Patagonia +Jan 15-Feb
3 2001
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We've spent the past week in the Argentinian (Argentine? I should find out ;) side of Patagonia and are now in a car headed to Chile to enjoy the Chilean side of Patagonia. For the past few days, we’ve stayed at a wonderful farm called Alta Vista, an old estancia of by-gone days. The farm is almost entirely self-sufficient, supplying most meals from its vast gardens and the estancia’s 25,000 sheep supply the BBQs. Gauchos still live there and it’s not uncommon to see a solitary figure on horseback. While most of the estate was old-world charm, fortunately for us, the chef was nouvelle cuisine, so each meal we were treated to yummy delights like cheese soufflés and homemade, peppercorn-studded breads. We rode horses every day high into the hills. The wind here is the strongest I’ve ever experienced and the colors here are richly varied: the hills run the gamut from mossy to loden green; the lakes and streams are an arresting pale aqua because of milky glacial silt. We had the fun of seeing pink flamingoes (!) flying over the aqua lakes, heading for the green hills. I honestly could live here and never look back. It's truly the most soul-grabbing place I've ever seen. As we rode, we saw numerous sheep skeletons, with little tufts of their wool still intact. Those who've died die either from being attacked by puma or from falling over. Believe it or not, before they're shorn in the summer time, if they fall in hillside and the gauchos don't find them in time, they die because their coats are so heavy they cannot right themselves and get back up! While we preferred the Argentine side of Patagonia, the Chilean side also had its highlights. We stayed at a wonderful, remote resort called Explora and enjoyed daily hikes and horseback rides. By far the best hike was a seven-hour trek to the base of Torres del Paine (“Towers of Blue” – ‘paine’ means blue in the aboriginal Indian language). The photo below just doesn’t capture the stunning breadth and heights of the towers. One of the distinct highlights of the hike was the constant ribbing Megan took from her fellow hikers because unlike the rest, all outfitted in the latest high-tech gear, she did the entire hike in knee-high, green Wellington boots! The boots were a necessity for Antarctica and the size of our packs didn’t allow for hiking books in addition… We left Rio and flew to Aspen, CO to visit Eleanor Rouse who recently returned to Aspen after a year in Portland. We enjoyed a wonderful time with El, who’d put us up in a sumptuous suite at the historic Hotel Jerome. Our time together was filled with giggling and feasting, our usual activities. We then drove to Keystone, CO to celebrate the wedding of Jeannie Egger (Megan’s best friend from growing up in South Dakota) and Burke Blackman. The wedding was wonderful and intimate, with Jeannie & Burke exchanging vows in front of a massive stone fireplace festooned with glowing candles and white flowers. From Colorado, we flew to Boston and Martha’s Vineyard for a few days of house-building related meetings before heading off to southeast Asia.
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Pictures From
Patagonia (click on each to enlarge) |
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Tierra del
Fuego |
Moreno
Glacier |
Alta Vista Ranch
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Torres del
Paine |
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Lake Crossing |
Bariloche |
Iguazu Falls |
Rio de
Janiero |
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