We really loved Spain. We enjoyed great food, great weather, beautiful scenery, and the friendly manner of the Spanish. We have to admit we were enjoying it so much that we got behind on our blog. Since we already posted about Madrid, this post is a quick summary of the other regions we went to in Spain and what we liked most about each stop.  We are excited to share more stories with you when we get back!

Andalusia Region: Granada & Sevilla (The South)

Granada is a university town that is tucked into the back of a mountain range (the Sierra Nevadas), complete with it’s own castle, the Alahambra. Although it is much smaller than Madrid, Granada still has some really great food, and its a lot cheaper! When you order a drink at the bar it is accompanied with it’s very own tapa. But the tapa isn’t just as simple as a small portion of olives or nuts, it is much more. We got jamon and queso sandwiches, a plate of slow roasted meat and potatoes, and croquettes, just to name a few. The anticipation builds with each drink you order as you wonder what tapa your going to get. And at only 2 euro per cerveca you can have some fun with it! On this trip we usually try to balance eating out with cooking at home, but in Granada, it was all tapa bar hopping!

We stopped in Sevilla for a day or two on our way to Barcelona, and thanks to our central location we were able to appreciate how beautiful of a city it really is with the squares, cathedrals, and maze like walking streets.  We thought that it was the most “Spanish” of all the cities we went to in Spain, it was charming, laid back, and just simply beautiful.

Catalonia: Barcelona!

We loved Barcelona! Through Airbnb we booked a private room for 11 days in the Barcenoleta neighborhood and were 3 blocks from the beach. We were sharing the apartment with our hosts, a married couple, and another guest from Germany. After a few days we started to settle into the place and a realize the sort of family dynamic we had going on. Our host, Isabel, took great care of us including having breakfast waiting for us downstairs each morning, keeping the house clean, and even doing our laundry. The German guest, Tilo, was on business and working from Barcelona on his new tech start up. Arlen enjoyed morning business conversations with him and his high energy and way of telling stories  always kept us interested. Isabel’s husband, a native from Senegal, was a fantastic cook and even made a special Senegalese dinner for us on our last night. The 5 of us ate together on the floor out of one large family style dish, learning about the Senegalese culture, and sharing endless laughs all night.

Our home made our stay in Barcelona that much better. It is a fun, energetic city, and the weather happened to be perfect (mid-70′s and sunny) when we were there. Thanks to the miles of beaches complete with outdoor gyms (mostly just pull-up bars) we got back in shape. The nice weather allowed for some time for sunbathing and reading on the beach. We also were conveniently located next to the best bakery ever! People and restaurants from all over Barcelona come to this bakery to pick up loaves of their fresh bread and, lucky for us, it was basically in our backyard. We went about twice a day for 10 days enjoying fresh pastries, nut bread, pizzas, and sandwiches. They started to get to know us and on our last day there as were stocking up for our train ride to San Sebastian they sent us off with free pastries, puff balls, and pizza bread (just so we could try it!). Lisa, we wish you could have tried the chocolate croissants here!

Basque Region: San Sebastian (The North)

On paper San Sebastian is amazing, one of the best city beaches, multiple Michelin Star restaurants, and beautiful greenery and hills. Yes it had all these things, and yes they were great. But for us it had some tough competition coming from 10 days of perfect weather and beaches in Barcelona, and we didn’t have as much of a connection to it. Probably because as we have learned, and those living in Seattle well know, that the weather and time of year can easily change your perspective on a city!

Rioja!

About a month ago we were looking into doing a multi-day bike tour, we scoured and searched the internet but came up empty handed. All we could find were week long guided tours that cost upwards of $1000 or bikes that would be shipped to Spain from the UK and seemed far too complicated. Lucky for us, while in San Sebastian we stumbled on a great option, Nava Bikes. Nava Bikes is only in their second season of business and set us up with bikes, saddlebags, a  GPS programmed with a custom route, daily pre-arranged winery tours (2 of which were with his friends), and even a ride back at the end! The GPS route they planned kept us almost completely off the main roads so we could cruise for 3 days car-free while winding over the river, through the woods, and to Gramma’s house. Just kidding! No woods or Grammas house . . just back and forth along the river, through fields of vineyards, and past small Spanish villages.

