To Moab Utah and Camping Near Arches National Park

24 04 2012

Monday was skiing in fresh snow. Tuesday we awoke and set upon packing up Ed’s camper van for our trip to warmer climes – the canyons of Southern Utah, Arches National Park, and Moab!

The Wasatch Mountains give way to desert. It’s very flat, but there are escarpments nearby, small hills, and groups of 12,700 ft mountains like The La Salle Range, looking like islands, in the distance. With so few cars it reminds me of Patagonia.

We are literally driving right through geologic history. In some places, the flat plain dives hundreds of feet to rivers below. They’ve cut through epochs of time and the rocks down deep might even be a billion years old!

Layer after layer of sandy colored, rose colored, black rock. Sometimes, the rock has been weathered into intricate shapes that remind us of people or things like boats or wagons.

After three hours we come to Green River, Utah, and then the canyonlands are visible in the distance.

We take a road which eventually leads us to the Colorado River.

Mile after mile of canyon unfolds before us. It’s late in the day, so the rocks are very pretty.

There aren’t any big rapids here. Mostly riffles and moving flatwater. But there are a couple of rafts riding these pretty canyons. It’s a major difference from yesterday!

Instead of snow, we have beautiful, dry, summer-like weather! Well summer to us. Here, this warmth is spring.

In the distance lots of spires and mesas. Right out of an old west movie! There are way more people here than anticipated! Ed has a spot picked out for us. We drive off the highway a few miles and surprisingly every camping spot is spoken for!

Ed knows of another spot a few miles down the road. Here, we drive up another dirt road. This road goes right over a small brook at least ten times. We drive right through the river.

The road winds along, in many places with no room for passing cars. River on one side, cliff face on the other. Yet even here, for mile after mile, all the camping spots are taken! Just after yet another river crossing, when we are giving up hope, we find a spot! Whew!

And it is a good one. The river meanders around the site and we have a sky view.

Finally here, we make ourselves home. The van’s pop top goes up, I start a campfire, and Alex sets up his tent.

The camp stove comes out, and the car stove is prepared. Some beers are opened! Tonight we’re going to have salad, mashed potatoes, and pork chops. Making dinner is all part of the fun of camping.

And so is eating! Not so much cleaning up. But we deal with it. One thing I cannot stand is the Utah beer. We got the Utah legal 3.2% Budweiser. I just don’t understand why, but it doesn’t taste the same, and I find myself wanting to put the beer down instead of having a few more!

Ed’s van is a little home on wheels. It makes up for gas guzzling by providing comforts. Two burner stove, two beds, reversible front seats, nice stereo, and even a fridge. Lots of storage. Tonight I slept on the “ground floor” which is a fold out couch. It was totally comfy.

Our visual entertainment tonight is the fire and stars, and the full moon. It’s really pretty out here!

Other signs of the desert were cactus! Prickly Pear Cactus, Barrel Cactus, and more.

In the morning, the desert quiet was beautiful. And the sky so blue!

A patch of Prickly Pear Cactus!

We’ll be heading to Arches National Park today…

 

 

 

 

 

Barrel Cactus


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Spring in Buenos Aires – Beautiful!

10 02 2012

Eray in Parque 3 de Febrero

One element of our Patagonian odyssey that has been consistently spectacular has been the weather! And these last two days in Buenos Aires are no exception. We have two consecutive clear days in the mid-80’s with low humidity.

I’m still getting the most of the breakfast buffet at Castelar Hotel! I ensure I get down there early and enjoy my favorite meal of the day. Saskia arrives, as do Elwin, Angelique, and others. Orange juice, fresh fruit, sausage and some scrambled eggs are something I’ve missed.

There are no plans for today. Tonight, we are all headed to the airport for mid-evening flights. So my usual crew of Angelique, Eray, Elwin and I look at the options and make plans. Christoff has departed for a few days visiting with acquaintances in Chile.

