Wednesday, 30 November 2011

Cape Horn, The End of the World, and Penguins!

Hola Amigos!
We achieved our goal of getting to the very end of the world on November 11, 2011 (an auspicious date no doubt) when we set foot on Cape Horn, Chile at the very tip of the southern hemisphere.  We took a cruise boat to get there and it was a real thrill to be able to land on this piece of rock and add our name into the book of souls who have been here at the Lighthouse.


Cape Horn, November 11, 2011
We landed very early in the morning (7:00am) and were able to walk around the trails for a bit. This place is very historic and there are plaques to Sir Charles Darwin, Sir Robert Scott, Sir Ernest Shackelton and others who were brave explorers to the end of the world and the Antarctic.  We met the lighthouse keeper and his family who lives here and we were able to revel in our suceess at getting to this very special place.  We had been travelling 131 days to get here and we made it safe and sound.




Johnny Walker and 600 Year Old Glacier Ice
The cruise ship we took out of Punta Arenas in Chile is called the Australis and it has 64 cabins.  It was a real pleasure to be able to travel to the Cape this way.  We met some absolutely wonderful people on this trip and there are too many stories to tell for this little blog.  Here we are on the shore drinking Johnny Walker with Glacier Ice that is 600 years old.  Even though it was 10:30 in the morning and I don't drink Scotch, I figured I would simply hunker down and give it a try.  It is actually not bad stuff at all - maybe it was the glacier ice that made it taste so good...


Magellenic Penguins Chile
No trip so far south to this part of the world would be complete without seeing Penguins and we had the thrill of getting this close to them in Zodiac boats.  We were not allowed to land on shore but we took the boats in as close as we could and the penguins didn't really seem to care if we were there or not. These are Magellanic penguins and they are very cute.  They were waddling around and swimming in the water right beside us.  It was just great to see real penugins in their natural habitat.




Cape Horn Chart from Australis
This is the chart that the Captain used to get us to Cape Horn.  We got up at 5:00am so that we could go to the Bridge and watch the arrival of the Horn before we took the Zodiacs over and landed on it.  This chart has an incredible amount of history to it now because it was auctioned off later that evening and our new friends from Germany are going to share it with us.  They have taken it to Germany to start with and we have promised to come and get it within two years.  They will then come to Canada to visit us and the chart will be shared by us forever.  Sort of like a time share but better. We can't wait to tell the whole story and share all the details.

We are now in Buenos Aires enjoying the last bit of our trip.  There probably won't be that many more blog posts as our trip starts to wind down and we prepare to come back to Winter and reality in Vancouver. Do keep your eyes peeled for our next updates as there will be some more posts and a final wrap up to finish the blog.
We hope all is very well with everyone as they prepare for the Holidays!
More to come,
Pat & Gary

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

Patagonia, Boats, Mountains, Glaciers and Wind

Hola Amigos!
We have just spent some time in Southern Patagonia on both the Chilean and Argentinian sides.  We have now crossed the Argentine and Chilean boarder 6 times and we are still not done yet.

Navimag Freighter Puerto Natales Chile
 We took the Navimag boat from Puerto Montt in Chile for 4 days down to Puerto Natales which is at 51 degrees latitude south.  It is a working cargo ship and we were 143 passengers for the trip.  We met some hilarious French folks along with some Slovenians who all became our new best friends for the trip.  We sailed through the beautiful Chilean fijords and saw some terrific scenery along with a humpback whale.  We sailed through the 49 parallel south and it is getting colder as we go down but we are chasing the Spring weather so everything has been fine so far. 



Mirador de Torres del Paine Chile
We went to the famous Torres del Paine National Park in Chile and stayed overnight for 2 nights.  We hiked up to the Mirador de Torres del Paine and we were lucky enough to see the towers at the top.  It was hailing near the top of the trail and it took us 7 hours to get to the top and back.  We experienced the Patagonian wind up close and personal.  People tell you about the wind, you hear about it, read about it and imagine it, but until you hike 7 hours in it you cannot know what this wind is all about.  There were times when we were blown backwards off the trial and at other times it blew so hard it was difficult to breathe!

