6 Months on the Road!

Can’t believe we’ve been on the road for exactly 6 months today!  We’re currently in Arequipa, Peru about to do a 3 day trek through Colca Canyon!

Happy May!!!!

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The NaviMag Experience

We weren’t quite ready to leave the beauty of Patagonia, but we knew staying any longer would throw the budget off.  So, we started looking for the best and cheapest way to head north. Originally, we planned to take a plane from Punto Arenas (PA) to Santiago, Chile. But, I suggested that we look into other options.  Obviously, we didn’t want to take a bunch of buses north; that would be exhausting & a waste of money.  I really wanted to take a boat at some point on the trip & why not look into our options during this portion?

Eventually, I was able to convince Corey to head to the tour office in PA.  As it turned out, there was a ferry, but it left from Puerto Natales (PN) & it didn’t leave for another 6 days. That meant we’d have to divide our time between two Podunk (two-horse) towns in the coldest part of South America! Yes, it was a long time to wait, but it was worth it in the end!

The NaviMag Ferry (not luxurious enough to call it a cruise) is a 4 day boat journey through the fjords of Patagonia from PN to Puerto Montt (PM). For the most part, it’s navigated through channels, but there are 2 portions where the ferry goes through the Pacific Ocean for a chance to see some cool aquatic creatures.

Our Cabin

Before leaving PN, we’d made sure to stock up on supplies: mostly snacks & drinks, since these items can be a bit more pricey on the ferry. It was also suggested that we get seasick pills, because the 3^rd day on the boat is known to be very rough, since it navigates through open seas. But after stopping at 3 different pharmacies & coming up empty, we decided to risk it & go without them.

Our first night on the NaviMag – hanging out in the PN Harbor

On February 25^th, we departed Puerto Natales at 4:00 am after already boarding the night before around 9:00 pm. I realize how cheesy this sounds, but you could feel the excitement in the air the night before. Everyone was taking pictures of the sunset our last night in PN & travelers old & young were anxiously waiting for what would come on our first full day of the journey.

We had a 6:00 am wake up call that Monday to watch the captain navigate a difficult maneuver. I would like to say, that if you ever take this journey, unless you’re big into photography, just sleep in & go to the late breakfast! We got some nice photos of the sunrise, but since I know nothing about navigating a boat, it didn’t look super impressive to me or Corey or any of the other travelers who got up at the butt-crack of dawn to watch our navigation through this “narrow” passage.

For the next 3 mornings, there would be an early wake-up call over the loud speakers & every time fewer & fewer people woke up to see what was going on. As each day passed we made more friends & as a result we stayed up later & later every night. I got up early the last day because I wanted to see one more unobstructed view of the sunrise, but it was just me & one other girl that day.

My photo buddy on the last morning

Every morning after breakfast, the crew would show us the path of the ferry in English & Spanish. In the afternoon they would offer lectures and activities related to this region of the world. My favorite was knot-tying class on the 3^rd day. The evenings consisted of dinner, a movie for all ages in Spanish (with subtitles) in the cafeteria and adult activities on the top deck in the bar.

Ricardo, one of our favorite crew members!

Karaoke Night (I sang too & we do have video, but not sure if I’m ready for that kind of exposure!)

As it turns out, we got very lucky in that the Pacific Ocean was extremely calm on the 3^rd day. Normally, the boat is rocking back & forth uncontrollably and most people are seasick for 12 hours (more or less). We spoke with a couple who’d taken the ferry south to PN & the husband said it was, by far, the worst 12 hours of his life. I was so happy that the most we had was a gentle swaying back & forth and the few times I felt queasy, I just sat on the deck & watched the horizon wearing my motion-sickness armbands.

That day would also bring the chance to see dolphins & whales. We didn’t want to get our hopes up, but as it turned out, we didn’t need to. We actually got to see 2 whales & one of our friends got a great shot as it was they dove below the surface! This was the first time either of us have seen whales in their natural environment & words can’t describe just how amazing it was!

Photo by our friend Ainara

Photo by our friend Ainara

Claudia & Corey playing cards

BINGO night & I actually won!!!

Last night on the boat with Dirk & Naoya

We knew from the start that the ferry would be 1 of 2 things: 1) a horrible experience & waste of money or 2) one of the best experiences of our trip so far & something we’d always look back on with fond memories. It was definitely the later & I can’t believe we contemplated for a moment taking a plane north! There was lots of laughter, dancing, singing, card games & memories! Since arriving in PM on Friday, March 1^st we’ve bumped into other NaviMag travelers more than a dozen times, including last night at a restaurant in Sucre, Bolivia, 50 days later! We’re so happy that we took the ferry north & know that we’ll be talking about it for years to come!

