Yay!!!

I'm coming home!!! I'll be back in the States on Christmas Eve to return to normal life. It is unfortunate that my experience down here was not as great as it could have been and the problems couldn't have avalanched at a worse time. That said, I can't wait to get home and wish everyone in Argentina well.

Ushuaia

Ushuaia is a pretty place. Snowcapped mountains surround the city at the edge of the Beagle Channel. Tourists come into this port from cruises with calls on Antarctica and other islands dotting the Austral waters.

That said, I believe there are many other places in the world I would rather live. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel lucky to be here. But a short trip of two days would do. The weather down here is a little less than desirable. In fact, Laura told me the government pays people mounds more money to live on Tierra del Fuego just because of that fact. Ushuaia was originally colonized as a penal colony. Do you think they’d build a prison on the banks of Iguazu falls? I think not. hehe Without fail the wind blows through the city and whips through the valleys in which I work daily. The wind moves the storm clouds which calls for rain every day. Will there be heavy rain just as we start our nest checks? Probably. Will the rain pick back up again just as I am headed from the city center back to CADIC? Probably. Will it give us a break as we have to push the car for the upteenth time because it never starts on it's own? I sure hope so.

My waterproof pants have again failed me. I bought a pair for my work up in Nome, Alaska which were soon destroyed by faulty construction. My new pair was double the price. Double the quality, right??? Well, they are very nice and I wouldn’t trade them in for anything. (I did get a full refund from REI from the first ones, so it was just like buying those again.) But they just can’t hold up to the wind and rain here. After yesterday’s nest checks, my jacket (down jacket that is only water resistant), my longsleeved shirt underneath, “waterproof” pants, and warm pants beneath those were all soaked through. My left foot was nice and dry, but my right foot was a little wet from a small hole in the borrowed rubber boots.

I live in CADIC which resembles a Soviet bomb shelter in its numerous long hallways and little light. At least that’s what I would picture as a bomb shelter, granted this sprawling complex is above ground. I believe the design lends itself to keeping those who live and work there out of the weather, which would be quite important in Ushuaia. I share a room with both Alicia and Amos. It certainly makes things more interesting.

I have to correct that last paragraph. I sometimes live in CADIC. The other time I live over an hour outside of town in Harborton. It is basically a ranch dating back to the 1800’s by an English orphan adopted by a minister. They have since trimmed down their stock of animals due to poor weather and theft. Now they give tours (me too!). One of the buildings on the property houses a museum full of marine mammal bones. You know the smell when you find a skull or some other body part that has mainly decomposed but still needs a little more time? Yeah. The museum covers the bottom floor in a big warehouse looking room. Then there are the bathrooms (two for tourists, one for all of us) and the kitchen. Behind that is the “lab” which houses more bones which aren’t on display. The number of bones is amazing. There are bones from over 2,500 whales, dolphins, seals, etc and even more of marine birds that have washed up on the shores over the years. (Think of ocean currents and the fact that Tierra del Fuego is the only part sticking out into the southern circulation.)

Upstairs are four bedrooms where the girls volunteering at the museum stay. It is carpeted and heated and all together quite quaint. Then if you go through a door, up some more stairs (now above the warehouse type room), and some more stairs you come to a door that is about four and a half feet small. This is our room. It kind of reminds me of slave quarters back in the day. Perhaps the room that Anne Frank stayed in was a bit like this. Who knows. Against one wall are all the paint buckets, sealants, and general toxic smelling things. To each side of the room is a cut out to the eaves of the attic with more general storage. Then there are two beds with a non-functioning computer on a desk separating them. No pillows, no sheets, nada. Oh, no heat up there either. If I hadn’t brought my sleeping bag against recommendations, I would have froze. The whole building lacks electricity. Supposedly a generator is to come on to provide basic light from about 9-12pm. It’s broken.

So that’s Ushuaia for you! I miss you all!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The Journey

To make a long story short, I arrived in Ushuaia!!!

The whole story involves over 60 hours of sitting in a bus (including a couple hours of sitting in bus terminals waiting for late buses); five different buses (including two unscheduled bus changes), more kilometers than you can count on your fingers and toes (about 3000km), two border crossings, four new passport stamps, and a special two hours of waiting in Ushuaia that lacks a bus terminal making countless calls to someone, anyone to pick me up. On the way I was treated to a view of las pampas which in Spanish translates to scenery that consists of plains as flat as can be vegetated with small shrubs in varying shades from dead yellow to gray-green.

