TrevandLiz

After 88 long-distance buses, we decided to enjoy Chile's coastal cordillera by boat. The Navimag is an industrial ferry carting cars and livestock beneath the deck, so it´s more a freight ferry than a cruise ship. But it´s also equipped with beds and a bar for a beautiful ride through the channel from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt full of sights unseen from the roads. We decided it would be a great way to continue our Patagonia exploration and also recover after hiking 90 miles in 7 days through Torres del Paine. We boarded the boat with 200 other people from around the world and met fantastic new friends from Tasmania, Spain, Germany and other exotic places like... Wisconsin. Instead of the 22-room hostel we had pictured, our on-board sleeping quarters were divided into four-bunk cubbies ... read more

After a late arrival in El Calafate (2am) and no plans we set up camp in a B&B´s backyard. We ended up there for three nights with a bunch of other folks from around the world. We got up late and used the day to do our errands and check out the town, which is very touristy. We spent that evening hanging out with a big group from around the world in the backyard. First we jammed and sang some crunchy tunes, passed the Mate around and then spent the rest of the night defending the U.S. against a handful of Colombians, Brazilians, and Italians. We had enough restraint not to tell them our new favorite line from Liz´s dad...."They are always there when they need us." We will be sending the state department a bill ... read more

Welcome to our first guest blog ever! Mitch is a professional, so please don´t expect writing like this to continue in the future when we return to blogging. We had so much fun with my Mom and Mitch for two weeks. They brought us the much-needed love and cheer that comes with Christmas. But I will let Mitch tell you all about it... LETTER FROM ARGENTINA By Mitchell Schechter For us, Argentina is a place where it grows late early. Part of that is the time difference, which was 3 hours ahead of NY and 5 in advance of CO throughout much of our stay. More is due to the late-night lifestyle, with big city and small town restaurants alike having waiting lists at midnight and dance clubs opening after 2 in the morning. So, yes, ... read more

Well, maybe a few butts... We discovered Sir Mixalot´s inspiration at Mar del Plata - and it wasn´t pretty. The thong is all the rage in the beach town south of Buenos Aires, so butts abound. And beach etiquette makes for full back views. Instead of getting their bronze on sprawled across towels, Argentines stand in small groups chatting with their feet in the chilly Pacific with their backsides facing the crowd. Our friends, Tristen and James, were nice enough to invite us to their timeshare in Mar del Plata. The Andersons also left their jobs in their home state of Cali and are traveling around the world for a year. That´s right, around the world! They´re adventurous, generous and fun, fun, fun. They´re also extreme - we met them on an Extreme canopy tour through ... read more

We took a quick jaunt to Uruguay to see what some call the ¨Miami of South America¨. The south beaches that we saw are cool and breezy, the mall is the place to be, and the people are addicted to matte. There was actually nothing gay about it if you don´t count the guy crooning in fish-nets and heels on the streets of Montevideo, so we finally stopped the silliness and pronounced the country´s name correctly. We traveled in style on our usual double-decker bus so we had a great view of the houses from around the world on the way. The neighborhoods outside Punta del Este include Mexican (adobe with red trim), Alpine (my sister, Lauren´s favorite A-frame), Dutch (complete with windmill) and even English (thatched roof cottages). We knew this was a bit glitzier ... read more