Last Updated: 07/22/03

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February 1, 2002:  Departure

Packing all night we probably got about two hours sleep.  Our flight doesn't leave until 12:30p... but with all the publicity around security - especially since we only have one way tickets which is now a flag for searching, etc. - we'd like to be at the airport three hours early.  Plan to leave Mary's @ 8:30am and we make it out roughly on time and decide that it will not take an hour to get to the airport so we stop at our house in Palo Alto for some goodbye pictures and movie clip (Dave, sorry we got you out of bed so early).  At the airport there are no lines; no hassles and we get checked in right away (2 1/2 hours before our flight).  The Delta Airlines attendant gives us a very cool box to check our rubber boots; John is very pleased about the box.  Flight delayed by 45 mins; we have a tight connection in Atlanta - a little nervous, but everything works out ok.

February 2, 2002:  En Route

Fly through the night and end up in Santiago about 10am local time.  A&K meets us at the airport and takes us to the Hyatt.  The Hyatt in Santiago is beautiful with an awesome pool that has an amazing waterfall.  Karen takes advantage of the sun and John embraces local customs and takes a cestia.  Although, before napping - 2-3 frustrating hours was spent on updating the website and sending out a final 'goodbye' message to everyone (didn't mention that we had already left in the email).  Surprise: it says light out until 9pm!  We embrace local custom and start dinner at 9:30pm outside on the patio; stay out much too late and drink too much wine for our 4:45am wake-up call.  Did I mention that Santiago is 5 hours ahead of California?  You can do the math...

February 3, 2002:  Ushuaia and Set Sail

Off to breakfast by 5:30am out of hotel by 6am and back to the airport and on our 4 hour flight to Ushuaia by 8am.  As we make our way to the airport, the streets are full of young people.  We can't figure out why so many people are up so early and then find out that these people are just coming home from the bars and disco-techs.  For teens, many of the clubs don't even open until 1 or 2am in the morning.  When we get to Ushuaia, they take us to lunch at a barn where we have local food (large hunks of lamb) and see some of the local dances in local costume.  We then took a local tour by bus of a national park down there until the ship was ready for us at 5pm.  The staff had campaign waiting for us in the bar when we arrived… very nice.  We board, find our rooms (smaller than we expected...but this is our first boat trip) and set sail at 7pm.  We took a ton of pictures as the ship pulled away from the dock. It was soooo tremendously windy… makes us a little nervous for what it might be like when we actually get to Antarctica.

February 4, 2002:  At Sea -- Drakes Passage

We have been traveling on the ship for more than a full day now.  Can’t believe we are really on the way to Antarctica; it seems more surreal now that we are here in the middle of the ocean than it did before we left.  As for the actual boat travel… we are both wearing "the patch" but have still felt a little queasy at times.  They say this is an average crossing so far... but the ship really moves a lot.  We actually slide in our beds.  Karen spent a good deal of time today outside in the wind and rain looking for whales.  She actually saw one or two.  They were pretty far away and you could just make out their dorsal fin… but it was still exciting to think that something else is out here with us in the middle of nowhere.  As for the social part of the trip… its great to see and visit with Eileen and Brian.  In addition, we've found a great group from Australia...  Melinda, Polly and Don.  Melinda and Polly are friends about our age and Don is Melinda's father.  They are really great company -- lots of fun to be around!! 

February 5, 2002:  At Sea -- Drakes Passage

Still traveling at sea... only now the weather is much worse.  50 knot winds, 20 ft waves.  They now categorize the sea conditions as "Rough & High Swell"... which must be more than most people can take because not too many showed up for lunch or dinner.  In fact, a few people got sick in one of our lectures today and about 10 people left the lecture presumably on their way to get sick.  We have been OK... but we give credit to the patch (although the patch seems to be having its own side affects... drowsiness, blurred vision, general "yuk" feeling).  We actually tried to sleep most of the day... missing most lectures since the lecture hall seems to be the worst place on the ship.  When awake, we tried to stay outside on the top deck.  This was actually hard to do since the wind was so strong.  Karen had to brace herself against the railing and could only face one way with the wind against her back.  On the positive side, we started to see penguins swimming and jumping out of the water near the bow of the ship.  This was fun and a bit more interesting than our whale sightings to date since the penguins were so close to the ship.

