2/28  The rest of the bus ride went pretty quick. The town of el Calafate is so cute. Can't wait to walk around and explore. We hoofed it , with all our gear, 4 blocks (of course up hill) to the hostel , I Keu Ken. Weird name but great view. The guy, Martin, was so friendly and helpful planning our next couple of days. Our room has 4 bunk beds andnis pretty small, but then we won't be spending much time there.  Of course, we went food shopping. Spent $60. That is enough for 2 good dinners, 2 lunches, wine and fruit snacks for all 4 of us. We then went and made arrangements for B and t to go on a half day fishing trip.  This guy, George, was so funny. Very little english, but since I am our group's expert, I figured it out...ecen bargained the price down $35 for each. That is for Friday.
Back to the hostel for bbq mjtton. Delicious, but the kitchen was a zoo. I think everyone here was trying to cook at the same time. It's ok because then you get lots of chances to talk to ohers.
During our walk in town, we saw a flyer for tango night every Wednesday, and it just happens to be Wednesday.  T and I went . B and G went to bed. We walked about 4 blocks to the bus terminal bar.  It was a local little place. They moved the tables out of the wat, lit some candles, turned on the disco ball and cranked the tango music. There was a teacher there, but we didn't dance. Could not really understand her.  We just had a drink and watched.  So cool.  Some were really good and others just starting. Some guy leaned over and said it was our turn. I told him I didn't know how and we started a conversation. Boy, did he know a lot about the different kindsmof tango, the history, and styles. Very interesting.  Got back to our hostel about midnight.  Tomorrow was the glacier hike.
We had a delicious breakfast this morning and headed out to the glacier with our taxi driver, Nicholas. Took only anout 45 minutes to get there. From the entrance of the park, another 20 minute ride to the first glacier sighting.
It just keeps getting better and better. The view was jncredible. This js the only glacier in the world that is advancing and at a rate of 2 meters per day. Just like the penguins and seals, I could have sat there all day and just listen to the cracking, which sounds like thunder, or watch the ice crash off. Sounds like a gunshot. The color is such an intense blue. They have really nice raised walk ways to walk on which run the length of the glacier. The average height is 60 meters or 180 feet. Massive. T and I decided to take the 1 hour boat ride right up to the glacier. The color was so much , more intense, which I would not have thought possible. It looked like it was lit up from the inside.  A big piece broke off while we were up close and personal. We could also see the people who did the mini ice trek. They looked like ants on the glacier, putting the sheer size in perspective. Loved it.
Back at the hostel, we went into town for an appetizer of boar, venison, salmon and trout... all smoked., plus 5 differnt kinds of goat cheese. Yum. There was enough for a meal, so I think we are going to skip dinner tonight. Instead we are going to semi plan the second half of the trip. I can't believe it has been 3 weeks already. Our money is holding out good. Should mean a trip to Easter Island is possible.

Pictures 3

Perito Moreno glacier, the up close picture is from the boat

2/27  We were woken up this morning at 7:30am by a border police yelling for our passports. Guess this is normal near the border towns. Everyone must have been legal since no one was dragged off the bus.  Breakfast was pretty basic.. coffee, 3 small crackers and  a chocolate cookie. As we were finishing our breakfast, we pulled into a bus terminal. People got off and new ones got on. We switched drivers. They had a cafeteria, but everything was made to order a d would take too long. We only had 10 minutes. So the 4 of us settled for some yogurt and a juice box. That is enough, since all we are doing is sitting for the next 4 hours.
On the way we saw very little wildlife. A few rheas, some sheeo, cattle and horses. That's it. There really isn't much. Every so often, there would be what looked like rock mountains. The rest is very deserty.
Given the fact that this road is the only paved one down here, it is in horrendous condition. Potholes everywhere. Every so often a cattle gate in the road. We think these separate the ranches. The bus driver goes no faster than 80km per hour. No wonder it takes 26 hours to get there.
Late yesterdy afternoon, we passed through an area that had hundreds of oil wells. Terry was very interested and took pictures for his dad. We will have to get out our big map to see where exactly that was.
The day actually went pretty quickly, although I am ready to get off now.  We read, blogged, played cards, watched a couple of movies, talked and repeated those things.
Its
It's 11:30 now and still as far as you can see there is nothing, but the dirt mountains and deserty brush. ( picture below).Every so often there is a green spot, a couple of trees, where you will see the ranch house off in the distance. How solitary.

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Pictures 2

2 pictures of the carved forest, one of the reststop at the top, the view from hostel in el calafate

2/26  We are now 2 hours into our 26 hour bus ride. So far so good. They served us lunch and there are non stop movies. Some are english with spanish sub titles, the others are the other way around. I didn't write yesterday since I was going to have so much down time today.
First off, some more observations
1.  The kids wear uniforms to school, but all they are , are white lab coats over whatever else they want to wear. Pretty smart.
2.   Everyone kisses everyone on both cheeks to say hola and adios.
3.  There are stray dogs everywhere, but they are really not annoying. They don't bark or bother you.
4.  90% of the cars are old clunkers.  Terry says they are from the 1950s.
5.  Even the large grocery stores have maybe a third of the choices we have. So far we have only seen 6 different types of cereal.
6.  Not much attention is paid to landscaping by home owners. The little towns do along the roads, but that is it.
7.  Patagonia is a haven for hippies. Dreadlocks, backpacks, some marijuana and lots of stories is all it takes. I guess the four of us aren't quite there yet.
8.  Don't believe whatever a trekker tells you about the length, distance or grade of the trek. They soooooo under estimate!

