Ceviche and Chicha Moda

Hands down, Peru is the best place I've been to so far in South America for amazing food. Argentina had delicious grilled meat, this is true, and flavorful chimichurri sauce (which is a delicious marinade for meat made with parsley, peppers, garlic, oil, and vinegar). Here in Peru, no matter what small cafe or restaurant I walk into, I want to try everything. Ice cream, seafood, sandwiches, chocolates, fruit drinks, and much more this is a food lover's city. Lima is known as the Gastronomical Capital of the Americas. The perfect place for me to be to sample excellent South American cuisine!

Today I went to lunch with a coworker. He took me to a seafood place and recommend I try a Peruvian traditional dish, ceviche. I have had ceviche before, but what I was served was an entirely new experience. The fish used was sole (flounder). It was chopped in thick pieces and marinated in a rich and tangy, sweet and salty lemon juice that was so flavorful I would of drank it off my plate if only it didn't look funny. The lemons have such a unique flavor it was like eating a new fruit for the first time. Thinly sliced red onions topped the fish and Peruvian corn and sweet potato were served on the side. We also shared a traditional drink, chicha moda. It was a wonderful, deep purple drink made from purple corn of all things. The corn is boiled in water often with cinnamon, pineapple rinds, and cloves. Once cooled, lemon juice and sugar are added making this one of the most delicious and refreshing drinks!

After work, a couple of us strolled along the circuito de playos, or the beach cliffs in Lima that overlook the Pacific Ocean. Palm trees and lush vegetation surround cement walkways and paths for people to enjoy the fresh sea air. Trails lead down to the beach and surfers are carrying their boards on their way to catch some of the ocean waves. Kids play on toys and ride bikes on dirt bike courses as parents watch and also play. It is a wonderful place to stroll and people watch. We then headed to the famous cliff mall, Larcomar. It is an open air mall filled with trendy shops selling clothing and crafts, restaurants, and a movie theater overlooking the ocean. We stopped for ice cream and enjoyed a walk around. It was all quite lovely.

Below are some pictures from the day...

Above. Chicha moda, traditional Peruvian drink

Above. Surfers as seen from afar from our cliff walk

Above. A view of the shoreline from the cliff walk

Above. Walking the cliff walk at sunset

Above. The open air shopping mall on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Larcomar

127 Species of Hummingbirds

Knowng there are 127 species of hummingbirds in Peru makes me want to head toward the mountains. Instead of running to the hills, I am living it up in the big city of Lima for the next five days. Surrounding by historic buildings, ancient ruins, and the beautiful Pacific Ocean, I think I'll make do!

So far, it has been nice. I had to endure another long day of travel to arrive here. I say "endure" because with each big travel expedition I take (yes, crossing the Andes even by air counts as an expedition), something seems to come up to keep me on my toes.

I left the hotel in Bariloche, Argentia at 6:30 am Wednesday morning. After a taxi ride to the airport (only nine miles outside of town), I waited patiently for about a half hour to load into a tour bus that took me three and a half hours south to Esquel where I would board a plane to Buenos Aires. Turns out the plane was delayed by about an hour and a half, which automatically made me stressed knowing the sequence of the rest of the journey ahead of me. Once to Buenos Aires, I would need to catch a taxi to the other airport across town and check my luggage (I bought a few souvenirs...) in time to board my latest international flight.

I recall standing in the Esquel airport, which is really tiny, and looked out at the vast stretch of Patagonia grasslands before me only to see a lonely concrete runway emerge amongst the dry landscape. Still no plane. I could of been in the middle of Australia for all I knew. The Patagonia grasslands can seem very desolate, depending on where you're standing. It rolls on and on and on across valleys and mountains tops.