February 6, 2002:  Land (and Ice Berg) Ho!

Best day ever!!  We had so much from from 7am to midnight... it was great!!  At 7am a wake up call came over the loud speaker announcing Humpback whales off the bow of the ship. We decided to scramble up, get dressed, and get outside to see if we could still see them.  After a few minutes they surfaced again… whale breath!!  One came really close to the side of the ship that we were standing on. Got a picture of its back... but after careful review, we've concluded that it doesn't really look like anything.  Oh well, we know what it is... right? 

1st landing:  Cuverville Island.  Going ashore was better than we thought it was going to be!  We really liked the penguins.  They are so funny looking and move so awkwardly across land that you can’t help but stand, watch, and laugh.  The only thing that could have improved was the smell… yes, the smell was actually quite horrible (Yes, Karen has begun to use words like "quite"... between the Brits and the Aussuies on board... we are blaming it on the Australians)!!  Penguin pooh (they have a name for it "guano") is everywhere… and since the land is really just huge rocks with no soil… the pooh has no place to get absorbed or no chance to become fertilizer… instead it just sits on top of the rocks and snow… year after year.  There a lot of penguins... and that's a lot of pooh!  This is something they don’t talk about in the brochures.  But, even with the smell... it was still terrific! 

2nd landing:  Almirante Brown Station - small unoccupied Argentine station off Paradise Bay.  Now we are walking on the actual continent.  We hiked up to a summit to get a better view.  What a view!!!  Most of the time it was cloudy… but even so it was hard to match the beauty.  The snow covered mountains and glaciers reflected in the calm waters and the blue ice bergs floating in the waters were also amazing.  After we spent a few hours on land we took zodiac trips around the bays before going back to the ship.  This got us up close to the ice bergs and occasionally we’d find seals sleeping on the smaller ones. During one zodiac trip after the 2nd landing we saw a seal swimming toward us… he disappeared for a moment and then “buzzed” our raft.  It was really cool because the seal was really huge and just a couple feet under the water.

February 7, 2002:  Antarctic Weather

Today our landings were plagued with miserable weather.  In the morning we navigated through Lemaire Channel, i.e., ice cruising.  We were lucky to make it all the way through the channel as the pack ice covered the surface of the water near the southern end of the channel.  It was pretty cool, boarder line scary, to hear/feel the ship break through some of the ice.  We had planned to make a landing once through the channel, but the ice pack was too much for the zodiacs. 

Next we were off to make two landings right across from one another:  Palmer Station, the US Antarctic program base for the peninsula on Anvers Island... and Torgerson Island, a small extremely rocky island where some US scientists from Palmer Station are doing penguin research.  Not everyone went to Torgerson Island with the penguins because after the first four boats went the wind picked up and they stopped people from going -- 35 Knot winds and tons and tons of rain/snow.  We were among the people who went... but not sure if that was a good or bad thing!  We got soooo wet… everything was soaked through.  To make matters worse, the only real memory that we take back from this small island was a penguin chick getting eaten alive by two big birds called Skuars (not sure of spelling).  It was extremely hard to watch especially because just when we finally thought the chick must be dead... it would try to escape again and again... this lasted for over 20 minutes.  It was hard to avoid as the island was so small... we were actually a little happy to leave Torgerson.

Visiting Palmer Station was fun and interesting to hear about how they plan for such extreme conditions.… but as capitalism goes… probably the best part was getting to visit their tiny store so that we could get some Antarctic souvenirs.  Terrible Americans!

February 8, 2002:  The Swimming

Much better day today.  Three different landings.  1st: Pendulum Cove in Deception Island for an Antarctic Swim!!  That's right... swim!  Deception Island is a volcano.  The "deception" part  was created when a portion of the volcano's perimeter completely collapsed.  This created a bay of water inside the volcano and a small opening through which ships could navigate.  The beaches of the bay inside Deception Island are still warmed by the volcanic activity below the surface.  In fact, "warmed" is an understatement... if you dig just under the surface of the sand it can actually burn your skin.  So... this is the setting for our swimming adventure.  The water is actually still extremely cold; its the land that is hot.  Swimmers must sit in shallow water and mix the cold water with the hot sand to create a bath for themselves.  Every few minutes swimmers get brave and actually dive out into the bay for a few moments, then quickly swim back to create themselves another warm bath in the sand.  The crazy few who want to participate in this experience don swim suits, hats or earmuffs, and tevas or heavy socks (so you don't burn your feet) and run into the water for a "swim"...  Yes, we were among the crazy and went for it!!

Landing number two was at Whalers Bay, also in Deception Island.  As the name implies, this was an old whaling station; old boats, buildings and whale bones scatter the landscape.  As for its use today... it seems to be a hang out for several fur seals.  The young males continually spar with each other for status... dumb boys.  Landing number three was at Half Moon Island where we visited a colony of chinstrap penguins.  As each landing was several hours... it was big day today!!!

February 9, 2002:  Devil Island & View Point

Today we visited Devil Island.  Some pretty big swell made the ride in the zodiacs "interesting."  In these conditions is was best to be in the back of the zodiac so that the people in the front could shield you from the water breaking over the boat.  When we get to shore, we find hundreds of 4-10 foot high/wide icebergs washed ashore.  They make for very interesting pictures as well as an obstacle course for the penguins to navigate.  We wander around for quiet a while and see many chicks chasing their mothers for food; we are able to get very close to many very curious Adelie penguins.  The shifting tide and the wind made the zodiac trip back to the boat even wilder... especially as John found himself at the front on the boat being "the shield."

We did a second landing in the afternoon on the continent in a spot sheltered from the wind (so we can launch the zodiacs) called View Point.  There are a number of fur seals on the beach and a small refuge, or hut, that is really just a cargo container with a door added.  We are surprised to find it "stocked" with food and other supplies.  There is a journal (sort of a sign-in guest book) that shows the refuge was used this past winter by an Argentine for about 10 days.  Crazy to think someone was out there in the winter.

February 10, 2002:  Back to South America

We forego the morning zodiac ride - we had our share of rain on Torgerson Island.  The weather continues to worsen and unfortunately 6-8 foot swells makes it too dangerous to hold "gang way operations"... or as the passengers say "to get into the zodiacs."   This was no joke - it was really rough out there and the stairway used to board the zodiacs was in and out of the water 3 to 4 feet at a time making it impossible to line up with zodiacs... so our last landing is canceled and we started to head back for South America.  Sort of an anti-climatic moment considering the great adventure and experiences we had had to date. 

Later that evening... Karen joined the rest of the "girls" (Clair, Juliet, Melinda and Polly - where's Eileen?) during the wrap up session which included an Antarctic quiz.  Much to the ships surprise... the crazy gals won the quiz and a bottle of champagne for their prize!!  Although Karen really didn't help contribute any answers to quiz... she was sitting with them... and this apparently is enough to help drink the champagne and get labeled as one of "The Penguin Chicks!"

February 11, 2002:  Rough Seas

Rough seas/winds (40-45 knots with 20+foot swells).  During mealtimes, one knew better than to sit at the end of tables for fear that a large pitch would send all the contents of the table in your lap.  This happened more than once.  By this time we are all well skilled at keeping one hand on our drink throughout the entire meal.  John decided not to use the patch on the trip back and opted for the ship's sea sick medicine, "sea calm" instead.  Trading the blurred vision side effects for drowsiness side effects... he slept, ate, slept, ate, slept, etc... you get the idea for 48+ hours.

February 12, 2002:  At Sea...

More of the same... socializing, sleeping, reading, eating, lectures, movies, etc.  We also spend a fair amount of time up on the top deck.  Good weather today... we pass cape horn in the afternoon and we get back in Ushuaia around midnight.  Several of us are still up and drinking in the bar of the ship when we dock.  We decided to go into town to check out the local club scene.  Lots of fun...     

February 13, 2002:  Off the boat - On to El Calafate

We were suppose to be off the boat at 8am to catch the museum tour with the rest of the people that are headed back to Santiago with A&K (we are not going back with them)....but we are too "tired" from last nights escapades and it was all we could do to get off the boat by 10am.  By necessity, once we got moving around town; things did get better.  We found the post office, packing tape and brown paper to wrap the trusty "Delta box" with all the specialized Antarctica gear to send back home.  We had been told that it would be expensive (and some risk it might never make it....); but the $125 tab for a medium size box really threw us for a loop.  We met up with Polly (...in worse shape than us - and that is saying a lot!), Eileen, Brian, Melinda, Claire, and Juliet to say good-bye.  We had our first lunch on our own at a cute cafe - the waitress was very patient/fun and made this a very positive first experience.  We tried to order ham & cheese sandwiches - and they came with steak as well (we called this a 'good mistake').  John tried to get some cash out of local ATM (hmmm, problem - bank card #1 is not working and we don't have the PINs for our other new cards); but everyone is taking US$ - so not a problem yet...  Head off to airport for 6pm flight to El Calafate - and in hotel by 8pm.

February 14, 2002: El Calafate

Sleep until 11am - could have kept sleeping!  But...once we got started we didn't stop.  Basically, it was a day of errands - and it felt good to get a lot accomplished.  We called and email Mary about needing the PIN numbers for our new cards (the PINS came after we left...long story why we are changing all our credit cards just before we leave).  We get an email back later on in the day from her with one of the card's #s and we are back in business.  We go to the supermercado (supermarket); get laundry done, we get our Antarctica pictures organized and compressed to integrate in to the website - john finishes book #1; we arrange "mini-trecking" on glacier for the next day and wrap it all up with an out of the way restaurant called Don Diego a la Noche (Don Diego of the Night).  Food is good - and Don jumps on the stage with his guitar and sings for over an hour to the 8 patrons eating.  He was really good... the locals sang along when they knew the words... we just smiled and then bought his CD at the end of dinner.

February 15, 2002:  Moreno Glacier

Guided excursion from El Calafate to the Moreno Glacier with "minitrekking" far exceeded expectations!!  The glacier was amazing... and the view point was quite different from what we saw and did in Antarctica.  Several things made the day great:  First, the weather was beautiful; bright sunshine and blue skies; we were actually hot some of the time.  Second, the glacier was not covered with snow (as they were in Antarctica) and it was so close when viewing from park trails and/or boat that we could see all the cracks and jagged edges.  Third, huge chunks of ice fell (and continue to fall) from the front of the glacier frequently (especially on a hot day)... the sight and sound was terrific.  Fourth, walking on the ice with cramps will be remembered forever.  We don't think you could do an excursion like this in the US for safety concerns and liability reasons.  We walked right next to big cracks, crevasses, running water, pools of water, etc. in the ice.  To top it all off... they served us whisky and chocolate on top of the glacier before we headed back and sweetened cafe back at the base.  We recommend this trip to anyone going. 

February 16, 2002:  On to Puerto Natales

Up at 5:30am; checked out of hotel by 6am; in the bus and on the road by 6:30am.  Approximately 5 hour trip turns out to be via dirt/rock road -- not that bad once you get used to it.  Crossed the boarder into Chile with no problems.  Pto. Natales is bigger than El Calafate with no real "downtown" or tourist strip that we can see.  The bus dropped us off at the edge of town and we set off to find someplace to stay.  There are tons of hostals, residentials, hosterias, etc. (small low priced lodging) around so you don't really need reservations... even in the high season.  But as we find out later that day... we should have made reservations for a hosteria in Torres de Paine because those were all booked and we didn't bring any camping gear.  We end up with reservations at a hosteria that is on the southern boarder of the park.  Not sure what to expect... but at least we got something.  In addition, we actually had some fun trying to speak Spanish with the tourist agency that was trying to help us.

February 17, 2002:  On to Torres de Paine

Set off for Torres de Paine at 7:30am -- the bus picks us up at our hostal.  As we get closer to the National Park and meet people on the bus, we realize we have plans to stay someplace "out of the norm."  Everyone is talking about the "W" and we really have no idea what this is!!  A big feeling of "your doing it wrong" sets it.  In fact, once we get to Torres de Paine, we realize our place - "Cabanas del Paine" - is almost outside the park; pretty much the farthest point from where typical backpackers come to hike.  Even so... we are happy to find a room for 4 nights during peak season in such a picturesque setting.  From our cabin, we have a beautiful view of the towers... now we just have to figure our how to get back closer to the trails on the circuit.  NOTE:  All the work/fun we had with the tourist agency yesterday didn't seem to pan out as the hosteria didn't have our reservation when we arrived.  It all turned out OK... since they had room for us anyway.

This evening picks up as we meet an Argentine couple with their son, Margarita, Guillermo, and Marco, who are staying in the same cabin as us (each cabin is divided into two separate rooms with their own bath so not exactly sharing).  Margarita spoke English... we ended up having drinks and then dinner together.  It was great fun!!  Margarita also helped us plan transportation back up to the backpackers circuit for Monday.  

February 18, 2002:  Valle Frances

Up at 7am and meet our driver by 8:30am who will take us up to Pehoe where we can catch the 9:30am boat to cross Lago Pehoe.  We get to Refugio Pehoe where we want to start our hike about 10:30a.  We set off on an extremely fast pace to make it to the next camp site by 12:30pm.  We made it in the 2 hours marked on the trail map, but were practically running to do so... no way we could have made that time with a full pack on... can't imagine that anyone could.  We learn later that the times listed on the trail map are for the rangers going back and forth... so we don't feel so bad and make a mental note to add at least an hour to all times shown.  The trail and scenery were beautiful; much of it boarding a lake with great views of the towers.  We start thinking that we'd really like to do more hiking... both on our trip and when we return home.  Just when we think we are really out in the middle of nowhere, we meet up with a German couple that was on our Antarctica trip.  We stopped and chatted for a while... it was really neat to see them again.  We have lunch by a raging river from glacier run off.  Crossed a bridge suspended by wires -- only 2 people allowed to cross at one time... it moved and bounced a ton!!

Then, it started to rain... although we talked with one family at lunch who decided to turn back... we decided to keep going to try to make the next big climb up the Valle Frances to see the view since we were only here for one day.  Well... we only made it another 30 or 40 minutes before we decided to turn around ourselves.  We were both soaking wet and climbing straight up on the slick rocks was not all that fun.  We decided to walk back along the lake trail at a leisurely pace.  The boat didn't take us back across Lago Pehoe until 6:30p and we got back to the refugio around 4:30p, so we went inside for hot chocolate and cafe to try to dry out.  We met a guy from Canada that gave us some good travel tips for north Chile, Bolivia and Peru. 

We got back to our cabins at the same time as Margarita, Guillermo and Marco.  We decide to have dinner together again -- this time we were the only ones in the restaurant.  Again, we have a great time.  They were really nice people and a lot of fun.  We hope that we will be able to look them up when our travels take us to Argentina. 

February 19, 2002:  Day hike around Cabanas del Paine

Today we decided we'd stay around our cabin and relax, do laundry (in sink) and hike or walk around the trails here.  We ended up taking a 3+ hour hike which gave incredible views of all the rivers in this area.  We had a friend - a local dog ("perro" in Spanish) - join us for the entire hike.  He was such a good well trained dog, Karen wanted to take him home!!  It was actually the dog that determined how far we hiked because when we got to a couple places with a questionable boundaries he just stopped... sat down and wouldn't walk anymore.  We followed his lead and headed back for the cabins.  We should note that when we first started the hike, we headed off on a trail close to the river bottom that dead-ended pretty quickly.  We got ourselves in a little trouble when we tried to cross multiple steep slabs of rock that went straight down into the river... for a short time we were rock climbers without any equipment (or experience for that matter) in over our heads.  We turned back and finally found the trail that went up, up, up to the ridge.  Of course our friend, the dog, had been trying to show us the way in the beginning... from there on we started listening.