Yesterday's destination was el Bosque Tallado -the carved forest. High up on this mountain (1600 meters) there was a forest fire. The dead trees that remained are being carved into art pieces by artists from all over. Really impressive. We took a cab to the beginning of the trail, which we had no idea , began at 1200 meters. What a ride up there. A gravel road does not come close to describing it...more like a riverbed. We couldn't believe they would even take a car up there, but thankfully they did. It was 13km to the beginning. Lots of cliff hugging and switchbacks. Once there, no surprise,  the very steep climb up started. But as i got out of the cab, something must have bit me in my upper thigh.  I didn't feel anything, but it itched. Very quickly it became red, hot and about a 6" diameter welt.  Oh well!  Huffing and puffing we hiked up the 1 hour trek to the forest. Thankfully this part was nice and level and we walked around looking at them all for about 45 minutes. My bite thing was really itching so I took an allergy pill just in case.Then Billy Goat Bob made us go higher. Another 20 minutes straight up to the el refugio Piltriquitron..reststop.  So glad we did. As you come out of the treed area, since we were now high enough to be out of the treeline, the view was like out of the movie Heidi. There was a cute little hut that served beer and pizza and some homemade sweets. We., however, had packed a picnic lunch, but did sample one treat each. Yummy!  We sat on the grassy slope and took in the view. We weren't just looking at the mountains, we were in them. The air was that fresh, cool mountain air. We could see all of el Bolson, some snow covered mountains and the lake in the National Park.  B and G decided to try and go to the lookout. Another 20 minutes up. T and I stayed right where we were. So glad, because they never made it there.
On the way down, which is so hard on your knees, thighs  and toes, we passed a woman carrying a child on her back and a man carrying a lap dog of some kind going up.  NO WAY!  All in all a 5hr trip. While waiting for the pre arranged cab to pick us up, we took off our hiking boots to put our sandals on.  I had a blister on my big toe the whole length of it. Got out the pocket knife, drained it and put some neosporin and a bandaid on it. It comes from walking downhill at such a steep angle. It didn't hurt and doesn't today either.
The cab dropped us off in the center of town. We got another yummy ice cream cone, checked out the post office to see how much to mail a package home and got groceries for supper. The post office was a little challenging. No english again, but I figured it out. We could not go back until 6pm. They were fumigating the whole hostel to keep bugs away. Guess they do it every 3 monhs.  Perfect timing for us. The little town has a large germa.n influence. They have the little elephant slides that I remember Germany having when we were kids. They are out on the sidewalks outside the stores.
Back at the hostel, we sat in the garden area with a glass of wine. I sat in a hanging hammock chair, listening to the creek. At 7pm, G and I did yoga with Tarin. She did a 2 yr. training in India. She is from South Africa and I love her accent. The class was in the garden, near the creek and perfect after a day of trekking. Her plan is to start a yoga retreat on this property. The owners feel it will mesh nicely with the atmosphere they have created.  I agree.
B and T made dinner. I feel so spoiled having Bob cook all the time, but he likes to do it. So........  We spent some time talking to Javier. He is 27 and speaks french, italian, potrugese, english, spanish. He has worked in the computer field, raced sled dogs in northern Canada, was a trekking guide out on the glacier ice fields, went to college in France and Buenos Aires for theater, and the list goes on and on.  And I thought Nikki has done a lot.  We are realizing that not many americans do this kind of traveling.  It is mostly europeans, canadians and south americans.  Not too many asians either. We believe it has to do with our work schedules. Most of the other countries all have at least 4 to 6 weeks of vacation. They also say americans are too concerned with material things.  Bigger, better or more of them.  Maybe that is evident in the grocery stores.  Do we really need a whole aisle of cereals?
We spent last night in a different room. It was Marcel's little cottage. T and I slept up in the loft, just like the one Mary and Laura from Little House on the Prairie slept in.  There was a ladder up and we could not stand up. But it was one of the best mattresses so far.  The little, and I mean little bathroom was different. The shower was tucked between the sink and toilet. You had to draw a curtain on both sides, shower and then squeegy the floor towards the toilet. All the walls were tile, so no problem there. A little cramped and awkward, but the water was really nice and hot. The whole thing was no bigger than 3 ft by 5 ft.
We left this morning about 9am. Marcel and Tarin came out to hug and kiss us goodbye.  People,  in this hostel world, are so friendly and helpful. Way better than our past experience in the hotel world.  The bus was scheduled to leave at 11am but we had a couple of errands.  Stopped at the post office to mail some stuff home. (Skirt and top, hair dryer, another shirt, all our accumulated maps and pamphlets and the 3 little souvenirs that were carved out of wood). Seems you can't bring anything wooden into Chile. We did really good packing.  A quick trip to the market for some extra water for the trip. They don't give you anything extra and to buy it along the way when they stop for 10 minutes, is very expensive.
We quickly left the mountainous area and are now in the vast area of nothingness.  There was a small town that we went through, but it looked quite poor and certainly not a tourist place.
It is 4:15 pm now and depending on what happens on the rest of this ride, I will be sure to let you know how it went.

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2/24  I am so proud of us. We did the whole 8 hr. trek.  Where to start...  maybe with the fact that as soon as we got home, we took some advil and soaked our feet in the cold creek.  I am pretty sure we were the oldest people on this trail. I am getting ahead of myself.
We called a taxi to take us to Cajon del Azul (blue canyon). Of course it was a dirt road. We signed into the log book. I should have known that when they asked for our ages we were in for trouble.  The path started off real nice... through the forest and nice and level. Well, that lasted all of 10 minutes. We were now going down hill at a 25% grade(the path flucuated beteen 7% at the east parts and 30% at the killer parts). Which of course meant we had to go up it at the end of an 8 hour hike.  And so went the whole day. Up and down these  incredibly steep and LONG trails. Not sure what was worse, up hurts the heart and lungs, down the legs and knees.. big time. Throughout the day we had to cross a creek and the river twice on these hanging bridges that look like they were ready to collapse at any minute. A little intimidating. Terry refilled our water bottles a couple of times with water from the glacier that flows in the river.  He even purified it just in case. At the end of the trail, we stopped and ate our picnic lunch. It sure tasted wonderful. I didn't dare take off my boots, for fear I would never get them back on.
G and I decided the woods looked like they belong in a fairy tale and at any minute you would expect to see a pixie or an elf.  So very pretty. The water in the river looks like the carribean waters, such a pretty green/blue....hence the name of the canyon.  We met a group of hikers, and the first thing everyone asks is where are you from. They were from Williamsville, NY. What a small world.  On the way down a mountain biker WHIZZED by us. Incredible. So much stamina and strength. Very impressive.
Bob now has a new name...Billy Goat Bob. He was amazing. Up and down at the same pace, never sweating and way ahead of all of us. Don't know how he does it. I am never saying again that I am in pretty good shape. Our clothes were wringing wet.
Right before the last, hard walk up, there is a rest stop where for $10 for 2, they will drive you up. G and I seriously considered it, but we wanted to say we did the whole thing, so we passed. Pretty hard to do.
While waiting for the taxi to come and pick us up, we enjoyed a cold beer at the little rest stop at the end. I can't believe we did it. Such an empowering feeling.
The good thing is, I love my hiking shoes, so very light, not slippery and water proof. They were comfortable, even though my feet ended up hurting at the end of the day. Here is when we soaked our feet in the creek here at the hostel.
Never did a shower feel so good. Bob made dinner and we planned our next leg. We leave on a bus to el Calefate at 11am on Tuesday and arrive there at 1pm on Wednesday. Another sleeper bus. Javier, who works here and used to be a guide here, gave us all kinds of ideas and tips. I am most looking forward to the glacier.
Tomorrow we are hiking to the scarred forest. Only a 3 hour hike, but the first 20 minutes are up a steep incline again. Javier then said the rest is not flat but progressive. Should be interesting.
We just gave Tarin our laundry. She will wash, dry and fold it and we will have it back tomoow for $6. I like this laundry set up, which is what every place does.
Off to bed to rest for tomorrow. I think the 25 km(almost 16 miles) and the 600m (1800ft) change in elevation is going to require a couple more advil for sure. Hopefully I will be able to walk tomorrow.

