Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Crampon Girls

A Day on the Perito Mereno Glacier

The weather today was amazing - clear blue skies and warm temperatures. We set off very early this morning for the glacier. It is quite the spectacle - an absolutely massive ice face that is 5 km across and 30 km deep. We were fitted with crampons and then took a 90 minute hike across the glacier that culminated in a drink of scotch whiskey on the glacier mixed with cold glacier water. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We leave tomorrow for Buenos Aeries. It will be hard to leave Patagonia but we are looking forward to further adventures in Argentina's largest city. We will post more info once we are in BA.

Cindy

Approaching the Perito Moreno Glacier

On the Perito Moreno Glacier

Friday, February 18, 2011

On the Way to Fitzroy

The Big Cahuna

Cerro Torre

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Fwd: Came Across a Llama Train

On the Way to El Cheltan

Patagonia Weather

Forgot to mention the weather in my last post. None of us have ever been anywhere where the weather changes so much in one day. Since we got here, we've had rain (fortunately only on the first day when we weren't hiking), sleet in the mountains, beautiful sunshine one minute and fast-moving clouds the next - and all of it accompanied by a wind so strong and gusty that it can almost knock you off your feet. When it was raining the first evening we arrived, the wind was so strong that the rain was actually going sideways.

Despite all of this, we have been extremely lucky with the weather while we've been hiking. Our guide Diego said we had one of the best windows of clear hiking days that he has ever seen. We are indeed fortunate because it would have been very disappointing to come so far and have the mountains shrouded in clouds.

The actual temperature has ranged from cold enough for sleet to warm enough for shorts so we have learned not to venture out without being prepared for every weather eventuality to occur every day!

Cindy

Amazing Hiking in Patagonia

We just finished three days of hiking in El Chalten. The hikes were challenging but the payoff was outstanding. It was some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen. Tom will post some photos shortly. The town is very remote and caters exclusively to hikers but the hotel was lovely and had an excellent chef so we ate very well after our long days on the trail. In addition to hiking to a glacier at the base of Mount Fitz Roy, we also hiked to a lake at the base of Cerro Torre - it was amazing. We have also seen flamingos, condors, llamas, guanacos (small llamas), rheas (small ostriches) as well as South American woodpeckers and foxes.

Today, we travelled to EL Calafate and tomorrow we take an excursion onto the Perito Merino glacier. The town here is quite a bit more touristy but is very nice. We plan to have traditional Argentinian barbecue at a restaurant tonight. Hello to everyone and a special hi to Danielle from me.

Cindy

Out of the Wilderness

Hello all,

Our apologies if you've been looking for posts and not finding any. We've been without Internet acccess for the past three or four days, but will start catching up soon.

Tom and Cindy

Monday, February 14, 2011

Welcome to Buenos Aires

Cindy and I got in this morning and because we don't have another Sunday here, decided to check out the famous market at San Telmos.

Unfortunately, while we were buying a few trinkets, a pickpocket made off with Cindy's Blackberry. Very professional, but I'll bet they were pissed off it wasn't her wallet. Live and learn. This will be the first time in years she'll have to live without one for a couple of weeks.

Otherwise it's terrific here - sunny and hot, and not expensive.

Off to the south tomorrow morning...

Market Photo