12-7-05

This morning was spent helping Matt gather what was needed and set it aside to be packed. At one he left to head back to Buenos Aires to look for a sleeping bag and also to go get my visa for brazil. The other day the embassy told us that they would not be open the next day and therefore we had to try to come in early so as to pick up the on Wednesday instead of going in the next day when we were going to be leaving.

While Matt was in BA I ate lunch with Ken (a chines friend who works as a teacher of English in the missionary school) from there we found some old fiends ei. Jamie and some of the other missionaries. Then I tried to head out to town to try to get things ready to leave the next day, by reserving the camp site in Caliphate, and look for the info and try to contact a camp site in Tierra Del Fuego. I was able to contact the camp in Caliphate but was unable to find the info for the camp in Tierra del Fuego. After coming back from town I went to a little asado that Ken had arranged for some of the students. It was really good and a really great time to see some of the other people. At about 10pm I was beginning to be really worried about Matt not arriving from BA. So I decided to go se if he was on campus. Not finding or hearing that anyone had seen him I really became worried and began trying to figure out what might have happened. In all he arrived about 1:00am the next morning. The reason at least so he says is that the ticket by accident was for an hour latter, that the bus had to stop for a an hour, and that he couldn’t get a taxi to the school so he had to walk the distance.

12-8-05

Thursday Matt and I had both slept in another room so as not to disturb the others and to allow room to pack. We got up at 8:00am and went to Breakfast there getting all of the contact info from Jocelyn a girl from Vala-para-iso Chile. She has spoken to her parents about us staying there for some of the time and they have consented. After this we both headed back to the room to try to get backed. We were finished by about 12:00pm allowing us a little time to prepare and ready ourselves for the trip. I went to the administration office and paid for my stay which amounted up to 20 pesos, and Matt ran around finishing up a few items. At 2:45 we left to head to Town and buy our tickets back to BA. At 3:25pm the bus departed and we arrived in BA about 5:00pm. After this we headed out to do a little looking around for some items such as a notebook and a small calendar. Not finding anything we headed back to the Bus station (Retido) once there we found a little food before we were to leave. We found some of the best chicken empenadas we have ever had for a peso each. We got on the Bus (Don Otto Lider Patagonico) at about 9:05pm and left about 9:20pm the bus was packed. That night they did feed us a small sandwich and something to drink. Sleeping was a real chore with the small seats (tall people are discriminated against down here everything is meant for someone 5 foot 5 inches no more. Oh well it works out.

12-9-05

Today I woke up about 6 and took my medication, then tried to go back to sleep with little results the day continued. Throughout the entire day the bus has made little stops letting people on and off and killing time. We stopped for breakfast lunch and dinner today. No meals on the bus we had two 1 peso empinadas each for lunch. For dinner we split a 1.5 liter 7up and Matt had 2 Alphahores (cookies). Right now it has been 27 hours and 45 minutes now at 1:10 am Saturday spent on the bus, and it should end about 11:00am when we get to Rio Gajegos. There we will take another bus to El Caliphate for another 6 hours, and once there try to figure out how to get to the camp site.

12-10-05

Well today has been interesting. We made it into Rio Gallegos about 11:00 today and found that we were going to be unable to get a bus out to El Calafate until 1:00 pm. We purchased a ticket with Taqsa bus for 33 pesos, and decided to try to head out and try to find out a little bit more info about what we will be getting ourselves into, by heading to the internet. Matt found a place where we could leave our backpacks at the information booth. The Lady said that she would watch them however they were in the hall so Matt and I locked the two 55 lb packs together and took off for the internet. We stayed at the internet place for about an hour writing emails and reading up on what we could about Ushuaia. We made it back to the bus station about 12:30 and waited there. It was nice to just sit back for a little while there was a Bolivian band playing for fun in the station so the audio senses were satisfied.

At about 1:05pm the bus arrived and after taking a photo of the bus we headed in. The bus was very new and everything was in tiptop condition. In fact there appeared to be even more room in the bus than in the Don Otto bus that we had taken from Buenos Aires to Rio Gallegos. Once on the bus we were heading west towards the mountains. We made one stop right after that we could see the mountain getting ever closer. Once in El Calafate we tried to get ourselves situated with everything that we were going to have to do. In getting ticket to the camp Lago Roca the next day or to do what. We decided to leave from the bus station at 9:00am tomorrow to head to Perito Moreno and after that head to the camp sit for a day and then at 4:30 take a bus from Perito Moreno to the Camp site. We will spend one day there and head to Ushuaia Via Rio Gallegos we will leave at 4:00 am from the bus station on the 13^th and arrive in Ushuaia at 8:00pm that day. We purchased the tickets for all of this then headed back to the information booth to see where we could head to sleep.

We were recommended to stay in a little camping site called AMSA. It is 10 pesos a person per night. We made it there and then signed up and left our bags with the guy locked up again together. Then we headed out to find some white gas and some food. I found a good sporting goods store and there got 2 liters of gas for 20 pesos. Then we headed out to look for food in the supermarket. We picked up some hotdogs, buns, can of corn, mixed vegetables, water, orange juice, eggs, mustard, cheese, olive oil, 4 apples, 4 oranges for about 24 pesos. This was our dinner will be our breakfast and lunch tomorrow. Well I have to run latter.

12-11-05

Well today we got up at 6:30 am and I prepared the 6 eggs and cheese scrambled for breakfast. It was very pleasurable to have a good breakfast that fully satisfied us. The rest of the time we used to clean up and pack up everything. It was incredible how long it took to get everything packed up. it was approximately 8:30am by the time that we left the camp ground. We arrived to the bus station about 8:50am and the bus wound up leaving by 9:00am. The trip to Perito Moreno was quite nice during the trek I was able to talk to a guy from England. We wound up talking about just about everything from abortion to government. I tried to bring the conversation to God and eternity however no matter what I said he did not want to speak about anything about God and eternity. To get into the park was 30 pesos and as we drove into the area of Perito Moreno we could see little more and more of the ice in the lake, and the rising of the white before us. It was just magnificent to se the glacier the first time. I was looking out the window of the bus and saw this huge mass of ice looming in the distance. I was just completely amazed at it. Once the bus was parked a man got on and declared that the bus would leave at 12:15 for the boat that would go to within 300 meters of the glacier. Matt and I then took our leave and began to head down to the trails that lead to the look out points. It was just amazing each glimpse of the glacier that we had was enough to take the breath away, and with each sighting the shutter opened and closed multiple times. As we began to get closed great booms and cracks rang through the air. The glacier was breaking apart from the temperature changes taking place. The trails for the look outs were shaped like a loop with a tail on the end. We took the upper end of the look with gave us a high up glimpse of the glacier and then to the lower end where we made it the closest and could really get a solid glimpse of the ice. At the lower point it was right where the glacier bulges almost to damning the two lakes. The tail was about 400 meters long and at the end we had a great glimpse of the left hand side of the glacier.

Immediately after taking some pictures we headed back to the bus to head out to the boat. The bus drove us down a little road to a ranger station where we were directed to a place to pay 38 pesos for the boat ride. Once on the boat we sat down inside and waited for something to take place. Soon after someone came on the radio and began explaining what the glacier was and how it was made and all. Immediately people began leaving the room and heading outside so Matt and myself did the same. The boat was now heading to the glacier and we were on our way to see a great wall of ice. In about 5 min we made it to about 300 meters from the wall. It was incredible to see it so close; it had the appearance of being very large but since we were still at a great distance it was very difficult to believe how large and to really see how incredibly large the ice mass truly was. One time while we were on the boat a chunk of ice fell and I was able to capture a little of the action taking place but the photo was not all that great to see, however it does show a little. Nearly to the end of the cruise Matt and I began talking to one of the photographers who were trying to make money taking photos of the tourists and then try to sell them back. The young man began taking some photos of me and we had a good laugh about some others he had taken of some of the girls on the boat. After cruising in front of the ice and everyone waiting with their cameras ready to take a photo of a block of ice falling. Now the ice was continuously cracking and making noises. However in reality very little had fallen our time out. Now the photographer told us that always when the boat is putting into port large chunks begin to fall. Well we went back to port and when we made it there the chap was showing off his photos and he had one of me that I really liked but I really did not want to pay the 20 pesos that he wanted so I asked him if I could save it on my SD card but it was a too bad because the multi ports that he had did not take SD and we couldn’t save the photo.

Well we left the boat and took the bus back up to the top where Matt decided to take a nap. Really not wanting to give up decided to find another place to watch the glacier and possibly get a better look at it. I asked the bus driver if he knew of any trail around the area, he told me about one but then let me know that I had to be careful who saw me getting on the trail because only people with special passes are able to take the paths. He let me know that I wouldn’t have a problem if I didn’t talk to anyone but went on my business. Of course I went it was down the road that we had taken to the boat about half way. I turned off on to the trail and from there walked about 5 min until I saw a sign that read "no trespassing without permit" of course I continued on. It was incredible to see the glacier from the vantage point of the trail. And there were areas to just sit down and just relax and watch the glacier. During the time that I was sitting there several parts of the glacier sluffed off and I was able to catch a few on the camera. At about 3:30 I left my comfortable spot of watching and headed back to the bus to get ready to change the bags from our first bus to the one that was going to take us to the Camping Lago Roca. I arrived about 3:40 and went into our bus and woke us Matt telling him that we needed to be moving. When I was leaving the bus I met the guy that was going to take us to the camp. As soon as Matt had used the restroom and we had taken the backpacks off of the original bus. We were loading them onto the other bus and then heading out. We were the only ones in the bus, and we left a good half and hour early from the park. The ride out of the park was interesting in that I was able to talk to the driver a good amount. He was from Buenos Aires, and had arrived in Calafate about September, and was waiting until he had enough money to bring his family down so that they could all be together. He had been a 4x4 driver on one of the excursions but had broken his vehicle and thus found another job driving a bus.