2/23  The bus was a huge success. Slept like a baby. Our meal was pretty good, a schnitzel like piece of meat, mashed potatoe, salad and canned peaches for dessert.  The bus stopped twice to let people on and off. I never woke up. Breakfast was pretty small: a cup of tea and 2 sweet cakes. At first we got off at the wrong stop, not knowing there were 2 stops in el Bolson, but no problem, we just got right back on after the luggage guy explained (in spanish). I continue to be very surprised that all these people in the tourist industry do not speak ANY english. Just like Javier told us in the email, there was a taxi that took us right to the hostel.  Only $3 for all 4 of us.  On the way G and I kept looking at each other, because the little town was so cute and we thought that is where we were going to be. He just kept on driving and then turned down a dirt road.  BUT...what a great place. Very alpine like.  Pretty amazing at how different the landscape is here. This is a hippie place. We compost, the guys all have long hair, all homemade jams, bread, butter and beer and you can choose to eat with them.  They offer yoga in the backyard. We are so into this. Tonight it is argentinian stew made in plow blades some how. Will tell you more about this when I know what Maacel meant. After he told us all there is to do here, we decided to stay an extra night. It was too early to check in, so we left our stuff by the fireplace and chained them all together. We brought a bike lock with us just for such an occasion. Our choice was a taxi or bus back to town. Guess which one?  Yup, the local bus.  We had to walk about 300m to the bus stop (a little wooden hut). There was a guy there that could have been Chris Bierazynskis twin. Very refreshing, the cooler mountain air.
The #1 bus was a rickety, old thing that makes a loop between this little (somewhat poor) neighborhood and town. Many of the houses look to be one big room with smoke coming from the chimneys.  It is obviously a small town, because the bus driver stopped twice to pick someone up who was not at a bus stop. A guy got on the nus and when he walked by, whew, did he stink of alcohol. I was sitting in the aisle seat, so Terry grabbed the backpack, because he was giving us the creeps. Turned out not to be an isssue, but better safe than sorry.
We got off at the huge outdoor artesian market. Lots of very nice craft work done by the locals. Once again, good thing I am backpaking and don't have any room for stuff. Even though it is cheap, I could spend a lot of money. The things are beautiful. We did stop and T and I each got an empanada for 4 pesos each. That is about $.75. What a deal and they were delicious. One spinach and one mixed meat. We got our groceries. The fruit and vegtables at another fruit/vegtable store and the rest at a market. Should be enough for 3 lunches, snacks for hiking and one dinner.  Totaled $28. Not bad. Since the bus does not run during siesta time, we took a taxi back. The room was ready. We have a little suite. Really, really nice.  Made ourselves a cup of warm soup with a roll. Tasted really good since it is a little damp. The boys are napping and G and I are now going to sit in the comfy chairs and read. Resting up for tomorrow's big 7 hour hike up a mountain.

2/22a Well, when they say the bus leaves 9:30pm they mean 9:30pm. How is it that all foreign countries can be so on time and the United States can't?  Anyway, I feel like I am in first class. This bus is a doubledecker and we are on top, away from the bathroom downstairs. We will shortly be getting our dinner, right on argentinian time. G put a picture on her blog of her and B so you can see the seats. Wow, they just started a movie. Yes, it is in spanish, but we'll see how much I can understand. This is traveling in style and what a buy for $102. I will let you know how I slept

2/22  I thought I would share some more tidbits of information.
1. They only have high temperature milk here. Ok on cereal or in coffee/tea. Not so good to drink
2. The ostrich like birds we see are called rheas
3.  Fast food is like in Germany... a full cooked meal. Last night we got back late so we decided to go to our new, favorite little market that had pre cooked food.  We had to wait 2 hours because none of the meat was ready until 10pm. Yup, that's when argentinians eat supper. We bought bbq lamb, potato, bean and rice salad. The lamb was super as were the salads.
4. All cars are stick. Good thing we can drive them or we would not have been able to rent a car. Ours was a VW Gol.
5. The only type of animal that can be raised in this area and further south is the merino sheep. There are ranches where you come across a dirt driveway every so often, super long, that looks like it doesn't go anywhere. They have to hand dig water wells 100m deep.
6.  This area is extremely windy when you get along the water and I guess that is true of the entire coast south of here in Patagonia.
7.  I am very happy that we brought this tablet for the internet. It is the only real way to make further plans.
8.  ALL argentininians drink mate (tea). It is a loose tea in all sorts of flavors, but somewhat bitter. The strange part is that they carry around a thermos of hot water and a special cup and straw(which has a strainer on the end) everywhere. In gas stations, stores, and the information centers at parks, etc. There are 20 gallon or larger hot water dispensers for free, so people can refill their thermoses. Neat, huh?
Guess that is it as far as information goes.  On to yesterday's activity.
We left pretty early and headed north to Penninsula Valdez. Again, nothing but deserty scrub brush, a few guanacos. and a couple of rheas to see. We drove about 200km on gravel roads. Yikes! At this point we were not so sure it was a good idea to rent a car. The gravel was really rough and we were just hoping nothing would fly up and chip/break the window or damage the paint.
At the end of the road, Punte Norte, the scenery was amazing again. We saw a seal colony of about 3000 seals. The pups had just been born about 2 weeks ago and were already in the water swimming around and playing. I could have stood there indefinitely watching. They sound just like babies. There seems to be one female who is sort of  "on the lookout" for a whole bunch of pups. Maybe like a nursery school. We saw a large male trying to approach a female, when all of a sudden the head male of this harem came after him trying to chase him away. They sure are big and can get very mean.  Each male has up to 130 females.
During our picnic lunch,  a small armadillo came around. I touched it. I thought it would feel leathery, but it felt more like indoor/outdoor carpeting. He was looking for some lunch leftovers.  After lunch we left there and continued to drive to the next lookout spot.
My biggest dilemma is this: to take a picture or to take a panoramic picture or to take a video or to take a picture with the tablet so G can put it on her blog OR to just look through my binoculars and enjoy the experience. I am finding that I am doing more and more of the looking through my binoculars.
This was another penguin colony, not nearly as big as the last one at Punta Tombo. This colony was located on a cliff. The penguins had to climb up from the beach to nest.  They are really amazing. I feel like I am using that word a lot , but what else can I say!
After this and more gravel roads, we stopped at a place where the sea elephants come to rest, mate and raise their young. Unfortunately, not many have returned from the 4 months at sea to feed. We did see some females and littler ones, but none  the large males with the trunk like nose.  These were very loud.  At this place there was a nice path along the top of the cliffs with signs explaining the plants and animals that are found in this arid climate. Seems strange to have a "desert" right next to the ocean. At the end of the path, we stopped for a cup of coffee/tea and some cookies. Sure tasted good as we were kind of cold. The wind off the water was very chilly and quite strong, yet our backs were hot from the sun. Weird sensation.
It was time to leave the park. On the way back we passed a salt flat. There are 3 on the penninsula. One is 42m below sea level, the lowest point on the South American continent. We made an additional stop where more sea lions are suppose to hang out. Wow, what a road. Very steep dirt road down with a landscape similar to our badlands. Turns out a good choice. There were lots of seals and we could really see them good.
Once back on the paved road, we all sighed in relief. It was a good decision to rent the car: less than half the cost and we got to go at our own pace.
I forgot to mention that all along both the paved road and the gravel roads, there are holes dug out of the hard mud "walls/piles"  that lined the roads. These are the homes of armadillos like the one we saw at lunch.
The day's list of wildlife:  guanacos, rheas, penguins, sea lions, sea elephants, eagle, stork, gray fox, merino sheep, cattle, horses, quail like birds and armadillos. Not a bad day.
I already explained our dinner - the fast food... We had enough left over for lunch today.
2/22 It is raining today, so we are sitting around blogging, playing cards, reading and chatting with other backpackers. G and I went earlier to find 2 plastic water bottles fot B and G. None to be found in his town. We have one more place to look, but can't go until 5...siesta time from 1 to 5. G and I stopped in a little cafe and had a cup of tea and a croissant. Yummy. We will shower and then head toward the bus station. Our sleeper bus leaves at 9:30pm for el Bolson, our next stop. We were going to go to el Bariloche, but this town is in the same area, but smaller. We think we will have a much more "local" experience there.  Since we splurged on the fully reclining seats, I hope I will be able to sleep ok. Another new adventure... wish us luck!

