Los Glaciares National Park (Argentina)

The flight to El Calafate was short and easy, and we both got a nap.  Upon arriving, we booked a $10 bus ride into town, for a 15 minute drive; a pretty huge ripoff, but we did at least get dropped off right in front of the hostel, MyHotel.  The place was actually nice, and blasted the heat!  We settled into our dorm room, and ran out in search of a way to visit the Glacier National Park the next day.  After stopping into several companies, and realizing they all provided the same trip for the same price, we stumbled into Hielo y Aventura, a company, I figured, would charge a lot more, since their advertisements were all over, and the office was nicer and better staffed than the rest.  Luckily, not only were they the same price, they accepted credit cards, which no one else did, and had an extra trekking trip, called Big Ice, allowing us to delve deeper into the glacier, and spend more time exploring its surface.  We settled on that, and paid a whopping $200 for it.  Our next mission was to buy a bus ticket out of town the day after the glacier trek; we found the bus terminal and got information easy enough, but had to wait to buy the tickets, as we didn't have our passports on hand.  So we put it off until later.

This town was adorable.  The shops and restaurants all looked like little cabins.  Neither of us have ever been to Vale or Aspen or the sort, but we are sure El Calafate, Argentina could be straight out of either.  

There were a bunch of trekking equipment stores, so we browsed a bit; I got some wool socks, and Jared has been toying with the idea of getting a down jacket, but didn't in the end.  We grabbed dinner at a great empanada place, quick ran to buy our bus tickets finally, and went back to the hostel and heat!  

The next morning, we ate breakfast at the hostel, and at about 7:30 a bus from Hielo y Aventura picked us up for our glacier trek.  The Glacier National Park is pretty big with tons of glaciers throughout, but the main attraction is Perito Moreno, a wall of ice that can be easily seen from a built up lookout point.  We spent about an hour walking the catwalk in front of the two faces of Perito Moreno, even getting to hear the crack, as if from a close bolt of lightening, of ice breaking, and see parts of the ice wall fall into the water below.  The lake, Lago Argentina, was a beautiful aquamarine color, they called "milky water", given its color by the runoff, containing sediments, from the glacier ice.  After walking the rampard, we got back on the bus to take a boat across the lake, and trek the glacier.  

The guide was informative; talking about how the glacier was formed, and different properties of the lake and park.  When we arrived at the glacier, after a short hike, we strapped on crampons, and were able to walk on top of the glacier.  Our group had 9 people and 2 guides.  We walked in a single file line, through the endless crevices and chasms, revealing the clearest, most translucent, and pure blues.  It really seemed like the surface of the glacier was white, even dirty in some places, from debris from the surrounding mountains, but the hidden inside depths were blue.  It was pretty stunning.  Right before lunch, we found a small cave that had been formed, and Mission Impossible style, scaled the solid ice walls, over a stream of water, through to the other side.  The inside of the cave was blue, like I can't even really describe.  There is already a picture up, and it really is true to the shade of blue.  Lunch was prepared for us by the hostel and consisted of a drink, apple, ham and cheese sandwich, and an alfajor.   

In total, we spent about 3 hours on the surface of the glacier, and it was a pretty neat experience.  It seemed like a dessert of ice surrounded by mountains.  Some areas were smooth and undulating, with sudden blue splits in the ice that seemed to go endlessly deep, while other parts were treacherous and sharp, like a jagged forest of menacing ice.  Not sure why different parts of the glacier form differently.  By the end, our legs were a bit tired from the crampons.  We hiked back to the area where the boats were waiting, and after a bit of coffee to warm up, finished our glacier trip.

Back in El Calafate we showered and headed to bed.

Buenos Aires (Argentina)

After accidentally missing our bus to Argentina, the rest of the trip was a breeze.  We took a nice nap on our first bus, hopped on a boat, and got to watch sunset in the water, and finally, back on a bus for a quick last leg into Buenos Aires.  Thankfully, we had strategically located a hostel close to the bus drop off, because it was about midnight when we finally arrived.  The hostel was nice enough, another Lime House Hostel; I think that is one f the most common names for a hostel.  We located out beds, and almost immediately went to sleep.  

