Riyad and Sarah's Travels

Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina

The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the most iconic images of Patagonia.  Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, it’s the world’s third largest reserve of fresh water (following Antarctica and Greenland), four times the size of Manhattan, and one of the few glaciers that is actually increasing in size.

Most tourists only view it from a distance. Los Glaciares National Park has walking paths and platforms that provide spectacular views of its northern and southern faces. A boat ride can get you to the foot of the glacier, but its somewhat more dangerous. While we were on the platforms, we heard loud thunderous crashes of ice falling into Lago Rico.

A third option is to hike on top of it. While Riyad and I had seen many glaciers in Antarctica, walking on top of them wasn’t an option. So our decision to hike was an easy one.

Arriving before the hordes of tourists, we had the viewing platforms to ourselves before we taking a short fifteen minute boat ride across Lago Rico to the southern face of the glacier.  From the pier, we hiked for forty minutes through mountainous terrain, green wooded forests, and around a small waterfall to the starting point of our ice trek. The trek was easy and surprisingly warm considering our proximity to the glacier. At the small camp, we were supplied with safety harnesses and crampons to attach over our hiking shoes.

The multiple inch long spikes that provided traction on the ice looked like a medieval torture device.

Walking in crampons required basic training:
1) To get the best traction, we needed to walk with a flat foot while stomping our feet into the ice.
2) To walk forward, we had to waddle like a penguin while keeping our legs hip distance apart to ensure we didn’t trip and injure ourselves or others in our group.
3) To move down a steep slope, we had to descend straight over the ice similar to that of a downhill skier, keeping our knees lightly bent. 
4) To walk uphill we had to similarly keep our feet in the direction of the incline. 

We stepped onto the glacier and the temperature immediately dropped. 

The experience of walking on the glacier was unlike anything Riyad and I have experienced along our journey. What appears to be soft powdery snow from a distance is solid ice filled with sediment from the surrounding mountains.  

 

Our group walked along single file behind two mountain guides who cleared a path with ice axes.

The color of the ice was brilliantly blue and reflected light in the most beautiful way. 

Within the ice were cracks and crevasses, beautiful lagoons, and flowing streams of water just beneath the surface.

The water was so pure that Riyad and I both dipped our hands into the small pools for a quick taste. It was delicious!

It was an eventful three hour hike that left us completely exhausted. 

As our boat took us back to the viewing platform we were presented with one more memento – a beverage chilled with freshly carved pieces of glacial ice.

Ushuaia, Argentina

The Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Andes Mountains converge at the southern tip of Argentina in Ushuaia. 

Ushuaians bill themselves as the “Fin del Mundo”, which probably irks the 2,000 inhabitants of the Chilean settlement Puerto Williams a few miles further south.  But southernmost or not, Ushuaia has been of great historical importance not only to Argentina, but to the rest of the world. 

It was past here that Ferdinand Magellan sailed five hundred years ago en route to become the first to circumnavigate the globe.  Two hundred years ago, the HMS Beagle, carrying a young Charles Darwin, charted the region’s coastline, henceforth known as the Beagle Chanel.  Argentina laid claim to the area in the late nineteenth century, setting up an infamous prison for its worst criminals modeled after the British example in Australia.

Today visitors are drawn to the city for its outdoor activities, sailing, trekking, and the novelty of visiting the “End of the World”.  January is the height of its tourist season – with flights sold out for two weeks we were forced to fly down to Punta Arenas, Chile and continue on by a ten hour bus and ferry journey.  When we finally arrived we were turned away from five hotels before finding space.

Ushuaia is a cross between a port and ski town – large shipping containers stacked hundreds of feet high lie at the port while upscale seafood restaurants and expensive clothing stores line its streets.  (We couldn’t figure out whether the many strips clubs were for the benefit of sailors or travelers.)   The city rises steeply from shore to the mountains providing a view of the docked ships coming and going each day.  Because it was the middle of summer, the sun didn’t set until after 11, throwing our eating and sleeping schedule into disarray.

The Beagle channel has many opportunities for fishing and wildlife watching.  We joined a vacationing Brazilian family for a half day cruise. 

Our small boat motored past tiny islands full of birds and one with dozens of pregnant sea lions lounging on rocks waiting to give birth.

Tierra del Fuego National Park features forests and lakes against the backdrop of mountains.

We hiked along a well marked path to view the amazing scenery.  Normally, we haven’t had the best hiking conditions, but this time the weather was perfect:  the temperature was in the 50s, there was no wind or mud, and the skies were clear.

Ushuaia’s history is on display at its infamous prison that has been reopened as a very well curated museum.  The prison had been built with cell blocks radiating away from its center.  Each wing now had a different theme including famous shipwrecks, regional art, prisons around the world, and the Yamanas – the native population wiped out after coming into contact with Western influences and disease.  One wing had been left unchanged – the cells were drafty and cold.

