The day we almost saw Pablo Neruda's house

Yo, american, hijo
de la inmensa soledad del hombre
vine a aprender de ustedes la vida
y no la muerte, ya no la muerte!

Pablo Neruda

Been having a hell of a time in Santiago, it actually does feel like hell. Its so bloody hot that one sweets just standing. Sam and I have been trying to find cool things to do, so we've ended up taking in a few movies, catching us up a little with the pop culture back in the States and checking out the Salvador Allende museum. This being the highlight of our stay in Santiago.

For those of you who may not know, Salvador Allende was the first Marxist President of Chile who was elected democratically back in the early 1970s. But the good ole' CIA instrumented a coup and bombed the building he was in on September 11, 1973 (interesting parallels here with the date) and killed him. After which Pinochet came into power with his reign of terror, eradicating anyone he thought or considered a communist (anyone who didn't agree with his ideology).

The Salvador Allende museum, interestingly is housed in an old government building used by the secret police in the 1970s as a torture center. The Allende family just recently bought it from the government and had it refurbished as the Salvador Allende museum. The museum consists mainly of paintings donated by different artists from around the world. The pieces are mainly protests pieces and some were quite powerful. It also has some momentums of Salvador Allende.

Santiago in general has been a pleasant surprise (minus the heat). It is a charming old colonial city, with colorful buildings, and surrounded by snow capped mountains. These area a little hard to see with all the smog but the city is no more polluted then say Cochabamba, Bolivia. We took a trip to Isla Negra (not an island) today to visit Pablo Neruda's favorite house on the Chilean cost. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we weren't able to tour the premise since we hadn't booked a tour ahead of time. However as Sam pointed out to a very disappointed Sepi, "why would you want to subject yourself to a tour of an overly crowded house and not really get a feel of the place Pablo Neruda recieved so much of his inspiration from." Instead we walked down to the beautiful cost and watched pelicans playing in the wave. Getting a good feel of how and why Neruda found the place such an inspiration. It was also a good deal cooler by the water.

Tomorrow we embark on a 24 hour bus journey to San Pedro a town on the border of Bolivia and Chile. Its supposed to be a beautiful area and hopefully we will finally get to see the famous Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia which we missed.

Happy New Years a todos

Navimag Journey

Merry Xmas Everyone.

Ours has been pretty swell (no pun intended) so far. We spent the last 4 days on board the Navimag passenger and cargo Ferry Magellenes en route from Puerto Natales (Chile) in Tierra del Fuego to Puerto Montt (also Chile). It turned out to be one of the most relaxing portions of our journey so far. We were only in open waters for about 12 hours so it was pretty smooth sailing through the protected fjords. Most of our days were spent in the pub on the upper deck reading, swapping stories with other travelers, and waiting for mealtimes, or outside leaning into the cold winds and scanning the fjords and bays for signs of life. Other than the odd seal or albatross it was a pretty desolate if pristine and stunning landscape. (In past voyages Orcas and other whales had been spotted)

The steep ice capped mountains that rise up from the narrow channels were once home to a group of indigenous peoples who would swim naked in the icy waters collecting shellfish that were the basis of their diets. These days few traces of their society remain although we did stop in at Puerto Eden an extremely isolated fishing community home to the last dozen or so who speak the language. Other highlights included a quick detour up one of the fjords for a glimpse at one many glaciers that flows down from the cordillera to the sea; and watching the fast moving hail storms pass by the ship.

Last night, Xmas eve, the galley crew served turkey and applesauce to go with the bottles of wine everyone brought on board with them and the festive atmosphere was enjoyed by all. There was bingo and dancing late into the night for those who cared to join and phosphorescent plankton beneath the bow for those looking for a quieter more contemplative space.

Among the 160 passengers who chose to travel this way over Chistmas there was a multitude of nationalities, including but not limited to, Venezaulens, Ecuadorians, Americans, Brits, Spainiards, French, Fins, Norwegians, Dutch, Germans, Koreans, Swiss, Israelis, Belgians and of course the Chilean crew

The crew was fantastic, and they took quite a liking to our friend Jonatha, a captain in her own right, of a dive boat in Hawaii, who managed to get some of us a tour of the engine room and herself an invite to the officers dining room.