The next morning, we had serious tourism to do.  After a hearty hostel breakfast, we first went to the Plaza de Mayo, with the cathedral, built in an oddly Roman fashion, with Corinthian pillars and all and the President's pink palace (see Evita movie circa 1997).  The inside if the cathedral was actually pretty neat, with the remains of San Martin draped in the Argentine flag and guarded by 2 uniformed men.  The inside of the President's palace was pretty cool too...just kidding.  Quick breeze by the Manzana de las Luces (the oldest building, formerly of the government, in Buenos Aires) and the obelisk, and we made our way for lunch.  I know it sounds like we had just eaten breakfast, but with the walk to our lunch spot included, it was perfect timing for some famous empanadas at San Juanino.  The weather was gorgeous, and the food was cheaper take-away, so we ate in a nearby park.  After, we attempted to go to the National Museum of Fine Arts, but it was unfortunately closed, so we just walked around the area snapping some shots of an unconventional bridge and a huge silver flower.  There is an absolutely stunning cemetery close by with the remains of Evita, along with the wildly rich and famous of Argentina.  It was pretty incredible to walk through all of the house-sized graves and monuments made for the dead, and I've decided where I plan to be buried.  After all that walking, we parked it for a minute at a Starbucks for free iced water and coffee.  Exhausted, but aware of our serious time limitation in Buenos Aires, we wretched ourselves up, and hauled it over to Palermo, the hip neighborhood.  Unfortunately, I think the area is not really a tourist attraction, in that there isn't anything besides the vibe that is attractive.  Granted, it did seem like a very cool place, lots of shops, restaurants etc, but not really anything that we could take in, in 10 minutes.  After we walked around a minute, realizing we really didn't have enough time to enjoy the neighborhood, we ran back to the subway and our area.  

I quick did some sink laundry, as my only dress was in dire need of a good washing after wearing it for 5 nights straight of tango lessons.  I quick washed some other things up, and we both showered for our night out!  We were lucky enough to be in Buenos Aires at the same time as one of our friends, Yvette, we had met on the boat from Panama to Colombia, and then again, briefly, in Cusco as we were leaving.  She was in town for a bit, and we arranged to catch a tango show with her.  She organize it all, and we got picked up at a hostel to go to Complejo Tango, a lesson, dinner, and tango show!  Jared and I were pretty pumped about building on the small amount of tango we had already learned; unfortunately, it really was the most basic and simple step to accommodated the amount of people, and the fact that people did not necessarily know one another, making the intimacy of tango awkward.  Nevertheless, it was fun.  After our lesson, we had a good dinner of steaks, Jared had a pumpkin ravioli, and unlimited, yes, unlimited bottles of wine!  As dessert came, the lights dimmed, and we got to watch a fantastic tango show, with the dancers weaving throughout the crowd, and occasionally bringing people up to dance with them.  All three of us got to go up, and we all had a great time.  After the show, Yvette, her friend, Gavin, and I all went out to Palermo for one last drink.  

The next day we woke up, and headed out to the airport for Patagonia!

Buenos Aires was wonderful, and we both wish we had more than one day to spend there.  But, given the time we had, we made the best of it, and saw a lot in a small amount of time.  It is definitely a place to which I'd like to go back.

Cataratas do Iguaçu y del Iguazú (Brazil and Argentina)

The Falls could take pages in itself to fully describe the natural wonder and imagination it instills in viewers.  We saw this natural wonder from both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides and what we saw was unbelievable and inspiring.  I have read that negative ions created by waterfalls emanate into surrounding people creating peaceful bliss and endless smiles.  I do not know if this is true, but within moments of arriving and setting my gaze on this beautiful, heart-stopping scene, my mouth parted and gave way to a huge smile that lasted the entire time we were there.  These 150 to 300 waterfalls are 2.7km wide and between 60 to 80 meters tall.  Imagine getting so close to these falls, the mist sweeps across your entire view-you feel the beads of water cover your face as you close your eyes, your clothes become damp, the coolness is invigorating and when you finally begin to slowly open your eyes as the mist recedes, you see the most beautiful rainbow right in front of you.  It is these moments, when your breath is taken away by beauty or love that you feel God, a double rainbow all the way across the sky moment if you will.  There are few places like this around the world and few moments in life when you are lucky enough to be given this, that it goes without saying that I humbly stood there just staring in awe for countless minutes every few steps.  I think it was Kathleen that compared the scene to the movie Jurassic Park, in that the Falls seemed to be an untouched reserve of lush forest opening up unto these imposing falls of archaic beauty right out of the movies.      

