i hitch hiked from puerto natales, in chile, to el calafate, in argentina, and then again up to el chalten. my first ride was from a chilean family from santiago that was doing some road tripping together. four daughters and a son, all over 18, if i had to guess, all having a great time chatting and looking out the window. we sang country roads together when it came on their mixed tape. here's me and the son with my hitch hiking sign, right at the chilean border.
the el calafate glacier, which is basically why the city (town) exists. the glacier moves an average of two meters a day, so there's a continuous stream of calving all day every day. i went in the afternoon and saw maybe four or five major falls, with lots of other little ones in between. the wind coming off the glacier was frigid. even with my antarctica jacket, i was still cold.
the wall of ice was about 50 meters/160 feet tall
once in el chalten, i caught a sunny day right away and decided a silly little cold wasn't reason enough to stay in. so i hit the trail and caught the good weather and some amazing views. that's fitz roy in the back right corner.
the next day. this time i did take it easy, and only hiked up to eagles lookout. amazing views toward the finger lake that runs between the town and the main north-south highway through patagonia, ruta 40. the final legs of this highway are only now being paved.
not sure who this was, just an unsuspecting hiker
sunsets in el chalten were particularly spectacular
more stunning views on my long day hike with mat, a brit i met in an earlier hostel. we kept meeting up and hanging out. on this hike, we did a big loop up to lago de los tres (the three i think being the first three up fitz roy), then circled north on a less-used trail, got coffee and hot chocolate at a darling little hostel, then were picked up immediately by a family in a truck for a ride back to town.
then on to el bolson, hippy capital of argentina! stayed in the sweetest hostel ever, casone de odile, where breakfast included locally sourced bread, butter, rasberry and strawberry jam. free yoga twice daily; a restaurant/pub on site where you could waitress to eat for free, with only 15 diners any one night; two acres of grassy land to play around on, with hammocks scattered about; a river to swim in; bikes to rent; amazing friendly staff; oh, and a two hour massage for $220 pesos...which is like $25 dollars. it was outdoors, next to a stream and a lavender field. really hard to leave this place.
lcoal grocerty store in el bolson
lovely rock formations seen from the bus as i rode from el bariloche toward mendoza.
back on the farm for a few days!
seen in buenso aires while on a walking tour by a local
plaque outside the tour guide's secondary school (ages 12-17), which used to be all girls. the plaques commemorate seven girls who were disappeared.
the tour guide, ari, taking mate with us
walking through one of the wealthier neighborhoods of buenos aires, near belgrano. trees really elevate buenos aires from nice to lovely.
one last piece of street art from palermo neighborhood
my last view of buenos aires, from the air
