Last Hikes in Patagonia and Chancho!!!

Claudio called our last day in the Torres del Paine National Park a Recovery Day. It included two hikes, one a couple of hours long and one an hour long on two trails. We were working on Plan B as the original choice of trail had washed out the prior month. The ever-present wind was our steady companion. We went to Lake Pehoe and climbed up to Condor Nest Hill.

 Lake Pehoe - from Condor Nest Hill

Another stunning view.

After the first hike, we stopped at Park Headquarters to see the model of the entire park. We were able to see where the glaciers, wild horse area and hikes we had taken to the base of the Torres del Paine were in the park in relation to EcoCamp and our routes into the park. In our five full days of park experience, we only barely dipped our toes into the entire park. How beautiful it was! 

 In park headquarters, a wall that listed some of the flora and fauna in Torres del Paine National Park.

 At the top of the hill on the last hike in Patagonia. 

That night after cleaning up, doing another yoga class in the dome and another marvelous dinner at EcoCamp, we adjourned to the larger dome with the bar and Claudio taught all who were willing a Chilean card game called Chancho. It was a riot. Here are the rules if you are interested but it might be something you had to be there to appreciate!

Rules for Chancho

To start:

Take a deck of cards and make a set of 4 (for example: 4 Queens, 4 Kings) for each person playing the game.

Shuffle the cards and deal out to each player.

Choose a dealer.

The dealer deals out the cards in rotation to each player and calls the action.

Possible calls:

·      Pass one to the right.

·      Pass two to the right.

·      Pass one to the left.

·      Pass two to the left.

·      All in.

When one person gets 4 of a kind, he or she calls “Chancho!!” and puts his or her hand in the middle. All others pile on.

The person with the hand on top i.e. the last person to notice that someone has yelled “Chancho!” loses. The person who called “Chancho!” takes a marker and puts the first letter of the word Chancho on the loser’s arm. The first person to have the entire word Chancho on his or her arm (or forehead if you are really daring!) loses the game. 

Signature Hike of the Trip - Torres del Paine

Today (Thursday December 7th) was the epic climb to the base of the Torres del Paine. This hike takes all day and is part of the "W" trail that people come from all over the world to climb. We were lucky that the weather was good and we only had to contend with the ever-present Patagonian wind. No bus ride to the trail head was necessary today as we simply left from EcoLodge after breakfast and walked down the hill past the backpackers center and further on past the hotel to the base of the trail. For the next 4 1/2 hours we trekked up and up to this gorgeous view on this glacial lake. The trail led us through the forest of pine trees until we crossed a wide open cut through the hills called the Wind Pass. Before going through Claudio told us if the wind came up strongly and we felt like we may be blown off our feet to squat down until the gusts subsided a bit. The trail wound its way up over boulders and looser rocks and crossed streams where we could drink without worrying about giardia. The last 15 minutes we clambered over boulders to reach the base. Having trekking poles helped a lot. When we reached the top we had climbed steadily for about 2500 feet. The reward was a stunning view of the three towers and the surrounding mountains where we were able to relax and eat our lunch.

Mate break for Alberto and Claudio

Honestly, the climb down was actually harder on the knees. Down and down we went being careful to place our boots on something stable, step after step. Total trip, including our break was 9 hours and 10 minutes from EcoLodge to the base and back. Slow and steady wins the race. We survived, Lou's trekking poles did not and ended the day bent and no longer useful.

Proof we didn't fake it.

Crossing the Wind Pass

The valley as we were heading down

There are others who do this hike of about 15 miles much more quickly but our guides set the pace and allowed us to enjoy the scenery and return to EcoCamp ready to hike the next day.

Extreme Mountain Biking as done by Lucky Neophytes

Day 3 of this multi-sport trip was Biking Day. Lou bikes a lot and I bike some so we thought this would be within our comfort zone but maybe a bit of a push because of the length of the ride and possibly some hills. Well, how we underestimated what this ride demanded! We survived but tempted the fates so many times we lost count.

Today we only needed to drive about 45 minutes to the starting point of the bike ride. As a whole group, we rode the first 2 km to the place where we could choose between a more challenging and less challenging ride. One ride was about 12 miles and the other was about 22 miles. In our experience, the 12 mile ride just seemed too short. On a bike, 22 miles isn't really that far. Claudio kept saying that the longer ride was more technical. He really didn't explain what that meant or check in with us about our experience on mountain bike rides. And, I think, he was being very polite with us and not direct about the challenges - maybe a cultural thing. I don't know, but I do know Lou and I should not have chosen to take the more challenging ride. Once we chose it, there was no turning back.

Over the next 5-6 hours, we rode, carried bikes over streams and logs, navigated narrow ditches, bounced over hundreds and hundreds of mounds made by tucu tucu's (Patagonian rats), road down vertical "paths" over multiple boulders and rocks, waded through mud and pushed the bikes up hills too steep to ride. Never having mountain biked, I learned the hard way about keeping my pedals level - or I would hit the side of the ditch and crash and keeping my butt back over my seat. Alberto stuck with Lou as Lou realized that skill and experience in road biking doesn't translate to very "technical" mountain bike riding. At one point, Alberto took a series of pictures as Lou went ass over teakettle. I wish I had them. At another point, Lou fell into a lovely bush called Mother-in-law's Pillow. It looks soft but is covered by little tiny prickers. I finally realized I couldn't stick with Lou and Alberto because if I stopped, I might have a hard time convincing myself to keep going. Slow and steady without a lot of overthinking seemed to be the best plan. After a few hours, I was riding solo trying to figure out where the trail was and focusing on circling Lake Azul to get to the white house at the lower end.

 Rutted trail

 He looks better than he feels

 Bar-be-que

Lake Azul

Astonishingly, we both made it to the end with only a few scrapes and bruises where we were treated to an amazing bar-be-que with meats, salads, vegetables and drinks. Those who chose the easier route had been there for hours but were supportive and forgiving of those who struggled to finish the more challenging route. This certainly pushed us to the limit.

Plan A, Plan B, Plan C

We truly felt we were at the end of the world. Both guides talked about how the people in this region feel apart from the rest of the continent. They don't really feel Chilean or Argentinian. They feel Patagonian. It is easy to see why. It takes hours and hours to get here, much effort to get around and the surrounding mountains, rivers, lakes and straits full of water really make you feel like you are cut off from the rest of the world.

The next five days involved glaciers, wild horses, hiking, and mountain biking with a vigilant eye on weather conditions.  By the end, we really felt we had only sampled what Patagonia had to offer. And it was amazing.

Our first day, we were up early to eat breakfast and prepare a packed lunch. By 7:15 AM we were on the bus for a two hour drive to Grey Lake. It was supposed to be a day for kayaking on the lake up to the massive glaciers at the head of the lake. On the bus, Claudio kept saying he was keeping an eye on the weather. It was even windier than usual and he was concerned that not only might we not be able to kayak, he was concerned that the boat we needed to take to the head of the lake to see the glaciers might not even depart because of the wind. He told us what was to become a mantra: We always have a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C - more if needed. As I stepped off the bus, the wind gusted and swirled sand in a mini vortex and completely filled my eyes with grit.  I headed off to the restroom and got the contacts out and put my glasses on. I was already on my personal Plan B. We got lucky. The boat was not cancelled. We hiked about a mile to where the boat was docked, piled on and then headed up the lake for about an hour. Conditions were rough and choppy and some of my fellow travelers were a bit seasick. We did finally get up to the glaciers but kayaking was definitely out of the question. Onto Plan B. The boat was able to go up toward these huge glaciers. My pictures do not even begin to do justice for the massiveness of this pieces of ice. Earlier in the week, the largest chunk of ice ever calved off the main glacier, Perito Moreno. There was nowhere to see this because it had broken off behind where we were.

 On Grey Lake with Perito Moreno on the left.

 Try to imagine the size. On the right it is about 150 feet. 

We spent about an hour going in and out the inlets and up to the glaciers with all of us taking pictures and video. 

We ended the day by driving to the Cascade Trail and hiking for a couple of hours. The views were stunning - a postcard view in every direction. As Claudio kept saying as the wind battered us around a bit, "This is typical Patagonia weather." 