Eray is extending her time in Argentina, and she has arranged for lodging at Home Hotel, in the Palermo neighborhood. She says it’s really nice and encourages us to check it out for a late morning coffee or cool beverage. Sounds good! We also look at options and because it’s late spring, we decide to walk back through some of the beautifully designed parks in Buenos Aires.

We catch a taxi and head to the Home Hotel. The Palermo neighborhood is completely different from any we’ve seen. While it’s urban, it’s very residential. It’s quiet. There are cozy, European style and up and coming neighborhood restaurants and cafes. The Home Hotel is nestled in amongst all of this. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d miss it. Once past the front counter, one walks through a tall atrium and into a rear area complete with patio, garden and pool.

We settled into some chairs out by the garden and ordered some cool drinks.

Angelique and I get a shot of ourselves out back…

It’s very contemporary and refreshingly relaxing. Some of teh guests had bathrobes supplied by the hotel. The menu actually had breakfasts with eggs!

It was tempting to stay there for hours. But we only had today. So, we departed to walk amongst the lovely parks and the blooming jacaranda trees.

Walking past the Centro Islamico, a large Mosque, we reached Parque 3 de Febrero. This is one of the famous parks designed by French architect Carlos Thays. His handiwork is everywhere as it is so familiarly European. Carlos Thays not only designed the parks but had trees and shrubs brought in from all over. Today, these parks and the flora he planted are testament to his genius. Portenos enjoy his creations each day.

We stroll through the greenery. There are lots of birds. Geese and swans ply the ponds. Gregarious parrots cackle above, perching next to their favorite nuts and seeds, which they consume with great pleasure.

Portenos make the most of the parks. Jogging, rollerblading, bicycling or walking, they are enjoying the open spaces.

There are rose gardens and so many flowering trees.

It seems to me that every tree is in bloom at once!

We are the lucky ones, we get to enjoy this.

 

In this video you get to hear the birds singing, see the flowers everywhere, and even catch some women with thermoses of Yerba Mate walking by. Not to mention my travel mates!

And below is one of the flowers on a magnolia tree. Really lush! Later in the day, our whole group gathered at a restaurant near the hotel to celebrate our time here. And to say our good-byes. We’ll be staying in touch. We had a memorable time in Argentina and Chile!

Gorgeous Magnolia Tree flowers.


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Buenos Aires in Bloom…

8 02 2012

We depart Ushuaia for Buenos Aires in the evening. Aerolineas Argentinas has not recovered from the strike. Things are still backed up, and there is some confusion about which plane we are to board as now two are headed for Buenos Aires. Ours is an aging MD-80. There is an in-flight “meal,” but guess what? Opening my meal box, another dreaded ham and cheese sandwich is lurking inside. I cannot eat it, and give it away! In Buenos Aires, we’re staying at the Castelar Hotel again.

Morning dawns very warm and beautifully sunny. I scramble downstairs to the breakfast area. And what awaits is a breakfast feast for my eyes! The Castelar Hotel has a breakfast buffet with a much wider selection than most of our lodgings on this trip. Eggs, bacon, sausage, real orange juice, fresh fruit, all things I love in the morning! This day starts off nicely!

Today we’re going to explore Buenos Aires by bicycle and subway! There is a subway station right near our hotel. We pay our fare and wait for the next train. When it arrives, it sure is something! It’s positively ancient, a living fossil. I’d say right out of Victorian England! It’s outside is wooden, the inside is wooden, and the windows are open. Once inside, the doors clang shut – no warning whatsoever. It jerks forward, and is off to the next stop. Passengers are of many different niches. Professionals, blue collar workers and students.

We reach our stop, walk outside and into the warmth. It’s already over 70 degrees, headed to 85 degrees today. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Since we were here last time, the flowers, and flowering trees, have bloomed and are peaking! The avenues are lined with Jacaranda trees. These trees have beautiful purple flowers.

We walk the cobblestoned streets to the bicycle rental shop. Once there we perform the obligatory rental ritual and begin the process of adjusting the bikes for ourselves.

We’re to bike down by the Puerto Madero area, on the water, and then head to the Costanera Sur Nature Reserve.