Massif de Torres del Paine Chile
 Here we are in the Torres del Paine park looking at the Torres Massif mountain.  It is right beside the Cuernos de Torres which we saw as well.  There are active glaciers on this mountain and we heard the ice crack and saw a big huge chunk fall down while we were there.  We just loved the Park although we have to say that it is very very expensive to visit this part of the world.  The Southern part of Chile thinks it is Switzerland and the prices match - everything is at least 3-5 times more than what we have been paying so far. 




Perito Moreno Glacier El Calafate Argentina
We crossed over into El Calafate in Argentina to see the famous Perito Moreno glacier and did we ever luck out.  The sun came out just as we got there and we got to see it up close from a boat.  Sort of like the Maid of the Mist but with a huge glacier instead of a waterfall.  This is the 3rd biggest glacier in South America and it covers the same area as the city of Buenos Aires.  It is simply huge and it ranges from 40 to 70 metres in height.  It is difficult to imagine the scale of it.  The blue ice was simply beautiful and the shapes are just like something out of the movie Superman.  We heard the ice moving and saw some little pieces calve off.


We will now continue to move south and head for Ushuaia in Argentina which is considered the end of the world.
Much more to come
Salud,
Pat and Gary 

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Bariloche Argentina

Hola Buenas Dias,
Here are some photos from what we have been up to lately.
Cerro Campanario Bariloche
We spent two wonderful weeks in Bariloche Argentina.  It is normally a very beautiful place but right now the area is suffering from the ash (ceniza in Spanish) that is still spewing from a volcano in Chile about 40 kms from here.  We have been very selective in our photos because as long as the wind was blowing the right way we were able to see and breathe.  The ash dust is very fine and it gets into absolutely everything making it difficult to see and breathe when the wind picks up.  Since Bariloche is  considered the official northern beginning of Patagonia there is most definitely wind around and it certainly is a challenge for the folks living here.

Refugio Frey 
As you can see in this photo we did get clear skies at a place called Refugio Frey which is well away from any volcano ash and in a very beautiful spot right behind the Catedral skiing area.  We rented sleeping bags and hiked up for 4 hours to get to the refugio where we stayed overnight.  Since it is Spring here we did hit some snow for the last half hour of our hike.  Our super duper running shoes got a bit of a workout and I did manage to fall through some snow that came all the way up to my thigh at one point but we made it and had a great time staying overnight. Gary looks very much like a mountain man here and he has the stubble to match.



Refugio Frey Patagonia Argentina
Juan and Sebastian are the two caretakers that work at the refugio and they both worked at Whistler as ski instructors two years ago. Juan made the best pizza we have had in Argentina and we just had a hoot chatting with these guys who are living the dream in an Alpine hut in Argentina.  The altitude here is 1811 metres but what was really amazing was the famous Patagonia wind which we felt for the first time.  It certainly is a force to be reckoned with especially at 3:00 am when you have to go outside to the bathroom.  



Volcano Osorno Chile
We left Bariloche via the Cruce de Lagos trip which takes you by bus and boat and bus and boat and yet another bus and boat combo into Puerto Varas Chile. We saw beautiful lakes and mountains on the way but the highlight was this volcano which is the Osorno Volcano in Chile.  It is a perfect cone and we were very lucky to see it.  You can ski here in the winter but now all you can do is gaze upon its loveliness. 
We are looking forward to getting onto a cargo freighter in Puerto Montt Chile that will take us all the way down to Puerto Natales in the south.  We are getting ready to see glaciers and penguins in the next little bit as we move to the southern degrees of latitude.
Much more to come! 
Pat and Gary 







Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Santiago Skiing and Wine Tasting

Hola Amigos! Que tal? (means What's Up - notice my huge improvement in the Spanish Language!)

Skiing at Valle Nevados Chile
We wanted to share some of our recent Chilean adventures with you.  We went Skiing at the Valle de Nevados just outside of Santiago Chile right at the end of their ski season and we managed to catch a blue bird sky day to hit the slopes.  It was pretty warm and the snow was schmooy which is typical of Spring Skiing anywhere but it sure was fun to ski in the Andes mountains and see the beautiful views.  Gary was happy to get Day 1 of skiing in for the season.




