Argentina & Uruguay

Well chicos, we're back! You most likely didn't notice, but it's been a couple months since we've posted. This was due to the fact that we were saving all of our money and vacation time for our most recent trip, to Argentina and Uruguay. I'll break the trip report down into three parts; Buenos Aires, Patagonia, and Uruguay.

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming montage with all the best pics and video (including helmet-cam on the glacier), coming soon!!!

Buenos Aires

We started the trip off with a few nights in Buenos Aires. On a friend's recommendation, we booked a guest house in a trendy neighborhood called Palermo, and it didn't disappoint. We spent our days wandering around the cafes, museums, parks, and shops, and our nights eating and drinking more than we really should have. One night we saw a Tango show in downtown BA, but we mostly stayed in Palermo and Recoleta. You can view the photos from BA HERE.

Patagonia

We could have stayed in BA another week, but the mountains were calling. We boarded a plane and headed south, way south. After landing in the tiny airport in El Calafate we rented a car and drove three hours north El Chalten, the trekking capital of Argentina. El Chalten was a really cool little mountain town, with people from all over there world there to experience the incredible mountains and surrounding scenery. On our first day we trekked to Lago Torre, beneath the stunning Cerro Torre. I've seen dozens of pictures of Cerro Torre in the climbing magazines over the years, but to see the amazing spire in person was something else. We poached our way into a "guides only" area and ate lunch about 100 meters from the glacier.

The next day we trekked to Lago de los Tres, the closest spot to Fitz Roy and probably the most famous hike in the area. For the second day in a row we had warm temps, very little wind, and no clouds. It wasn't even really that crowed, and we lingered for an hour at the frozen lake in short sleeves.

After the great time in El Chalten we drove back to El Calafate for a guided all-day trek on the Perito Moreno Glacier. The Perito Moreno really has to be seen to be believed. At the toe where it calves into the lake it's 5k wide and in places 400' tall. We took a boat across the lake and then crampon'd up for a 4-hour tour of the glacier. It was like walking on another planet, with crazy blue lakes and gushing creeks cascading into sink-holes and crevasses you couldn't see to the bottom of. The weather started off miserable, but 30 minutes into the hike the wind and rain stopped and it was actually pretty nice out. Too soon we had to hike back out and catch the boat. On the boat ride they served everyone a whiskey with a chuck of glacier ice, a nice touch. It had truly been a week to remember. Photo Gallery of PATAGONIA

Uruguay

The last leg of our trip was a tour of the East coast of Uruguay. We spent a fun night in the capital city of Montevideo before renting a car and heading east to Cabo Polonio. Polonio is a tiny little beach town that has two hotels, a lighthouse, and a couple hundred houses. Only three building have electricity, and those only for a few hours at night. There are no roads that lead into town, so you have to ride in on a big diesel truck that locals have outfitted to carry tourists and their luggage. We saw sea-lions and seal by the hundreds sunning themselves on the rocks, and the beaches were basically deserted.

After Cabo Polonio we toured the Ombu forest, and really crazy tree/shrub that is only found in concentration at this one place in Uruguay. The anarchaic growth pattern of the tree result in some fantastical shapes, and it was really cool to tour this unique forest. After the Ombu forest we headed to La Paloma, a little beach town south of Cabo Polonio. Our final destination was Punta del Este, one of the most upscale beach resorts in South America. It was quite a trip to go from humble Cabo Polonio to the beach-side high-rise condo madness of Punta del Este, but it was a great way to spend our last night. At this point work was calling, our bank accounts were close to exhausted, and we were missing Hayduke. It was the trip of a lifetime, and left us pondering where to check out next. Photos from URUGUAY!