Foz do Iguacu and Cataratas de Iguazu (Brazil and Argentina)

After Sao Paolo, we drove to Foz do Iguacu, making a quick overnight pitstop in Curitaba (I remember absolutely nothing about this pitstop, so I'm glazing over it).  We have all this supped up camping gear, but have barely used it, so we decided to find a camping spot at Iguazu.  We found 2, one which was really outrageously priced for camping, and the other a pit cheaper and Visa friendly, so it was a no brainer.  This hostel was actually quite nice, with a large open restaurant, pool, foozeball and pool tables, a soccer field, and free BUFFET breakfast with basically just a massive amount of cakes!!  There may have been a few fruit options hidden in there, but really who's gonna eat fruit when you have unlimited cake!!
The day was late by the time we arrived at the hostel/camp site, so we made our tent, ate some dinner and planned our next day to visit the falls.  Unfortunately, the next day was a bit gloomy and cold, with the threat of the overnight's rain looming, so we decided to relax, and hope for a bit of sun, instead of racing out to see the falls on a crummy day.  We spent about 3 hours at the breakfast buffet, even watching shows while filling up on cakes and coffee.  Finally, a bit after 2 pm, the clouds parted just the slightest amount, and we dashed out to the car to head to the falls.  Thankfully, it was a really close drive, so we made it to the falls...just as the sky covered up again.  But no worries, it wasn't raining just a bit chilly, so we trooped on.  The Brazilian side of Iguazu, allows you to ride a bus to several different "trek" locations to walk through the forest, most end at the river and you can take a boat up to the falls, but you have to pay extra.  The walk we took, took us right along the bank of the river below the falls.  Iguazu is a collection of 150 to 300 different waterfalls (the number depends on the water level) that run off from the Parana River.  Legend has it, that a god named Boi wanted to marry the chief's beautiful daughter, but when she ran away in a canoe to meet her secret lover, the god dove into the river causing a huge flood and creating the waterfalls, for her to tumble over to her death.  We were lucky enough to see the falls after it had rained the past several nights, so the falls were massive.  From the Brazilian banks, you are really able to see the extent to which this network reaches.  It is massive!  Much larger than one would think.  As you continue to walk, new falls continue to appear from around bends in the river, and when you can finally see the whole network, it is really awe inspiring.  And the noise!  As we walked down, we couldn't see any water, but you could hear the falls, as if you were about to walk right up to one, but the level of noise from the collective sound of all the falls is shocking even from a distance.  The last part, is a cat walk leading us as close into La Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), as possible.  There is no way to insert yourself all the way into the Devil's Throat, but even as close as we were, the wind and water could blow a rickety person over, and the noise made you have to almost yell to hear one another.  Thankfully, we had Jared's waterproof camera, because as much as I tried to cover my camera lens, not even attempting to completely cover it from water, the mist seemed to be coming from below, around, inside and outside.  There was no way to keep my lense from getting covered with water.  At the end of our walk, we were freezing, and hungry, so we hopped back onto the bus to the entrance, and the car, and drove back to the hostel for some heavenly hot showers and dinner!
The next morning, we packed up our camping gear and headed out to Argentina (after cake!), to see the Argentine side of the falls.  First, we made a quick stop at Espaco das Americas, the point where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay all meet.  I finally bought a Brazil soccer jersey, as I had been trying for ages, but like a prudent idiot, found the exact one in Rio, with #10 and Neymar on the back, but thought "of course, because it's in Rio, it's going to be more expensive than elsewhere, so I'll hold off buying", and then couldn't find that jersey again anywhere!!  It's THE most popular Brazilian jersey right now, and NO ONE has it!?!?  I feel like I might be ranting, point is, I got a jersey (more expensive than the one in Rio), not that exact jersey, but better than nothing.  If I had traveled to Brazil the year before the World Cup, and not gotten a jersey, I feel like I'd look like a bit of a tard to other soccer affionados, come next year.  Anyway, I might be ranting again.  We headed to the border, which had a pretty slamming (and expensive) duty free shop, and crossed in.  Quick side note, before leaving the US, a bit of internet research revealed that we could sell the car in Argentina, so this would be the last country we drove into.  Shockingly, and upsettingly, when we questioned customs officials about importing and selling a car, they informed us that under no circumstances could we sell a US made and registered car in Argentina...uh oh.  We proceeded into Argentina, a bit dazed, but set our minds to the tourist task at hand.
