Round the World with Ann and Katie

We had a bit of a shakey start in Bariloche. We booked to go for a full day´s kayaking on the Sunday but they phoned to say that it would be too windy so would we mind just having a half day instead. We agreed to that but on reflection it was a mistake. They were supposed to pick us up at 9.30am but didn´t arrive until 10 – not a good start. We drove a short way to a lake in the mountains where we were provided with kayaks. It didn´t seem windy at all as we set off up the lake. It soon became apparent that we were going to have to keep waiting for one couple who had not done any kayaking before. Then after we had been paddling for about 40 minutes the guide suddenly did an about turn and we pulled up on a beach where we spent half an hour drinking coffee. Following this she said it was too windy to carry on and we just paddled back to the start. If I pay for a half day I expect to be on the water for more than 1 hour and 10 mins! So it was a very frustrating experience. But we spent the rest of the day planning and preparing for our hiking trip in the mountains – buying more pasta and noodles, that type of thing.  The hostel was quite good except that a couple in the dorm insisted on turning our corner into a Chinese laundry by turning on the radiator next to our bunk (it is summer here) and dripping washing all over it. Then they closed the windows! I had a running battle turning the radiator off and opening the windows.

However on Monday we were all packed and ready to go and after waiting at the wrong bus stop for half an hour (Katie´s fault of course!) we finally caught a bus back out to the lake where we had been kayaking the previous day. We met a couple of lads who said they were going to the same place as us – they set off in the opposite direction and we never saw them again! At first we walked beside the lake and then after about 2km we headed off on the trail up through woods, calling in at a small waterfall on the way. There were lots of wild flowers along the way again, big orange daisies and what looked to me like clematis. The track was very dry and dusty and after about 5km we started ascending with a vengeance. I had requested a rest before the steep bit but we were at the top of it before I had my wish! When the trail levelled out we had lunch in the woods before carrying on, this time with no shade, up more steep tracks until we came to Refugio Frey, on a col near a blue lake. There were lots of climbers staying there and many were in action on the nearby rocky towers so we watched them for a while before pitching the tent down by the lake in a sheltered spot. All around were huge rock pinnacles and towers so we could see why the area was so popular with climbers. We, however, lazed about by the lake for the rest of the day. As the sun went down the surface of the lake was turned into a mass of sparkling jewels, dancing in the dying rays of the sun.

The next day at sunrise the lake was blood red for a little while. I think it must have been reflection off the rocks which are bit pinky in colour. Then we set off up the valley and faced our first climb of the day, up a scrambly scree slope to Laguna Schmoll. There was more enjoyable scrambling up to another col where the views were excellent of a green valley far below and mountains all around. In the winter this is a ski area so there are chair lifts etc on some of the moutains. Then the real fun started! I haven´t spent so much of a day on scree since we went to the Dolomites a few years ago (when my knees were that much younger). I hate scree at the best of times and this was a real killer. But after slithering about for what seemed like ages we arrived in some more woods in the valley for a well-earned rest. We strolled on through the woods for a while which was pleasant but then we had to climb up to another col (more scree). And then down another huge scree slope before we finally reached the refugio and the campsite at Laguna Jakob. I had a bit of a sense of humour failure when I saw the last lot of scree! It was a tough day, carrying all our camping gear and food and it was also very hot. But after a sit down by the lake we felt better.

It was to be our last night in the tent before I go home so it was quite sad really. The following morning we walked down a very pleasant valley, about 18km, to the road where we had a good piece of luck – the bus arrived at the end of the trail at the same time as us and we were soon back in Bariloche.

Before leaving for our hike we had tried to make a money transfer through Western Union to pay the deposit for our room in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately we had made a small spelling mistake on the form so the hostel could not collect the money. Then the Internet connection to Bariloche was lost and so we were unable to sort out the problem. I´m afraid I had had enough of hostels and I wanted to have a private room in Buenos Aires (en suite even!). It is not actually that expensive – only the equivalent of 20 pounds for the room including breakfast. But we didn´t know whether we had secured the room or not.

On Thursday we decided to go biking. There is a good bike ride called Circuito Chico near Bariloche. It is only about 30km and you can get off for a stroll or a sit on the beach every now and then – my sort of biking! The bikes we had were excellent this time, in very condition, with 24 gears (all of which worked). The circuit goes round several lakes in the mountains so is quite up and down. Some of the hills were very long so I´m afraid I had to push a couple of times while Katie managed to pedal all the way.

Then on Friday we were back on the bus for another mammoth journey to Buenos Aires. We set off at 10am and arrived here at about 7am on Saturday morning. But the bus was luxurious and what we had was in fact the cheaper version. The seats were fully reclining, with leg rests and we were provided with meals and drinks as well. And a wierd selection of films including one in which Bruce Willis kept getting killed which I found quite gratifying. Before we had set off from Bariloche I had managed to contact our B and B and discovered that they were indeed saving our room for us – what a relief. So we have a really nice room all to ourselves, our own bathroom, proper towels and so on, all close to the centre of Buenos Aires.

Haven`t been able to post anything for a while. They changed our user name for this blog and didn´t tell us and then the whole internet connection for Bariloche went tits up on Thursday. We are now in Buenos Aires though where technology seems a bit better. So what follows is rather ancient history but never mind.

After our last Erratic Rock brekky (will really miss the brekkies!) we got the bus to El Calafate. This necessitated crossing the border into Argentina where they  have a large sign stating that the Falklands (or Malvinas as they will   insist  on calling them) belong to Argentina. We had a chuckle to ourselves! The scenery for the most  part was very flat and boring but we saw a couple  of flamingos and some rheas. The landscape improved when it stopped raining maainly because the clouds were quite spectacular. We arrived in Calafate at about 1pm and as we  had no Argentinian cash Katie went off in search   of an ATM. All the machines  in town were empty and the money exchange plaaces were all closed. We knew that there were no banks or ATMs   in El Chalten, our planned final destination for the day so we were scuppered. No money for lunch, nowhere to stay, no money to get the bus to El Chalten. And Calafate is supposed to be a big tourist centre! Eventually we found a supermarket that allowed us to pay with plastic and finally had lunch at about 4pm. We also found a  place to stay that didn´t want payment upfront. One of the money exchange   places opened up at 5.30 and we joined a long queue but managed to get enough cash to pay for our lodgings and bus tickets by changing my emergency stash  of US$. So  on the Monday  morning we left Calafate with a sense of relief en route for Chalten.

After another couple of hours  of Patagonian steppe (not the  most  inspiring landscape in the world) the Fitzroy range came  into view. Very dramatic, with huge rock towers and glaciers aand a huge blue lake.

On the way   in to El Chalten the bus stopped at the National Park office where we picked up  info. about walks in the area. The bus then dropped us off in town, which is very wild west   in nature with wooden buildings, unsurfaced roads etc. It is changing very quickly though and will be quite civilised in a few years time I think. It was extremely windy and dust was blowing everywhere. Due to the problems with   oney we hadn´t booked anywhere to stay but after stomping around for a bit we found a hostel. We tried to do a short walk after lunch but it was so windy we gave up and just got ourselves organised for our trek the next day.

The wind had dropped a bit overnight as we set off with  our camping gear and supplies for 3 days. At first we wndered up through woods with views along the valley aand the mountains in the distance. We came to a mirador (viewpoint) after a while but it was quite cloudy and Fitzroy  itself was not to be seen. Other peaks  in the range were however visible and looked mysterious, going in and out of the clouds. We sat for a while hoping the clouds would clear but got quite cold so moved on. After aaabout 3 hours we dropped our rucksacks and climbed steeply up to another viewpoint and this time were rewarded with magnificent views of the whole Fitzroy range. It was very windy again so we crouched behind a rock for a while before heading back down. We then walked on past two lakes and through more woods where we saw some woodpeckers, black with red heads. We reached our campsite beside the Rio Fitzroy, in a spot where we should have had views of Cerro Torre but it was cloudy (or atmospheric, as Katie insists on calling it) so we couldn´t. We had a 3 course dinner in the tent, including a banana pudding in which we dipped sponge fingers. Then a game of Scrabble before bed.

The next day we walked back down and through El Chalten to pick up another trail. It looked a bit like rain and we couldn´t decide whether to do the walk or just put the tent up and be lazy. But we decided in the end not to  be wimps and set off steeply out of the v alley, through woods, across some   open hills and down into the next valley where we were going to camp. We reached the valley floor in pouring rain. The ground was waterlogged and boggy so we decided to head back to Chalten! It was very, very steep getting out of the valley and we were thoroughly wet and dejected. But once up to the top we made good time and it even stopped raiining as we descended to Chalten. Untilwe started to put the tent up and then it rained all night! However the next day was sunny and bright and we managed to dry all our stuff, have a shower, put clean(er) clothes on, laze around reading for the rest of the day, have dinner and get the tent down before it started raining again. We then repaired to a bar and spent a feeew hours making our drinks last until we caught the bus to Bariloche at 1am on Friday morning. We arrived in Bariloche at about 8am this morning (Saturday) the  longest bus journey  of my life! 1600 km of Patagonian steppe, mainly on gravel roads! We are staying here until next Saturday when we get the bus to Buenos Aires (another 1600km!) the last leg  of my South American travels.
 