The Costanera Sur Nature Reserve sits beyond Puerto Madero on the Rio De La Plata River.

A lot of adjustments have to be made…and I think it’s funny because most of us are Dutch, and the bikes have KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ads over the rear wheels!

We ride through the old section of town with narrow streets, and then have to cross the busy boulevard, over the canal and then to the reserve. The reserve has a number of trails which lead out to a view of the Rio de la Plata.

We see many Portenos enjoying the warmth and sun. Men jogging in Buenos Aires don’t wear t-shirts. They go shirt-less. I’m not entirely sure that’s a good idea. We reach the river and there is a 50-boat sailboat race going on.

So some folks have leisure time and money to spend in Buenos Aires!

There are some interesting creatures taking advantage of the refuge.

We see plenty of parrots. Green parrots are gregarious and noisy, as well as busy eating nuts in the trees!

Later on, we see some iguanas being heckled by birds. It looks like the iguanas were trying to steal eggs?

It was time to return the bikes. But it’s a Friday and now rush hour. Buenos Aires drivers are seriously aggressive, yet we’ve got to wind through many lanes and intersections. All I know is I want to stay behind Saskia, our leader, because she knows the route!

Many twists and turns later and with sweat beginning to run down my face, with all hands still safe, we make it back to the rental shop.

Tonight we see a tango show. I won’t go into too much detail, but while the dancers were athletic, gifted, and talented, the show was outdated and stale for my taste. I was impressed by the dancing, but everything else seemed like a put on.

After the show some of us went for a drink at a local restaurant. It was Portenos doing what they do. There was hardly a seat to be had, it was past midnight, and even children were in abundance! Late night festivities are a ritual!


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Ushuaia and Wildlife in the Beagle Channel

3 02 2012

Wow! I had the most amazing sleep! I did not awaken once. And today I am recharged! We’re to take a boat from the Ushuaia waterfront out to see islands and marine wildlife colonies in the Beagle Channel. Luckily we got another weather break. Thin clouds but no wind nor rain. The highlights will be getting up close with colonies of terns, cormorants, sea lions and more.

We get to the waterfront early, so we’ve got some time to observe. There are some huge factory fishing ships docked here, and just their size makes me concerned about collapsing fish stocks. With ships like these, towering above the docks, how can Planet Earth’s fish survive? Where is the catch going?

There are plenty of tourists shooting photographs of themselves in front of a sign declaring they’re at the “end of the world.” They’re not – the end of the route is where I hiked to yesterday! There are also some very interesting sailboats. They are private yachts. They are *not* luxury yachts.

These are built for solo circumnavigation with all the overbuilt toughness required to survive the Southern Ocean. These sailboats can capsize, go inverted, and come up righted and survive.

The Argentine Prefectura, or Coast Guard, is busy, too.

We board our little boat and it takes us out of the harbor and into the channel. We cross, and looking around, I can see some very impressive glaciated mountains to the west that go into the sea. They are part of the Darwin Range, in Chile.

The glaciated Darwin Range

Though they look over 10,000ft high, they are only 6,000ft. It is because that we are at such an extreme latitude that lower mountains can have such impressive glaciers.

Looking back at the city one can see the shanty town creeping up through the forest behind.

Crossing the channel, we navigate amongst some islands home to marine animals of varied species.  We land on one of them and take a quick hike. We see cormorants nesting, and even skuas. Skuas are the bane of nesting birds. Skuas, which look like brown, oversized seagulls, live by scavanging the weak, young, and infirm. They’ll eagerly snatch a chick from a distracted parent.

Looking overhead, I notice the sun is far to the north of 12:00 high. That shows just how far south we are! Wow. We depart for several other island colonies. Each island is home to a species.

On the way we see one or two Southern Giant Petrels, another scavenger.

Giant Petrel

One colony is a sea lion island. I’ll never forget the noise, and the smell. They belch, burp, and make the mose grotesque gutteral noises, as well as bark. There are hundreds, with calves, and bulls making all kinds of noise. It smells! It smells because they eat fish!

