Puerto Piramides

Hola Chicos! I'm sorry I've neglected you for so long, but I promise this post will be worth the wait!

We drove up Peninsula Valdes into a small town called Puerto Piramides on Monday, I think. The drive was quick and we had to pay to enter the national park. This park was HUGE, and it felt like we were in desert. We made it to the penguin reserve and watched the penguins waddle, nap, swim, and poop. They were so cute and they were not scared of humans at all. There were many baby penguins shedding their baby fur and feeding with their mothers.

We decided to stay in Piramides for 2 nights. I guess this is a big deal there because there are about 300 people who live there, and the center of town consists of about 5 restaurants all located on the same block.

The next morning we woke up bright and early so that we might be able to spot some orcas. We drove towards Puento Norte where all the sea lions were, and where the orca whales go to feed on the seals. The drive took about 1.5 hours, and we were greeted with so many animals early in the morning. I wanted to practice my stick shift abilities, so I drove the whole day, and I felt as though we were in the middle of the Australian outback. There were only dirt or gravel roads, and dry landscape all around us. We saw llamas, emus, sheep, horses, foxes, armadillos, and even drove right up next to a jack rabbit as it ran it's fastest for about 10 seconds. We found out that jack rabbits can run up to 60kph. Mike had his fancy camera and we were definitely wildlife photographers for a day.

Later that night we went left the town and went onto a dirt road to see the stars. I've never seen the stars so bright in my life. I saw the milky way at it's milkiest, and a crystal clear blue comet. It was amazing. Mike took a bunch of photos of the stars.

Here are some photos from the day:

Llama sighting! We were so excited when we saw our first batch of Llamas, we stopped the car, ran out towards them and took pictures. Little did we know that they would be EVERYWHERE.



PENGUINOS!!!!!











Azure and a very friendly armadillo



Pretty sign


A herd of baby emus have blocked our path. They started out running away from us very quickly, then eventually slowed down, and then many minutes later, figured out that they had to get off the path in order to get away from us. They weren't the brightest of all the animals we met that day:





MONEY SHOT!!!!!
ORCA ATTACKS SEA LIONS!!!!!!



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Ha ha, just kidding, that was a picture of a picture. (don't worry I had permission to take that photo)

This is what we could have seen had we been at the beach we were at in March or April. Bummer.

Puerto Madryn

We made it into Puerto Madryn a couple of days ago, and have been walking around town, going to the art fairs, and sitting next to the beach eating fried foods and drinking beers. This town reminds me a lot of the beach towns in Los Angeles. It´s a completely different scene here.

We arrived early in the morning, greasy and dirty from the overnight bus. There was poor ventilation on the bus, and I told Azure and Mike when we got of the bus, that I felt really gross. Az responded with ¨Why? Is it because you´re covered in other people´s sweat?¨ I found that really funny and completely accurate. Everything was closed and the town had an eerie feel to it since no one was up and around. We had a hard time finding a vacant room, so Az and I stayed at a cafe while Mike walked around town. I started to panic a little because I was so tired and so dirty, and I really just wanted to sleep. Luckily, Mike came back with the thumbs up, hooked us up with a clean hostel, we passed out for a few hours, then showered and went out to check out the town. It was a completely different scene than when we had left it. Tons of people were out on the beach, music was playing everywhere, cars where driving along the boardwalk, people were walking on the boardwalk, restaurants were open and serving food. I liked it a lot more the second time around.

Today we are renting a car, and going to drive up north to see the penguins and orca whales. I´ve seen a lot of pictures of the whales coming up on shore attacking seals. I think it would be really kewl to see an attack like that, but at the same time it might make me want to throw up. Who knows. I´ll definitely have my camera out in case anything like that happens.

Fun for all

Mike and I bought bracelets at the art fair:


Food pieces for Azure:


Magestic Mountains


Heart of Plum


Caught in the act





Of buying Helado


Group swim in FREEZING water


skipping rocks


House of deception


Inside house of deception


Road we drove on/learned stick shift


Why do bees suddenly appear.....(music note, music note)


EL FRIO

I am a Latin Sta( j )ion

Aw man, guess who´s super sore from the hike? Yup. I can hardly walk, I wobble around and there are many little hills in this little town.

Tonight we leave for Porte Madryn. It will be a 16 hour bus ride towards the east coast of Argentina. I´m not sure what it will be like at all, and am looking forward towards the unknown, yet sad about leaving Bariloche because I love it so much.

