Riding with the Gauchos

We arrived in El Calafate on Saturday, November 17th which was Julie´s 26th birthday. Half of it was on a bus so we had to start celebrating. We drank some Quilmes at the hostel until who did we see get off a bus in front of our hostel - our Dutch friends, Bram & T-Man. They helped us ring in Julie´s 26th birthday in proper fashion with some champagne at dinner.


Me, Tijmen & Stef enjoying mucho Quilmes.


Cheers! Bram & Jules enjoying bday champagne.

We were eager to see the main attraction, the Perito Moreno Glacier. However, the tour we wanted was booked so in the meantime we did some souvenir shopping and went on a horseback ride. It is hard to describe how utterly stunning the landscape of Patagonia is, but it is vast. The dry arrid land extends forever until it hits the aqua blue water of Lago Argentina and you look up at snow covered mountains extending to the clouds. I just can´t get sick of that sight. It´s beautiful everytime. So we set off with our two gaucho guides, me on my horse Tomate, a frisky horse who liked to take his own trail half the time! We were on a tour of course, but it didn´t feel like it. We trotted across the Patagonian steppe, which is basically endless dry fields of shrubbery and grass.


Setting off on the gaucho trail.


Tomate and I.


Jules and her horse.


Stef and Naranja.

After a nice gallop on the beach, we stopped for a picnic. Our guides took the sheep wool that was on our saddles and laid them down for a perfect picnic with salami, ham, cheese, bread, chocolate, even wine! Let´s just say I thought I was a pro on the way back.


Our guides looked old-fashioned, but they
had some modern humor!


We were told Naranja & Tomate were friends.


My horse Tomate. I loved him!


A runaway! Our gaucho dragged him
unwillingly back to the ranch.

Horseback riding was a great way to see the surrounding landscape and I think I´m hooked. We were definitely feeling it the next day in our legs and back. Amazing seeing as the horse did most of the work!

Bumpy Road to Peninsula Valdes

Puerto Madryn is a town on the east coast of Argentina and basically the only reason you go there is to have a place to stay while you visit the wildlife on Peninsula Valdes. The town itself is entirely focused around tourism, which to me felt a little sad. But Peninsula Valdes was worth the trip. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Peninsula Valdes is 3625 km and is home to whales, penguins, elephant seals, armadillos, sheep, dolphins, orkas and many other wildlife. Always thrifty, Stef, Jules and I decided to rent a car, so we hopped in our Chevy and hit the long, bumpy, gravel road. Kudos to Stef and Jules for driving, I don´t know how to drive stick. (Yea, I know.)

The first day we set off to see the penguins. After 2.5 hrs of bumpy driving, we arrived at Punto Tombo which is home to the world´s largest colony of Malleganic penguins. Over 500,000 come to this reserve to mate and have offspring before migrating north to Southern Brazil. When we were there, we saw lots of penguins laying in their burrows, keeping their eggs nice and warm. It was far better than any zoo, the penguins were very comfortable and waddled around with such personalities.


A mama pinguino tending to her egg.


Just chillin.


Abbey Road, penguin style.

The next day we set out for the Peninsula Valdes yet again to get a look at the baleen whales. Our tour didn´t start till 3 so we killed some time in town and when 2:45 rolled around, they said it was incredibly windy and didn´t recommend going out. Yea right, we were going! The ocean was definitely rough and we were soaked but we got a great view of a mother baleen whale and her calf. It was a very surreal experience. Unfortunately, my camera died and I didn´t get the classic tail shot that I wanted. I don´t think most photos would do it justice anyway.


Head shot.


Body shot. Better in person!

We set back to town that night for some fresh seafood (which sadly disappointed) and were ready for our next destination, El Chalten, home of the Perito Moreno Glacier.

Bariloche Dreams

When I was in Buenos Aires, I met an Argentinian guy that described Bariloche as á dream´. And he was right. We arrived at the train station in Bariloche and the first sight was snow capped mountains and beautiful crystal blue lakes. It was also really cold! It hadn´t really gotten cold back at home before I left, so I was actually grateful for the brisk weather. We took the bus to our hostel, the Marco Polo Inn which was very nice with a nice bar and free dinner! Since I am traveling for 5 months, with one pack and through cold climates, desert, rainforest and beaches, I couldn´t pack a lot. So I was basically wearing my ´cold weather´outfit everyday while we were there. Makes it really easy to get dressed in the morning.

Beautiful Bariloche.

We decided to go kayaking and our friendly guide Pablo had some transportation issues, so he had to pick us up in his Ford Falcon. We didn´t mind, we were riding in style...

The Ford Falcon, an American Classic.

Kayaking on the windy lake was not as easy for me and Jules. Let´s just say we were zig-zagging along the lake as Stef glided gracefully with Pablo. We stopped for a break and enjoyed tea and croissants with Pablo where he described to us the pride of the Argentinan people, their land and their meat. He was telling us all these things we should try and we kept answering, ¨But that´s intenstines right?¨Don´t think about what it is!¨ was his reply. For someone who has been told that ¨I eat what food eats¨, this country full of meat has been a bit of an adjustment.

