On the 5th of February, I took a bus to a different part of Nahuel Huapi National Park. I met two guys from near Buenos Aires, Matias and Santiago. We hung out by the river and had some yerba mate. Later in the day, we got a ride part way up the road and camped by a lake, after making some yerba mate. On the 6th, we took a bus the rest of the way to the trail head and met two more friends of my friends, another Matias and Gabriel.
We camped in Pampa Linda and the next day was a perfectly clear day. We took a hike up to a mountain hut high on the side of Mt. Tronador and looked at the glaciers. Mt. Tronador is an amazing mountain to look at. It is shaped like a starfish. The arms are gently sloping, forested heights and the sections between them are deep valleys. The glaciers slide down the mountain and then fall off 1000 foot cliffs as either waterfalls or ice chunks to start down the valleys.
On the 8th, I woke up to a lot of rain. I spent most of the day in my tent or hanging out with my Argentinian friends, but in the afternoon we hiked to a nearby waterfall and made some yerba mate. The 9th of February brought some rain. It was not too heavy, so I took a hike. We were camped five miles down the valley from the mountain and had been listening to piecies of ice fall off for three days. I hiked up to the bottom of the cliffs and looked at the dozens of waterfalls and a few glaciers. I had a good 11 mile walk in the drizzle and then joined my friends for some yerba mate.
On the morning of the 10th I was determined to walk, rain or shine. It was rain. I checked out the trail and it was mostly mud, but in places it was completely underwater. The high parts were under about eight inches of snow and the Park Rangers closed the trail. So, after a good six days of hanging out in the rain, we took a bus back to Bariloche.
This week was the best week of Spanish lessons in my life. Matias, Santiago, Matias and Gabriel did not speak English. They were very patient with me and gave me the time to express myself. Also, after a few days they spoke using the words I understood and were also familiar enough with the way I spoke to understand me. The only problem was the accent. Argentinians have a very distinct accent, and now so do I. I have to make an effort to get rid of it. People have a hard enough time understanding my Spanish without Argentinian pronunciation and slang. I had a great time with them, but it was time to move on.
The next day, I decided that I had had enough hanging out and working my way south slowly. I bought a bus ticket to El Calafate and left in the early afternoon. The bus took all night to get to Comodoro Rivadavia. I let the woman and child sitting next to me use my seat and stood at the front of the bus. The spare bus driver pulled out a little stove and made some yerba mate for us. We arrived in Comodoro Rivadavia at 5 am. I was tired, having not slept all night. I fell asleep on the floor of the bus station and did not awaken until the guard told me to move at 7 am.
I spent the day wandering around town. In the afternoon, I went to the park to take a nap. I found a nice secluded area, but it was occupied. The man who was living there invited me over for some yerba mate on his campfire. I had a good chat with him and then went to the movie theater, to sleep through a movie.
At 12:30 am, on the 13th, my next bus left. I was able to get two seats to myself and slept the night away. We got to Rio Gallegos the next morning. This far south there is only one paved road, and it is on the Atlantic coast of Argentina. So, after going east all night from Bariloche, and south all night from Comodoro Rivadavia, I now had to go west again to the mountains. After one more bus ride, I was in El Calafate, on the edge of the Argentinian Glacier National Park.
On the 14th, I took a tour to the Perito Moreno Glacier. We had five hours there, and it was not enough. I found a good view point and spent the day there. The foot of the glacier is almost four miles wide and it ends in a lake. Every few minutes some pieces of ice would fall off and about every 15 minutes a huge piece of ice would break off and crash into the water. The front of the glacier is 150 feet tall and some truly impressive pieces broke off.
At one point I saw something truly amazing. The glacier, besides towering over the lake, also goes down into the lake for about 500 feet. Somewhere, down in the depths, a piece of ice broke off and shot to the surface. At first I saw a big dark blue chunk of ice pop up in the water. Then another piece, about the size of a small stadium, rose up and scraped along the front of the glacier to about the 100 foot mark. This big piece spent the next ten minutes falling apart and then floated around for the rest of the day. The surface ice of the glacier is a pale blue or white, but these pieces from the deep were very dark blue, almost black.
