Stones, bones, and black gold

29 January 2010, Sarmiento, Patagonia (Argentina)

The steppe of southern Patagonia is a rather dull sight: endless flat land with nothing but sparse, dry patches of colourless grass as far as you can see, in every direction. But things looked very different once upon a time, many many years ago, actually tens of millions of years ago before the Andes were created. At that time this area was covered in magnificent green forests of gigantic trees with dinosaurs of all sizes roaming around. The creation of the Andes range blocked out the rain coming from the Pacific, and put an end to this fertile region. However, we were able to see and touch the trunks of some of these 10 million year old trees which remain perfectly preserved - they have become stone! These petrified trees look exactly like real tree trunks, with different colours and even the age rings and bark. Only when you touch the trunk do you realize it is stone. We visit the bosque petrificado near Sarmiento full of petrified tree trunks.

A different development over these tens of millions of years has been the creation of oil as evidenced by the many oil pumps around. And frequently when the companies drill for a new oil well they discover something else: dinosaur bones. This region has some of the worlds richest finds in Dinosaur bones and fossils. In the paleontologic museum in Trelew, we see bones of a massive animal that weighed 100 tons and some fossils of dinosaur eggs. In fact, recent increased drilling activity (probably fuelled by a high oil price) has led to more archeological finds than in past decades.

Thinking about time... petrified trees and dinosaur bones are the witnesses of a world of millions of years ago - by comparison it seems that the 10,000 year old handprints of the early humans in the Cueva de las Manos were only painted yesterday.

Pictures of the Bosque Petrificado

10,000 year old art

22 January 2010

In a cave in the middle of nowhere southern Patagonia Argentina, you can see 10,000 year old art. To visit this amazing archeological site, we drive two hours from the nearest village (4,000 inhabitants) which is itself in the middle of nowhere to one side of a deep canyon. We then hike to the other side of the canyon through spectacular cliffs and a lush green valley with the river (rio pintura) in the middle.

Our destination, the Cueva de las Manos, is a cliff and a cave with unusual rock-paintings: handprints. The prints are up to 10,000 years old. The cave was used for 8,000 years by hunters who left hundreds of handprints behind. The handprints are negative: the hand was placed against the rock and then paint (red, yellow, black and blue) was applied around the hand's outline. The vast majority of prints are of the left hand. Regrettably, the meaning of these paintings has been lost. One of the many prints sticks out: a hand with six fingers. Either this person did indeed have six fingers (a condition known as hexadactyly, about 1 in 1000 births). Or one of the caveman painted an extra finger, this theory is supported by the fact that the print is one of the very few that's not an outline. Maybe a 10,000 year old prank?

After visiting this extraordinary place we continue our hike. We descend into the canyon again, taking a different route. This time there is no hanging bridge across the river. We take off our shoes and walk across the shallow river enjoying the cool water on this hot and sunny day.

Our little trip did involve a bit of side "entertainment". As we arrive at the river, the guide realizes that one of 13 people in the group is missing. He probably should have counted BEFORE we set off on the steep unmarked trail down the canyon. Well never mind, the guide decides to simply continue the hike (one of 13 is an acceptable loss in guiding?). As we start climbing up on the other side of the canyon, there are some exchanges (shouting across the canyon) between our guide and one of his colleagues on the other side. It seems the lost tourist has been found. Our guide appears less worried than the rest of us and seems to think the missing girl will somehow meet us at the bus . . . To everyone's surprise, the missing girl catches up with us and she is not too pleased and starts cursing the guide.

Fotos here

Spotting a woodpecker

January 2010

National Parks Torres del Paine (near Punta Arenas, Chile) and Los Glaciares (El Chalten, Argentina) are both breathtaking: we hike at the feet of towering mountains with odd shapes. Glaciers flow down from the huge Campo de Hielo. The vegetation is green here, fed by melted glacier water. As it is summer, lots of flowers are blooming. Lots of the plants are smaller here than in more temperate zones, due to the generally cold climate. We spot lots of interesting birds - among them the Pajaro Carpintero, or Magellanic Woodpecker. This red-headed bird picks away at the trees and is not the least bothered by our presence.
Unlike the Woody Woodpecker cartoon would make you believe, the woodpecker does not live in the holes it makes in the tree trunks. In reality, the bird is only picking out wood worms.

El Chalten

PN Torres del Paine

Amazing Glaciers

14 January 2010


We see many marine glaciers on our trip through southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. Starting with giant Pio X which we observe from the Navimag Ferry, the Glaciar Grey in PN Torres del Paine, Glaciar Pia and a whole "glacier street" consisting of five different glaciers while sailing during the Beagle Channel.
The king of glaciars though has to be Perito Moreno, near El Calafate in southern Argentina. This huge glacier flows down 30km from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and ends in Lago Argentina. A wall of ice, 5 km wide and 60 meters high. The glacier advances up to 2 meters a day. We listen to its constant cracking, and witness huge parts of its front collapse and splash into the water, creating floating icebergs and huge waves.

