Ravens Travels

So we arrived in Punto Arenas on the early evening after that really early bus after spending the bus either meeting new people or making up backgrounds for the other travelers.... the real people ((he stories are funny but crazy)... there is a young Dutch couple in front of us who are very self absorbed and have forgotten that they are on a public bus full of people, there is a Canadian dreadlocked guy who jokes about carrying a Canadian flag which he swears he would never do and when I say I’m from Dublin he claims to be from Cork, (he’s heard from other Irish people about various County jokes etc....-and no this is not the time for the cork joke about Dublin and Yoghurt !!) so after some ribbing we also meet an English girl who has been traveling for a few months and has just come off a ten day cruise of the Antarctic (at this stage we were very jealous as we would have loved to have gone there but the cheapest fare we could find was US$2000, which is way too much, maybe next time...) there is also the quiet French guy who says nothing but draws attention is his hat with a feather, also a French guy Clement who has a passion for Rugby and a lot of travelers from Israel......anyway our first choice of hostel is Punto Arenas no longer seems to exist.... so considering our bags our heavy we head to the closest one to us..... hostel el fin del mundo, its run by a young couple who live in one of the rooms and obviously love to travel and take part in outdoor sports going by the decorations and photos on the walls, a double room costs between 20,000-25,000 chilean pesos (25,000 = us$50...... its at this stage we start to notice how much more expensive chile is when compared to argentina)..... if you want to find the hostel you go to O´Higgens str, look for the Hertz Branch and its straight across the road (guys - guess what sign our view was of.... ) the hostel itself is very clean and the owners are a really nice couple....

The next day and its paddy’s days... walking around there isn´t any sign of it anywhere, and i looked!! No Irish pubs in town or in the next one (cry)...but finally when we were in the supermarket buying food for the camping to follow we spy an American lady just off a cruise ship carrying a hat adorned with shamrocks...that afternoon we got the bus to Puerto Natales (about 6,000 Chilean pesos per person).... when we arrive in town which is the main gate way to the national park we check into the Erratic Rock Hostel (6000 pesos per person for a dorm), the place is run by a group of self proclaimed hippies from Oregon, they’re nice guys and very helpful... in our room we meet Larry a lawyer from La, who tells us that his friend spotted a sign for paddy’s day...woo hook.. But they can’t remember where it is, asking around everyone says it could only be in the English pub run by Russell from Leads, Le Casa de Ruperto (I’ll correct the spelling later and no we’re no idea why he called it that, he didn’t say).... after dinner that evening we joined Larry, Tamara (crazy Australian girl who I’ve so far only seen either drunk or tired / hung-over), a couple from UK and New Zealand and a quiet guy from Denmark who has the hots for Tamara, we’re quickly joined by Clement (the guy from the bus) to talk about the French beating Ireland in six nations, its really not fair, one point, its so not fair and on an Irish holiday as well !!! (Stephane and Pascal, no gloating either, its not allowed.......... ) Anyway the conversation moved onto traveling and destinations and we spoke of his idea of heaven - Costa Rica, it’s amazing by talking to other people how many ideas you get.) Well after awhile Arjan decided it was a very sedate table and we all moved over to the table football area, the uk/nz couple had left at this stage and we were joined by Conor and his friend from Mayo (the first Irish people I’d met in 4 weeks)... after a lot of hollering and cheering we´re joined by two older chilean guys who do the funniest victory dance every time they score a goal... it was a really good laugh and at 5.30 am we decided to call it a night and headed back to the hostel to sleep a little before checking out (they were booked out the next night) , and then sleeping most of the day in our next hostel, patagonia aventura (dorms 6500)..... Most of the hostels in the area will actually store you’re bags or any equipment that you don’t need for your hiking for free when you go to Torres del Paine which is very handy, in the town it is also easy to rent anything you could need,

So the next day we get the bus bright and early at 7.30am to the park to begin a week of hiking, we had decided to trek the W trail which is one the most popular treks to do, most people start at the Torres end but we decided to start at Lake Pehoe end.

