Argentina/Chile Part II: Fin del Mundo
Giant adventure awaits us as we almost fall off the end of the world during our time in Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. After a stint in Buenos Aires, we head way south to cruise through the Beagle Channel, accompanied by seals and penguins. We watch and listen to glaciers crash. We climb Andean peaks. We spend hours staring into the emptiness of the Patagonian tundra. Like the exploers and frontiersfolk that have come before us, we wander through wild places and ponder the big questions in life in these glorious wide open spaces.
Buenos Aires greets us in all its humid, sultry glory as we awake on the overnight bus. We wonder if we have somehow been transported to Europe during the night as our taxi drives us down the widest avenue in the world, lined with glass skyscrapers and 20-story french revivalist apartment buildings. Giant neon signs flash in the rising sun and the gleaming white obelisque, reminiscent of the Washington monument, marks the navel of the city. Our taxi takes us to San Telmo, where crumbling colonial buildings, spririted locals, and ever-present music (in this case, the melancholy strains of tango) remind us of New Orleans. Fresh pasta stores and pastry shops overflowing with dulce de leche treats fill every block. Young Argentines in designer clothes stumble into coffee shops at 9 am – ending another marathon Friday night out. Porteños (folks from BsAs) sure know how to live! Buenos Aires has a singular spirit that we only dip our toes into during three days rushing from place to place as we plan the remainder of our trip. We find time for the requisite steak dinner (not as good as our steak in Cafayate!) and a meander through the antique, arts, and tango-filled Sunday market in San Telmo before saying goodbye to the plague of mosquitoes that have descended upon the capital in a sweltering late summer heat wave.
A short flight (what flight isn’t short after all those bus rides!) over grand mountains and waterways finds us in Ushuaia – the southernmost city in the world and the named goal for our big journey (yah! we made it!) There is a magic is this small town that was once nearly impossible to reach (many an explorer perished in their pursuit to find the end of the continent.) Perched between giant glaciers and the Beagle Channel, Ushuaia was not long ago a town of slapped together frontier buildings standing against the Antarctic wind. But, for both good and bad, it is becoming more and more accessible. Now, cruise ships pull into port on a regular basis and frequent flights from BsAs make it easily reachable for most of the year – creating a thriving, overpriced industry for anything imprinted with “Ushuaia – Fin del Mundo.” But only a short drive takes us to the beauty of the Tierra del Fuego National Park – where we hike along the Beagle Channel, through lenga forests and truly end-of-world scenery. However, introduced rabbits and beavers have reproduced to the point of being a plague (we counted upwards of 100 rabbits in a single field), making the whole experience even more surreal. A boat trip through the Beagle Channel, retracing Darwin´s voyage, takes us to one of the most southern lighthouses in the world and gives us a chance to see sea lions, cormorants, and penguins (!!!!) up close. The minimal human presence in this desolate corner of the world has allowed wildlife to thrive; there is nothing like visiting animals at home!
Our next stop takes us to the heart of Southern Patagonia – Calafate. The landscape is shockingly bleak compared to the unique, wild lushness of Tierra del Fuego. Short brush and smooth rocks are all that is visible for as far as the eye can see across the Patagonian tundra. As the tundra meets the Andes everything changes and water and ice have shaped a very different landscape. This is an undiscovered land, where wild horses (descendents of abandoned horses) and guanacos (related to llamas) run free. This makes the tourist mecca of Calafate all the more shocking. The most expensive city in Argentina, Calafate is an overdeveloped hotel and souvenir shop disaster in the middle of nowhere. However, there is no denying the awesomeness of the town´s claim to fame – the mind blowing Perito Moreno Glacier. This natural phenomenon is 30 km long and rises about 100 feet above the water of the giant Lago Argentino. Its millenial ice glows aquamarine and appears like thousands of giant popsicle soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder between the Andean giants at their sides. Over three days, we blow our budget on various tours and boat rides to experience the glacier and make an exhausting day trip into Chile to Torres del Paine National Park (see misadventure below.)
Next, a four hour bus ride along the desolate Route 40 takes us to the small village of El Chalten. Now this must be what Patagonia once was! A dusty frontier town inside Los Glacieres National Park, El Chalten is made up of about a hundred wooden buildings and a dozen streets, most leading to trailheads that take you into the park within minutes. The park itself is glorious – Fitz Roy´s dramatic granite peaks jut into the sky and well maintained trails trace lush river landscapes; it is a hiker´s paradise and, despite Jamaica fighting off a nasty case of bronchitis, we enjoy this windy, chilly town that has transported us to a world of rugged settlers and explorers.
We delve deeper into the Patagonian experience on a 24-hour bus ride North along the mythical Route 40. This road, legendary among Argentines, traces the whole of Argentina from the border with Bolivia to the Straight of Magellan. A great deal of it is dirt and traverses the unpopulated and barren world of Southern Patagonia. It is a meditative experience on the bus for two 12 hour days, the only vehicle on the road, stopping infrequently at tiny outposts where true Patagonian gauchos (beret and giant daggers intact) serve tea and excellent cake to passerby. For hours on end, the land is unchanging, only broken up by herds of sheep and wild horses that scamper away from the approaching bus. What must life be like for these far-flung settlers? Descendents from Welsh, Czech, and other immigrant groups that live a hundred miles from the next settlement – with only the amazing endless sky and unbreaking landscape as a comfort. Truly fin del mundo.