Fotos from Perito Moreno and other glaciers.

Crossing an international border twice in one day

12 January 2010 - Tierra del Fuego

Crossing an international border twice in one day
Today we travel the 200 km from Ushuaia (Argentina) to Rio Gallegos (Argentina) - a relatively short ride you would think, well think again, this is a 12 hour journey including crossing the same international border twice and a ferry crossing.

Chile and Argentina had lengthy and intense border disputes over this largely uninhabited (and uninhabitable) area - as far as the eye can see wide open dry steppe/ pampas. It is hard to believe that the two countries were on the brink of war over this territory in the '70s. There is a famous Chilean movie "mi mejor enemigo" (my best enemy) which tells the story of a troop of 5 Chilean soldiers getting lost in the pampas in the 70's and encountering a troop of 5 Argentinian soldiers. Both troops are charged with defending their border, but no one knows where they are or in which country, let alone where the border is - it all just looks the same, flat nothingness. Today, the most southern part of Argentina can only be reached by crossing Chilean territory.

Our bus leaves Ushuaia at 5 a.m. At 5.15 a.m. an obnoxious tourist with an open bottle of wine manages to get a cigarette from another passenger giving him a sip of wine in return. She then proceeds to light up and smoke the cigarette in the toilet of the bus leaving the door wide open, and seems surprised when the bus assistant informs her that smoking is not allowed. We wonder how we will survive this bus ride.

At 11 am the first border post: fill out the immigration form, everybody off the bus, queue patiently, get an exit stamp, good bye Argentina, for now. At 12:30 am, a few kilometres down the road: fill out the immigration form, everybody off the bus, queue patiently, get an entry stamp into Chile. And then this is Chile which strictly forbids entering with fruits, diary or meat products. Good thing we bought tons of snacks for the bus, fruits, cheese and ham sandwiches! Luckily we remembered before the border post and managed to eat most of it. We declare our two ham sandwiches: the customs officer would not let us enter with the sandwiches, but allows us to eat them on the spot.
Finally we are all back on the bus, then an immigration officer enters and confiscates an open can of beer and a bottle of wine from the previously mentioned obnoxious tourist. At 2pm the third border post, at least here the Argentines and Chileans are in the same building: fill out the immigration forms (we can do this in our sleep by now), everybody off the bus, queue patiently twice, exit Chile, enter Argentina.
At 6pm, 13 hours and 200 km later, we arrive at our destination, Rio Gallegos (Argentina). Well the border disputes may have been resolved and relations between the two countries may be good, but they don't seem to be at a stage yet where travelling to the south of Argentina over Chilean territory can be organised more efficiently.

Walking with Pingüinos

January 2010 - Patagonia & Tierra del Fuego.

Our first sighting of penguins in the wild is on the Galapagos; these are quite small. We will encounter many more in Tierra del Fuego and southern Patagonia. Tiny Isla Magdalena near Punta Arenas for example is inhabited by 80,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins. Only one human lives on the island: the guardaparque (park warden).

A few penguin facts:

• Penguins only live in the southern hemisphere
• Even though penguins are birds they cannot fly - if you see one fly, it is most likely a comorant, a hallucination, or a miracle
• Couples stays together live long, only breeding difficulties are reason for separation
• Magellanic penguins migrate once a year all the way from southern Brazil down to Tierra del Fuego, where they come to breed
• They use the same nest (a hole in the ground) every year
• Each pair breeds two young penguins. Due to their fluffy feathers, the babies look bigger than their parents
• The males and females share all the parenting work such as sitting on the eggs and feeding the babies
• They gather food in an area up to 600 km off the coast. After gathering food, they walk back to their nest which can be a few kilometres land inwards. So if you think you live far away from the supermarket, think again
• They swim incredibly fast: up to 45 km/h - faster than many cruiseships or ferries.
• Penguins may walk funny but they go at about the same speed as humans
• There are 17 species of penguins in the world
  
  

We see hundreds if not thousands of Magellanic penguins (the most common specie in Tierra del Fuego and southern Patagonia). They are not shy of the visiting humans at all and just go about there business as the gawking tourists stare at them and click away. Some are even very curious and walk towards the tourists.

A very bumpy one hour journey in a Zodiac brings us to Isla Pingüino (off the coast of Puerto Deseado) where we visit a colony of 700 pairs of the much less common Rockhopper penguins. As their name suggests, they hop very skillfully from rock to rock, when walking on land. They also have funky hairdos and make up: bright red eyes with bright yellow eyebrows and two bright yellow head feathers - Natasha thought they were called punk rock penguins.

Along the coast of Puerto Deseado, we very unexpectedly spot yet another type of penguin: the much larger King penguin. This specie lives in the Antarctic and on the Islas Malvinas (or the Falkland Islands as the British call them), about 500 km away from where we are. This penguin should not be on the South American continent, and yet we see one single one on the shore, just standing there looking at the much smaller busy Magellanic penguins. Natasha thinks he's not real and been put there by our tour operator. This guy either got seriously lost looking for fish, or is a visiting tourist - just like us.

