La Vendimia- - - The Mendoza Wine Celebration

Greetings from Mendoza!

The first weekend of March in Mendoza, Argentina always signifies the beginning of the grape harvest festival. Mendoza is the home to some of the best wines in South America. La Vendimia is the symbol of the culmination of the agricultural labor and all effort it takes to produce a significant portion of Argentina's wine. Its a celebration of the fruits and labors that generations of Mendozians have invested into their city and country.

For a lot of people, its a big party. A few weeks prior to the big dance every district within the Mendoza province elects a candidate to be the Vendimia Queen. These girls are gorgeous and have their glamor shot all over the city. There is no Vendimia King. Friday night began with a big parade down San Martin Blvd, one of the main drags in Mendoza. Some things about parades - no matter where you go in the world stay the same. For example, lots of people crowd and cram their way to the barricades to see the elegant floats and the life sized paper machete figures. They jostle for position to see the people waving and maybe catch something the float participants toss into the crowd.

And that's when I noticed some large differences between the parades in the US and the ones down here in Mendoza. While there are kids clamoring for candy to be thrown their way in the States, there are people tossing (sometimes throwing) fruit into the crowd down here. No Tootise Rolls, no suckers, no stickers promoting whatever, no Jolly Ranchers, nada like that...Here are a few things that were thrown my way during the parade last night: Flyers promoting the Vendimia with little gifts attached to them (boring), grapes (appropriate), carrots, plums, apples, pears, eggplants (eggplants!?), bottles of water, boxed wine, small bottles of wine, even honeydew melons (no, really!) I caught egg plant but was like "ok, now what am i gonna do with this." The last float of the night was actually throwin MELONS into the crowd. Small honeydew melons! A quick note: Remember that Argentines are really good at football. This means they have soft feet. But they have rocks for hands. There hands are about as soft as a 3rd baseman's glove that is made by Al Kaline Steel Co. Nobody could catch these melons so you had to also watch out for the ricochet. The whole time I saw the spectacular I was like "are you kidding me?" and "when are they gonna throw some Tootsie Rolls?"

Being tall has some pretty decent advantages in parades, especially in South America where the majority of the folks are armpit size to me. I had a pretty good view of things six rows back. The only problem was that any time I would turn or reach for something in my pocket some unlucky person from Mendoza would get a elbow in the ear, nose, eye or whatnot. Sorry, perdón, disculpa, lo siento, aye! are all that I could say.

Each float was unique in the parade and each had lots of things in common. The primary thing that I noticed was the quantity of beautiful women on the float. Loads of them! And they were all like 19, 20, or 21...where in the heck were these ladytypes when I was that age? But there was one thing that I didnt not like about all these ladytypes throwing stuff into the crowd. If you were not one or two person deep in the line then you were out of luck. These girls couldn't throw. To tell you the truth, they throw like girls. Now if they were to kick the fruit and what not then I am pretty sure some windows would be knocked out.

Each float was better than the previous. And then there was That Float. The Float that I will always remember. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was a parrilla. It was a rolling barbecue pit. No, really!...There was a fire about 3 meters by one meter on the truck bed with several tiers. It had a roaring fire and was cookin some food for the folks in the parade. There were men that rotated the meat, some that cut the meat, prepped it with some bread, and then some that delivered it with a smile. That was... incredible.

And then there was the group of 10 Argentine guys next to me. You know how parents sometimes put their kid on their shoulders to allow the kid to see the show...well, these drunk group of fellas were doing that with each other. Except they were like 20 and weighed like 200lbs. They were competing for fruit and whatever with six year-olds. All the while they were drinking white wine out of honeydew melons. This continued for a good 90 minutes and well after the parade when I ran into them. The group of 10 were pretty funny, they invited me to a coupla bars after the parade. We got to hang out at some bars where there were absolutely no gringos at all. Loads of fun. Four of them who were in their own Metallica tribute band. We started to talk about heavy metal bands and they knew quite a few more American heavy metal bands than I did. Another cool thing about these fellas is that they had no fear in saying things to girls. Not talking to them, just saying things. This did help out when we saw a whole bunch of the girls from the float getting some ice cream...hello laaaaaydeeezz

Im gonna grab a steak. The steak here is good. Omaha Steaks - - -eat your heart out.

more about the festival and the wine bodega tours coming up.

My First Servas Experience

Last night was the first time I spent the night in some stranger's house. Now dont get the wrong idea. I actually planned this and was hoping to do this in order to practice my Spanish, meet some new folks, and save a coupla bucks. What can I say...going to Antarctica means that I cant stay at the Ritz all the time.

I am a member of an organization called Servas. Servas International is the world federation of non-profit, non-governmental national Servas groups. The Servas Groups are a network of travelers and hosts that encourage interaction and contact among people of all different ages, backgrounds, etc. One of its goals is to create a better understanding of all the different types of people there are in the world and potentially breakdown some stereotypes that people have of other people. The goals of Servas are accomplished through people opening their doors to complete strangers, welcoming them into their homes, and giving them a better idea what it is like to be an American, an Australian, a European, whoever...It also gives the traveler a better idea of what it is like to be an Argentinian, a Bolivian, a South American, whoever...it doesnt matter, people are people. Servas hosts do not expect payment of anykind except a thank you at then end of the stay.

I first learned about Servas from a Dean Jacobs. I learned about the Fremont, NE native when Michael Kelly published a column in the Omaha World-Herald about his two year trip around the world and the book that he had published called Wondrous Journey. I got a hold of Dean about a week after the column was published and he suggested looking into Servas. He said it was a great way to travel because the experience gave you a chance to potentially see what people in a country were really like and not through the typical touristy means. It gave the photographer a look at what life was like for people through a different lens. A look at what life was like away from the touristy areas of cities.

I was accepted into Servas before I left on my trip and yesterday was the first time that I actually took advantage of it. The host packet the organization provides gives a very brief summary of every host, their interests, languages spoken, and information on how to contact the host. I got a hold of Francisco Morón after I disembarked the 19 hour bus ride from Bariloche and asked for directions. Just a quick bus ride and I was there.

Francisco was my first Servas host and I was the 401st traveler he's received since he began doing Servas 30 years ago. Taking a nap was the first thing on my agenda, the 19 hours in the air conditioned steel box was gettin to me. After that we ate pasta he prepared and we showed pictures of our families to each other. It was then time to buy tickets for the Vendimia festival that is coming up this weekend. Francisco helped me get a ticket to the big spectacular that is going on this Sunday. Im pretty excited. One of the rules of Servas indicates that the traveler has the chance to stay three days and two nights and it is up to the discretion of the host to extend the stay. Francisco said last night over a beer and a steak that I could stay for four or five nights if I wish. I thought that would be great since getting a hostel during the wine festival is kinda difficult. The only potential downside that I do see is that Francisco has a little kitten that uses my backpack as a little jungle gym. It also uses my legs as scratching posts. It has scratched me a few times. I also have a little bit of an allergy to cats. I hope that the little kitty doesn't use my nice backpack as a scratching post the whole time im there and i dont sneeze all over the place.

Francisco's house is a nice little place that has about seven bedrooms between the actual house and the guest house. Stretching between the two homes are a series of long metal wires with a coupla grape plants dangling there fruit from above. On the patio sat some furniture with a four foot by three foot grill for the bbqs that he hosts for family and friends as well as many of the Servas guests he receives. A great place to just sit back and enjoy the weather while reading a book or writing a little bit.

Anywho...This little blog entry brings me to something that I have always had in the back of my head. What is traveling? Some people travel and only stay at hotels where everything is taken care of and think that is it. Some travel and just do the hostel thing and go to the clubs. Some only travel with another person and rarely talk with anybody else. Some only do what the Lonely Planet suggests and dont dare go out on a limb because thats not what the guide recommends or it doesn't involve drinking or loud techno music.