Photos will be up soon but for now we are back on land and getting ready to get back on the bus, headed north to Santiago, Chao, Feliz Navidad a todos y nos vemos pronto.

Torres del Paine National Park

Last glimpse of Glaciar Grey

Look close for the tour boat in front of Glaciar Grey

Ice Bergs on a rainy day on Lago Grey make Sepi smile

A 10 min walk from the campsite at Lago Grey

The first glimpse of Glaciar Grey

Lago Grey

Photo-op on the Trail

Guanaco, the llamas southern cousin or uncle or somthing

It was getting light at 4 but the windchill did not let up

Torres Del Paine and Glacial Lake

Patagonia Winds

After a disastrous trip to El Calafate back in Argentina we are back in Peurto Natales, Chile where we are going to take a boat journey up to Puerto Montt. A terrific choice as it turns out since it will be a 4 day journey and we will be traveling with our newly aquired Canadian friend Shannon whom we met on the Torres Del Paine trek. The boat travels up the length of Chilean Patagonia, through fjords, ice burgs and glaciers.

Our original plan of renting a car in El Calafate and driving north to Bariloche in Argentina was tossed out the window when we realized the cost would be upwards of a $1000! The boat trip for the two of us comes out cheaper then that! We also opted out of checking out the famous Perito Moreno glacier, as we couldn't be bothered booking through a tour agency and neither one of us wanted to share the incredible view with hundreds of other tourists who would be milling about the board walks constructed for viewing the glacier. Further more we have seen quite a few glaciers and the boat trip north stops at a glacier we can disembark at.

All in all we have been having an amazing time in the Patagonia region. The landscape is absolutely stunning. The terrain goes from flat fields to sudden jagged mountain ranges that poke angrily out of the earth. Shrouded in clouds and snow they provide an awe inspiring sight when the clouds lift long enough for you to view them. The legendary winds of Patagonia are just as strong and the weather just as fickle as we had heard. It can be raining and five minutes later there will be blue sky and sunshine and five minutes later it will be raining again. Being down here has only whetted our appetite to further explore this amazingly diverse geographical region.

We will post a blog of just pictures of our trek through the National park Torres Del Paine.
A Happy holidays to all.

El Fin de Mundo

We finally made it to our final destination! The last outpost of civilization before Antarctica, Ushuaia, Argentina. Well technically speaking there is actually one more little town after Ushuaia but its in Chile and the only way to get there is either by boat, which comes and goes infrequently or by plane which costs $100 per person. So for all intents and purposes Ushuiai is the end of the road for us.

It's kind of unbelievable that we have reached our ultimate destination of this trip. It still hasn't really sunk in. Maybe because we still haven't gotten out of the town and explored some of the stunning scenery. It took us over 30 hrs of bus riding to reach Ushuiai from Puerto Madryn. We arrived at 9pm yesterday, but it was still as bright as day outside. Twilight was finally gracing the sky when we finished our dinner at midnight.

We decided to camp it out and make some good use of the tent Sam has been lugging around since Mexico. But of course its pouring cats and dogs now. At least we got the tent up before the rain started. Hopefully tomorrow we will get out and experience some of the gorgeous natural wonders that grace the so called "end of the world."

Wild On Patagonia

Sepi and I are currently in Puerto Madryn, a small beach town in coastal Patagonia famous for its wildlife. Last Friday we broke our pact to avoid tours at all cost and signed up to be transported down the coast several hundred kilometers to a little spit of land called Punta Tombo. Punta Tombo is home the worlds largest colony of Magellenic Penguins, a smaller if just as entertaining cousin of the Emperor Penguins of March of the Penguins fame. Despite the large crowds of tour groups just like ours It was a highly enjoyable outing. We were able to walk through the area where the penguins have come ashore to build their nests. We were within feet of the lovable (despite the fish breath) little Penguinos and their freshly hatched young ones. Although we were warned not to get to close as they aparently can give a nasty bite if provoked. Fortuntaly it was a peaceful and amusing episode as they seemed more concerned about the state of their plumage and shaking their tales than the hoards of tourists stalking amongst them. Sepi insists that they actualy enjoyed the cameras, and even posed for her when she asked.