We headed straight to the falls, and bought a ticket.  Apparently, we arrived a bit late (noon), and got the great help of a tour guide, who gave us our exact itinerary for the next 5 hours.  We ran to a train station to ride up to La Garganta del Diablo, and start at the top, making our way down.  The train dropped us at the top of the river Parana, where we took a series of metal grate cat walks across the river to the edge of the Falls.  Holy Moly, this was much closer to the Devil's Throat than we had been yesterday, and even though we couldn't see the end of the falls due to the white wall of mist below, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't survive the fall if I attempted it.  There is a theory, that waterfalls generate negative ions that, once breathed in, produce seratonin production and uptake, causing an improvement in mood and decreased levels of stress.  I'm not sure if that's true or not, but we were both pretty giddy at the site.  I think Jared may have said this was his favorite spot.
 After a massive amount of picture and video taking, we bee lined it back to the train area.  I bought a ticket to go on a boat into the waterfalls, but Jared didn't want to join.  We then headed down to the main trek area of the park.  We took another series of catwalks along the opposite bank that we had been the day before through the waterfalls.  The Argentine side seems a bit better developed, with signs and markers indicating the different type of flora and fauna along the cat walks.  I took my boat ride, which did not last long, but allowed me to hop of a motor boat and get right under some of the falls.  The waves came crashing over the side of the boat and everyone got completely drenched from the mist of the waterfalls.  A pretty cool experience.  I'm insanely lucky that my camera didn't break, because, apparently, I was supposed to be listening for the captain to tell us to put away our camera, which I did not, until we were well into the "getting drenched" portion of the ride, and I just tried to stuff the camera into my pocket.  After the boat ride, we walked the other set of cat walks that take you along the upper portion of the falls, and you walk right to their edges and see everything below.  As the day came to an end, and the sun was setting, we were exhausted.  Instead of taking the train, we walked back down the trail, and fell into the car.  We were both ravenous, as we hadn't eaten since breakfast in Brazil.  We drove into the town on Puerto Iguazu, and before even finding a place to sleep, drove into the center of town to find a resaurant.  After a lot of driving and price checking, we finally settled on a diner and ate a massive amount of food.  By then, the sun had been down for about an hour or so, and we had to drive around a no name neighborhood, looking for a camping site we had researched online.  Unfortunately, the map was incorrect, and there were no street names, so after alot of driving, and asking around, we decided to pull into an overpriced hostel...and sleep in the car in the parking lot.  As my clothes were all wet from the boat ride, I had a hard time warming up, but whipping out all of my warming layers and sleeping bag kept me toasty the rest of the night.
 I had read and heard a lot of different opinion of which side of the falls are better, the Argentine or Brazilian (the Paraguayan build a dam on their side years ago).  I will say, the Argentine side allows from a much more in depth, in your face look at the falls.  You get to walk right in front of some falls, feel the massive wind gusts, get soaked with the water, and practically touch the water, as you over the river right to the precipice of the falls and look down.  However, though the Argentine side is awesome, like awesome awesome, you cannot truly get an idea of the size and extent of the falls.  The Brazilian side allows you to take a step back and appreciate them for the massive, intertwining, complex that they are.  It's like anything, you can't truly appreciate something's incredible magnitude, if you can't see it as a whole unit.  So, in summation, I would say, the Argentine side, is definitely more fun and interactive, but all waterfalls are cool (at least I assume, I've never actually been to any other big waterfalls), you can't see why this is one of the Wonders of the World, if you don't see it from the Brazilian side.