Every night, we wound up back at EcoCamp in time for restorative yoga in the Yoga Dome. There is an actual yoga instructor who leads two classes every evening but we also had a fellow traveler Lynne on our tour who is a certified yoga instructor herself and led a private class one night. Lucky us. Three or 4 of our group took advantage of this offering daily and I really think it helped mitigate the effects of hours of hiking or biking. Each night we also got a briefing from the guides as we drank our complimentary drink of choice. Most nights I sipped a homemade Pisco Sour made from freshly squeezed juices. One of the highlights of the trip was the amazing food offered by EcoCamp. Every night we had a gourmet 3 course meal that was amazing. Our group was able to relax and share our stories with each other. It was a very diverse group by all measures with people coming from Atlanta, Seattle, Albuquerque, Tuscon, Denver and Martha's Vineyard from their 20's through Lou and me.

On Day Two a 45 minute bus ride took us out to the east side of Torres del Paine to hike and see the wild horses. A non-profit group called Patagonia Bagual leads tours through this area where the wild horses roam. It was late spring, almost summer and the horses had just foaled. This is a protected area and we all needed to sign into the park and get an orientation. Before we hiked we got to see a foal that our guides had rescued the prior trip. Apparently, the foal fell into a rocky creek and couldn't get out. Claudio and Alberto and a few others pulled the foal out. The main guide for Patagonia Bagual wasn't all that happy about the rescue because the foal is now being raised by the staff and can't be released back into the wild. His philosophy was to let nature take its course but I guess, in the moment, that was too hard for our nature-loving guides.

The rescued foal

We hiked for about 8 miles through meadows and up and over hills dotted with small groves of trees breaking at the mid-point to eat our packed lunch in the meadow. The weather was breezy but warm.  At one point we saw the herd of wild horses with new foals galloping over a distant hill. Victor, the main Patagonia Bagual person said there were 105 horses plus additional foals in the herd. The scenery surrounding us was amazing. We could see the Paine Range, the Andes, the Masiff. At various vantage points we saw eagles, guarnacos, cattle and innumerable wild flowers. As we departed the area we also met one of the gauchos with his herding dogs working the livestock. We were back to EcoCamp by 7:30 for yoga, winding down with a Pisco Sour and having another amazing dinner with our group.

Lunch in the meadow

Headquarters of Patagonia Bagual

This day ended with beer, coffee, chocolate, dried hibiscus and trail mix back at the hut that serves as their "office." The nibbles and drinks were great after the hike. As always, the guides are amazing promoters of Patagonia. 

On to the End of the World - Patagonia

After a very brief return to Buenos Aires, we headed to Punta Arenas, Chile and our multi-sport trip with REI in Patagonia. It is not possible to fly from Buenos Aires, Argentina directly to Punta Arenas. You must first fly through Santiago, go through customs and have a substantial layover. Ours was 6 hours - too short to go out into Santiago. It is necessary to get to the airport hours before any flight when you leave a country because it takes a long time to get through immigration. Then when you get to the next country you need to get your luggage and go through immigration in the new country. We left the Airbnb in Buenos Aires at 2:30 AM and made it to Punta Arenas at 7:00 PM that night - 16 1/2 hours later December 2nd. As we got closer to Patagonia, the view out the plane window was incredible!

We stayed one night at a B&B outside of Punta Arenas called La Casa Escondida run by a woman who is a high school teacher of English in Punta Arenas. We were the only guests that night and we were able to eat right there and not go into town. We sat by the fire in a large room made of logs and ate steak, fish, potatoes and salad. It felt like a hunting lodge. This is the beginning of summer here but it was chilly outside and much colder than Buenos Aires.

The next morning (December 3rd) we met with our REI guides Claudio and Alberto and ten other people who are on the Patagonia tour. We piled onto the small bus and began the 5 hours drive to EcoCamp in Torres del Paine where we would stay for the next week. On the way, we stopped in Puerto Natales to sign into the park register and also have lunch at a cafe that would have been very much at home in Portland or San Francisco. It was cute and hip and had great food and drinks. The waitstaff was young, had colorfully dyed hair and many tattoos. I guess there are hipster spots everywhere, even at the end of the world here in Chile. We were able to walk around town a bit with Claudio who lives here when he is not leading tours. We were given a hint about weather conditions in Patagonia when we saw a sculpture on the End of Hope Fjord. Wind is always a factor.

