Mella Madness

This day has been re-affirming. In Los Antiguos I read a book, There is a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, and I’ve been practicing the attainment of higher frequencies of energy through a connectedness to my spirituality, which channels all the energies to work toward positive outcomes. This is not as complicated as it sounds. It’s more than the power of positive thinking. It means focussing on breathing, relaxing the tension in one’s face and shoulders, trusting in and connecting to a Higher Force that is pure love, and letting go of the natural urge to be in control. What happens after that is pure magic: everything falls into place, and things unfold the way they are supposed to.The past week or two has been frustrating as nothing that I was trying to plan would materialize. I was going to be in Ushuaia for 3 weeks, and tried getting a Workaway job there, but gave up after several emails. I contemplated changing my flight to Buenos Aires to an earlier date and then go to Uruguay and work there for 2 weeks, but I was unable to get onto the website to do the change and I had no replies from emails I had sent to Uruguay. All along I knew there would be a reason for this, but at the same time I knew I had to make decisions. On Friday the 13th March, it started to change:

• I managed to buy a new ticket for US$150 less than what a change of dates would have cost
• I made an Airbnb booking in Buenos Aires for 2 days only
• I decided to go to Uruguay anyway, work or no work
• Halfway to the place where I was going to dispatch Louise seperately to Buenos Aires (thinking only 10kg of hand luggage was allowed on the plane) I decided not to carry on walking and turned back. I was just fed-up with worrying about everything and gave up on all my concerns

And then this morning:

• It wasn’t raining when I left for the airport (rain had been forecast)
• I had decided to take the bus into the city centre to save on the cost of the taxi to the airport, and as Louise and I crossed the street to the bus stop, it arrived, right on cue
• The route of that specific bus just happened to go right to the other side of town, very close to the airport, so the taxi cost next to nothing
• Louise was allowed as luggage, absolutely no problem
• I had been assigned a middle seat, and the window seat just happened to be unoccupied (the plane was full)

And on landing at Buenos Aires:

• WApp’s that I had received made me realise that Uruguay was not going to allow me entrance as result of the coronavirus
• And urgings from friends and other incidents made me decide there and then to change my flight back to South Africa
• I went to the LATAM counter (no que!) and managed to get a flight on the 16th, allowing for the 2 days accommodation I had booked, just perfect.

All of the above is what is re-affirming. There is an English hymn that we used to sing in the Methodist Church when I was a child: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way… This song has become my mantra.

Okay, now that I have shared some of the turbulence I’ve been through, let me tell you about Ushuaia, also known as El Fin del Mundo (The End of the World), as it is the southernmost city on the continent. Here’s a map to orientate you (the yellow is Argentina, the rest is Chile):As usual on arrival, I decided to walk to the place I had booked, not realizing that it was 2,4km, with a hefty uphill to boot. The swivel of Louis’ wheels is not working that well anymore, so the poor thing periodically gets kicked just to keep her on track. I arrived hot and sweaty, ate a leftover sandwich and went to bed.The Argentinian part of Tierra del Fuego, the large island south of the Strait of Magellan, was populated by mostly non-Argentinians during the second half of the 19th century. In 1869 a British missionary, Stirling, lived among the native Yámana and was later joined by other missionaries, teachers and farmers. These natives suffered many deaths as result of diseases and eventually the missionaries withdrew.The Argentinian government decided to establish this area as a penal colony in an attempt to gain sovereignty and to populate the area. In 1896 the first inmates were accepted in the newly built prison in Ushuaia. They were some of the most serious criminals and second-time offenders of the country, and were used to chop down thousands of trees in the area. They built a railway-line from the forest to the settlement, and most of the timber houses of the town were built by them as well. The prison was closed down in 1947 because of reports of abuse and poor conditions. The train is now run as a tourist attraction to transport visitors to the National Park. A mural on the post office wall:Today, Ushuaia has much to offer in the way of trekking, catamaran trips along the Beagle Channel to see lighthouses, sea lions, birds and penguins, visits to museums and estancias (farms), skiing and walks along the waterfront. The long main street has many restaurants and shops, some of them tax-free.All the excursions are quite expensive (most are over a R1000), so I limited myself to two of the cheaper ones. The first was to the National Park where I spent the day walking some trails. The bus stops at different points in the park, and I got off at the pier, where the smallest and southernmost post office is.From there I followed a trail through more enchanted forests and along picturesque coves, until I reached a point where one can cross to a small island, where the end of Route No 3 is, which starts in Alaska.There is a beaver dam built in one of the rivers on the island, most intriguing. Unfortunately they are a pest, as they were orginally brought in to breed for their pelts, which was not lucrative, so they became wild. They cause a lot of damage to the forests and are being trapped and castrated or sterilised to curtail their numbers.On my way back through town, I ran into a protest march for International Women’s Day. Ooh boy, I wouldn’t want to cross swords with some of those ladies! They were dancing and having fun though, and feminism is huge in Argentina. Necessarily so, as abuse towards women is rife.My second outing was to Laguna Esmeralda, an emerald coloured lake northeast of Ushuaia, surrounded by the Sierra Alvear and with water from a hanging glazier feeding into the lake. To get there, one has to hike 4km through muddy forest paths and peat bogs. Suggested walking time is 2hrs, and it takes 2 long hours to slog through it all. The parts of the path in the forest that were dry were a pleasure, but the rest was a matter of hopscotch from solid piece, to roots, to plant mounds, to stones and little detours that take you to firmer ground. One slip, and you land ankle deep in the mud. I slid on some flat pieces of logs that had been packed to serve as pathway, and had quite a nasty fall. Luckily my phone didn’t hit the water, but I was a bit shaken up and my arm and leg bruised.I came prepared for the peat bogs though, as I had read a blog beforehand, warning of the treacherous stretch before the final part taking you up to the lake. I took off my shoes and rolled up my pants, and just walked through the peat, trying to keep to more solid spots, because one can sink in knee-deep. I had slip-slops for the stony bits in between, and washed my feet in the emerald river water afterwards – I had even brought a towel. Everybody commented on the suitability of the plan, but nobody followed suit. Some people very meticulously picked their way through, others just gave up and got their shoes thoroughly covered in mud and peat. It was a challenge, and the view from above of the lake and mountains was spectacular. There were hordes of people doing the hike, but on my way back I had a few minutes of walking alone through the forest. I stopped and listened to the silence, breathing in the rich, moist air and appreciating the stillness of the soft green leaves, filling my soul.The day before the 13th I followed a road up a mountain to what I thought would be a view, but all I found were cabins in the forest and dogs. I also found a tree under which I could sit and gather my wits, do the thing I described at the beginning of this blog. When I got up from there, things had changed, I just knew itOn the 14th I left for Buenos Aires, and had one day to take my leave. My accommodation was in a lovely old homely apartment, with a super helpful hostess who insisted on cooking for me and driving me to the shop. I walked 25 blocks to Plaza de Mayo, a nostalgic and emotional trip, reliving my introduction to Argentina more than 7 months ago. Time had passed in the blink of an eye.1

16th March:

As I walk towards the linking tunnel before entering the plane, it hits me: I’m leaving – my travels have come to a swift end. Coronavirus has dictated that I leave sooner than later, 3 weeks prematurely. Emotions well up, and I blink away the tears. I will be back, I think, or probably not. This has been the adventure of a lifetime, but there are other worlds to explore. And my family and friends are warmly awaiting my arrival. Taking a deep breath, I smile and step onto the walkway.

Thank you all for following my blog. Talking to you in my mind as I formulated experiences helped to make everything more meaningful. I truly appreciate each read, feedback or comment, a heartfelt thank you!

Se cuidante!

It was only a 3hr bus ride from Puerto Natales to Punto Arenas, where I had a leisurely stay of 8 days. I had planned my trip there to coincide with the arrival of my cousin Alan, who lives in Canada. He was to be the naturalist on an Australian boat going to the Antarctic. As an added bonus, I was to meet two South Africans (Hendrik and Ingrid), who where on a cruise down the Chilean coast and also going to the Antarctic. Sheer joy, and much sadness when they had all come and gone. With Hendrik and Ingrid I could only have coffee, a long chat and a walk to a viewpoint of the city and Strait of Magellan, as they only had a few hours ashore.Alan stayed for a couple of days, and we managed to do a hike in the Reserva Nacional Magallanes, a fascinating forest a few kilometers out of the city. It is eerie in some places, fairy like in others. There was evidence of thick old trees that had been harvested years ago, their stumps often covered with bright green moss. I love the musty smell of decaying wood and leaves in a forest and the sponginess of the ground. I visualize the new growth springing forth from the graveyard of the old, and I’m reminded of the inevitable cycle of life and death. The trees in this area are mostly lenga, ñirre and coigüe (beech). There are edible berries all over – it was a first for me to be told “eat the berries”! I had calafate, murtilla and chaura.

There were a variety of exquisite plants and flowers, some very small. The flower in the next picture is a quarter of the size of my pinkie nail. The red beauty in the following one is no fun when it is dry. It clings to your trousers or socks, and when you touch it to remove it, it disintegrates and each of those seeds have to be removed individually.

Alan is an ornithologist, so needless to say we saw many birds, including a Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle and a Rufous-legged owl. I was treated to a few dinners and many good conversations – very happy to visit with my cousin and sad to see him go!

I treated myself to a full day tour to Tierra del Fuego to see the King penquins at Pingüino Park and other interesting sites, crossing the narrowest part of the Strait of Magellan by ferry. Our first stop was at Estancio San Gregorio, a sheep farm dating back to 1876, owned by José Menendez. He had 170 000 sheep! Needless to say, he was the richest man in Patagonia at his time, and the complex was more like a village, with about 300 people living there. He also owned a fleet of 100 ships, two of which are stranded in the Bay of San Gregorio, where the farm is. The Clipper, a four masted sailing ship built in 1869, and the Amadeo, the first steam powered ship to sail in the area, built in 1884.The penguins are a small colony of about 120 who established themselves there 12 years ago, originally just with a few pairs. An interesting fact that I was unaware of, is that after raising the first chick, the female decides if the male was a good enough father or not, and based on that, she will either call for him the following year, or she will mate with another male. Unfortunately it was raining, and they were a bit far for good pictures.We returned to Punto Arenas via Porvenir, from where a two-and-a-half hour ferry trip took us back accross the Strait of Magellan. At Porvenir we visited the Hain viewpoint, a site where the Hain intiation ceremonies of the Selk’nam are commemorated. During the initiation the young men would paint their bodies according to the spirit they wanted to represent. There were three spirits:

• Matan – the dancer, known for his vertical jumps
• Ulen – spirit from the north of the island, known to be fast and agile (body red and dark with white horizontsl lines)
• Kotaix – the main spirit from heaven (white body, red stripes and mask covering the head and neck)

The Selk’nam were the ancient terrestrial hunters from the continent who had inhabited this part of Tierra del Fuego for 11000 thousand years. When the settlers started arriving in 1881 there were about 4000 of them, all systematically murdered by the farmers who were given a reward of one sterling pound for each male that was shot, one-and-a-half for each female, and a half for each child.

A famous Chilean sculptor, Richard Yasic Israel, was comissioned to make sculptures representing the Selk’nam in 2004. These are made of reinforced concrete and exhibited on a square in Porvenir.

This concluded a wonderful time in Patagonian Chile. I was quite amused when I was met with a blank stare by someone when I mentioned that I had been in Patagonia in Argentina. For the Chileans, Patagonia is in Chile. As was pointed out to me: the whole of the southern part of South-America should have belonged to Chile, as they had won it during one of the wars, but the eastern part was given to Argentina after negotiations. Eastern or Western, Patagonia is uniquely beautiful and inspiring and the tranquil lifestyle suits me perfectly. All that has ever been written or said about it is true – I will return (I did eat a lot of calafate berries, so it is inevitable).