All geared up.

Enjoying our tea and history lesson from Pablo.

The next day we decided to hike up to Campanaro which was supposed to be one the best views of all the lakes in Bariloche. It was stunning. We couldn´t stop taking pictures. Just such a beautiful place.

What a view.

On the bus that day we ran into 2 dutch guys Bram & Tijman. They were traveling Argentina for 6 weeks on holiday. Both were going to Med School in Amsterdam and were so much fun. They were going to rent a car and go the 7 lakes tour on the famous Route 40. So we tagged along and spent 9 hours the following day touring the entire lake district with a nice stop for some tea and frambuesa tarts. It was a good way to see a lot in a day but we were definitely packed into that car!

Nice license plate eh?

Those Dutch, they are so friendly.

Argentinian road block.

Entering Wine Country

It´s been a busy week since we left Buenos Aires! We arrived in Mendoza on Tuesday morning and after checking in at the Mendoza Inn, a cute little hostel with a nice backyard, a hammock and a pool we tried to book a wine tour. But we missed it so we decided to lay low and then walk around the city. We decided to do our own wine tasting and sat on a rooftop bar that overlooked the city for hours drinking Torrones wine and watching the sun set. It was fabulous!!

Our hostel in Mendoza.

If there´s a hammock, I´m happy.

Stef and I enjoying our wine.

So the next day, we decided to book a tour through the hostel to go trekking/rappelling & to the hot springs. It was a great day. Driving out to the mountains was really beautiful, with rolling hills and mountains everywhere you looked. It was quite arrid which I wasn´t expecting but apparently as we were later told, this weather is ideal for wine.

The hike was straight up!

Looking cool in camo helmets.

Me headed down the 45 meter cliff.

The hot springs were more like a natural
water park.

The next day, we decided to do our own wine tour. We try to avoid tours unless they are really necessary since it´s usually a lot less expensive and more fun. So we took the local bus into the town of Maipu and rented bikes. The locals were very friendly and we got a lot of, ´Hola Chicas!´as we rode by. From there we toured about 3 different bodegas and a chocolate factory. It was picturesque and perfect weather.

Biking in the vineyards!

One of the many bodegas.

¨Hola Chicas!¨ The locals liked us...

Vino! Vino! Vino!

Bingo Bus

Stef, Julie & I left Buenos Aires on Tuesday night and set off for Mendoza. We booked a ticket on the Andesmar bus and soon realized we were riding in style. I would like to make you all think that we are roughing it on the buses of South America but it just ain´t the case! Leather seats, movies (although usually the cheesiest of American ones) dinner, and get this...B-I-N-G-O. Yep! It was a little hard to keep up since it was all in Spanish... none of us won but the person who did got a bottle of vino! Ahh Argentina. The dinner they gave us was either beef or pork milanesa, which is breaded meat that is served everywhere here. I don´t care for it much and this one was particularly nasty. It´s either that or ham & cheese. Our lunch consisted of 3 different variations on ham & cheese. We of course found all this very amusing. Hey, it´s a 13 hr bus ride...



Ahh the milanesa....



Stef loves milanesa!

*More pictures to come later. I am in Bariloche now and it´s too beautiful to be stuck in here.

Bonita Buenos Aires

Everything you´ve probably heard about Buenos Aires is true. It never sleeps, portenos (what people from BsAs are called) are beautiful, tango fills the streets and the city revolves around it´s cafe culture. Everywhere in the city you will find tables outside with people enjoying a cafe, gaseosa, or cerveza with friends. People here are very affectionate. Not just the couples you will see making out and cuddling all over the city, but the men kiss each other on the cheek. It´s a very warm greeting anytime you meet someone here. I really liked that. The past week was a very leisurely week. I certainly felt as though I was on vacation. Julie and I would sleep in, take showers, read in the common area of the hostel (just finished Eat Pray Love - an excellent book ladies) and then go grab a factura or pastry, grab some lunch and then head out to explore one of the neighborhoods of BsAs. After a week though, I was ready to go. I was just antsy to get going, to see the landscape of Argentina that I had heard so much about. Nevertheless, Buenos Aires is a fantastic city with a lot of energy, warmth and beauty. And I had a great time there. Stef arrived on Saturday and we bummed around the city, going to the Palermo and San Telmo markets and visiting the Recoleta cemetary which is where Evita is buried. Here are some pics of the city:

Streets of La Boca

La Boca - working class neighborhood of BsAs


San Telmo Market


Old perfume bottles at San Telmo Market


Cute Argentinian men.


Stef arrived safely!

We´re in Mendoza right now which is the wine country! We are doing a trekking/rappelling tour tomorrow and renting bikes to ride through the vineyards or botegas Thursday.