We headed down to Punta Arenas last Thursday (30th Jan) to do a bit of exploring before going on our trek to Cabo Froward. It is an incredibly windy place – anyone who has been on the Cairngorm plateau will have an idea of how strong the wind can be – but we were in town. Sometimes they put up ropes on the corners of the main square to stop people getting blown away. We had an interesting hostel, run by a Chilean Rastafarian. He played Bob Marley 24 hours a day so this is now the sound of Patagonia for us. Punta Arenas is quite a large town with a port that is visited by cruise ships. It also has several interesting museums as well as the second most beautiful cemetery in South America. But the highlight of our stay there must be our visit to Isla Magdelena to see more penguins. We went in a Zodiac which was quite exciting as it bounced over the waves. In contrast to our previous penguin experience we were able to go ashore and walk amongst the penguins. There are about 120,000 of them nesting on the island. The young ones still had some grey fluffy feathers. They come right up and will give you a curious look and peck at your shoes. We spent about an hour there watching them going in and out of the water, waddling about, climbing up and down the cliffs etc. They are really comical the way they jump down little steps on the cliffs and slip and regain their balance. At one point lots of them suddenly rushed out of the sea and up onto the beach. I noticed a sealion in the water which had been the cause of the panic. After that we went to another island which was the main sealion stronghold. They were lounging about on the beach and swimming around, the males having the odd altercation as they are prone to do.
On Monday we set off on the trek, our rucksacks bulging with all manner of goodies. Katie and I are definitely a lot more frugal when it comes to trekking supplies but we had salami, cheese, chocolate, pasta, rice, even 2 carrots and loads of other things. (There she goes, on about food again!). We caught a bus to start of the trek at about 7.30am and were walking shortly after 9. Initially we walked on a gravel track between the beach and some woods, along the Straits of Magellan. We could see across to Tierra del Fuego and occasionally dolphins broke the surface of the water. There were lots of fuschias along the way. Eventually the track finished and we walked along shingle beaches for most of the morning which was quite hard going. At lunchtime we came to a lighthouse (Faro San Isidoro, I think). Then on along more beaches and through the woods to our first campsite after about 7 hours walking. There was a disused house there with a stove so we put up our tents and collected driftwood to light a fire. We cooked our dinner in the hut and sat round the fire which was nice and warm. We had a late start the next day (about 12pm) because we had to arrive at a major river crossing at low tide to make sure the water was at its lowest point. We crossed a smaller river straight after leaving the camp and then after more beach walking we entered the turba, an area of dense extremely muddy woodland followed by a long stretch of bog. It was really fun scrambling about in the mud between tree roots! On leaving the turba we arrived at the river crossing just after lunch. It came well over our waists and was very cold indeed. We all stripped down to our undies and held our rucksacks over our heads and waded across. It wasn´t very fast flowing thank goodness but it was a relief to reach the other side and put warm clothes on again. After that we had to scramble arouind a headland on rocks and this warmed us up. We reached our second campsite at around 8pm and by the time we had had dinner we just collapsed into our sleeping bags. It rained hard all night and we got up early at about 6.30am in order to cross the nearby river at low tide. But it was a raging torrent with all the rain so we took one look at it and decided to go back to camp. We built a fire and got warm and also toasted our wet things from the previous day. Imagine a group of people holding their smalls out over a fire on sticks while they steamed dry and you have the scene. There had been fresh snow on the hills in the night and as that melted during the day it became obvious that the river was not going to go down. So we had no choice but to head back. If we had crossed the river we were only about 3-4 hours from Cabo Froward, the most southerly point on the American mainland. But it was not to be. So we headed back to our first nights campsite. The first river we had crossed was much lower than it had been, probably because of a lower tide, so we were able to get across just rolling up our trouser legs. This was a great relief! We arrived back at the campsite at about 11pm and a lot of people (there were 11 of us) decided to sleep in the hut this time. The river near the hut had risen and we all got quite wet crossing it in the dark. The next day was sunny and quite warm (for Patagonia) and we stayed at the campsite until about lunchtime before retracing our steps to just short of where the bus had dropped us off on the first day. We camped in the woods and had a good fire going. We had popcorn over the fire and someone in the group made pizzas in a saucepan, which we must try. The next day (Friday) we caught the bus back to Punta Arenas and another session with Bob Marley. We all went out for a late lunch at an eat as much as you like Chinese buffet (yes, in Patagonia!) before retiring to the hostel with more pocorn and some videos. It was a much tougher hike than the W and the group we were with was really great. They were all Yanks apart from us but I think we flew the flag with honour!
We are now back in Puerto Natales hoping to head off to the Mount Fitzroy area tomorrow for more hiking.