The plane finally emerged out of the distance and landed. We boarded and I enjoyed a two hour flight to Buenos Aires. I quickly grabbed my luggage and headed for the area in the airport where I was to meet my prearranged taxi driver. Would he be there waiting? It was almost 5 o'clock. My flight to Lima was scheduled to leave at 7:45 pm. We had to drive across the city to get to the other airport. Was I going to make it in time? Luckily, the driver was there standing ready with a sign with my name on it. I was relieved to see him and we quickly made our way outside into the car. Once on the road, we quickly came up against the evening traffic commute. It was warm outside, the buses were buzzing by leaving their exhaust behind them, and my taxi driver was making phone calls to his colleagues trying to figure out the best route to take across town to get me to the airport in time. We did this for at least 45 minutes. I decided, if I wasn't to the airport by at least 6:15 pm, there was no way I'd be able to get to my flight in time.

Miraculously, traffic eased just enough to allow us to arrive by 6 pm!

I was out of the car in no time, made it to the check in counter, got my ticket, was off through security, immigration, went pee, bought some water, and arrived at my gate at exactly boarding time. What a relief! I was one big stress ball, but I made it! They soon began boarding the plane. I found a comfortable seat and slowly began to unwind...

Landing in Lima prompted another round of applause by the passengers. I put my hands together and clapped too. It is very common in Latin American for people to clap upon arrival I'm learning. I'm sure it is a combination between thanking the pilot for a good flight and perhaps a sudden burst of thankfulness for making it alive. I suppose it just depends on the type of flyer you are... For me, I could say I was a more the latter.

Meandering my way through security and immigration was a breeze this time around. I'm getting quite familiar with the process. Now I can proudly say I have three stamps in my passport, which is really exciting: Chile, Argentina, and now Peru.

I made it comfortably to my hotel room and quickly unpacked and went to sleep. I was exhausted. I took the opportunity to sleep in this morning, eat a nice breakfast in the hotel lobby, and gradually make my way to work. The office is only a ten minute walk from where I am staying. The streets are awfully busy with people and traffic. Little buses honk at each other and cars never stop for pedestrians. Be thankful when you walk and drive in the US from now on! I am in a trendier area of Lima called Miraflores. Only a few streets away from the Pacific Ocean, I have yet to see it, but that will definitely change after my weekend plans.

Once at work, I was able to meet a few people from the office. They prepared and shared presentations about the work that The Nature Conservancy is doing in Peru. Again, it is humbling and amazing to hear about. Peru's biggest projects include work on sustainable fishing strategies and developing marine conservation planning areas within the Humboldt Current, the biggest fishery in the world! The Humboldt Current is an upwelling of nutrient-rich, cool water that flows from Patagonia north to Peru. It supports an extraordinary amount of marine life. Other important projects include protecting the Lomas ecosystems along the coast, areas of vegetation that thrive in a harsh desert environment because of its ability to harvest moisture from coastal fog. How amazing! I'd love to see it. Efforts are also underway to help create a sustainable water supply for the city of Lima by protecting areas upland of three major rivers that flow within the city's watershed. Work is also being done in the Amazon forests of Peru with indigenous people to create a network of protected lands.

It is great to be here! I'm really excited to learn more about Peru's culture, people, and unique and abundant mix of biodiversity. Pictures soon to come!

photo: tripadvisor.com (I haven't had the chance to take photos yet, so this one will do!)

My Last Day in Argentina

Today is my last day in Argentina. It has been a really great experience so far. I am thinking back to the short ten days I've been here and all the amazing things I've gotten to see and the amazing people I've met.

So, what have a discovered about Argentina that I can share more of?...

Even the tourists in Bariloche speak Spanish

Leather doesn't only come from cows it also comes from capybaras

The latest exchange rate from dollars to pesos is about 1:4

I've learned more about mate than I ever knew before

Venison pate is really good

Walking into a restaurant with half a goat roasting at an open fire is normal

Fresh squeezed orange juice is served at every restaurant

The people I've met in Argentina have a good sense of humor

Volcano ash gets into every nook and cranny

The Black-faced Ibis is a pretty bird

If roosters are to alarm clocks then parrots are too

I must learn more about the famous gaucho Martín Fierro

Oh yeah, people clap when the plane lands. I like that!

That's all for now folks! I will post more about my next adventure when I arrive in Peru! I travel to Peru tomorrow and stay until the 4th. Then back home to Seatte!