Skuas and seagulls are making the most of the leftovers, as is another bird I’ve never seen, which is called a snowy sheathbill. This bird is all white.

We move on to a colony of cormorants.

A snowy sheathbill

They are super busy! There must be a thousand of them. And, they are flying back and forth building nests, bringing food to chicks, and so forth.

The cormorants are black and white, and I’m tempted to call them flying penguins. They make these nests that look like cereal bowls attached to the rocks. These guys squawk incessantly!

Here too, opportunistic scavangers are working the colony hard. Parents are on guard defending against attacks from the hungry predators.

Then, it’s on to the shrieking tern colony.

Like the cormorants, the terns remind me of an aircraft carrier. Lots of  “planes on deck,” and others coming and going.

It’s non-stop buzz of activity!

I do have a couple of videos, which I will show you.

The terns are really pretty, I think.

We get back to the Ushuaia harbor in time for an afternoon exploring the city, and lunch.

Tonight, we depart for Buenos Aires (unless there is another Airline Strike). Elwin, Ivo, Echbert, myself, and Flores head to town in search of lunch. Ushuaia is a tax-free zone so one would think the shopping would be good. Shopping turns out to be a let down. Prices are too high and there are no bargains to be had – they are obviously expecting lots of tourists – especially the ones from cruise ships. We pick an “Irish Pub.” The Irish-ness of the establishment stops right at the front door. While they do offer Guiness, the food isn’t Irish. I see a hamburger on the menu but instead try for what they call a “steak sandwich.” And again, I’m faced with meat on a dry bread / bun or something. While not satisfying, I guess it contained some nutrition. Lunch completed, we wandered around town. The parts Elwin and I visited were nothing worth blogging about. Touristy shops, some liquor stores, hostels, and up back on the hill, some strip clubs. We went down to the water to watch the activity – pass some time.

We only have two days left in Argentina! I wonder how Buenos Aires will have changed since we left? It’s 1,266 miles north to Buenos Aires. We’ll be wearing shorts and t-shirts again! I was told the Jacaranda trees will be in bloom! Looking forward to seeing the beautiful avenues!


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Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego Argentina: We Made It!

2 02 2012

This morning we get the GO signal! Aerolineas Argentinas has seats for all of us on a plane headed to El Calafate! That plane will continue to Ushuaia! For some of us, reaching the most southern place on Planet Earth outside Antarctica is a highlight. It turns out that yesterday a plane did depart Buenos Aires and go through El Calafate, but we did not get seats on it, because there were not enough available to accommodate our entire group.

We’ll arrive in Ushuaia in early afternoon and because sunset is past 10:00 p.m. we’ll have plenty of time to get in a hike at the bottom of the world!

As the plane nears its destination, the terrain appears out of the clouds, and it’s very rugged. Snow capped valley after valley flows below us, then giving way to a fjord. A factory fishing boat is plying the waters, no doubt headed toward Ushuaia. This is the Beagle Channel. One more turn, and Ushuaia reveals itself. It’s a city of about 60,000 carved out of mountain and sea. There is a ski area above, and one part of the city appears to be literally climbing into the forest above – looks like people are simply cutting the forest and plunking down any shanty as a land claim.

Our hostel is a big one. Christof and I get our keys and head to our “room,” which is in fact like a condominium! It’s by far the biggest of this trip. It is three bedrooms, separate bath, a living room, separate kitchen, wow! Huge! Not only that, the living room has a panoramic view of the city and mountains behind!

We gather in the lobby for our activity, which is a hike “to the end of civilization.” That is, to the southernmost continental place before Antarctica. A 45-minute minibus ride later, we are there ready to hike.

The hike winds up and down through trails with views of the Tierra del Fuego landscape. To the east and west, the sky lightens, meaning it’s good weather. Overhead, it’s cloudy. But, it’s not raining. It’s not windy. That is good weather down here!

Here and there we see evidence of the Indians that used to live here. They lived by foraging the clams/mussels from the seabed. They discarded shells, and these shells became mounds we see all throughout our hike.

