Meatless travelers

After the intense hiking we did in El Chalten, and before we got into more of the same in Chile, we took a few days to recuperate in the town of El Calafate and per Craig Lan's suggestion to allow Chris time to shave. The town was small but huge compared to El Chalten (Population 600). It is the "jumping off" point for the Argentinian side of Patagonia so there was no shortage of tourists, souvenior shops and credit card machines. Overall it was a great town with good food and good views of the water. However, with all the tourists the town restaurants have colluded to charge a "utensil" fee per person at 1-3 USD per person. During our stay in El Calafate we took a boat trip out to the Perito Moreno glacier (~ ... read more

After soaking in the sun up North in Iguazu, we headed down to what was once known as the "end of the world", the city of Ushuaia. Ushuaia is located in Tierra del Fuego, the most southern inhabitable island in the world. Upon landing in Ushuaia we busted out our jackets as the temp was ~40-50 degrees F. Ushuaia is typically used as a launching pad for Antartic cruises so the city itself felt like a nice small ski town with the main focus on tourism. Right outside the city is the Tierra del Fuego national park which stretches along the length of the island. We spent the first full day here hiking around the park (including taking a relaxing rafting trip around the bay) and the second full day taking a cruise around the Beagle ... read more

We started our Argentina/Chile adventure in Buenos Aires on Feb 15th. After experiencing Chicago's beautiful snowy 25 degree weather, we were a tad shocked to be hit with the 90+ degree tempurature in BA. We spent our 2 days here walking around the city, enjoying the antique shops in the neighborhood of San Telmo, time worn mausoleums at the Recoleta cemetery (where all the rich BA folks throughout history spend eternity), and the wonderful Italian food (as vegetarians we needed to find a substitute for the mounds of steak the city offers). Overall BA was a typical "big city" and although fun for a day or two, we were excited to move on to other things... read more

We spent most of Friday May 4 on our drive from Queenstown to Fox Glacier. The ~360 km drive was stunning and passed through many national parks and mountain passes and we took our time as we stopped at multiple locations to enjoy the views, and of course, get pictures. We reached Fox Glacier just before sunset and caught some great views of the last light along the monutains by Lake Matheson, which we later found out was created by Fox Glacier when it extended all the way to the valley nearly 10,000 years ago. We woke up early (today) for our glacier walk, both excited and a little nervous. The walk was amazing, starting with a short hike up to the face of the glacier, and then onto the glacier itself. New Zealand is one ... read more

Our first day in Sydney was spent meandering around the city. Highlights from the day were walking through the botanical gardens and seeing the birds (parrots, cockatoo, cockateils were all in abundance) and other wildlife (i.e., bats). We then went to Sydney's two most famous landmarks, the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. We spent our second day outside the city hiking the Blue Mountain National Park. The mountains are named after the blue hue from the vast forrests of eucalyptus trees in the valley. The hike was amazing but brutal, needless to say we were happy to be done (we thusly celebrated with ice cream and potato chips for lunch). Also within the valley are the 3 sister peaks. The story goes that three aboriginal sisters were doing things they weren't suppose to (these things ... read more