Wind in Patagonia

Part 3 of 3

El Chaltén. My first impression of this windy town was that I wanted to go back to Buenos Aires. All it took was a night of sleep and a long trek to completely change my mind.

Journal excerpt:
"My body is whipped. Today was a beautiful day. Brittny and I did our longest hike today, we were gone for about 8.5 hours! My legs wanted to fall off...they still kinda do. We hiked to Tres Lagos to see the Fitz Roy mountain peak better. The last bit was never ending...steep, switchbacks, up. The view from the top was worth it. The lake was deep blue and the mountains were spectacular."

We continued to have a great time in Chaltén, made friends with our roommates at the hostel and hung out with them in the evenings. We spent the other 2 days in Chaltén on less strenuous but equally beautiful hikes and views. At times it felt like we were walking through Middle Earth or Narnia. Fantastic.

It was sad to say goodbye to our friends on our last day in Chaltén, but after 12 days of traveling and living out of a backpack, it was nice to know that home was almost in sight.

At the airport in Calafate on the way home Brittny forgot to take her pocket knife out of her carry-on bag and they made her go through her bag at security. They only way to keep the knife was to go back and check the carry-on in at the check-in desk. We shuffled some things into my carry-on and then she ran back to check the bag. Thankfully it all worked out and we got all of our bags in Buenos Aires.

God sightings:
He made a way for me to get my debit card back the night before our trip.
He had a space for me on the plane when my reservation had not been finalized.
He blessed us with good roommates in Ushuaia.
He blew us away with his beautiful creation.
He gave us extra leg room for free on our trip to Calafate and Buenos Aires.
He gave us good weather on the glacier (it rained a little when we had finished our tour)
He provided cheaper rates into the parks because we have residency here (we had budgeted the foreigner price).
He gave us beautiful days to hike in El Chaltén.
He gave us opportunities to be real with our roommates and share a bit about our "religion".
He got Brittny's things through at the Calafate airport without much hassle.
When I think on these things I remember that I am loved by my King. Thanks Vera for planting this idea in my mind. .

Thankful.
kait

Zapatos de Muertos (Shoes of Death)

Post 2 of 3...


El Calafate. Brittny and I got exit row seats for our 1 hour flight between Ushuaia and El Calafate. (Extra leg room!)When we arrived and got settled into our room at the new hostel we went for a walk around town. Turns out they have flamingos in this town. I don't think I've ever seen flamingos in real life before - maybe at the zoo? The sky, water and mountains here are brilliant shades of blue in the sunshine.

Day 2 in Calafate: woke up really early...to WALK ON A GLACIER! It was massive and incredible. It reflects the deepest shades of blue. When we got off the boat we heard a thunderous cracking sound and turned to watch a large chunk of the glacier plummet into the icy water. We saw this happen two more times, talk about exciting! =) We had to put on crampons (shoes of death) to walk on the ice, well actually a glacier is just a lot of really compacted snow. We hiked up the side of the glacier and spent an hour and a half walking around with our guide, inspecting cracks filled with frozen water. We saw peaks, valleys, holes, and streams and lots of blue. This trip too was definitely worth it. The massiveness of the glacier was impressive and beautiful - God is a creative God!

Chau
kait

1 more on the way... =)

Vacation Almost Cancelled

As many of you know, I just got back from a twelve day trip though southern Argentina with my roommate Brittny. We visited Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego and El Calafate and El Chaltén in the Argentine Patagonia. My plan is to blog about each of our 3 destinations separately. So here is the start:

The excitement of our journey began the night before we left. Brittny and I went to get money for our trip from the ATM. My card got stuck and wouldn't come out of the machine, then it got sucked inside. The bank was closed and the woman at the desk inside that I could see wouldn't help me. The solution was to come back the next morning when the bank opened to collect the card. My problem: our flight for Ushuaia was leaving at 5 AM. In the end, another woman came and helped me by pleading my case through the glass door to the woman inside saying that I am a foreigner leaving on a trip and I needed my card so I could get money for the trip. Finally she told me I could come back in an hour and a half and they would give it back to me. I was able to get my card but later found out that this just doesn't happen here. Thank you God!

As it turns out, God was watching out for us because when we got to the airport at 2 AM they did not have my flight reservation. WORST feeling EVER! I had to call my dad to look up some things for me (thanks Dad!). As it turned out, my card had never gone through and I didn't realize it. The ticket sales counter opened at 4 AM and by 4:15 I had my ticket for real and at 5 AM we were on the plane and setting off for Ushuaia. Nothing like last minute flight reservations. Never want to do that again. Thanks Britt for keeping me going through that super stressful hour!

Ushuaia is magnificent. I loved the beautiful mountain peaks with patches of snow. The clouds too had character. Ushuaia is a port city at the most southern tip of Argentina in the area called, Tierra del Fuego. One day Brittny and I went to the National Park and hiked to the boarder between Chile and Argentina, stepped foot in Chile, ate lunch and returned to our hostel.

! The next day we woke up early to go visit the penguins. This tour was AMAZING! We had to take a bus and a boat to get there, but when we arrived on Martillo Island, we were greeted by hundreds of penguins on the beach. We walked through the island with our guide and learned about the penguins there. We saw where they nest, and the baby penguins and penguins swimming close to shore. I would not have traded this experience for anything


The rest of our time in this quaint little town where it is always winter was very enjoyable. If anyone finds themselves there and needs a hostel recommendation, the people at Freestyle were great!

Stay posted for our glacier and hiking adventures!
kait