February 20, 2002:  Back to Pto. Natales

Check our and head back on the bus to Puerto Natales.  The regular bus leaves administration about 2pm... so we walk around and have lunch at Rio Serrano (another hosteria site a little closer to the circuit).  We were so happy to have stayed at Cabanas del Paine.  The cabins may have been farther out... but it was a much more relaxing, picturesque place to stay.  The bus ride back was fairly uncomfortable... very hot, long, etc.  We decide to upgrade our accommodations in Pto. Natales and check into a hotel instead of a hostal.  Our own hot shower and cable TV.  Go out for dinner and end a pretty uneventful day.  The hotel had phones in the room, so we tried to connect with the computer to update the web site... but no luck.  Couldn't get a proper dial tone for the PC.  Looking more and more like we'll have to wait for Santiago.

February 21, 2002:  Wait for the boat

Today we did our errands - mostly laundry, internet and food shopping (i.e., wine) and waited to check into the freighter, Navimag, that will take us through the Chilean Fjords to Puerto Montt.  We walked and walked around the town a lot, took a few pictures (not that much to look at in Puerto Natales), and met people that will be on the boat.  We bought three bottles of wine for the three day trip and then ran into Mette (a Norwegian gal we met on the bus to Torres de Paine), who between herself and her friend Suze (from Holland) bought 9 liters.  After that John promptly decided that we needed more wine... so we bought two additional liters (boxes) of budget wine - "Gato Negro" - the choice amongst backpackers... so we'll try it.  Check into the boat about 8pm and board at 9pm... the ship will set sail at about 2:30am.  We have a private cabin and private bathroom across the hall.  It is really not different from the bunks in 'C' class and would probably opt for the bunks were there to be a next time... but we do have more privacy for dressing and a bigger place to lock up our stuff.

February 22, 2002:  First day at Sail

Mixed weather conditions off and on -- cloudy and light rain, then patches of sun.  The Islands are beautiful and it is truly amazing how close we come to some of them.  It is almost unbelievable how this cargo freighter can navigate these narrow channels.  The islands must be like cliffs disappearing into the water leaving deep enough ocean.  We like it best when they have to turn the ship really sharp to go around or in between the islands... the ship practically stops and turns in place.  We continue to meet people but have spent most our time with Mette, Suze, Ernesto (from Chile), and a bicyclist from Spain.  The only problem is that we don't eat at the same time as they do.  They break meals into "shifts" depending on the color of your ticket.  The private cabins have blue tickets and the bunks have green tickets.  Whoever has dinner first usually sits around a little longer until the rest start their dinner.  NOTE:  The meals have been much better than expected.

We spent the rest of this night with the group outside on the bow of the ship.  The moon was beautiful!!  Later John and I caught the tail end of the organized bingo game in the bar -- it actually looked like a real fun time -- pretty lively!!  Then... the dancing started... disco ball and everything.  The Chileans on ship did a bunch of line dances or routines that reminded Karen of Spring Breaks in Mexico.   

February 23, 2002:  At Sea - Chilean Fjords

Entered the "Gulf of Sorrows" about 3:30am this morning and it woke us both up.  It was worse than we thought because we really didn't think a big ship would rock all that much... plus we were so close to shore... but it did.  Nothing like the drake passage though... especially because it only lasted 10 hours instead of 60 and we were sleeping most the time.  The afternoon on the deck or bow of the boat was beautiful -- no wind -- so you could sit comfortably and soak up the sun and scenery.  We stopped at Pto. Chacabuco for a short time.  We got about 30 minutes to get off the boat to stretch the legs, etc.  We had dinner and wine again with Mette, Suze, Ernesto and Piper (another gal we met from Holland).  Played a drinking card game with the group and then members of the crew sang and danced to traditional Chilean songs.  Another late night...

