http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Elyse and Matt/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Elyse and Matt en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:40:03 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:40:03 BST We just wanted to give everyone a quick note about our last few days and this will probably be our last post until we are back in the States We flew out of Ushuaia to Buenos Aires on the 2nd. The flight was fine but we didnt get into the city until 130am. We were very lucky to find a great cheap hostel in the neighborhood we wanted to be in. We stayed in the area that is well know for its t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-243962.html Well we finally made it back to a computer after a long week of exploring Tierra Del Fuego. We arrived in Rio Grande last Thursday after having checked out a wonderful stuffed anmial collection in Puntas Arenas Note Photos and spent the next day and a half preparing for a 5 day road trip around the island. . . a little vacation from our vacation if you will. Our friend Collin made it on bike http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/blog-241775.html We made it to Chile The only major difference between Patagonia in Argentina and Chile is that the cost of everything in Chile is about twice as much. Im glad we made the choice to spend a majority of our vacation in Argentina. Our first stop in Chile was Puerto Natles. It is a small town that is popular because it is the easiest entrance point to Torres del Paine National Park. We didnt k http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Punta-Arenas/blog-238767.html So after striking out on the Rio Santa Cruz I decided to head out of town in the other direction and check out the Rio Centinela. I walked to the edge of town stuck out my thumb was picked up in no time Even better the guy that picked me up worked for a local hotel and spoke English. When I told him where I wanted to go he looked at me like I was crazy and said he didnrsquot think there w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Calafate/blog-236785.html But dont feel too sorry for us we still have 4 weeks left in South America. We finally had to admit that the travel funds wont last forever and at some point in the near future we will have to return to the real world. . . . . or at least as close to the real world that Matt and I lived in before we left Here are the tenative plans for the next 4 weeks. Today is our last day in El Calefate. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Calafate/blog-236458.html Ah yes where to begin. Lets start with a general overviewhelliphellip..Trout were brought to Argentina in the early 1900s and stocked all over Patagonia and the Lake District. Prior to that time South America was salmonoid free and native species including small perch and catfish were the dominate fish in the regions aquatic systems. The salmonoid species found in the regions fresh water http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Chubut/blog-235535.html After a month in El Bolson we finally hit the road again. The first stop was Esquel about two hours south. Esquel is a fairly small town with many rivers and mountain surrounding it. Much like El Bolson without waffle day. The first night we stayed at a pubhotel similar to McMenamins in Portland without the local beer they only had Budwiser and Heiniken or food. But they did have pool tab http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Calafate/blog-235010.html Ok so I have been a bit delinquent in my postings but I can assure you it has not been without reasonhelliphellip and for the most part that reason has been Trout with a capital T. The good news is that I have plenty to write about now.As you may have gathered we spent the better part of the last month in a small town called El Bolson. Aside from having some great waffles chicken sandwic http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Chubut/Esquel/blog-232862.html Happy New Year We hope everyone had a great and safe New Years I have to say ours was pretty hard to beat but Ill get into that later.Last time I wrote we were headed out on a 4 day hike up to the Hielo Azul and through a pass in the mountains that make the Chile border. Im happy to say that we survived but at times it was a little touchy First of all for anyone who buys the Lonley Pl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/El-Bolson/blog-231997.html Merry Christmas We hope everyone is having a great holiday As for us things are pretty good. Its only 100 degrees and sunny today. . . . a little too warm actually but I guess we cant complain too much Christmas isnt a very big holiday in Argentina at least by American standards. Most of the stores are closed today and waffle day did not happen but other than that there really aren http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/El-Bolson/blog-230308.html We have been in El Bolson for about a week and a half now and are loving it The town is beautiful surrounded by huge glacier cap mountian rivers and lakes. We really couldnt ask for moreHowever we did have a first big disappointment of the trip. . . the camera with all our pictures was loststolen. I dont want to get into the long complicated story but it looks like it is gone. Luckily http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/El-Bolson/blog-228806.html Last time we wrote we were still in Bolivia. . . . That feels like it was months agoWe survived the 17 hour train ride We knew we were in for an adventure when we showed the man at the station our tickets and he smirked to his coworker as pointed to the last car on the train. Needless to say we were riding with the locals. That wasnt bad except we stopped at every town along the way where pe http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/El-Bolson/blog-226338.html We have received a few concerned messages. . . . yes we survived the LONG train ride and a couple long bus rides. We are currently camping in the Lake District in Argentina. It is beautiful hereNo time to write now. . . . Matt believes there are fish to catchWe will catch up with you all later with pictures and all.PS. . . there havent been anymore hospital trips. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Chubut/blog-225685.html Finally I must break my silence. Elyse has had my fingers taped together and has not been allowing me to type on this blog......... She says I exagerate make stuff up and insists that no one will understand what I am jabbering about. I can assure you that her concerns are unfounded. As proof of my literary integridy and truthfullness I offer you the following statement I have not caugh one http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-222628.html Here we go again. . . it feels like every time I come to update this a months worth of events have taken place. Ill do my best to catch the big events of the last weekish.Oh and today is a special day because you will have 3 new blogs to readglance over. Matt is writing his own take on the journey so far. I am as curious as you to see what he has to say about the adventureLast time I wrot http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-222618.html Here are some updated pictures. Dont worry. .. .. when we get back you will all be subjected to the thousands of pictures we have taken literally. . . here is just a sampling to get you excited http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-220960.html Wow. . . . What a week or so we have had Since arriving in Cusco a little over a week ago we have been runing nonstopWe arrived in Cusco on a 550 am flight. Needless to say Matt wasnt very happy but it was cheap so I really didnt care. As soon as we arrived we were swept away by a taxi driver who took us to a decent hotel that was in our price range. Right after we met with a travel http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-219732.html HollaTo quickly answer all of your questions......Yes we did fall off the edge of the earthYup Flying around the tropical storm in a 767 made for a bumpy rideNo no one here wears bones through their noses.....AND YESSSSSS THE WATER DOES SWIRL BACKWARDS IN THE TOILET BECAUSE WE ARE IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE..........OK I lied about that one I am dislexic and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/blog-217208.html Wersquove been in Florida for almost a week now. On Tuesday night we camped in the Panhandle close to the coast. We bought 2 lbs of shrimp and barbequed the dove for dinner. The next day we got up a drove a bit further down the coast. Along the way saw a bunch of seafood places where the fisherman would come sell their oysters and shrimp from the bay. Because it was Tuesday afternoon we th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Tampa/blog-215303.html After leaving Texas we drove to New Orleans to spend a couple nights on Bourbon Street. Our original plan was to stay Sunday night but we made better time than we expected. After talking with the hotel and Travelocity who lied to us we decided to book a room for Saturday night as well. We were glad we did because there were a lot more people out on Saturday than were out on Sunday.Bourbon Str http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-214602.html