Last night we had a BBQ on the balcony of the Hostel. Juanny Depp BBQ´d Chorizos and we had Choripan. It was delicious. I´m trying to not eat meat right now, but I couldn´t resist, so now I am going to try to go 3 days at a time, have a little bite of meat, and then go another 3 days or so. It´s difficult to do this in a country that considers vegetarianism as someone who doesn´t eat beef.

I´ve also noticed that this country is obsessed with Jamon. They will put Jamon into anything and everything. On the bus they serve Jamon and Queso sandwiches, then have a slice of Jamon on the side with queso, and then have jamon in the rice, and then have jamon in the salad. There are billboards advertising thick slabs of jamon, and at restaurants they will serve appetizers with the choice of seven different kinds of jamon. They put jamon into raviolis, sauces, pizzas, and probably chocolate. I actually haven´t seen that, but I wouldn´t be surprised.

We´ve had a lot of down time here, just lounging and hanging out, going swimming in the lake, going shopping, and eating. It´s been a vacation from our vacation. I´ve purchased some lama leg warmers (YES!) and am very excited to sport them back in SF when the weather is cold, or maybe even in Tahoe.

The title on this blog is a tribute to our hostel host Juanny Depp. He says many funny things, and once described himself as a Latin Stajion, I guess he meant to say Stallion, but in Argentina, they pronounce ¨ll¨ as ¨j¨

OH MY GAD

OH MY GAD.....I heart heart heart heart heart to infinity Hostel 1004. It is the best hostel in the universe. Really. It is. The views are amazing, the whole environment is calming, the people staying here are social and intelligent and interesting and fun, it´s clean, has a huge kitchen, and is just great great great great great.

Last night our hostel hosts organized a "full moon splash." Juan, who I also call Juanny Depp, because he looks kind of like Johnny Depp, told us about the event during dinner. As soon as the sun set, which is around 10:30-11pm, we were to head down to the lake, and go for a swim. Sounds good to me! About 20 of us headed down to the lake, and another hostel host, told us that in Bariloche, it is tradition to swim with your friends on the full moon. On the count of three, we all rushed into the water, expecting it to be freezing, but it really wasn´t that bad at all. The night was warm, the full moon out, and everyone was super giddy from the experience. The same night I met Rhonda, a girl from Australia who is taking 3 months off to travel before starting her job as an Environmental Engineer, and Katy, a girl from Portland, who just finished 2 years in Americorps and decided to take time off to travel through Argentina for 3 months as well. Katy was heading up to a Refugio the next day up in Cerro Catedral, and we decided to tag along for 1 of her 3day hike.

The next day we met up at 10am. Dressed in a tshirt and shorts, I was expecting a 3 hour hike from the base of the mountain, and 3 hours back. Should be hot right? I guess I should ask for more information next time, or just pack a sweatshirt since I was carrying a backpack. We caught a bus up to Cerro Catedral, also a ski resort, and were informed that we had to take the ski lift up to the top of the mountain, then start the 3 hour hike to the Refugio. Ok. We bought our tickets, and headed up the mountain. I was enjoying the view and was getting really excited about not having to hike up all this mountain, until I started to realize that we had to take another ski lift to the very top of the mountain. It was then that I started to notice the weather changing a little, the wind started to get colder, vegetation siezed to grow at one point, and rain clouds started forming. Hm. Then I started to get really really cold and noticed that children were yelling "frio! frio!"

We made it to the top of the mountain, I tried to find a sweatshirt shop, there weren´t any, and Rhonda and I decided that we wouldn´t be able to make the hike. Luckily we met some people who were also backpacking and heading in the direction of the Refugio, so Katy parted ways and left with them. Rhonda and I decided to head straight down the mountain. This was also after we decided to go into the lodge and stuff ourselves with potatoes. I had to store up for the cold weather. We rushed down the mountain, the trail was never-ending and 4 hours later we made it to the base of the mountain. Good thing I´m not stubborn, or else I would probably still be up there right now, in pain, in the cold, and dirty. But I´m not, I´m at the internet cafe, all showered and fresh, and about to go make dinner and drink some beers. WOOT!

So guess what...

our little cabin turned out to be 100 US Dollars, not pesos, and cost us a lot more than we thought it was going to. Azure was really upset, and did a lot of the talking to the man who we spoke to yesterday about the prices. A lot of what was going on was lost in translation to me, and i started to realize how much we, as humans, are affected by words. Since I couldn´t really understand what he was saying, the whole thing didn´t really offend me much, except for the fact that he really should have clarified that it was in US Dollars. It was really deceiving, and i felt really bad, because part of it was my fault, I should have clarified it 100%, but at the same time, we continued to say, really?!!! 100?!!!! 100, really? It seems at that point, if I were him, I would say, well it´s in US dollars you know. No one really quotes in US dollars here, and it was odd that he did. I had a gut feeling that it was too good to be true, and it was. It was a really stupid mistake, and seems so obvious when you look back on it, but when you´re in the moment, things can get carried away. It was a hard lesson to learn, but in the scheme of all things, it could have been worse.