The trek takes an average of 4 or 5 days but we set out own pace and took 5.5 days, its a beautiful park and its quite strange to be walking around this protected land that pre the 80s was an estancia (ranch) for sheep...if I’m honest I didn’t do the whole w as I skipped a little bit in the middle (part of the French valley)

as the weather was very bad and it involved scrambling over sloppy moving rocks so I’m going to let Arjan describe the park in more detail then me as he did the whole thing...

the weather unfortunately turned bad in the last few days so at one stage we were walking in the torrential rain and wind for a straight three hours on the side of a cliff, but on the plus side since our clothes were wrecked we could jump in puddles and act like kids....well you have to keep smiling (no matter what), most of the treks weren’t too bad but carrying the rucksacks which feel heavier as you walk around doesn’t help. The bus to the park from Puerto Natales costs 10,000 pesos return, the cost of the boat to start on the other end is 11,000 pesos, campsites are 3,500 per person, refugios (dorms) are 17,000-28,000 depending on the location, most places had cooking facilities either free or for 2,000 pesos... there are also free campsites with no facilities! Smelly places!!! The last day we walked up to the Torres,

it was beautiful but unfortunately the sky was overcast so the photos won’t be up to the standard of the ones in the galleries on tp, but we did it...

at the end of that we checked into another hostel in puerto natales and decided to spoil ourselves with a private room, after nights of forms and camping for a week we needed to wash clothes etc....the hostel del pino was good value, friendly staff and huge breakfasts.... yumm yumm

From here we got the bus to el calafate in Argentina, the bus goes at 7.30am, the town is the gateway for glacier Moreno, its amazing to see, really huge!!! Tours average around 80-100 Argentinean peso (all prices above with the thousands are Chilean)... but our hostel arranged one for 70 pesos, wooohooo, while on the tour we did the option boat ride around the glacier for 38 pesos which is worth it for a different perspective but not necessary!!!

That night we went to a really nice restaurant which is even popular with the president.... the next day, the only day we don’t have to get up early someone rings my phone at 5.30am... (Quick reminder to the Irish contingent, I’m three hours behind you when in Argentina and 4 hours behind you when in Chile...) ... after that we traveled to el chaltan were we are now, this town is the gateway for fitz roy and more glaciers, in short its a town to do more trekking, its a beautiful place but unfortunately i´ve pulled something in my leg so today i have to take it easy so hence the update.... the glacier and lake trek we did was really nice yesterday, 6 hour round trip, nice and relaxing, Arjans doing the fitzroy trek today which is an 8 hour one (but i bet he´ll be quicker, he´s getting fitter all the time ...

We had some really nice room mates in El Chalten and went back to El Calafate, when we returned we found out that the flight to Esqual with Lade had been canceled and they were now flying us really early to Barriloche at 5am... and then by bus they would pay for us to go back to Esqual......... then an hour after this we were told on the Saturday night that we were flying with Argentina aerlineous (which is more expensive).... so anyway the flight was later at an easier time, we decided to skip the bus and stay here...... hiking tomorrow.....are you surprised

Gaiman is 17km from Trelew and reachable by local bus for 2.25 pesos each. According to the guide books as you walk through the town you will here welsh still being spoken...what we found was a cute picturesque town with small storeybook houses with rose gardens and tea rooms set around a plaza overlooked by hills. T he best thing about the village is at the edge of it, Parque El Desafio. The books and papers call the creator and 86-year-old artist Joaquin Alonso the ´dali of recycling´.

In 1998 he even gained a place in the Guinness book of records. The park houses over 80,000 soda cans and bottles, which have been recreated for the imagination of children. Originally he created the park as a free way to entertain his grandchildren. Within the area you can see a recreation of castles, dinosaurs, the taj mahal, flower gardens and plazas to commemorate those lost in the Falkland war. Around the park are little plaques with sayings and quotes that inspire and cause you to giggle and smile. Similar to the wizard of oz you follow a path of yellow around the park in this case they are tulip bulbs (plastic bottles originally).... This park is a must see for eccentric artistic imagination.

On the Saturday afternoon (over a week ago) we went to Punta Tomba. It is possible to get a private taxi there for a cost of 220 pesos one way or an excursion coach return ticket for 90 pesos (plus reserva access fee of 20 pesos). Punta Tombo is about 110 km from Trewlew.
Over half a million Magellanic Penguins and many other birds can be found there. Most people go at 8/9am as its cooler in the morning and more penguins are gathered together on the beach. We went at 2pm, the penguins were waddling through the bushes and easy to see, well we were standing right beside them, there was also less people at this time, which was good. It was surreal to be walking so close to them but also keeping a little distance as t hey can bite!! As it is the end of the summer here the baby penguins are in the process of losing there grey feathers and are growing the more recognisable black and white ones. Our trip was spent with Antonelle and her Uncle from, Torino, Italia. Very good people to be on a trip with, they also spoke Spanish, which was very handy for translations.