Pingüinos

Tierra del Fuego by boat

05 January - 09 January 2010, Punta Arenas (Chile) - Ushuaia (Argentina)


Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) was so named by the first European explorers because the aboriginal inhabitants (the Yamanas) used to keep fires burning all day to keep warm. Tierra del Fuego is actually a large island (and some smaller islands) and the most southern region of South America, divided between Chile and Argentina. This isolated and remote region is very difficult to explore with few roads and even less towns. So we book a cruise that will take us right along and through the islands of Tierra del Fuego. We embark in Puerto Natales (Chile) and disembark 4 days later in Ushuaia (Argentina).

In contrast to our last relatively basic cruise on the cargo passenger Navimag ferry, this one is passengers only and rather luxurious. Cabins are spacious, four course meals are served in a grand restaurant, drinks in the bar and lounge on board are included. But the true highlights of the cruise are the amazing places we cruise by and visit:






Ainsworth Bay, A gorgeous beach which can only be reached by boat - a colony of sea elephants (these huge animals can weigh up to 5 tonnes, best to keep a safety distance) are lazing around on the beach. We take a short walk along the beach and the forest behind it.







The Glaciar Pia, a marine glacier growing into the ocean. We approach the glacier by Zodiac crossing over many pieces of floating ice - quite a bumpy ride, we then walk along the rocks and hill right next to the glacier. The glacier itself is phenomenal and huge. We hear the ice crack inside the glacier, and sometimes small pieces break off its front wall. This huge mass of ice is moving constantly. As we leave the site, the crew takes along two huge blocks of ice from the water...a request from the barman. Our drinks will be cooled with glacier ice.








Setting foot on Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn). We have been warned that this would be the toughest part of the cruise and that it may not be possible to go on land, the area being notorious for very rough seas. However, no one was expecting the conditions that meet us this morning: blue sky, not the slightest wind, hardly any waves. The crew can't believe their eyes. The captain confesses:"This isn't Cabo de Hornos. It's a Caribbean island!". It is a special feeling to visit the most southern point on this continent. Looking north, we see islands, even snowy mountains, looking south, there is nothing but the open sea.

Cabo de Hornos is an uninhabited island, except for one member of the Chilean Navy and his family. They live on the island (in the one house on a hill, which is actually also the lighthouse) for one year, until the next family arrives. What an experience alone for a year on this island but nowadays they have satelite tv and internet, and of course the cruise ship passengers.










A walk on Bahia de Wulaia, another pristine spot only accessible by boat. We have two options - an easy walk along the beach or a more strenuous walk up to a view point. We go for the latter. Surprisingly enough so do the majority of the other passengers, many of whom do not look very fit nor have proper hiking shoes. The way up is rainy and the steep path is very muddy and slippery, we stop at a beaver dam and spot two of them at work. Everyone seems to be in a great hurry to get to the viewpoint and pushes up, it is a bit of a human traffic jam. To our great luck the weather starts clearing up and we are rewarded with magical views when we reach the view point (which ends up being a relatively short walk). The guides request a minute of silence and to our amazement the so far rather rowdy crowd obliges and wow we have a couple of minutes of silence to really enjoy our surroundings.



The cruise ship has put together a packed program: lots of eating (both breakfast and lunch are extravagant buffets and dinner a 4 course affair); every day we have a land excursion sometimes two, talks and presentations on flora, fauna and history of the region, documentary movies, and evening entertainment. Well we take it pretty easy and skip many of the activities except for the excursions, well and the food of course.

The meals are interesting. On the first evening we register for dinner, everyone is assigned to a table of 8, divided based on language. We decide it is best to practice our Spanish so request to be seated on a Spanish speaking table. Once assigned to a table, you have each of your meals (11 in total) at the same table with the same people. We are seated with one older Spanish couple (the husband originally from Chile) and a Spanish family with two kids (now living in Santiago de Chile). Every day each table has to compete a quiz. We have to fill in questionnaires and hand them in every evening. On the last evening, the winner is announced. One of the boys at our table,13 year old Pablo, is the intellectual type and very much into the quiz. He interrogates every crew member and scans the library until he gets every answer 100% right. The questions aren't that simple: What was the name of the watercolour painter on the HMS Beagle (Darwin's Ship)? What is Phrenology? How many species of Penguins are there? - Now try answering these on a ship without internet access.

On the last evening, our table is very anxious to hear the announcement of the winner - surely Pablo's enthusiasm must have earned him the trophy. But...oh disaster....the table next to us is announced to be the winner. Pablo is traumatised. His parents are quick to explain that this is all part of a bigger conspiracy against the Spanish in Chile. The English and Germans would always get better treatment, the Spanish would always come last. No way the Spanish speaking table could win the quiz - the game was rigged from the beginning - like always. Hmm, we are not so sure about this theory. But then again, didn't we notice before that every single night, our table was by far the last to get the main course of dinner served? Yes, these people are right. It is a conspiracy. Next time, we'll sit with the English speakers again.

More fotos from the cruise here.