Ushaia was interesting, but we probably wouldn’t have made the monumental effort to get down there but for another reason.  We, along with a smaller minority of visitors to Ushuaia, came to the city to travel to Antarctica.  Because of Ushuaia’s proximity to the Antarctic peninsula, most trips to Antarctica originate here.  We had no plans so it was a gamble, but after several days of looking we found an expedition that could accommodate us at the last minute. 

So after spending a week in Ushuaia, we boarded a ship to take us further past the “Fin del Mundo” to the white continent.

Buenos Aires felt just like home – no other place in our travels has so closely resembled NYC.

Both cities are urban, yet have tree lined streets full of pedestrians and taxis. Our neighborhood, Palermo Soho, with its shops and restaurants, wasn’t too different from NYC’s Soho.

Unlike New York, New Year’s eve in Argentina’s capital was muted – we thought it was because it was the height of summer. But we weren’t complaining, and donned t-shirts and shorts in January while taking in BA’s culture and food.

Our broken Spanish was enough to get by although there were a few differences from the version we knew: “Ciao” was used in lieu of “Adios”, the letter “V” was pronounced “B”, and the letter “Y” was pronounced “J”. (Eventually I answered to calls of “Ri-Jad”.)

Argentinean food was simple and tasty. A “complete breakfast” consisted of two or three croissants, cafe con leche, orange juice, and a shot of sparkling water. One snacks on empanadas: pastries filled with meat or cheese. Lunch and dinner consist of beef, beef, and more beef. Argentineans eat nearly twice as beef per person as Americans do. Steaks were amazing and inexpensive (even cheaper than chicken!) and we never tired of eating them meal after meal.

We took our time visiting the city’s sights. Casa Rosada is the office of the country’s executive branch. President Christina Kirchner was absent during our visit, undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer (which she ultimately did not have!). The building’s pink color was rumored to come from paint stained with bovine blood.

La Boca is a rough port neighborhood and birthplace of tango. We were told to avoid it at night, but joined the hordes during the day in seeing its colorful houses.

The Recoleta district is the wealthy neighborhood where the rich, both living and dead, remain. Its famous cemetery is the final resting place for the country’s elite.

We, like everyone else, made a bee line for the mausoleum of Argentina’s beloved first lady Eva Peron.

After recharging in Buenos Aires, we were ready to head west to see more of Argentina.

Although Argentina is a huge country, people travel between cities via an extensive bus network. There are different quality standards with strict specifications for the width, length, and placement of seats. An overnight journey to Cordoba on the second best quality known as “semi-cama” was hands down the best bus trip we’ve had in 10 months of travel.

Cordoba is renowned for its colonial history and as a launching point for outdoor activities in the central Sierras region. But where Buenos Aires was warm and comfortable, Cordoba was way too hot – too hot to be ouside during the day.

With city activities out of the question, we headed out to visit Condor National Park. Two hours outside of Cordoba, this park supposedly is home to a large condor population, but we hiked in the rain for eight miles and didn’t see a single one.

We thought we were so clever in taking a local bus to the park’s entrance rather than joining a pricey tour, and only realized our folly in trying to get back to Cordoba. We attempted to hitchhike, but people only honked and waved. After a half hour our luck turned and a bus stopped for us.

We upgraded to a “cama” bus for the overnight journey from Cordoba to Mendoza, spoiling ourselves for all future bus travel.

This bus was the equivalent of a first class seat on an airplane, featuring wifi and seats which reclined flat. We fell asleep quickly; the attendant woke us up for dinner but we declined and went back to bed. In an out of sleep I saw him walking up and down the bus’s stairs handing out flutes of champagne.

Mendoza is the home of Argentina’s wine country and last stop before venturing to the Andes Mountains. Mendoza was as hot as Cordoba though, and we were again forced indoors during the day, only stepping outside occasionally to the city’s myriad ice cream shops.

The day the temperature broke 100 degrees we left the city for a day long “high mountain” tour of the various sites in the Andes.

Mount Aconcagua, the world’s highest mountain outside of Asia, was the first stop on the tour. We could have spent three weeks summiting it – the trek to its base takes three days alone – but were content with a picture.

Puente del Inca is a natural stone bridge over hot springs and one of Argentina’s natural wonders. It served as a resort until destroyed by a flood.

The Andes form the natural border between Chile and Argentina. Our small van slowly and methodically made its way to a former border crossing at the top of a very steep and winding road. I don’t know how larger busses and trucks made their way up – the switchbacks were sharp and just a few feet from the edge of our van was a steep cliff.

At the top we donned our jackets for the first time in the country and moved slowly in the thin air and heavy wind.

With that it was back to Mendoza, where we squeezed in a few more steaks, empanadas, and cones of ice cream before moving on to Chile and completing our crossing of Argentina.