New Years in Patagonia

Happy New Years everyone! Im spending it in patagonia in a town called El Calafate. Today i visited the magnificent Perito Moreno glacier. Its a piece of ice the size of Buenos Aires, need i say more?

Argentina Rocks!

The pulse of south america

Finally in the big city...Buenos Aires. Ive been hearing great things about this city for months from various travelers and finally im here to see if for myself. So far it has not disappointed...there´s a reason they call this city the paris of south america. Lots of really unique and interesting neibourhoods, great restaurants, cafés and nightlife. A danish guy i met a while back in cuzco hit it spot on..."Buenos Aires is a city with a pulse". I spend most of the day walking around this massive place, so far ive seen Recoleta a very high-end neighborhood with an interesting above ground cemetary and San Telmo, the Soho of BA.

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a relaxing holiday season, eat lots, be merry and instead of making a typical new years resolution...instead imagine something that will make you unbelievably happy and make sure you do it next year!

Tonight ill be spending christmas eve with follow students from my spanish school...we´re having a BBQ outside :) Later, around 1am tonight we´re hitting the nightlife as is customary in argentia...one of the biggest party nights of the entire year. Tomorrow sleep and later i depart to the big city, Buenos Aires.

Do as the argentinians do

Yesterday i did something very risky...entrusted a south american to cut my hair. Actually it wasnt all that bad, the argentinians are by far the most stylish latios ive come across so far...i found the best salon in town, asked for a cut thats very popular in argentina right now (without cutting it too short into the mullet), 5USD later and i can say im very satisfied :) Weather is great, school is great, life is great.

A little rest

Ive decided to settle down for a week in Bariloche. This is "the" vacation town in Argentina. Im still in the lakes district, so there are plenty of them around, plus mountains in every direction. I went for a really nice hike yesterday to Ser Otto where i saw about 7 or 8 condors. Ive also enrolled in a spanish school for the week, i attend classes everyday from 9am till 1 and we usually do things together in the afternoons. We already have christmas dinner planned for later in the week. The group lessons are amazing...the four hours pass by really quickly. There are only 2 students in my class (including myself) and we usually spend at least half the time chatting about stuff in spanish. This costs 6USD per hour...money well spent. Mi escuela de Español.


Learning new languages is such a drag...
Left to right: Favia (teacher), me (on 3 hours sleep), Angelique (other student)

Done with Chile for now

Spent the weekend in Puerto Varas, another small town in the lakes district of chile. Cute town, lake, volcano...you´ve heard the story before. Last night was a long drinking night, so today i only had time for a short but very pleasant hike near Volcano Osorno. Tomorrow i depart for the land famous for its beef, wine, chocolate, nightlife, hiking and tango...

Pucon and Area

Found a cool drawing of the area on the web. The big volcano that i climbed, Villarrica is in the center, the lake to the left and the Pucon is the tiny town on the top right of the lake.

Region IX

Lots to write about! For the last few days ive been in a town called Pucon in Region IX of Chile, also known as the lakes district. FYI, chile is nicely sliced up into 12 regions, the first one being at the north and the 12th in the south. This area of the world looks like Ontario cottage country (lots of lakes and big green trees), plus some magnificent volcanos and of course the Chilean people who come here on vacation. I must admit, the locals here have been the nicest, most welcoming people in SA thus far.

The town is situated on lake Villarrica and has a very german/swiss feel to it...actually there are many german/swiss immigrants here so at times it doest feel like chile at all. The big attraction is Volcano Vallarrica...a beautifully shaped volcano, much of it covered in snow which hovers in the horizon. The weather was perfect yesterday so i took the opportunity and rented a boat to get some nice pictures of the volcano with the lake in the foreground. Today was my adventure day. The plan was to hike the volcano...but when i woke up this morning the entire sky was clouded over. I still managed to get myself up and walked over to the tour company and to my surprise the trip was still on. Fine i thought...but we´re not going to see anything. But as the bus drove up to the base of the hike, we broke through the clouds to reveal the mountain lit up by the morning sun. The hike was simply amazing, when we reached the sumit (2850m) i had my first look at lava. A whole at the bottom of the crater would every few minutes makes some gurgles, then heat up red and finally blow lava over 100 feet into the air. Even the guides were impressed since it was more active than usual. But the best was saved to the end, sliding down the entire volcano lying on my back and using my ice-axe as a brake. Great fun.


The Goal


The Lava


The Hippie

Touring the Island

So instead of going on a group tour, a couple other backpackers and i rented a car and toured the island oursleves. This gave us more time around the island yesterday (including a sunrise this morning), allowed us to find a secluded beach for our lunch stop and we didnt feel like cows being hearded from one Moai to the next. Plus i got to drive a 4x4 jeep for the day :) Yesterday was so action packed that we´ve all decided to take a day off to relax. Not too difficult in 30C weather. Other notes, ive been buying my food from the local farmers market here...fresh everything including amazing mini-bananas, pineapples and avocadoes. Yum.


Birdman competitions were held on this volcano


More Moai


Goofing around

Rapa Nui

Quick update cause internet is f&%$´n expensive on Rapa Nui, that´s Easter Island. Before flying over here, i spent a few days in Santiago...i wasnt very impressed. Usually described as a north american slash european city, i would throw in the word "average" in there as well. Although i did see a cool Andy Warhol exibit.

Back to Easter Island. Its hot and humid, kinda reminds me of maui without the vegitation. The history of this place is what drew me here (and what draws all the tourists)...its long and controversial so read up on it yourself if youre interested. Last night i watched Rapa Nui the movie (produced by Kevin Costner) which was a good hollywood into. Ive walked around a bit, seen some Moai statues and visited the museum. In the next few days i plan to take a guided tour of the island, relax, relax, and relax.


Moais from my daily sunset spot