2/21  Dinner last night was scrambled eggs since the grocery store was closed. Bob and Terry found the vegtable store open where they also sell fresh eggs.  Eggs are not kept in the fridge. After dinner we wanted to get some lunchmeats for sandwiches because we wanted to leave early this morning. Our host, Eduardo, told us about a very small market a couple of blocks away. Bob, Terry and I (B T and I) went while  G cleaned up. Yup, she did the dishes!  Anyway. This market was the happening place. It was 11pm and everyone was getting their food for dinner. Argentinians eat very late. What a crowd. The store was no bigger than Nics Deli. In a corner was an open wood fire with half chickens  and a whole side of something bar b queing. Looked delicious. They had fresh veg and fruit, dairy, butcher section, dry goods, etc. all packed into this little store. Fun!
We are now on our way to Penninsula Valdez in our rental car. T abd B did really good driving and we saved about $300 not raking a tour, plus we could do it at our pace.
I thought I would share some info about the hostel world. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this world. A million times better than a hotel. All of them, so far, have had a tv in the common area and I have never seen anyone watching them.  The best part is in the evening, when everyone comea back from their explorations for the day. The kitchen becomes active. We all share the fridge and no one takes anything that ian't theirs. An umwritten code of ethics. But at the same time, if you need a drop of oil, help yourself. Then if you bought some garlic and have a couple of cloves left over, you put them in the share area for someone else to use. We bought charcoal to bbq and while the fire was burning, others used it too. There are large tables to sit and eat at, where all the conversation takes place. Age doesn't matter. Here is where you share good tips, places to go and which ones where a disappointment. Recommendations for other good hostels is a common thing. Forget what you read in the travel guides.
This morning we had breakfast with a cute couple from Ireland. People also share stories about where they are from. So interesting.
Everyone uses the same dishes, so you wash your own and no one dries anything, all in drying racks.  You would think it would be a chaotic thing, but so not true.
The majority of psople in these hostels are young couples, few who are married.  95% are from Europe. We did meet 2 couples in their late 60s from Argentina. The one guy was so nice, telling us how to bbq this cut of meat that is a typical A
argentinian meal. He tried to communicate their travels, but that was much more difficult, since he did not speak any english.  But it was fun trying.
Our host, Eduardo, Martine and Rodrigho, are great. Very helpful and they don't seem to get impatient when we try to ask for things in spanish. They do speak pretty good english.
Well, time to pay attention out the window. The scenery is changing and I don't want to miss anything. More info on the wildlife later on.

2/20  What a day. G and I walked to the bus station after breakfast (included, but only sweetcakes, coffee or tea. We were spoiled in Iguazu with juice, eggs, fresh rolls) to buy our cama bus tickets, which means the sleeper bus. We splurged and got the ones that recline all the way. It includes 2 meals and movies. We leave at 21:30 and arrive in El Bolson at 11 am the next day.  Another new adventure. We bought our tickets only speaking spanish. We are really hetting good at this. So glad I took the class before we left. I know the grammar is horrible, but it is working. Days of the week, numbers and question words, foods, direction words and greetings are really important.
Surprise, surprise...the car rental guy was late dropping off the car by
1 1/2 hours. Guess we were on island time.  Oh well, when in Argentina...
The trip to the penguins was interesting for the first 10km. After that there was nothing to see for miles in either direction. The land was very deserty looking with nothing but scrub brush. We did see an ostrich looking bird and some guanancos (looks like a llama). The highwat has 3 different speed limits depending on what kind of vehicle you are driving. The last 20 km were on a gravel road. Interesting.
The park was done really nice by keeping it super natural. The only rule... DON'T TOUCH THE PENGUINS or DON'T STEP OUTSIDE THE WALK AREA.  I am happy to report I was a good girl, even though it was tempting. They were so cute. No repeat of Costa Rica and the turtles.  Some other guy got yelled at for disturbing the penguins.
Other than 3 little wooden bridges over the most common crossing areas, all they did was outline a stone walking area with larger stones.  EVERYWHERE you looked there were penguins. We were all surpriaed that they build nests as far as 1 km from the beach. That is pretty far for a penguin to waddle. We could watch them swim in the ocean and how cool it was to watch them body surf onto the beach and pop up at the last minute. This reminds me of watching the salmon swim upstream in alaska... we could have stood there all day watching.
Not only did I take tons of pictures, but some little video clips too. They were just soooooo cute.
Dinner tonight will be pre cooked something from the market with some kind of salad because we won't get back til late. Bob and Terry are going shopping. Who knows what we will end up with.
Tomorrow is an early start. Breakfast at 7, leave by 8 to Penninsula Valdes. More wildlife!

