Month Three

Three months in South America.  This month consisted of two new countries, three border crossings, fulfilling my number one travel dream, and lots of quality time with our extended travel family. 

We crossed into Chile from Bolivia on the first day of month three and spent two nights in San Pedro de Atacama.  After almost a month in Bolivia we were very pleased to have good food, real cheese, and WiFi.  We gazed at the stars, the moon, the planets, and the Milky Way through ten telescopes in San Pedro, one of the best places to see stars in the entire world, and one of my travel dreams. 

After only two days in Chile, we crossed into Argentina to meet 20 members of our extended travel family for what is sure to forever hold the title of the most untraditional Christmas of my life. 

In short, this Christmas can be summed up by lots of injuries and flies, dancing on tables, the return of Drinead, volleyball, Call Me Maybe, Feliz Cumpleanos Jesus and Feliz Navidad Bitchez tshirts, Christmas headbands and leg warmers, wine o'clock in a very messy dorm room, All I Want for Christmas is Jews, Monique and facepaint. 

Though Christmas wasn't the same without my family, I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to celebrate with.  Sinead, Mona, and I exchanged gifts under the tree and I can promise you that no one has ever been as excited to receive a pumice stone, bottle of nail polish, and pair of sunglasses as I was that day. 

We were happily surprised with a white Christmas as hail the size of acorns began to fall from the sky as we sat down for Christmas dinner.

Mona and I spent 50+ hours on buses in 3 days to see the Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls - one of the seven natural wonders of the world - and got soaked as our boat sped directly into Garganta del Diablo - the largest of the waterfalls.

We reunited with the travel family again for ten days in Buenos Aires where we visited the grave of Evita, drank lots of cheap Malbec, ate midnight dinners and a million empanadas, saw a phenomenal drum show at La Bomba de Tiempo, celebrated Mona's 20th birthday, ate amazing Argentinian steak, visited the port, went to a Tango show and learned a few steps in a Tango class, picnic-ed in the park, and danced past sunrise in clubs with no windows.  We celebrated the New Year outside with a countdown at the Obelisk (a structure that looks identical to the Washington Monument) and a Do-It-Yourself amateur fireworks show. 
Mona, Sinead, and I said our final goodbyes to many members of the family who were returning home to countries across the globe after the holidays and headed down to the bottom of the world with five Israelis.  We spent three days in Argentinian Patagonia visiting Laguna Nimez and Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the most spectacular sites I've ever seen. 

We crossed back into Chile, and spent a day in Puerto Natales preparing to hike the Torres del Paine. We backpacked for five days and 50+ miles with our tents, food, cooking stoves and utensils on our backs and completed the W Trek on the last day of my third month.  I was not one bit disappointed with the mountains that have haunted my dreams for the last four years, but astounded by their all-encompassing beauty as I finally admired them with my own eyes instead of through a computer screen.

In month 3 I slept in 19 beds, took one plane ride and spent 70 hours in buses, bringing the total to 63 beds, 6 planes and 246 hours in buses.

This month I saw the sun set over the valley of the Moon in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, and I saw the sun rise too many mornings in Buenos Aires, Argentina after letting time slip away from us over cheap Malbec and lots of laughter. 

I saw the most spectacular color pallets paint the sky as I watched the sun set at 11pm in Patagonian towns both in Argentina and Chile, and I saw the sun illuminate the towers of the Torres del Paine as they were set on fire by the first light of day. 

In the past month I've been left speechless by incredible scenery and unbelievable 360 degree panoramic views.  I've laughed until my stomach muscles ached and tears poured out of my eyes, continuously entertained and surrounded by amazing people.  I've accomplished goals that I set years ago when I wasn't sure whether or not I was strong enough to fulfill them.  I've said goodbye to amazing people that have inspired me in countless ways and will forever be immortalized as the  traveler versions of themselves in both my heart and memory. 

As I move into month four, it is bittersweet.  Though I don't yet have a flight back to the United States, I am officially more than half way through my trip.  This month I will have to say goodbye to both Sinead, as she sets out for New Zealand on the next leg of her Around the World trip, and Mona as she heads back home to Germany after eight months traveling in Central and South America.  I dread this day more than I could ever begin to explain.

I will begin to make my way North with an unofficial plan to spend a few weeks in Ecuador both traveling and taking Spanish courses and finally finish my trip by reuniting with a friend and spending my last few weeks in Colombia before returning home.

Photos:
#1 Photo of the moon from our star tour in San Pedro
#2 Valle de la Luna, San Pedro de Atacama
#3 First light of day illuminating the towers of the Torres del Paine
#4 Iguazu Falls
#5 Travel family ladies in our Christmas best 
#6 The Obelisk at midnight on New Years, Buenos Aires
#7 Sinead and I, Puerto Natales, Chile
#8  Me hiking the Torres del Paine
#9 A white Christmas...Argentinian snow (hail)
#10 In front of "my mountain," Torres del Paine
#11 An Argentinian dinner. Mona's birthday, Buenos Aires
#12 Me at Glacier Perito Moreno

Patagonia

On Tuesday, January 8, we left Buenos Aires and flew down to El Calafate, Patagonia.