We arrived in Camping Lago Roca about and 5:30. It is a place of many trees and is on the other side of the lake from the glacier Perito Moreno, but still in the National Park. To get there we had to leave the park and then go all the way around the lake and back into the park. It is a very pretty place with a good size restaurant/meeting area we immediately entered there and did our check in where the owner gave told us all about the area and how we could use the electricity and what the hours were to take showers and what time we could eat breakfast. We then went looking for a place to set up our camp, the places where very clean and well mowed down. We finally settled on the 4^th place and decided to sleep under the stars that night. From there we set up the stove and cooked some of the Raham that I had in my backpack. After eating we played a little on the computer and then headed out to take a shower and clean up. After this we headed to bed to sleep under the stars on top of the tarp about 11:00pm it was just getting dark, and thus telling us how close to the end of the world we were getting.

12-12-05

Well today we wound up sleeping in until about 12:00pm. Getting up we decided to go and have a little sandwich over in the restaurant for 3 pesos a person. It was really good however we were a little tired and we decided to get a soda with it that wound up being 7 pesos that we both split. After that we headed back to the camp site to arrange the things and get them ready for heading out at 6:30 that night. Once everything was all packed up and I had made Gatorade in a bottle we headed out to go do a little hike. Deciding to do a little climbing we started heading up one of the hills near the camp. Heading up I began to realize just how much strength I had really lost and I soon began to pant and had to slow down. On this hike we rested several times and finally we had to turn around about ¾ the way up because we were running out of time and really needed to head back so we wouldn’t miss our buss. Up on the hill you could see all over the valley it was really gorgeous and way off in the distance was Perito Moreno. Making it back about 4:30 we cooked up 4 packets of Rahman 2 for each one of us. The food was great and very quickly we had everything clean and packed up. Off we were to get on the bus. When we made it to the bus driver we were about ready to give him the 25 pesos for the ride when he told us that we had to have tickets to take the bus. He being very friendly told us that we could pay at the bus station.

Now the bus was almost backed and we stuffed 2 backpacks the size of people in and then got in ourselves. To say it lightly we were packed in there. Arriving at the bus station about 45 minutes latter we asked the Intre Lagos Depot to hold our bags but they instead directed us to load them into the bus that we were going to be taking at 4 am the next morning. After this we went out on to the city to do a little walking and looking for internet. We found one place that was 3 pesos the hour, thinking that this was very expensive we did not really want to stay much time. But we didn’t have to stay all that much because the computers we were using lost their connection ad we told the guy and he allowed us to leave with out paying. We went out looking but the others we about 6 pesos so the other place in all reality was not all that expensive after all. After looking for a while we found another on the other side of town and was still 3 pesos after writing to all and spending some time with my parents on the phone Matt and I had about 4 hours to kill and we were very hungry so we found some jumbo hotdogs for 3 pesos then we walked around the city until about 2 am and then went to the bus station to wait to leave. After waiting about an hour we sneaked on to the bus to sleep in the seats. To our surprise there were a lot of people that had done that already. We soon fell asleep.

12-13-05

Well today I guess started at about 4:15am when the bus driver came in and told us to get out our tickets. From there I really can’t remember all the much all I can is that we slept both of us fairly well until we made it to Rio Gallegos where we had an hour lay over where Matt slept in the station for a while. And then we found our bus and headed out by about 9am. We both got a little bit more sleep however a little into the ride we all had to get out of the bus and get our stamps to leave Argentina then about an hour latter we all had to get out of the bus to get our stamps into Chile. A little after this we stopped at the Magellin Straight where we waited about a half an hour for the ferry to take us across to the Island of Tierra del Fuego. During this time both Matt and I took several photos of the light house and the signs.

