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Published: March 6th 2006
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Estancia Sunset
This was the first night of the Overland Patagonia trip. I was a little late, but still got some amazing color. As you can see, this is the first entry in quite some time that is not post dated. That means that I intend to get up to date, and it should be fairly easy due to several long days of driving and one day of doing very little. Also, we have returned to your humble (but obviously not very faithful) narrator, Matt. We left off with us preparing to take what was an uneventful bus ride back to Chalten, with a great view of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre and once again stopping off to see the guanaco with both Jill and Sara taking the opportunity to have ¨you´re picture taken with a guanaco¨, but I didn´t charge anything. We arrived in one piece in El Calafate to see the beautiful blue of Lago Argentina. Once again it was Sunday, and once again we needed cash. This presents a bit of a problem in Argentina, as all the banks close on Friday and apparently put a minimum of cash into the ATM machines. By Sunday afternoon the ATM is either dry or will be soon. Our first try at the bank near the hostel was unsuccessful (empty), so we caught a
Lago Belgrano in Perito Moreno NP
The lakes in Patagonia were amazing, as this view in Perito Moreno shows. cab back to Aves del Lago where we had stored the bags. After our debacle of getting out of there, we were already a little upset at management, and after getting fleeced of 40 more pesos for luggage storage, are fully prepared to NOT recommend this hostel. Since our (i.e. Jill´s) arguing skills are not well honed in Spanish, we ate the cost and headed to our much improved hostel, America del Sur, without Jill as there was no room in the cab for her and her bag. While Jill scoured the city for peanut butter (failed again!), we checked in, and after a long wait, we finally have a bathroom in our room! Of course, we also had a roommate, but that is a price worth paying (though he probably didn´t think so once our ¨stuff¨took over the room). After walking back into town, finding an ATM (with money), and getting Jill, we all cleaned up and went to dinner at a good restaurant next door to our hostel. After a little straightening up, we went to sleep and I charged my iPod, which I believed to be broken, but apparently just acts funny on a low charge.
Guanacos
A close-up of a guanaco and baby in Perito Moreno National Park. The following morning we woke early to catch a four day ride to San Carlos de Bariloche, a resort town on the shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi, with Overland Patagonia. We were expecting them at 7:30, but they didn´t show until 8:30 as we we found out that the front desk did not give us a message left by Overland. Small tick against the America del Sur, but overall a very pleasant experience (for us, not our roommate, as we woke at 6 am). A short stop at the grocery and we were off, retracing our path to Chalten up Ruta 40 and continuing for several hundred miles of gravel road travel. The first day consisted of driving only, as we made our way to the Perito Moreno National Park. The place that we stayed was Estancia Melenik, which is a working sheep ranch. Our room was next to the shearing barn, but we were not affected in odor or cleanliness. Dinner was prepared by the crew of 8 travelers, Nick, Ilse, Metre (not sure about this Danish name, but she can email and correct if necessary or if she even see´s this), Andrea, John, and the three of us. I somehow ended up as head chef and was required for all taste testing for the pasta. Needs more garlic!
Perito Moreno National Park was next on the list of places to visit. With less than 1,000 visitors per year, it must be one of the least visited national parks in the world. That´s not to say that it isn´t worth visiting, but when the closest gas station is 300 miles away, I would figure there are not too many people in the area. The park was quite beautiful, with the obligatory turquoise lakes and tons of birds. If it has not been mentioned, Sara´s obsession has been bird watching (looking at animals, as usual!). She´s becoming quite good at it, with today´s (January 25 to February 27) species count at 64. It helped that our guide Roberto was well trained and that our co-guide, Eduardo, was a veterinarian (though he spoke only Spanish, so Sara couldn´t ask him any questions at SA vets). We had a nice lunch, then begin our long drive to Cueva de los Manos, or Cave of the Hands. An uneventful journey, arriving at 7pm but with a 9pm dinner time. The girls took showers while I jousted with a guanaco that refused to let me back into our room, threatening to spit on me. If you don´t know, their spit is quite nasty, similar to a skunk not so much in order but in level of stinkiness and longevity. Our late dinner was filling is not spectacular (and very overpriced), as we settled down to sleep in preparation for our trip to the cave.
An early start to the day and we were off at . . .9am? Sometimes things move a little slower here. We reached to cave and began a 45 minute hike across a canyon to get the visitor center. Apparently, we took the back way. The hike was well worth the work, however. The Cuerva de los Manos consists of hundreds of hand silouettes that are up to 9,800 years old. They are not sure of the purpose, but most of them are teenage size hands, so I reasoned that it was a passage into manhood (they think it is has to do with some sort of ritualistic or spiritual meaning). One person´s opinion, but seems reasonable. After a long hike back to the car, we had lunch, reached our first town of the first three days (Rio Mayo), and stayed at a hotel with nice hot showers and very cold rooms (at least for summer, as the high was in the low 50´s F). We had an excellent dinner at the hotel with lamb (actually sheep, but good sheep due to the roughness of the Patagonian range) while the vegetarians got a potato and egg dish. Quite filling.
The final day of the trip was quite uneventful, with the usual desolate Patagonian terrain replaced with a Coloradoesque landscape of pine trees. The weather, for now, was in the 70´s and we settled into our hostel, Alaska, which was provided by the tour. We gathered our by now quite ripe laundry, fixed some noodles for dinner, and headed to town for ice cream and a bus ticket to Pucon . . . or at least San Martin de los Andes, which made me quite nervous as I knew that tickets to Pucon might be difficult to come by. More to come in the near future!
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