I woke up in Chile Chico to a sun filled windless day, very rare. My bus was leaving at 10am, so I walked down the street at 8:30 and happened to find a takeaway coffee at a small restaurant (nothing opens before 9am). I took it down to Lake Buenos Aires, which is called Lago General Carrera in Chile, and sat by the willow trees, soaking up the sun and silence – it really is noisy and unsettling when the wind blows.The water is crystal clear and unpoluted. I took this photo from the jetty – what looks like patterns are the slight ripples on the surface of the water:When Carla (my boss in Los Antiguos, who had brought me accross the border to Chile Chico) left after our lunch the previous day, I had walked up to a mirador (lookout point) in the howling wind. Chile Chico is a small town, and a ferry takes people and cars accross the lake to Puerto Ibañez in 2 hours, a trip that would take about 6hrs by car.I was heading to Cochran, which is south of Chile Chico, along the Carrera Austral, the main road runnning longitudinally down Chile. There are only direct buses on three days of the week, so I had to go to Puerto Rio Tranquilo, which was more north, and then catch a bus south again, retracing about one third of my trip. It wasn’t bad, because it is a scenic route all along the lake and countryside.Cochrane is a small town which is covered in snow in winter, but once again I was blessed with a bright windless day. I borrowed my hostess’s bicycle to ride the 4km to the Parque National and did a 2hr hike to a lookout point of the lake and river. On my way into the park I was lucky enough to see a huemul, the south Andean deer that is an endangered specie native to the mountains of Argentina and Chile. I was staying with the most wonderful couple, Maurice and Carmen, and I fell completely in love with little Amara, their one-year old daughter. Her penetrating brown-eyed stare never wavered for a moment – she must be an old soul, with the wisdom of the ancients. Both Carmen and Maurice know much about Chile, its history, indigenous people and the political situation, and they happily shared all of it with me.The first group of hunter-gatherers arrived in Patagonia about 12000 years ago, when the landscape was mostly cold steppe, and trees grew only in some parts of southern Patagonia. The Aonikenk, or Tehuelces, were the group who roamed the steppe, living in tents and hunting guanacos for food and raw materials. After the settlers arrived, their numbers started dwindling as they succumbed to sickness, strange food and alcohol. They couldn’t hunt anymore, so took to breeding horses and working for the settlers. The last Aonikenk, Alberto Achacaz Walakial died in 2008.My mission was to go from Tortel (south of Cochran) to Puerto Natales by ferry, a once-a-week 41hr trip down the fjords, having only an allocated reclining chair and meals served in a dining salon. I had unsuccessfully tried booking online for several weeks beforehand, and finally was told that there were no seats available for the 22nd February, the day I wanted to leave. I determinedly caught the bus to Tortel anyway, a picturesque village with no cars, only boardwalks. There is a parking area for vehicles at the top, and wooden stairs lead to the village below. The road there from Cochrane had only been built in 2000 – previously it had only been accessible by horseback.I arrived at Tortel at 9am, stored Louise at the bus station, and spent the day exploring, climbing to a mirador, eating and waiting. I mentioned in a previous blog that every town, no matter how small, has a plaza (square), and in Tortel, those covered areas jutting out are the plazas.At the local Astral Broom office (the company running the ferry) they also told me there was no space, but that I could go to the docking pier at 10pm and enquire if there had been cancellations. My nerves were being severely tested, but everyone around was supportive and encouraging, and there was no way I was lugging Louise back along the boardwalks (her wheels kept on going into the grooves) and úp all the thousands of steps which I had had to carry her dówn. So I focussed on staying positive. In the end there were seven of us without tickets, and we all got a seat after waiting for about an hour. The price of the ferry was 125000 pesos (Chilean = R2500), which included good meals. The ferry takes about 30 cars and 150 people, of which 50 tickets are allocated to foreigners, 50 to Chilean travellers, and 50 to local Chileans. The Chileans’ tickets are subsidised by the government, so they travel very cheaply.This is a map of the area south of Tortel, the dotted line between the fjords is the route the ferry took:I was super excited and on deck before sunrise, taking pictures and going from one deck to the other up and down the steps. There were waterfalls, wooded mountains and wrecks along the way, and I saw some dolphins and many kinds of birds.Around noon of the first day we stopped at Puerto Eden, a pueblo (town) on an island, also with no cars. This part of Patagonia had been inhabited by the Kawésqar, nomadic people who spent most of their time (as families) on their canoes, going up and down the fjords. The canoes were made of bark and caulked with a mixture of plant material, mud and roots, and sometimes covered with skin. They always kept a fire going in the canoe, on a bed of stones, shells and sand. Sometimes a woman would even give birth on the canoe, and the man would wear the umbilical cord around his neck to show that he had become a father. It was worn for a year, and meant bad luck for the child if he lost it before the year was over. The women gathered shellfish, diving for it (in that freezing water) if necessary, wove baskets, cleaned birds and looked after the children. The men made boats and weapons, and fished and hunted. The 3000 inhabitants met with the same fate as the other indigenous people when the whaling and sealing boats started arriving at the end of the 18th century. Individuals, and sometimes whole families, were also taken to Europe and North America to be exhibited and studied, as they were believed to be savages worthy of scientific study.The weather changed later that afternoon, and we had rain and an icy wind for the rest of the trip, arriving at Puerto Natales at about 4pm.Puerto Natales is the town from which most people do the trekking in Torres del Paine, a popular and quite difficult 5 or 8 day hike in the park. There are caves worth visiting, where fossilized bones of the milidon, a large sloth with a head like a horse, were discovered. They date back at least 9000 years, when they had disappeared as a result of natural catastrophes.I didn’t do much other than walk around, visit a museum and the graveyard, have a few dinners with a friend that I had met on the boat, and cook on a lovely warm woodburning stove. I was meeting up with two of the French Workawayers that had been at Los Antiguos, and we had a happy reunion at a bar/restaurant overlooking the bay.

To be continued…

Or I should say, Given Time (thanks to Gaylord for the title!). Time to relax, time to reflect and integrate, time to walk and read, and time to unpack Louise for 3 weeks.

All this at Carla’s house in Los Antiguos, where I arrived as Workawayer and left as life-long friend. Carla is an energetic super-woman who runs her own three luxurious cabins, three cabins of other people, as well her six apartments in town. The cabins are adjoining to her house, which she had had built 6 years ago and did the interior herself, as well as the colourful and gorgeous garden. The complex is about 4km out of town and 100m from Lago Buenos Aires, the second largest lake in Argentina.

Some of the cabins, and Vera on the pathway:

Los Antiguos is known as the cherry capital of argentina. It’s a small town and the cherry orchards in and around town are lined with either cypress or tall poplar trees, creating a park-like atmosphere.

I was surprised to find a very orange/red municipal office building in town, until I realised it was meant to represent cherries. There is a huge ornate bowl of cherries as one enters town, and quite a few wooden carved figures and objects.

A lovely town, I walked there a few times, exploring the countryside on the way – open fields, lucern lands (alfalfa) and horses in between the cherry orchards. On the shortcut to town one has to cross a river on a low-water bridge, which meant I had to take off my shoes.

I usually had lunch and a beer at Le Petit, one of the local restaurants, and one day, on my way back to the house I was tired and lay down on the soft green grass on the side of the road, next to a furrow with running water. I was looking up at the poplars, my mind completely at peace and must have fallen asleep, because the clip-clop of horses feet on the tar road eventually brought me back to my senses.

Four other French volunteers were also working when I arrived, as well as an Argentinian, Sandra, who was permanently employed. Carla has the kindest heart, provides excellent accommodation and food for the volunteers and is concerned about their wellbeing, making suggestions on things to do and often taking them places, such as to Chile Chico accross the border in Chile, the national park, town and viewpoints. She even made a cake for one of the volunteer’s birthday, and organised a party, which was also a farewell for two of the French. They made ratatouille, Carla provided delicious salmon and 2 others made a strawberry crumble. Of course we had to have pisco sours, which Carla had made and insisted we drink as shots.

I often went to the lake, which on windless days was smooth and sparkling, but worked up quite a swell in the strong wind that blows virtually the whole summer. I was able to watch the full Snow Moon rise over the lake on the 9th of February, as it was a perfectly quiet evening.

Apart from remaking beds and cleaning cabins, we de-pipped many trays of cherries which were then frozen and which Carla uses for making mermelade (jam) during the long winter months. She also makes strawberry, raspberry, apple, rose-hip, calefate and grocella (funny red ‘gooseberry’) jam, which she harvests from her garden or in the wild.This is rose-hip, growing wild:

Grocellas, that grow on very thorny shrubs:

One day Carla disappeared for a while and when she came back, she had gathered wild mushrooms which grow under the pine trees. I usually took Vera, the dog, for a walk and decided to go mushroom hunting on the way, very proudly returning with a bag full. One peels away the top skin, cleans the dirt from the stem, and cuts them up into thick slices which are dried and vacuum packed for later use. A friend of hers pickles them in oil, lemon and spices, very tasty.

We became quite an esoteric little community during my first week there. One of the French volunteers is a chiropractor and he gave each of us a treatment or two. I facilitated a family constellation with a novice group, none of whom had previously participated in constellation work, which impacted greatly on all concerned. Both pets, Emma (the cat) and Vera (the dog) actively took part as well. Afterwards all Vera’s soft toys lay strewn about the energy field.

