Day 21 to 27 - Uh oh.......our last week

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So, it seems like we had some travel problems coming and going. Trying to get boarding passes online today, we saw that our return flights were listed as being cancelled. A little frantic, to say the least, we called the airline and they had, in fact, mistakenly cancelled our flights. They did rebook the flights for us and we´re hoping that, for all of our anxiety, they´ll upgrade us to first class. You´ll have to wait until we get back to find out, since this will be our last blog entry from out of country.

We´ll have lots more pictures to bore you with when we get home. For anyone really interested, we´ll have DVD´s available for sale.

We arrived back in Buenos Aires for our final days and spent time walking around Palermo. In addition to great grafitti and fabulous store fronts like this Apple store, this is a great area to walk around, with terrific restaurants and funky, chic stores - much like New York´s Soho. In fact, part of Palermo is called Palermo Soho.

On our second day in Bariloche, we headed to Llao Llao (pronounced Zhao Zhao here) to the spectacular resort here, with a magnificent golf course that Hank DID NOT play. But he was happy with the fabulous lunch we had overlooking the property´s grounds. Actually, without eating there, we wouldn´t have been allowed to enter the hotel.




And, of course there´s the chocolate. Chocolate stores like this one everywhere. We had chocolate with breakfast, lunch and dinner....and sampled more as we walked the main street.



You get the idea here. We walked down to the waterfront just in time for an exhibition of parasailing surfers (we had never seen this before!) crossing the lake in winds that churned up whitecaps. They, along with sailboarders, were exciting to watch.



The center plaza in Bariloche reflects its Swiss heritage, having been settled in the early 20th century by Swiss immigrants. The city´s setting is picture-postcard beautiful, surrounded by snow-capped mountains reflected in the region´s lakes.




As opposed to what we had left behind.



Finally, the sun broke as we neared our final destination and this is what we headed towards in Bariloche.

So, the two days preceding our lake crossing to Bariloche were picture perfect - sun shining, mountain peaks reflected in the turquoise lakes. We were set for the spectacular trip described in all of the travel literature.

You might think from Arlene´s smile here (laughing at the irony of it?) that that was the case, but as you can see here, the day of the crossing turned out to be dreary and overcast and, as the guide described what we were supposed to be seeing to our left and right, we unfortunately only saw cloud-covered land masses and gray waterways.

Day 20 - Puerto Varas

From Patagonia, we traveled north in Chile to Puerto Varas, in the lovely lake and volcano region. Here is Osorno Volcano, which we can see clearly from our hotel room window, and we`re not positive yet what the other peak is. They both appeared out of the clouds as daylight waned.

We´re enjoying having this time here in Puerto Varas to regroup and relax - laundry, posting on our blog.........and maybe a massage - before we take the lake crossing over the Andes to Bariloche on the Argentinian side.

Days 16 to 19 - Patagonia

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There are no trees on this island. The winds were so strong it was impossible to make it to the top of the hill where there is a lighthouse. The main reason the penguins come here is because of the amount of daylight that the island receives, with sunrise around 4:30 am and sunset at 11:00 pm.



The babies are fighting to be fed by their mother. Here is a clear picture of the mother feeding one of her young, with its head inside her mouth.



Adult penguin (with stripe on the front) and two babies. You can see the baby molting its feathers on its back.

Here are the burrows that the male penguins prepare for the females to lay their eggs and in which the babies stay until they molt their feathers and head to the sea in April.

Penguins came out to greet us as we got off the boat and a few had to be shooed away when the front gate was lowered.

From Punta Arenas we took a boat out to Magdalena Island to see the Magellanic penguins who come from Brazil in September to breed here before departing again in April. The island is in the middle of the Magellan Strait. There were about 70,000 penguins here - adults, babies and juveniles.

The following day we headed to Punta Arenas where we found the Chilean Benihana version of Philadelphia cheesesteaks. This guy was a real artist, flipping steaks and burgers to fit on hamburger-like buns the size of plates, layered with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, guacomole, mayo and cheese. You can`t ask for anything much better.

We stopped to see this beautiful waterfall of pristine, turquoise glacial water - from 2 to 6 degrees Celcius.

We headed out on what seemed like an endless beach to view Gray Glacier, Torres del Paine´s version of Perito Moreno. The wind was so strong it was like walking through a sand storm.