We're now travelling in a group of eight.  I'm still with Sinead and Mona and we headed South with five Israelis: Michael, Nadav, Amir, Shani, and Sahar.

A bit of background... I met the boys on my third day in South America in Santa Marta, Colombia.  Though we never officially travelled together, we've been on the same path and have been meeting up in every country.  I saw the boys next in Cuzco, Peru and again in La Paz, Bolivia.  In Bolivia, I met Shani and Sahar, two girls they had begun travelling with.  I convinced them all to spend their first Christmas with us in Salta, Argentina.  We went our separate ways for a few days before reuniting with about 15 more members of our extended travel family in Buenos Aires for New Years. 

After ten days in Buenos Aires comprised of waking up too late and wandering around the city, midnight dinners, far too many empanadas, and a healthy amount of cheap Malbec and no-name Vino Tinto, we packed up our backpacks and headed to Patagonia for a couple of weeks of fresh air, unbelievable scenery, trekking, and detox.

After a long day of accidentally heading to the wrong airport across town, a four hour delay, and 3 stolen caribeeners, we arrived in El Calafate around 9:00pm.

The first thing we noticed was how bright out it still was.  With opposite seasons than home, Patagonia is less than one month into summer.  The sun rises around 6am here and doesn't set until after 10:30pm. 

For me, it was love at first sight.  Patagonia is the part of the  trip I've been most excited for the entire time, and the second the plane landed I felt a rush of excitement. 

We spent our first two days in El Calafate, Argentina.  On our first day we slept in, had a late lunch, and booked our tour for the following day and our bus for the day after that. 

We had plans to go to Laguna Nimez later that afternoon, and heard a tip that if we waited until after 8pm entrance was free (instead of 35 Argentinian pesos - $7 USD.)  We arrived around 8:20, just in time to see the park rangers lock the gate.  By "free," I'm pretty sure our tip meant illegally sneaking in, so we did just that. 

The grounds were beautiful.  There was a windy path that cut between fields of green, red and orange grasses and purple and yellow flowers.  There was a lake that had dozens of flamingos, all of which took off into flight at once for no apparent reason.  It was a gorgeous sight and I've never before seen flamingos fly.  On our walk to the lagoon, we accidentally adopted a local dog who followed us the whole way there and back and even hopped the fence with us.  The lagoon itself was beautiful with stunning mountain scenery as a backdrop. 

The following day, we woke up early to head to Perito Moreno Glacier.  The ride to the glacier alone was some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen, but at first sight, the glacier literally takes your breath away. 

Perito Moreno is part of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field, the third largest ice field in the world.  The backdrop to the jagged, blue tinted ice is beautiful, snow capped Andean mountains.  The glacier is 5 km wide and 74 meters high.  Perito Moreno comes to an abrupt halt on three sides and dives straight into Lago Argentino at almost a 90 degree angle.

As you walk around viewing the glacier, you can hear loud cracks and echoes of ice breaking.  Many of these ice cracks are located internally within the glacier, but if you are lucky enough, you can see big chunks of ice fall from the frozen lake into Lago Argentino and create a massive splash and wave.  I hesistate to say "lucky," though, because even though this has been described as an "existential experience," it is also global warming at its best and this beautiful sight is also simultaneously the destruction one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. 

After three days and two nights in El Calafate, we packed up again and crossed the border into Chile headed to Puerto Natales.  Border crossing is something we will be doing a lot of over the next couple of the weeks as we zigzag back and forth across Patagonia through both Chile and Argentina.

We spent our entire day today  comparing prices, renting and buying equipment, making a menu for the next five days, and listening to as much information as possible about the Torres del Paine. 

I am now the proud owner of walking poles and a sleeping mat and have rented a sleeping bag that will keep me comfortable in temperatures above -5 degrees celcius and a VERY small two-man tent.

Tomorrow morning, at 7:30am, we leave on a bus to the Torres del Paine National Park to hike the "W," a five day, four night, fifty mile trek.

To me, this is the pinacle of my trip.  The Torres del Paine are single handedly the reason I came to South America.  I don't remember the first time I saw the Torres exactly, but I know that as soon as I did, I knew I had to get there. 

Four years later, I'm here.  After four years of dreaming and planning and saving, I made it happen.  Tomorrow morning, I leave for an adventure that I have imagined thousands of times. 

In five days I will see, with my own eyes, the Torres del Paine Towers - an image that I have saved as the background of my computer, my phone, and the background of this blog.  An image I have Googled to show to a countless number of people.  An image that has been ingrained in my mind since the first time I ever saw it...and an image that would eventually change the course of my life and bring me here... to South America, on the adventure of a lifetime. 

Tomorrow is a day I've imagined thousands of times, but never once could I have imagined it like this.  We will finish the trek on the last day of my third month in South America.  The experiences I've had over the past three months and the people I've met have changed me in ways I never knew possible. 

To say I'm excited is an understatement.  I feel like a small child on Christmas Eve. 

Photos:
#1 Glacier Perito Moreno, Argentina
#2 Sinead and I in Puerto Natales, Chile
#3 Me packed for the Torres del Paine
#4 At Perito Moreno
#5 Mountain scenery from Perito Moreno
#6 Perito Moreno
#7 Puerto Natales.