End of Hope Fjord, Puerto Natales, Chile

Claudio, the lead guide, spent the bus ride from Puerto Natales to Eco Camp where we would be staying for the duration of the tour, pointing out animals, talking about the mountains, and giving a bit of the history of the area. EcoCamp serves many people from around the world, traveling on their own, with a private guide or with another tour group  staying here. It is made of 33 geodesic domes, not surprising since the wind blows hard and often. It is fully sustainable and includes a Community Dome and Yoga Dome. Our little dome felt like a hobbit house where you had to duck down to get in the door.

The view in the morning was amazing.

It was really nice to be able to stay the entire tour in one place - one that served amazing food every meal. The dinners here were better than most restaurants - three courses, beautifully prepared including wine if you wished. 

Appetizer Salad our first night

For the next five days, we would explore some of what Patagonia offers - glaciers, hikes to craggy peaks and through meadows and crazy mountain biking. 

Iguacu Falls - Waterfalls on Steroids

When we were planning the scope and itinerary of this trip, we decided that a side trip to Iguacu Falls was something we needed to do. The falls are stupendous and straddle the borders of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. We consciously decided to stay in a very high end hotel on the Brasil side located inside the National Park. This meant that when the park closed at the end of the day, only the people staying at the hotel had access to the Brazilian side of the falls without the crowds. It also meant that we had to get a visa for entering Brazil as well as pay for the high end accommodations and food.

After flying to the airport on the Argentinian side, we took a taxi to the entrance of the National Park where the bus from the Hotel Belmond de las Cataratas picked us up and delivered us to a resort hotel that looked like something out of a period movie. The park was closing as we arrived so after getting settled, we walked down to the major falls on the Brazilian side. It was pretty spectacular.

 Front of the hotel

View from an arcade to some of the grounds

The word Iguacu means "big waters" in the Guarani language. Depending on the time of year, there are anywhere between 150 and 270 waterfalls with thousands of cubic feet of water pouring over the side per second. The spray from the cascade mists the air and depending on where the sun is, creates beautiful rainbows in the air above the chasm. The next day we hired a driver to bring us to the Argentine side so we could hike two trails - Upper Circuit and Lower Circuit and take the train to the Devil's Throat overlook.  

At the end of the day, we ate at the outdoor buffet barbecue at the hotel by the pool and relaxed on the grounds.

Since we had seen the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of the falls, the next day we decided to take a boat tour that brought you up the river to two of the actual falls. A tram takes you down to a path that leads to the dock where you board the boat. We were truly IN the rainforest (subtropical, semideciduous). Mosquito repellent was required. After getting down to the river, we all dressed in hooded plastic ponchos and flip flops and crammed into a long pontoon boat that seated about 40 people and headed up river. We headed into two falls and the guides maneuver the boat almost into the cascade and make sure everyone gets wet. It was very touristy but coming up close to the waterfalls is pretty impressive. I have a couple of GoPro videos but I guess they are just too big to upload to this blog. 

First Tango in Buenos Aires November 2017

It takes a very, very long time to get to Buenos Aires from San Francisco. I guess I really had not understood just how far away Argentina is. Now, I know.

Straight from the Thanksgiving table to SFO we started our journey on an 11:00 PM flight on Aeromexico via Mexico City where it was FREEZING in the airport for our 4 hour layover -  then, another 11 hours in the air -17 hours after we had started we arrived in Buenos Aires. It was now 10:00 PM Argentina time.  It still took a 45 minute taxi ride to get into the city to our Airbnb in the San Telmo part of Buenos Aires. But then we were smack in the heart of old Buenos Aires in an upstairs room with a beautiful bathroom and private deck across the street from the San Telmo Market with food vendors and small eateries. The apartment was off a courtyard full of planters of flowers and walls covered with ivy. Normally, I do not choose an Airbnb that is not fully private but this time, I made an exception and it really paid off. Our host, Carolina, became our concierge and made our stay so much richer.

Buenos Aires is a LARGE city and we only touched on some of what makes it unique. Our first day we hopped a bus and got off in the neighborhood of Recoleta where we walked through the famous Recoleta Cemetery. The large stone mausoleums and monuments are laid out like a small city with little "roads" crisscrossing acres of land. The tombs resembled Gothic chapels, Greek temples and grottoes. Eva Peron is buried there along with numerous generals, members of wealthy families and politicians.

