Adventures in the Southland

• Ingviaje's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Ushuaia

Trip Start Jul 28, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 14, 2007

  Ushuaia, Argentina
Saturday, December 8, 2007

I made it to the end of the world!  This city is claimed to be located the most South of any other.
This is a quick, quick update from my last trip in Argentina.  I am traveling around Patagaonia, the southern province, with two friends, Pat and Shelley.  So far, it has been cold and windy.  There has been lots of hiking and camping....thank God!  I forgot how much I missed mountains and trees and lakes and rivers and birds and clouds. 
We have seen some really amazing things down here, and I am afraid they can only be described in superlatives.  For example, the most rugged landscape you can imagine, the freshest stream water (yep, drank right from the stream....best thirst quencher ever!), the brightest sunrises and the most colorful wildflowers...
I have seen HUGE glaciers too!  They are incredibly blue and brilliant white, and when they calve (thatīs when big chunks fall off) it sounds like thunder.  Also, they create unbelievable gorgeous lakes, the most cristalline blue I have ever seen.
Okay, I have two minutes left on this computer, so I just have time to say:
Love you all, see you soon, pictures to come later....
I love it here and I am sad I have so little time to explore!  A more thorough update to come later, probably when I am back home and have a little breathing time to relax and actually give a thoughtful description of Godīs natural beauty I have seen here.
Thinking of you all, and looking forward to Christmas!   Besos y abrazos!


**************************************


Okay, so I have a little bit of time now to update this last entry.  For your information, I am currently in a hostel in Buenos Aires, and my flight takes off tonight!  Back to home I go!
If anyone is still interested, the following account is a general outline of my journey for the past  two weeks.  If you are not interested, feel free to skip this part and ask me about it when I am back on US soil.

We flew on a 6 AM flight to Ushuaia (where the dot on the map is).  That means we had to be at the airport at 4, and we had to leave with our stuff ready at 3.  Of course, we being the brilliant minds that we are, it was decided that it made more sense to not sleep at all.  So, that night a huge group of us hung out at a bar and chatted and said goodbyes until we ran back to the residencia, hauled our packs into a cab and jetted off!  The view from the plane at the end of the trip was incredible....think black rocky mountains, intensely cold snow, and the blue ocean as a horizon. 
We hitched a ride from the airport to a trailhead and started hiking right away.  We trekked on a trail called Paseo de la Oveja (Pass of the sheep).  Pat had a trekking guidebook, which is where we got the idea to do this. It said to take three days to complete it, but we did it in two!  The second day was ridiculous. very very long.  The trail was wonderful, though, and it followed a stream through a valley, and then took us over a snowy pass and along a rocky ridgeline. On our hike we met and spent some time with a lone hiker named Stephan from Holland, and a couple from Australia.
    We then headed back to town where we met up with two friends from the program, Nikki and Deya.  This day was not so fun.  We were tired, it was cold, the weather was unpredictable, and we had to find a bus to take us to the next place and a hostel for that night and we were just having all kinds of problems.  Luckily, we got it all sorted out and had time for a huge pasta dinner and a crisp walk before hitting the hay.
    Then, on a us to Punta Arenas!  (This is in Chile, by the way...one more stamp in the passport!)  There, we got to see a penguin colony.  I canīt even describe my excitement. They are SO cool.  They walk from their little dens in the sand dunes to the water (excuse me, they waddle) and they swim like bullet trains.  At the hostel there, we met two guys, Jordan and Ralph, who we would coincidentally see several times along our trip.  Itīs funny to travel via backpacking, everyone doing it is seeing the same things and using the same buses and camp sites...
    Then we went to Puerto Natales, the jumping off point for our next trek.  We went to Torres del Paine National Park!  Itīs really famous around this area, and itīs all anyone talks about.  We followed a trail called the ĻWĻ which is named that for the shape of the trail.  It was a four day excursion, and I loved every minute of it!  We had to carry our tent and sleeping bags and pads and clothes and food with us, adding a little extra challenge to some already pretty tough hikes.  Mom and dad, you always were worried about our high school backpacks being too heavy.... now I laugh and say.... it was just training!!   Anyways, on this trail we got to see two fantastic glaciers, several enormous mountain peaks, lots of green valleys, soaring condors (HUGE birds that Argentina is famous for), and of course, the torres (towers) which are unbelievable rock formations that shoot straight up in the air.  The only problem is that becuase they are so high, they are frequently shrouded by clouds, and we never got a full glimpse of them all together.  This is really common.  Nevertheless, they still made my jaw drop in awe.
     After that, we went to El Chalten to see the FITZ ROY!  Such an epic name for an epic rock formation.  Itīs the tallest peak in the area, and is not part of the Andes, but is itīs own free standing tower, accompanied by some fierce looking neighbors.  Again, these peaks are really cloudy very often, and our day hike to the lookout was uneventful, albeit cold.  It started snowing lightly.  Luckily for us, on the bus ride out of town, the clouds cleared and we got to see the full Chalten range in clear view.  Completely incredible!  I still smile to myself when I think about it.
    Unfortunately, this is where we had to split up.  Pat had a few extra days and he met some rock climbers to hang out with.  So, Shelley and I hitch-hiked our way to Puerto Madryn so we could take a bus from there to Buenos Aires.  We got two rides that took us there, both from big semi-trucks.  The drivers were talkative and friendly, and very curious about living in the U.S.  It took us about two days to get where we were headed (can I just say?  Argentina is huge huge huge).  We camped the night by the bay, and spent the day relaxing on the beach.  It was a strange transition to go from harsh winds and rocks to sunshine and sand.  And stranger yet to imagine heading home to winter again! 
      Alright.  Well, now you are all caught up!  There are no more adventures for me to describe (well, hopefully nothing happens at the airport).  I am coming home as both a different person and in some ways as the same old me.  Canīt wait to see you all and see how your lives have progressed in the past few months.  Better start reviewing now, and expect a pop quiz from me when I return!  Ha ha ha!
Much love to you all, and see you soon!

***************************************

One last thing!  For those of you who are interested, I created an online photo album.  You can see more than just the handful of photos I have included along with this blog.  It's a collection from the entire trip (that is, from the whole five months abroad).  Follow this link:
http://ingridtravels.myphotoalbum.com/
Enjoy!

Ushuaia hotels Slideshow Share

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

beagle canal	paseo de la oveja	pinguino! (penguin!)	on the trail
sunlight highlights	a guanaco	the fitz roy	glacier perito moreno

Previous Entry