Going to Patagonia

For the last week or so I've put most my energy into organizing for the future.  It has been mostly a combination of research and preparation into a 3 three week trip to Patagonia paired with my realization that I'll be at the UW for printmaking this fall.   Of course that realization did come with a little celebrating.  (This post is also a heads up that I won't be blogging for the next three weeks) 

The trip to Patagonia has been in the planning stage for several months now and this Wednesday the trek will begin.  My cousin Joe and I will be traveling with a loose outline that will allow for spontaneous exploring of one of the most beautiful parts of our planet.  We are flying to the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia (pronounced OO-shwhy-a), and from there we'll work our way north along the Andes up to the city of Bariloche, Argentina.  It's possible that we will go in and out Chile from Argentina more than once on this trip seeing that we will be near the border the whole time.  We are looking forward to some amazing hiking in the Torres del Paine National Park, white water rafting in Argentina/Chile, the glaciers of El Calafate, trout fishing in the legendary rivers of the south and cruising around the Tierra del Fuego... among other possibilities.

I'll be bringing a travel journal as well as my trusty camera to document this trip.  I look forward to sharing the experience with all of you when I return.  Enjoy the next three weeks.      

PBR Drawing Contest

This isn't Argentina related, but equally as exciting.  Yesterday I found out my drawing submission was chosen as a finalist for the Pabst Blue Ribbon art contest... a dream come true.   There were 4 categories to submit work:  drawing/painting, sculpture, photography and creative writing.  There were 5 finalists picked from each category.  Out of the 5, one will receive 1893 dollars (the number is significant to the year Pabst won the blue ribbon) and a years worth of beer.  There is one runner up in each section that will take home a third of all that.  And the 3 honorable mentions will score a $250 dollar check.  My cousin Paul has been kind enough to handle sending the drawing in.  And a special shout out to his wife Ashley for telling me about the contest and convincing me that I could win us all free beer.  I'll find out if I scored more cash and free beer in about 4 weeks... keep your fingers crossed for me.  

Here is the drawing titled "A Wild Ride".  If you've ever drank PBR you know what I'm talking about.  It's kind of small on the blog but I think you can get the gist.  

Gualeguaychu: Argentine Carnival

I have been so fortunate to be in Argentina absorbing culture and life at every possible opportunity.  Traveling for the last 10 days has refreshed my love for adventures in a foreign land and sparked my excitement for the months ahead.  I just came back from a camping trip in Gualeguaychu (pronounced like wall-A-why-chu) located 3 hours north of BsAs by bus.  Most people that visit Argentina have never been or even heard of this place.  It is the first truly Argentine spot that I've been to.   Being part of something off the beaten path in truly where genuine experiences lye.  I will always remember hiking in the mountains of south eastern Poland with my Polish friends and singing Polish sailor songs by the fire at night.  This past weekend will be one that I remember forever.       

My friend Barnaby has been spending his 2 month holiday camping in Patagonia and traveling all over Argentina.  We have been planning on doing some camping together since last year and it finally happened on Wednesday where Adam, Barney and I traveled to Gualeguaychu.  None of us really had any idea of what to expect.  One of Barney's students said that the town has a carnival celebration every weekend in January and February and that it is worth checking out.     
We arrived on Wednesday night and set up our tents in a prime location by a grill with trees providing nice shade in the day time.  The campsite was one of the nicest I've been to lifetime and it also had a beach on the river with volleyball, a canopy restaurant/ chill zone, a stage and much more.  

The beach was the place to be during the day and from morning til night it was packed, especially on the weekends.  The stage hosted DJ's and performers all weekend playing music to get the beach goers dancing.  The weather was mostly perfect, on Thursday it rained all day but during the weekend I didn't see a single cloud.  I would guess the temperature was in the high 80's low 90's everyday.  

At one point on Friday these giant machines dumped foam into the crowd for hours while industrial techno blared from the stage.  I can safely say I've never been part of anything like that.  Argentines love to party all day and all night (on the weekends young Argentines typically will have a late dinner, say between 10 and midnight, then hang out at a bar til about 3 or 4am before dancing til morning at a club).  Gualeguaychu never stopped going, not for morning, not for sleep, not for anything.  Mate was crucial and at the campsite everyone I saw in the morning was passing gourds.  

Carnival

The whole weekend was leading up to Saturday night which was the Carnival parade.  This celebration is the biggest thing in the town all year and I wouldn't be surprised if the town quadruples in size on parade day.  The parade is comprised of 3 sections that signify different images and symbols referring to culture, politics and the history of the Argentine people.  Barney's Argentine girlfriend Maru was explaining the importance and the history of each section during the parade.  In each section there were enormous and elaborate floats pushed by tractors filled with people in costumes dancing.  As you can see the creativity of the floats and costumes were so amazing.  People in the town work on these floats for 10 months out of the year and I think the best floats receive nice dinero.    

      
The whole parade was set up on a path about 30 feet wide and about a half mile long with grandstands filled with people down the whole way.  The place was packed and everyone was dancing and singing from 11pm until about 4am when the parade ended.  Time completely flew and by the end I couldn't believe what time it was.  I stood with the rest of the crowd and danced from start til finish.  The last of the parade was dressed up percussionists and we managed to get on the path and followed them with hundreds of others dancing til the police stopped us.  We left the parade and continued the celebration, when the sun came up our night was over.  

Here are some more pics from the parade.

  

All in all the trip was probably the funniest experience that i've come to know here in Argentina.  I suggest anyone who is in the country during January and February to check it out.  I promise you won't be disappointed.  

IGUAZOO FALLS

Iguazu falls... oh what a weekend!  So this was my first real trip outside the city.  Every since I watched Planet Earth's:  Rivers, I knew this destination was a must on my travel list in Argentina.  Iguazu falls is a system of 275 water falls that stretch more than 1.6 miles between Argentina and Brazil.  On Friday afternoon my roommate Adam and I embarked on a 16+ hour bus ride to Puerto Iguazu.  The bus ride was 1st class comfort with drinks, snacks, dinner and movies.

  If you find Buenos Aires (the star by Uruguay) on the map and follow it north and a little east you will see where Iguazu is located. 

 
We arrived to our hostel and relaxed at the pool for the first day looking forward to a full day at the falls the next.  Little did we know that we reserved beds at South America's biggest hostel hosting 250 travelers and the largest pool in the region... 10 dollars a night well spent!  There was a gigantic asado (bbq) at the hostel and throughout the day and night we met some very nice and interesting people.

  
We started our day with a healthy walk through the jungle of the Iguazu nation park, down to the waterfalls.  I really wanted to see monkeys and crocodiles but seeing these unidentifiable raccoon like animal was still cool.
There were footpaths all over the falls so you could see the expansive area of falling water from various vantage points.  The sun was a blistering 95 degrees with reasonably high humidity (probably the hottest feeling day I can remember).

  One of the attractions at the falls is going on a boat ride to see the falls from the water level.   
The best part of the ride is when the driver excelerates right into the mouth of the above waterfall.   The force of the water pushes the boat out and everyone is completely soaked and ecstatic.  We chanted for more and head-butted the falls 3 more times before the boat took us back.  This was my favorite part of the day.

   

Here are some various pictures of the falls... ENJOY!!!  

This is the famous Garganta del Diablo aka the devils throat.  We had to take a short train ride to see this beast.  We finished our day with this one and after 6 hours of constant walking in the sun we we're ready for the pool