Wine Tasting at LFE
We also managed to visit some amazing Chilean wineries and we have been drinking wonderful Chilean wine at every opportunity.  We went to the Santa Cruz wine region just south of Santiago and we had some wonderful tours of the wineries high up in the hills.  One of our favourite experiences was an outside tasting in the vineyards really high up at Luis Felipe Edwards.  The view was spectacular and so were the wines.  We then visited Estampa vineyards as well and enjoyed their fabulous wines. This region experienced a lot of damage from the Feb 2010 earthquake so it was very interesting talking with all the vineyard folks to see what happened.  We had a bit of an adventure getting to the wineries because our rental car had a flat tire and we were not sure if we would actually make it to the vineyards or not.  We managed to pull into a small town off the highway and we felt like Indy Car drivers because the 4 guys who patched our tire did it in record time and it cost 4 dollars.  We still don't know how to say flat tire in Spanish but hand signals and pointing at the obvious can get you pretty far sometimes.

Capsule that saved Chilean Miners Valparaiso
We went to Valparaiso just west of Santiago on the coast and we saw the harbour and all the painted houses on the winding streets.  Valparaiso is a huge port city and the Naval presence is everywhere.  We visited the Naval museum and we saw the capsule that the Navy used to save the 33 trapped miners in the Northern Chilean Atacama Desert mine last year.  It was the one year anniversary of the accident so they had the capsule on display for everyone to crawl into and look at.




We found this cross made out of wine barrels in Santa Cruz wine country where we stayed and we thought it was just a perfect use for empty barrels.
We will now continue to move south as we target the end of the world and Ushuaia.

More tales to come!
Salud,
Pat and Gary

Sunday, 16 October 2011

Rapa Nui - Easter Island

Hello Everyone,
We had a simply fantastic time in Rapa Nui -Easter Island. It is a truly special tiny place in the middle of nowhere.  It took almost 6 hours to fly to Rapu Nui from Santiago Chile.  The island is only 24 kms long by 12 kms wide so it is very easy to get around and not get lost. We had amazing warm weather and we were able to tour around and visit all the famous sites on the island in wonderful warm sunshine. The most famous sites to see are the huge Moai statues which are found all over the island. They are simply massive and are made of solid stone. It is one of the world's big mysteries as to how these statues got moved onto their platforms by the sea and after we saw them we had more questions than answers.  Maybe it was the aliens who put them here after all - who knows!

Rano Raraku Quarry on Rapa Nui 
Here we are at the Quarry where the Moai statues were carved. The Moai statues behind us are actully covered up to their necks in dirt which has accumulated over the centuries.  These are full statues and they are very very big.  One of the other mysteries on Rapa Nui is why all of a sudden the people stopped making and moving the statues.  These ones were all in transit down to the coast but for some reason they were simply abandoned and the wind and landslides have filled in the dirt around them. It is a really strange experience to see these deserted statues and wonder what the heck happened here many hundreds of years ago.

Tongariki Rapa Nui at Sunrise
Believe it or not we actually got up early enough in the morning to see the sunrise over these Moai. Anyone who knows me well understands that I am simply not a morning person so that will tell you how important it is to see the sunrise over these statues.  If you don´t believe in powers or spirits of some kind, seeing these statues could change your mind.  There is some sort of weird energy here and you can't help but contemplate the meaning of life when you look at them.  We visited Rapa Nui during the low season so we actually had this entire site to ourselves one morning.  We felt very priviledged to be able to come here and see all this just by ourselves.

Anakena Beach Rapa Nui 
This beautiful beach is near the top of the island and it is where the original settlers first arrived.  The sand is like sugar and perfectly white.  The water is turquoise and crystal clear. There is a restored platform with 7 Moai statues in this picture and it is one of the most important archeological sites on the island.  The weather was nice and warm without any humidity which all combined to make this one of the best beaches I´ve ever been to in my life.  The awesome banana cake and beer sold by one of the vendors here rounded out the whole beach experience.



We have to admit that we left Rapa Nui with a lump in our throats.  We were able hike to the highest point on the island and get a great view of everything.  When we left we were given a feather and a shell. The feather is meant to bring us back some day and when we do that we are to throw the shell back into the sea where it belongs.  Rapa Nui is really a very special place and we can highly recommend it.

We now fly back to Santiago and start moving south.
More news to come very soon!
Cheers,
Pat and Gary







Sunday, 9 October 2011

Mendoza Madness!