After 20 blissful days the time came to take my leave. Carla insisted on driving me accross the border to Chile Chico, from where I was catching the bus to Cochran the next day.

We had a last lunch together, and said goodbye, not farewell.

Five hours of staring. At what has been described as the 8th wonder of the world. The Perito Moreno Glacier in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, the Southern Ice Field in the Andes mountains. This ice field is the 3rd largest reserve of fresh water on the planet, after the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.  El Calafate is the closest town and best place from which to explore the southern part of the park.

The first siting of the glacier from the bus was of the eastern side, that faces into Brazo Rico, the southern arm of Lagu Argentino into which the glacier moves.
A panoramic view:
Perito Morena is the 3rd largest of the glaciers in the park, the largest being Upsala. It is 250sq km, with a width of 5km and length of 30km. It was first seen by a non-native in 1879, by the British captain of the Chilean Navy, Juan Thomas Rogers. It was eventually named after the 19th century Argentinian explorer Francisco Morena who had played an important role in the border dispute between Argentina and Chile. His nickname was ‘Perito’ which means ‘specialist’.

The northern side:
The eastern side:
The terminus of the glacier (point), with a average height of 70m, and a total ice depth of 170m (the ice in the water is called ‘dead ice):
Perito Moreno is about 75km from El Calafate, and one of Argentina’s greatest attractions. It is easily reached by bus and there are a series of walkways for excellent viewing of this spectacular natural wonder.  One gets so close to the terminus, one can feel the ice breathing cold air. I can only describe it as a majestic slumbering giant – perfectly still, yet alive. Every 10min or so chunks of ice, sometimes huge, would break off with a crack and thunderous roar and splash into the water, sending ripples lapping at the edge of the ice for minutes afterwards.


Most glaciers are receding due to global warming, but Perito Moreno, although thinning, is stationary in the sense that it is growing at the same rate as what it is receding.  The water flow at the centre is 2m per day.

Occasionally the terminus closes the gap to land, and water build-up in Brazo Rico can reach 30m above the level of the northern arm. The pressure against the ice wall causes a huge rupture of the ice, an incident that can  occur yearly, and not more than a decade in between. The first big rupture was in 1917, and in the last couple of years it has been a yearly occurrence.

The narrow gap between the glazier and the land:
5 hours of just staring. Dumbstuck and in total awe. And yet it was not enough, I was reluctant to leave and kept on taking ‘one last picture’.  Just ‘one more’, and ‘one more’…Let me back up a bit. The road from Puerto Santa Cruz on the east coast to El Calafate in the west went via Rio Gallegos and crossed the Patagonian steppe, vast and dry grasslands, with occasional farms appearing once we got down into the Santa Cruz river valley.
El Calafate, as can be imagined, is a very touristy town with quaint shops  bars and restaurants, and of course, very expensive. I arrived at about midday, in a howling wind, and had to drag a reluctant Louise a couple of blocks into the wind, almost being swept off my feet. The last stretch was uphill, and I was completely out of breath when I reached the hostel. Sharing a room with 5 youngsters is partly a challenge (I become aware of my age) and partly invigorating (their energy is catching).  Talk is mostly about travel experiences and itineraries, and connections are short and sweet.
The restaurants do asado’s this way:
I had booked the trip to the glacier on arrival at the bus station, and had chosen a perfect day as the following day it was overcast, cold and rainy.
Booking bus tickets can be tricky. One can do it online, but often they require a printed ticket, so I try and buy a departure ticket on arrival (the terminals are often far from the centre of town). Recently I have been told that the ticket can be printed at the terminal just before departure – a bit late for thát bit of information to be of any use to me now. But I’m passing it on, maybe it can benefit someone else.

The last day in El Calafate I lazed about  and then decided to go for walk in the afternoon. The receptionist at the hostel had told me of a nature reserve next to the lake, and a beach further on. The wind was still going full-force, so I chose a route to have it from behind, and just hoped I would find a shortcut to the hostel. Which I did. Saw some flamingos, swans with black heads, beautiful views of the Lagu Argentio and a view of the town:
El Chalten, also known as the trekking (hiking) capital of Argentina, was my next destination.  The 3-hour bus trip from El Calafate went north around the lakes with the snow-capped Andes as backdrop, lovely views. There are so many hiking trials in El Chalten, one could spend a month there and still not have done them all. The day I arrived I went up to a viewpoint above the town, and further accross to view Lagu Viedma, another big lake on the way to El Chalten.
The two most popular hikes are the ones to the foot of Mount Fitz Roy (3402m) and Cerro Torre (3133m), the two highest peaks in the massif.  Both have icy cold wind-swept lakes at their bases and at Lago Torre the Torre glacier sweeps down into the lagoon.  I managed to hike 5km to Laguna Capri, which is halfway to Fitz Roy, before deciding that I would get hypothermia if I went much further, so I took many pictures and turned back.
The following day my bus was leaving at 21h00, and the kind owner of the hostel allowed me to leave my luggage there, and also said that I could cook and use the shower later. That meant I didn’t have to sit around and wait, so I did the 10km hike to Lagu Torre, walking at times high above the Fitz Roy river, through forests and accross open fields, all sunny, warm and windless. And then I rounded a hill and got hit by the strong, freezing wind coming down from the mountains. Looking at the stone strewn barren landscape there one is impressed by the force of retreating glaciers and how they shaped the valleys. I didn’t spend much time at the lake with its brown muddy water and contrastig crystal blue ice blocks, but chose to eat my sandwich in the tranquil forest. The view of the glacier and surrounding mountain peaks was spectacular though.

After all this excitement I headed further north on a night bus to a town called Los Antiquos, where I had a 3-week Workaway stint planned. More about that next time.

One more photo of El Chalten, taken from the bus:

For buses…always waiting. They all seem to travel at night, here on the east coast of Patagonia. Which means you arrive at your destination at an uncomfortable hour. A few days ago I realised that there comes an hour when very late at night becomes very early in the morning. I would put it between 02h00 and 04h00. I told my landlord in Puerto Santa Cruz that I would be arriving very late, which at that stage was 02h30, but then the bus was more than an hour late and it became 03h30, which ended up being 04h30. As I walked down the street, dawn was just lighting up the horizon, and night was suddenly morning and I’d missed the night’s sleep that I had paid for. More about this story later.

I left Sarmiento for Comodoro Rivadavia at 13h00, but there I had to wait until 20h30 to catch a bus to Fitz Roy, my next stop. Fitz Roy is a town of 10 streets long and 3 streets broad, with 2 garages with restaurants, one proper restaurant and a cafe, all along the one street next to the highway. I had decided to stay there for two reasons: 1) it was cheaper than the town on the coast, which is where people usually stay, and 2) it was closest to the Nacional Parques Petrificados (national park) with petrified trees, which I had planned to visit.

I got off the bus at 24h30, sort of a decent hour (in Argentinia anyway), and walked to the hospejade (type of hotel) I had seen on the map. It was full, and she directed me to a ‘hotel’ accross the street, which looked more like a dilapidated old house. A girl of about 12yrs old was in the shop (front of hotel) and took charge of booking me in – $400 (R100). Down the passage, to a dorm with 3 beds and communal bathroom further down the passage. Luckily I was the only one in that room, but really, only the sheets were clean. There were even cobwebs behind the curtain. I had paid for 2 nights, as I needed a day to visit the national park.

Enquiring about a bus or taxi to the park the next morning, I was told there was none. As I was determined to see the 130 million year old trees from the Jurasic period, I decided to hike. Got a lift after about 10min, with a guy from the military who was returning from a fishing trip to the Parana river at Rosario. He proudly showed be pictures of the huge dorado’s he had caught, and typically fisherman style, I showed him pictures of the even bigger fish my son Francois had shot in the Ivory Coast. I felt quite bad afterwards, he was so proud of his fish.

After 70km he dropped me off at the turn-off to the park, which was another 50km further along on a dirt road. I was thinking “right, come on lift”, when a car turned off onto the dirt road, right on cue. But it drove straight past me! I immediately recalled the wish I had made for a flat tyre for them, and it must have worked, because a few minutes later they came back and stopped on the opposite side of the road. The window rolled down, and a very suspicious man asked to see my passport. I reluctantly handed it over (one is told never to let go of your passport, but I needed that lift), and he told his wife: es una turista (it’s a tourist). Once I was settled in the back seat, he emphatically told me that I was very fortunate because it was the first time in 10 years he had picked up someone, and again he asked my passport and took a photo of it. By the end of the outing (I had gone there and back with them), he asked me if I had made provision for my old-age, which had me bursting out with laughter as he is a broker. We exchanged emails, and he promised to come and do business in South Africa.The lift-givers:

In the previous blog I had complained about the lack of wildlife, but on the way to the park we saw many guanacos (a kind of llama, I was told), a few choiques (ostriches, but much smaller than the one’s in South Africa), a zorro (rooijakkals) and 3 mara’s (big hares that walk, with black bottoms).

The mountain in the background of the following photo is a volcano, called madre e hija (mother and daughter).

The trees had grown in a swamp area before the existence of the Andes, when winds had blown in moist air from the Pacific, causing high rainfall. Volcanic ash and other sediments had covered them, causing petrification. I was very impressed when the friendly park ranger knew and asked me about the petrified trees in Namibia.

There must have been a comunication barrier, because my benefactor and his wife were passing Fitz Roy on their way back, but for some or other reason they decided to drop me off at the T-junction at the highway. And there I stood, in wind worse than the strongest southeaster, with only the sun as company. Interesting experience, hitchhiking. At first I was very optimistic, sure that the next car would stop. Later I began to yank my hat off the minute a car appeared over the ridge, and pleaded, hands together, with a big smile. Even later I decided, whatever, and just carelessly put my thumb out. Admittedly most of the cars were full, some people waved and one driver coming in from the dirt road offered me water. He was going in the other direction. Eventually, after an hour, a car passed, turned back and picked me up. By that time I was sure that people probably thought I had escaped from an asylum, crazy old woman, hat in hand, with hair standing on end in the wind.

Back in Fitz Roy I asked about a bus to Puerto San Julian, my next destination, only to find out it leaves at 24h30 (of course, that was the time I had arrived). I had paid for 2 nights, so decided I would sleep, and then sit in one of the restaurants at a garage the following day, with the hope of catching a lift with someone. I had asked the petrol attendant to enquire about possible lifts, and waited for 3hrs, nothing happening. On impulse, or divine inspiration, I approached the people at the table behind me, and by 13h00 I was in the car with a silent driver and his very talkative 16yr old daughter, who wanted to practice her English as payment. None of the people would take money for the lifts – the broker said I had to give him one Rand, and I just happened to have a R10 note in my bag, so he was very impressed.

In Puerto San Julian I booked into a hotel – I wanted a clean room with my own bathroom for one night! I walked around town for an hour or two, saw what there was to see, and enjoyed my hotel room.Cute new corrugated iron sheet houses:

And old ones:

Puerto San Julian is the place where Ferdinand Magellan first landed in Argentina on 31st March 1520. He decided to spend the winter, and left again in August. During that time he had had a mutiny and he had exiled one person and had another beheaded. Francis Drake also landed there in 1578, spending the winter. A small settlement was started in the 19th century, but never came to anything. Only in the 20th century did the towns on the east coast start thriving when European settlers wanting to escape the threat and aftermath of World War I started to arrive, mostly Spanish, English, Germans and Slavs. A monument pays tribute to the first communion that was held on the beach on Palm Sunday. I stood there above the water’s edge in the wind, and could well imagine the piety of the moment.

‘Rockpools’ with a difference:

In all the towns on the east coast of Patagonia there are monuments honouring the soldiers who had fought and died in the Malvinas (Falkland) war in 1982.

I spent another day waiting for a bus to my next destination, Puerto Santa Cruz, and got to the bus station at 17h00, just to be told that I had been misinformed by the tourist office re the time, the bus was only leaving just after midnight. So Louise and I kept each other company here for another 8hrs 30 min, as the bus was 1hr 30min late:

I now go back to the story I was telling earlier.When I disembarked in Puerto Santa Cruz at 04h30, I headed in the wrong direction for two blocks before realizing I had made a mistake, again. I had just turned back when a twin-cab bakkie drew up and the driver questioningly said: “Meriel?” It was my host, he had been waiting for me at the bus station, an angel from heaven! The apartment I had booked was like a little house, all my own, and I decided to stay 2 extra days, cooking, relaxing and taking short walks.

Puerto Santa Cruz lays two claims to fame: one that Charles Darwin, in 1834, on board the HMS Beagle under command of captain Robert FitzRoy, had taken a cruise up the river that runs into the sea there (the Santa Cruz river). He found his first fossils, which contributed to the development of his theory of evolution. This visit to Patagonia also made him realise that he was more of a geologist than zoologist. In studying the valley of Santa Cruz, he concluded that this part of Argentia had once been submerged under the sea, rising slowly to change from a group of islands to the land it now is. It also made him realise that the world was much older than ever imagined.

The second claim is that the pilot-writer, Antoine de Saint Exupéry, auther of The Little Prince, spent time in Puerto Santa Cruz. He was in Argentina from 1929 to 1931, flying between Buenos Aires and the south. In 2015 an organisation, The Freedom Bench Project, was established by a nephew of the writer, to promote values such as commitment, exchange and links. Benches could only be erected in places that Exupéry had actually lived.

Some scenes from the town:

There is an abundance of marine life along the whole of the east coast of Patagonia, with many colonies of penguins and sea lions, as well as pods of Commercon’s dolphins. I was fortunate to spot some of these graceful black and white dolphins in the bay of Puerto Santa Cruz, but unable to take pictures. Anyone planning on doing a trip in Patagonia would be wise to rent a car, as many more places could be reached and explored in that way. Unfortunately a bit expensive for a solo traveller on a tight budget…

They call themselves Boer’s. I’ve known about them since I was a young girl, and always thought I would visit them if I went to Argentina. I found it very intriguing that people could just ‘up and go’ – whole families, to an unknown, vast, dry and isolated place. To start a 2500ha (625ha free, 1275ha for 150 pesos per year for 5 years) farm from scratch, with nothing closeby. I do believe they came accross some native inhabitants, but Sarmiento and Comodoro Rivadavia were hardly towns at that time. The irony is that around 1907 the govenment was drilling for water for the farmers and found oil instead. Now Comodoro Rivadavia and surrounding 200km is the biggest oil producing area in Argentina. The oil pumps are scattered along the road to Sarmiento, more than a thousand of them.