That evening, I did the last of my food shopping, and was ready to leave early on the 15th for my next hike. I took the bus up to the capital of the Fitz Roy section of the park, Chaltan. I met Otmar, a Swiss guy, and Mauricio, from Argentina. We spent the afternoon hiking up to Laguna Torre. After about an hour, Mauricio stopped to rest and said he would catch up to us later. He looked pretty tired and we never saw him again. I thought he went back to Chaltan, Otmar thought he camped where we left him on the trail.
The 16th was another clear day, so we took a little day hike up around the lake and up the valley for some views of the rock needles that tower over some glaciers. Otmar then left and I spent the day hiking up the valley, next to a glacier.
After these two nights at D'ugostino camp, I moved over to Poincenot camp. This only took the morning, and I followed a river bed up to a lake in the afternoon. There were more 3000 foot cliffs with water falls to look at. On the 18th, I hiked up to a lake and then a few more thousand feet up to a mountain top. This last bit involved some mildly challenging rock climbing and was quite fun. I caught up to Chad and Jeff on this hike/climb. They are both experienced mountaineers and we had a good day. Chad teaches the ice climbing courses in McCarthy, Alaska that I went on last year, but I did not know him.
It was time to move camp again, so I packed up. I had lunch in another glacier/lake/river/moraine area. I got to my final camp of this trip and then took a few hour hike up the valley to look at a lake and some glaciers. I joined a couple from Norway for this walk and our 1 hour walk turned into three, because we always wanted to know what was around the next bend. We finally got some great views of Mt. Fitz Roy.
On the 20th, I had the cold that was going around. I felt okay, but had a stuffy nostril. I spent the day resting. I was running out of food on the 21st, but had a good weather day hike planned. It was cloudy, so I hiked out. I caught the afternoon bus to El Calafate. One of the people who shared my room that night sniffled all night, except when he snored. Tom, Winkie and I did not sleep at all. We gave up lying there around 5:30 and went to the bus station. We were there early enough for the first bus out of town.
After a very smooth border crossing, we were in Puerto Natales, Chile. Two months ago, when I arrived from Bolivia, Chile was ridiculously expensive. Now, arriving from Argentina, Chile seems very affordable and I do not have to watch my budget so much.
I took an afternoon bus to Punta Arenas and will spend a few days here to relax. I am now in the southernmost city in the world, at the very tip of South America, just above Tierra del Fuego.
Yesterday, I went out to the penguin breeding area and looked at the three month old penguins. They were fun to watch for a while and posed really well for cameras. I am staying with a local family and I taught the kid how to play chess today.
As of this moment, I plan to spend a few more days here and then head up to Torres del Paine National Park. I will walk for two or three weeks there and then start to head north, for my flight out of Lima on the 4th of April.
And now, for some observations. In Argentina, they really, really like yerba mate. A yerba mate is sort of like tea. They fill a cup with something that looks like grass clippings, and maybe add a little sugar. Then they stick in a metal straw with a strainer at the bottom. Pour in some hot water and it is ready. They suck up the water, pour in some more water and pass the cup on to the next person. I think it is slightly bitter and fairly weak, but they love it. Chad tells me that tea bags of yerba mate are all the rage in Boulder, Colorado. But, to me, it is just like tea - dirty water.
I was doing okay with Spanish in Peru and Bolivia, then I got to Chile. Here they speak very quickly, mumble a bit, and drop the final "s" from every word. Spanish has a lot of final "s" and I have had some difficulty. In Argentina, they have a very unique accent, which I was able to pick up. Now, unless a Chileno knows that I am speaking Argentinian, he does not understand me.
In Bolivia, everyone calls each other "Joven" which means youngster. I understood this when spoken by older people, but it was strange to hear ten year old shoe shine boys call me youngster. In Chile, they like to finish sentences with "no mas" which means no more. Of course, when they say it it sounds like "no ma" So, something might cost 500 pesos, no more (or "No mo". Or I might have to walk three blocks, no more. The Argentinian word for man is "che" and it is widely employed.
When a Bolivian enters a restaurant, he says "Bon Provecho" to everyone, which seems pretty friendly to me.
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