2/19  The first thing to report is at the airport it's the first time I had a name sign with my name on it waiting for us. Made us feel super cool. It was kind of a late night last night.  The shuttle ride from the airport was uneventful, other than the amazing night sky. Very Montana Big Sky like.  There were no lights for the entire 1 hour ride. Beautiful.  By the time we got to Puerto Madryn, checked in, got our info, got something to eat (at a cozy mexican cantina, where we tried a beetroot spread-yummy), it was midnight. We had the choice of a smaller room with private toilet and shower, or a much bigger room (2 stories) with a private toilet but we have to share the shower with another room.  We picked the bigger room. I told B and G to be careful what they say upstairs, because we can even hear them when they whisper, and evey time they walk or turn over. Guess that is what the ear plugs are for. Ha ha
The first priority this , orning was laundry. Yup, last pair of undies.The way it works is we drop it all off at the lavaderia, where they charge us by the kilo. All Terry and my laundry was 1 kilo for 49 pesos ($10).
Certainly worth it.
After that it was off to explore the town. We stopped in the meat market for our sausqges for tonight. You buy them by the meter. Then we got fresh bread and rolls for lunch and dinner. We came across the vegtable/fruit market which was really tiny, to pick up some fruit for lunch and snacks. I love shopping like this and all in spanish too. Well, it is really broken spanish, but G and I will not speak english. Then we got the rest of our groceries at a supermarket.
Aftering get back, we changed into our swimsuits and walked 5 minutes down the road to the beach.  So different from Rio. The sand is not white and here it is very windy. That is the norm. People bring foldable wind blocks , kind of like a portable cloth wall.  I can see why. The waves are non stop. A background noise all the time. Very different and hard to explain. The water was super cold, but we d3cided we would swim where ever we can. This is the Atlantic Ocean.
As I was laying on the beach when Terry went for a walk to check out the pier, all of a sudden a stray dog licked my face. YUCK. Why always me, who does not like animals? There seem to be strays everywhere.

2/18  Ths cutest kid sat next to us on the plane. Simon from Switzerland. He is taking 6 months to travel in South America before he starts college to study solar and renewable energy. Very talkative. He is taking a 4 week spanish class in Buenos Aires to start his adventure. We gave him Nikki's email to contact her for couch surfing. Ha ha.  He was very impressed that we are staying in hostels versus hotels (his exact words were "you are very cool people") and also wished us luck with the Inca Trail.
A couple more things to share
1. Don't put the toilet paper in the toilet, it goes in the garbage. If it weren't for visiting Nikki in Puerto Rico, I would be shocked. They do the same down there.
2. At any given moment a torrential downpour could start (even if the sun is shining). Guess I should have expected that since we are in rain forest.
3. No extra fee for your luggage -EVER
4. Seems Argentinians are not concerned that you take your shoes off when going through security or with liquids. But, they pat you down eventhough you go through a metal detector.
5. There are speed bumps everywhere in Argentinia and there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason to them.
6. We have only seen small cars. Gas in Buenos Aires is 1.79 pesos per liter.  In Rio, we walked past a garage that was super tiny. There was a turntable built into the floor. You drive in, get out and push the car around 180 degrees so you can then just drive out. Too much traffic to back out. Pretty clever.

Every so often, I will post random observations so I don't forget and to give you a better idea of the country we are in.
Eduardo from La Toscana Hostel made a reservation for the shuttle for us , so that when we land in Trelew, it is easy to get to Puerto Madryn. The highlights here are :
The largest penguin colony on the continent, 1, 000, 000 penguins strong
Sea lions and sea elephants
Orca whales
Tea ceremony
Snorkeling with all those animals ???
Bike riding on the penninsula
Beaches

A very nature oriented place.  Our first order of business will be to do laundry. The 5 shirts we brought only last so long.

We landed in B.A..  Had a small snafu with the comnection. Seems they decided to move the flight, not to another terminal, but to another airport. So we had to figure that out, then figure out how to find the free shuttle to take us there. A 1 hour bus ride. Interesting. None of the drivers spoke english. We got on a bus, but were the only 4 people and they wanted to wait til the bus was full.  So we asked to get on the smaller shuttle after trying to explain we would miss our flight. It worked and the guy took only us.
On the way we saw lots of slums, concrete, traffic, much like any other big city. We also saw Avenue Eva Peron. I am sure there are some nice parts here too. I am glad we decided to skip spending some days here. Hopefully we will get to see a tango show.

2/18 The local parade last night was so fun. We were a little worried when the 1st two groups were in their late 70s and pretty slow... but they were so cute doing their samba dances. The rest of the parade lived up to our expectations.  Their samba schools are like our cheerleaders and football players.  The girls are dressed in skimpy outfits, dancing and the boys are playing drums in a marching band format. Super cool because when they walk they all sway to the left and then to the right in time to the drum beats.  Both the boys and girls vary in age from about 4 to high school age.  The moves those girls can do...shaking and gyrating all sorts of body parts while wearing thongs and bikini tops.  Certainly a cultural thing, because I think we would call it exploiting kids.
Just took a half hour yoga break. Guess you could call it heat yoga.
So, back to the parade. So much energy here too. These Argentnians love their music. One tradition of this parade is cans of what looks like shaving cream, but is not sticky and easy to wipe off. Terry thinks more like some kind of sprayable foam. At first we thought it was just the kids, not true. It is completely acceptable to spray anyone as they walk by the stands. Oh, speaking of the stands, nothing more than a metal frame with roughcut lumber boards laid across to sit on. 5 rows high. All in all this mini samba dome held several thousand people. Anyway, there was this little boy sitting behind Bob. I caught the kids attention and shook my head yes. He was chomping on the bit to spray Bob. When he did, he wae so cute. He was probably about 6 or 7 and reminded me of cub. He would have loved doing that at that age. What am I talking about at that age, Terry went half way through the parqde to buy some for himself. At one point the announcer said something and all of a sudden everyone held their cans up and sprayed. We all got covered. So fun. We are on an entirely different continent, thousands of miles away and some things are the same.
Another cultural thing...the woman in front of us just started nursing her baby. Yup, no blanket, nothing and no one seemed surprised.
During intermission there were awesome fireworks. We only stayed until midnight, so I have no idea what they do for the finale. Walking  home, we were surprised at how many peolpe were out partyimg with their little kids. I wonder if the heat plays a roll, in that during the day it is well over 100 degrees, so they come alive at night.
This was a great little town and we will miss it. I feel like we actually live here. The butcher, bread counter lady and checkout girl at the grocery store know us and make great conversation. I have even gotten pretty good at lettimg them know what we want in spanish.
I JUST LOVE THIS !