The route:

• Day 1: Pick up bikes in Logrono and ride along the Camino de Santiago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James)  to one of the smallest wineries in La Rioja region (Arar), share a bottle of 2003 with the owner and bike back to Logrono. (26K)

• Day 2: Bike from Logrono to Laguardia, a small town completely surrounded by a castle wall. Afternoon tour at La Campillo winery, dinner in town, and chocolate and strawberries to watch the sunset over the fields. (34K)

• Day 3: Bike from Laguardia to Haro. Lunch and a celebratory beer in town and a tour at Lopez de Heredia winery, one of the oldest and most traditional wineries we have seen! Our Nava bikes guide picks us up in Haro and drives us back to Logrono.

We were lucky enough to get some really great weather, sunny with a cool breeze. This was definitely one of our favorites of the trip!

After about a month in Spain we head North to Paris, France!

One of the differences between traveling for 4.5 months and our prior 2 week vacations is the flexibility. We can take our experiences, and what we learn along the way, and make changes to our trip.  In the beginning  our rough plan was to spend a month in Madrid with the goal of experiencing what it is like to live in a foreign country. But during our travels we learned two things that changed our course: 1) Barcelona and other cities in Spain are equally as great as Madrid and worth a visit and 2) when we aren’t fluent in the language allowing us to converse with others, or if we don’t have a greater goal (like Spanish school, community service projects, a job, etc.) 1- 2 weeks is usually enough for us in the same place. Therefore we decided to spend one week in Madrid and the rest of our time in Southern Spain, Barcelona and the Basque region.

Big cities can be intimidating and it is easily to get overwhelmed with the crowds, a long list of museums that you “have to see”, and too many tourist attractions. To overcome this we think it is best to orient yourself in the city your first day with a city tour. In Madrid we signed up for a bike tour with Bravo Bikes. Arlen was hesitant to bike through a major city, with sidewalks full of pedestrians and crazy drivers, but to his surprise Madrid has plenty of bike lanes and with a 10am start on a rainy day, most of the city was still sleeping. We had fun chasing our guide through the city, covering most all of the famous buildings, parks, different neighborhoods, and learning interesting stories and history along the way. This helped us decide what places were worth a second visit and what only needed one pass through.

 

We were happy to discover that the city had a few great parks! Casa de Campo is huge, it’s about 5 times the size of Central Park in NYC and has running trails in all directions. Retiro is right in the heart of everything, full of history, royal monuments, and is beautifully maintained. These parks were great places to run and catch up on exercise after many fun nights with friends in Portugal!

All that exercise has to be balanced with some great food, and Madrid is the spot. Tapas bars are everywhere, the jamon is fresh and abundant, and the Vermut is a nice sweet pre-meal drink. For those of you unaware, Tapas have been in the Spanish culture for hundreds of years. The story goes that an ancient king once complained about flies getting into his wine, only to have his servant “cover”  the glass with a slice of jamon (tapar in Spanish means to cover). A guest of the king then asked for his own “tapa” and a tradition was born. Specific to our experience, what we enjoyed most was the anticipation that comes with trying new restaurants and choosing the sexiest sounding tapas with unknown Spanish names.  This was a great change of pace from the long slow dinners in Argentina, or the dine and dash in the US, and allowed us try new foods and see the city at the same time.  A special thank you to our friend from Seattle, Jamie (who lived in Madrid for 2 years) for recommending us to some of her favorite restaurants in Madrid!

 

 

 

 

We have visitors! After touring the North of Portugal we were excited to welcome Karen’s sister, Lisa, and eventually our friends Bryan, Rachel, and Charley! Lisa is attending Physical Therapy graduate school in Maine and decided to join us for her “Last Spring Break Ever”! But we weren’t going to let her get away from studying that easy; since she was traveling with us for 8 days we invited her to be a guest blogger! You’ll see a few excerpts from her throughout this post.

