Patagonia is spread between Argentina and Chili and is the southernmost region of South America, including Tierra del Fuego.  Patagonia is famous for its variety of wildlife, unspoiled nature, and ancient Indian cultures.  Archeological findings date back to 8,000 BC, from Pre-Columbian civilizations to the skilled Mapuche Indians known for their mastery in weapons making and agriculture in the 16^th century.  In addition, part of the Andes, one of the longest rock formations on earth, are found here.  Within the Andes is the tourist destination and trekking paradise of Torres del Paine National Park located in the Cordillera del Paine mountain chain. 

Massive exposed, granite rock features, formed in the Cretaceous Period, when dinosaurs wandered the planet, raise among turquoise lakes, rapids, waterfalls, and flatlands.  They are the remnants of the sedimentary stratum, which has been eroded away in the Torres del Paine Park.  Hopefully, I will have some photos to share soon.  

Meanwhile, the park was established in 1959 and is 70 miles north of Puerto Natales. At 593,000 acres it is one of the largest and most visited in Chili.  In 1978, the park became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.  It is known as the most beautiful park in Chili for its famous Grey Glacier, two popular treks and the most photographed attraction called the Torres del Paine, the three distinct 11,000 foot+ granite towers.  The word Paine is from the Tehuelche Indian word meaning “blue”blue towers.

We arrived at Puerto Natales in a driving rain storm and zero visibility. After a lengthy arrival process we finally departed in a van with another couple and headed for Explora Lodge, an hour and a half away. The road was a mix of asphalt and gravel. Very rough and bumpy and the rain did not let up. The other couple never said a word to us and it was a very quiet rode. We could see only the scrub, brush and low tree cover near the road and the occasional lake. Eventually we passed the large and very turquoise blue Rio Paine. Very pretty even through the rain. Once we arrived ate the lodge, we were greeted by the receptionist and activities director, who walked us through the activities options for our 3 day stay. Tomorrow’s suggested options include a short hike for Mark and a horseback rode for me, followed by lunch and a break before the afternoon activity of a looping drive to see the Torres del Paine hopefully. It all depends on the weather; wind, rain and fog. The lodge is very light and airy and spread out. Our room is very close to the dining room, thankfully. We quickly unpacked and went to dinner. Finished unpacking and went to bed.

Saturday, February 18, 2023

We left Montevideo on the morning of February 17 heading south-east through the countryside with a driver named Tomas . The weather was cold, windy and threatening rain. He spoke reasonable English and could carry on a good conversation with us. The countryside was fairly flat and green with lots of trees, shrubs and grass. We saw cattle, sheep, pigs and horses all in pastures. Soon it began to rain and was pouring by the time we picked up our guide, Paula, along the roadside near Garzon. She spoke excellent English told us we would be visiting a winery and learning about the history of the local wine operation.

Then we proceeded to the village of Garzon, where we would have lunch in a restaurant owned by Uruguay’s most famous chef, Francis Mallmann, who had a number of fine dining establishments in European cities and opened this one in 2002. He likes the small town atmosphere of Garzon, however, and spends a good part of the year in the village.

Meanwhile, the owner of the wine and olive operation is a billionaire from Argentina, He is the chairman of Panamerican Energy, an oil and gas company he acquired from his father. He arrived in Uruguay in the 1990’s and, after careful study of the land, he purchased 10,000 acres in the area and planted 1,200 parcels of vines in 23 different varieties. The vineyards were planted in the early 2000’s and are only now beginning to produce good harvests. He also planted many acres of olive trees, which are also just coming on line. Our first stop was the 205,000 square foot facility that houses the winery, restaurant, tank storage an miscellaneous other activities. The building is extremely modern and sophisticated and mind-blowing. We began a walk about some of the parcels, but soon it began to rain again and our guide called for a golf cart to pick us up. I did get to sample a few grapes that missed the harvest. They tasted sweet. The harvest has just begun and 300 people work the grapes every day. They are transported by bus from the nearby towns and are glad to have good jobs. We were invited to a wine tasting and walked from room to room tasting 2 different whites and 2 different reds, including the Garzon flagship grape, Tannat. It has become a popular Uruguayan wine. The wines are stored in large concrete tanks for a time and then transferred to large oak barrels for further aging.

