Patagonia

Sifting through sweaters, shirts, and socks, I’d like to talk about what I left behind. Starting from the outside and working my way in, I stuffed into the maroon, coffee-stained North Face backpack, which I’ve had since before I could drive, the following items: one red coat, one sweater (with a hood to cancel out the need for a hat), two short-sleeve shirts, two long-sleeve shirts, two pairs of jeans, three pairs of leggings, countless socks, innumerable underpants, one pair of super stylin’ PF Flyer sneakers. Oh, and a scarf made from llama wool. In addition, there was a simple array of toiletries; think more Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria more than the usual Spanish Armada I drag around. I almost didn’t even bring a brush, but I’m glad I did because of how incredibly windy Patagonia was.

Thinking back, I could have carried less. That’s the most interesting part about the peripatetic life, I’ve realized how little I really need. I don’t care how Eat. Pray. Love. that sounds. It’s true. Also, the best part about traveling is realizing that the most important thing you really need is a good attitude. And I don’t care how Girl Scout that sounds. It’s true. If you’d asked me at the beginning of this year that I would willingly take four 20+ hour bus rides, I would have told you absolutely not.

But ultimately if carrying less and putting up with some butt-flatteningly long traveling more means I got to see sights like this…. well it’s a matter of attitude.

We flew to Ushuaia, The Southernmost City in the World. There’s a Chilean town a bit further south, but Ushuaia’s tourism industry success is an example of the importance of diction. We explored El Calafate, El Chalten, and Bariloche as we crawled our way back up north toward Buenos Aires. On our long journey, we encountered, climbed, and crossed a mammoth number of geological formations: channels, mountains, straits, hills, valleys, lakes, rivers, glaciers, plains, and cliffs.

The fellow travelers we met at hostels and in bus stations and on park trails were likewise suffering shoulder aches from heavy backpacks and blisters from hiking boots that finally wore a hole through stubbornly thick socks. Hostel conversations rarely start with introductions, so I can’t tell you many of the names of the people I met while traveling through Patagonia, that vast swatch of land swaddling southern Chile in alternating terrains of arid grasslands, unforgiving glaciers, magnificent lakes, and many, many sheep. I can tell you their stories though, and I think that counts a little more.

 

I kept a list going: Isreali #1, Crazy Córdoba, Toby and Laura from Germany, Cute Lil Spaniard Man, Carlos Who We Love, The Old Couple from Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, The Irish, Jesse Pinkman, Beautiful German Girl Who’s Cooler Than Us Even Though She’s Only Eighteen, Isreali #2 Who We Don’t Like, The French Men Who Played Pranks, That Greek Guy Who’s Definitely Having an Affair, The Ecotourism Chile Girl Who Will Save the World.

I’m excited by the number of perspectives and amount of information that I learned from them. I learned that ecotourism is a thriving new industry in Chile where unemployment stifles many people of my generation from the Chilean girl who also loves Hamlet. I learned that even training under a Tibetan monk and serving in the Israeli Army can still mean you’re a terrible, self-centered person from Isreali #2 Who We Don’t Like. I learned that most people are generally aghast at the state of the American political system from The Greek Guy. I ignored the fact that he was groping his female traveling companion who was not wife while knowledgeably discussing the 2008 election results. He made the funny comment that many Americans will pray for the best outcome, but then be very, very angry with the results. Also, I learned that older French men who do not speak any English can still cross the language barrier by goofing around, stealing our wine and replacing it with a Pringles can and seeing how long it took us to notice. I learned that an appreciation for considering others’ feelings and preferences is understood without language. I learned that Outkast brings just about everyone together.

 

Of course, these were explorers, people with minds open enough, countenances trusting enough, and standards low enough to live among strangers while trekking to remote places of the world. We’re the kind of people looking to feel small while standing next to a glacier four stories tall, marveling openly at the sheer magnificence of nature to come back to a shower with someone else’s hair in the drain. The beauty of Patagonia is not a welcoming beauty, but it is unspoiled.

 

Logistics:

November-March are the most popular (and warmest) months to go. Flights are most convenient, but our flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia was as expensive as all four bus rides. The bus rides are long and often weird, because it’s a unique mix of international travelers and local people moving to see relatives and sometimes with tons of luggage. We had to get out at the border of Argentina and Chile and then Chile and Argentina and wait in a warehouse in the middle of rocky flat sheep fields while our luggage was scanned and re-scanned on the bus ride from Ushuaia to El Calafate.

The bus rides were Ushuaia to El Calafate, El Calfate to El Chalten, El Chalten to Bariloche, Bariloche to Buenos Aires.

Ushuaia

Amazing city ‘at the end of the world.’ The southernmost city in the world, but there is a Chilean town a few miles farther south. Semantics. Tierra del Fuego National Park and the Beagle Channel wildlife are worth seeing.

Flight from Buenos Aires ~$300 USD

DO NOT STAY AT CRUZ DEL SUR HOSTEL

Dublin Bar is fun

Tres Marias Tour of the Beagle Channel is excellent- a great tour on a sailboat

Bring a Student ID for a discount for Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, otherwise it’s about a $20 USD bus ride and a $260 ARP entrance fee

Bus ride from Ushuaia->Rio Gallegos->El Calafate $100 USD and 20 hours, but you get to cross the Magellan Strait with a bunch of sheep. I think the company was Tasqa or something like that. There’s a sheep on the side of the bus (typical Patagonia).

El Calafate

Lago Argentino Alberque hostel is really nice

La Lechuza Pizza and La Cerveceria for Artisan Beers

Drink Patagonia Beer

Buy some Dulce de Calafate, which is jelly made of Calafate Berry

There’s a really cool nature preserve with flamingoes down by Lago Argentino!

Ovejitas is a chocolate factory in the town.

Bus to El Parque Nacional Los Glacieres is also about $270 ARP but includes a boat ride. Big Ice is good for Glacier Trekking bc it includes a boat ride and a ride to the overlook. Bring a lunch. Entrance is also $260 ARP.

Los Ponchos Apart is a great nicer place to stay.

The park across from La Lechuza has these amazing statues depicting the life Perito Moreno.

The Glaciarium is an awesome museum about glaciers and explorers with an ice bar. There’s free transportation from right next to the Perito Moreno sculpture park every hour, on the hour.

El Calafate->El Chalten bus $370 ARP, Company Caltur

El Chalten

The Caltur Company’s hostel is really nice. It has Viajero in it.

Go to La Chocolateria

Go to La Cerveceria.

Do all the hikes even if you’re windy and tired.

El Chalten-> Bariloche bus ride ~$150 USD and 20+ hours

Bariloche

We rode horses with Carol Jones, which was cool and about $100. Included a tasty asado lunch. My horse was named Obama.

Jauja Ice Cream!!!

Bariloche-> Buenos Aires bus. Via Bariloche. I don’t remember how much. Very long bus ride, but really cool views.