Lisa arrives in Lisbon! For those who know Karen, you know she loves animals, especially sea life, but what you may not know is that so does Lisa! What better first stop then the Lisbon Oceanarium, which is known as the second biggest aquarium in the world! The design is spectacular. You can visit each of the four oceans of the world and see the marine life from all angles, the surface, middle, and ground floor. The inner tank of the exhibit is huge and  is like taking a glimpse into the ocean; there are sharks, otters, stingrays, schools of fish, and bottom feeders all existing together.

Lisa shares a funny story from the aquarium: “First, Karen decided to compare me to a fish in the aquarium… which one? Well, the sun fish of course. Thanks Karen. Arlen then decided it was the ugliest fish in the sea. Thanks Arlen. So here I am, the sun fish…”

Heading South. Lagos in on the Southern coast of Portugal and is a popular European vacation destination because of the beautiful beaches and massive cliffs. In the spirit of the area we started off each morning with a fresh squeezed glass of OJ, thanks to Arlen’s quick reflexes and miles and miles of orange fields. Since it’s not quite summer yet there was no sunbathing or swimming in the ocean,  but the lack of crowds allowed us to soak in the beauty of the area.

Our days down South were simple but beautiful. We enjoyed morning runs on open sandy beaches, a boat tour of the caves created by the force of the waves hitting the cliffs, walking around and exploring the cliffs falling into the Atlantic ocean, and celebrating St. Patty’s Day at one of the only Irish pubs in town.

From Lagos we visited the Southern most point of Portugal, near the town of Sagres. Legend has it, Portuguese sailors would say goodbye to this land as the last they would see on their long sail to America.  Lisa says “standing on the huge beach surrounded by ginormous cliffs makes you feel very small, especially when you are the only ones there”.

Up the West Coast. The great part of having a rental car is getting off the main road and visiting small towns that can’t be easily accessed by public transportation. We took advantage of it on our way North by stopping in small beach towns along the way. Lisa describes one stop in particular: “Driving by we spotted a nice patch of untouched sand dune- we had to stop. We definitely had fun jumping around the dune and jumping down the hill- which required running back up. Definitely earned our next meal with this one”.

More Visitors! Our friends Bryan, Rachel, and their surprise guest Charley, flew from Paris to meet us in Sesimbra, a beach town West of Lisbon. We rented what we thought would be a great beach house, perfect for cooking dinners, having a beer on the porch, and enjoying the sunshine. Unfortunately the house was a bit older and mustier then advertised. Nonetheless it was so fun to reconnect with our friends, enjoy laughs, and watch Bryan play endless games of Candy Crush on his cellphone. With Karen not feeling well (first bout of food sickness on the trip) and Arlen staying home with her, the rest of the group went out for a fun night, setting the stage for the rest of the weekend. They tell us legends of endless seafood, many bottles of wine, and hitching a ride home in the back of a van in the massive downpour; truth or lie we’ll never know but it sounded like a great night.

After a great week with Lisa we said our goodbyes. The rest of the group enjoyed a day in downtown Lisbon and danced the night away to an American coverband rolling out 80s rock and Move Like Jagger.

Next up . . España!

 

We are now about half way through our trip and just beginning our adventure in Europe, starting in Portugal. It doesn’t take long to realize how much different everything is, it almost feels like we are beginning a new trip. We knew how to communicate, what and when to eat, and some of the nuances of South America – - and now . . . we don’t. We are in Portugal and have to figure it all out again – what a great way to start Part II!

Our plan was to spend a little over 2 weeks in Portugal. Since we rented a car, and everything is fairly close, we have a lot of flexibility on where to go, but where should we start? We didn’t do much research on Portugal prior to arriving, but we knew a few things: the beaches in the South are supposed to be fantastic (but can we get a tan in March?) and they are known for the Port wine in the North. Since we have visitors (Karen’s sister Lisa and our friends Bryan & Rachel) our second week who want to see the beaches, we headed North to Porto and the Douro Valley.