So what really is traveling? I think its whatever you make of it and gets you away from that little zone of comfort that you have when you are back home. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone really makes you grow since you encounter things you are not used to and hafta deal with it. Your mind begins to work out ways to deal with the situation and come up with a solution. Many goals are accomplished this way. When you write it down on paper you see something in the present that has not been accomplished and your mind begins to work on ways to reach that goal. When you do reach it, you can look back and see how far you have come and what you have learned. The Servas experience has enriched my traveling since it puts me in a different situation that I am not used to. It also has given me the chance to just sit down over some Mate with your host and chat about all types of things. Francisco and I have lots of things in common that are important to us, even though we are on opposite sides of the planet and he's 50 some years my senior. Family, friends, travel just to name a few were things that we could sit down and talk about. He shared lots of his experiences traveling to Africa, Asia, Europe, and countries like Cuba, USA, etc...He showed me that he's a pretty normal guy and I think I showed him that Im a pretty normal guy and not like the stereotypical materialistic American that many people think we are. When I look back at this experience I think that it will help me because sometimes you can be too quick to judge and not look at things throught other peoples eyes. This Servas experience showed me that, yea, he's just like me except he uses another language to express his ideas. Maybe that is kinda deep for 4pm on a Friday afternoon.

i think im gonna grab a steak and write in my journal. jp

Bariloche Update

Im sittin in a nice little Internet Cafe and thought I would share some Bariloche experiences of last week. Im still working on that second Antarctica update...itll get on the net one of these days

Bariloche Fotos and More!

The 19 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires went pretty well. Gotta share with you some information about the bus system in Argentina. In the US we have only the Greyhound. In Argentina you have hundreds of bus companies. And within those companies you have a few options with the bus that you want to ride on. There is the airport shuttle bus type bus, the coche-semi-cama and then there is the coche-cama.

• The airport shuttle bus type are the type that are pretty uncomfy; for tall people at least. They were designed for just shuttling people back and forth from one area...small distances. However, these types of buses are the type that many bus companies use in Patagonia because they can take a beating much better than their bigger, heavier, and more comfier bus brethren...the semi-cama and the coche-cama. I had to suffer though a coupla these going to El Chaltén and Puerto Natales.
• The semi-cama is more like what you would find on a Greyhound...there is a little more space to stretch out, the seats go back a littlebit, there is a movie, and sometimes they serve food. Not too bad.
• For a few dollars more you can upgrade to the coche-cama. The coche cama is the airplane first class equivalent in the bus industry. The advantages of the cama is that the seats are only three across instead of four in every row. The seats nearly recline to the horizontal position. There are food services which bring you something that is halfway decent. Lots of space, baby! It really is like they take those first class seats they have in airplanes, put them into a bus while installing foot rests and making them recline...Laiiiiidddddd Baaaaack....It doesn't take much more to go first class...

I paid the extra eight bucks for the expresso coche-cama bus to Bariloche. It took 19 hours instead of the normal 24. Less time in an air conditioned steel box means a happier jp. I left a hot and muggy BA at 2pm and arrived to a cool and very windy Bariloche in the morning. Most overnight buses give you a great chance to see wonderful sunsets and sunrises. The scenery changed quite a bit over the 19 hours. Gone was the forever flat pampa and in its place was the rolling mountains of Rio Negro province and the gigantic Lago Nahuel Huapí.

Bariloche is a great city and has a great feel to it. In the winter time it becomes the home to many skiers from all over the world. Bariloche is known as the Switzerland of South America. And for good reason. There are lots of great places to snowboard, Nordic and downhill ski all over the place. When its not snowing there are still lots of things to do check out. I went on two day hikes the time I was there and really enjoyed both of them. The first hike began from the steps of my hostel up to a viewpoint of the entire city. It was alright but kinda began to rain on the way back. There was a ski lift to the top of the mountain but I didnt wanna pay the five bucks and thought the two hour walk up the mountain would do me some good. The views of the city were excellent and the lake beyond that were mighty fine. Brought my lunch with me and planned to eat it in the ski lodge but ended eating it on the steps since they were gonna charge me three dollars to sit inside and eat my own food. The wind was strong on top of the mountain so I found a calm place and lunched on crackers, cheese, and some fruit. Towards the West you could see the storm clouds forming and the rain falling. I took some more fotos and then made my way back to the city while getting sprinkled on lightly the whole time. A good hike that got me ready for the next hike.

Had to take a break the next day because I think I walked too much the previous day. No fun hiking when you are banged up.

The second hike was a full day of walking. Quite worth it! I began by taking a 30 minute bus from the town center to Catedral Alta Patagonia. There were a coupla folks from the hostel on the bus so we all decided to hike together. The Catedral gets its name from of the chorus of rocky pillars that look very similar to the spires found on tall churches. We forked out eight buckaroos to take the ski lift to the top of the mountain. The weather changed from nice to cold and windy on the 15 minute ride up the mountain. Glad I brought some layers. The weather initially looked kinda crummy from below because the top of the mountain was covered in clouds. Once we got up there we found that only one side of the mountain range was covered in clouds, the view of the ski lodge below and Bariloche in the distance were the only things that we couldn't see. The other side of the mountain had a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and the valley that was a 1000 meters below. We snapped some fotos and got on our way. Our goal at 1030 that morning was to reach the bus stop where we came from and catch the 6pm bus back to Bariloche. To get there we took the scenic route and stopped by a refuge and a campground where hikers could rest and do some rock climbing on the impressive rocks that encompassed the refuge and the valley. Our trek lead us along the backside of the mountain where we frequently stopped for water and picture breaks. Hiking in Patagonia is alot like connect-the-dots. Since signs can fall or be stolen, most of the trails are marked with red painted dots that guide hikers. Pretty easy to do until some goonie gets the wrong idea and brings his own paint and starts painting dots all over the mountain. Our hike to the refuge brought us along the backside until we had to cut across the mountain and make our way down. To get to the Frey refuge we had to ascend and descend several tiers of rocky walls, walk along some winding rivers of glacier water, and around two big lakes of glacier water. Each lake was like the stage and the rocky walls surrounded it were like a giant natural amphitheater. I noticed some rock climbers on a huge mountain peak and gave a huge YOOOOOO!!!!! in a booming voice. I was kinda amused to hear all the echos of my voice bounce off the rocky walls. Kinda like that little toddler you hear in church who hears an echo and starts to make more sounds. Well, kinda like a toddler.

The view from the refuge was impressive in any direction. The two most impressive were the south side which had a view of a gigantic rock where the climbers were working there way up. The west side had a view of where we hiked down from. Wow...this is a lot better than the office. We rested at the refuge for 20 minutes or so before heading back on the trail. The only problem with day hikes is that you can never really stay in one space for very long because you always gotta get back to somewhere because it would be pretty uncomfy to be in the place you want to be without the right equipment. ie...stuff to keep you warm and fed.
The hike back was nearly all downhill. We passed through wildflowers and huge sections of bamboo forest as well as one side of the mountain that had been affected by a forest fire. We made it back to the bus station about 15 minutes before the bus and stretched and relaxed then napped on the ride back. A great day hike, baby...

I was on my way back from one of the many famous chocolate shops in Bariloche when I noticed something strange. It was a wheel...one wheel. What in the heck was a unicycle doing in Bariloche. Well, a hippie slash juggler was in town and making his way to El Bolson, a hippie hangout in Patagonia. He and his buddy had their doubts when they saw this tall gringo making his way towards their unicycle. This wasn't any normal unicycle that I usually ride. It was a giraffe. A giraffe unicycle is a uni with a really long neck and the operator can be pretty high off the ground. It took a little convincing and a little help from the fellas to get up on the unicycle but they were pleased to see that I could actually ride the thing.

a quick note on the unicycles. lots of people think you are gonna crack open your head when you ride a unicycle. I call shenanigans. You can hurt yourself a whole heck of a lot more on a bicycle than on a uni because you really cant go fast enough on a uni to do any real damage. That is not to say that you cant hurt yourself. I have had a coupla unplanned dismounts that left their markings on certain parts of my body. But nothing as bad as the time when my buddy Jesse and I saw a women do a Peter Pan over the handlebars on the Corporate Cycling Challenge a year ago. Now that was ugly...

Anyways, the time spent in Bariloche was great. Lots of nice people that I met and one or two that might stop in Omaha when they are on passing through. I get that a lot when I tell people Im from Omaha. "Oh, you're from Omaha...I drove through there once on the way to ..." I met one girl who was a forest fire fighter who said that, we got to talking and she promises to stop and have a cup of coffee when she's passing through.

Its time for a steak. laters

on the road again

on the road to the Mendoza Wine Festival...

 

but a 19 hour bus ride stands in the way...

Antarctic Summary - I

Along the way to Bariloche I was going through my journal notes and trying to figure out how in the heck am I going to describe this 14 day trip to my throngs of readers. 

 

Since this could take quite a while I will prolly break it up into a couple different segments. 

 

This first segment will be about

• my initial impressions of the ship
• what traveling on a cruise ship is like
• the crew
• the expedition team
• the folks that I met on the ship (lotta good stories here)

My initial impression of the Marco Polo were kinda skewed since the Queen Mary II dropped anchor three days prior in Ushuaia.  QM2 was absolutely massive!  It made the Marco Polo look like a cute little Fisher-Price tugboat you played with in the bathtub when you were a little kid.  But you gotta give the Marco Polo credit, it was a very nice ship.  The crew was great and the passengers were nice great as well.  Here are some quick facts that I pulled off the Orient Lines website about the Marco Polo. 

• Gross Registered Tons: 22,080 tons
• Length: 578.4 feet
• Beam: 77.4 feet
• Maximum Draft: 26.9 feet
• Number of Decks: 12
• Cruising Speed: 19.5 knots
• Number of Passengers: 850
• Number of Ship Personnel: 350
• Deck Officers Scandinavian
• Crew Filipino
• Social Staff British and American

The Marco Polo had all the amenities that you would expect for a world class liner.  Spa, Internet machine, formal nights, excellent live music, live piano bar with Bobby Reynolds, room service, exercise gym, swimming pool (closed at the moment), three jacuzzis, masseuse, multiple bars, disco, a massive dinner buffet, a more formal dinner seating, library, game room, casino, as well as so much more.  They even had ping pong and a waffle machine!  Every night on the Marco Polo there was something to do.  I'm glad to say that the Marco Polo has everything you need that conduces to comfort, convenience and enjoyment. 

 

The ship was great!  I was greeted by a barrage of "Hello, Sir!", "Welcome Aboard, Sir", "Good To See You Aboard, Sir."  All this Sir type stuff...I'm 26, man...I hope I'm not in the Sir stage of my life, just yet.  Before I could even take my backpack off I was warmly greeted by quite a few of the crew.  Lots of new faces and people to meet on this cruise.  As my buddy Rafal would say, "Looks like its time to make some new friends!!!"

 

The cabin I stayed in was great.  The view of the ocean was not.  I was in an interior cabin with no view of the ocean.  I was not going to complain since the price was right and this was the first time in a really really long time that I had my own room to myself.  No dormitories, no sharing it with seven of my closest friends.  Just me.  This was Xanadu!  I had my own safe, shower, fresh towels, toilet, sink, bed, drawers and there was a nice Marco Polo parka waiting for me when I returned from my cabin after dinner.  Another cool thing was that the cabin stewards actually prepped your room all during the day.  In the morning they were there to clean it up, make your bed, whateva...in the evening they were there again to prep your room for nighttime.  Each cabin even had its own little nightlight right behind your head as well as two switches; one to turn off the nightlight and the other to turn on the main cabin light in the morning.  I even had a TV and a phone to call room service.  Going back to the hostel was gonna kinda tough. 

 

Some of the things that I found interesting included a guy that would play the xylophone when he would announce dinner at the Seven Seas restaurant.  Most of the time he would play something pretty basic and then top it off with " shave and a haircut...two bits." Another thing that I thought interesting was that everything on the cruise ship seemed alot like daytime television.  Everything started and ended at their specified time.  No program ever started early and nothing ever went over the allocated time.  This was hard to get used to since I had been accustomed to things starting whenever in South America. 

You gotta tip your hat to the crew on this ship.  The crew that really got things done was composed of Filipinos.  I kinda got the feeling that the name tags were really not their real name.  C'mon, how many Filipinos do you know named Tony, Derek, Bob, James, David, Phillip, Drew, and Trent.  Me thinks they use a nickname so people will be able to pronounce it a little easier.  Anyways, I gotta talk about Mario.  Mario was my cabin steward and always greeted me with a "ahhhhh Hello Miieester James, how are we this morning"  "Enjoy your day, Miieester James!"   A very nice guy and a funny guy to talk with.  I taught him some American slang.  "Its all good," "now THATS what Im talkin about," and "Im pickin up what youre puttin down" are some of the phrases that I taught him.  Gotta hand it to Mario, that guy worked really hard and was a busy fella with all the cabins he took care of.  Mario really came in the clutch when I asked if he had any boots for the shore expeditions in my size.  He came back with four pairs and one of them fit great!  Hey, this guy was alright with me!

Other members of the staff and crew had different rolls.  Some were responsible for the ship, some were responsible for the food, some were responsible for entertaining the guest.  The staff that entertained the guests were a diverse group of folks.  A comedian, an action comedian, a singer, four male and female singer/dancers, a dj named Suger, a magician named Ricochet, and a chellist nicknamed Chel-lowww - who prolly coulda made money on the ship from the way she danced during the late night disco danceoffs.   

Meet The Expedition Team with Expedition Team Leader, Allan Morgan.  This meeting gave all the passengers on board a chance to learn the faces and a little bit about each of Antarctic experts that would enrich our Antarctic experience.  Speaking to each of these members during the 14 days really revealed a lot about them: why they chose Antarctica, what made them choose this type of profession, funny stories they may have to share, etc...

The team was quite an interesting bunch, especially Alan.  It consisted of:
Alan Morgan – Expedition Team Leader
Dr. Neville Jones – Expedition Ecologist
Mary Lou Blakesley – Expedition Marine Mammalogist
Christopher Wilson – Expedition Ornithologist
Dr. Marco Taviani – Expedition Geologist

I gotta say that Alan Morgan had the crowd informed as well as entertained.  Cracking jokes like "Folks, im not gonna lie to ya.  There really are only two types of penguins - - - black ones and white ones." When we were visiting a private island on the Falkland Islands the owners invited everybody for tea and cake.  Everybody thought Alan was joking when he said.  "The island owners are expecting us...Morgan - Party of 495."  This guy was great. 

The other experts gave some really informative lectures on marine mammals, birds, icebreakers, and diving in the Antarctic.  As I said before...never a dull moment on the Marco Polo.  Oh, and one of the Expedition Team members was incredible at ping pong.  I played this 50 year old member of the team and got just hammered.  That women had a punishing backhand!

The folks that I met on the ship. 
Wow, lots of good stories here.  The ship had about 500 passengers on board and I was really excited to speak with some people other than backpackers.  It was nice to meet some people other than backpackers for a while.  This experience added some perspective.
Here was a little breakdown on the type of people on the cruise. 
Within the backpackers there were quite a few types:
A coupla Americans, a coupla Aussies, a few Japanese, a lot from England, and an impenetrable socially restricted patronage of Israeli backpackers.  Within the rest of the passengers there were lots and lots of Americans, a handful of Argentines, and Europeans.  Just about all of the non backpackers were retirees with the means to afford a trip like this. 

I met quite a few of the non backpacker crowd and it was a delight to get to know some of these folks.  Since I really dont have an qualms about meeting new folks and everybody on the cruise seemed to be in a good mood, I thought I would go up and introduce myself to as many folks. 

The first folks that I met were two retired flight attendants named Jackie and Janice.  These two women were a riot to hang out with.  I first met them when I was waiting in line for the Seven Seas Restaurant.  They did not have their table number with them and I was like "Im sorry, ladies.  Ya gotta have the card with you or they wont serve you."  We ended up talking off and on the entire cruise and solved quite a few of the worlds problems over the martini happy hour.  Really nice ladies...and they even promised to introduce me to their young and tall Italian friend back in Boston.  Awww Right!

I also met two folks that are from California and are living in good ol Lincoln, Ne.  Sandra and Rob were a nice couple and fun to talk to about all sorts of things. 

Then there was a nice old man named Luther.  Luther is a bachelor from Arkansas City, Kansas and was visiting Antarctica for the first time.  I noticed him eating alone during tea time and thought I would join him for some coffee and conversation.  Luther was a great guy to talk with.  Our conversations over the two weeks were speckled with tidbits of advice he accumulated through his life as a business owner. It was nice to sit back and relax with him.  I tried and tried and tried to buy him a drink whenever we met for our 530 cocktail hour, but he would always say "nope, nope, nope...I have senority."  I guess when you are 88 you can say that to just about everybody.  I exchanged addresses with Luther and am gonna drop him a postcard at my next destination. 

Then there was Sid.  Or as I like to affectionately call him, "Thats Nothing Sid."  Sid was the type of guy that no matter what you say he would bring the conversation back towards him.  This is alright once or twice...but every single frigging time!  He was very much into the oneupmanship and being annoying.  I met him the second day of the cruise.  Here are a few examples of our conversations.  They kinda went something like this. 

"Soooo, youre a backpacker, ehhh?"  "Yup."  "So, you traveling with one backpack, ehh?"  "Yup."  "That's Nothing...my wife packed two suitcases for me.  Half of one of the suitcases has my sleep apnea machine, the other is clothes.  And canya believe that both suitcases weighed exactly 50lbs each...The folks at the airline thought this was really strange so they weighted them twice on different machines."  "Yup."

Another conversation went like this...

"Sid, would you mind taking a foto?"  "Why sure, what are you shooting in?" "Uhhh four megapixals...Fuji, point and shoot.  That's all I can afford."  "Thats Nothing!  Im shooting in RAW."  "oh, ok...say whiskey!" snap...

And then another conversation when like this...

"So your from Nebraska, right?"  "Yup."  "Where didja goto school at?"  "University of Nebraska at Omaha, Sid."  "Oh, man...why didnt you goto a real school?"  Gee, thanks, Sid. 

That is when I quit talking to this guy.  I cant stand that type.  Now, I didnt goto the most prestigious university, but I did go to a pretty decent college.  I also paid my own way through both undergrad and grad school while being active in my community and playing college athletics.  I think I did alright.  Three conversations with this knucklehead was enough.  I wanted to tell That's Nothing Sid that I paid 20 percent of what he paid, but didnt have the heart to ...I prolly shouldove.    

 

Another fun guy to talk to who would just talk your head off was Loud Jaime.  The reason I called him Loud Jaime was because he was similar to Will Ferrell who played Jacob Silj on Weekend Update.  Jacob Silj had the Voice Modulation problem and could only speak in a loud monotone voice.  This was Jaime, he could be whsipering and you could still hear him two tables down.  Jaime was a wedding fotographer and loved to talk about cameras.  When he saw mine he was like, "Thats cool, baby...as long as you get the shots you want.  Its not the camera, its the eye behind it."  He also told me some funny wedding stories and how his whole world changed when, "everything went digital and now everybody gets in my way when Im trying to take fotos at the wedding!"

 

I met a guy from San Francisco who was really cool to talk with.  John from SF had been all around the world and was genuily interested in meeting some of the backpackers and hearing some of their stories.  I was also interested in hearing some of John's stories.  He told me some great stories about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and going on safari in Africa.  Really cool guy. 

 

Back to the backpackers...lots of interesting folks.  The first im gonna mention is Claus from Denmark.  This guy had some really funny stories to tell about his adventures across the globe.  Claus is about to complete a goal of seeing all seven continents before he turns 25.  He also made a comment that it really doesnt matter where you travel to or for how long, the important part is that you go out there and do it.  Then see how it affects you.  It should be fun to see how things have really affected me when I return from my trip.

 

Gotta talk about two of the funniest and clever Aussies that I have met.  Cory and Josh.  Cory looked up to everybody and Josh looked down on everybody.  Only in the sense that one was really tall and the other was not tall at all.  They never really saw eye to eye since there was about a foot difference between them, but they definitely had the Woo going.  Im not talkin WuTang here, Im talking about Gallup Organization's Strength Finder.  The Woo strength describes people who "love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person."  These fellas definitlely had it going.  They were also pretty funny.  I got to include a little note about Cory's iPod mix.  The Only When Im Drunk Mix had a little bit of everything and every song was a timeless classic.  He had anything from Michael Bolton's Time Love & Tenderness to a little Boys to Men to a little Robbie Williams to a little Wille Nelson.  All the songs were truly great songs and fit his type of personality. 

 

Now this was weird.  There was a backpacker from Virginia who I had seen a lot but never really got to talk to until the final days of the cruise.  His name was John.  Cory, Josh, John, and I were all walking to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montevideo, Uruguay.  We were walking along and talking about all types of stuff.  I think we were talking about Lee from the night before.  You will all have a chance to learn about Lee from England a little later.  And then out of the blue John asks me, "James, are you an Eagle Scout?"  I was kinda like "huh?  Yea."  He said that he just could tell.  I thought that was kinda weird.  I guess it goes to show that it takes one to know one.  

 

Amber from LA.  Amber was traveling with her friend, Sarah.  Both girls were pretty fun to talk with.  Both had their feet planted on the ground.  Amber had some pretty good jokes for open mic night.  One of them went like this.  "A mushroom walks into the bar and orders a drink.  The bartender says he's sorry but cant serve mushrooms.  Thats when the mushroom stands up and says 'awwww, c'mon...im a fungi'" Get it.  Anywho.  A funny thing happened when I was just chatting it up with these two in Paradise Harbor.  I mentioned that I was from Omaha and Sarah mentioned she was kinda seeing somebody from Omaha...someone who went to that school in Omaha where they have that rich tax district.  Oh yea, District 66.  And I knew the guy she was talking about.  She was talking about Todd Chapman.  I was an outdoor education counselor with that guy way back in the day.  

 

Something else weird.  I was in the tender on the way back from the Falkland Islands and started talking to Alex and Phil from Arizona.  When I told them I was from Omaha they were like, "Do you know Drew Wietz?"  I was like, "yup, we hung out alot in 7th grade and a little in high school.  There is no way I could be a secret agent...I know too many people.  

 

English Pete.  English Pete was a guy in his 30s who sold a lot of what he had and has been on the road for around two years.  He had some great stories.  English Pete dances like Bob Dole.  Not in the fact that he's old or that his arm is hurt.  But for the fact that his left arm stays in a similar position that Bob Dole's right arm stays in.  When he's dancing that left arm stays really rclose to the body and just doesnt move.  Maybe he's just holding onto a pen or something.  I dont now why I think of this stuff. 

   

The Raj

This is a little section of my blog dedicated to The Raj.  The Raj is a guy that I met in Cusco and have traveled with and bumped into through Bolivia and Argentina.  This is the same Raj that pestered the hostel owner on the Isla del Sol in Bolivia to lower the price from 15 Bolivianos to 13 Bs. (Were talking 25 cents here!)  The Raj is an alpha male and definitely has the Woo with the ladytypes.  Whenever the backpackers would meet for drinks, there would be The Raj workin his magic on the ladytypes.  I think the ladies were suckers for his smooth English accent.  Since The Raj was pretty smooth with the ladytypes I dubbed his room The Raj Mahal and the name stuck.  So his nickname changed from The Raj to just Raj Mahal.  But Raj Mahal has two downsides.  Raj Mahal has this stereotype that all Americans are like the hillbillies on the Cahulawassee River in Deliverance.  Not every American is a hillbilly.  

Another funny story about Raj Mahal.  He really does know how to go up to any ladytype and talk to them about anything.  But the ladytype has to speak English.  The backpackers all went to the club when we got off the ship in Buenos Aires.  The Raj Mahal was feelin pretty good from the constant iv transfusion of alcoholic Marco Polos before we went out, but couldnt even get his foot in the door with the Argentine ladytypes.  Going up and saying "HOLA CHICAS!" over the loud din of club music wasnt workin for the Raj Mahal.  I was like, "Tranquilo, Raj. Tranquilo." "Aw, dont worry, big dogg...its just a numbers game with these chicas."  "But Raj, you only know words like 'cuanto cuesta' or 'bano' or 'cerveza.'  That didnt discourage Raj Mahal.  Nothing discourages the Raj Mahal.   

 

The Raj Mahal brings me to a little discussion about That Guy.  Every party or function you go to always has to have That Guy.  That Guy is the name that people talk about when remembering a party or whatnot.  "Bill, you remember going to that graduation party last year?  Do you remember That Guy who drank until he had to crawl to the bathroom?"  "Yup, I remember That Guy."  Being That Guy can sometimes be good but most of the time is not too positive.  That Guy on the Marco Polo was Lee from England.  Lee could drink and drink and drink.  He ended up being That Guy who tried to dance his way into the hearts and pants of any girl near the dance floor.  No girl was safe, even when they were mouthing the words "Help Me!"  The nights on the Marco Polo usually begin with people drinking in their rooms and then the bacpackers move to the Polo Lounge to listen to the Panio Bar play their favorite songs.  Things then move to the disco where Sugar plays some great dance music.  Lee claims that he doesnt remember the four hours after leaving the Polo Lounge, but we do have pictures to prove his whereabouts.  Lee was drunker than a fly in a bottle of gin.  Lee was a strong fella and you always hoped that he wouldnt grab you when you were dancing.  You see, nobody was safe from this dancing machine.  It was getting towads the end of the night and Lee decided that enough was enough.  No girl really wanted to dance with him, they just kinda put up with him and dodged his attempts for a little kiss here and there.  And then for some reason he reached for his belt, undid it and then, let his pants go down.  And then came the undies.  Not so much on the nudity on the dance floor, Lee.  We all turned away in anguish.  Guys just dont look good naked. 

 

Well, thats all i got right now folks...Ill send out another blog entry about the expeditions and what it was like to set foot on Antarctica. 

 

jp

A little about football in argentina

Here are some things that I have noted about Argentina Futbol. It's a little bit of what you should expect should you goto a futbol game in Argentina.

The Argentine puts the fan into fanatic!
The standard equipment for a game includes

• Bass Drums
• Loud Drums
• More Loud Drums
• Anything that will make noise
• Old modified bike pumps that can wreak havoc on your ear drums
• Some flares, maybe some smoke bombs with your team colors
• Streamers with your team colors
• Large flags with your team colors and seal
• A teenager willing to climb on the outside portion the nosebleeder section fence. (the fence is supposed to protect people from falling and this kid is on the outside and will fall and die should he lose his grip)
• Facepaint...gotta have that.
• chants for your team
• Dále Dále Dále Dále Boca!
• Vamos Vamos Vamos Vamos Riverplate!
• Offensive Chants directed at the other team, the officials, their families, their wives, their girls, whatever & whoever.
• Policía Policía
• Que armargado sé te ve
• Cuando vos a la cancha
• Su mujer se va a coger!!!!!!
• //This roughly translates into "Police Police. How bitter you I know you look, when you go to the stadium your ladytype goes to fornicate."
• Fireworks! They search you before you go into the game, take away your lighter - - but fireworks are perfectly fine.
• Gigantic flags that can cover an entire section of the stadium
• Alcohol is not sold because the fans are rowdy enough as it is
• Prepare yourself for nonstop cheering and jeering
• Lots and lots of jumping around. So much so that the stadium actually shakes when you are in the nosebleed section.
• Vulgar comments (especially from the women)
• Lots of mullets and guys who would be better off with their shirts on
• Fanatics that criticize the police from a very safe distance (tommy toughguys) - - - why dont they say that stuff when the police are right in front of them...some things never change, no matter where you are.
• Fans who whistle to show their disgust of the other team
• Boca Jrs are like the Yankees - you either love em or hate em. There are no tweeners.
• Lots of arm waiving. Its kinda like the Atlanta Braves chop, but with both arms in more of a narrow half-oval swooping motion with the whole arm while chanting the team anthem.

Both River Plate and Boca are unique experiences. The first soccer game that I saw in Argentina was River Plate versus Orient Petrolio (a Bolivian team). I drove by the stadium when I first came to BA and now I got to go inside. I signed up with my hostel, the cost was a little more but they provided the transportation and a little peace of mind. I sat with an Aussie on the way there. He was a nice guy, just kinda dim. We had that sort of conversation that went kinda like this..."So, how long have you been traveling?" "Five months." "You from America, right?" "Yea." "Didja vote for Bush" "Yup." "Hey I saw you with that girl the other night...didja get some." "A man never asks and a gentleman never tells." The conversation really never got off the ground.

We initially thought that our ticket would get us into the stadium quickly so we wouldnt hafta wait in the long queue. The police kinda looked at our group of 30 and was like "ummm, you gotta wait like everybody else." Not good. Game time was 20 minutes away and the waiting line stretched over 100 meters around the entrance. It was so long that it actually stretched onto the blocked highway exit ramp and onto the shoulder of the unblocked-highway. Not the place you wanna be hangin around when its dusk. Or anytime. Finally the hostel connections paid off, we walked from the end of the queue on the freeway to the front door and they let us in.

The hostel connection got us in the door. That was it. We took our seats in the nosebleeders. There really were no seats any higher or farther away. It looked like little PlayMobile figures were kicking the ball around. Foosball players have appeared larger. But we got in and soaked in the energy of the stadium. That was lots of fun. River Plate put on a clinic that night. The Orient Petrolio fellas got smoked. 7-0. When three goals were scored in the first 15 minutes you had a pretty good idea who was gonna win this one. The first goal five minutes into the game send the crowd into a frenzy. The GA section a little ways away looked like a sea of boiling red water. Hands up in the air, flags waving, everybody screaming, stadium shaking. The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh goal were all met with just a little less enthusiasm - but still quite a lot.

Coupla folks in our row took the liberty of lighting up and getting high. All I got out of the experience was a second-hand headache. One stoner really got me mad because he was getting high in front of his four-year old daughter. WTF are you doing that when you need to be providing for your daughter, idiot.

A blowout isnt so much fun to watch. It got so boring that I began to time the intervals between the planes that were landing at the nearby airport. The game was over and the fans were happy. I got up from my seat and noticed a little kitten that was underneath my seat. Got a foto of that.

Got back to the hostel and started to tell all the Aussies they get to drink free today since it was Australian Day. Just show them your passport and you get a free Quilmes. Some people actually believed me.

The Boca Game.
I went with my friend Mariana to a Boca Jrs game last Sunday. I got off my cruise ship at 2pm, deposited my stuff at the hostel and took the hostel's bus to the stadium. I napped on the bus ride there because I got about three hours of sleep that night. I was burnin up the dance floor at Sahara and was kinda worn out. What better way to recover than to sit in the hot sun and the humid BA air. Anywho, Boca Jrs. play at La Bombonera and security is pretty thorough. We passed through three security checkpoints. Three cops patted me down to check for whatever. Then an undercover police officer (or so he says) patted me down. He was a really nice guy...very generous, he even offered to rub my shoulders. I started to get the feeling that he really wasnt a police officer. When I asked him for ID he showed me his card...it was in crayon. hmmmmmm.

As much as the tix are for Boca Jrs. games they should invest some money into the actual stadium. The bowels of the stadium we went through to get to our seats smelled like, well, someones bowels.

Boca Jrs. have cheerleaders! Helloooooooo Ladies! Now thats what im talkin about! Me thinks that these ladytypes were hired on their looks and prolly not for their cheerleading capabilities. Midget rodeo clown strippers slash cheerleaders could prolly impart some of their knowledge to these ladytypes about cheerleading. They were that bad.

The energy in the stadium woke me up because I was nappin in the summer heat. The fans here dont mess around. They say whatever is on their minds about the other team and its funny to hear these chants. Stuff you would never say to another person are repeted frequently by men and women of all ages. And its fun! The game became interesting really really fast. Two of San Lorenzo's players and two of Boca's players received yellow cards within the first ten minutes. An then there was a penalty kick because one of the Boca boys was a little too aggressive going for the ball in the Boca goalie box. San Lorenzo brought in their goalie to kick the shot. He hammered the ball into the upper corner for the game's first goal. The tiny San Lorenzo section went wild. Then the SL goalie did a no-no and started to taunt the Boca fans. The goalie recieved a yellow card for those little actions.

Our nosebleeders gave us a great view of the action. We were right behind the goal with the sun at our backs. Boca fans do not forget. The second half brought the San Lorezo goalie back to the same area where he initially taunted the Boca fans. The goalie was greeted with a five minute waterbottle barrage along with whatever else the fans had at their disposal. That's whatcha get. It took the captain of the Boca team to walk with the goalie back to the goal. El Cap-e-tan gave the palms-down dual-basketball dribbling motion to calm the fans down.

Boca couldnt get their act together the entire game. Then San Lorenzo scored again. Out came the waterbottles and whatever else the fans could throw onto the field. The wind was out of Boca's sails. When Boca scored in the final minutes the energy surged and Boca fans' confidence and boisterousness returned. The stadium actually was moving when Boca fans got really really excited. I have never been to any stadium where the concrete actually shakes and sways underneth you. Incredible. But it was too little and too late for the Boca Jrs. The game was over and the fans left. One thing that is different here than in America is the way the stadium is exited. The opposing teams fans first leave, then the GA seats on the opposite side of the stadium are cleared, the rich folks in their part can leave whenever. The police arent too worried about these folks. The stadium emptying goes back and forth until everybody leaves.

South Americans are very passionate about their soccer and let everybody know about their team. They are involved. Both matches were great experiences.

After the game it was time to rest. Three hours of sleep, sitting and sweating in the sun, wearing clothes that had only been washed in my cabin sink left me pretty tired and stinky. I went back to the hostel and rested the rest of the night. A good end to a long day.

Antarctica Update

The Best Antarctica Fotos Ever!!

Well, Im back...

Antarctica was a very nice experience. Glad I did it

The Marco Polo is stopping over in Montevideo, Uraguay to resupply.

Will write a little bit more when I find an Internet Cafe that has air conditioning

Felt kinda good to be disconnected from the Internet for a while. I really wasnt up for paying 75 cents a minute to check my messages. I aint made out of money, folks

so here are a few pictures that will be explained a little bit later when I find a cool place to t ype out my journal entry.

laters - - - jp

a change in plans...

i have scrapped my plans to travel to Torres del Paine and Fitz Roy.

been there, done that...

found something a little more interesting

found a deal to Antarctica...too good to pass up

ill bring home a penguin for whoever wants one, please let me know how many by wednesday

laters

jp




- - - - - - - - - - -

quick update before i get back on the boat. everything here is expensive. my room is pretty sweet and i dont hafta share it with any tranquilized animals nor do i need to peel potatoes.

the only downside is that spotting a young person is a rare event. will do my best to hunt down all the youngsters down so we can talk about something besides the weather. jk...

drop a comment or two and ill get back to ya...

prolly wont check my messages for about two weeks so dont be too upset if i dont answer

jp

Escaping the Summer Heat by Heading South!

It's hot here in Buenos Aires. Hot. Real hot....

So I put down a few bucks this morning and bought a plane ticket to Ushuaia and am gonna work my way back up. Hopefully when I get back in mid March it will be a tid bit cooler.

Im planning to do some more long distance hikes around Torres del Paine and Fitz Roy.

Say goodbye to the hot and humid crowded city streets! Say hello to the wide open spaces of Patagonia!

laters...jp

Patagonia Summary...

A special thanks to my brother Jonathan and my buddy Rafal who came down for parts of December and January to spend some time with me and check out some very beautiful areas in Argentina. Thanks, fellas!

The Best Patagonia Photos Ever!

So here is a little summary of the things that went down in Patagonia. Some good stories here, folks...Good story about Perito Moreno Glacier, El Chaltén, Torres del Paine, and some of the jokers that we met along the way.

So here we go...sit back, relax, and strap on your seat belt because you have never been on a ride like this before...

Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the few advancing glaciers in the world. This gigantic body of ice is over 30km long, 10km wide, 15 stories tall above the water line and is over 100 meters deep below the water line. There is so much force pushing this glacier that it advances at the rate of about 2 meters per day. Quite a few ice cubes. The lake's natural minerals give it a very cloudy greenish and grayish color with just a little bit of blue mixed in. The glacier is situated between two mountains, all of the accumulated snow that is compressed by the weight of itself year-round pushes it down the mountain and creates pressure on the glacier. This creates a glacier that constantly calves.

We booked our full day excursion through our hostel and began our day at around 8am with a drive along Route 40 towards Glacier National Park. Driving through portions of Patagonia is a lot like driving through parts of Nebraska...there are a coupla animals grazing and there is just a lot of wide open spaces with not a whole lot of stuff out there. Except there really are not too many places in Nebraska where you can drive an hour to see a glacier.

Our first stop was at a lookout point towards the south face of the glacier. We were still pretty far from it so we took some goofy perspective pictures that made it look like we were carrying the glacier on our back. I initially thought I had overdressed when i brought my long sleeve shirts and two jackets because I was sweating a ton on the bus. Thank goodness that I didn't under dress because we were greeted by the famous strong Patagonian wind that blew all the body heat from us as we stepped out of the bus. Welcome to Patagonia, where the wind always blows. After snapping a few fotos we hopped back on the bus and then went to the trail head and began our hike along the lake shore towards the glacier's north face. The place we started was kinda neat because the more you walked along the shoreline the glacier would appear and get larger and larger. There were two large icebergs that were floating in the lake there were pretty darn large and must have been quite large when they broke off. A little teaser before we saw where they came from. A little piece of cake before we got to have the entire cake. Hiked for about another 10 minutes and came upon the glacier in its enormity. Yaowza! The right side of the glacier appeared first while walking along the shore line. The more you walked the larger and greater this natural marvel became. Snap, snap, goes the camera. More pictures. We took some silly pictures and some pictures that are gonna go up on the wall back at home. Our hike was great because we had four or five different places to view the glacier and each was equally impressive. Since my little digital camera doesn't have the advance wide angle lens, I tried to capture the entire size of the glacier by taking a series of pictures and will either use a little Photoshop and stitch them together or just print them out and place them side by side in a foto frame to recreate the glacier.

Creak! Crack! Snap! Groan! Boom! Woosh! These are the only sounds that interrupted the quietness of Glacier National Park. Watching these giant bodies of ice calve was an event! And watching the people watching the glacier was an event, too. The tourists (myself included) all suffered from a mild case of Pavlovian Conditioning. Everybody was there to get the perfect shot of the glacier calving and would salivate at any sound coming from the glacier. Determining where the sounds came from was difficult because the massive glacier and the rock walls on the tourist side created a natural amphitheater where sounds bounced off everything. The incredible whiteness of the glacier also made it tough to figure out where exactly these ice portions where falling from. Like everything in South America, it was an exercise in patience. As my ol' Boy Scout leader once said "James, patience is a virtue." And getting a good picture just took a little patience.

It was getting near lunch time when Rafal and I sat down on one of the benches on the glacier platform and enjoyed some sandwiches along with the the view. The quite mutter of the tourists and the glacier calving was great. What was not was that little kid who kept begging for his mom's attention. I can remember kinda being like that kid when our fam visited the Grand Caynon. You are old enough to remember the event but you really dont appreciate it like you would if you were older. Anywho, the kid wasn't that bothersome.

After lunch we had some really good luck and saw a portion of the glacier about the size of a medium house slowly groan, creak, and slide into the water with a gigantic splash. All the tourists on the platforms clapped after taking their pictures and hung around chit chatting about whatnot and whatever.

Next time you are passing through Patagonia, stop by and pay the glacier a visit. As they say in Spanish "¡Vale la pena!" or "It's worth it." Seguramente, el glacier Perito Moreno vale la pena...

We returned from the glacer at about 6 or 7pm and prepared our stuff for the bus ride to El Chaltén. El Chaltén is famous for its massive granite towers that stand above all the other mountains like tall gringos in South America. The day we arrived was perfect conditions to view Fitz Roy and Cerro de Torres from Route 40. We stopped a coupla kilometers from El Chaltén to take some fotos but the only problem was that I had my camera in my large backpack and that was checked in and somewhere under the bus. Dratz...however, Rafal had his camera and got some excellent fotos. Those fotos are keepers.
We checked into our hostel and took a little nap before taking a quick two hour hike to Lago Capri. Lago Capri is a base camp for folks who wanna get a little closer to Fitz Roy than the average tourist. What really made the experience great was the evening sunshine hitting Fitz Roy and the reflection off a perfectly calm Lago Capri. The mirror image was peaceful and the time to sit and enjoy the view was refreshing.

One thing that about Patagonia in many parts is the absence of water pollution. The delicious water in Chaltén was perfectly potable and you could drink right out of any stream or lake and not worry too much about getting sick. The water must be good because its been over two weeks and Im not sick, yet.

We snapped a coupla fotos and headed back to the hostel before the 1045pm sunset. Made a little pasta dinner before we retired to the dorm. Next day was a big day. Slept pretty well that day but was awoken by a German alarm clock. Actually, it was a German guy who doubled as an alarm clock because he was taking fotos of the sunrise at 530ish in the morning.
Its quite possible his camera had sounds for just about everything. A sound for turing it on, prefocus, snapping the foto, erasing the foto, turning off the camera...Rafal commented there should have been a sound that would complement the guy for snapping a foto. "Gee, Franz, thats a great foto...why not take a few more and wake up the whole hostel." I gotta get me one of dem German alarm clocks, but Im not too sure that he could fit in my backpack and make it through customs. Dratz...

Since Franz woke us up we decided to get ready for the big hike a little bit earlier and get some coffee and breakfast to add a little gas to the tank. I was feelin good after a breakfast of granola bars and coffee. Our group was pretty tiny. Just six folks and a guide. We hiked a good three hours and and downhill until we came to a base camp. We rested for a little bit and ate a few cookies, tea, and coffee. The base camp is where we were fitted for our harness and picked up a pair of crampons. We hiked another 1.5 hours to get to the glacier. The hike around Lago Torres was nice and the river crossing via zip line was a little treat we all enjoyed. Horizontal zip lines are pretty fun until you lose all your momentum and hafta pull your self the rest of the way. My first zip line crossing was great. Hike a little bit more after the zip line and then hit ice. We strapped on the crampons after getting on the glacier and had a quick lesson before continuing. Walking with crampons is basically walking flatfooted with just a little bend in your step. The type that we used strapped onto the bottom of your boot and kinda got to be uncomfortable after wearing them for about two hours.

Glaciers are made from snow but the snow is compacted into a very hard ice and can be as rough as asphalt if you fall down. Gloves were a must to prevent any hand scrapings. Glacier Torres is a maze of icy hills and valleys with really deep pools of crystal clear water that slowly faded from clear to a deep baby blue the more profound the hole was. An the best part was that you could just dip your bottle into the water and you had fresh water to drink. Walking for a little while longer brought us to an area with a 60 foot wall of vertical ice. Our guides disappeared for a little bit and reappeared up top where they prepared an ice anchor. Looks like were were gonna do some ice climbing, folks. Ice climbing turned out to be pretty fun. Our group received some quick instructions. One instruction was to use your legs. Your legs should carry about 85 or 90 percent of your body weight. Your arms are there to advance position and for equilibrium, but not to hold your body weight. The other instructions were a set of four steps. Steps one and two are to drive each of the ice pics up and into the ice. First, one hand and then the other. Steps three and four are to position your legs by kicking the crampon directly into the ice so your boot is perpendicular with the ice. Wash, rinse and repeat as you climb up the glacier. Quite a bit of fun and quite a bit of exercise...It was tough and im in pretty good shape, for the shape that Im in, i guess.

That was loads of fun. We returned to base camp to drop our gear off and rest a bit. Then it was back to El Chaltén. We arrived 12 hours after we left and it was time for a beer or two. We ate in the hostel, had one drink, stretched out and went to bed.

Slept right through the German alarm clock the next day. The next day was more rest and recovery than anything. The sore muscles needed to relax a little bit. Now we were sore but not as sore as this Dutch girl that we met, Olga. Remember Norm from Cheers back in the day? Norm was the guy that never really seemed to move and drank lots off beer. Well, the only difference between Norm and Olga was that she wasn't drinking beer but was eating something every time we saw her. The hike she had done the day before left her with sore and tight muscles and she didn't wanna move all day. So she didn't. When we left for a hike in the morning to move our muscles a bit she was there eating some eggs and toast. We returned about two hours later and she hadn't moved and was now eating some lemon meringue pie. About an hour after that she was eating a different piece of pie with her friend. We talked and joked around with her since we had met the first day we were there and she told us about here stationary plan. Well, she was true to her word. But what was kinda ironic about the situation was that she was eating all this expensive hostel food and had a South American on a Shoestring book next too her. Either she had some incredibly long shoestrings or had nothing else to do that day except eat. Ever since meeting her, Rafal and I get a little laugh when he added the Homer Simpson eating sound effect. The sound effect goes something like, "Chomp, Schomp, mmmmgulp.....more! more! more!"

There were a coupla more stories about some jokers we met in the kitchen while cooking but I think not mentioning this kid will prevent us from being just a little bit dumber. He was that out there. That's all I got for El Chaltén.

Torres del Paine was an exquisite hike into the Chilean forest. Getting there was the only Paine...Rafal and I were seated right behind a couple that was prolly 20 or so that were getting all snuggly wuggly. We had a great view, especially when they put their seat back and got all lovey dovey for three or four hours. Rafal spelled out the word B-A-R-F!! on the back of the seat and I agreed with that. bla...

We passed through customs on the way to Chile without any problems and arrived in Puerto Natales. The sharks were waitin for us and encouraging us to use their hostel by the handful. Rafal and I looked at one that seemed alright. We walked to the place to find that we would be the only ones in the hostel, this kinda struck us as weird because this was high season and nothing is empty in high season. We got a weird vibe from the place and then moved on to a place called Hostel Paulette. This was a decent place that had travelers in it so we rested their and planned our next day. It also had a great breakfast that was more than toast and jam.

The next day began with a two hour bus ride to Torres del Paine National Park and then with a shuttle ride to the trail head. During the shuttle ride Rafal and I met pretty some stoners who had started smoking in high school and haven't passed up an opportunity to smoke. And these folks were pushing mid-forties! Pretty sure these three folks never listed to Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No!" campaign against the drugs. Whoa...these folks need to be videotaped and replayed in every D.A.R.E seminar possible.

After spending the quick three mile ride with Jeff Spicoli & Co, I was surprised he didnt light up and smoke didn't come out of the van doors when we disembarked. Aloha, Jeff, wherever you are.

The hike to Torres del Paine was good exercise. The first hour was nearly all uphill and the next two were up and down but not too bad. We were about 30 minutes from the top when the trail turned from dirt to rocks to granite boulders. The trail to the top was marked with red dots for the hikers to follow so they wouldnt get lost. From the bottom of the boulder area we could see the tips of the three towers and slowly but surely we made our way to the top and the towers grew and grew. We took a break once we reached the top, had some lunch, and put on some layers. The view was well worth the three hours of hiking. The three gigantic granite pillars were reaching for the sky with snow glaciers sitting at their bases and small waterfalls feeding a bowl shaped canyon full of white and tan boulders and a greenish and grayish lake that feed the river where we pulled our water from.

Rafal and I had quite a bit of luck since we saw the Torres del Paine in their full beauty without any clouds to block the view. The only bad part was that we couldnt spend too much time there because the bus back to the hostel was leaving in four hours. So we spent just a little time there and snapped a few fotos before heading back to civilazation. One of the really cool things about the Torres del Paine National Park as well as Glacier National Park is that you can do camping and trekking anywhere from one day to five to a nine day circuit around the Torres del Paine. You can tell the people who have been on the trail for a while...just use your nose. Those guys stink but are getting to do something that Rafal and I wanna do. I really wanna head back to Fitz Roy and Torres del Paine and experience the some really good treking.

We made our way back to civilization and got to the shuttle bus stop about 30 minutes before it arrived and made our way back to Puerto Natales. And that is where our luck ran out, at around 10pm. We got back to the hostel and got cleaned up and then went out to get some food. The only problem was EVERYTHING was closing early. Rafal and I look at each other and do a collective, "huh!?" It was a Saturday night, we were exhausted from hiking and every restaurant we went to told us that they had to close up shop. Elections were tomorrow and any establishment that serves alcohol had to close up shop and go home. After bemoaning a little bit we found a gas station and had hot doggs. B-A-R-F!! You can read about the rest of our adventure in my Planes, Trains, and Automobile entry.

After getting to Ushuaia we had a little bad luck but a little good luck. The bad luck was the hostel had goofed on our reservation. Instead of booking the days we desired for January they had booked them for February for a James Teters. At least they had the days right. Maybe we were just a month early. But the nice thing is that the hostel called other hostels and found us a place to stay for the same price and same quality.

Ushuaia is a nice little town at the bottom of the world. Rafal and I kinda relaxed after the hectic day of traveling and ate lunch with an English/Spanish photographer that we had met on the flight from Puerto Areanas to Ushuaia.


The next day we booked a little trip on a sail boat to the Beagle Channel and saw sea lions and other marine wild life and learned about Ushuaia. After that we took a tour of the famous prison. What struck me as odd was that the guards lived, ate, and supervised all the inmates. Both of them were in prison, except they just wore different uniforms. That had to be a pretty rough life when you are sentenced to the end of the world.

We saw other portions of Ushuaia, including Tierra del Fuego National Park. We initially thought it was gonna be rainy but it turned out to be really nice weather and just a little bit muddy.

I am noticing my descriptions are getting shorter and shorter the longer and longer I am typing. When I get some more energy Ill write in some more details.

laters - - - jp

Michael Jackson Dance-a-like?

My friend Sarah D sent me this email when she saw my attempt create a picture like I was scaling the Torres del Paine...

Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize your neighborhood
And whoever shall be found
Without the souls for getting down
Shall stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse shell

The foulness stench is in the air
The funk of 40,000 years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you to fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
Because no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the THRILLER!
*psychotic laughing*

This is my best Thriller impression that I can do...oh, yea! still got the moves...

Ever Watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles?

Hey Folks, Greetings from Ushuaia and nearly the bottom of the world!

