Blogs from Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina, South America - page 9

Day 666 (24.01.09) With our early start we arose at 4.15 and were out of the hostel soon after. As it was sooooo early we were fully expecting to come out into the pitch black, cold and windy night only to be treated to the startings of a vivid sunrise on the horizon - superb. Only managing to stay awake for the first part of the journey, which was stunning in the early morning light, we both drifted off to sleep only to be woken as we arrived at the ferry across to mainland south america once more. As we waited a few of the black and white commerson's dolphins swam around the boat and as we boarded these were joined by many more playing in the backwash of the ferry's propellers. After another truly amazing ... read more

The bus ride from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn was very easy. The sleeper busses here are very comfortable and the most leave late night to get to their destination during the day. I have met so many great people traveling. I probably will not keep in touch with most, but for those one or two nights you hang out together, you feel very close. It´s weird. People come and people go. Everyone from so many different places are here to do the same thing. My hostel is very nice. I met Natalie here in the hostel. She is from Germany and has been traveling for a long time already throught the world. The two of us decided to book a tour of Punto Tombu for the following day. The hostel helped to set up the ... read more

After arriving into Buenos Aires on 18th already on 21st of December we were on the road again. This time from BA to Puerto Madryn (that initially wasn’t even on our plans) because Buenos Aires at that time was having a heath wave & walking in the city wasn’t too much of fun. Although we did go to Recoleta, San Telmo and Caminito (where we’ve had a chance to watch quite a few Tango dancers) Great surprise on our last day in BA - while walking in San Telmo we’ve bumped into Katina and Frazer - two people who were on the Inca trail with us - what a small world… In Puerto Madryn we went on a tour around the Peninsula Valdes . Where we have managed to see quite a few local inhabitants - ... read more

Verrek, tis Kerst. Tja, dat zouden we bijna vergeten aangezien we hier in bikini op het strand liggen te bakken. Is het bij jullie ook zo´n mooi weer? Niet? Oh, vriest het, tjonge. Vervelend zeg. Maar ja, jullie hebben weer het Kerstgevoel dat wij moeten ontberen. Lief N., creatief als ze is, heeft bij wijze van verrassing voor mij gezorgd voor een ieniemieniekerstboompje, stijl Belgisch (met veel kleurtjes) inclusief gekleurde knipperlampjes, omdat ze weet dat ik daarvan hou. De slingers die ik voor haar verjaardag had gekocht dienen als versiering voor de rest van de hotelkamer. Een kerststal laten we dit jaar maar even voor wat ´ie is, dit zijn al glitters genoeg. Tja, wat kan ik jullie vertellen over onze Kerst? Lang uitgeslapen en vervolgens zeer uitgebreid ontbeten. Dit aangezien we de avond ervoor, Kerstavond ... read more

I should have learnt by now to always trust my guts, and my gusts were telling me, "Don't do it." And instead I went for it, I joined my room mate on a scuba diving trip because it was too late to buy a tour, too windy to rent a kayak or a bike and with today being Sunday there was nothing to do in town. When I boarded the boat I began to feel scared and I knew I was making a mistake. But I had already paid quite a bit of money for the trip and I guess I would have felt a little disappointed with myself if I had gotten that far and then chickened out. Climbing down was unlpleasant but not overly scary and neither was swimming around in the deep water. ... read more

Looking back at the beginning of our planning of this crazy adventure, Kati told Mark she had three goals of things she wanted to see in Patagonia - whales, penguins and glaciers. In the first week of December, we accomplished all three. We are on a 30-day dash through southern Patagonia - classic backpacking style - before we stop in Bariloche for the month of January. This means lots of one-night stays, transportation of every variety, packing and re-packing our trusty and hated mochilas, and always planning, booking, calling, reserving, haggling our way from hostel to campground or hospedaje; gambling on the bed (bunk or regular, 2 or 4 or 6), the shower, the kitchen. It is for the youth, not these old fogeys. If we play our cards right, only about two months of our ... read more