Okay food update in Trewlew it has to be in ´La casa de juan´, we were really spoiling ourselves here with this place as with all the night traveling we didn’t always have time for food so its a good place every odd day...This particular restaurant hah high ceilings with a spacious, airy bright dining area. From our seat we could see into the kitchen via large windows. Between the kitchen and us was a large open ground fire /bbq were the meat was being cooked. The menu had an extensive wine list that seemed to go on a bit but we eventually chose a malbec as this is our current chosen type...also managed to catch the last king of Scotland that night in the cinema, great acting not sure about the rest....

The next day we get the bus to Comodoro Rivadavia. As the bus was in the afternoon we still had time check out the museum- museo paleontologico egidco feruglio. Its a natural history museum that focuses on dinosaurs + fossils. It was a good museum with some funny cartoons for explanations as well as the usual detailed ones. You can tell which type I preferred (even if they were meant for the children.... one was detailing the various animals crossing the borders into various countries before the splits etc, very cute one.)....

The bus to Comodoro Rivadavia of course was delayed and took about six hours. Arriving around 11 at night we went straight to the closest budget place - hospedaje belgrano, the older couple that ran the place are really sweet with two dogs and a cat. The guy even thought me the phrase ´ver la´to see/ view, so now I can ask to see the room first, handy one to know... The room was quite old fashioned with a bed, old-fashioned dresser, sink (shared bathroom at end of corridor) and a table and chairs but very cozy, clean and warm. The town itself smelled of petrol, it seemed to seep from every corner. Its a town that made its money on oil so its not shocking to smell it everywhere, nothing else to say about the town really as it was a flying visit. At the bus station we bumped into Antonella and her uncle again, have a feeling we’ll see them again many times. Not a bad thing as they’re nice people...

The bus from there to Rio Gallegos was three hours late!!! Are you as shocked as us.... not at this stage... they’re nearly all late.... we went coche cama again as a 12 hour journey required a little comfort (yes I know it will be hard in Bolivia, so now when we want to go in comfort we’re taking the chance) ...On the bus we met Matthias a guy from California who has just spent the last four months in Brazil and the last day and a half on buses.... As we arrived at 2 in the morning it was lucky that we did meet him, we hadn't made any reservations and he had phoned ahead to a hostel to say he was arriving late. Luckily he invited us to tag along and after waking the poor owner up we got a bed for the night in one of the dorms (25 pesos per person), the next morning we tried to get the next bus out to keep traveling but we were there too late so we had to stay another night in town, we tried several hotels in town for a private room but they don't like backpackers and kept telling us they were full, we know they're not because people went in after us without res´s.... so we went back to the hostel and a couple had just moved out of the double room, so we could have it for 70 pesos (private bathroom, TV, etc..)..A very nice family runs the place and handily it’s the closest place to the bus station (if you are unfortunately stuck in this place) - Casa de familia elcira Contreas.

