Day Nueve: I See You Flashing That Ice

Despite the fact that it´s 40 degrees with vertical rain I am proud to tell you that today was one of the most incredible days I´ve had traveling. Let´s relive the past 24 hours shall we.

After a brief post yesterday I took to the sheets at around 10:15 to get some rest before my 5:30 wake up to head out on the boats and see the surrounding glaciers on Lago Argentino. Why am I waking up at 5:30 you ask? Well the buses for the glaciers pick you up at the hotel at 7am and I´m not the kind of person that can just get out of bed and make moves. I need to marinate: have a coffee, read some news and get the overall job done. It wasn´t so bad actually as I had some time to chill out in the living room area by myself as other guests started to trickle in. By 6:45 the place was hopping and I began to anticipate my pickup. Things started to die out after the buses started picking up guests for their respective trips yet I remained. 7:30 rolls around an Jimena (previously and mistakenly named Justina in this blog) asks me if I was sure I made a reservation. Seeing as she made it for me I said "Si." A few more minutes go by and I receive news that the bus has left without me because of a mistake on their end. Great. But not to worry, a private taxi would come pick me up to take me the 40k to the boat launch.

Sure enough, 5 minutes later the taxi picks me up and we start hauling ass topping out at 120 kph (about 100 mph). His lead foot made seeing the desolate landscape a bit of a blur but I managed to discern some shapes of sheep and mountains and not much else. There is really nothing here besides shrubs, it´s a little jarring at first. After a little snafu on my part (apparently your chances of getting on the boat are significantly diminished if you don´t have a ticket) led to me sprinting around the port, I made my way onto the vessel and prepared for what one guest the night before said was "One of the most incredible things I´ve ever done." He was 70 so his words carried some serious weight.

The catamaran was state-of-the-art with two tiers of seating and 360 degree viewing angles. Step outside and you can circumnavigate the entire ship for optimal glacier and iceberg photo ops. My first thought wasn´t a good one as I saw a number of elderly faces, leading me to believe that I got on the wrong boat as I was told by the woman at the hostel that there was a hike at some point of the voyage. The only hiking many of the patrons looked capable of us up to the Pearly Gates so I questioned the motives of ticket window operator back at port who may have been playing a cruel trick on me. My thoughts were quickly laid to rest as the boat pulled out of the harbor and headed up the Brazo Norte section of the pristine lake. The sun had barely risen above the surrounding mountains but my eyes were transfixed on the world around me. Huge peaks towering jutting out from seemingly nowhere to fix themselves thousands of meters above the lake. Waterfalls crashing down from hundreds of feet. And not a single trace of humanity besides the incredibly loud Puerto Rican contingent sitting behind me who all started doing shots of Jameson whiskey which left them incapable of keeping quiet.

The boat sped through the uper regions of the lake and the faces of the guests would routinely droop every time another breathtaking sight made its way into focus. The first glacier we would be visiting is called Glaciar Spegazzini and is known for the height of its ice wall. After an hour trip across the lake the Spegazzini came into view and I was at the front of the hull, mouth agape, madly taking pictures and videos. The closer we got the more glacial garbage began floating around the boat and as we pulled up to the 300 meter viewing point of the glacier, a few of the crew fished a toddler sized iceberg from the water which, after being chopped up, found it´s fragments into the vodka filled glasses of the aforementoined Puerto Rican contingent who had since been relegated to some corner of the bottom level much to my delight.

The glaciar did not disappoint. With a wall reaching over 200 feet in height, the Spegazzini is simply awe inspiring. Jagged peaks of ice jut from the top of the wall and electric blue sections tumble from the mountains around the river of ice and fall into the lake with a resounding splash, much to the delight of onlookers. The boat spent a solid 30 minutes in front of the glaciar, quietly trolling the waters and doing slow 360´s that allowed everyone on board to get more than enough photos. I was lucky enough to connect with a very young Swiss couple who acted as my personal photographers. When I attempted to exchange the favor I was met with a stern "No, vee don´t like pictures of us viss zee glay-shers." Ah yes, those lovely Swiss.

Our next stop was to do continue on the northward arm of the Brazo Norte (a redundant sentence for the Spanish speakers in the house) with the Glaciar Upsalla as the destination. Much wider but far less imposing than the Spegazzini, the Upsalla is the largest glaciar in the Andean ice cap with a width of 2km and an overall length of more than 60km. Lines of winding dirt and gravel were visible within the glacier itself as we approached but the most incredible aspect of the Upsalla were the apartment building sized icebergs that had recently calved from it. These massive chunks of ice break away from the main glacier on a seasonal level, usually around springtime when the temperature begins to heat up. The float with no real direction but their mere presence is more than ominous. Catamaran vs. Iceberg, I´m taking iceberg every single time. After a few Titanic jokes, the group began the photo circus again, after which me made our way towards landfall at Puerto B. Onelli.

Puerto Onelli is an escarpment on the western portion of the park where these boats dock and allow the guests to either sit down at a restaurant for lunch or make a 1km trek through the woods to the other side of the penninsula to witness a section of the lake where three glaciers distribute their ices at the same point. I was all PowerBar´d up so I made the trek despite the now steady rain that was coming from the west. A brief hike through the indigenous beech trees that were just begining to turn to their autumnal reds and oranges led us to the lookout point where we were free to roam the beach for about an hour. My first impulse was to hop ontop of one of the many icebergs that had made their way on to shore and an Australian man was kind enough to take a few shots of me. The view was now totally fogged up so we could only see one of the three nearby glaciers but I don´t think any one was disappointed. The sheer isolation, the meandering jagged icebergs and the roar of a faraway avalanche was a deeply spiritual experience for me. I stood at the banks of the lake, looking at the surrounding scenery and closed my eyes for a few minutes. This was the moment that I had come down to Argentina for. To see what else was out there. My curiousity regarding this part of the world had paid off and I stood there, completely and totally content. It was marvelous (or mahvelous depending on what shore of Long Island you´re froom). We made our way back to the boat and even though I was freezing from the wind and the rain I left Puerto Onelli with a huge smile on my face.

The trip back to the harbor was uneventful as I slept with the sounds of Santana´s Abraxas on my iPod. Tomorrow I head out to do the Big Ice climb on the Perito Moreno glacier. This happened to be the one thing that I really wanted to do on this trip so it´s fitting that I´ve saved it for last. My only hope is that the weather clears up as it is still raining and quite windy but I´m fleeced up so it shouldn´t be much of a problem.

Back to the hostel I go. I may get a late night post in but if not I look forward to giving you final Argentina post tomorrow.

Observations

1) I have a goal and that is to leave the United States at least once every calendar year. Seeing Argentina in all of its glory has made me realized that there is so, so, so much more than what lies within my home borders. While I love living in the US I would like to get a few more stamps in my passport as well. Let´s see if I can make good on this one.

2) Old people are funny and fart at weird times.

3) The meat down here is just incredible. A barbecue (called an asado) is treated with almost spiritual reverence. I asked the cook at the hostel what makes the food so much better down here seeing as they only use salt to season the meat. He believes that what´s considered great meat in the US is only of marginal quality down here. He doesn´t need any spices or sauces for his dishes as the meat speaks for itself. I think he´s right.

4) Lots of Israelis down here. In fact, one of the desk guys here is a Jew from Buenos Aires. Amen brotha!

5) I love introducing new people to new music. Thievery Corporation has been getting a lot of rotation in the hostel, courtesy of me, and much to the delight of the guests.

Uno Mundo!
Farmbinial