Whoa! Rafal and I almost didnt make it down here. We almost go stuck in a town along the way. Kinda like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles but neither of us are shower ring salesmen.

This is a pretty interesting story about a little bit of bad luck, good luck, poor timing, great timing, the generosity of a Chilean kid, and a little bit of good ol' American Ingenuity!

It all started with our 12 hour day hike to see Torres del Paine. The hike was great and the weather was perfect for us. This is a place Im thinkin about returning to when im back on my own. We were about hour away from the shuttle bus dropoff/pickup station when we ran into this Swiss guy who had just lost his camera after doing the seven day hike around the Torres del Paine. Im beginning to think some of that bad luck he had rubbed off on us because we finally arrived back at the hostel in Port Natales and cleaned up to get something to eat but found out that EVERYTHING was closed. All restaurants closed at 10pm that Saturday evening because the following day was elections in Chile. We were getting pretty hungy and annoyed at the folks that said that they couldnt serve us because the police said establishments that serve alcohol needed to close business. And we are talking about a Saturday night! We were getting desperate. We finally found a gas station a ways from the el centro that didnt serve alcohol and served hotdogs. Now after working concession stands back in the day I am not a fan of the stadium steak. But i was hungry and the hotdoggie filled the void.

We get to the bus station and get to Puerto Areanas and get assulted by a barrage of hostel owners that are telling us how great there hostel is. One guy kept on telling us how great the hostel was. "It is the best mai freiend...i recommend to you" After all of this bugging I was talkin to Rafal about this and was like..."Ya know, if they are the best hostel or whatever then people come to you. You dont hafta go looking for business. It comes to you." I didnt say anything to the fella but just kinda rolled my eyes and said "vamos a ver" or "we will see." After getting the hostel situation figured out we decided to check on the bus situation and went to the few companies that were open. All said that they were full until Wednesday. So we thought about it and then went to get something to eat. Since it was elections EVERYTHING was closed except for one pizza place that had about 30 people in it and one kid taking all the orders. Poor guy. So we ate and then retired to the hostel to plan the next day. We awoke the next day only to find out that ALL the buses filled up until Friday or Saturday. This is not good. Not good at all. There were only three companies that delivered passengers to Ushuaia and the seats were filling up fast. Getting stuck in one place wouldnt have been a problem except for the fact that we had a flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires Saturday morning and Rafal goes back to the States on Monday! Things were not looking good. Heck, I even stopped at three ATMs to get cash because I knew we were gonna be spending extra time in this damn city and the freaking things were out of money. This was a real downer.

So we thought about flying there. There were two companies. One company said they had flights on Friday that were full. They suggested LAN Chile a few blocks up the street. We got to the LAN Chile offices and were like "Ohhhh, shit..."

Do you remember Beetle Juice back in the day? There is that scene where Beetle Juice is waiting his turn and he pulls the tag that has a number with about five or six commas in it? Well, that is what we were up against. We pulled the pink tag from at little red tag dispenser mounted on the wall and realized that there were about 40 people ahead of us. It seemed that things were not going our way and we were gonna be stuck in po-dunk-patagonia where the only real thing to do is see the Magellan Strait and the penguin rookery and that is it, folks. Remember when Beetle Juice switched the number with the guy next to him, who had like number one? The Beetle Juice's head shrunk...Well, our head didnt shrink but we were very very very very fortunate to move about 40 spaces up the waiting queue when a kid gave us his number. I remember doing this when I was a kid. And Im sure you remember doing this, too. I used to pull a tag from that dispenser because it made a cool sound and it was the only thing to do when you were a kid. Ya know, play with stuff. I still sometimes still pull those automagic coupon dispensers at the grocery store. So the kid was with his dad who had his own number and gave us his as they were leaving. Score! Within the minute we were seated in front of the LAN Chile agent and found out that there were flights available to Ushuaia. The next one was at 2pm. We looked at our watch and it was 1245. The flight was in our budget and we plopped down that Visa, got our tickets, and caught the first taxi we could to our hostel and then to the airport.

I have never packed so quickly. Less than five minutes after we paid for the ticket we had grabbed our bags and were on the way to the airport. We didnt really breath a sigh of relief until we got onto the plane. However, our joker sense of humor began to return when the girl at check in asked us where on the plane we would like to sit. We said preferably inside. Sitting with the tranquilized animals would have been just as well considering how we really really needed to get to Ushuaia. We also busted out a few Chuck Norris jokes to some people on the plane from California. Apparently Rafal and I like Chuck Norris jokes alot better than other people.

• Did you know if you ask Chuck Norris what time it is, he always says, "Two seconds till." After you ask, "Two seconds to what?" he roundhouse kicks you in the face.


• Did you know that Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.


• Did you know that since 1940, the year Chuck Norris was born, roundhouse kick related deaths have increased 13,000 percent.
  

More Chuck Norris Jokes how can you not laugh at these jokes!?

So getting here was a little bit of everything. This experience was a little bit of bad luck, good luck, poor timing, great timing, the generosity of a Chilean kid, and a little bit of good ol' American Ingenuity (Good Ol Visa Credit Cards!)

jp

Torres del Paine National Park

Hey Folks,

Yesterday went for a little hike through Torres del Paine National Park and got to see the massive granite towers. I am definitely coming back to this place to do the "W" or the circuit. Long haul trekking sounds like a good adventure.

Gotta catch a bus to Puerto Arenas in 30 minutes.

ill add some pics when i get a chance

laters

jp

oh, these are some of the pics from along the way...this is my best Michael Jackson Thriller impression that I can do...thats all i got, folks.

Greetings from Patagonia!

Hey Folks,

Today I am in Patagonia with my buddy Rafal. We just finished seeing the Perito Moreno Glacier in El Calafate and Mount Fitz Roy in El Chaltén and now are in Puerto Natales to see the Torres del Paine.

My toe kinda hurts from ice climbing and walking with crampons. nothing like walking on a glacier for a coupla hours to make those feet feel fresh and new again.

Ill write more when internet doesnt cost four or five dollars an hour.

oh, one more thing. Since 525 Chilean Pesos equals one dollar I am in effect a millionaire! Heck yea! Millionaire by the age i am 26...atta baby!

Greetings From Patagonia!

ok folks...

so i was gonna write about Iguazu Falls but that will come a little later.

A day after my brother left my buddy Rafal came down and today we are in Patagonia. Took a three hour flight to El Calafate earlier today and we are gonna explore some very southern portions of the world.

Tomorrow is gonna be great! We are gonna take a tour of Glacier National Park and see Perito Moreno, a massive glacier that calves often in huge chunks greater than the size of large cars or small houses.

Strap on the crampons, grab your ice pick, and bring your camera because this is gonna be fun!

More to come in a little bit!

jp

I am out of the loop...

I can't believe how much out of the loop I really am.

Being away from makes it pretty difficult to catch up on family, local, national, and world news. And there are some things that I am actually just learning about. Living at home made getting the news really easy because we always had the paper delivered and keeping up on things weren't too bad because we would read the paper, watch and listen to the news. Talkin with Ma and Pa kinda kept you in turn with what was goin on with the fam, but now since im not in the house i am out of the loop. I just learned that my dad got rid of my old car, Elwood. The car earned its name from an ex-ladytype because of the cars brief history as a police car - the name stuck around, the ladytype didnt. Lemme tell ya, that car had character, baby. Although it was a rolling birth control machine (no ladytype ever wanted to be near that thing) I still loved that car. Goodbye, Elwood.

The Jonster filled me in with some of the things that have occurred in the States since he has been down here. He told me that the govt bulldozed 50,000 houses down in New Orleans. Getting news is tough, but the Internet makes things a little easier. For example...I just learned a coupla days ago that Nick and Jessica just broke up. I know...rilly rilly sad, right. yea, right. I also just learned that Johnny Damon will be playing center field for the Yankees next year. I was more surprised to hear about that then Nick and Jessica.

Traveling versus being in Otown has been a weird balance. On one hand Im missing out on some pretty cool big name concerts that are finally coming to town versus trekking in a place where Ill prolly be only once. But I think I just might get to see the Rolling Stones when they give a free concert in Rio in Brazil. Gotta goto that.

Its getting late and im blabbling.

my next entry will be about the adventure the Jonster and I had when we went to Iguazu Falls.

jp

Happy New Year from Buenos Aires

Happy New Years, Folks!

2006 is a new year filled with new opportunities...

Laters

jp