Watch out for the poop! Buenos Aires, Arg

Watch out for the poop! Buenos Aires, Arg, originally uploaded by maujb.

We are back in Buenos Aires for a week to do some laundry and get our fill of cheap and mighty delicious beef and wine as we won´t be getting much of that on the next six months of our journey.

This our good bye to South America. We are departing for Portugal next to meet up with Lisa K. in Algarve, then make our way south through Spain to Morocco.

Happy November birthdays going out to Alisa, Nicole, Brynn, Brigid, Troy, and Gisela. Also happy Turkey Day to everyone and please eat some pumpkin pie for us too cuz we´re on a diet starting next week!

Pretty in Pink, Colonia, Uruguay

Pretty in Pink, Colonia, Uruguay
Originally uploaded by maujb.

Colonia del Sacramento was once a pirate onclave used to ransack Buenos Aires and then later founded in 1680 by the Portuguese who used to smuggle goods into spanish controlled Argentina. This charming old colonial town is renowned for its cobbled, windy streets and colorful houses reminiscent of old Lisbon. Here we sampled their Grappa Miel, a sweet national liquour.

On the whole, our experience of Uruguay, especially Montevideo, was like visiting the homely spinster sister of Buenos Aires and seems more like a province of Argentina rather than its own distinct country. But maybe we are just bitter after being rudely shaken down by customs for a lousy $30 "exit fine". Badges, we don´t need no stinking badges!

Yooowwwzah! I requested a private room!

Yooowwwzah! I requested a private room!
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

We had a lot of unique and interesting experiences in Ushuaia like visiting the old prison, for example. Carcel Antiguo, the old prison, is an Alcatraz-like prison founded in 1902 as part of an Argentine effort to colonize the area and rid themselves of their most dangerous criminals at the same time.

In addition to visiting with the friendly folks in the prison, we hiked to the end of the world along the scenic Beagle Channel, did some beaver watching (heh, heh, heh), took a boat tour out to the amazingly lush islands in the channel where we saw sea lions, dolphin gulls, imperial cormorants and rock cormarants (which are a kind of a cross between a frigate and a penguin). We also sampled the king crab, sea bass, and the local micro-brew. Of course!

The Old Salt at the End of the World, Tierra del Fuego

The Old Salt at the End of the World, Tierra del Fuego
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

After leaving El Calafate at 3am, taking 3 buses and a ferry over 2 border crossings through Chile and 19 hours of beautiful serene sheep fields, we arrived in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world and only 1000km from Antarctica. This is it. This is the end of the world, baby!

The region of Tierra del Fuego got its name from the campfires on land and in the canoes of the Yamana people. The fires were seen from the exploratory ships of Magellan and others in the 1500s, hence the name Tierra del Fuego, or Land of Fire.

It's Upsalla, baby! Glaciar Upsalla, Argentina

It's Upsalla, baby! Glaciar Upsalla, Argentina
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

Glaciar Upsalla has the distinction of being the largest glacier in the park. It is fed by several other glaciers and is 60km long and 7km wide.

Not tired of glaciers yet?
Click on this or any foto in the blog to see extra fotos including a foto of Mau with a beard.

Awesome Spagazzini Glacier, PN Los Glaciares

Awesome Spagazzini Glacier, PN Los Glaciares
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

After the treks of El Chalten, we returned to El Calafate for some x-treme glacier overload. There are 17 (probably more) glaciers in the PN Los Glaciares.

Glaciar Spegazzini is the highest glacier in the park at 135Mt. For some perspective, note the "tiny" boats in the lower left corner of the picture. These boats carry 300 passengers and are dwarfed by the face of the glacier.

Lago Torre, Glaciar Grande, mi linda Patagonia

Lago Torre, Glaciar Grande, mi linda Patagonia
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

Interesting historical tidbits: El Chalten is the youngest town in Argentina having been founded in 1985.

The summit of Fitz Roy 3405Mt is almost always covered in a cloud the Tehuelche people thought was smoke, a mistake that gave origin to the name Chalten which means volcano.

Base-Jumping in El Chalten, Patagonia

Base-Jumping in El Chalten, Patagonia
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

Maureen would have loved to but Don got a diarrhea-attack just thinking about it so we bagged another peak instead, the lovely and majestic Cerro Torre.

Along the way, we saw patagonian-sized jack-rabbits (huge!), skunks and woodpeckers, then returned to camp to feast on a rack of Cordero Feuguino (patagonia lamb).

Just a little bit further . . . to Cerro Fitz Roy

Just a little bit further . . . to Cerro Fitz Roy
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

Our first day in El Chalten, we treked 9 hours out to Cerro Fitz Roy, a 750mt ascent that winds through valleys of heather, wildflowers, calafate, pristine streams and clear lagoons up to a glacier and over a snow-capped peak for the killer view of Fitz Roy and a frozen lake called Lago de los Tres.

We were both a little sore but nothing a bit of beer and motrin couldn't fix. And we were back on the trail the following day.

Breathtaking View, treking in El Chalten, Arg.

Breathtaking View, treking in El Chalten, Arg.
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

Four hours north of El Calafate is the tiny town of El Chalten, known as the treking capital of Patagonia. Even this town has its own cerveceria (microbrewery) and the young and fiesty brew-mistress has a boyfriend from Portland, our own land of microbreweries. Small world, eh.

No, Neal . . . it's too cold to grow their own hops so they import them from near Bariloche. Poseurs!

Can't get enough of that Patagonia beauty, Perrito Moreno

Can't get enough of that Patagonia beauty, Perrito Moreno
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

Ummmm, hmmmm. Pretty dang amazing south-view of Perrito Moreno glacier and Cerro Moreno in the background.

BTW, glaciers are ice rivers formed by the accumulation of snow becoming compressed into ice over many years. The greenish color of the water is known as "glacial milk", formed by mineral particles suspended in the water. The glacial milk feeds the "calves" that break from the main glacier in a process known as "calving".

Very interesting . . . I didn't know that either.

Perrito Moreno, Parque Los Glaciares

Perrito Moreno, Parque Los Glaciares
Originally uploaded by crisis-tour.

After leaving San Martin and returning to Bariloche for a few days, we continued south to El Calafate, the heart of Patagonia and the home of the Glaciers National Park. Perrito Moreno, the star attraction, is awesome, very active, and surrounded by stunning scenery.

Perrito Moreno would calf at least once an hour, cracking and splashing into Lago Argentina and we caught some awesome video of the action - we gotta find a way to load video onto the blog. Stay tuned!