 Eva Peron's grave

This one is for one of the presidents of the Buenos Aires Rowing Club. He looks pretty tired. He must have just finished a race. Ask my son. 

Lou on one of the "streets" of the cemetery. 

After the cemetery, we walked over to the Museo National de Bellas Artes for a look at a special exhibition on Joan Miro and then wandered the stalls of a Saturday feria or festival full of arts and crafts. Many, many of the booths were selling mate cups for the signature beverage of Argentina and Chile. It is a brewed leaf-based beverage and traditional drinkers carry the mate leaf, their cup and spoon along with a thermos of hot water to make and replenish their mate during the day.

At Carolina's recommendation, we went to see a tango show in a theater. The one she recommended, Piazzola Tango, is true to the spirit of tango and was a series of dances accompanied by a full orchestra and vocalists. Drama and passion! It was full of tourists but also seemed to attract a local following of true tango aficionados.

The next day was Sunday and in San Telmo that means a blocks and blocks long street fair with booth after booth of crafts, jewelry, textiles, mate cups from schlock to art. Food of all kinds was also available including the parrilla or barbeque which is a monument to meat - Argentinian meat. It is all grass-fed and range-free and always has been and is revered by all who aren't vegetarians.

A parrilla in an alley off the main street in San Telmo.

We hopped a bus to another very colorful neighborhood in Buenos Aires called La Boca. The buildings are all painted bright, primary colors and the street bustles with buskers, con artists, tango dancers, sidewalk restaurants and hawkers. There are many lifesized figures on balconies, in stores and store entries and in alleys throughout the district. 

Which is real? Which is fake?

There is another small but interesting museum in this district called PROA with a wonderful cafe on the second floor overlooking the harbor. We ate there today but returned on our last day in Buenos Aires at the end of the trip for an exhibition of Ai Wei Wei. More on that later. 

For a very traditional parrilla that caters to locals and tourists alike, we headed to El Desnivel. It's more than just a restaurant. The setting is utilitarian with lots of older harried waiters running around trying to take orders. On Carolina's recommendation, we ordered one entree for the two of us. She was right, the portions are enormous, especially since both Lou and I don't really eat much meat. The waiter didn't speak much English so we had to use what Spanish we had. Our first choice was nixed by the waiter telling us in Spanish that the kitchen was so busy we wouldn't get it until tomorrow. Our second choice of tenderloin with mushrooms was approved. We then ordered a salad, also approved. Our final choice of grilled provolone was nixed - bad choice, I guess. No explanation. We ordered another version which was approved but then we never got it. We sat next to two older men who looked to be regulars. They were deaf and communicated with sign language. After a while, we started communicating because the same waiter served them and was either telling them what they could have or bringing the wrong item. The more talkative gentleman thought I was Brazilian (!) and then was very approving when I told him I had been a special education teacher. 

After the meal, we walked up the street to the Plaza Dorrego to watch the outdoor malonga. Fascinating. People from all walks of life, locals and tourists alike come to the plaza with their tango shoes, change into them and stand at the edge as a sign of availability. Pairs of people come together and they dance the tango or folkloric dances which are more like line dances. There is a DJ and probably were about 150 people there the first night we walked down and watched. We were not brave enough to jump in and try. These folks know what they are doing and it was just too intimidating.

There is this amazing theater in Buenos Aires called Teatro Colon. It is huge, full of marble and gilt, columns and staircases. This is the theater international opera stars and orchestras come to when in Argentina. We took a tour to get a sense of its history and grandeur.

Our next stop was another of Buenos Aires' wonderful museums, the MALBA which is the Museum of Latin American Art in the Palermo section of Buenos Aires. The artists included Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera but also other artists I didn't know including El Corcito, Miguel Covarrubias and Maria Izquierdo. Some pieces were symbolic and revolutionary in subject matter. Others were modern or used mixed media or were photos. We ate in a modern cafe in the museum surrounded by museum goers and professionals from the surrounding area.

We headed back to our home base in San Telmo and when we were ready, walked to a restaurant called El Refugio for dinner. The food was delicious and included pasta and vegetables. The portions were large so we were able to share courses.

At the end of three days in Buenos Aires, we are off for a few days in Iguazu Falls before coming back to Buenos Aires for a couple of days before heading to Patagonia for our trip with REI.