Oh, but I wouldn’t have taken a bus if that was all! Looking out the window, I could sometimes spot some waterfowl, wading birds, or even bunnies in addition to sheep and grazing cows. In the last few hours of my journey the trees grew taller, the landscape morphed into a deeper green, and rolling hills rose into precipitous mountains covered in snow.

I also made a pit stop in Puerto Madryn, which sits at about the halfway point between Santa Fe and Rio Gallegos. After stepping off the bus, I went to a travel agent in the terminal who kindly called a hostel for me and found me a bed. My only requirements were that they could book me activities for the one day I’d be there and that they’d pick me up from the terminal since I didn’t want to lug all my bags. I ended up having to take a taxi and pay for it. Then once in the hostel, the lady said that there was absolutely nothing that I could do there since I was just staying for one day and arrived after 8am which is when all the tours leave. We went back and forth with me refusing to believe that a tourist destination such as this did not have anything for tourists to do. She was adamant that there wasn’t. So I left. At another hostel I was first shown a room, able to put my bags down, and then helped in hiring a taxi to take me out to Peninsula Valdez which has an abundance of wildlife. Take that mean lady!!! (As such, I highly recommend Los Choiques Hostel.)

On the peninsula, my driver spotted a falcon eating a furry critter on the side of the road. Then we saw alpaca-like animals as well as emus. Awesome! He took me to the marina where I got in a boat pushed into the water by a tractor. That’s one way to do it without docks! The ride was quite rocky, but it was amazing because we saw whales and lots of ‘em! I suppose there are no laws in Argentina governing the proximity a boat can get to marine mammals. In fact, the Southern Right Whale is a threatened species and we were probably only 15 feet from them with the engines still running. We had free reign over the boat, and I climbed into the crows nest for an overhead view of the moms and babies. After almost falling off the top of the boat after one too many strong waves, I decided it was better to observe them from the deck. About half the schoolchildren accompanying me got seasick. Haha. At least I didn’t get pucked on!

So, back to Ushuaia… It is breathtaking here. Think of pretty Alaska, not permafrost Nome, and you’ll get a good idea of what it looks like here. Lots of rivers, lots of snow splotching the pointy mountains, lots of trees. Okay, a picture speaks a thousand words, so I’ll get some up! Our sites are all at tourist destinations. How much better could that be? One is at least an hour away which is home to a marine mammal museum and the embarkation point to see the penguins on the nearby island. Another is at an inn, which is a popular destination for cross-country skiers in the winter. Our last site is used for peat extraction but is adjacent to a popular camping area with fly fishers too.

The Alicia and Amos arrive tomorrow. I’ll write more about CADIC where I am living then. J Marcela is having a party/dinner at her house tonight that she invited me to. Yes, it begins at 10:30pm, so I am pretty much starving now!!! ttyl!

Contest

Okay, so are you ready for a challenge? First one to guess what this is wins... my utmost respect! :)

Yep, it's Bull Balls! Yummy!

Back to reality

Yesterday marked the return to the field after my oh so pleasant vacation. Today settled in the fact that vacation is definitely over. Too bad. I was told to be ready for work at 6:15am. Then after I finished getting ready, eating breakfast, etc, I was told that we would wait for the storms which hadn't yet arrived to come and then go again before we leave. (I was told yesterday by the same person that it was to thunderstorm today. And this is a surprise now?) So it is past 9am and we still haven't left for work. So many good sleeping hours wasted.

I've been quite productive though. I've been organizing my paperwork to send off to the Peace Corps. I have my last medical appointment tonight to get the final sign-off on all the labs and stuff. Oh wait, after working with the laboratory for over a month and a half, they still didn't do the required tests and just redid the old ones. So much for being done!

I also mopped up my room that flooded once again this morning. Water tight windows, who needs those? Uncovered ducts leading directly outside, what's the point in covering them? The resulting puddle would have provided hours of entertainment to any rubber boot clad, raincoat wearing, umbrella toting kid. I stuffed the big squeegy in the hole in the wall and closed rolldown shutters. I don't know if that helped stop the inundation or perhaps just the passing of the set of storm clouds. We'll see if it holds up to the next set.

Hmmm, what next, Golondrinas paperwork? I've got a whole day of fun to look forward to before we finallllly head out into the field. hehe

Iguazu!

Vacations are wonderful, especially when they are semi-required for work. I had to renew my Argentinian visa and I wasn't looking forward to a trip into Buenos Aires for that purpose. Instead I suggested to hop across the border into Brazil and get a new visa for free (as opposed to charges in BsAs) upon my return. Besides the fact that I would be crossing the Chilean border on my way to Ushuaia and that I don't have a Brazilian visa ($150 USD) to get into that country, I figured I'd go for it. I've always wanted to see Iguazu Falls and I couldn't let the opportunity go by since I was so close. I kept the details to myself and got the go ahead for my trip. Yipee!