After the wine tasting we went to Garzon for lunch in Francis Mallmann’s Restaurant. The menu was very interesting. Mark had fish and I settled on Suckling Pig. I knew it would be too much food, but I wanted to taste the pig and figured others would share. It was absolutely excellent–tender and sweet. We managed to eat about half of the animal and saved the rest for our driver Tomas. He said he loved the portion we gave him. Francis was in the restaurant when we finished lunch and we had a short chat with him and got a photo. After lunch Tomas and Paola drove us to our lodging, Bahia Vic, on the beach in Jose Ignacio. It was still pouring rain. We could hear the rain on the roof as well as the pounding surf. Delicious. Happy to go to bed early. This is our last hotel before home.

No more tours or guides. Just beach walks and meals in beachy restaurants. Nice. Well it was nice until yesterday, the 19th. It was a warm sunny day, if a bit windy. We went for a long beach walk in the morning. Saw a bunch of shops holding forth on the beach. Also saw many bubble-like translucent balls that are made by snails, who lay their eggs in them and set them adrift.

Eventually the snails hatch and make a hole in the bubble to crawl out. Took a ride to a restaurant we had booked only to find out they were closed for a wedding. So we began another long walk toward the hotel thinking we would find an eatery somewhere. We did and had a delightful lunch at a place called Il Faro,

named for the nearby lighthouse. At the suggestion of the people at the table next to us, we ordered white clams in a white wine and parsley sauce. Neither of us had ever seen white clams. We loved the meal and were glad to have learned about it. We continued our walk and eventually got back to the Bahia Vik for a nap. But it was impossible to sleep as the music and dancing at la Susana Restaurant next door was penetrating.

At about 6:30 we saw some smoke and looked out the window. to see that it was coming from Susana’s. We did nothing for a few minutes, but the smoke, which was blowing in our direction got thicker. As I watched, I saw it erupt into flame and decided it was time to pack up and get out.

Mark was not so anxious and took more photos while I packed. Finally, he got into gear and hastily packed, but had not left room for a pair of shoes and decided to leave them behind. While packing, the power went off. Knowing we had no elevator to use, we were just thinking how to get to the ground, when a hotel worker ran in to get us out. He led us across the roof and down the far side of the building on an exterior stairway. We managed to get all 4 bags to the stairs, but somehow, Mark’s small bag got separated from us. We ran with the bags to the front gate and watched the scene unfold as more and more guests were evacuated. They had not seen the fire coming as we did or they were away from the property at the time and not allowed into the building when they did arrive. Finally 4 fire trucks arrived along with many cops and other personnel. The scene got pretty chaotic. We heard from our guides that they were working out a plan for what to do with us and their other guests and to chill, which we did…for real. I was really cold by the time our ride arrived. Without the shoes or Mark’s small bag, we were taken to the sister hotel, Playa Vik, where we had wine “on the house” until dinner time. We were taken to our restaurant, Solera. After what was a lousy meal, our guide came to take us to the lodging they had found for us. It was a place called Posada Luz, an estancia a few miles out of town in the countryside. It proved to be a nice facility, with a whole new setting from where we had been. Not being able to see anything, we went to bed.

In the morning we could see the countryside, hear hundreds of green parakeets feasting in the vineyard and enjoy the quiet. Our room had an upstairs terrace that was pleasant for hanging out. The slight breeze was most welcome after so many windy days. Eventually we went to breakfast in the outdoor garden. After many calls and texts, Mark’s bag and shoes were finally located with the help of an Apple AirTag he had installed in the bag when we left home. Posada Luz is 20 minutes from town and the beach, so we are spending our last day enjoying the estancia.

We walked around the grounds, stared at the parakeets, took a few pix and hung out at the pool. At 7pm, we were served a few simple tapas, said good bye to the staff and joined our driver for the 2 hour ride to the Montevideo Airport. Once checked in, we waited three hours for the 1:30am flight to Panama. That 7 hour ride will be followed by another 7 hour trip to LAX, where we will go through customs and wait 3 more hours before flying to SAC and a grateful ride home with Ken Zuckerman.

It has been a an interesting trip full of adventures and unexpected turns. We hope you have enjoyed reading about it. Apart from the beautiful scenery in Patagonia that was expected, I have been most surprised by Uruguay. The people were most friendly and welcoming, the city most attractive and appealing, the beaches and the scenery especially pleasing. If it were not so far away, I would come here to visit more than once. Until next time.