Our second day, we took a tour to Torres del Paine National Park, Chile´s most spectacular national park. Behind us are the Torres, three towers reaching to over 9000 feet.

On the way back to Puerto Natales, we came out of the border crossing office to this sunset!

As we approached this ice cave on the glacier, the wind whipped up. We were actually lucky the day we went. Winds in the area generally range from 35 - 65 mph, but they were nowhere near that while we were there.

We took a boat ride out to the glacier, which brought us close to it, where you can get a sense of its mass.

Los Glacieres National Park has over 300 glaciers. Perito Moreno is the second largest and is still growing, although pieces are constantly breaking off. A series of walkways allows visitors to view Perito Moreno and, while we were there, we saw several chunks - one as big as a semi-trailer - fall into the lake.

From Puerto Natales (Chile), our home base, we took several tours. The first day we headed to Argentina to visit Los Glacieres National Park to see Perito Moreno, an incredible glacier. En route, we passed through the Argentinian side of Patagonia - a vast desert, quite different from the Chilean side, which has more rainfall and is greener.

Days 13 to 15 - Santiago

We took a day trip to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar on our last day in Santiago. Valparaiso is a very active seaport and artist colony. Reminiscent of San Francisco, it is built into hillsides with cobblestone streets, colorful houses and beautiful terraces overlooking the port.



We love Santiago. It`s a beautiful city, with vibrant neighborhoods, lovely parks, great food and friendly people. Here are some highlights of our days here.



Hank couldn`t resist the weirdest looking seafood that the fish sellers in the Central Market had to offer. After asking several times what it was, they offered him a taste.....and he took their bait, much to their amusement. This same seafood was later in a Chilean chowder we had. When we asked them what it was, they gave us a piece of paper listing it as "the red thing," otherwise known as piure.



We caught the exhibit of the terra cotta soldiers at the Cultural Museum, a fabulous museum by La Moneda, the Presidential residence and center of government.



Street performers are everywhere, even at street corners in front of traffic when the light turns red.



One of Pablo Neruda´s three houses - this one in the Bellavista section of Santiago - highlighted his collections of items picked up during his travels around the world........many while in exile.

Day 12 - First day in Santiago, Chile

Onto Plaza de Armas, surrounded by public buildings and the San Francisco Cathedral. We found the life IN the Plaza more interesting, though. Rows of chess players, street performers and story tellers (too bad we had no idea what he was saying, but everyone seemed to love him) and artists displaying their work.

Our first day exploring Santiago took us to Santa Lucia Hill, where the city was founded in 1541. It was a hard climb up hand-cut stone steps, polished from all of the people who have climbed them over the years. The view of the city from the top, though, was beautiful. This was actually the site of a fort in earlier years, but now serves more as a park for tourists and locals to enjoy.

Well, we lucked out with our accommodations in Santiago. They didn´t have a room available at the Hotel Orly, so offered to put us up at this apartment down the street.....for a reduced price. We have lots of room to spread out and still get to take advantage of the hotel´s great breakfast and their computer...............which is a little slow, thus our delay in getting this blog updated.

Day 11 Over the Andes to Chile by Bus

Read Day 11 from top down.

We caught the 1:30 CATA bus today for our trip to Santiago. We had read about how beautiful the trip is, as well as being a nail-biter. Well, right on both accounts.



During the beginning of our ascent, the scenery was exquisite. Rugged mountains and pristine, brilliantly turquoise lakes. We didn´t know which way to turn our heads......there was so much to see every way we looked, as we were dwarfed by the Andes.



Peeking through the top of the mountains in Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas and highest outside of Asia, at over 22,000 feet. We were lucky to be sitting on the right side of the busy to see it.



Here are our new friends from Mexico. They were immensely helpful to us, as none of the announcements were in English......and were pretty funny, besides.



After going through customs (which took 2 1/2 hours) and entering Chile, the ride was all downhill from there. The driver took it slowly down this series of 24 hairpin turns, some of which you can see here. Unfortunately, not everyone was as good a driver. As Hank was taking pictures of the road, he witnessed the tanker in front of us flip over on one of the turns. The trunk was still sliding when he took the photo below.



