Iguazu Falls

3 days. 3 countries. 4 illegal, 4 legal border crossings.

After an 18 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires we arrived in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina to view Iguazu falls. I was skeptical at first, however, the shear size and power of the waterfalls was really incredible.

The falls are viewable from both Argentina and Brazil. The Argentinian side of the falls is a better experience due to the size of the actual park and the trails. On the Argentinian side you can walk miles of catwalks around numerous waterfalls and into the surrounding rainforest. There were lots of cool birds and really colorful butterflies everywhere. We also saw a bunch of toucans, a monkey, and a tarantula.


The Devil´s Throat from the Argentine side.


The weather in Iguazu is completely unpredictable. Its the rainforest. So you can expect a healthy dose of humidity and rain. Shortly after being drenched by showers we got some sunlight which made these rainbows. Getting a break from the clouds and rain really made the experience better.




The next day we headed over to the Brazilian side, which provided a good overview of the falls. The Brazilian side was nice because you were able to appreciate the shear size of the falls, but the Brazilian side is much smaller and only took a few hours to see everything.



Me next to the Devil´s Throat.

Eco Yoga Farm

It didn´t take much convincing by Liz and Rives to get us to come to the Eco Yoga Park with them. Located 60km outside of Buenos Aires, the farm hosts volunteers who work in the organic garden and participate in yoga during the afternoon. For volunteers the cost is USD$15 per day. We intended on staying 3 days but ended up at the farm almost a week because it was so much fun.


Yoga inside the Truli.


Learning Tai Chi in front of the Truli.

The inside ceiling of the Truli. It took a few years to construct and was designed by a Peruvian Architect.


For the first few days we had terrible weather. This meant no farming and no work. So we passed the time by doing yoga and playing lots and lots of really competitive card games. You would think that doing yoga and practicing medatation all day would calm people down...but it didn´t.

Liz and Rives with cabin fever after being rained out twice.

Spades enemies. They might look nice but they hate each other right now.

Finally after enduring a few days of rain the sun came out and we worked on the farm. I spent hours making mud and applying the mud to a hut that was under construction. It was an awesome and messy job. The next day I spend some time working in the garden and cutting back bamboo.

The mud hut after a days work.


Martin preparing a vegetable bed for fresh seeds. The same vegetable bed had been full of plants and harvested the day before.



Enjoying a communal meal together.

The farm was run by Hare Krishnas who live meat and alcohol free and featured delicious vegetarian fare. Much of the vegetables we ate were straight from the farm and harvested the same day.

Buenos Aires Again

After spending a day in Colonia Del Sacramento, Uruguay I headed across the Rio de la Plata via ferry to Buenos Aires for my second stint in the city. The last time I was in Buenos Aires its was high summer and muggy. This time around the city was much more pleasant for exploring, which included another trip to the San Telmo outdoor market.


The antiques section of the market.


After walking around for a few hours in a city of 13 million people I bumped into Liz and Rives. I know Liz and Rives from my time living in New York. We scheduled dinner together at La Cabrera, an amazing and reasonably priced steak restaurant in Palermo. While your waiting they give you free champagne! But its not really free bcause while waiting your forced to share the sidewalk with a bunch of other annoying scensters.


Dinner at La Cabrera with Liz and Rives.

Liz and Rives said they were heading to a Yoga Farm the next day. We followed them. Read the next post.

Amendment: I am back in BA after coming back from the yoga farm with two new friends from the farm, Helen and Kathrin. On Monday we went to La Bamba Del Tiempo, a weekly live drum show that takes place in an old warehouse. It was really great. More on all of that later.

Mendoza

After a morning bus ride through the Andes from Valparaiso I arrived in Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza is a beautiful tree lined city that is famous for its wine and parrilla. Mendoza is dry and hot but irrigation from the surrounding mountains keeps the city leafy and green.






We went on a popular biking wine tour that leaves you jubilant, inebriated, and exhausted.




For about 20 pesos ($5 USD) you get a flight of wines a brief tour of the facilities, plus a seat in the shade atop a gorgeous vineyeard.