Happy trails, until we meet again,

Julia and Mark

Tuesday, February 14, 2023. Valentine’s Day

We spent all day yesterday getting from the Explora Lodge in cold, overcast, wet and windy Patagonia to hot, sticky, sunny Buenos Aires:  3 hours by car to El Califate airport; 4 hours at the airport; a 3-hour flight to Buenos Aires; and a half hour drive to the Park Hyatt Hotel in the city center.   All we wanted was a quick bite and bed, which we did at the hotel’s peaceful garden restaurant.  So, this morning we woke up to a very warm and sunny day to celebrate Valentines.  

Our morning was relaxing until we met our guide, Gilda. At 10am we started a drive about the city, looking at buildings from the different periods of Argentine development, both cultural and political.  Our driver, Eddie, was very competent and spoke more English than most drivers.  Between the two of them we heard a lot about the city and the country.  First, the population of Argentina is 46 million and Buenos Aires is 3 million. The words Buenos Aires mean “good winds”, so when Pedro Mendoza arrived on February 2, 1536, he named the place Our Lady of Buenos Aires.  Our first stop was on the Plaza del Mayo in the heart of the city to visit the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, where Pope Francis had reigned as Archbishop.  The reason he has not returned since becoming pope is that the different governments will not tolerate his appearance when they are not in charge.  Most Argentinians are Catholic, but few of them are practicing. 

 I got some nice photos of the inside of the basilica.  In one large niche was the sarcophagus of Jose San Martin, who was a Founder of Freedom from Spain on July 9, 1816.  Three statues of women representing Freedom, Labor and Agriculture surround the sarcophagus as well as two live guards who have a changing of the guard every 2 hours.

From the cathedral, we walked along the Avenue of May with a view of the Casa Rosada, or Pink Palace, which is the Office of the President and where, under one of the upper arches, Evita gave her famous speech, “Don’t cry for me”, in 1951.  From one vantage point we could see a mural of Evita painted on a high-rise building.  In the middle of the avenue is a glass walled memorial of inscribed stones representing the many people who died of Covid.  There had been a mass protest directed against the President, Alberto Fernandez. The mayor refused to allow the stones to be removed and installed a glass wall.  Nearby, is Buenos Aires’ landmark obelisk, built to mark the first anniversary of independence from Spain.

From the city center we drove south to an area of the city called Boca, which is the name for the Italian immigrant neighborhood. The area had been abandoned during the yellow fever era of 1852-1871 when hundreds of people died every day.  When the Italian immigrants arrived in the 1880’s they moved into this abandoned area. Now the area has been restored by the locals into a colorful tourist area with many shops and restaurants.  Here I found Pope Francis and had my photo taken with him.  Tango became very popular and famous here as one of the few nonverbal connections immigrants had with each other.  Today Russians are entering the country in droves.  Gilda told us about 20,000 arrived recently, with 300 pregnant women hoping to have their babies born in Argentina, because the new babies are automatically citizens and their parents can become citizens after residing here for 2 years.  Once they have Argentinian passports, they can travel to other countries.  There are currently no Argentinian immigration quotas.

From Boca we went to the Modern Port for a look at the tallest buildings in the city and to see a most unusual bridge called Puerto de la Mujar, or Woman’s Bridge. Built in 2001, it is a rotating foot bridge for one of the docks in the commercial district of the port. A cantilever cable stayed bridge that is also a swing bridge, it is most unusual in its asymmetrical arrangement.  New buildings in this neighborhood are quite expensive.

Next on the list of sites to visit was the City of the Angels, where over 4,500 mausoleums and underground crypts contain many thousands of deceased.  Inaugurated in 1822 the cemetery was open to everyone. By 1881 only the wealthy could afford the fancy statuary, sculptures, and massive construction.  We saw the crypt of Eva Peron, who died in 1952 from uterine cancer, and a handful of others.  One very sad story was of a 19-year old girl who died on her honeymoon.  The mother had a large crypt built just for her including an underground room that looked just like her bedroom at home.  The mother would come and sit with the dead girl and mourn her passing. Eventually the girl’s dog joined her in the crypt.

We learned that the Jewish community in Argentina, at 250,000 people,  is the fourth largest in the world behind Israel, the US and Canada. Gilda told us a kosher McDonalds exists  in a mall in Buenos Aires and that the only other one is in Isreal.

We noticed that the city was very clean and devoid of graffiti, unlike Santiago, Chile, where the graffiti was so bad the signs were nearly unreadable. 

Gilda and Eddie dropped us off at an Empanada restaurant called San Juanino.

We ate lunch quickly and found an Uber to take us to the Teatro Colon Opera House where we had tickets for a tour. We were there for an hour, got some nice images, but precious little information as the guide’s English was, sadly, not understandable.

