After snow, rain, wind and condors back in the dusty Andes again

Here`s a lot to write since I left Puerto Madryn on the Atlantic coast to visit the Welsh village Gaiman, about a week ago. It was very nice to meet Esyllt, Christian and the Welsh guests Merion and Melery again. We had some nice evenings together and Christian showed us his home area. This is a valley around the Rio Chubut, which has been cultivated by the Welsh immigrants, about 150 years ago. After a nice tour in the back of Christians pick up, we climbed up the range around the valley and you could see the effect of irrigation: the valley is green and fertile and the surrounding land is desert! We enjoyed this nice view with a mate.

As I came into Gaiman in the evening, it was raining. I didn`t want to put up my tent, because it has only one compartiment and this would mean that everything would be wet by the time the tent would stay, so I went into an ancient small bed&breakfast with an owner that was as ancient as his house. There was no hot water in the tap and it wasn`t very clean, so I decided only to stay one night. I was so hungry that I cooked a meal with my cooker in the bathroom (I know it`s not a really nice thing to do, but this was an emergency...).

The next night, I camped on the site of the Fire Department. In Puerto Piramides, I had been camping at the site of the Police Dept. already - apearently it is a way to earn some extra money for these services, or to make an extra service or to make people convenient with the state services or something. I like the idea! The funny thing at this camping site was though, that the wheat was growing one meter high. There hadn`t been much mainanance the last years, I think, so you had to search for a spot to build up the tent. In the beginning, I also was the only camper! (The Firedept`s campsite. You can see the camping`s toilets just through the wheatplants...)

In Gaiman, the whole Welsh group from the wedding in Esquel also landed again. This was a funny coincidence. I did not expect that my Argentinean holiday would have such a Welsh character.
The next morning, I could have a lift to Trelew, where my flight to Ushuaia would leave in the afternoon. Esyllt and I had a nice coffee with medialunes (croissants) together and then we said goodbye. I watched around in the city a bit and went to the airport then. Well, my plane would be leaving at 17h but there was a heavy delay because of heavy storm in Buenos Aires. So everybody waited until 19h in the waiting room and then we heared (after asking at the desk; don´t think they will tell you anything by themselves...) that the plane would leave at 3am!!! We got a voucher to go back into town by taxi and enjoy a meal in a very expensive hotel, which was a nice gesture. After that, everybody fell asleap everywhere in the lounge and the congress hall of the hotel. It looked quite helpless. Meanwhile, I had a beer with the English James, who was guiding a group of retired British and US-people through Argentina and who was quite desperate to talk with somebody a bit younger... But finally, after 9 hours of delay, the plane took off and at 5am, we landed safely in Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego. Fortunately, it was still dark and raining heavily and I was not tired at all, so I dicided to wait and sleap a bit in the hall. There, I met the very nice English painter John, who would travel to Antarctica afterwards, to paint birds and the Antarctic ice in oil. This was a very pleasant talk while waiting (although I didn`t sleap as planned...). His paintings are to be seen at http://www.galleryofbirds.co.uk. I saw some of his paintings and they were very good! He also wrote a European bird guide.

This is the most southern city of the world (so they say; the Chilenians don`t think so) and is the take of for cruises and research on Antarctica. It is situated at the Beagle Channel, which connects both oceans. I think it has a Skandinavian atmosphere, a lot of coloured wooden and metal houses and a very rough landscape. Although the mountains where only 700m high, there were glaciers on them! I landed in a decent hostel (I start to think I rather camp than go into a hostel, because you don`t have any privacy or room in such a dorm with five other stinky travellers...) and went into town. I really love harbours, sea smell, wind, a bit of rain doesn´t matter as well. This was a GREAT city! And fortunately, they had a good and cheap parrilla (grill) restaurant again!
The next days, I hiked into the National Park Tierra del Fuego. I was warned for bad weather but actually it was ok. There I did two days of hiking. The first steps on the first morning were going wrong already. I mixed up east and west (remember that the sun goes the other way on the southern hemisphere...) but by that, I saw the greatest humid peat fields. And after that, I hiked lots of kilometers along mountains, lakes etc. I camped on a free site which was wonderfully situated and there I had to do what I promised Alejandro and his Cuban friend Candice: I smoked a Cohiba Cuban cigar on the most southern spot I would visit during my trip. I carried it along from Mendoza, in a container made out of a burning spirit bottle, and this was the time to smoke it! I had some good Mendoza wine to it, and this together with the great view, the silence, some owls flying past and the fact that it was not raining made it very special! It was very cold, so I also made a small fire to it, which completed the good outdoor feeling!

The next day, I left my tent on the site and hiked up the highest peak nearby. Even without a backpack, it was a very heavy climb (3,5h), but the view from there was really marvelous - over Ushuaia, the Beagle Channel, many purple and red peat fields and the already slightly colouring trees (autumn comes early in this extreme climated area). And I saw two nice woodpeckers, a lot of other birds and a CONDOR!!! Also it was snowing while walking, it was a great experience. As I came back on the camp site, I was exhausted. I had to pack my stuff then quickly to get the bus back to Ushuaia (to organise things - see the next chapter) and it started to rain. So Tierra del Fuego was showing it`s hard side in the last hour!

But back in Ushuaia, the "stress" started. I`ve got in my mind to visit a petrified forest, quite far away from the places I originally wanted to go. In order to do that, I have to hurry a bit and that started that evening. I booked a but, mistaked in Spanish and this resulted in the fact that my bus would leave for Rio Gallegos and El Calafate the next morning at 5.30! So after my bad flight experience and two days of hardcore hiking I had to clean my gear, went into bed at 23h and up at 4.30 again. And apart from that, I actually left the nice Tierra del Fuego a bit too early. But it was my own mistake, I have to watch out with my Spanish...
But ok, I made it into the bus on time and the trip to El Calafate after that was so nice! We drove through the T`del F. mountains, the endless fields (then they say that Holland is flat...) and then passed the Maggelan Channel by boat (heavy waves - pictures coming up next time...) and endless fields with cows again afterwards. And finally, at 1am, so after a 20h bus ride, we ended up in El Calafate, back in the Andes again. I will take a small break now, which is important for my holiday feeling but especially for my right leg, and after that, I will visit a very beautiful but touristy glacier and try to get to these ancient stone forests. By then, I will write again!

A short thing to think of in between: apart from all the nice people that I meet and all the great things that I see, I also see some less nice things. Argentina has come down after the crash in 2001, which you see with the poor builded houses on the edge of every big city and some begging children. So I`m having a good time here, but there`s a lot of poverty, which should not be forgotten! For instance, in El Calafate, I camp next to a road worker, who works here every day and his camping equipment looks really bad. And there I come with my nice gear and fancy outdoor clothes, from Europe on holiday... If I speak to Argentineans, they always ask: why did you come here, is it because our country is so cheap? A lot of travellers do I think, and behave like rich foreigners, which isn`t nice. But fortunately, when you speak with the people and exchange some opinions (and the competition in football, which will start in June in Germany with Netherlands - Argentina) you always get a smile. I don`t hesitate to travel on or to enjoy my trip, it`s just good to know this other side!

Thank you all for your nice reactions - let`s stay in contact!

Jeroen