There are also freshwater rivers reaching the sea here, and there are fly fishermen casting these streams.

All along are views to the east and west. It’s not far to the Atlantic. Not far to the Pacific, either!

Today I am the first to reach the end! I actually cheated. Twice. The trail was so close to the road I hitched a ride for maybe 3/4 of a mile. The driver let me off at a cut-off trail. Taking this trail, I cut an hour off the hike!

 

 

At the end of the trail, and there is a sign commemorating the place. Over 17,000 kilometers from Alaska! This is the END of Argentina Route 3.

Well, I’ve made it. I am at the bottom of the Americas!

I wait around and check out the decked walkway going all the way out to the end. There are some local ladies down there sharing a bottle of bubbly celebrating something!

Other then them, though, the only company I’ve got right now is some Patagonian geese! They are really interesting…they always are seen in “married pairs.” And they don’t ever seem to mind people being nearby.

Yap and Angelique at the end of civilization!

Ahh-familiar faces! Everybody finally shows up…

Everyone spends some time in thought, thinking about where we are on Planet Earth, for this is truly the southernmost continental place outside the poles. This is several hundred miles and a major latitude parallel below New Zealand. MUCH farther south than Cape of Good Hope. If you have a globe, go look at it now. At this spot, Antarctica reaches up toward Tierra del Fuego.

This is close to Cape Horn. Cape Horn is one of the most notoriously stormy places on Earth – before the Panama Canal was built, countless clipper ships were lost rounding “The Horn.” For here, the Southern Ocean, the most stormy on Earth, gets squeezed between Antarctica and South America. The Southern Ocean is famous for ceaseless storms, 70-ft seas, and…icebergs in between.

Tomorrow, we are to take a boat to explore islands, and see wildlife living on islands in the Beagle Channel.

It’s past 8 p.m. and still very bright outside. We board our van, which takes us back to town. Although most are going out to eat, I am utterly spent. I spend maybe an hour watching TV in the room, and then sleep like a rock all night….


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Stranded in El Calafate, Argentina: Day Two

30 01 2012

We’re supposed to be leaving on a mid-day flight to Ushuaia. We’re told to gather about 11:00 in the hotel for our flight out. When we gather, the concierge announces some news in Spanish…I cannot understand, but the crowd gathered in the lobby is not looking happy…and then Saskia darts out the hotel door…headed for downtown!

The concierge, speaking in English, tells us the airline is completely shut down today! The strike is continuing and we are not going anywhere today. He says that it is possible the President of Argentina may intervene – might order the Army to take over the airline. There will be an authentic Argentine barbeque tonight at the hotel. That sounds interesting to me, especially since it’s free!

Rumors are that it is spreading beyond the airlines. A general work stoppage for higher benefits. Saskia was headed downtown because that is where the airline offices are. She returns and gives us news. She demanded assurances we will really get on the next flights out. But we do not really know, we are pawns in the greater political game right now!

Some decide to head downtown for dinner, but Elwyn and I try for the complimentary meal. We see the staff firing up the barbeques, getting the wood and charcoal going. We share a bottle of wine to pass the time. But then the concierge announces that dinner will not start until past 9:00 p.m.! It seems they have it timed for some other group arriving. We cannot stand it! We need to eat right away! We cancel our dinner and walk downtown to a pizzeria, which is pretty busy.

Our table is right by a flat screen TV showing a soccer game. It’s Chile vs Paraguay, and this couple at the table nearest us are intensely interested. When Chile scores, they are all excited but try to conceal their delight. Elwyn asks them a couple of questions, and it turns out they are from Chile. They look Argentinian (look European) but they do NOT want the Argentinians to know they come from Chile! Too funny. The girl is super nice.

This night was a complete wash. We stumbled down the avenue to a bar we’d seen the day before and went upstairs, and what do you know? We found others in our group – Patricia, Eray, Angelique, Yap, and more. More drinks…and before long I felt “tanked” up, I could not have any more! All of us just want to get to Ushuaia…it’s difficult. We’re trying to make the most of it!

We’ll just have to see what happens in the morning…!


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