It had been a long day by the time we got back to the hotel, but we wanted to eat the local meal of BBQ, so we changed clothes and headed for El Mirasol, a nearby restaurant under the freeway, where we enjoyed excellent BBQ. Mark had beef and sweetbreads kabob and I had pork ribs with apple sauce. It being our Valentines dinner we had tried for a more highly recommended place, but could not get in. Our choice was fine.

Sunday, February 12, 2023

We have been at the Argentinian Explora Lodge since Friday. It is newer, but smaller than the one in Torres De Paine, Chile. It is not in the Park, but next to it and provides the same sense of being in the wilderness — comfortably. During the daytime we are out hiking on a track we specifically selected the evening before. During the hike we have a guide, but see no other people on the trail. At the end of the chosen hikes, long or short, difficult or easy, the guests return to the lodge, where all the creature comforts await. Mark and I have chosen relatively easy hikes to keep my knee happy.

Yesterday, we chose two half day hikes and had the same guide, Marianna, for both. No other guests joined us. I suspect it was too slow for most. The first hike started from the lodge and covered about 2.5 miles. It was not steep or windy, but it was a forest walk with lots of tree roots to cross.

As we hiked, as usual, we peppered our guide with personal questions. We learned Marianna is a single mom with a seven year old daughter. Guiding is a pastime activity to supplement her income as a government employee and it also keeps her near her love of climbing. She is lucky enough to own her own home, it’s currently only one bedroom that she shares with the daughter. She has hope to expand the house and build an apartment as well that she plans to rent for additional income.

We enjoyed the scenery and being in a forest, but I was tired by the time it was over. Back in the lodge we had a nice served meal, rested a bit and grabbed some snacks for the afternoon hike. Still just the two of us and Marianna. We were driven to the start point at a gravel bed along the edge of the Electric River. We gradually hiked up the gravel bed periodically crossing small streams as we went. Marianna made sure we crossed on rocks to keep our feet dry. Finally we crossed a bridge and climbed a small hill into a forested area. We could see where we had been and the glaciers high up on the mountains. The now wooded, trail gradually headed back down to the road. More difficult trails went up into the mountains for closer looks at the glaciers. Not for me. Maybe another time. By the time we were back at the car, we had covered over 5 miles and I was really done in. My total for the day was 7.5 miles according to my watch. The most I have walked since before my knee surgery. Back in the lodge, we called the spa for a jacuzzi appointment and got right in. Boy, did that soak feel good.

At cocktail time, we met with another guide, who described today’s options. Not wanting another long walk, I was thrilled to be offered a drive to a lake, a boat rode on the lake, Lago del Deseirto, and a relatively short hike followed by a bag lunch and a return to the lodge before 3pm. This had been Marianna’s suggestion to the guide staff. From the boat, we saw several glaciers, lots of wooded forest along the lake and on the hike. There were a couple dozen people on the boat, but they all scattered and we were alone with our guide, Pablo, and one other couple, who were from Chicago. We finally got to see the third type of birch tree, the evergreen called Guindo. This hike was a gradual up slope, all in the forest with some tall, 100 year old linga birch trees. Because this part of the forest was in the rain shadow due to a break in the Andes, which allows the Pacific weather stream to penetrate east, the terrain was lush and green with lots of moss, plants and grass.

The usual winds were not as strong these two days and we all appreciated the slight warmer and calmer weather. The hike lasted about 2 hours an we only went about 2 miles as Pablo stopped often to talk about the trees and plants we were seeing. The other couple were happy to go slow too. Pablo is married and has a three year old son, he is Ecuadoran and came to this area for his love of climbing too, just like Marianna. He is a full-time independent guide. Pablo reminded us that there are no thunderstorms or lightening in Patagonia because the exceedingly strong westerly winds we have experienced since being in Patagonia, do not allow the formation of cumulonimbus clouds

Monday, February 13, 2023.

We leave Patagonian this morning. It is not windy, but it is raining. We were very lucky the last 2 days of hiking as there had been very little rain and almost no wind. If I had it to do again, I would plan the trip differently and allow for more activity days in each place and a healthier leg to do the activities. However, we are off today to Buenos Aires where we understand the temperature is 90 degrees. Quite a change for sure. Here the temperature has been 45-50 degrees at most. The food at this Explora has been just like the food at the last one–mediocre–actually a bit disappointing. Our rooms have been, on the other hand, superior—spacious, good beds, big windows with great views and excellent service.