Hola Amigos!
Since our Bolivian Bicycle and Salt adventures we have been able to recover in Menodaza Argentina and we can say that life is just wonderful again.  Mendoza is all about wine so you can be sure that we are fully maximizing our time here by visiting as many wineries as we can.  There are about 1200 wineries to see so the pressure is definitely on.  One guide worked it out to at least 3 per day for an entire year. We rented bikes (no not extreme Kona mountain bikes like Bolivia) and toodled around to see as many wineries as possible via bicyclette.  We did ok but ran out of steam after lunch which included a bottle of wine of course!

The views are spectacular and we are looking at Aconcagua Mountain which is a mere 6959 metres above sea level.  This is actually the highest peak in the western hemisphere and it is always in the distance here in Mendoza which is absolutley stunningly beautiful.  It is spring time here so all the blossoms are coming out.  The vineyards themselves are still "sleeping" as one tour guide put it but the scenery is just fantastic.




We had an amazing tour of Zuccardi vineyards and we really wish to thank the wonderful folks there for a simply super afternoon.  We got to visit the experimental wine room which includes neat varietals such as Tannat from Uruguay which I am standing beside.  This is now my new favourite wine and I would love to keep whatever is in this tank.  The city of Mendoza is just fantastic and it is really easy to get around.  We were able to try some of the yummy food including a typical Argentinian Parilla which includes all sorts of interesting meats and bits on the BBQ.


Here we have Gary with a real Asado or BBQ.  These guys take their meat very seriously and as you can see they go for the whole meal deal.  The sqaure right down the street from our hotel, the Plaza de Chile, was the site of the Chilean Festival of Independence Celebration and they BBQ'd meat like this for three days in a row.  There was traditional dancing at nighttime and of course more wine.  We had a lot of fun watching everything go down for the festival.



Here we are outside yet another winery that specialized in organic wines and we were able to taste primitive wine or wine that had not been filtered or treated in any way.  I must admit it tasted a lot like grape juice and I think my palatte has become used to the more commercialized traditional wines we all love so much.  Malbec is the wine of choice around here and we have done our best to sample as much as we can.  At 5 to 6 dollars for a good decent bottle it is really fun to sample all the different wines.

We have more stories to tell about our adventures but in the meantime we would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We will be missing our turkey but we will be sure to drink some wine that goes well with Turkey to celebrate.
Salud,
Pat and Gary

Saturday, 10 September 2011

Salt Desert Uyuni Bolivia - Extreme Adventure!

Hola Amigos!
Salt Hotel Uyuni Bolivia
We have survived our 3 day Bolivian Salt Desert Crossing in a 4 x 4 truck and we are alive to tell the tale! This was definitely the most extreme part of our trip so far.  In this picture I´m sitting at a table made of salt blocks which is in front of an entire building made of salt blocks.  The white stuff at my feet is not snow but salt.  It was really surreal walking and driving on that much salt.  They actually have one part they call the Salvador Dali desert and we can certainly see why. 



Fish Island Salt Desert Uyuni
These cacti are the oldest in the world and they only grow one centimetre every year.  We are completely surrounded by salt and the desert.  We spent one night in a hotel built entirely out of salt blocks and the floor was simply salt crystals.  It got very cold at night (minus 15 degrees celcius) and we slept with all of our clothes and jackets on.  There was frost on the inside of the window when we woke up.  Gary and I were easily the oldest folks on this tour and I told Gary if he wants to do this again he will need to find a 25 year old chick to do it with.  My high altitude salt desert camping days are quickly drawing to a close!

James Pink Flamingos at Laguna Verde Bolivia
However, when you see scenery like this you can definitely say it was all worth it! We saw hundreds of gorgeous pink flamingos in the lagoons in front of the volcano.  The scenery was pristine and we are literally in the middle of nowhere here which is why the flamingos hang out.  We also saw herds of Vicuna and a bunch of crazy llamas as well. 








This volcano actually has smoke coming out of the top left side of it. Mmmm makes you wonder when the next one is going to blow.  We walked along some Geysers which were all bubbly and it felt like walking on egg shells.  The Andes are still growing and we got to see it up close and personal.  We crossed over into Chile on a high mt. pass at 15,000ft to San Pedro de Atacama and we were able to do some stargazing in the highest, driest desert on earth.  We saw the Southern Cross and lots of  Zodiac signs in the sky.  We also saw Jupiter with its rings and moons.  Our extreme desert days are now over and we will head down to wine country in Argentina and Chile.  We are both looking forward to hot showers good wine and good food!
Much more to come,
Pat & Gary