The Chimehuin River and Grasslands Fieldwork

I've spent the last several days at a freshwater workshop with many groups from the Province of Neuquén, Patagoina. They are rallying for conservation efforts along the Chimehuin River near the town of Junín de los Andes in Argentina. This river is famous around the world for its fly fishing and they are interested in establishing strategies to keep this river healthy and beautiful both for the tourists who visit here and the local people who rely on the river.

On the second day of the workshop, we were able to visit the mouth of the river at Lake Huechulafquen in Lanín National Park. It is a majestic area with a wide open lake at the base of Lanin, a perfectly coned shaped snow capped volcano. Near the area we stopped to gaze the horizon, several dozen Araucaria (monkey puzzle) trees were growing at the lake shore. I kept thinking how beautiful and untouched this area was compared to anything I had seen in the states. However, I quickly learned that the very corner of the lake I was standing on was platted for 5,000 individuals lots as well as plans for a paved road to the national park and electricity lines.

We made many more stops along the Chimehuin River that day, including a stop near a dump. I was shocked to see thousands of plastic bags caught by the wind in trees near the river's edge. The trash unattractively decorated them like Christmas ornaments. One of the most beautiful rivers in Patagonia wasn't looking so good. This is one of the many issues the freshwater group is working to solve to keep their river beautiful and healthy.

The hosteria (very similar to a small inn or bed and breakfast) my coworkers and I stayed in was very quaint a nice. Junin is a much smaller town than Bariloche, but it was a very cute town with nice shops and restaurants, catering very much to its tourist base. The people I met there were very friendly and welcoming. Argentinians love their mate. They also love their meat. I had a really good steak one night with a green onion cream sauce and delicious wine.

Today, I spent the morning at estancia Fortin Chacabuco, a private land estate near Bariloche. I helped a coworker collect grasslands data at the property to help understand overgrazing patterns (by sheep and deer). It was an incredibly beautiful place, but also very windy. The ash from the erupting volcano was especially harsh requiring us to wear face masks. Fortunately, last night it rained so we were given a small window of the day to be out and about ash free.

Below are pictures to share from the last several days. Enjoy!

Above. At the mouth of the Chimehuin River.

Above. A recreational map of the area surrounding Junín de los Andes, Argentina.

Above. Lake Huechulafquen in Lanín National Park. Volcano Lanin is in the background.

Above. A picture of myself near the Araucaria trees.

Above. Patagonian grasslands near Bariloche.

Above. Effects of ash on grasslands. Grasslands in the effected area at this time of the year are suppose to be green. Animals, including deer and sheep, are no longer able to graze here.

Above. Junín de los Andes from the conference center window. Doesn't this scence look like it could be of Washington or Oregon!?

Puyehue Volcano Ash and Guanacos

Yesterday, my work group and I traveled from Bariloche to Junin de los Andes. The drive north took approximately 3 hours. We stopped frequently to see the sights. What were the highlights of the trip? The first was the massive amount of volcanic ash we saw coating the hills and suspended in the air from the erupting Puyehue volcano in Chile. It erupted in June and still continues to spew ash. This area of Patagonia gets little rain, so the ash that has fallen continues to get swept and suspended into the air from the wind. It coated everything including my hair, clothes, the car, the surrounding landscape, and filled up my shoes when I got out of the car to take pictures. A couple of times it felt like we were driving through dense fog. The hills looked like they had snow on them, but it was ash. Piles of plowed ash lined the sides of the roads. It was quite impressive.

A couple other highlights to mention were how similar the landscape felt to that of Washington State. I felt as though I was driving through eastern Washington. Vast stretches of shrub steppe and grasslands, ponderosa pine trees, and large rock outcrops and river valleys were all around. It wasn't until I saw a few guanacos on the hills that I felt like I was not in Washington anymore! Also, there are many magnificent rocks here that are quite different. And, everything is huge and vast.

Tomorrow I am going on a field trip that will take me closer to the mountains. I am hoping to see some araucaria trees growing in the wild. I will post more pictures soon. Unfortunately, where I am at I have little internet connectivity. So my posts will be brief until Saturday. More soon!