Our first few days in Portugal helped set the expectations for our time here. Summer dresses and short skirts are replaced with long black jackets, blue jeans, and a warm scarf. Bars packed with people dining outside at 11:00pm are replaced with dinner at 8pm in a mostly empty restaurant. Say goodbye to summer, and hello to low season in Portugal. Even though it is a little colder the best part of low season is: better prices, booking lodging the day before or same day, and enjoying tourists spots without fighting the crowds for a picture.

First stop, Porto! Porto is the second largest city in the country and on the mouth of a river that feeds into the Atlantic ocean lending for a beautiful waterfront complete with  cobblestone streets, cafes, and whitewashed buildings with red roofs. Looking across the river is the Vila de Gaia, where the traditional port wineries house their  wine caves (picture wine cellars, but packed almost one ontop of another sloping up the hillside, in the middle of a city).

After enjoying a café con leite on the water, we walked across the river to check out the wine caves and try our first taste of Port! Not knowing much about it, we thought of Port like dessert wine, overly sweet and reserved for post dinner enjoyment. What we found out during our tasting was that locals treat it more like a cocktail and it’s best drank alone or with cheese, nuts, or chocolate.  The origination is pretty interesting: many years ago the British were at war with France; since France was their main supplier of wine they needed an alternate source. They went to their ally, Portugal, and asked for wine. The only problem is that the wine sent from Portugal to Britain wasn’t very good, so the British added about 1/5 Brandy to the wine, thus creating the first Port wine.

Second stop, the Douro Valley! The 2 hour drive from Porto to the Douro Valley was up and down curved roads and hairpin turns. We were amazed at how beautiful the scenery and couldn’t help but pull over for a few pictures and even to pick some fresh oranges off the trees.

Thanks to Lonely Planet’s recommendation we were able to spend 2 days in Casa Cimiera; a 200year old family run B&B in a hilltop village and one of the best stops on the trip. Our favorites at the house were the homebrewed Porto wine, the full breakfast, and the family style dinners. Although the hosts spoke only Portugese  they were the life of the party and kept the group of 8 engaged; even with 4 different languages spoken at the dinner table. We left the Douro happy and well-fed and were ready to head South and get some much needed exercise.

 

 

After 2 weeks in Buenos Aires we felt like we knew the city well and were ready to move onto a new adventure. But since our flight from BA to Portugal didn’t leave for another week, we decided to head across the river to Uruguay, not only to punch our passports (Argentina has become notorious for putting as many stamps as possible in our passports each time we went in or out of the country), but to spend a few days in a beach town and hopefully try some surfing.

The destination in Uruguay was Punta del Diablo, a small beach town known to be less touristy and more laid back then the more well known Punta del Este. Once we arrived we knew why, dirt roads only and locals walking around with no shoes or shirts and plenty of dreadlocks.

This place was a great change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires. We finally got to enjoy some running in open space, our favorite spot was Playa Grande, a mostly vacant beach North of town with miles of sand. Running and watching the waves roll in while breathing in the fresh Atlantic ocean air is the right way to start the day. Dinner consisted of fresh cooked fish and shrimp from the local pescaderia (fish market) on the beach, a welcome change from 2 months of eating carne and pan.

The water was warm enough for swimming and playing in the waves. But after looking at the waves for long enough, and assessing how good they were for surfing, we rented surf-boards on the beach and went for it.  Arlen has been surfing a few times before but it was Karen’s first time. She was surprised at how fun surfing is, even if you don’t really ever catch a wave! Arlen taught her plenty of surf lingo like what it means to get “pitted in the green room”. Unfortunately there was no getting pitted in the green room, just getting pounded by wave after wave and drinking enough saltwater for a lifetime, nonetheless a great time.

4 countries in 3 days?! After leaving Punta del Diablo, Uruguay we traveled by bus and boat back to Buenos Aires  and stayed the night (which by our count completed over 90 hours on buses in South America). The next day we went to the airport to catch our flight to Lisbon. We strategically chose a flight with a 9 hour layover in London – the perfect chance to see a new country, right?! We got into London at 6am (1am our time), and groggily worked our way off of the plane, through customs, out of the airport, and into downtown London all by 8am. If you ever have a layover in London, it is really easy to get into the city. They have an express train that takes you right into the center of town in 20 minutes. It was drizzling in London (not unexpected), but since we only had 5 hours to explore the city, we started walking. We had a chance to see a few sites and even fell in love with how clean and “green” the city seems.