After we passed the tanker, our bus driver stopped to check on the truck driver. He appeared to
be alive but, needless to say, we were all a bit shaken up as we continued the ride.



We made it to Santiago without further incident. The bus station in Santiago was swarming with people, but we finally got to our hotel at 11:00 and were taken to our wonderful little apartment where we will spend the next 5 nights.

Days 5 thru 10 - Time is flying; we must be having a good time.

Read days 5 thru 10 from the bottom up.





Day 10

Sunday, a day of rest for us.........and a day for Arlene to get her courage together for the bus ride over the Andes tomorrow to Santiago, Chile. Oh, and to catch up on our blog.

This is our patio at the Argentino Hotel, a charming little hotel with great staff and a comfortable bed.....all we need to keep us happy.



Here is the hotel where we are NOT staying - the Park Hyatt. The Wizard of Oz slot machine in the casino didn´t prove to be lucky for us, like we were expecting.




One of the fascinating things about Mendoza are these irrigation channels that are everywhere and were built by the Spanish conquerers to bring water from the Mendoza River to the city, which is basically a dry desert. The water is used to water the trees and keep the city green. We keep wondering how many cars and people have been lost in these things over the years..........and with all this wine drinking too!




Clos de Chacras is a great example of an older, traditional winery, with adobe walls and tanks. The tanks are painted with an epoxy inside.....the only change that´s been made to them in 90 years.




We ended up at Clos de Chacras with our new drinking buddies, where we had a five course lunch with four wines to sample. We needed a good, long nap after this.



Onto Ruca Mayan, a very modern, upscale winery and vineyard with an incredible view to the Andes. Thought we were having lunch here, but we were suprised to leave and head elsewhere.



Day 9

Spent the day touring wineries in Lujan de Cuyo - Malbec country. The first tasting was at Bodego Tapiz, a mid-sized, high quality winery with modern equipment, like these stainless steel tanks...........which we actually got to taste from.....and then tasted the final product from them.



Day 8

New Year´s Day - travel day from Iguazu to Mendoza, through Buenos Aires. New Year´s Eve was one for the books. We tried to find some place where we could have a light meal, but the restaurants were mostly closed or, those that were open, were booked for private parties or only offered packages with huge buffets......too much food for our rebelling stomachs.

So.......it was crackers and water for us in our hotel room (no joke!) and bed before the firecrackers and gunshots went off at midnight.



Here´s a good idea of the type of pathways that take you over the falls. Needless to say, Arlene definitely had to build up her courage to make part of the walk and Hank was very proud of her. We are so happy that Hank was feeling good enough to make the trip. It was an experience that will be one of our great travel memories.



We had heard that it is possible to see many rainbows throughout the day. We were lucky to catch this one. On the other side of the rainbow is.....................Brazil.



We walked over a series of metal walkways that take you to - and over - the falls. The enormity of this place is awesome.....so much bigger than Niagara. As you walk along, passing babbling brooks and tranquil waters, it´s hard to believe what comes ahead. The force of the water continues to build until you come to this.

There were also butterflies of every color and shape everywhere. We had to walk carefully to avoid stepping on them.

Day 7

But we did, after all, arriving in the early afternoon. After a short walk through the ¨jungle¨, we came to the train station where these baby coatis (South American racoon?) were hanging out around the trash near the restaurant. They have become fairly fearless since tourists have been feeding them and are everywhere. We even saw them begging.

Day 6

After arriving in Iguazu a little later than we anticipated, there was not enough time to make it to the falls, so we walked around the town of Puerto Iguazu, near where our hotel was located. We stopped for some cervezas at this little cafe. The town has a fairly third world feel to it.....Hank says definitely third world.

We decided we would get up early the next day to get to the falls early. Unfortunately, Hank was not feeling well and it looked like we might not get to the falls at all.

From the older part of the city below to the newest, above - Puerto Madero - where old warehouses along the port have been transformed into beautiful apartments and upscale restaurants. This beautiful pedestrian bridge across the river evokes the tango....the man leaning into the woman. On the other side of the river is a modern city of glass that is still being developed.

Day 5

Sorry we were off the map for awhile! Too busy or no internet access.

So, our last day in BA this time around, we decided to visit some of the places we hadn´t had a chance to get to yet. Walked along Avenida de Mayo, taking in the grand older buildings, including their Congress.