The next day the 9am bus actually arrived on time!!!! Knew that would shock you as much as it did us! So we were on our way to Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia... just to let you know it has been getting a bit colder each time we got further south... its jumper and scarf time... The bus journey was 12 hours long and went through some really nice scenery.... all I can say is that its a beautiful country... The first night we stayed in an apt for ease, double room, 85 pesos, we were supposed to be sharing it with a six-bed dorm but it was empty so it was all ours, hehehehe. it was a nice apt, very clean and so new you could still smell the paint, its owned/ managed by the posada hostel ( up the steps near the supermarket on av san martin...)... so on our first night we decided since we hadn’t really gone out yet we would head to the Irish bar ´dublin´were 5 rounds for two people is 50 peso..... Bit expensive but not too bad for an Irish bar (they tend to be the most expensive anyway), its a really nice bar with some quirky posters. I could tell I hadn't drunk in a while though because I could really feel it the next morning. The next we checked into our new lodgings - the campsite!! Yes we finally used the tent etc.... the site is 3km from the city center (this is an uphill walk and its not too bad, well until you get to the final hill, then that kills you.)...Anyway camping isn't too bad, we have blow up mattresses and pillows (yes I know that’s cheating), the tent itself has withstood rain and wind without letting us down so we’re happy.... only bad things is that it is freezing at night, if you stay over 3 nights you pay 10 peso per person, we stayed 5 so that was our cheapest stay so far!! Only problem is that it is freezing at night!!!!! In the evening times everyone gathers in the kitchen to swap stories, cook food, make jewelry, listen to someone sing and play the guitar, chill or just warm up by the fire.... the people are so friendly and very open.... while we there though we did do one bad thing, everyone was cooking vegan and veggie meals and in our hunger state we started tearing into our roast chicken with Arjan enjoying it so much he was ripping it with his hands, whoops I turned around to see us being stared at and that the music had stopped.... still they didn't seem to take too much offense and it was obvious lectures wouldn’t work.... in general everyone gets together and takes turns cooking the meals, it cuts down on costs, only prob is that they don't generally eat till after midnight so we skipped it a lot....

Okay so in Tierra del Fuego, we’ve visited two museums, one is a small one about the Yaman tribe, it’s was very informative and quite moving. The people who came to help the tribes with good intention actually helped to wipe them out, by clothing the tribe who originally wore nothing they helped spread disease and infection causing the once large tribe to by wiped out, in about 30 years they depleted down from being one of the largest tribes to being virtually wiped out, which eventually happened. Out of our main tribes in the area of many thousands of people only one such tribe is still in existence and there are only a handful left.... maybe it would have been better if they had been left to their own ways.

The other museum was a larger history museum of the area it is set in the old prison, the first part is about the ships that sunk in the area but what interested me the most was the second part which explains about the prisoners, they had children as well as adults here, the cases in the cells (very cold and creepy) went in to detail about why some people had been sentenced and what happened to them, one of the creepy ones was from 1912 about small man with the big ears who killed children, mostly babies in Buenos airs..... He was a horribly creepy looking man...

From town we got the bus to the national park (25 pesos per person), at the entrance you pay 20 pesos to enter as not local to trek, over various days we did quite a lot of the park, its a beautiful park with amazing wildlife, fingers crossed these photos turn out!!!

We also trekked to local glacier martial (apologises for spelling but from an empty reception area I’m now surrounded by queuing people), a nice relaxing ski lift and then a hill walk start the hike, the walk is hard and sweaty despite the fact that parts of it are through snow!! The views of the town are amazing though...

Well better go the queue is expanding into the rooms, aghhh, tomorrow morning at 5.20 approx we head to punto arenas and then to punto natales to trek in chile to the W... explain all later, oh the hostel we´re in now is just off the center of town and prety funky, nice crowd etc. our room is called the green room but i´m calling it the irish one, walls are green and white and the bed spread if orange... leadings up to paddys day and all!!!

Okay so last time I was telling you about being sunburned in Sierra de la ventana. This caused us to spend a few more days then we originally intended on in the area. Luckily it’s a really nice peaceful place. The Hotel provincial we were in is just at the edge of town. To be honest we spoiled ourselves, its the most expensive in town at 92 pesos for a double room ensuite. Though both the interior and exterior are shabby and starting to fade it is still very apparent that this was a hotel of grandeur and style albeit a few years back...The breakfast is laid out by a silver haired, straight backed man who for all purposes reminds me of a butler from old English black and white movies. He also carries a look upon his face that tells you that he thinks he is too good for this and lo and behold at nighttime he works in the Casino in the back of the hotel. Here he looks more comfortable as he scans the crowd and money..., which changes hands quickly and in abundance! The casino appears to be the main breadwinner for the hotel and is a huge draw to the surrounding area up until its finish time of 4am...