After a few more hours on the plane we finally made it to Lisbon. So Uruguay, Argentina, England, and Portugal – 3 days. Time to recharge the batteries from the travel and get ready for the second half of our trip in Europe!

 

On our previous trips abroad, neither of us have really loved spending time in bigger cities. This is probably partly due to not giving the city enough time, how much can you really get to know and enjoy a city in two days? But you can’t travel through Argentina without visiting Buenos Aires, the country’s biggest and most well known city. We wanted to give the city a fair chance and decided to rent an apartment and stay for 2 weeks.

Heading into our stay here is what we knew:  It is BIG (~ 13 million people including suburbs), it is the home of tango, there is a black market for American dollars (but we weren’t sure if it was true, and if so what does it mean for us?), watch your wallet at all times, pickpocketing is a profession, and they love their futbol (but do they play in February and are tickets available for Gringo tourists?).

After two weeks in the city we had such a variety of experiences that we think the best way to share with you is to just jump in. Here is what we will remember the most about Buenos Aires, in no particular order . . .

It IS BIG. It is Really Really Big. Even with its massive size, what makes the city unique is the barrios, or neighborhoods (there is something like 48 official barrios). Walking the streets of the city we found European inspired buildings, French like cafes, street markets, and bustling business suits.

Getting Around. The road system makes no sense and the drivers are crazy. There are intersections with no stoplights, stopsigns, or sense of right away. Since over half the cars are taxis, its your safest bet to assume they always have the right away and would happily run you over.  If ever you ride in a taxi, best to just close your eyes and hope you get there.

The Pick-Pockets. BA has a great metro system that you can get most anywhere in the city, just hold on to your wallet and always wear your pack on the front. Everyone had a story to share about being pickpocketed, or witnessing it at some point on public transport. For example, a Scottish couple we met considered themselves lucky for only losing 200 Euro on the subway after it was his fault for putting his wallet in his backpocket. (Note: We came out of BA with all our stuff – as far as we know!)

The Blue Dollar. From what we were told, the President recognizes inflation of the peso at 10%, however, actual inflation is closer to 26%. As a result, the locals lost faith in the peso and starting making runs on the banks to get US dollars, as they viewed this as a more consistent and transferrable currency. The government put a stop to this and restricted access to US dollars through the banks, resulting in the creation of a black market. When we were there, the black market for US dollars (or blue dollar) was trading at close to 8 pesos to 1 dollar; whereas the bank exchanged at 5 pesos to 1 dollar. The black market wasn’t just back alley trading, most shops and restaurants would happily offer us 7 pesos to the dollar (about a 30% discount on whatever you buy with U$). If you want a cheap vacation, be sure to come to BA with plenty of cash (just don’t bring it on the subway)!

Futbol! Since everyone loves Futbol in Argentina, we made a point to get tickets with fellow travel and Cougar Alum, Caitlin Bonney, to the River Plate v. Tigre match. River Plate is the winningest team in Argentina, and the stadium held over 65,000 people, so we suspected that the game would be fun. The enthusiasm of every person in the crowd was unbelievable. From warm-ups throughout the entire game the crowd was on their feet, singing, chanting, and playing music. As a matter of fact, the fans are so enthusiastic that the visitors section in the stadium is divided by a 10 foot high barb wire fence to keep the peace. After the game, the home fans are locked inside the stadium to allow the visiting team and fans to leave the area on prearranged buses. We realized this when we were trying to beat the crowds and rush out of the stadium only to find all the exits guarded by police officers, keeping us inside for the next 30minutes. As for the game itself, it couldn’t have been more exciting. The home team was down 0-1 with 10 minutes left in the game and then managed to score 3 goals before the final whistle, each one making the crowd louder and louder!