Late on the second day, the ground begins getting lush. Forests, farms, and rivers appear. The occasional estancia becomes a small town, and suddenly we enter a landscape of rolling hills and sparkling lakes. The imposing peaks of the Andes have eased into softer green giants, inviting exploration and backpacking. We step out of the bus in El Bolson and into bright sun and perfect 70 degree weather. Hippies with dreads trawl the tree-lined streets, beating drums and selling necklaces. Families wander about with fresh jam and cheese just bought at the local market. Only hours ago we were alone, in the middle of nothing. Yet it is somehow a comfort, to know that the fin del mundo is out there – existing in all its desolate glory, awaiting the next adventurer.
Best moments: So many, we will be brief:
1) Watching the Magellanic and Gentoo penguins frolic with their recent offspring on the rocks and in the waves of the Beagle Channel at their rookery, near Ushuaia. So curious about our boat, they squawk and swim around our metal hull, inviting play in the icy waters.
2) Staring off into space in Tierra del Fuego National Park, looking towards Antarctica
3) Standing several hundred feet away from the Perito Moreno Glacier in Calafate, watching as giant boulders of ice, the size of buses, calve off the glacier with a deep, thunderous roar and crash into the lake, causing a tidal wave that surges into the tourist boat sitting at the base of the glacier.
4) Hiking in the shadow of the Fitz Roy range, getting a better view of its majestic peaks and nearby glaciers with every step we take.
5) Endless hours staring at the nothingness of Patagonia on Route 40. Who knew that places like this still existed??
Most unfortunate adventure: 1) Showing up without a hostel reservation in Buenos Aires. Have we learned nothing? Assuming that the low season of the North would also be in effect in the metropolis of Buenos Aires, we arrive in the city without reservations. The receptionist at our first choice hostel laughs at us when we ask if a double is available. We spend three hours pounding the pavement in search of an affordable hostel, full backpacks in tow. One day we will learn….
2) Aerolineas Argentina: potentially the worst airline in the world. Our flight to Calafate leaves four hours late – no explanation and no customer service to answer angry customer questions. Then we learn from our new friend Ashley (see below) that after three flights on AA, he has not had one flight leave within an hour of its scheduled time and they have lost his luggage… twice! We then hear a story about a biker that has biked from Alaska to Ushuaia who, on his arrival to Buenos Aires from Ushuaia, finds that his precious bike has been run over by a luggage cart! I am sure there are worse airlines in the world, but we hope to never experience them!
3) Our unfortunate experience in Torres del Paine. We have heard from many a traveler that Torres del Paine National Park in Chile is one of the most amazing parks in South America. However, it is also known for incredibly variable weather and bone chilling winds. We leave our hostel at 5:15 am to cross into Chile for a day at the park. Unfortunately for us, we have hit a very bad weather day; the icy rain feels like tiny daggers on the skin, and the wind blows with gusto through every layer we wear. Add to that a thick fog that makes sighting any of the landmark granite towers impossible and a US$30 entrance fee. We spend 12 hours on a minubus trying to spy any site that varies from the Patagonian plains that we have grown accustomed to, but our only success is viewing many a graceful guanaco and plenty of ñandus (Argentine ostriches). Despite the best efforts of our guide, we leave the park incredibly disappointed, and chlled to the bone.
Best meal: We had some good meals along the way in Patagonia, but only one stands out as truly outstanding. In a small wooden house made of bits of bark and using wooden skis for banisters in El Chalten, we had out of this world hot chocotate. At “La Chocolatería Josh Aike”, they serve the chocolate bitter with sugar on the side, having made this artisanally produced cocoa in their tiny kitchen in giant copper pots. They also make to-die-for alfajores (Argentine oreos made with dulce de luche) and molten chocolate tarts. In the chilly winds of El Chalten, no meal could top the creamy luxury of this truly fabulous, rich hot beverage.
Meal we never need to have again: In many of the hostels we stayed, breakfast was included. How wonderful!, we thought, imagining eggs and toast. Unfortunately, the ubiquitous Argentine breakfast consists of coffee (usually Nescafe in the average hostel) and medialunas, which are a deplorable cousin of the croissant. Unlike their flaky cousins, medialunas are dense, small, bready crescents covered with a sticky, sugary film. They are low on taste and nutrition. The average Argentine eats two to get started in the morning. After about a week of these things, our stomachs began to heave every time a basket of medialunas was put down in front of us – we had hit the proverbial medialuna wall. Thumbs-down on the Argentine breakfast.
Most overrated food: Patagonian food, although exotic, not so tasty. Food at the end of the world is basically what you would expect: over-salted smoked deer, boar, and fish – no vegetables or fresh things in sight. The Patagonian “lamb” was actually tough old mutton – almost inedible. Luckily for Patagonia, they now receive things from the rest of Argentina. Strangely, Patagonian food is being exotified all over Argentina and you can find overpriced Patagonian restaurants in many places, especially Buenos Aires. Thankfully, Patagonian wines are quite tasty.
Favorite person: Ashley – British doctor extraordinaire whom we met while awaiting our delayed flight in Ushuaia, and who we had the chance to share several adventures and meals with during our time in Patagonia. Ashley was particularly helpful when Jamaica became worried about her lingering bronchitis, assuaging her fears that an airlift home would be necessary. Thanks Ashley! Hope the new job is going well! Come and visit soon!
Quote of the week: “…a toast… to toast, and long walks, short piers, and good restaurants.” – Nelson, after finally finding a restaurant during a long night in Buenos Aires, reflecting on the state of getting lost in big cities and the need for a healthy breakfast.
