http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Humulu/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Humulu en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:37:12 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:37:12 +0000 So after a pretty spectacular day yesterday on the Brazilian side the Argentinian side of the Cataratas held up the promise to be even better The National Park on this side is a lot bigger and one really needs a full day to explore and walk on all the different walkways and circuits that get you close to the waterfalls And although there are a lot of tourists here lot's of groups and people http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/Iguazu-National-Park/blog-352434.html So from the mountains to the tropics.... palm trees mosquitoes heat and HUGE waterfalls After another 18 hours overnight bus ride we Gabriela the Spanish teacher from BA and I arrived in Puerto Iguazu on the Argentinian side. And since we arrived early in the morning after we checked into our hostel Marco Polo Hostel highly recommend it we figured we use the day to first visit the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Paran-/Foz-do-Igua-u/Igua-u-National-Park/blog-352427.html So now the time in Patagonia is coming to an end I have enjoyed it a ton and am not sure if I am really excited to head up to the heat of Buenos Aires but of course I am still looking forward to the trip to Iguazu Falls that is still on the schedule So now for now it is goodbye to the mountains The last two days have been super sunny here and so I opted for rafting and hanging out by the http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-350909.html Ok after those two days on the bus I arrived in the beautiful mountain town by the lake Bariloche If you picture Switzerland a little bit of Heide a little bit of Austria and then all that maybe even a tad better... that is Bariloche Not bad eh So the first day here Dagmar another German from Hamburg who I had met on the bus and I took a local bus a little outside of town and then re http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-350087.html So after those two full days of hiking in El Chalten I took a bus up North on the infamous Ruta 40. A highway that travels up North along the Andes to the northern part of Patagonia. So after two days of 1214 hours on a bus I arrived in Bariloche on the evening of the 28th. You might think why would anyone want to be on a bus for 1214 hours a day for two consecutive days... and i can un http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/blog-350082.html Hola so this will be a series of blogs hopefully today to catch you all up a bit on my travels. I traveled to El Chalten from El Calafate and since it is in the mountains... no cell phone towers no ATM gravel roads and unstable internet because of the satellite transmission you will just have to bear with me now and i will take you through the last couple of days EL Chalten is the cutest http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Chalten/blog-350074.html Hola Que tal So now a short report from my hiking excursion in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile I took a bus from El Calafate leaving at 530 am to Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile The journey all together took about 4.5 hrs with about an hour at the Chilean border. Since a lot of tour buses cross this tiny border post the backup can be quite extensive but nevertheless http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Torres-del-Paine/blog-348163.html Hola a todos today I visited the amazing Perito Merino Glacier in Parque Nacional Los Glaciers Now I was impressed with the Glaciers in New Zealand and Norway but nothing really comes close to the Glaciers here in Patagonia WOW The fact that Perito Moreno alone covers an area of 257 sqkm is 30 KM long 55 m high and 45 km wide and is not the biggest in the Patagonian Icefield is amazing http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/Perito-Moreno-Glacier/blog-347332.html I spend my last day in Ushuaia visiting the Maritime Museum and the former Presidio in the morning and hiking the Glacier Martial in the afternoon. The museum which is housed in the old prison of the former Penal Colony Tierra del Fuego shows the life of the prisoners as well as a pretty interesting account of the expeditions to Antarctica. The Maritime portion of the museum tells the story of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Ushuaia/blog-347034.html This morning it was certainly time to hike again and so I joined up with two of my dorm mates Christoph from France and Marco from Spain and the three of us tackled the remaining hikes in the National Park After about 20 km I am thoroughly tired right now but it was once again a phenomenal day with lots of sunshine incredible views and wildlife along the way So i am writing this blo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Tierra-del-Fuego-National-Park/blog-346355.html Hola so after pretty much just chilling in the hostel in the morning Clara and I booked ourselves a spot on the afternoon cruise through the Beagle Channel. A must do when you are here So without further ado.. i will let the pictures do all the talking. Needless to say that we were once again lucky with the weather and had sun almost the entire 6 hours that we were out on the water For y http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Ushuaia/blog-346344.html Oh the mountains Hiking in Patagonia just like I pictured it After a very restful night in my Freestyle hostel and a great breakfast a bunch of people from the hostel took a bus to the Tierra del Fuego NP to go hiking. The bus drops people off at various trails which makes it really easy for those independent travelers without cars. Carla a geologist from Spain and I had decided that we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Tierra-del-Fuego-National-Park/blog-345914.html Hello from Ushuaia Tierra del Fuego Fin del Mundo I arrived in Ushuaia this morning after a 3.5 hrs flight from Buenos Aires and after the heat in BsAs the 7 degree Celsius temps here in Ushuaia are a welcomed changed It is awesome to see the snow on the mountains all around and this touristy little most southern city on earth is bustling with life. The spring tourist season is in ful http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Ushuaia/blog-345414.html The last week of school is here and with it my last days in BsAs and in the interest of seeing as much as possible before I head south later this weekend I went to La Boca yesterday with two fellow students La Boca is a must seeneighborhood in BsAs and it lived up to its reputation Colorful houses a bit run down close to the projects and the very low income squatter areas around the h http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-344375.html After a full day on Friday with lessons and planning for the onward travel later this week Jerry and Nicole both from Colorado and I took the late ferry for the one hour ride to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay just across the Rio de la Plata. Our BB was just four blocks from the ferry terminal and once we checked in and dropped our bags off we ventured out for dinner to celebrate Nicole's http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Uruguay/West/Colonia-del-Sacramento/blog-343651.html Another week has flown by once again After two weeks of classes I almost felt like a Porteno this morning as I was reading the daily newspaper on the train into the city Well reading might be exaggerated more like skimming the headlines... but there was the article about President Bush inviting Obama to the Casa Blanca for a Monday meeting that I actually read The news even here have been http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-342643.html Sunday A day at the Estancia La CinacinaThis morning 6 of the Linguatec Students met for a day excursion with our teacher Sylvia to an Estancia in the Pampas region The 120 km trip took about close to 2 hours on the minibus but was very much worth it. We arrived in the little pueblo of San Antonio de Areco around noon. San Antonio de Areco is the symbolic center of the Gaucho culture. Ev http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/La-Pampa/blog-341180.html A day in TigreAfter sleeping in to 'recoverrdquo from a week of learning and socializing last night I could not believe how many people get all dressed up for Halloween even here loco I made pancakes for the family Yeah a real breakfast I had brought a packet of pancake mix and maple syrup as a little ldquotypical American breakfastrdquo gift for the family and so Cristina asked me t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Tigre/blog-341175.html Has it really already been a week since I arrived in Buenos Aires Unreal timed just flew After 6 hours of formal Spanish lessons in the school every day and then an added couple of hours during afternoon excursions around town and conversations with my family I must say that Language Immersion is the way to go when you want to learn a new language Amazing what I have been able to learn th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-340329.html Day 23 During a jog through the neighborhood on Sunday morning I was lucky to come upon a bunch of little boys playing youth soccer in an old and dingy gym all of them thinking that they are little Diego Maradonna's . I joined their enthusiastic parents in the stands and while they were all drinking ldquoMatesrdquo and eating little pastries I just enjoyed the morning and marveled at t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-339294.html