February 24, 2002:  Arrive in Pto. Montt

Got into port around 3pm.  Put our packs on and "hoofed" it nearly a mile to find the "reader's choice" hosteria listed in the Lonely Planet - "La Nave."  While frustrating in the beginning... the walk turned out to be a good thing for both of us.  We got a sense of the town and proved we could walk with our packs.  At first we couldn't find "La Nave" and walked right past it several times... but had we looked up from our maps we probably could have found it easier because a ton of the other Navimag passengers were also staying there.  There were all standing outside on the corner watching us read our maps until we finally looked up.  The hotel actually turned out to be cheaper than listed (that's a first) -- less than $15 for both of us with a private bath and TV.  That's our best bargain yet.  Within hours of checking in... we made it downtown to arrange Lake Crossing reservations to Argentina, went to the Supermarket, checked email, paid bills on the internet, and then met up with Mette, Suze and Ernesto for dinner by 8pm.  Karen ate King Crab along with everyone on the wharf.  John was very proud.  Our taxi ride back to the hotel was a little challenging as the driver didn't understand us (even the street name) but Karen certainly felt that he should have understood us and got frustrated.  Oh well... 

February 25, 2002:  Lake Crossing

Start day at 6:30am - again no time to sleep in - we needed to be at the bus stop by 7:50 for 8am departure.  This would be bad enough but in addition this morning it is pouring rain... some of the hardest we've even seen.  Apparently it had been pouring rain all night so that most of streets are now flooded.  We pull up our hoods, put on our packs, brave the weather and walk downtown to the bus stop.  NOTE:  At nearly 8am on Monday morning the streets are strangely quiet.  Things get started a little later down here than in the States.  At the bus stop we find our mute amigo that helped us on Sunday.  He can't talk but he makes these loud squeaks and grunts that no one can ignore.  He works hard and does his job well - we wave goodbye as we head off into the terrible weather.  The guide informs us that this rain is normal for the region as they get 200+ days of rain each year... and tries to make us feel good about experiencing the lake crossing in the typical climate... but couldn't help but be disappointed.  We couldn't go outside on the boats and the visibility was horrible.  On the plus side, the rivers were raging and many waterfalls were created.  Overall, the lake crossing wasn't worth the expense in bad weather -- $130 each.  But... we've talked to others who loved it.  No matter how you look at it, weather definitely affects your experiences. 

February 26, 2002:  Bariloche, Argentina

We love it here!!  Really cute town - like a ski village - with tons of European, especially Swiss, influences.  Last night we found a cute hotel recommended by our guide in the middle of town -- "Casila Suiza."  Then we headed out to eat dinner at a nice restaurant - "La Marmite " - listed in our South America book as Euro-Argentine.  Nice bottle of wine - Melbec from Terrezan (sp) and entrées with a little more flare (John had wild bore). 

Got started around 9am this morning with breakfast and headed off for some tourist agencies around 11:30... by 12:30 we found ourselves on a shuttle to nearby gondola where we can do some day hiking.  Grabbed some lunch in the revolving restaurant on top of "Cerro Otto" - great views of lake, islands, Bariloche and surrounding homes.  Took hike on trekking trails through forest to more impressive lake and mountain top views.  Had a great time!  We tried to make it back down to catch the 4:15p shuttle back to town... but missed it by minutes.  Spent the next hour taking pictures of these birds we saw with super huge beaks while waiting for the next shuttle.  Back in town, we walked to the bus terminal to get information for our return trip to Chile through San Martin, Argentina to Pucon, Chile to Temuco, Chile.  The terminal turned out to be much farther than we thought, maybe ~4km.  Took a taxi back and decided that we won't be walking to the terminal with our packs when it is time to leave.  In fact, we decided not to take the regular bus at all because it doesn't leave until 2:30p in the afternoon.  We got signed up for a guided bus trip past seven lakes that leaves at 8am and will pick us up at our hotel.  Later that night we eat dinner at an English pub.  Too much beer -- we hit "happy hour" at 8:30p which lasted until 9pm!  Can you imagine a happy hour that lasts until 9pm at home??  Some restaurants at home are probably getting ready to stop serving dinner at 9pm instead of just starting.  Still not used to the super late dinners down here.

February 27, 2002:  Bariloche

Relax day!!  Nothing really planned except laundry, internet, reading books, etc... which is good because it is raining again like crazy.  Sooo happy we went hiking yesterday.  Sat in a cafe and got caught up on the journal, then spent over an hour in an internet cafe doing email -- sent family a quick update since we haven't had the site up.  Ate dinner in our own hotel - Casila Suzia - which was very, very good.  Karen had cheese fondue and John tasted his first Argentine fillet.  We had a bottle of pinot from Lugi Busci... it was good... but liked the Melbec from 1st night better.

February 28, 2002:  En route to San Martin

Agghh!!  Our first real set back.  We had arranged for a bus to pick us up at 8am to take us to San Martin via seven lakes... but the bus never showed!!  We became suspicious when a bus for the same guided trip to San Martin picked up two other people from our hotel but we were not on the list to go with that company.  Who knows what happened... but we weren't very happy... especially since we woke up at 6:30am to get ready and check out of our hotel in time.  We went back to the travel agency which didn't open until 10am and had the opportunity to flex some of our Span-glish muscles.  Karen told the agent... "Yo querio mi dinero!" = "I want my money!"... which seemed to be understood quickly as we did get our money back without any trouble.  Then, it was off to the regular bus terminal to get tickets for the afternoon bus at 3pm.  We travel the same road and still go by all the lakes, but we didn't get into San Martin until after 7pm... which complicated things because by the time we got there the bus to Temuco, Chile the next day was FULL!!  We bought tickets for the Saturday bus and now plan to spend two nights in San Martin.  This means we won't have an extra day with our home stay family in Santiago as planned.  In fact, now we hope to make it to Santiago by Sunday since we have no buffer left for any more surprises.

March 1, 2002:   San Martin, Argentina

After reading an email from Elieen, John and I realize that we both totally missed Valentine's day.  Not even a clue that it had come and gone.  We have a pretty good laugh about this... what a romantic couple!!  If you have to get stuck someplace waiting for a bus... you might want to consider San Martin.  What a beautiful, beautiful day!!  Not a could in the sky.  We spent most of the day at an upstairs outside cafe/bar reading our books, getting some sun, playing cards and drinking something like champagne with less alcohol.  Not exactly sure what we were drinking... but the table next to us ordered it and it looked good... so we did too!  Later we walked to the lake... Karen laid on the beach and John sat in the shade and read some more.  It really felt like we were on vacation today!

NOTE:  General comment about late night dinning down here... it is still surprising to us that this includes young children too.  Even families don't get out to dinner before 9:30p and that is still pretty early... 10p or 10:30p is more normal to get started.  John and I are usually one of the first ones in the restaurant... and are used to eating pretty late.

March 2, 2002:  En Route to Santiago

Up at 4:30am, pack and get out of hotel by 5:30am, walk to the bus terminal and leave by 6am.  Saw the active volcano - snow covered and steaming - in Pucon, Chile.  Wish we had more time to stay here as it is supposed to be a great place to visit... but have to get to Santiago by tomorrow so no Pucon for us.  Got to Temuco, Chile about 12:30a.  After walking around... or rather after making our way through the congested, crowded streets of Temuco... we really can't think of a reason to visit here.  The train doesn't leave until 8:30pm so we have some time to wait and end up back at the train station at least two hours early because we just don't want to walk around Temuco anymore.  On the outside the train looks very run down - even rusted through in places.  Most of the cars have simple coach seats like a bus so we begin to wonder about the sleeper since we can't see it.  When we finally find it and board, it is really charming... old crushed velvet seats and dark wood inside.  The conductor makes up our beds and we have a good night sleep as we travel to Santiago.  Glad we got this experience.

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