This morning we moved a step up the food chain and went diving with los lobos marinos. Sea lions I guess you´d call them. An amazing experiance and worth the gov´t taxed price for a glimpse into the world of the sea dogs. And they really were alot like puppies. Wonderfully playfull, coming up to us and resting there snouts on our hands, allowing us a quick whisker rub, or in the case of the littlest ones, sneaking up behind us for a little nip on the top of the head. Fortunatly the water here is cold enough that we needed the full 7mm wet suites complete with hoods and gloves which gave some protection from the "play bites".

All in all a fantastic few days spent with Patagonian creatures.

An Update at Last!

So, I know its been a while since we've written a blog. We've gotten quite a few requests, so here it is. One jam packed blog of our last months adventures.

I guess I should start with, we finally managed to leave Buenos Aires. An amazing city but it feels even more amazing to be out of it and into some of the real Argentina we have heard so much about. Especially to see some of the stunning natural beauty that this country is blessed with. Mostly we have my long time friends Kelly and Alyssa to thank, as there two week visit forced us to explore other parts of Argentina. We ended up doing a whirl wind tour of Mendoza and Bariloche with them. Spending a wonderful couple of weeks or so traveling with two very funny, lovely people.

In Mendoza we took a bike tour of some wineries. The pictures pretty much say it all. We had a ton of fun biking from one winery to another tasting all the different types of Argentinian wine. Many of the ones we tasted aren't exported and don't even make it to Buenos Aires, but god they were good. We were pretty tipsy by the end of our touring. We also hired a car and took an overnight trip into the Andes that tower over Mendoza. We drove through some amazing scenery and even managed to get a glimpse of the tallest mountain in all of the Americas. It was really nice to have a car, having the freedom to stop wherever struck our fancy, for a little hike or a photo op. We spent the night in a little cabin, in the town the movie Seven Years in Tibet was filmed in.

After Mendoza we took a marathon bus ride to Bariloche (20 hrs). The beginning of Argentinian Patagonia. It was a shock to arrive in chilly, piney green Bariloche after the steaming desert climate of Mendoza, but also a relief. We spent our time in Bariloche doing as many outdoor activities as we could fit in the three days we had left. The highlight being the white water rafting down the Rio Manso, which means calm or tranquil. Despite this deceiving name there were a couple of class IV rapids! This was my first time white water rafting. And I have to admit that I had many trepidations, the main one being I didn't want the raft to tip on one of the big rapids. And somehow we managed to avoid this, despite jumbling up our rafting guides instructions horribly every time it really counted. It was a really fun experience though, and I would totally recommend anyone to try it.

Before we knew it, our time had run out and we needed to return to Buenos Aires so Kelly and Alyssa could catch their flight back to the states. We bought tickets with this expensive luxurious bus company. Thinking well we might as well live it up if we have to sit through another 20 hour bus ride. Unfortunately it was our worst bus ride in Argentina to date. Not only were we stuck all the way in the back where the air condition made the loudest most obnoxious noise imaginable, but our tire busted two hours out of Bariloche, and we got stuck in the desert for 4 hours, waiting for a new tire. Actually more accurately, our tire got shredded. I've never seen a tire in the state that our bus tire was in. When it happened we saw chunks of tire flying up past the bus (we were sitting on the second level of the bus, so pretty high up). The only down side of our tire being busted is that a 20 hour bus journey turned into a 23 hour bus journey. However, we eventually reached Buenos Aires, spent a last couple days there until Kelly and Alyssa flew out last Wed. Then Sam and I made our way further South to Puerto Madryn. Where we have been stuck for almost a week. Mainly because somewhere along the way I picked up a nasty throat infection and had to get treatment.

Tomorrow we head further south and hopefully by Thursday we will be in Ushuaia, the end of the world! We can't promise to keep the blog entries constant during this time, as Internet connection has begun to be a little more sketchy. This is the third attempt at writing this blog. The other two times the computers quit on us. But we will keep a written journals to be sure to update the blog when we get a chance.