief sleet/ice storm when the wind picked up and blew the snow off the top of the glaciers. Slightly scary and very cold. Don't worry, we survived.
About 3.5 hours later, we were back down at the base: Cold, tired, hungry and so fulfilled and accomplished! :)
We caught our bus back to El Calafate by 6 that night. Again.
Day 4 (Thursday): Didn't do much that day. Took a loooooooooong nap. Did a little shopping. Ate some great food that I cooked with Lauren (girl in my group) at the hostel!!! Orange chicken anyone?! Went out for our last night and just had a good time with everyone.
Day 5 (Friday): Back on a bus by 10am to go to the airport to go to Buenos Aires. Due to some apparently bad weather, though, we got rerouted. 4 airplanes and 16 hours later, we finally made it home at about 4am (we were supposed to be back by 7pm the previous night).
But hey, no complaints. For an extra 9 hours, I'd do it all again.
That was my trip to Patagonia. Check out this website to see El Calafate, El Chalten, Perito Moreno, and Cerro Fitz Roy. http://www.calafate.com/Ingles/index.htm
I'll post pictures soon, I promise!
That Sunday I also survived my first Futbol game. And when I say survived, I mean it. I have never seen such a display of athletic enthusiasm and intensity and just complete and utter loco-ness (spanglish people)! Those are insane! Don't worry, I'm hoping to go to another one next Sunday that's supposed to be even more out of control. I'll be sure to put my football pads on - I'll probably need them.
XOXOXOX
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