In 1902, after the Boer War, some 600 Afrikaners from the defeated Republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal, and some from the Cape Colony, decided to seek a new beginning in Patagonia, Argentina. They were farmers who had lost their farms in the war, or were not prepared to live under British rule. They sent two representatives to Comodoro Rivadavia to manage the establishment of the new colony, and later arrived on British cargo ships. They brought bullock carts with them and were given tents and mules by the government. Land was allocated to them by Julio Argentino Roca, the president at that time, and the minister of agriculture, Wenceslao Escalante.

My decision to contact them almost did not come to fruition, as searches and messages on Facebook weeks beforehand elicited no reaction. I had read an article on them written by a research team at the University of Michigan, led by Dr Andries Coetzee. I contacted him, and he referred me to Facebook. Eventually I just decided to go to Comodoro Rivadavia, hoping to find someone at an address of the Facebook group Asociacion Cristiana de la Colectividad Sudafricana in Rada Tilly, close to Comodoro Rivadavia. I made an Airbnb reservation with two very kind men, arrived at 7am on Tuesday, and spent the whole morning on FB again. This time I left a comment on a group called the Kleinmond/Sarmiento Kulturele Uitruil Program and was contacted by both Gerard (from Kleinmond), and Carolina (from Sarmiento). Carolina (I’m not writing surnames) gave me the contact number of her niece, Romina, in Comodoro, who is a student in Buenos Aires, and who happened to be home on holiday. She speaks English, and we met for breakfast the following morning. What a delightful and enthusiastic person. She shared a lot of information about the local activities of their group (Asociacion Cristiana de la Colectividad Sudafricana) and showed me around town, amongst other the Boer’s monument. She had had an interview about the Afrikaners on national TV in Argentina, and mentioned that a question that was regularly asked was why they always only represented a certain aspect of South African culture, i e the Afrikaners. Her answer was simple: “We are descendants of only the Afrikaners”.

I was impressed by the acceptance and involvement of different countries and cultures in Comodoro Rivadavia. There are people of about 25 different countries living there, and whenever one country has a special day of celebration, representatives of all the other countries attend, wearing their national costumes and bearing flags of their countries.

Romina helped me to buy a bus ticket to Sarmiento the following day, and informed the Sarmiento group about my arrival. Carolina arranged for a gathering at Cristina’s house, including the ‘elder’, who still spoke Afrikaans. I was unable to do anything at all in Sarmiento on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, as my whole being was in turmoil about meeting the Afrikaners, something that I had hardly anticipated as becoming a reality.

At 3pm I was waiting on the pavement outside my apartment, having changed into black jeans and a new T-shirt I had bought the previous day, when a twin-cab bakkie stopped and a young woman jumped out, in shorts, T-shirt and sneakers. We hugged, and she introduced me to her 4-year old son and 6-month old baby in the back seat.

We were the first to arrive at Cristina’s house, and I was mightily surprised when she greeted me with a heavily accented ‘Hoe gaan dit?’. She told me she was 64 yrs (i e 2 years younger than me), which I couldn’t believe, as she looked about 40 yrs. As it turned out, she had gotten the numbers back-to-front, and it was supposed to be 46yrs, a common mistake when translating from Spanish. Phew, I was relieved…

The others started arriving, and every time a new person entered, I became more emotional. When Piet and his sister Nenna greeted me in perfect Afrikaans, I just doubled over and didn’t know what to do with the emotional impact. Five months in South America, never meeting any Afrikaans speaking people, and here I was being greeted by Argentinians in my language! That made them ‘my’ people, and I was privileged enough to meet them. And then Ricardo walked in, also speaking Afrikaans, and I réálly didn’t know how to cope with it all. By that time everybody was watching me, and we all shared this incredible feeling of connectedness through a common language and cultural bond só deep, one could only be filled with awe. When I mentioned that my maiden name was Snyman, Ricardo reckoned that we might be family, as he had Snyman family who had moved to Patagonia from Phillipstown in the old Cape Province.

Ricardo, Nenna, me and Piet:

Nenna had had 10 children, 2 of them in the photo (the one on the left is Cristina), with 2 of her many grandchildren.

We talked for hours, about their lives, how things had changed, about South Africa, and about how they are attempting to keep the Afrikaner traditions alive by arranging get-togethers, Boeresports, teaching traditional dances (Volkspele) and getting the younger generation to learn Afrikaans. Their newly established Colectividad de Descendientes Sudafricanos Boer’s de Sarmiento, Chubut has a cultural connection with a group in Kleinmond, South Africa, and the first two girls from Sarmiento to take part in an exchange, had just arrived in Kleinmond that Monday. They are receiving Afrikaans lessons and are supposed to report back regarding the South African way of life.

As I listened to the stories of their lives, I was filled with respect for what they had managed to accomplish. My Karoo roots deepened my understanding of their trials and tribulations, as the area they were given to farm on, as well as the conditions (isolation, droughts, fluctuating wool prices) are very similar to where I grew up. What impressed me most though, is their attitude. They are relaxed, positive, extremely friendly and open. Ricardo, for example, has lost all his sheep as a result of the drought. A lake 200m from their farmhouse had dried up, and sand blown by the constant strong winds had completely covered their driveway, yard, trees and house. They recently built a new house, but cannot live there because of the sand in the air, so have moved to town. He tells all this without negativity, merely stating facts. Piet has lived on his farm his whole life, and in the past used to come to town once a year. It was common practice for the farmers in those early days to only visit town once a year, and even then the children were left on the farm. They told me that by the time the children started attending school, they could only speak Afrikaans, and were always bullied. Now the younger generation speak only Spanish, go to university, and are not really interested in farming. I was surprised at the size of the farms and flocks of sheep these days, much bigger and many more sheep than my father had on his two Karoo farms. They mentioned farms of many thousands of acres carrying over 100 000 sheep. All Merino’s.

When I was getting ready to leave, they surprised me by giving me a copy of the book that had been published in 2002 in commemoration of their 100 year’s existence in Patagonia. It was a limited edition, so a huge gift indeed. They all signed it, and I was só overwhelmed, I could hardly thank them. What an unbelievable privilege, to be welcomed and accepted into such a unique community!

Carolina took me home, and I was met by my landlady, who insisted on making a phone call in my presence. I couldn’t understand why, until I heard a voice speaking to me in Afrikaans. One of her friends, Agustin, was an Afrikaner, living about 10 blocks away, and he badly wanted to meet me. It was past 7pm and I still had to buy my bus ticket and cook supper, but I walked to his house and visted for a while.