From here we reached Bahia Blanca late in the evening. The bus was delayed... this is a trend that keeps reappearing time and time again. In our wisdom at 11.30pm we decided that it would be a great idea to walk around the town using our guidebook map to see if we could find the hotel ourselves rather then pay the few pesos for the taxi. After getting lost we arrived at our hotel sweaty and tired...Anyway the Hotel Las Vascos is near the run down train station. The room itself was like a mini apt with wooden floors and a ´look only´ balcony. Well at 60 pesos you could say we saw everything through rose tinted glasses. That night we managed to get badly attacked by mosquitoes.... and this is on top of the sunburn... This led to very tired people who had to kill a few hours before getting the bus out of town a few hours after check out time.... so we whiled the time strolling around (yes with the bags etc), and sitting in the park reading and people watching. At one stage there were three children, two girls and a boy playing across from us. The boy could have been an acrobat. He was throwing himself from the branches of trees without a care in the world. It appeared that he was throwing his flip-flops at leaves but after a few minutes it was apparent to see that he was trying to catch a young bird. After a few minutes he managed to get his flip-flop stuck in the tree but caught the bird (it was still very new to flying...) He brought the bird down to his sisters! Like a trophy from a ceremony. The youngest girl about 3-4 yrs old started petting it, as did the older girl. After a lot of attention the bird tried to escape... but unfortunately their affection caused wounded wings... feeling very guilty they started to score the park looking for twigs and leaves to make a nest for the bird to recover in..... For us the town was just a stopgap - a way to break up a journey....

From here we took a bus with the ´tramat´bus company for 163 pesos for 2 ´coche cama´seats for the 8/9 hour journey to Puerto Madryn. These were very comfortable large reclining leather seats.... what a way to travel... this bus was also delayed but as it meant we got to the town at a more reasonable hour of 7am we were happy. It made it easier to find a place to stay in the seaside town. After getting lost again and cursing our maps we got to our chosen hotel... Hotel Yanco.... its a stones throw from the beach front. This hotel has various types of rooms from luxurious beach facing ones to ones like ours, the back packers choice, the room though small was ensuite and very clean, even had a TV, (ended up watching Beverly hills 90210, are you jealous Ruth, Dylan was in it a lot ... )... anyway for 80 pesos in a very popular town we did pretty good, the staff in the hotel were very sweet and the owners grandparents were irish so he was even nicer to us when he saw the passport.... One of the days we tried a restaurant recommended in the guide book, ´Caccoras´, all i can say that was a major mistake... so the next day with bad stomachs we decided to hire bikes (50 pesos for two for a day) and cycle for just under 40k around the town and then on to Punta Tomba to see a permanent sea lion colony. The journey there wasn’t too bad, though the majority of it was on pebble filled, bumpy roads but it seemed down hill for most of it.... on the way back we encountered the famous local winds, going up or down hills was a nightmare as you were at a standstill, the wind seemed to come from all angles and yes being clumsy I fell.... but still we did and saw some great scenery and animals along the way.

For photos, well the look out point is 15m away and feels a lot further, especially when you can’t get a good shot with your 300mm lens... Luckily the day before we had walked the 5/6k roundtrip to the local ecocenter and understood a bit more about what we were looking at. The ecocenter is small but very laid out with very detailed explanations. It is well worth a look and shouldn’t be missed. On the third floor there is a viewing gallery with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the bay, which would be perfect to watch whales in the right season (dec), as it was we relaxed on the couches and browsed their extensive nature library.... The night of the cycle we decided that a good dinner was in order for energy etc so we tried out a fantastic restaurant on the beach itself. For the life of me I can’t remember the name but it began with a ´V´and is across the road from popular ´La Barra´. The V restaurant was so popular that people even waited to get tables, and I don’t blame them, The food was tasty and good value, for a large salad, two main courses (Arjan steak and chips, me - pasta), two deserts (yummmmmy), and a bottle of malbec norton wine it cost about 89 pesos, I’m getting hungry just writing this, aghhhhh... as the town is popular with cruise ships you here a lot of north and central American accents which is really strange for us as we hadn’t heard any English in a few days, the phrase book and dictionary are getting a lot of use at the moment !!! When we checked out of the hotel after two days we were a ´thank you for your stay little presentation pack of shells in a bow, its the little things that’s make you smile and so far they haven’t broken....

From here we traveled about one hour to the town of Trelew for 7.50 pesos each, the hotel here - residential argentin´- served a purpose as in it has a bed, the good stuff the staff seemed relaxed, the bad it wasn’t a clean place and not very well maintained.... put it this way when you’re handy washing clothes in the sink its a bit dodgy that the basin keeps moving away from the wall... this was the cheapest place in town that was available at 80 pesos...we used this town as a gateway to nearby welsh settlement Gaiman and the penguin colony Punta Tombo.......