Back in town

We arrived back in Puerto Natales yesterday afternoon after over 100 k, 10 days, 1 change of clothes, and 3 showers in the Andes. What a hike. I am so very very very proud of myself. My knees are sore and may never be the same again, but the experience was worth every second of it.

The Torres Del Paine circuit that we hiked encompases a variety of microclimates in the Torres del Paine park. We really lucked out with the notoriously rainy unpredictable weather. Only our hike in and Pack out days were rainy, the 8 days in between may have had rain at night (which my new tent kept out very nicely), but our days were mostly clear, sunny, and bright. We got to see chunks of ice calving off of glaciers that have been there for thousands of years, nearly got blown off of mountain sides by winds that I thought only exisited in the movies, saw orchids, and daisies stubbornly growing in the wild conditions. The views of mountains after 4 hour rocky climbs made the packs seem lighter and my knees less sore. All in all, an amazing hike that I would love to do again.....just not right away.

My travel partner and I have splurged on a hotel type room with a private bathroom that includes a small bath tub! Very exciting. We plan to eat a few very good meals today, before heading back to El Calafate in Argentina. From there we will visit the glacier park, hike on some glaciers, then take a long bus ride, or a short plane ride, depending on what we can find, to Esquel, further north in Argentina, before heading back into Chile where I will send my current travel bud packing back to Winnipeg, and meet my next travel but Jill for flights of fancy through central and Northern Chile. If the rest of my trip is as good as the last 3 weeks have been, I´ll have had my cake and eaten it too!!!

Hope that everyone had a fabulous holiday season. Maybe it even matched mine, with my being in the Andes for both my birthday and Christmas! Great views to wake up to on Christmas morining!

Hugs to all
Erin

Puerto Natales CHILE

Here we are in Puerto Natales Chile! Today we will be getting supplies together for our early morning start tomorrow for the 10 day Torres del Paine Cirucuit. I ´m very excited. Because we´re doing the long trek when most tourists only have time for the 4 day, we have to organize a food drop at the halfway point as everything is pack in, pack out. Works for me, I was a little worried about climbing mountains with 10 days worth of food on my back....along with the tent, sleeping bags, etc.etc... This works!

We flew into El Calafate on the 16th, spent a night, then caught a bus across the border to Chile and our current residence. Much cooler than Buenos Aires, thank goodness, so we have finally been able to order hot chocolates instead of iced cream....The hot chocolate if fabulous. Hot milk with melted gobs of chocolate in it that you can stir around to blend in...yum. Nights in the mountains will be cold, near freezing, and the winds off of the glaciars there are notoriously frigid....as any wind off of a glaciar would be I expect. So I´ll be packing in some powdered mild and Milo (hot chocolate mix) to warm me up along the way. WE´re very much looking forward to hitting the Andes and heading into some seclusion.

I´ll report back in 10 to 12 days or so!

Hugs to all
Erin

Buenos Aires last day

Today was our last day in Buenos Aires as we plan to head out to Tigre tomorrow. The past few days here we´ve really put on the miles motoring around town. We´ve seen the balcony from which Eva Peron gave her famous speaches, the widest street in the world (16 lanes, fun crossing that one), tango in the streets, meandered through leafy parks where hired dog walkers hold onto up to 15 animals at once, went to the zoo, cooled off in museums and spent the requisite amount of time in cafe´s watching the stylish Portenos walk by. What a city. All of that and we´ve so far avoided stepping in dog doo....of which there are plenty in the streets.

Tomorrow on to Tigre which is a river front city off of which there are tropical islands that you can take a boat to, and picnic on. One day of not pounding pavement before we head off to Patagonia to walk countless miles in the mountains. Truth be told, I can´t wait to get out of the big city, and into both more rural and more temperate climes.

Hugs to all
Next stop....Southern Argentina!
Erin

December 10, after 18 hours of travel

Hello everyone

Here I am, safe and sound in Buenos Aires. Our flights went off without a hitch, and an hour long layover in Santiago Chile, then cross country flight to BA meant I got a birds eye view of the Andes. Incredible.

We´ve settled into our hostel and spent the late afternoon (as we only got here around 4pm) checking out the palermo area, lots of shops, restaurants (that only serve supper after 8pm), and parks. We toured through one set of botanical gardens before it closed for the evening. It was lovely, and home to over a hundred ferel cats....Geoff(my travel bud) had to stop me from petting them all. Lots of people selling things on the streets in the plaza area, some grimey streets and crazy drivers (lane demarcations are mere suggestions) but no signs yet of the begging kids that I had gotten so used to in previous south american trips.

Our first meal in BA and we got to experiance the ´parilla´ or Argentinian Grill. Free range, grass fed, all natural beef grilled to perfection over an open flame...soooo good. The local wine is an awesome accompanyment of course.
We plan to head out of town for at least one day in the week that we have here. Temperatures are around 30 degrees, polution and humididty are high which is a bit tiring after the cooler MB temps. By the time we get used to it we will be on to Patagonia and cold weather again!

I´ll keep you posted!


Erin

6262 Miles from Home

Hello Everyone

Only 2 more days before I head off to Buenos Aires and the start of my Andean Adventure. I should be posting every week or so, more often if I have the time, less often when I'm hiking in the mountains and don't have internet access.

Stay posted if my meanderings are of interest!

Erin