Bariloche

A few hours north of El Bolson is Bariloche, a heavily touristed city touting superb hiking, fishing, lakes, and chocolate. In Bariloche I biked the circuito chico and hiked to Cerro Otto for a great view of Lago Nahuel Huapi. Bariloche has plenty of adventure and hiking and is worth a visit if you have the time and can stand the hoards of tourists during high season. It really is beautiful no matter the season.


The Cerro Campanario overlook was said to be one of the seven greatest views in the world by National Geographic Magazine. The photo above was taken at the overlook.


This is the view from our hostel balcony overlooking Bariloche and the lake.

In Bariloche we went fly fishing on the Rio Limay with Gia and Jon. We had great weather and fun guides. The trip was expensive but included two boats, all the proper equipment, and two guides.


Alexi with one of his prize catches.


Showing off the technique.


We were served lunch on a river bank including a few whole chickens, salami, cheese, wine, and beer.


I only caught a very small Rainbow Trout but had an amazing time. A few months later around March and April anglers fly down from all over the world to fish in the Rio Limay and surrounding lakes. I think I could easily get hooked on fly fishing in the future.


The fly fishing crew (Alexi, Gia, Eduardo, Sebastian, Jon, Carlito)

El Bolson

After a 26 hour bus ride from El Chalten I reached El Bolson. El Bolson is situated between northern Patagonia and the Lakes District and is home to a chilled out hippie vibe that is infectous. El Bolson produces 90% of the hops in Argentina and just about every restaurant and hostel seems to brew their own delicious artesanal beer, including my own hostel, El Pueblito. I would highly recommend both El Bolson and El Pueblito to anyone travelling in Patagonia. El Bolson from above...


El Bolson, situated in a fertile valley has a few really good hikes in the surrounding mountains. We did two hikes, one to Cajon Azul, where we stopped at an awesome wood cabin Refugio and drank free "mate".

The second hike was to Mt. Piltriquitron which overlooked the town of El Bolson.

Bosque Tallado, where artists have carved a forest of sculptures.



After walking around in the sculpture forest we headed up Mt. Piltriquitron with some friends from El Pueblito. The climb was steep and full of loose rocks.


The exhausted crew at the summit of Mount Piltriquitron after an arduous 1100m climb.

El Chalten

El Chalten (population 1800) is a wonderful little town located within National Park boundaries in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. El Chalten boasts one ATM (that runs out of money every weekend), two main streets, and one fantastic mountain range, the Fitz Roys. From the town of El Chalten all of the major trailheads are accessible by foot, making it very convenient to hike for 6-8 hours a day and then return to your hostel for a quick shower and proper meal.

The entire town to El Chalten.

The first day we hiked to Laguna Torre which sits below the towering pinnacle of Cerro Torre(3128m). The hike was aa gorgeous with views of Cerro Torre for nearly the entirety of the 3-4 hour hike to the summit.

Some weird Lord of the Rings type moment on the hike to Laguna Torre.


The summit at Laguna Torre.


Looking down into a valley adjacent to El Chalten on the hike home.


On Day two Alexi and Nick were feeling under the weather so I hiked Laguna de los Tres on my own. It was the easily the best hike I have had in South America. The hike takes your past glacialy fed streams that you can drink straight from and up a step one hour final ascent to the summit of Laguna de los Tres.

On my way to the summit.

The view from Laguna de los Tres was spectacular and warranted a nearly 2 hour break to admire the view and soak in the perfect weather.

Perito Moreno Glacier and El Calafate

After staying the night in El Calafate , I took a three hour bus to the Parque Nacional Los Glaciers, home to the Perito Moreno Glacier. The glacier stands 60m above Lago Argentino. The face of the glacier is 5km across and 30km deep.

Perito Moreno Glacier.

After a great deal a patience and luck the sound of ice creaking and moaning led to a large chunk of the glacier to fall right in front of us.




As mentioned above the town of El Calafate is the departure point to reach Perito Moreno. The main draw of El Calafate is the glacier itself however the town does have great chocolate and amazing ice cream. My favorite was the Calafate berry icecream.


The town of El Calafate was named after the berry that shares its name, shown above.