Pictures

2/23a     Here are a few pics. Copacabana beach in rio, penguins on penninsula valdez, iguazu falls,  monkey in rain forest near rio, christ statue in rio, ice cream break in el bolson, marching in local parade during carnaval, our chef making our argentinian stew, crossing a rickety hanging bridge on our 8 hr. trek up the mountain

2/17   We had to leave our little paradise today. They were all booked up.  We found another cute place, but not so tropical looking, just down the street.  This is because we ended up staying an extra day.  This morning we took a 2 hour walk to where the 3 countries actually come together.  It was a very nice park area. Stopped for sandwich and dinner groceries on the way home. Turned out we spent $7 ea for lunch and dinner. Can't beat that.  On our walk we saw where a car must have driven through the guardrail and over a pretty big bank. Scarry road. We also saw were a ferry barge must have sunk along the shore and they were pumping out the water.  The boys were pretty interested in watching. Us not so much. Along the path there was a very small waterfall close enough to the sidewalk where we could cool off. Really pretty. Can't walk too far without water.  We came across a retaining wall about 100ft. Long and 10 ft. tall that was made out of wooden carved panels that depicted historical scenes.  Must have taken someone a really long time to do...beautiful. I think I am ready to leave the heat behind and head south where it will be just a little cooler.
Last night's adventure was very nice. Ate out locally and then sat at an outside tango bar where a 3 piece band played tango music, but the dance show was cancelled due to the fact it was done outside and it rained just previously. We did find out that tonight there will be a carnaval parade. Fun!
The boys are napping in the hammocks, and I am going to grab my book until it's time for dinner. Right now we are on vacation. Most of the time we are on a "adventura". That has become our mantra when it's hot, or something doesn't go according to plan.

2/16  I thought I would tell you a little about our place.  The 4 of us are sharing a room, 1 double bed and 2 bunkbeds.  Since Bob and G are much taller, they have the double bed.  It has been a long time since I have slept in a top bunk.  The room is small, but comfortable.  The place looks very tropical with lots of palms, and other types of trees, hammocks, nice walkways, and I love the outdoor kitchen and eating area.  I took some pictures for later.  There is one very long table with benches that we all eat at.  Dinner time is so fun, with everyone cooking their own meals at the same time.  Perfect time to meet them all.  There are couples from Holland, London, Germand (Hamburg), Russia, Columbia.  Many of them are "kids" in their early 30s.  Everyone back home thought our trip was quite the adventure.  Most of these people are doing 6 to 10 month trips.  Not sure where they are all getting their money.  G thinks they are what is known as "trust fund babies".  Must be nice.    All so friendly, interesting and smart people.  I think we are the only ones so far that we have met that are from the United States.  One of the men we were talking to commented on how Americans just dont know how to live.  Way to much work.  Maybe he has a point.
It is very humid here today.  But somehow it feels good.  Other than the Nature Preserve, today is a down day.  We have literally walked 8 to 10 hours a day.  Today is all about the pool, hammock and a good book. some wine, and tonight we are off to the little town for some local food, and tango.  Cant wait.
Our trip on Monday will be about 1500km.  But since we are flying, that is an easy one.  We are thinking we will be entering some cooler weather.  The place we booked is a couple of blocks from the beach, with lots of outdoor space.  I cant believe how much I love just being outside.  We have not watched one minute of TV, no phones and other than these blogs and making reservations, no computer time either.  Facebook and all the rest.... just not important.
I do miss not knowing what is going on at home with the family, but I have a gotten a couple of emails and that is very nice.  We did see in a local paper about the meteor, the blade runner and the oscars. 
Time for breakfast (included with our hostel).  Rolls, cereal, Tang (yup, thats their version of orange juice), homemade breadfast cake and a couple of times there were scrambled eggs.  Nothing fancy, but fills our tummies.
Oh, by the way, we found out that where we thought we were seeing all 3 countries at the same time, was not the right place. Funny, huh.   So maybe tonight, before dinner, we will take a walk to the right place.
Just got back from the nature preserve and we also visited a place that rebuilt what the missions used to look like.  Most of the buildings were built from the Aripuca tree and some of the logs were larger than the sequoias we saw in California.  A few were about 1000 yrs. old.  It was really interesting.  The nature preserve was cool.  They take in hurt, sick or abandoned animals.  The ones that are close to being endangered, they keep for reproduction and then the babies are released into the wild.  The ones that are not endangered and nursed back to health and released.  We saw tucans, tapirs, capuchkin monkies, and lots of other exotic animals.
G and I took our turn going to the grocery store for lunch supplies.  We ate a quick lunch and then the boys took a nap and we went for a swim.  It is really hot and humid today. 
I am trying to unload my pictures from the camera onto an external hard drive, but the computer only has 1 usb port, so thats not possible.
Hopefully the next place will have what I need.

2/14  We woke up this morning to pouring rain.  Not a good day to view the falls.  We decided we would plan our next leg of the trip.  Unfortunately the internet method was not working for plane flights, so we donned our rain coats and headed out to the travel office.  Of course it was closed for siesta, so we took a walk to the area where you can see all 3 countries: Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.  We stopped at the little market for tonights dinner: steak, noodles, cucumber salad and of course the red wine.  Seems this is the traditional meal in Argentina.  We hit the jackpot.  Germaine and I came across a bottle of Tia Maria for $10.  Thats cheaper than water.  No kidding.  We will have to go vack to the travel office later when everyone comes back to work.  Stay tuned.
Well, we made out good.  We are going to Puerto Madryn.  After speading to a bunch of travelers, we decided to skip Buenos Aires.  Too big of a city, with very little to do.  The only thing we were really looking forward to is a tango show, which we are told we can do elsewhere.
We are staying a couple of days longer here.  Our flight leaves on Monday.  It gives us more time to explore the falls and other things here in this quaint little town.  G and I are going window shopping tomorrow night, since everything doesnt really come to life until 8pm.
Gotta go, our BBQ steak is done.  What a bonus traveling with Bob who LOVES to cook.

2/13  I have started dating these blogs, since I cant always post them and who knows what order they will end up in.  Today we are starting the next phase of our trip.  On the shuttle we met 2 ladies from London, who we ended up sharing a taxi with.  They did the same thing we had planned...fly to the Brazilian side, check out the falls and then go to the Argentinian side where we will spend 4 days.  This cab driver was amazing.  For 220 reales ($120 for all 4) he took us to the entrance to the park, bought our tickets, drove the 12 km to the falls, waited an hour and a half while we hiked, took us back to the airport (turns out as of 1/7/13 we Do need to pay the reciprocity fee, which you MUST do Before you get to the border with a print out - who knew), took us across the border, handled all the paperwork dropped off the girls at their hotel and then took us to our hostel.  Talk about a good deal.  All for $60.  The internet said the bus would work good.  I am convinced that is not true.
To back up a little, on the way to the airport, we saaw a couple of favales (slums).  They looked just like on tv where they run across the roofs to escape.  Real poverty.
Going through security at the airport, Terry forgot to put his 2 pocket knives in his luggage, and yes, they found them.  I am standing there and the one guy is escorting him away.  For a split second I got really worried, but turns out he was just taking him to the area where he had to dump them into a bin.  Put a real damper on things, but he got over it.  More sentimental than anything.
Incredibally, we met Bob and Germaines at the hostel.  The plan actually worked.  Bob cooked us a nice dinner in the cocina (outdoor kitchen) with a good glass of wine.  Spent a couple of hours relaxing and talking to the other guests before bed.  We are pooped!

