I’ve been a lot of places and have seen a lot of amazing and beautiful things, but some of the things I saw and places I visited last week were some of the most amazing things I have ever seen and experienced. Last week was Spring Break and the guys and I went down south. Really far down south!!! Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, El Fin del Mundo! We left Montevideo and went down to Ushuaia. All the way down to Ushuaia!!! It’s crazy to think that you’re so far away from home. It’s almost 6500 miles from home which I think is officially the furthest I’ve ever been away from home. When we got to Ushuaia I don’t think any of us could be believe how far south we were but we were in the southernmost city (debated but still) in the world! Ushuaia itself is nothing too special. It is popular for tourist because of its status as the southernmost city and it is a port for anyone wanting to go to Antarctica. The city is surrounded by beautiful mountains.
The first full day in Patagonia we went to the Tierra del Fuego National Park. There we did a couple of hikes. They were both easy but we walked quite a lot so we were still a bit tired. One hike was around a lake and another was to the Chilean Border. Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the border because we had to go back to catch the last bus back to Ushuaia. We were so close though and a couple of the guys did make it but had to run. I would have gone with them if I knew that we were that close but whatever. Everything was so beautiful!!! Everywhere you looked was just phenomenally beautiful!!! It was so much fun to just hang out and go on a couple of relaxing hikes around one of the most beautiful places on the planet!
The next day we went to Lago Esmerelda with some girls we met in the hostel. We were told that the hike would be muddy but we had no clue how muddy it would be. Most of the hike was through peat marshes. Needless to say our shoes were filthy after the hike and basically destroyed. There were a couple of harder parts but mostly it was just trying to find where to step or jump to without falling down... We made it to the lake and it was beautiful!!! It was a very interesting yet beautiful color. We ate our sandwiches there but it was so cold so we were anxious to get out of the wind so we headed back and had hot chocolate!
Monday we rested a bit from the hiking. We didn’t want to spend money either because everything is so expensive. So we explore the town a little bit. Nothing too much. We thought about doing a boat down the Beagle Channel but we had talked to people who had done that and everyone said that it wasn’t worth it. So this day was rather uneventful but it was some rest. We did cook dinner in the hostel that night (and most nights) in order to save money.
Tuesday we wanted to do something free so we went on a hike to a glacier. (which wasn’t really that cool but the hike was fun) We were told that it was a 45 minute walk to the start of the hike and from there it would be a two hour hike. We could have taken cabs to the start but we didn’t figure that there was a point in spending the money if we could just walk it. Well the 45 minute walk ended up being a 1 1/2 hour hike in itself. Then we started the real hike. There was a chair lift to a point further into the hike but again we were going to do it for free so we walked (hiked) it. I thought that would be the hard part of the hike. I was wrong. The last bit of the hike was very steep and very icy. There was a lot of slipping, almost falling, sliding, etc. Fun fun. But it looked incredible. (not the glacier, the glacier wasn’t worth it so I didn’t risk my life going all the way do it. It was beautiful looking out and we could see the city. It was crazy to think that we had walked from that. The hard part was descending and going down without slipping and falling. We got down to where the hike began and couldn’t find a cab, so we walked all the way back down. That was a pretty difficult hike...very difficult. But good and a lot of fun (well after the fact)
Some of the guys went back to the national park to hike up a summit. I wanted to but was pretty tired and done with hiking. I would have but the description said “strenuous” and I had no clue what that meant and wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to find out. I wished I would have gone until the guys got back, and they were so worn out and looked a bit miserable so then I was ok staying. I just went to shops and a book store. There are apparently some great museums in Ushuaia that I went to check out but they all were 90 pesos (about $18!!!) and I didn’t feel like it was worth it.
Thursday we went to El Calafate. Our plane was delayed for about 4 hours. The Ushuaia airport is rather boring.
Friday we were in El Calafate and this was our only day here. I didn’t know what this place was before this but was super glad we went. We could add the flight for only $5 which isn’t too bad. Since the plane was delayed the previous day we didn’t get there in time to reserve our seats on a bus to the Glacier park so we took cars instead. Which ended up being nicer because we weren’t bound by the bus and could stop and take pictures on the side of the road and take our time. We went to the Perito Moreno Glacier and it was fantastic. We saw it from up about 7 km away then moved up closer. It was so cool! We watched it for a while and saw pieces fall off. We walked around there and then as we were about to leave we saw a HUGE chunk fall off into the water. It was so cool to see and just completely crazy!!! We were so blessed to see that. The glacier was huge!!!
This whole week was great and a lot of fun! We spent a lot of time getting to know each other even better (as you do on vacations), cooking good and bad meals, hiking a lot, being very sore, etc. It was great and I was a bit sad for it to be over. This week will be pretty busy! But good! We have some exciting things coming up. We’ve past the half way point of the semester (which is crazy!!!) but there are some great things that have yet to come. This week I’m going to start leading an English “conversation club” to help people practice their English, go to see the Uruguay Soccer team against Paraguay and more!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment