Feb 24, 2012 - Lia's blog

Hi Everyone, this is Lia; It is so amazing to be down here but I still miss home. I have met so many new people down here! I like meeting people because it helps me live the way other people live which gives me an opportunity to learn more. When you meet people and you talk to them in Spanish and you are having fun your brain starts thinking in Spanish. I like the way that feels. It feels like fireworks bursting with happiness, filling your body. It’s fun to speak Spanish but sometimes your brain gets foggy. The weather here turns on you...

Feb 24, 2012 - Dean's blog #2

Hi from El Bolson, Argentina; I really like it here. It is a small town, about twice the size of Ukiah, with good food, nice people and nice stray dogs. The supermarkets here (and in all of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego) are limited. It seems like all they have is frosted flakes, warm milk, and stale bread, however, we have found some great restaurants. We have no car and take buses everywhere. Our latest ride lasted 2 full days. We had to stop and sleep in a town called Perito Moreno. Sorry to say, but the hotel we stayed in was a dump....

Feb 22, 2012 - El Bolson, Argentina

We have enjoyed El Bolson. We have taken a few hikes and spent some time at the artesian fair. We are moving on to San Carlos de Bariloche tomorrow. This time the bus ride is only 2 hours. Why didn't we rent a car? Well, renting a car is very expensive in Tierra del Fuego and southern Patagonia. Also, there are long distances of unpaved, poorly marked roads between the cities we have visited. We did not want to get lost in the vast Patagonian wilderness. Can you imagine the stories the kids would have been able to tell if we got lost or...

Jan 11, 2012 - North Patagonia - road trips all the way baby

It was hard to leave the south of Patagonia, in more ways than one as a forest fire meant lots of people trying to leave one of the main trekking areas at the same time. Our stretch of Ruta 40 was about 500km, 300 of which was on bumpy dirt road, nice time to be sat near the on-board toilet..Luckily the scenery was amazing: families of ostriches, pink flamingoes, animals impaled on barbed wire fences etc etc. We stayed in Los Antiguos for 3 nights to break the trip. The town is famous for its cherries and its annual cherry festival (must be...

Nov 2, 2011 - I'm Again on Top of the World but at the Bottom of the World

Hi all Just a quick post before we dash off to the pizza restaurant for supper. We are leaving Bariloche at 0530 hrs tomorrow with the same 5 hr bus ride back to Esquel and then flying on to El Calafate. We don't know if it will be a direct flight or if we have to fly to B.A. first. There is a second Chilean volcano spewing ash. The wind of tomorrow will dictate our journey's path. I don't know what I have done to piss off the travel gods, but they sure like to test me with volcanos as of late!! Have a most amazing day today. I summitted a...

Oct 15, 2011 - Stupid Volcanoes!!

Received an e-mail yesterday advising my tour through Patagonia is being modified due to a volcano of all things. I thought my run-ins with volcanoes were done after my experience with the Iceland volcanic ash in April 2010. That time Mum and I managed to get on the last flight that left Moscow for North America. Fortunately this trip is still a go, just not able to spend the scheduled 2 days at San Martin de los Andes and will now be spending 4 days in San Carlos de Bariloche.

Apr 8, 2011 - Friday Bariloche

I am writing this at the end of a day that sees us evaluating how our trip has gone as we are well over the half way point. We have re-learned that it is not the itineray or the places but rather the people we have met and being outside our comfort zone that has given us the most pleasure and the best challenges. Today we set off for a walk with limited information that turned out to be wrong in the rather important aspect of which buses were running. Never mind we had a great walk and finally found a bus that went in roughly the right...

Apr 7, 2011 - Thursday Bariloche

Spent the morning looking at the lake and exploring this busy holiday town. The climate is much fresher but still sunny. Need a fleece to walk in the strong wind. Our hotel is 7km outside Bariloche so caught a bus into the centre. We were the only tourists on the bus - most of the Argentinians were going into work for the day. Bus driver gruff but spoke through another passenger (both in Spanish) to tell us when to get off in the town centre. There are several guest houses called ´Las Malvinas´ amd there is a memorial in the town to a boat...

Apr 6, 2011 - Wednesday Bariloche

Travelled to the Mendoza airport in good spirits with an excellent weather forecast for Bariloche. It is in Northern Patagonia so expecting worse weather. Taxi driver at Bariloche airport for our transfer was crazily in love with Bariloche and Argentina and gave a bravura performance on the way to the hotel. Still thinking lots about the wedding and wanting to be home to celebrate. Thinking too of Chris in his conference and well deserved holidy with Rosanna. Arrived to an astonishing lakeside setting and a beautiful hotel with its own...

Mar 18, 2011 - Bariloche

Next morning we bus to the marina to catch a catamaran to Puerto Blest – a few in the group a little worse for wear. The beer at the Irish pub the night before coloured green by adding Crème de Menthe. We disembark and climb to look at waterfalls. Great to walk again – we have done so little really. The forest lovely, mainly myrtle and sassafras, mix in some fuchsias and hollys (the flowers like correas). Spend the afternoon walking the forest and resting on the stony shore of the lake. Some other passengers on the catamaran are on their...

Mar 17, 2011 - St Pat's Day

Still drizzling, onto a local bus – quite comfortable – and we head north to the town of Osorno, then east to the mountains. We notice that our faithful dog was checking out all the guests as they left the hotel. Wonderful farmlands initially. Diary, beef, raspberry and blue berry farms. Some subsistence farms in poor repair, others wealthy ranches and the buildings and pastures reflect this. One very large dairy company seen from the bus. Gradually we climb into the mountains, we can see many peaks covered in snow in the distance. The bus...

Jan 28, 2011 - Bariloche, Lake Region

Bariloche, in the Argentinian Lakes Region, is a year round resort area; skiing in the winter, and biking, hiking, and rafting in the summer. It appears it was in its heyday during the 70´s & 80´s, though still very popular - that is to say teeming with national & international tourists. Can´t complain though seeing as how that´s what we are ! The weather has changed to include hot days which we haven´t experienced since Buenas Aires. Rental of a car, for the first time on this trip, provided us the opportunity to drive a rough 18 miles of...