Patagonia: Land of Big Feet

If you thought Washington was home to bigfoot, Patagonia was first. Ever wonder how the Patagonia got its name? When Magellan and his Spanish explorers discovered Argentina, they noticed giant footprints in the snow. Not knowing what sort of creature was creating them, he declared the place they had come to know as Patagonia, or land of big feet. Later, they would discover that these giants were just the native people whose custom it was to tie guanaco skins to their feet leaving the large footprints behind. In actuality, the native people were on average ten inches taller than the Spaniards thus taking their first impressions of the land from imagination to true story.

Patagonia is a very large region encompassing southern Chile and Argentina. It stretches from the temperate rainforests of Valdivia in Chile east across the Andes Mountains to Argentina where the forests transition to a much dryer climate known as the Patagonia grasslands and eventually meet with the Atlantic Ocean. In Argentina, Patagonia lies south of the Colorado River and extends all the way to the very tip of South America. There is much diversity here, much more than I could ever write about. What I do know is that natural beauty of this area is vast and stretches in every direction. Sheep and cattle ranching are the primary productive activity in this region and next would likely be tourism. At the height of sheep ranching, Patagonia's "white coal" became a source of great profitability.

Bariloche (as seen from my office window in the picture above) sits within Nahuel Huapi National Park, the third oldest national park in the world behind Yellowstone and Banff. There are many protected areas, but ninety percent of the land is privately owned. Pressures to develop oil and gas, build dams, and generate other forms of energy are pressures this region is now facing. Overgrazing by sheep and cattle, particularly in riparian zones around rivers and steams, also puts stress on the landscape. I am working with The Nature Conservancy to help offset some of these pressures so the landscape, and the livelihoods of the people that depend on it, can flourish well into the future. Tomorrow I am attending a freshwater workshop that will bring together a variety of community stakeholders including ranchers, fly fishing associations, environmental agencies, and government officials to discuss approaches to keeping Patagonia a healthy and productive region.

On the drive up to the workshop, we plan on making frequent stops to see the habitats and species of this region. I really want to see a guanaco! But first, I am going to lay my big feet down.

Sunday Strolling and Spätzle

Today I slept in. It felt really good. I got much needed rest. The reason I even woke up that early was because I wanted to get to the hotel's breakfast before it closed at 10 am. The breakfast was very typical of what I had in Chile: Sliced cheeses and meats, freshly baked bread and pastries, an assortment of jams, and yogurt. It was just what I needed to start the day. Then I set out to discover San Carlos de Bariloche.

Just across the street from my hotel is a wonderful stone church. Built in 1946, Nuestra Sra. del Nahuel Huapi (Cathedral of San Carlos de Bariloche) sits just above Nahuel Huapi Lake. The interior was decorated with strings of paper hearts and balloons. A sign above the alter read "La vida regalo de dios" or, God's gift of life. After walking around the church and admiring the stations of the cross (all beautifully hand sculpted) and stained glass, I attended the mass. Spoken entirely in Spanish, I could at least follow along knowing the mass, but I also could tell the Argentinan's were speaking better articulated Spanish then the Chileans. This gave me hope I could actually understand Spanish one day...

After I left the church, I decided to walk around main street downtown. Many stores were closed because it was Sunday, but many were open. I went into stores that sold popular arts and crafts items like wool clothing, jewelry, wooden spoons and boxes, and calabush guards used to sip mate. Bariloche is the chocolate capital of Argentina, so there are numerous chocolate shops in town. If you are a chocolate lover, this is the place to be. I definitely picked up a couple of boxes to bring home. They had truffles, chocolate bars, chocolate covered nuts, braided white chocolate, and chocolate filled with dolce de leche. Each chocolate store had their own look and feel including one that featured babuschka dolls called Mamuschka Chocolate. They won the contest for cutest chocolate shop. But, in order to truly know the best chocolate shop, I would have to try all the chocolate at each and every one and tell you whose chocolate I liked best... now that's an idea!