 

Tango! Sure we joined a walking tour to see the house of Carlos Gardel (the famous tango singer), and saw plenty of tango shoes and dresses for sale, but it didn’t seem like the locals were  that interested in tango, or even knew the dance. At times it even felt like tango was used to draw in tourists. But since we ARE tourists, what the heck, we signed up for 3 tango lessons. It actually is a really fun dance to learn! We think we have down at the basics, but we still haven’t figured out where we can practice back home. Ideas? The comedic highlight was when our tango instructor, Cristian, gently layed his head on Arlen’s shoulder as he played the role of the woman teaching Arlen how to lead Tango.

Dining. The locals start dinner between 10:00pm – 12:00pm. The great thing is its easier to get a table and if your lucky you can catch an early bird special if you show up before 8:30pm (we saved 15% at a Steakhouse in San Martin de los Andes)! Also, Parillas (steakhouses) are like Starbucks in Seattle, sometimes you can see 3 or 4 on one street corner. To learn more about the local cuisine we signed up for the “Argentine Experience” which was a mix between a cooking class and a dinner; if you ever make it to BA this is a must!

Man’s best friend? BA needs Bob Barker (from Price is Right) to remind them to spay and neuter their pets. Dogs are everywhere leaving landmines on the sidewalks and making dog walking a popular profession. We counted a dog walker with 12 large dogs at one time!

Summertime. One of the many perks of visiting BA during the summer is the fruit markets. There was one on almost ever corner and we even had one we could see from our balcony. Arlen couldn’t have been happier and you have never seen him learn Spanish so quickly, he loves his uvas (grapes).

Next post, surfing in Uruguay and 4 countries in 3 days.

Packing, unpacking, repacking, packing . . . Doing this every few days does not help you feel settled. After our first 5 weeks of moving around every few days, we thought we would try a new method of travel, staying put. Since the Lake District is somewhere we wanted to spend a good portion of time, we searched for a place on Airbnb (if you haven’t heard of it, look it up, excellent way to travel!). We found a great place about 20K outside of the city of Bariloche, meaning it was closer to the activities and sights that Bariloche has to offer (biking, kayaking, hiking, boating, etc).

Our home away from home: The place we picked was a private room in a house on a Lagoon. The place was very well reviewed on Airbnb, so our expectations were high. When we arrived even our highest expectations were blown away! The place was gorgeous and perfectly located. We’re still trying to figure out how we can get a place like this in Seattle;  a custom home on the water is totally reasonable, right?

Around the house: As you can see from the pictures above, hanging around the house is not a bad way to spend a day. We enjoyed our home away from home by: hosting our own Superbowl party (with Spanish commentary), cooking every day and even making some local cuisine (we made our own chicken Empanadas!), swimming at least once a day (the exception being one day we just floated with life jackets on after a long hike – No judgment please kvh and sam ), and kayaking around the lagoon.

Daily Adventures:  Aside from just a lake front view, our place was accessible to many other activities, as it was right next to Nahuel Huapi National Park. We had time to do most of what we wanted: we biked the Circuito Chico loop, went to the top of Cerro Campanero lookout, visited Puerto Blest by boat, hiked to the top of Cerro Catedral mountain, and explored the Sunday market at Colonial Suiza.

• Circuito Chico is a 26K loop that weaves its way through most of the lakes in the region and through Nahuel Huapi National Park. You pass by Llau Llau the most famous hotel in Argentina; Arlen would not recommend this place because on our way up to see the hotel the entire pedal to his bike fell off (gotta love rental bikes!)! Needless to say, the staff at Llau Llau were not eager to help him out. Luckily, we found someone to call our bike rental shop and they brought him a new bike.  Once back on the road, we entered the National Park and found our favorite part of the loop, Villa Traful beach. The beach was tucked away down a mile long dusty dirt road, but when we got there we were stunned by the crystal clear turquoise water. It didn’t take us long to put on our suits and go for a swim! To finish it up we enjoyed 3 for 2 frozen margaritas and the view at Punto Panoramico, the highest point on the loop.