2/15  We woke up today and the sun was shining, perfect for the falls.  Had a good breakfast, which is included and headed out.  On the way we found Daniel, another super fun taxi driver. He took us to the park and came back 7 hours later to pick us up.  We walked ALL day.  It was overcast, so that was perfect.  There is really no way to describe these falls.  Niagara Falls looks like a little stream compared to these falls.  Simply amazing.  Of course I took a gazillion pictures knowing none of them will do them justice.  Oh well, at least we will know.  Saw so many butterflys it felt like we were in the conservatory.  They are huge and so colorful.  Not really any good pictures of those, way to hard to capture.  They were landing on people and flying around like flies.  So cool.  We also saw coatis.  I think they are a combination racoon and ant eater.  Very strange looking.  There were even little babies walking around. 
Of course it started to pour, but just as we were getting on the little train that takes you to the highest look out point.  Perfect and believe it or not, as soon as we got there it stopped and the same thing happened on the way down.  Talk about good luck.
Just as he promised, Daniel was there when we got to the exit and took us home.
Germaine and I sent the boys to the grocery store to get tonights dinner - not sure what they will come back with.
In the meantime, we just finished making our reservation at the next hostel (La Toscan Hostel) in Puerto Madryn for Monday night.  We made it for 4 nights to start with.  This is the area near Penninsula Valdes, where all the whales, sea lions and penguins are.  Hopefully well see lots.
Oh, just want you all to know that I recognize that I am not using apostrophes.  I cant figure out how to get the spanish keyboard to make them.  Ha Ha.
Tomorrow we are thinking of going to the nature preserve.  They have monkies, pumas, and all sorts of exotic animals.  Well see!

2/13 Yesterday was kind of a laid back day. We visited other neighborhoods..Santa Teraza, Lapa and Urca. Fabio suggested a taxi to S. Tereza, but of course Terry had other ideas. The metro to a bus ... we walked and walked and walked. I have come to realize that it is a full time job trying to avoid the sun and the parades. We came across 7 during our 8 hour walk. They were everywhere.  In S. Tereza we saw the hippie, artsy district, Lapa had the Seleron stairs and Urca was were Sugarloaf mountain and a beach were located. Here at the beach we had our daily salsa dog and relaxed under the shade and read for a while as we people watched. In Lapa we came across 2 young ladies from Australia who were looking for the stairs too. They had quit their waitressing jobs to travel to America for 3 months. While there, they met lots of people who convinced them they should go to S. America. So they found a cheap flight to Panama and it's been 7 months for them here. Next week they will start looking for jobs on line to head home in 3 weeks. How cool is that? You meet the most interesting people traveling. .. and Terry and I thought this was an adventure!  Of course he took the opportunity to ask about jobs for us in the mining industry for when we retire.
S. Tereza was very nice with cobbled streets and it set way up on a hill. We figured out why Fabio suggested a taxi. Quite the hike. Guess we were preparing for the Inca Trail.  Terry is looking forward to that so we can rest up. Ha ha.
We got back to our neighborhood just before dark...safe and sound. We did really good all on our own. Dinner was at a local sandwich shop and we managed to order without a word of english. Took a gamble and it was delicious.
Ended the day with our nightly walk on the beach (which of course the internet tells you not to do, but we found to be very safe, probably since it's carnaval and there are so many people).
Back to the room to pack.
This morning we are leaving the big city to meet up with Bob And Germaine in Iguazu Falls, Argentina. Even though we had a great time here, we are not really city oeople and are looking forward to the more  rural areas with nature as the focus.
Wish us luck crossing the border by bus, cause Terry says anyone can manage customs at an airport. This may be a little more adventurous.

2/11 I am amazed at how different it is in this big city. For one thing, if I saw a half dozen people on a cell phone today that is a lot. No one has ear buds in either. Fabio says it is because Brazilians are respectful people who love life. They prefer speaking to those who are around. When we met his friends at the parade, we got kisses from everyone. They are very much a friendly people culture.
The bike rental thing had a rough start. Seems you need a cell phone to get the rack to release the bike, but first you have to register on line. We could not get on line this morning, so on to plan B. We walked down to the beach (only a 5 minute walk) and found a local woman working at the gas station who had a couple of bikes. Very non descript-good for a couple of tourists. Let me clarify gas station... 2 pumps at the side of the road.
The best way to describe today is to list our observations
1. For the most part, Brazilians are pretty fit
2. Speedos are the fashion for men
3. Not sure why most women wear a bathing suit top, since they are all WAY too small
4. All along the path and on the beach there are tons of vendors selling snacks, beer, ice cream, one even had an umbrella with at least a hundred swim suit tops.
5.  We now know why everyone has an umbrella-the sun is HOT. There is not enough sunscreen to put on to block out the extreme rays.
6.  We ran into another parade...surprise.  They are everywhere.
7.  They lay out soaker hoses from the sidewalk all the way to the water because the sand is too hot too walk on.
8. The guys playing futvolley hose down the courts too.
9. The waves are really big here, about 6-7 feet. Lots of fun to play in. (Its the Atlantic)
10. We narrowly avoided a second parade for the day by going around it. That meant riding our bikes on a very busy bus route. Kind of scary.
11. Dressing up for carnaval extends to the beach as well. We even saw a little one about 2 dressed as a belly dancer.
12. Brazilian parents bring little blow up kiddie pools for their kids. The one in front of us was about 2ft. in diameter and the baby was about 1. Great idea except she had to keep putting cold water in it so the kid wouldn't boil.
13. On the way back we noticed a few cool off zones that spray out a mist.
14. The whole trip was about 12 km.  We rode the whole thing from end to end and stopped to swim at all 3 beaches.
15. It is impossible to carry enough agua and the vendors know it. 3 ($1.50) reales for 250ml (less than a can of pop)
That about sums up the trip, once back home we needed another nap. Dinner was Brazilian. We ate at a restaurant where you pay by the weight of what is on your plate. Very common here. Its buffet style with a diner atmosphere. Very good. We headed to the beach for an evening walk and guess what? Yup, another parade. We learned that they don't cross neighborhood lines. That's why they are called block parties.
We read outside in the park for a while. Easy to do since everything is lit up. We could see the Christ statue all lit up from there.
Tomorrow it's off to Santa Tereza.  Seems the best way is by taxi. Terry is a little disappointed about that.
.