We are back in Bariloche at a great hostel on the 10th floor of a building. Our room has a view of the lake, and costs 120 Pesos, (don´t worry, we were sure to clear that up before we paid anything) We are going to stay at this hostel for 3 nights, which will be a huge luxury, since we have been staying in a different place since we got into Bariloche, and I am looking forward to sleeping in and not having to worry about where I am going to sleep at night.

It´s been over a month since I have been living out of my backpack, and it feels great. Neccessaties have become accessories, I have cleansed myself of a lot of junk, but I am definitely aquiring a few more pieces here and there. It´s nice to be able to live as simply as we do, wear the same outfits, get dirty, take a shower and feel like a new person, or have a nice bed to sleep on. These are all things that I have taken for granted in the U.S. and have a new view on now that I have been hopping from place to place almost every night. Shelter in general is always great, a nice welcome and hospitable people are always icing on the cake.

I love Argentina!

We just found a small cabin home for 100 pesos that includes a kitchen, small bath, small living room and loft beds. They even included a small boombox and had it tuned to a station that has only played the Eurythmics. YES! Our little car is covered with dust, inside and out, and parked next to our little home and we have settled ourselves for the night. Beets are cooking on the stove and I am watching a small black lab play with a ball in the grassy field from the living room window. Trees and mountains are all I see beyond the samll cabins that surround us.

We drove up north from Bariloche around the seven lakes, and ended up in a small town called Villa La Angostura. I learned how to drive stick shift and drove for about an hour on dirt and paved roads, and drove all the way up to fifth gear! Now I can drive with Rob on long distance trips, and feel kind of embarrassed that I didn´t learn sooner. I guess it´s a little different in San Francisco, we tried once, but I panicked with all the hills.

There was a time today where we were running low on gas and had to coast as often as we could, but we finally made it to the gas station. Our whole trip took about 5 hours of driving, and reminded me a lot of the peninsula in Washington state. We drove through canyons, around mountains and lakes, on dirt and paved roads, stopping once in awhile to absorb the view, take pictures, and see the small towns.

We are planning to head back to Bariloche tomorrow since we have reservations at Hostel 1004, but might come back to this magical land.

El Bolson was cool, but it was really small and there wasn´t a lot to do. We went to the fair, had some waffles, and I bought marketry art. However, we did meet Nadia, a girl who is from L.A. who went to law school, passed the bar exam and then decided to take a year off to travel. She is traveling by herself, so we invited her to come along with us back into Bariloche. We stopped by a lake and I went swimming, Azure went in waist deep, and Mike skipped rocks. The water was really really really cold, but my body adapted and it was really refreshing. Nadia stayed with us one night, and then we parted ways this morning, but we will see her once we´re back in Bariloche.

Argentina has been very good to me so far. She is caring, beautiful, and unique. I love her so much right now.

Bariloche

We made it into Bariloche after a 21 hour bus ride. I think that is the max for me right now. I really don´t know how I´m going to handle a 40 hour bus ride back from Rio De Janeiro to Buenos Aires in February, but I guess I´ll have to deal with it when the time comes.

Bariloche is awesome. It is a small town in the Andes surrounded by lakes and trees. It really reminds me a lot of Lake Tahoe or the Pacific Northwest. The water is crystal clear, and pretty cold. The weather is a little cooler, the people a little nicer, and the pace a little slower. We stayed in Bariloche last night, then decided to rent a car and head south to El Bolson. The drive was spectacular, the Andes always in the background, evergreen trees all around, and small rivers right below the two lane freeway. Apparently there are no mosquitoes here, but those insects have been replaced with flesh eating bees. We think we encountered some today, but did not allow them to eat our flesh, so maybe they were just innocent flies. I´m not gonna try to find out.

We stopped by a river in the middle of the drive and had a picnic with salads, fruits and nuts and ate on a rock. An hour later, we arrived in El Bolson, a really, really small town. There are a lot of backpackers here who are probably going to camp and climb up the mountains. Tomorrow we are going to go to the craft fair and then to the local lake to see if swimming will be possible, then maybe wine tasting.

@ home base

I am so spoiled in Buenos Aires. We are staying with Mike's cousins Tom and Maya, who are kind enough to let me stay with them as well. Their place is really nice, and they always give the best recommendations for food. I trust them 100% with their food choices.

