Caleta Olivia and Esquel

After Piedra Buena, I hitchhiked up to Caleta Olivia to meet up with Emiliano, who I had met on the ship going to Chile Chico about 2 months prior.

I only had his address, so it was kind of a surprise. The city is kind of ugly. The only saving grace is that its got beach.

It was good to reunite with a familiar face. We had some good chats and I got to hang out with his lovely sister Ivanna, who lives with him.

After a heartfelt goodbye, I headed off west to Esquel. Esquel is a small valley town. Tranquil, not too much going on. I originally wanted to stop here to try to find a meteorite crystal that comes only from this area called Esquel Palantine.

I camped here for 3 days (spend Christmas here). The day before I was going to leave, I met Facundo, walking to the plaza to spin. He’s a juggler too. We got on pretty well and he invited me to stay with his family.  

I ended up staying about a week with him and his family, (spent new years with them). That was a great experience. We must’ve had at least 3 asados (BBQs). A lot of their family was around for the holidays. The house was always full. I feel fortunate to have been able to witness Argentinian family life (again).

The week was spent juggling, learning some acrobatics, eating lots of meat, and taking lots of pictures with Facundo’s giddy younger sister and younger cousins.   

New year’s day, the family and I went to a nearby national park. It was pretty with clear water. A good opportunity to dive into a river presented itself, and so how better to start off the new year than to wash afresh. 

El Chalten and Piedra Buena

After returning to Ushuaia from Antartica, I was at a bit of a loss about what to do next. I went back to camp in the Tierro del Fugeo national park (la pataia), because that place is amazing. It ended up snowing the 4 days I was there, so most the time I was in my tent, but the air was still magic. This is my favorite park in South America.

After leaving Ushuaia, I headed to El Chalten, the nation’s hiking capital. I camped behind my host, Flor’s house/ shop.

She lives with her boyfriend and 3 children. I spent about 2 weeks in this charming village. I met lots of travelers also camping in her backyard. 

There were many adventures had, including a group day trek and skinny dip in a mountain lake.

I did some solo treks to some glaciers.

While at Flor’s, we had cordillero (lamb) one night, the region’s specialty.

Part of the reason I stayed in Chalten so long was because it’s difficult hitchhiking north or east of the town, everyone goes south. I had to wait for Flor’s family to come visit her from a town in the east which is where I was headed.

Her mother and sister came and gave me a lift to Piedra Buena. They are really generous lovely people. I stayed with them, above their ice cream shop/ café for 3 days.

We did a lot of cooking exchange. The town is charming and small with a lake, some wooded area, and lots of flowers and art around the town. 

Antartica

I made it back from Antartica yesterday. I can still feel the boat rocking. Antartica was a dream.

 We left on the 11^th from Ushuaia. Shortly after, we made a stop at Puerto Williams, and continued on past the infamous Drake passage for 2 days.

The Drake was kind to us on the way there.

We made our first landing at cuverville island, saw some penguins, and a seal. The penguins fight for rocks. It was mating season.

We had the chance to cruise down some straights on zodiacs.

At one point we got off on some sea ice to take a group pic and play.

We had a BBQ out on the top deck one evening and saw some orcas (whales) the same night.

The next day we stopped by port lockroy, a museum/post office. It used to be a British base.

Later we actually got on the mainland, saw more penuins, had a snow fight, and slid down a mountain.

We stopped by Ornu harbor the next morning and saw a lot of penguins. I think it is the second biggest colony of penguins in the world. The sound was like a constant car motor running.  

The final landing was on deception island, which is an active and water filled volcano. There is old whaling equipment there. We had the chance to go swimming.

This is just a short summary of what I experienced on the trip, words can’t really do it justice. This was certainly a highlight in my travels. I made some beautiful new friends and the food was good too.