El Calafate

It's really easy to take way more pictures than necessary of the glacier.




El Calafate at sunset.

From Torres Del Paine I crossed the border back into the good land of Argentina to see the Perito Moreno glacier on my way to El Chalten. There's some tourist attractions you could care less about and others that just nag at you until you see them. The Perito Moreno glacier was one of those things I just had to see. The plan was to blow in and out of Calafate, leaving just enough time to see the glacier. Unfortunately, due to a cancelled bus to Northern Patagonia from El Chalten, I had to return south to Calafate later on in the trip to catch the bus north. If you've seen the glacier, there is nothing left to do but browse lousy, over-priced trinket shops, visit the casino or buy chocolate... I opted for buying chocolate.

Torres Del Paine

The sky in Pataonia is vast, it's as if your eyes cannot even comprehend its full expansion.

I didn't see much wildlife in the park, but here's some llamas.


Met Karla from New Zealand the first day up.


After I made it to the campsite the first day, I decided to hike up to see the Torres because it was so clear.


I really wanted to hike up for sunrise the following day, but I didn't have a flashlight and no one at the campsite wanted get up at 3:30am. Thankfully I was able to convince one of the staff members, Nelson, at the Refugio to come along and bring an extra head lamp.

I waited and waited and they finally turned pink for about one minute- it was freezing up there.

early morning yoga.

Sunrise.

Renee, Karla and a bad camp stove.


Setting up camp at Los Cuernos.

Rorrey and Koons.






I met Luca on the trail. He's from Northern Italy, lives in the Swiss Alps and is a really good hiker. Probably the best hiking partner/company I came across the whole trip.

cool pose.

We hiked to the lookout for Glacier Gray the last day. It was really windy up there. The extreme weather conditions made it kind of fun.

It was hard to really see the glacier, but there's some floating ice chunks.

I had no plans to go to Torres Del Paine. It happened by chance. One of my favorite things about traveling is either not having a plan or changing my plans. So when I ended up meeting a lovely French girl at the hostel who lives in the Alps and may have well been the epitomy of Heidi, I decided to re-consider my plan to leave for Calafate the following day. She had just returned from doing the "W" trek by herself. I had arrived in Puerto Natales late that night and after meeting her bought a ticket to go into the park for a day hike. I wasn't sure if I wanted to camp out alone for four days, especially with minimal gear. However, the following morning I woke up with a jolt around 6 am and had the strongest intuition that I should just do the whole thing. I was hoping to change my ticket to have a day to rent supplies, but was unable to and ended up having 30 min. to figure out where I was going, run to the ATM and throw anything warm and waterproof I had in my pack to catch the 7am bus. The guy at the hostel was a bit apprehensive about my last minute decision- I didn't have any reservations for the campsites, nor knew if there would be tents/sleeping bags available to rent. He lent me his fleece and as I ran out the door to catch the bus and told me they'd come look for me in four days if I didn't return. It wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought. I met plenty of nice people on the trail, ended up having enough food, pretty favorable weather and the time of my life! It was the perfect balance of meeting great people to hike with some days as well as having time to enjoy the mountains alone and attempt at soaking up all that beauty.

Casa de Gerrity

I put together this blog of the Gerrity's home here in case they decide to rent, swap or sell sometime in the near future. http://cerrocastillo-chile.blogspot.com/

Nano's Cumple

We went out to Quilpue on Sunday for Nano's birthday. Nano has worked for the Gerrity's for many years and is an old, trustworthy friend. He lives on the edge of a monastery surrounded by plenty of lush greenery. The beans from Nano's garden, chancha de piedra (salsa), local tinto and good company made for a fine, traditional birthday celebration.

The spread.


Rob, Jude and Nano.

The parilla.

Rob is tired of alwasy being referred to as "the tall guy with white hair."

This baby was really something. She made me desperately miss my nieces and nephews.

Latest Happenings at La Concepcion....

These musicians came by to serenade a guest who had a cumpleaños.


We had a group of rowdy, older rugby players from Manchester, England who came by on a Sunday afternoon. We almost turned them away since the restaurant is not a bar, but Rob was smart enough to chase them down, get them some aperitivos and bring them up a few free Piscos. They drank about everything in the place and when the shots of tequila came out we were all a little nervous. It all went smoothly though and they racked up quite a bill in the end.

Me and my "tia/madrina/madre."

This is Miguel- he's from Brazil and a real asset to the restaurant since he speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, French and some German.

I had to put this picture up for my family because Ronnie looks a lot like my Uncle Dave.

Diego- the happy "ayudante" (i.e. bus boy)

For Lainey...

This post is for my mom who has a long record of varying craft obsessions like weaving, truly appreciates a good seamstress, and really does think blondes have more fun.

This is Rosita. She's a seamstress- a really good one. When she comes I enjoy observing for a bit over a cup of black tea. She'll turn off her transistor radio, which is always set to the Catholic radio station, to chat. She can fix anything and is so talented that families from Santiago hire her to sew custom made clothes with material from far away places. The dogs are crazy about her.

This is Pitti's shop. It's around the corner from the restaurant. Her signature pieces are these beautiful woven coats. It's a great space- shop in the front and her studio in the back. I wished my mom could have seen the shop since she's always had a huge loom that never seems to fit in her too small craft room and which she rarely uses but will always keep.

She has some really interesting, contemporary woven pieces like this dress above.

Jude wanted my mom to know she still has a lot of blonde. Actually that platinum poof is a fake hair scrunchie that Ines (the manager at the restaurant) gifted her. We thought it was so funny. The following day I received mine which apparently is for a red-head and doesn't blend quite as nicely as Jude's.

Valparaíso

Here's some photos I took while taking a stroll around Cerro Concepcion, the same hill where the Gerrity's restaurant, La Concepcion stands. This hill is part of the "patriminio"- a protected UNESCO world heritage site. It's full of colorful graffiti, brightly done antique buildings, cobblestone streets, wide open views of the sea and a continual uphill climb.

Rob and Jude under a very large plant.