An interesting twist was that while Matt and I were looking at the ferry as it pulled in one of the guys on the boat told us that we could just get on the boat and watch all of the cars and buses and trucks being loaded on to the boat. We did get on and then we were directed us some stairs where we watched from up on the deck. After about 10 min after we pulled out, and headed across the Magellan straights. Arriving on the other side we had to reboard the bus and from there we kept driving until we hit the border crossing again where we had to get out of the bus twice and go in to get stamped out of Chile and into Argentina. About 6 hours latter we arrived in Ushuaia. Now the whole city is surrounded mountains on three sides and water on the third side. The city is built on a hill side that heads straight down into the water. It is a really pretty city. Just a little note about while we were on the bus we got to know two Israeli girls and we talked nearly the whole way to the city. Once in the city we were attacked by people trying to get us to go to their hostel. After a little while Matt and one of the Israeli girls went to check out the price of a hostel nearby. When Matt went in the only room available was a room for four and that meant that Matt and I would be sleeping with two girls and for the fact that the two girls seemed to show more than just a friendly interest we declined and went to find another place where we would not have to stay with the girls. The girls wound up staying at that hostel.

We then followed a map to a hostel that we heard that we could stay at and set up out tent for 10 pesos. However when we arrived there was no room for the tent so we decided to take a room, which was 20 pesos. Now the hostel was a very quaint and homely place where nearly the whole place was covered with Israelis and we were the only Americans except for two others from Florida whom had been studying in Mendosa. That night us four Americans went out to see the town and to see what it had to offer. It was even more beautiful with the lights of the boats being reflected across the water. After walking around for about an hour and the other Americans trying to buy some beer or wine we all headed back to the hostel and Matt and I worked on the computer trying to upload some images and work on our diary. At about 2:00pm we went to bed.

12-14-05 in the Hostel Patagonia Pais in Ushuaia, Argentina

1-5-06 in the Hostel Red in Montevideo, Uruguay

Today we got up about 10:30 am and headed out to have breakfast which was included in the price of the room. From there we asked what was best to see around Ushuaia and the best way to get to Camping Lago Roca in the National park of Tierra Del Fuego. We then packed up our bags and headed out on the town to see and take some pictures of the sights and to get what ever we would need for our stay in the campground. We wound up picking up an electrical extension cord that had multiple outlets on it so I could be working on the computer and be charging the batteries for my camera at the same time. Also an 18 pack of hotdogs, some noodles, sauce, vegetables, and bread for the time out in the park. We also had our store of Raman noodles which we knew would come in handy.

Now we had scheduled that one of the bus drivers for the park would pick us up at 5:00 pm at the hostel however when we made it to the hostel we were informed that they were unable to contact the bus driver, so Matt and I went down to the main street to look for someone that could take us to the park. After looking for a little while we found a bus that could take us to the gate and drop us off. He assured us that it was no more than 3 kilometers, and we could walk the distance in about an hour or less. Now he would drive us to the place for 10 for the 2 of us thus saving about 20 pesos we thought it was going to be worth it. Also we wouldn’t have to pay the park entrance fee because we were entering when the ranger station was closed thus saving us another 30 pesos a peace.

Well the driver came by the Hostel about 7:45 pm and drove us to the park entrance. Where we unloaded our gear and put it all on our backs. Now it was about 8:30 by now, and after about 10 min of walking we saw a sign that just about killed us, we had just been informed by some guards that it was illegal to camp on the side of the road and that there we no camp sites from the entrance to the camp site, and the sign read 12 kilometers to Camping Lago Roca. We were both laughing about how wonderful it was going to be to have to walk the whole was there all night when we heard a car coming up the road. We immediately stuck out our thumbs and the car stopped.

Now the car was a little 4 seater with a very small trunk. The couple in the car asked us if we needed a ride and we told them our predicament. They explained that they would take us as far as they could and we gladly accepted. Getting everything to fit was a little predicament for we both had large backpacks, small day packs, and about 4 grocery bags of food. Well we wound up getting the large backpacks to fit into the back and the rest was stuffed on our laps. Once in the car we found out that the couple was from Spain and was just in the park because they didn’t want to pay the entrance fee earlier in the day just to drive around. They wound up driving us all the way to the Camp. We thanked then and offered to pay them but they refused, so we told them our goodbye. Then we went to find the place to check in, it took a little walking around and finally we found a guy named George who checked us in and gave us the key to the bath room. Now a little note as to while we were checking in he asked to see our passports then he tried to take them away from us saying that it was camp policy and that he was required to have the passports in a file the whole time that we were staying in the park. Of course we declined and fought our case that we had to keep the passports on our selves at all times, and that the only thing that he should need would be the passport number. Finally we won our case and we paid the 10 pesos each for the night and the 10 pesos key rental which would be returned when the key was returned.

After that we headed out to look for a spot to set up camp we finally found a really nice spot nearly completely surrounded by bushes that were infested with rabbits. In fact the whole camp site was a little grassy field with 3 camp tables and a fire pit. After setting up the tent and getting everything set up we cooked up a set of Raman for dinner, and went to bed.