Patagonia Prep!

      A beautiful bus ride later (even though we slept through most of it), we arrived in Puerto Natales, the town closest to Torres del Paine.  Hostels, gear rentals and shops and hearty food offerings are on every block of this comfortable, albeit a little rough around the edges, town.  We had an afternoon and then another whole prep day which allowed us to attend the awesome and informative free talk at Erratic Rock and price shop our rental equipment.

 read more about the trek here: Trekking Guide

     While it would be much nicer to use Mark's tent, and our own sleeping bags, and thermarests (which is not possible due to our long trip), we decided to rent the gear.  We ended up finding some puffy jackets that were not much more than double what I'd pay to rent for me, and Mark found a secondhand one for about the same price as the rental.  The wind is really what can get cold here. Today was sunny and minimally windy so we explored town a bit.

Mark was happy to be able to cook again!   

      However, for the trails, we are anticipating all sorts of weather including rain, snow and huge wind gusts that will knock us off our feet.  Finally, our dehydrated food that we've been carrying since CO will be put to use, as well as our grocery store finds in Punta Arenas.  We are prepping for 8 days and 7 nights, camping the whole way though maybe there will be refugio space to splurge on for dinner and lodging on my birthday.  It was somewhat of a feat to prepare! 

So much food!  8 days is a long time to pack food for!

This cute street dog with his own sweater watched us put up our tent!

The room's BEFORE picture!  I'll try to post an AFTER if I have time in the morning!

 Either way, I don't think we will have wifi again until March 6 so lots of love to everyone until then! 

Arrival at Chile's end of the world! And because penguins.

    20+ hours of travel later, we landed at Punta Arenas, Chile to a brisk wind and gray skies.  The last flight from Puerto Montt was definitely the first commercial flight I've ever been on where the pilot not only announced when we were passing cool things outside our window (like the Fitz Roy range, glaciers and Torres del Paine) but also made swooping turns so we could get a better view outside the left side window which we were thankfully on.  So cool!  The funny part was Mark slept through most of it but we had gaggles of people peering over us to see the beautiful views!

    Upon arrival, we checked in to the German-Chilean hospadaje in town and fit in some warm clothing shopping before our tour to the penguin colony at Seno Otway.  Since we are not venturing further south or wanting to spend even more money to see them, this was a perfect way to see a few penguins in their native environment without breaking the tourist bank (we are now in a much more developed country so I may groan about the prices every once in a while!).  The lil penguinos were so cute and the landscape was beautiful.

      We then ventured to the supermercado for groceries since things are most likely a little cheaper here than Puerto Natales.  We also will finally be able to eat the dehydrated food this week that we have been carrying with us since the US!  Hopefully, we will spend less than $150 for food for the 8 or 9 trekking days which is much cheaper than we'd spend if we ate at the refugios for $15-30/meal.  Lots more to coordinate for that once we arrive in Puerto Natales tomorrow!  Til then, hola from the farthest south I've ever been in my life (and my first time back south of the equator since high school!)

Mark's Minutes: Lavandaria Checklist

     When you backpack you are intimately familiar with every single clothing item you brought. After all, you only have one or a handful of items that fulfill very specific purposes. Losing an item can mean that you will have to continue your trip without it or that you have to embark on an often times impossible journey to find a similar, new item in the same color, size and shape. When the country you are visiting has a different taste in fashion than the country of your origin you may never find what you want. For all those reasons you value what you have packed very much.
     So what was meant to be a satisfying trip to the lavandaria (laundry service) in San Pedro La Laguna in Guatemala turned into an unpleasant experience. One week after we had picked up our laundry from the lavandaria in San Pedro we wanted to use the well-deserved swimming pool at a hotel in Santiago, Atitlan. We realized that Suzy's only bikini was missing. We quickly came to the conclusion that something must have happened to it at the lavandaria since it was the last place we took it to. Also, after consulting our host family, we knew that we had not left it at their home. We all know that laundry machines have tendencies to devour single socks. However the chance that a laundry machine would make a two-piece bikini disappear was slim. By now, we had to board a boat and bus towards Antigua. And when we arrived, we had to spend the better part of the day trying to find a bikini in various stores. We only had a day in Antigua and that was not how we had imagined to spend our time there. We quickly realized that Guatemalan's have a very different taste in bikinis. Most of them would also not fit a medium sized North American woman (and almost all were hideous colors and patterns). Eventually, we found a new swimsuit, but we decided that on our next trip to the lavandaria, we would be more careful.
     When I walked into the lavandaria in Lanquin, I walked in with the following checklist.

