El Calafate

Oh.my.god. OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod! Patagonia is AMAZING. I ended up flying into Patagonia because it was pretty much the same price, minus the 4 to 5 days on a bus. My first stop is El Calafate- a little mountain town thats 80km from the national park where the Gran Moreno Glacier is located. The weather felt amazing after the humidity of Buenos Aires. Its a bit like Bend, Oregon weather (dry and dusty and cool). But the wind, it will knock you over! I took a bus out to the Glacier which was about an hour´s drive from here, then got on a boat to get a little closer. The Glacier is not only visually stunning, but is incredibly loud. There are huge pieces of ice that are constantly falling into the water. Afterwards I did a little hike til the bus headed back. I still cant believe how massive the Glacier is. Today I spent my time walking around the shops and taking some pictures. Tomorrow I head to El Chalten which is a frontier town (meaning they have NOTHING) to do a trek into the Fitz Roy Mountains! After that Ill cross over to the east coast to see some penguins!!!! All the travel companies keep laughing at me when I tell them I´m searching for penguins, but who wouldnt wanna see penguins?! Trying to get anywhere down here is pretty difficult unless you´re going in a straight line due to lack of roads. There arent very many bus companies, so when the bus fills up you have to wait a few days for another one. Wish me luck!!

La Bomba

Sun, check! Humidity, check! Giant outdoor drum concert, check! The other night I went to this huge drum show that felt like a big street party. A group of people from my hostel all went together and waited in line for this show for probably 40 min while men in trippy masks handed out candy and after party fliers. The venue was outside and had liters of beer, empanadas and a kick ass show. Everyone was dancing and loving life, it was pretty awesome.

The other night I also went to celebrate Australian Day in the middle of some park. Our directions included only a subway stop, the park name and to look for a flying Australian flag. We eventually found it, but after only an hour police came running over blowing their whistles saying the park was closed. So I guess in Aussie style, a zinc nosed Australian responded by streaking thru the park with a blow up pink guitar. Pretty funny.

I'm still loving Buenos Aires and am sad to leave my hostel buddies. But tomorrow morning I'm heading to the glaciers of Patagonia! I'm going to a town called Calafate, then i'll do some trekking at the base of the Fitz Roy mountains, then up to Bariloche with the whiskey wielding St. Bernard's, mountains views and amazing night life. I'll update soon!

Buenos Aires

So I was almost robbed within my first 5 mintues of being in Buenos Aires and didn't realise it until today! I was very sleep deprived but still happy, just walking down the street with my big pak, Pablo was carrying my little one and all of a sudden a woman came up to me saying I had something all over my legs that looked like paint, or bird poo. She grabbed a tissue and wanted to help me wipe it off, but Pablo said we needed to keep moving. I found out today that squirting people squirt you with water, ink, paint, nice smelling shampoo in my case, and get you to put down your bags, then they grab 'em and run. A lady in my room had all of her cash and CC's stolen by being squirted in the head and then a woman came by and took her wallet.

With all that said, Buenos Aires in wonderful. It feels kinda like Madrid to me. Tons of people are travelling alone with makes it nice. There is always someone to do something with. I've been to a few neighborhoods and an open market today. I've got an aweful sunburn on my shoulders to prove my skin was not prepared for summer. My hostel is really nice, amazing staff, fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast, etc. I fell asleep early last night, so perhaps I'll see a bit of night life tonight. I want to stay at least until Monday to see "La Bamba" which is a big street party with a giant band made of drums! I'll head to Bariloche in Patagonia first, then see where I want to go.