The first day we came back, Tom, Maya, and Talya (she is the youngest of their 4 girls who is still in school and living in B.A.) took us out to lunch for some great chicken, pork, and beef skewers. We had great conversation, sat outside, and took our time eating lunch.

Yesterday we went out to a great breakfast at 1861 that consisted of 2 slices of toast, 2 croissants, cream cheese and jelly, fresh squeezed o.j., and a cafe con leche. All for 8.60 pesos which converts to $2.86!!!!! Mike decided to part ways to check out a different cemetery, while Az and I headed over to the National History Museum. The day was really hot and humid and after a long trek over, we were greeted with a sign that said closed for renovation. We decided to go check out the Modern Museum of Art that was a few blocks away, and were greeted with huge viking-like closed wooden doors. We rang the bell, and a man with no shirt answered and said the museum was closed for renovation. This has been occurring a lot here. We have experienced this a lot with restaurants that will be closed for the holiday until mid January. With an hour left until we were supposed to meet Mike, we decided go to an internet cafe. It was so hot in there that I was dripping with sweat. We met up with Mike at the restaurant and had a really good lunch, smoked salmon salad with brie, and fettuccine fungi.

Afterwards we went back to Tom and Maya's, had a siesta, then went out to a pub called Bangalore for Indian food and beers. The air felt really humid and it looked as though a storm was going to start. The sky started lighting up with lightning, it was an electrical storm so there was no thunder. It was really amazing. When we were in the cab on the way home, it started to rain hard, and when we got back to the apartment we sat out on the balcony and watched the crazy light show. It was really incredible. I've never seen an electrical storm before and found it completely mesmerizing. Mike had his fancy camera out, so we took turns trying to capture the storm, it's a lot more difficult than it seems.

Tonight we leave for Bariloche by bus. It's going to be a 20 hour bus ride. I thought that it was the place you go to for wineries, but apparently it's a place the place you go to for chocolate! I guess there are a lot of chocolate factories down there. Fine by me! We are going to stay in Bariloche for however long we want, then head over to Porte Madryn where all the penguins are. I'm excited to see lakes, go swimming, and feel the cooler climate.

Argentinian Side of Iguazu

The next day we decided to go to the Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls on our own. It was sunny the whole day, we walked through all the trails, and went to the island for a little swim and hike, saw some animals that were cousins to the racoon, then made it back to our hostel for Parilla (Argentinian BBQ), free Caipirinhas, and a Brazilian show.

We are excited that our cameras work the next day:




Views of the falls:




Swimming near the falls:




Right up next to such force:



Back at the hostel:


I am strong, Azure just bit her lip:


Singles scene:

Brazilian Adventure Pics

Here are some pics of our Brazilian Adventure. Both of our cameras died in the beginning of the expedition due to the downpour. We salvaged what we could. Fortunately, we took our batteries out of our cameras, left them to dry overnight, and they worked again the next day.


Azure posted this, and I am using the same post since we only had a few pictures:

We set out on our full-day Brazilian adventure on a very nice path.


No biking today, the weather is too bad? Ride or walk? The group decides to walk half-way before being picked up.

We set out on the 4.5km walk through the jungle.

Why are you doing this to me?

A little rain makes Autsy happy.


Lots of rain makes Mike pee. Our camera dies immediately after this photo. Good thing Autsy's still works.

You want us to ride now?

Finally, shelter! We can wring out our clothes...the driest we will be all day.

Everyone is wet.

There's food on that boat?

Huddled like penguins- for 60 minutes on the boat. Communication is cut off when Autsy's camera dies immediately after this photo was taken.


Another 4.5 hours without dry clothes and the van finally picks us up to go back to the hostel. What a day!

Iguazu Falls

We made it to Iguazu Falls after 16 hours on a bus. The private buses down here are really nice, so the trip was not bad at all. We are staying at Hostel Inn and there are many international people here.

Our 2 days here have been completely different from one another. Yesterday we decided to go to the Brazilian side of the falls, joined a tour that included biking, kayaking, and boat rides. We ended up walking in the jungle in a downpour that lasted the whole day. I mean, it was like taking a shower in our clothes. Our tour guide started talking about poisonous spiders that are so small that you can´t feel them bite and then 12 hours later your organs start to rot, and about how you should stay still if you see a jaguar but that if it starts to attack you, you should pray, because basically you´re dead. GREAT. It was then, that I started to walk a little faster, and in the middle of the group.

Covered in mud, we were finally picked up by a jeep, but it was uncovered, so the harsh rain hit our faces and felt as though someone was pelting us. Trying to document this funny, yet miserable event, i took some pictures and then my camera died. I guess it´s not so smart to take pics with a digital in the middle of the jungle in a tropical storm.