Agustin had broken his leg 10 years ago, and is still in a wheelchair in spite of many operations. He had sold his sheep before the drought had gotten too bad and moved to town. He is the oldest and only surviving of 5 children, and said that his father had employed a Meester (teacher) to teach the children on the farm. There were about 15 children in the farm-school, some from neighbouring farms.

I don’t know if I have managed to portray the full impact of this visit. I don’t even know if I fully understand it myself. All I know, is that it touched a part of my soul that has been harbouring an admiration and yearning all these years, and has culminated in a shared moment of connectedness and unity. As we were sitting around the table, talking, laughing, sharing, drinking coffee (and mate of course, cold this time, made with grapefruit juice), eating Argentinian treats, children playing around us, it felt so familiar, as if we were on our farm in the Karoo. Yet it was Argentina, a country I have come to understand and love, and it was Argentinians, yet Afrikaners. Maybe it’s ancestral, maybe it’s similar farming experiences, shared joys and adversity, maybe all of it put together. The experience, I can assure you, was intense.

Quite a few South Africans have been in touch with me since I posted some photo’s on Facebook, some of them mentioning family that had moved to Patagonia, but that had gone back to SA during the 1930’s, when about 300 of them returned. Thank you for sharing with me, it adds to the richness of the experience. Best of all is that Carolina is answering the comments left by people on FB – we are now all connected!!

It’s Sunday evening, 20h30, and the sun is still shining. It has been a sunny and windless day in Bariloche after a week of rain, wind and freezing cold. On Saturday morning there was a layer of fresh snow on the mountains, and today we were swimming in the lagoon. This is how it works in Bariloche, I am told. I finished my final shift today at 16h00 and headed down to the crowded beach with my swimsuit and a book. Funnily enough, sunbathing on the pebbles is quite comfortable – I even managed forty winks, siesta.I’m feeling nostalgic, as usual when I have to leave. Sitting alone with a copa de vino tinto (glass of red wine), watching the colours change as the sun sets, is intensifying the nostalgia. It is só beautiful here and I’ve met such wonderful people.Tomorrow I’m heading to Comodoro Rivadavia on the east coast, where descendants of the Afrikaners who emigrated in 1902 are still living. I’ve known about them since I was a little girl, and always thought that I would visit them if I went to Argentina. I was reluctant, as it is out of my way, but a friend encouraged me to try and find them and put me in touch with a researcher at Michigan University, who referred me to Facebook. So I’m going there.

Today has not been a good day. My astrologist friend, Annorien, had warned me that this weekend would be challenging for everyone, and that if I was feeling the pinch, it was not just me. Things started going wrong on Saturday, when some videos I had received on WApp upset me. I wiped away the tears and decided to make the most of my morning off by visiting Colonia Suiza, a little village that is mostly a market, both artisan and food stalls, quite quaint. I waited for an hour for bus no 10, which was indicated on the map as the one to take you there. By then four no 20 buses had passed, so I decided to take one of them, which I knew went in the same direction. I didn’t get off at the right place and spent another 20 min travelling to the drop-off point where I had to catch another bus, no 13. The bus drivers are extremely helpful and patient, if one can understand what they are saying. I finally got to the town and had enough time to browse, visit the lake nearby, and eat a hearty meal called guisa de montaña (stew of the mountain) with some added chillies.My mood had lifted considerably, so I thought I was making good progress. Until this morning… One of the volunteers, Petr (a Czech), was leaving, and I was sad to see hom go as we had had some interesting philosophical conversations about stoicism, minimalism, etc. In spite of his cynicism, I enjoyed his forthright comments regarding people, situations and attitudes. He kept on encouraging me to learn more Spanish (and take cold showers), and helped me when I was stuck with computer bookings, making bread and cookies, answering Spanish phone calls or receiving Spanish guests. So I was sad. And then it was a hectic morning, with organising breakfast, guests booking out and early check-ins, people wanting to exchange money, etc. At some stage I must have left money on the counter, because when Marina (one of the owners of the hostel) arrived and checked the cash register, there was 2000 pesos (R500) missing, which I had to refund. Someone must have swiped it, or I had made a wrong entry. I couldn’t believe that I had been so careless and was most upset. R500 is a lot of money, but I was more upset with the whole situation than with the loss of the money. Not being able to converse properly in Spanish does not help of course. I felt like the proverbial ‘old woman trying to do a job’, not very successfully. On the other hand, one slip-up per job is probably not a bad track record… And I should count my blessings, as my dear mother always said (and she did exactly that, sometimes up to two hours if that is what it took to make her feel better): Mei-tal, a volunteer from Israel, fell of her bike today, hurting herself quite badly. I just had an ego fall… Not a good weekend, as Annorien said!

Hopefully some good has come out of the three weeks here in Bariloche. For me, it has been a dualistic process: work was tough, but the environment, both natural and human, more than compensated for it.

Last week, after two weeks of working and living in a hostel, I felt I needed a break so I treated myself to two nights in Villa la Angostura, a very touristic little town on the northern side of lake Nahuel Huapi. Sheer luxury to have my own room in a beautiful house, super clean, with a friendly hostess (Silvia) who made her own jams, baked healthy bread and moist cakes with dried fruit, and who had a wealth of information about all to see and do, a map and instructions readily available. I walked a lot, went on a boat trip and took pictures of houses and plots for sale – I seriously considered the option of disappearing forever, happily spending the rest of my days in a cabin in a forest next to a lake.I am really missing seeing wildlife. Birds and butterflies are all I see here. I don’t miss the mosquitos, flies and brommers, but even seeing a mouse or lizard would be great. Or a snake, on one of my many walks – but nada (nothing)! There are puma’s in the mountains, but I have not been lucky enough to see one. One does not realise how fortunate we are in Africa, to have so much wildlife. Interestingly enough, everyone I meet here who hears I am from South Africa, either comments on or questions me about wild animals. Something to appreciate even more when I am back.

Monday:

I’m in the que again. Calmness prevails, with a tinge of excitement. The familiarity of waiting for my luggage to be loaded is encouraging. As is the irritation of having to tip someone just for lifting Louise from the ground into the bowels of the bus. It meams I’m on my way, new adventures await. Whatever needed to be experienced or accomplished here, is done. The last two hours at the hostel were touching. Two volunteers, Stephi and Mei-tal, were going on a road trip for the day and gave me the warmest of farewells, hugs and affirmations. I warmed some soup for lunch before leaving the hostel and Camila, another volunteer, left her cookie making to join me, even producing some ice-cream for desert. She’s been helping me with Spanish, and I’ve been helping her with English. When she heard I was taking the colectivo (local bus) to the bus terminal, she insisted on paying for a taxi for me, shoving $200 (R50) into my bag. I was filled with warm gratitude for such caring gesture from a young girl to an ‘old’ lady. How kind and sweet! And then Martin, Marina and Martin’s son, Ezekiel, came to say goodbye to me at the bus terminal, as they couldn’t make it to the hostel in time. I will remember them all with great fondness.

Goodbye Bariloche!

Happy New Year to all of you! May 2020 be one of those remarkable years for all, may the joys be many and the sorrows few, and may you all be blessed with an abundance of love.

I reluctantly came back from Peru, a dramatic country with contrasting landscapes and lively people, to a hot and steamy Córdoba. I had stupidly booked a flight back with a stop-over in Santiago (Chile), and even more stupidly at 20:20, so a flight of 4hrs took me 11hrs, in the dark, with no views. In my defence, LATAM had advertised the time as 08:20pm, and I obviously hadn’t see the ‘pm’…Travelling down south from Córdoba the landscape seemed so ‘ordinary’, as in ‘familiar’. After the starkness of the desert and the lushness of the jungle, worked fields of various kind of crops reminded me of food production and fuctionality. Fields and farms to the left, mountains to the right. Slowly the landscape changed as we left the fertile valley,  and suddenly it was like my beloved Karoo, koppies and all, even poplar-lined farmhouses.

We had this one crazy police stop, where quite a few youngsters were asked to step out of the bus and line up with their bags. A police dog then sniffed at all of the bags and yanked one out. The poor guy had to stand in public view while the police unpacked his whole bag, just to reveal nothing. I have no idea what thát was about. After a night bus I spent the following day in Neuquen, the ‘capital’ of Patagonia (I was told). An impressive city, after so many miles of nothingness. It is in a river valley where mostly apples are grown, and seems to be expanding rapidly, judging by the malls and high-rise blocks of apartments going up.I was intrigued by this following sculpture, a homage to whoever built the railway line (that is no longer functional):The following day I was on my way to San Carlos de Bariloche, or Bariloche, as it is popularly known, with a very friendly and talkative Spanish lady (and grandmother) next to me in the bus. She had me practicing my Spanish for quite a few hours. We exchanged phone numbers and have been in contact since. Inis – she lives in Playas Doradas on the East coast and I might visit her there (see the strain of speaking Spanish on my face.Bariloche, a little Switserland in the northwest of Patagonia, and gateway to the south. The most beautiful lakes, forests and mountains, with zilions of trails, overnight camping spots, cycling, horseriding, sailing, kayaking, paragliding and many more activities.  I was persistant in the finding of volunteer work here, and was accepted at Hostel Punto Sur, right in the heart of town, with friendly and supportive owners, Martin and Marina. The work is scheduled in 8hr shifts for 4 days, and then 3 days off, which gives me time to explore towns close by, or do one of the overnight stays in a cabin in the mountains. In winter the mountains are snow-covered and skiing is a great attraction. According to Marina, the Argentinias come here in winter mostly to see and enjoy the snow. The Europeans are the ones who come to ski.  I’ve climbed several hills with great views of the lake, Lago Hauma Haupi, and wildflowers along the way, much to my delight.

Martin and Marina presented us with an asado (braai/barbeque) on Christmas eve. Two kinds of sausages and three kinds of beef, with lettuce and tomato salad and bread. Martin had made a delicious chimichurri that we draped over the meat and bread. Here’s a recipe I found on the internet, but according to Martin, common vinegar and sunflower oil work best:

INGREDIENTS

So, after that horrific road trip, I had a relaxing few days in Atalaya. Jennifer’s response to my blog was perfect and much appreciated:

Hi Meryl, I read your post is very interesting. When I’m read I smile because I remenber when I said you that this road is dangerous and you said me very happy “is not problem”
But is important that you doing this travel, because now you know the really kind of life that have diferents persons in this country, and the reason that some persons never go to other places, (it’s espensive, dangerous or other). All the time is imposible to have a good or confort travels, but this experience you never forget and pls never repeat.

As you saw in the previous blog, the motor-taxis in Atalaya are different than in Quillabamba, because the roads are worse and people use them to transport their goods. They have a carrier at the back, and charge a standard rate of 1 sol (R4,50). You don’t ask, you just pay.I walked around town, ate at local restaurants for 5 soles, visited a few places out of town and spent a lot of time sleeping and relaxing, especially as it rained for a certain part of the day every day. Nobody speaks English at all, which was good for practicing my Spanish.The above photo was taken at Sapani, a resort that normally has crystal clear pools, but was flooded after the rains.The motor taxi I took out there had to cross streams like this twice. I had to move to the corner if the back seat, to put some weight on the back wheel for better grip. We made it through both times. My proud driver:Some houses in the forest:The houses are all built of wood, in a specific style, and on my trip through the jungle I saw signs of deforestation, especially high up on the flat part if the mountains.I saw the full moon rise on my first night in Atalaya, over the Tambo river, which joins the Urubamba (the same one that passes Machu Picchu and Quillabamba), becoming a torrent of water of which I took a picture from the plane when flying back to Lima (the window of the plane was extremely dirty or perished or something, all my photo’s were flops).I badly wanted to see the Urubamba at Atalaya (on the photo it is the stream furthest left), so decided to take a boat. After much asking around, I finally found the place from which to depart, but we went to the opposite bank of the Tambo, from which I had to take a motor taxi overland to a little village on the banks of the Urubamba.At least I saw it, full of wood, plants and debris after two weeks of rain in the area, I was told. I loved walking through the little town, saw some youngsters playing soccer in a mud field on the square (more falling around in the mud than kicking the ball) and going for a swim in the river after their game. An older man was selling chickens that he was carrying around in heavy wooden crates, calling out as he was walking down the street. He stopped every now and then, wiping sweat from his brow, but would scuttle away when a potential buyer would beckon him.The night before I left a friend asked me what my general impression of Peru was. I had returned to Lima and wrote the following:

“Good question. Here in Lima (especially Miraflores, which is a modern, perfect and expensive suburb), the contrast between the rest of the country and here is starkly evident. However, as I flew in from Atalaya, I saw the size and poor section of Lima too. About 10m people live here, one third of the population.

My sense of Peru is that the rural towns and people are isolated. Distances are mucho and transport is difficult, and so their traditions and culture live on, especially food, dances, festivals and the traditional textile industry. One ‘modern’ thing that is noticeably present, is cell phones – and like everywhere else, people are addicted to them.

The people are friendly, sincere and not at all touristy, except in Cusco and Lima. They do not bother you and don’t charge more for taxis or at the food stalls, just because you are a ‘tourist’. Everyone seems to be accepted, confident and happy, and as a traveller I was accepted and welcomed as a person wherever I went. There is tolerance for most things, accept for pedestrians. Cars take preference, and beware if you dare try and cross the road in front of one, the hooter will blast you back on the sidewalk!

Interestingly enough, courtesy for them in restaurants means not to bother you at all. The menu is brought, order taken and delivered, and that’s it. If you need anything else, you ask, and when you’re done, you ask for the bill – la cuenta por favor.

Unfortunately there does not seem to be an environmental consciousness as yet. People throw things out of car windows and in the street, do not recycle and distribute plastic bags for everything you buy. Plastic straws are still used. I saw a video clip this morning of waves full of plastic bottles on a beach south of Lima, horrific. They come down rivers after rain and pollute the sea. It was mentioned that the government is trying to pass legislation to diminish the use of plastic. There is hope!”

Muchas gracias Peru, it was a memorable experience!