I am leaving today, this afternoon, in a couple hours. I sit here in a cafe, looking out the window of a second story building. As I sip on my double espresso, I am writing in my journal, reflecting on my trip, and feeling a deep sense of peace. There is a huge parade on the street below me. The waiter tells me that the reason for the parade is to celebrate an anniversary of something South American (I couldn't understand everything he was telling me in Spanish). Children march by in groups dressed sharply in their school uniforms. Toddlers holding [View Full Entry]

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If you are not framiliar with my sarcastic side... welcome. I was very tempted to skip the most famous attraction of all of South America, Machu Picchu, even before I left for my trip because of my serious distaste for touristy places. Despite my sceptism, everyone said I HAD to go. So even though it is the end of my trip, I am tired of tourism, tired of running here, running there, and tired of ignoring the inner need for peace and quite, I buy a ticket. I can’t miss an old pile of stones swarming with tourists. That would be [View Full Entry]

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I was not planning to go to Buenos Aires before I left for South America, but a friend of mine, Danielle, begged me to visit a friend of her´s that she had met on her South America adventure just a couple months ago. Her friend, Max, worked in the hostel in Buenos Aires (referred to as BA from here on out) and she was sure we would be great friends. 9:30 am Sat. morning, I arrived exhausted after an all night bus ride from Bahia Blanca. I walked up all the stairs of the Victorian building with my mochilas (backpacks) and [View Full Entry]

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Sorry for the lack of pictures again, the camera stopped working. The night of telemetry follies Estela, the boss, has gone to the city to help a friend whose mother has just passed away and I am alone in the field house. I am determined to do some telemetry while she is gone, so I gather the equipment, put on my field clothes, and find the old clunker of a bike in the garage. The bike mechanics I know would have fun with this one. The wind is blowing like crazy, but I really want to do something for Estela so [View Full Entry]

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Playa Hermoso, the ghost beach town is the southernmost beach resort in the Buenos Aires Province and only a 30 min. bus ride from Doerrgo. It looks like a bustling town in the summer, but in the fall there are only a few fisherman and lots of shells scattered on the beach. I walked up and down the beach soaking up the sun and admiring the iridescent colors of the oyster shells. I spent the day contemplating if I was going to go to this volunteer job or not, I am getting very frustrated waiting around for them. Still not quite [View Full Entry]

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Walking down the dusty road after the bus dropped me off on La Ruta, I started to wonder if looking for the field site without getting a hold of anyone was such a good idea. I had my huge backpack, 4 km to go, and didn´t even think to bring water. I was too concerned with trying to get off the bus at the right place to think about what would happen after I got off. I just tried to think of it as good exercise for my backpacking job this summer. It was just me and the countless armadillo roadkill [View Full Entry]

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Enjoy some pictures- my camera is coming to life again!! Not quite fully there, I always have to use a flash and have no other manual controls... but hey that’s better than nothing. HaHa- to all those who said it wouldn’t work again! Always keep faith! Arrived last night to Bahia Blanca, the biggest city I have been to thus far in South America. I walked around the bustling city until 10, checking out the stores, trying desperately to understand the Argentine accent... zscha, zscha, zscha. I have been told many times that I sound like a Mexicana. At 10 pm, [View Full Entry]

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After taking a bus from El Chalten back to El Calafate, I spent one more night in the 5 star hostel, Hostal De La Glacier (only $7 and it had heated floors!). The next afternoon, I took the bus to Rio Gallegos. I ran into the SF couple and met another couple from London at the bus station. We had some coffee at the local gas station and watched some fútbol (soccer) while we waited for the next bus to Puerto Madryn. Peurto Madryn is a great stop in the summer for beach activities and has a Peninsula filled with penguins, [View Full Entry]

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Easter Morning As the full moon continued to rise in the early morning of Easter, the light became more and more brilliant on the peak. The skies were clear and the stars were bright. Every hour or so when I turned to adjust myself in my down cocoon, I looked over to the glowing snowy peak and smiled. Something about moonshine on mountains just makes me smile. The mud on the ground was frozen and the puddles had iced over, but I was warm. Two beanies pulled down over my eyes, a turtle fur neck warmer pulled up to my nose, [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 I arrived to El Chalten and walked down the dusty road past the little A-frame alpine huts and found a great youth hostel called Rancho Grande. It was the largest hostel I had stayed at, but a great meeting place for travellers. The Fitzroy range includes some famous peaks such as the Cerro Torre and Fitzroy Peak itself and are supposedly some of the hardest peaks to climb. I arrived with a nasty sinus infection and so I decieded to stay in the hostel and just take day hikes instead of backpacking. The weather was amazingly clear (thank goodness, [View Full Entry]

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