    Suzy and I had noted all the items that we put in the laundry bag. When we arrived at the laundry service the staff thought we were crazy. Judging by their looks, I believe we were the first people who had done this. With my limited Spanish, I was also able to pick up that one of the ladies did not appreciate our attention to detail. However, there was no way back. We gave the staff the opportunity to check the contents of the bag against the list. Obviously they declined, but we felt confident that the list was accurate. The next day we picked up our laundry and nothing was missing.
    This seems like a lot of work - which, admittedly, it is. It is up to you to decide if you want to take the chance of losing an item or take the time of making the list. Suzy and I will always make a list going forward, because the 5 minutes it takes beats a day of clothes shopping.
    PS- Shay, one of the awesome Canadians we explored Semuc Champey with, was actually looking to get rid of some of her suits. So she gave Suzy a black bikini. The joys of traveling are meeting awesome people who are willing to help each other out!

The Complete Travel Map!

Though our blog site isn't very high tech, we thought we'd update this post with a map as we go to help visualize where we are at in the world!

The first 7 weeks (7 Jan - 23 Feb): Denver - Barbados - St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Trinidad and Tobago - Antigua, Guatemala - San Pedro de la Laguna, Guatemala - Lanquin, Guatemala - Guatemala City, Guatemala - Punta Arenas, Chile!

Map update!  Travels between 23 Feb and 6 Apr:  Puerto Natales, Chile - El Calafate, Argentina - El Chalten, Argentina - El Bolson, Argentina - San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina - San Martin de los Andes, Argentina - Pucon, Chile - Talca, Chile - Santa Cruz, Chile - Santiago, Chile - Valparaiso, Chile - Mendoza, Argentina - So far, the TravellersPoint website says we have visited 7 countries and travelled 19,704 kilometers (12,244 miles)!  Many more km/miles and 2 more countries to go!  

Last Update! Travels beween 6 Apr and 16 May: Montevideo, Uruguay - Cabo Polonio, Uruguay - Punta del Este, Uruguay - Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Lima, Peru - Sacred Valley, Peru - Cusco, Peru - Inca Trail to Machu Picchu - Puno, Peru - Lima, Peru - Denver, Colorado!  Home at last!  8 countries - 32,973 kilometers - 20,489 miles!

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.

Matsuo Basho

Lounging in Lanquin and Semuc Champey

     After a day of bathing suit shopping in Antigua (successful but frustrating), we traveled 10 hours (though it was only 220 miles) by bus to Lanquin, a jungley spot near Semuc Champey. We arrived on a hot sunny day which was unfortunately followed by three cold and rainy days. However, the El Retiro Lodge was tranquil and provided a lot of Spanish and Oracle study time, ping pong games and relaxation and reading in the hammocks by the beautiful river.  The buffet style dinners were a fun way to meet couples from Germany, Canada and the Netherlands. 

Lots of rain makes it quite green!

Overlooking the hammock area and the river.

The hammock outside our habitacion y dos perros de la casa.

     We did fit in a cave tour to the impressive Cuevas de Lanquin at sunset so we could watch thousands of bats leave the cave in search of dinner (thankfully it didn't include us!).

     On Friday, it cleared up just in time to do a sunset hike (though it drizzled a bit on the way up again). Our guide Maka, a French couple, 4 perros de la casa and us hiked up to a great vista spot above town. Maka found us samples of cardemom and chocolate beans which have a very sweet honey coating while pointing out pineapple and plantain trees.

The white honey on the cocoa beans is muy dulce!

The traditional women's attire is different than near Lake Atitlan.  The tops were looser, probably because of the humidity!

     Even with plentiful tourism, Lanquin is still a very poor town and we hiked down past corrugated metal houses, barefoot families and plenty of trash. 4,000 people live in town and another 20,000 or so in the surrounding mountains. There was a Centro de Salud clinic in town though it was very small to serve this large of a population.

    The highlight of Lanquin was the visit to Semuc Champey, a natural wonder tucked away deep in the jungley forest about 10 km away from Lanquin. We extended our stay by a day to go on Saturday when it was sunny and warmer.  It was totally worth the wait!  Our guide Jose was great and took us swimming and jumping in a cave by candlelight, jumping off a bridge and waterfalls, tubing past kids throwing us beers, up to an amazing mirador and finally swimming through the amazing natural pools.  Even the bumpy 10 km ride in the back of a pickup truck to and from the park was fun!  Here are some photos of the day and Mark's video!