We made it to the boat, a covered boat, and started to get really cold. Mike, Az, and I felt it was necessary to group together in a penguin huddle in order to stay warm. Good thing there were three of us, cuz penguins only huddle in groups of three or more. We had to ride the boat up the river, to our kayaks, and had the option to kayak in the rain and lightening and thunder. We said ¨no thanks.¨ Some people did, so we watched them from the boat, in the middle of the river, picked them up down stream, then made it back to land.

A jeep waited for us and took up to a bus station. Our tour guide was leaving, and we had no idea what was going on, so we had to ask them, and they sort of acted like we should have known that we were going to cross the street, catch a bus to the trails to look at the waterfall, then take the bus back and take a boat ride into the waterfalls. DUH. It´s so easy. If there´s anything I learned about this tour, it´s that the Brazilians aren´t very well organized, drive boats and cars in full force, and time doesn´t really mean anything to them.

We hiked the trails a bit saw the Brazilian side of the fall, but couldn´t take any pictures because all of our cameras had died in the downpour. Darn. Then we made it back to take a raft into the falls. This was the best part of the whole day. They were driving the raft through really big rapids, tried to scare us by driving close to the rocks, however, most of the time it was difficult to see what was going on because it was raining, and we had our eyes closed. They took us under the falls, through the falls, and around the falls. It was great. We left the boat soaking wet, but it really didn´t matter since we were already wet.

Day 2 was pretty uneventful. I mean, we went to the Argentina side of the falls, the weather was sunny, and the falls were beautiful. We went swimming next to the falls, got sunburnt, and are back at the hostel.

I´m really happy with my experience here. Sometimes the worst of things can be the best.

Pictures coming soon......

big bright starry night

Broken Social Scene - Feel Good Lost

On a bus, on our way to Iguazu Falls. Surrounded by wide windows, and friends that are family next to me. I find this album completely fitting at this time. I feel liberated, I actually feel as though my freedom has become tangible, not something that was off in the distance, somewhere in the future, but right here, right now, in this day, at this time, where all I can see is a dark road in front of me, the dim reflection of the horizon around me, and a big bright starry night above me. I am lost and I feel good about it.

It's getting hot in here

MAN, it's so hot here. The weather has been in the upper 90s to low 100s. Too much to handle sometimes.

We're staying in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, it seems to be the place where all the good restaurants and shops are. We've established a routine during our time here. We usually get up around 10am, meet up with Az and Mike, go out to a "trainning" breakfast that consists of fruit with an international flag, yogurt and cereal, wheat bread with cream cheese and orange juice or coffee. AND it only costs $5. Afterwards, we decide on what we feel like doing. Sometimes we'll go our separate ways, sometimes we'll stick together. We've gone to flea markets, parks, movies, Recoleta cemetery, and shopping. We'll always work our schedule around breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Argentinians eat dinner very late. Restaurants will close after 4pm-8pm for siesta time. That's when we take our naps, refresh ourselves with a shower, since we're usually so sweaty by that time.

We have our usual restaurants that we go that have been recommended to us by Mike's cousins Tom and Maya who have been living here for 1.5 years. Our favorites have been Los Cholas an Argentinian restaurant and Salgados an Italian restaurant. We've been to both places 3 times in 9 days. The people who work there are really great, and make me feel incredibly comfortable and at home. Except last night at Los Cholas it was so hot that we were sweating profusely and had to ice ourselves periodically in order to maintain some sort of comfort. There was a point where I had to put ice under my headband in order to stay cool, and Azure started rubbing ice on Rob's chest, which I had to reciprocate by rubbing ice on Mike's chest. Hilarity ensued.

Tonight Rob leaves. :( I'm very sad. We've had so much fun, and I'm really not ready for him to leave, but I know that he must, so what else can I say.

Azure, Mike, and I are leaving tonight as well to go to Iguazu Falls by bus. It's going to be an 18 hour bus ride, we'll stay for 3 days, and then bus back, then head south to make friends with the penguins. I'm really excited and ready to leave the city since it's so freakin hot here.

Finally, here are some pics:

Recoleta Cemetery, Eva Peron is here, but we couldn't find her:






Salgados:




Las Cholas, when it was super hot:





Bomba del Tiempo; beer as big as your head for 5 pesos = $1.66 and drums and hippies:




Tigre, we took the train up north, got on a boat thinking it was a boat tour, was asked where we were going, we said, we don't know, then found out it was actually a water taxi dropping people off at their homes or at resorts.





Foodies: