a chronicle of travels
 |
| Love the red clay. |
 |
| Beautiful Opera House |
 |
| Across the street from our Hotel Das Cataratas |
 |
| This only shows about a tenth of the amount of falls at Iguazu. They are amazing. |
 |
| From the Brazil Side. |
 |
| This is a Lunar Rainbow taken at 10:00 pm. I just held the camera still on the railing. |
 |
| These guys were hanging around |
 |
| Our boat ride through the rapids |
 |
| Armadillo |
 |
| Beautiful |
 |
| Going out at night to the falls to see the lunar rainbow with our headlamps |
 |
| Hanging out at the Das Cataratas Hotel pool |
We went to the Argentine side of the falls the following day. We could get right over the edge of some of the falls on the Argentine side but be careful, it is a lot more crowded. You can see a more panoramic view from this side, but we liked staying on the Brazil side inside the park much better.
 |
| There are many bridges and walkways to view the falls |
 |
| Lots of different butterflies |
 |
 |
 |
| Looking over some falls |
 |
| Another beautiful butterfly |
 |
| Taking the boat through the ice bergs to Cristina Estancia |
 |
| Boating by icebergs in the lake. |
 |
| Cristina Estancia |
The Upsala glacier is here. It is windy and rainy (as most of Patagonia always is). We went on a 9 mile hike to see the Glacier, and saw many fossils embedded in the rocks as we hiked thru the moraine.
 |
| Hiking |
 |
| Upsala Glacier |
 |
| Fossils embedded in the rocks |
The following day Scott and I took a guide for a 2 hour horse ride to a lake to fly fish and have lunch. It was really fun. Then we took the boat back to our car at Eolo and drove to El Calafate for the night before flying to Iguazu Falls.
 |
| Riding horses to a lake to go fly fishing |
 |
| There were some huge salmon in the river |
 |
| First time I have ever tried to Fly Fish….. |
 |
| Fly Fishing off the rocks. |
 |
| The saddles and head stalls were interesting |
 |
| Saddle up |
 |
| Scott getting the hang of it. |
 |
| Eolo |
We drove to the Perito Moreno Glacier. It is the only glacier that is growing. It snows and is cold on top and creates new ice as the bottom melts. The glacier is as high (above the water) as a 15 story building. We watched and heard the calving, great big cracking booms!
 |
Scott and I wanted to hike on the glacier so we had to lie about our ages! Usually you want to be older, but they won’t take you if you are over 40. My birth date changed for this, BUT, we were better with the crampons on the ice than the 20 year olds. The guides could tell we had ice climbed before. We took a boat for about an hour and then had to hike for and hour thru the moraine to where we put on a harness and crampons. We walked all over the glacier and skirted around crevasses. It looks like moonscape with meringue peaks all over. Hiked about 6 miles. Beautiful.
 |
| Scott looks like he could be on the moon! |
 |
| A deep crevase |
 |
| Be careful where you step |
 |
| Crampons |
 |
| Barb |
 |
| We don’t look a day over 35! |
 |
| The trail up to the glacier hike |
 |
| Waterfalls along the way |
 |
| Bridges |
 |
 |
| Dirty whipping cream |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Don’t step back! |
 |
In the morning we went to a neighboring Estancia and rode horses again. Horses were okay but the scenery was amazing.
 |
In the afternoon we left Salto Chico and the Torres del Paine and drove all afternoon to El Calafate. We stayed in the same Kosten Aike Hotel. This was our stopping place before driving to El Chalten.
 |
| This is the car we rented and these are the roads…all gravel or dirt |
It took about 4 hours and we stopped along the way at Leona, where Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid stayed for about a month hiding out. They have a little restaurant there.
 |
| It’s a hole in the wall |
 |
| Leona |
 |
| Photo of Butch Cassidy on their wall |
El Chalten is a climbing Mecca!!! There are all kinds of climbing routes. We did lots of hiking to the base of the climbs. It was the wrong time of year for actual climbing but we did a lot of natural stair climbing to the bases. Our first day there it was raining, so we drove 40 Kilometers up a dirt road and hiked up to Heumel Glacier. It was beautiful through an enchanted rain forest.
 |
| March in the Southern Hemisphere is fall. The leaves were changing. |
 |
| Heumel Glacier |
 |
| Enchanted forest |
We are staying at the Los Cerros Hotel. Next day hike was from El Pilar up to the Fitzroy. It was a bluebird day, and was about 13 miles. The last 1 1/2 miles were really steep, but we got great views. It was exhausting though. My footpod shows I took 28,364 steps!
 |
| Fitzroy |
 |
| The fall colors were beautiful |
 |
 |
Next day hike was up to Cerros Torre. The top is always covered with clouds, but another beautiful day. (Another 12 mile hike). It took us 8 hours. We saw a red headed woodpecker that looked just like the woody woodpecker cartoon character. This hike was 27, 426 steps! Stayed at Los Cerros Hotel again.
 |
| Lunch on top Cerros Torre |
 |
| The Cerros Torre |
 |
| Carpenter Gigante |
 |
 |
 |
| A much needed rest |
It is now March 30 and we left El Chalten and drove back thru El Calafate to an Estancia called Eolo. It is a very nice Estancia where we will be staying.
 |
| Along the way |
 |
| Exhaustion sets in on top. |
 |
| Over the river and thru the woods….. |
 |
| Boat ride to begin and end the hike. |
 |
||||
 |
| Bridges |
 |
| Snow plastered on cliffs |
 |
| Scott |
 |
| Rivers |
 |
| Beautiful mountains |
 |
| Glaciers |
 |
| Glacier moraines |
 |
| Petroglyphs |
 |
| Trying to stay upright in the wind |
 |
| Lamb Barbecue |
 |
| Barb got a taste of the gauchos tea |
 |
| Amazing scenery |
 |
| We saw lots of Condors. They have a 3 meter wing span. |
It is a 6 hour drive to Torres del Paine. It’s probably 100 miles as the crow flies, but you have to drive around the mountains. We only got lost once. Remember to stop at every gas station you see, they are few and far between. There are no towns, but the scenery is beautiful. The massif mountains are amazing. We had to drive on dirt roads a couple of hours. We are driving to Salto Chico Hotel. Salto Chico means “Little Waterfall”, which is next to the hotel. The park is 600,000 acres and not populated. There are a few estancias outside the boundaries. Here is the view out of our hotel window every morning with the sun on the mountains.
 |
| This is the Chilean border |
 |
| The little waterfall next to our Hotel Salto Chico |
 |
| The roads across Patagonia |
 |
| Along the drive to Torres del Paine |
 |
| Guanacos along the way |
 |
| Incredible scenery |
 |
It is now Friday, March 23. Our first excursion was an 11 mile hike up to the towers. The first part was across open plains gaining elevation, then through a forested area, and the last up over big boulders. Going down was hard on the knees. It took us about 8 hours. We went with a young guide from our hotel. Each day you choose an excursion and go with a guide. They are all very knowledgeable and nice. We took a lunch with us.
 |
| The Towers from a distance |
 |
| The hike to the Towers |
 |
| On top at the Towers |
You can see that you have to travel in layers. It is usually very windy and cold in Patagonia. We have been lucky to have some blue sky. On top it is cold and you have to keep adding layers.
 |
|
| Rincon Chico Estancia (Ranch) |
 |
| Map of Peninsula Valdez
We took bikes down a dirt road to see Elephant Seals. We sat about 30 feet away and watched them. They can dive 4000 feet and their heart rate goes to about 4 beats per minute. Their blood is very rich in oxygen They come to the beach only to mate or to molt. When they molt, they stay about 45 days not eating. They lose 20 kilos a day. They weigh 9000 lbs. (4 1/2 tons) and are about 10 feet long. |
 |
| Elephant Seal yawning |
We drove up the coast of the peninsula. There are no towns along the way. Went to Punta Norte to see young sea lions with their mothers. This is the place where Orca Whales storm the beach to eat the young sea lions. We waited but didn’t see them come in. They did the day before though.
 |
| This is a photo that someone else took. This is how the Orcas storm the beach to get the baby sea lions! |
 |
We saw lots of penguins. We actually went to a penguin colony were there are hundreds of thousands in the colony.
 |
| This penguin is molting |
 |
| Lots of elephant seals along the beach |
 |
| Friendly Fox |
 |
| Lesser Rhea |
 |
| Oh yeah! My dad’s bigger than your dad! |
Animals we saw in Peninsula Valdez…..
Elephant Seal
Sea Lion
Maru (between guinea pig, rabbit and kangaroo)
Burrowing Owl
Magellan Penguins
Guanaco (Llama family, but a lot like camel)
Lesser Rhea (Ostrich family)
Sheep (lots)
Birds…..Albatross, flightless ducks, sea birds
(Stayed at Rincon Chico)
 |
| Santiago |
 |
| Santiago |
 |
| Buenos Aires Cemetery |
 |
| Valparaiso |
 |
| Vina de Mar |
Habitual Travelers 