The amazing viewpoint with our super fun group from Germany, Canada and the US!

  

Now we are at a hostel near Guatemala City awaiting our 20+ hour trip to southern Chile!  Adios Guatemala!  Hola South America!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-LPBaD8JdE

Sunrise hikes and kayaking with my Valentine

      Before my last class on Friday, we returned to Indian's nose to catch the sunrise on the gopro (Youtube Video). We didn't think we would need a guide since we had just gone on Sunday. However, we realize the benefit of a guide is also to prevent trouble on the trail at 5 am. A younger guy was following us and trying to tell us we needed him for safety and that we were going the wrong way. When another group came, on the same correct path we were on, he finally left. The views and breath-taking sunrise were again beautiful and I was only a little late to class.

 

    We treated Alejandra, Pedro and their son Rony to dinner Friday as a thank you. Alejandra has joked all week that she is trying to get me 'gorda' (fat) so that I'll be a lil gordita. Her amazing food is probably doing that so while it will be sad to leave, it's probably the best for our waistlines!

The waitress cut Mark out, oops.  Jack from London was our new roommate who arrived that morning.   

      We also had a heck of a time sending stuff to the States.  Mark took 4 trips to the sometimes open post office, wrapped and re-wrapped everything and it was still pretty pricey.  Let's see how long "2 weeks" really takes!  Erika and my package from Thailand to Germany took 2 months instead of 2 weeks!  The only other bummer for the weekend was realizing my swimsuit never made it back from one of our laundry services.  Hopefully it was unintentional but I'm going to start making a list of what we drop off and make sure we get it all back each time!  Now I'll have to shop for one in Antigua.

     On Saturday, we shared a boat ride to Santiago with 6 pasteles de boda (wedding cakes) that were off to feed up to a 1,000 people at the 2 day wedding.  We jokingly asked if we were invited too.

    After 3 weeks of lukewarm showers, spiders and cockroaches and dog parties at 1 am, we are splurging on a beautiful hotel right on the lake (all for a little bit more than a Motel 6 in Denver).  Mark had the hotel surprise me with beautiful blue flowers, chocolate and wine in the room!  Very sweet :) 

Unbeknownst to the other, we each brought Valentine's treats for each other from the States.

      After relaxing by the pool for a while, we ventured in to town to visit Saint Maximon, an important saint/devil that is a strong remnant from native philosophy that Theresa recommended (more info here: Saint Maximon).  It was very interesting to see him and all the people around praying and watching (and tour groups going through taking photos so I didn't feel bad snapping a quick photo).

Maximom likes offerings of beer, smokes and Quetzales!  He always has a lit cigarette in his mouth too!

     Back at the hotel, we kayaked to a nearby island and past the dozens of women doing their laundry in the lake.  The colors and commotion was beautiful.

    An amazing dinner of wine and pizza wrapped up a very fun and special Valentine's Day in Guatemala! Cheesy as this holiday may be for some, I always thought it was special since Loveland loves their holiday and my parents (40 years!) and both sets of grandparents share anniversaries on this day. And I have great memories of friend love on this day (like paragliding the Alps with Erika and dancing on the Cabin's bar for Stef's birthday). Excited to see where we'll spend next year's Valentine's Day!  Hope everyone had a fun weekend with their loved ones of all kinds!      

   

Tercera semana!

    This week has been muy interesante pero también muy cansado! I learn a lot in 4 hours and then follow it up with a few hours of tarea. I am continually impressed with Mark's Spanish and so thankful that he can swap stories and jokes with our host family and help us get around! I learn from listening and throwing my dos quetzales in when I can. These three weeks have given me a great start to learning this language!

     Mark had probably his cheapest week of living ever since the homestay alone, including Alejandra's amazing meals, cost him just $65. Without classes, he's been able to apply for summer internships (even without power all day on Thursday). Thank goodness we have a few more months of fun before heading back to reality!

     Alejandra also gave us a lesson in tortilla making. She pat-pats these every day and has probably made a million in her lifetime. Needless to say, it wasn't as easy as it looks. 

We also did some trip planning for Argentina and finished helping JC update his Tripadvisor site. Hopefully it helps him attract business in the future!

    I'll include a few tuc-tuc photos since these zippy little vehicles are quite a sight. It truly boggles my mind why they deck out the front window, almost to the point they can barely see!

Mark behind the wheel of a tuc-tuc... scary!