After strolling a bit, I decided it was time to go out to lunch. There wasn't a time I went out to dinner in Chile on my own, but I was hungry and wanted a good meal after all the traveling I had just done. So, I picked a restaurant that looked nice and decided to eat a meal. It was called Restaurante Cerveceria. Nice name, don't you think? I ordered a local beer, but they told me they didn't have any in stock so I got a familiar Heineken. I ordered goulash with spätzle, beef stewed in red wine, paprika and served with spätzle. It was all very German to me. This town with it's chocolate and spätzle was all so European, evidence of the many immigrants to this area. The dinner was excellent, just what I wanted. As was the salmon moose they served with the table bread. I left happy. I took one last opportunity to explore before heading back to my room and decided to walk along the waters of Nahuel Huapi Lake. Standing on the shores I didn't feel that far away from home. The mountains rose above the open lake and the water was splashing on the round stones under my feet.

Tonight I meet with several coworkers, two of which I was suppose to meet up with yesterday. We can share our adventurous travel stories. I better go get ready to meet them. Until tomorrow. Chao!

Enjoy more pictures from today.

Above. Babushka stained glass window at the entrance to Mamushka Chocolate Shop.

Above. Yes, there is so much chocolate here they even make chocolate cell phones...

Above. Decorative altar at the Cathedral of San Carlos de Bariloche.

Above. People strolling through the town civic center.

Above. Important words in the Rio Negro province of Bariloche.

Above. Walking the trail along Nahuel Huapi Lake.

Above. Standing on the shore of Nahuel Huapi Lake

Planes, Tour Buses, and Taxis: I've Arrived!

Yesterday, I took off on another adventure to South America. This time I will be visiting the countries of Argentina and Peru. I am really lucky to have an awesome employer that works in Latin America and is willing to send their employees all over the world to learn and share their skills. That is exactly what I will be doing over the next two and a half weeks. But first, let me tell you the story of how I got here.

Yesterday morning, my Dad was very kind to drop me off at SeaTac airport to begin this journey. I was on time and everything was good. I definitely had my apprehensions about the trip. This one involved so many more travel logistics than the last one to Chile and my Spanish speaking hasn't improved dramatically over the last two weeks. If only it worked that way. I said a couple prayers to get me started that everything would work out alright. I prayed that my flights would be on time as well as the flights of the others that I would be meeting up with once I landed in Buenos Aires.

At this point in writing, I have traveled non stop for 36 hours. That includes four plane rides, two taxi rides, and two bus rides. I've never done this kind of traveling before, especially on my own. It is exhausting. It took tolls on me physically, but psychologically as well. My brain was paying attention every step of the way as to the logistics of where I should be, the timing to plan for where I needed to go, and the discipline of keeping myself calm in situations that were stressful. It was a test I was up for in order to get to this beautiful place.

My first stop took me to Chicago. I had just 45 minutes to deboard and change to the next flight from there. Luckily, the next gate wasn't too far off once we landed. My second stop took me to Miami, Florida. The sun was setting as we flew in, it was quite nice. However, the minute I got off the plane and looked for my next flight, the gate number was no where to be seen. How could I be lost in the Miami airport of all places? I was calm though, I had about an hour before my next flight started boarding. But ten minutes turned into twenty minutes of roaming and still nothing. So I finally had to ask someone. Where the heck is Gate J? They told me, I had to go outside of the airport, back into the international side, recheck my bags, and proceed to my gate. What!? I was down to about a half hour at this point. I quickly picked up the pace, bolted out of there, added a little skip to my step, and started on my way. It took me awhile and I had to go out into the humid Florida air. I was sweaty and a little on edge as I made it into the international area, but quickly made it through security, even with puffy hair. Once on the other side of security, I walked to the gate and had just enough time to go to the bathroom and make a few last minute calls before use of my cell phone would be off limits because of international roaming charges.

One thing I can mention that I really liked about my flight from Miami to Buenos Aires was the service. I flew LAN Airlines. The plane was new, there was lots of room for luggage (I took carry on luggage on all my flights), the flight attendants were nice, and I got to watch free movies and TV. They fed us well. Dinner was served on real plates and with real silverware! Everyone got little flute glasses filled with wine. This was a perk I wasn't expecting! I was also able to sit next to someone from Belize who was traveling to Argentina to give a thesis presentation. I am really glad I met him because once we landed we walked together through the various steps of entering the country.