2/10 We learned a few things today.
1.  Taking the bus is a very inexpensive way to travel
2.  The same method of transportation can be very aggressive
3.  Terry is good at getting us on the bus...push, push and push some more
4.  Don't take your glasses to the beach-especially at night
5.  Brazil has hard rolls that rival the ones I love in Germany
6.  There are no bugs here
We got to sleep in today. Made our breakfast at homeGot on the #583 bus to Cosme Veljo. Crazy ride. When we got there the tram was sold out til 6pm. Leave it to the Brazilians to be creative. Must be during busy times they have vans that go up the mountain. Cheaper and we found out, much better. Another crazy ride up the mountain. Lots ot hair pin turns and sheer cliffs.
As we arrived at the top, we encountered a humongous line. As e waited we made conversation with the couple ahead of us. They very little english. But again hand gestures go a long way. All of a sudden she becomes aware that the line we were in was for those who already had tickets. Oops!  We decide that she would go buy all our tickets and we would hold their spot. Gave her our money and that worked like a charm. Even waiting in the long line turned out good. We got to see capuchkin monkies playing in the trees. So cute.
There are a few attractions (like the Alamo) that I have been disappointed in. Nothing like you see on tv. This was NOT one of those. Truly majestic and the view was unbelieveable. After taking many pictures (had to fight the other tourists for the prime photo opportunities) we headed back. Our initial plan was to go to Santa Tereza , but we felt it would be too rushed so we got in line for the #584 bus back to Copacabana. What a wait, and Terry would not let us take a cab back. Nope, we were going to do it by bus. So 45 minutes later in the heat and after being on our feet all day, we PUSHED our way on the bus.
Once back in our apartment, we made a sandwich and decided to go for a swim. It was dusk and very refreshing. Lots of people out and about. Anyway, we sat on the beach til dark and then headed home, not realizing that I left my glasses there.  Of course we had to go look for them. 2 months without reading would not have worked. And yes, we found them. So all in all another great day,
Tomorrow we are going to rent bikes and ride along the path to all the beaches...Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon  about 12 miles.

2/10 Yesterday was amazing. We had THE whole carnaval experience. First we walked in a parade. Walking means samdaing. It started at 10am and we walked, sang, danced and drank til 3pm. Yup, that is not a typo. 5 hours in the blazing  sun, where even sun block isn't enough, skin to skin with sweaty bodies. LOVED IT.  After that a quick dip in the Atlantic to cool off. Terry needed just a little help walking home after enjoying the brazilian custom of ALWAYS having a beer in your hand. Doing this with the locals was great. Fabio's sister played in the marching band and we met a lot of their friends. We planned on meeting up with Fabio and Andrea around 5 for another parade, but the parade kicked out butts so eventhough I am not much of a napper, that is what we did. Overslept by an hour, so we didn't meet Fabio. Instead, Terry and I ventured out on our own. Took the "dangerous" subway to the samba dome for the big parade. TOTALLY COOL EXPERIENCE, So glad we decided to pay the money for tickets. Had to bargain down. Great seats right across from the judges booth. The energy was infectious. Loud music, singing, dancing. So amazing. We only stayed until 2am. It started at 9pm and went to 9am. Yup, non stop. Ride home on the subway was eventless. Everywhere you look, no matter what time of day, tons of funny and elaborate costumes. Would love to have posted some pictures, but I have not figured out how to get them on my tablet from my camera. Stay tuned, I will figure it out.
I have learned not to believe everything you read on the internet. Copacabana is Not dangerous, the subway is a great means of transportation and hardly anyone living in Rio speaks English (including the police). But you can easily communicate with hand gestures and a phrase book.
Tomorrow we are heading out on our own again. This time conquering the bus system. Off to Santa Tereza and the Christ statue.

2/8 We made it. Sure was a long flight, but United has screens in the seat ahead of you which provide movies, television, video games and music. Not bad
Had a little trouble locating the place to pick up our shuttle. Rule#1 make a friend. Terry did with the brazilian man sitting next to him on the plane. He called the shuttle company and...voila. we were all set. We saw the christ statue, sugar loaf mountain and a lot of shanty houses on the way. The apartment is great. Fabio met us and he is taking us to Santa Tereza tomorrow morning for our 2nd carneval parade because we saw our 1st one tonight. Terry and I ventured out and went to the beach in Leme. A nice walk and they had their local parade.  So many crazy and fun people. We ate some local food off vendor carts (no stomache aches yet). If we had any doubt about how big soccer is here, it didn't take long for proof. The entire beach area  has nets set up along with volleyball nets. However, they too are used for soccer...soccer volleyball. Really cool to watch.
So it's almost 10 pm here and we are calling it a night. Guess I am not immune to jet lag. Terry is doing a quick once over of the Rio map we have to get our bearings for tomorrow.

2/7 Well, we made it to Dulles, and not too soon. The storm was heading in and you could tell they were hurrying to get as many flights out as they could. Good thing we were headed to Dulles and not JFK or Newaek or Chicago. So, I would say this is a great start to the trip.

Nicole our daughter wanted me to add to the blog as time permits.seeing a trip thru a males perspective might add some reality. We winterized the house before we left. The basement is cleaner than it has ever been. Flooding of the basement is my biggest worry while we are away. Other than that, I am excited to finally be on our way. My wife has done a tremondous job on the preparations. Stay tuned. Terry

The Adventure begins...

2/11
So,  after over a year of planning, in less than 48 hours, we will be off on our adventure.  Lots of last minute things to take care of.  I find myself both extremely excited and yet a little nervous.  It is a long time to "check out of reality".  Hopefully all our preparations were enough.  I think I am going to keep my checklist for future reference.
Our adventure will begin in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.  IT'S  CARNEVAL!  Something I have always dreamed of doing.  Most information out there warns the traveler of robberies during Carneval.  Let's hope there is nothing to report.
We then move on to Iguazu Falls.  Luckily we will get to see them from both sides (Brazil and Argentina).  Here we will meet our traveling companions, my cousin Germaine and her husband Bob.
We made reservations at both these places, but after that ?????    So far the plan will be to jump on a sleeper bus down to Buenos Aires, Argentina.  But...... who knows.
From there, we will make our way down the Argentinian coast, passing through Peninsula Valdes on the way to Patagonia and Uschaia (southern most town in the world). 
We will then get on a ferry in Punto Arenas, Chile for a 4 day trip through glaciers to Puerto Montt, Chile.  Working our way up north to Santiago, there is lots of wine country to explore.  We are thinking that a "hop on, hop off" bus might be the way to go. 
In Santiago, we are considering a side trip to Easter Island.  That will depend on time and how much money we have left.
Heading further north, through the desert of Chile, we hope to first go to Mendoza, Argentia and the Valley of the Moon in Salta.
All this on the way to our final destination, Machu Picchu, Peru.  We have a reservation to hike the Inca Trail on April 1st.  Maybe we will stop in Lake Titicaca first.  This part of the trip is really open ended.   A lot of it will depend on the transportation available.  It was really hard to get a handle on it through the internet.
We will end up in Lima, Peru on April 10th for the long flight home.
So, stay tuned and I hope you will visit often to perhaps experience some of this adventure with us.