• Cerro Catedral is the biggest ski center in South America. Karen wondered why we decided to hike a ski mountain (when it seemed like something we should be doing on a snowboard), but once we started making the climb, she realized that the trail wasn’t right under the chairlift, but instead went through the forest on the backside and to a small mountain lake surrounded by jagged peaks. The lake was much needed as it was close to 95 degrees!

We don’t want to bore you with too much more writing, so here are some pictures of the other activities we enjoyed.

After two weeks in the Lake District we are heading east on a 20 hour bus ride to . . . Buenos Aires!

 

 

 

After a few days of RnR post Torres del Paine, we decided to cross back from Chile to Argentina and head North to the Lake District. Since one-way flights in Argentina are pretty expensive, the better method of travel is by bus. We stocked up on snacks and boarded the bus for our 28 hour ride from El Calafate to Bariloche, AR. We don’t really remember how we filled the time , but it definitely consisted of a lot of card games.

The Lake District in Northern Patagonia is where a lot of the local Argentinians come to vacation. It is known for the deep blue, turquoise, and green colors of the lakes and the surrounding volcanos and mountains. Intrigued by the beauty of Volcano Lanin, we then headed from Bariloche to Junin de los Andes, which is the best access town into Parque de Nacional Lanin. We were interested in attempting a summit of Volcano Lanin, a 2 day assent, but since a guide is required  guide we weren’t able to arrange something on short notice. Our Plan B was to camp in the Parque and trek part way up the Volcano; Plan B turned out to be amazing!

Once in Parque de Nacional Lanin we chose to camp closest to the Volcano trail-head, at Campo Ecofer. At the campsite you have the option to take a small boat 100m across the lake to a secluded campsite right under the volcano. To call the boat you simply ring a bell, and a kid rows the boat from the other side of the lake to pick you up . . . pretty sweet. The campsite is nothing short of incredible. Imagine setting up camp in a field of green grass shaded by trees, right on the water, with a Volcano hovering over you. To make it even better, the campsite is run by a small family on their farm, so while hanging at the site, there are beautiful horses strolling around, sheep grazing, parakeets calling in the trees, and roosters to wake you up in the morning. Peaceful and relaxing just start to describe this feeling.

We set out to do the Lanin de Sur Trek (Trek up the south face of Volcano Lanin), which follows the river towards the base of the Volcano. The route was surrounded by the Araucaria (or monkey-puzzle trees), which are spiky green trees with large cones on them. After a few hours of hiking we missed the main path at a river crossing and instead continued following the river up the valley. After a steep rock scramble up the side of the mountain we managed to enjoy some snacks and views right under the volcano.

Since we quickly fell in love with this place, we wanted to stay a third night. However on the 3rd day we woke up to clouds and rain and decided it was time to leave. To get out of the park there are 2 buses, one at 11:40 and one at 6:40. After packing up our campsite and taking  the small boat to the other side of the lake, we were surprised to see the bus start pulling away. After a few screams and an attempt of running after it (feels like elementary school), we gave up. We hitched a ride a few kilometers down the road to the information center and a hosteria / restaurant. After about an hour of unsuccessful hitchhiking attempts, we decided it is best to wait for the next bus. The hosteria was run by a really generous guy who allowed us to hang out in the restaurant and enjoy cafés while waiting for the next bus.

Since we had time to kill, and since Arlen recently purchased a nice new camera, we thought it would be fun to have a Photographer-Off during our wait. The rules: the photographer gets 3 pictures attempts of the other person in an attempt to take the best shot. Here were the two leading pictures. Which is your favorite?!

Coming up on our next post, Vacation from the Vacation!

After a brief stay in Puerto Natales, we headed to Torres del Paine (“Pie-Knee”) National Park. The park is seen as one of the premier destination in Patagonia and offers a variety of options from day hikes, guided tours, or overnight treks with options to stay in Refugios (like a cabin) or camp on your own. (We promise we didn’t take that straight from the brochure!). Since time is on our side, we chose to camp on the Paine Circuit (100 – 120K and 7 – 10 days), instead of the W circuit (3 – 5 days).

Preparing for the Paine Circuit: Over the past few summers we have got some experience backpacking with our longest overnight trek at 4 days, 3 nights. We weren’t quite sure how to prepare for 7 – 8 days on the trail, but knew that we had to go as minimal as possible to keep our packs some-what “light” weight. Also, we knew that the weather in Patagonia can change by the hour and so we had to be prepared for wind, rain, or even snow. Arlen took this to the extreme and forgot to prepare for the 6 days of sunshine that we did get (he did not bring a single t-shirt! – Lesson Learned #1). But somehow he still managed to get a sunburn under all those long-sleeves!

For food, our plan was to pack breakfast and lunch, and then buy pre-packaged freezer-dried dinners (like the ones you can buy at REI). We started searching around the town of Puerto Natales for “freezer dried” food and soon found out that they don’t exist in Chile – so we had to get creative and put together our own dinners, with precedent given to any kind of noodle that can boil in under 10 minutes. Lesson Learned #2: Read directions carefully. For all 7 lunches we brought what appeared to be bread, PB, and J. Only to find out on day 2 that our PB was actually “Manjar” which more closing resembles caramel. We also bought what appeared to be salt – which was actually “Bicarbonate” or sodium powder. Don’t worry, these mistakes helped Arlen lose 10 pounds in 7 days.

The Trek: On the hike you must camp in designated camping areas, therefore, for most of our days we were trekking with the same group of people. This made the trip much more enjoyable as we had friends to share conversations and vino at the campsites and essential items like blister remedies (much needed for Karen!). Special shout out to Nick & Emily, and Seth & Kara! On a 7 day trek we found that you face a lot of adversity as you are faced with tired legs, sore feet, and terrible allergies. All that aside, we were happy to finish what we set out to accomplish and enjoyed some pretty spectacular scenery along the way.

Without getting too in-depth on the day to day of the trails, we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. We think they really highlight the 17 ecosystems of Torres del Paine National Park.

Sorry no finishing photo. Day 7 consisted of a long walk in the rain and 2 bowls of top ramen before our bus picked us up to head back to Puerto Natales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the key destinations in our trip was Southern Chile and Argentina, also known as Patagonia. There is no direct or easy way into Patagonia, so when looking into travel options, we either had to creatively link flights, take multi-day bus rides, or travel by boat. Wanting a trip with new experiences, we booked a cabin on the Navimag. To give you some background on the Navimag, it is a 4 day, 3 night, boat ride which leaves from Puerto Montt, Chile and weaves through the fiords of Patagonia and ends in Puerto Natales. The Navimag is nowhere near a cruise ship, it is cargo boat, moonlighting as a passenger ferry. Despite mixed reviews and warnings of bad food, we were excited. Before embarking on the Navimag we enjoyed a fresh lunch of salmon empanadas ($0.75 each and YUM!) and fresh ceviche at the local fish market in Puerto Montt. We hopped on the boat and settled into our small cabin. Over the next 4 days at sea we enjoyed some much needed relaxation and some of our first conversations with other English speaking travelers. The beds were comfortable, the food edible, and the final night’s B-I-N-G-O party entertaining. But definitely the highlight of our trip was the 3 full days of sunshine (from 5:00am – 10:45pm); we heard from the crew that the last 6 weeks were cloudy and raining so I think luck was on our side.

One of the best things about being stuck on a boat for 4 days straight is the people that you meet. Whether it’s sipping on your morning cappuccino, playing a card game, having a cervesa, or watching the sunset together, we definitely made some memories with a few other Navimag travelers. One of Arlen’s favorite experiences was our first night on board. We ventured out to the top deck for the sunset and met a family of UK ex-pats who were living in Australia the last 20 years, we talked about how unique our opportunity was to see such a remote beautiful place and openly questioned what the next 10-20 years may look like as more and more tourists(such as ourselves) come to visit. The distant view of Cerro Corcovado, sunsetting, and the conversation helped transition us from our busy city days in Santiago to a more relaxed place.

 

Coming soon: Torres del Paine,7 days and 6 nights.