I arrived at the bus station about 30-45 minutes early. My designated departure time of 12:45am came and went with no bus. At 1:15 I asked the ticket vendor where the bus was. He replied that it was in Cordoba (about 5hrs from here). I asked when it was due to arrive. He said it wasn't. Ummm, much confusion in my head. Was I not understanding his Spanish? Did I miss something? I basically repeated my question about a million times while he repeadted his answer: there was no bus. I asked why I was sold a ticket with the time written on it if there was no bus coming, was there a change in schedule? What happened? Nope, just no bus. Argh. He finally issued me a new ticket, this one for 5:05pm which he assured me would be there. (The original ticket I bought was coche cama, kinda like business class. The new ticket was semi-cama, aka coach... without any sort of refund in price.)

I went back to the apartment, slept, and then departed again for the bus terminal later in the day. At about 5:10pm there was still no bus. I asked the ticket vendor again, to which she responded that the bus is actually due to arrive at 5:30pm and there is no bus that was supposed to come at 5:05pm. Thanks. But the bus finally did arrive at it's new time (for me). About 17 hours later, I arrived!

On my first day up there, I decided it was best to try to get to the Brazil side of the falls. This would take care of my visa issues if possible and only required half a day to explore anyhow. I hopped in the bus to take me across the border. We stopped at the Argentina side of customs where everyone had to get out. It went pretty quick as we just had our passports stamped. Yes, one step down. Then we headed over to the Brazil immigration. The bus driver stopped the bus and walked down the aisle eyeing all the passangers. Don't make eye contact, pretend nothing is arye. Yes! Only about one or two people got off and the bus started up again!

This side of the falls offered a great view and was definitely the best way to start the trip. There was one trail which ended at a viewing platform to take in the Devil's Throat, a huge cascade that could literally swallow anyone or anything whole.

On the bus back, the fare was $4 (pesos). I paid with a $10 and received $2 back in change. I then asked the bus driver what the fare was. (I took the same bus there, and already knew.) He was honest and I asked him why I only got $2 back. He asked how much I gave him and finally gave me back my rightful change. An Argentinian guy was watching this exchange and gave me congratulatory nod as I returned to my seat. When we got off the bus, I went to the zoo with him and then out to drinks, and have his email with an invitation to show me around BsAs when I get there in Feb. hehe


The following day I covered just about all of the Argentinian side of the falls. Filled with loads of trails overlooking a multitude of vistas of the falls and ambling into the forest for views of hidden falls, I kept busy. Pathways led down to the water's edge and back up above the falls. Staircases wound around a large island in the middle of the falls. I even headed under the falls in a boat getting soaked in the process. I have to admit, while ducking under one of the minor falls was satisfying, I was a little freaked out when the captain gunned the boat straight into the biggest cascade. We're going into that one too???

Think back on all of the waterfalls you have seen resorts or landscape architects try to recreate. I swear they are all doing their best to mimic the falls at Iguazu. It was so idealic. So amazing. So tropical. I loved it! The sound of falling water penetrated the entire park. Birds called out to eachother and swifts made their homes directly under the falls. On on trail closed to vehicles (aka hardly any tourists visit it), I caught sight of toucans sitting in the trees, capuchin monkeys playing on the vines, and a baby fer de lance sunning on a rock in the middle of the path. Pictures were hard to take with the need to keep my hands still to accomodate my 10x zoom and my muscles shaking from a combination of the heat and exhaustion after a long day. I was eventually forced to turn back by a park ranger due to the late hour. However I returned the next day to complete the hike and was greeted by even more birds in my early morning jaunt.


I explored the Guirani culture both on a tour (hokey) and independently (the real thing). I toured an animal rehab facility with many birds one could only hope of catching a glimpse of. I climbed up the face of a cliff, rode a zipline, rappeled down and enjoyed a swim and cruise with new friends from Ecuador. All the while, cogs were turning in my head over what I believe makes a great interpretation center, tour guide, trail, etc. Hopefully in time I'll be able to make something of my "research."

I met many travelers in Iguazu. Interestingly, most were women traveling by themselves. One was on a two week vacation from a job as a lawyer in NY. Another had been traveling since Memorial Day all over South America with no end in sight. A couple from Ireland were on an around the world jaunt for the next 6 months. While it is great to travel, how much better is it to get paid to do so??? hehe. While my job has it's ups and downs, weeks like this certainly make it worth it. With that, I've only got 8 days left until I head down to Ushuaia!!!!!!