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Photo of the Week

Week 21 – Little One – En Route to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Week 22 – .j.u.m.p. – San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Week 23 – Untitled – Sal de Uyuni, Bolivia

Week 24 – Pinky – Salt Flats Tour – Uyuni, Bolivia

 

 

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Patagonia – Part I

Patagonia is the region that encompasses roughly the bottom third of the countries of Argentina & Chile. It is an area of the world that has attracted travelers & bandits alike for centuries. Butch Cassidy, the Sun Dance Kid and Etta Place spent time here trying to escape the law and make an honest life for themselves, as is documented in Bruce Chatwin’s (a fellow traveler) timeless classic “In Patagonia”. Unfortunately for them, that didn’t last too long. What attracted us, along with countless others, to Patagonia is the regions beautiful scenery. From snow-capped mountain peaks & glistening lakes to the towering plateaus & vast expanses of wind-blown desolateness, Patagonia is without a doubt one of the most beautiful and unpopulated places on the Earth.

 

 

Our first stop after leaving Susan, Dave, & Tiv in San Rafael was Bariloche, Argentina. Located on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi and home to countless chocolate shops, Bariloche definitely had the feel of a town in the Swiss Alps. We had only planned to stay two nights in Bariloche, so we figured what better way to spend our one full day there than taking a nice hike. A woman working at the hostel that we were staying at recommended an “easier” three hour hike that would take us up and over one of the surrounding mountains to a smaller lake that would be warm enough to swim in.

Notice how happy we are at the beginning of the hike!

What she neglected to tell us was that the map the hostel gave us was horrible and that the “trail” had zero signs that could give us even the slightest idea where to go. After several hours of hiking we reached what we assumed was the end of the trail. We could see the lake, but had no idea how to get down to it outside of summer-salting down the mountain.

After 6 hours of hiking and attempts at 4 different side trails proved fruitless, we finally decided to abandon our mission and get off the mountain.

This is Kevin – who turned out to be a girl, but we’d already named her – she followed us for 4 hours!

This is probably around the 5 hour, 45 minute mark, when we finally had to throw in the towel!

Unfortunately, for me there were two ways off: hike 8 km back down the way we came or take the suspended cable car. Despite my debilitating fear of heights, Lisa finally talked me into taking the cable car down and we lived to talk about it!

Bariloche was great and we wish we could have spent a little more time there, but we already made plans to head south to a small mountain town called Esquel, Argentina with plans to camp at the Parque Nacional de los Alerces.  As we all know, sometimes the best of plans can get dashed out. In our case rain was the main culprit.  After 3 days of straight rain we decided that it just wasn’t in the cards for us to camp in Esquel.  At this point we had two options, head south again or end our time in Argentina.  In the end we decided that El Calafate, Argentina, in the Southern third of Patagonia, was going to be our next destination.

 

Like pretty much everywhere else in Patagonia, El Calafate proved to be a really beautiful city. With a population of around 100,000, it plays host to many thousands more during the high tourist season of January & February. During this time prices are very high for food and lodging. Despite our best shopping around, every restaurant ranged from kind of expensive to really expensive. Nevertheless, we had a great time in El Calafate after we changed hostels to one that was a little farther our of town, but had a great atmosphere, where we met a handful of fun travels along with a great staff!

 

After a few days of hanging out around town, we were finally able to get on a tour to El Calafate’s main attraction, the Perito Moreno Glacier. One of the world’s fastest moving glaciers, creeping along at a little more than 2 meters a day & dumping 4 story building size pieces of ice into Lake Argentina all day long, Perito Moreno stretches some 35 plus kilometers back through the mountains and across the Chilean border.

Our tour took the back roads to the National Park allowing us to see falcons & eagles at close range as well as stopping at a large estancia (ranch) that was home to horses, cows, goats, and a milk hungry cat.

According to Lisa, my photo skills are improving – I took this shot!

Lisa even had a good time, despite the fact that she was freezing!

We admittedly had some reservations about spending money to see a giant block of ice, but it was one of the most impressive things that we’ve seen so far on the trip. All in all, El Calafate was one of our favorite places so far on this trip, despite it’s Wisconsin like cool/cold weather.

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Alta Gracia

Last week I decided to take a day trip to Alta Gracia by myself.  Corey hadn’t slept well the night before, but we’d already made plans for our last day in the Cordoba area. So, I figured why not do the journey on my own!  It only cost 105 Argentinian Pesos (about $21US) for my whole day, which basically entailed museum admission fees and transportation.

Plus, I got a nice deal on a 3-in-1 day pass to the following museums:

Casa del Che Museo

Manuel de Falla Museo

La Pena de Gabriel Dubios

While it would’ve been more fun if Corey tagged along, I still had a nice time.  Plus, it showed me that I can travel independently, which I’d never truly done on my own before!

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