Like Chile, Argentina was really easy to enter. I had to pay $140 fee (because that is what the US charges people entering from Argentina) and then I got my passport stamped. When we went through security, they didn't even take our customs forms. Very strange. Otherwise, I've been properly documented.

This is where the fun part begins. It is at this point in my story that I plan to meet with two coworkers traveling from Boston. Once I exit the airport into the main entrance area, we determined it was my job to track down the taxi driver holding a sign with our names on it. I did one sweep and nothing. Keep in mind, there are hundreds of people walking around and about thirty different taxi drivers at any one moment holding up name cards. Some of them completely suck too. They definitely didn't have the viewer in mind. Imagine looking for your name from afar on a piece of notebook paper written with a fine tip pen? After my initial unsuccessful sweep, I decided it would be wise to check up on the arriving flights to make sure my coworker friends were not far behind. I browsed the airport arrival reader and all the flights are on time, except the last one: DELAYED from Dalles/Fort Worth. It was displayed on their so bright like it was laughing and pointing fingers at me. Grah! This whole trip, this was the one part I was counting on to go smoothly, so I could have peace of mind traveling the rest of the way and now a major glitch. How would I get a hold of them? Who could I get a hold of? Why didn't I ask them for their cell phone numbers? Why didn't they have mine? Should I wait for them and miss my next flight? What was I going to do!?

As you can see the questions in my head were flooding in. I walked around again and again and finally at a quarter to nine I gave up. My next task was to figure out how to get from the International Airport in Buenos Aires to the Domestic Airport, some 45 minutes away. I wasn't sure if the taxi driver was coming, but I decided before I arranged my own taxi I would check my email to see if anyone at work had sent an update since we didn't exchange phone numbers (which is just silly). I talked to the friendly lady at the information desk to ask about wireless. No wireless she said, but you can use the communications center off to the right. Luckily, before I left the baggage area, I turned in twenty five US dollars for 90 Argentina pesos. That was all the cash I had to exchange. I learned they don't take credit cards to do the money exchange. A good thing to keep in mind for all future trips! I was feeling uneasy that 90 pesos wasn't going to cut it for my travels, but I didn't really know what was ahead of me.

I managed to get online, a half hour of internet for 5 pesos. I thought, surely my work friends will get a hold of me with an update there. Sure enough they did. Their flight was canceled and they were flying the next day. Now it was even more apparent that I needed to get to the other airport and travel the rest of the way on my own. My next flight now was less than two hours away. I wanted to respond to them them through email so they knew what I was up to, but my gmail account would not let me log in for a reason I blame on the communications center. My work email wasn't allowing me to send emails either. How frustrating! A little panicked, I was able to find the Patagonia Program Director's cell phone in his email that he offered in case I needed to call. That was my lifeline. Next step, figure out how to call. The ladies at the communications center were really helpful. I must of said thank you a dozen times for all their help. The cell phone number was like twenty characters long and I had no idea how to dial to reach him. Thankfully, I was able to reach him on just the second try and he told me where to go to get a taxi. Sure enough, I was able to get a taxi (after waiting for twenty more minutes as my next flight got even closer and after a big disappointment: the pop machine took my money for some much needed water). Anyway, I was off. And boy was I. The taxi driver I had buzzed through Buenos Aires like it was nobody's business. He flew by car after car. At one point I thought, this is just not safe. And my other thought, sweet I just might make it!

He dropped me off at the Domestic Airport with an hour and fifteen minutes to spare before the flight I've been trying so hard to reach departed to Esquel. Entering yet another new airport, I had to determine where to check in. The kiosks were not too hard to find. First step, not so smooth. The instructions were not in English this time and after guessing a couple times I was rejected from the system. At this point, I was feeling like the actors on the reality show Rat Race, and had to stop a moment and think of my next strategic step. The minutes are quickly ticking by and I have no time to go stand in the airline's check in counter. The line was simply too long. Thank goodness I still had carry on baggage so I could skip the long lines. There was a really nice old man sitting on a chair patiently next to me so I kindly asked him if he spoke English and could help me. He shook his head no and said he didn't know how to work the machines. I must of gave him the poor look of helplessness because in no time he got up and started helping me. He still didn't know how to do it, but he said, wait right here I will be back and he ran off into the mass of people. Then he came back through the crowd with his wife and son so they could help me. Wasn't that nice!? I thanked them again profusely. There were so many nice people helping me along the way.

I found my way to the gate after going through another round of security. And, wouldn't you believe it, you don't even have to take your laptop out, or liquids, or remove your shoes for these security lines. I couldn't decide if that made me feel happy or not? Regardless, I was in. I once again had just enough time to go to the bathroom, grab my much needed drink, and head to the gate. Boarding the plane involved riding a bus to stairs everyone would climb to board the plane. I climbed the stairs, gave Buenos Aires a presidential wave, and plopped into my seat so exhausted by that ordeal of events. But it was daylight, I had a window seat, and I could at least relax for two hours before figuring out how to connect the rest of the dots of my trip. Flying over Buenos Aires was amazing. It is a huge city on the water. As the city became less dense, agriculture fields abounded for miles, before the landscape looked more and more desolate. I imagined wild horses and Argentinian cowboys riding through the shrub and grasslands I was seeing stretch out before me. Not too long after that I saw the majestic snowy peaks of the Andes Mountains. Landing in Esquel was absolutely beautiful. It is hard to describe. Parts of it reminded me of eastern Washington, where the forests become drier and eventually disappear to sage brush.

The airport in Esquel is so tiny. There is one little building and the fact that they even had a luggage belt made me smile. The lady I sat next to on the plane, helped me to coordinate the next stage of my trip. About four months ago a huge volcano erupted near the town of Bariloche where I was headed so the airport was closed. This left one option, a four hour bus ride from Esquel to Bariloche. The thing was, I didn't have a ticket for the bus. I did the week before, but the airline called and told me the connection time between the flight and the bus wasn't long enough. This I will never understand, because the connection time was less than five minutes. It was literally a hundred or so feet. The buses were parked in the lot outside the little airport and there was not another building in site. I talked to a LAN flight representative and he told me to just get on one of the buses, so that is what I did. Free of charge.

The bus ride was on one of the prettiest stretches of highway I think I've ever been on, and that is saying something. The desert brush and grasslands seen in Esquel turned gradually into forests and mountain passes. Snowy peaks disappeared and reappeared again as we undulated by on the road beside them. Large tranquil lakes reflected their images and the evening light made the their rocks at their summits look sharp and dramatic. I saw trees I've never seen, birds that were completely new, and vast stretches of landscape that not a one person lived on. It was beautiful! Patagonia became alive to me.

Once to Bariloche, the bus dropped us off at the closed airport. Now there was just one more dot left of this journey, finding a taxi ride to my hotel in Bariloche knowing I only had 55 pesos. I knew having few pesos would come back to haunt me. The taxi driver that I picked, didn't speak English, but we managed to communicate the fact of how much money I had and how much I needed, a difference of about 12 pesos. I got in the car anyway and he drove me on my way. Remembering I had ten dollars stashed away in my little emergency kit, I felt good about the rest of the trip. He dropped me off at my hotel in Bariloche, I paid him, and the minute I checked in I had a phone call waiting from the front desk from the Program Director I talked to earlier in the day. He was checking up on me and it just so happens it was the very second I walked in the door. Good timing. I had arrived. I did it on my own and with the help of lots of kind strangers.

I am thankful for the events of today. I may of spent the last 36 hours traveling, but I am in an amazing part of the world. Somewhere I never thought I'd ever get the chance the visit. For all the stress I endured, I also became more confident in my abilities to problem solve, communicate in Spanish, and travel in unfamiliar places. I am looking forward to my next week and a half here. I am excited to finally meet up with my coworkers and explore this unique area of South America.

Now, time for some sleep! Below are some pics I snapped from the tour bus on the way to Bariloche. Nicer pictures to come!