Patagonia Adventures!!

Caution: this is going to be a long post! Stick with me! :)

This past weekend, I headed to Patagonia, which is in southern Argentina!

It started with me sleeping over Bot's house on Thursday night, we had to catch a taxi at 5am, so we headed to bed around 11! Unfortunately for us, we're so accustomed to going to bed a lot later, that we weren't able to get to sleep till around 1am! 4:30am rolled around and we drearily got in our taxi and headed to the airport to head to El Calafate!

When we first arrived in El Calafate, I expected to see the glaciers, but turns out the town of El Calafate is actually not too near the glaciers. It looked like Mars, desert-like and dry, it was quiet the contrast from what I thought it would be like!

Thursday and Friday in El Calafate were very relaxing! We didn't plan any excursions on those days, since Sam wasn't meeting us there until Friday. So, we got accustomed to the hostel and spent a lot of time reading, napping, and checking out the center of town! 

I was very happy to be able to start and (almost) finish a book that my roommate gave me quite a few months ago, What's So Amazing About Grace by Phillip Yancey while Bot did a lot of her school work. I think the rest was definitely needed for both of us! 

Our hostel, Nakel Yenu, was absolutely fantastic! The staff were so fun! Veronica met us when we arrived and helped us to get settled in our room. We met Frederico later on that night, who I instantly liked! Dreadlocks, Reggae music 24/7 and incense to burn at night!  

Bot and I booked out own private room, which proved to be really nice since we spent a lot of time in the hostel. There were constantly people out in the lobby (right outside our room) but it made it a really enjoyable and friendly atmosphere!

On Friday night at the hostel, we were even invited by Frederico to a BBQ that was an intentional time for everyone staying to get to know each other! It was great! Some locals cooked up a bunch of meat on the grill and a bunch of us ate together in the kitchen! We met a very interesting Israeli man, who quickly turned out to be VERY creepy! But we had some good talks with a girl from Australia who was vacationing in South America for a few months!

BBQ dinner!

Sam and I on the night of the BBQ...with Frederico in the background! :)

So, on Saturday, we got up very early to head out on a boat tour to see the glaciers! Our bus picked us up around 7:30 and we drove a little while to the boarding dock. The glaciers were absolutely breathtaking! Along with the glaciers, we saw a bunch of icebergs as well! I don't think the pictures even capture what we saw! As we were sailing along, we'd start to see a bunch of big icebergs, which we knew meant glaciers were ahead! Our boat, thankfully, was big and comfortable and we were able to relax inside while we waited to see the sights! Once the icebergs started appearing, everyone would run outside and snap pictures in the freezing cold before running back in!

Here are just a few pictures:

 On the boat!

Our Boat!!

Ginormous iceberg!

Glacier!!

Well, Sunday, we headed to El Glacier Perito Moreno, the most famous glacier in El Calafate! Again, we got up very early and boarded our bus that took us to the glacier. On the bus ride, we had a tour guide who would tell us facts about landmarks we were passing and whatnot. Later, we were dropped off at the glacier, to explore for 4 hours. Unfortunately, it was a rainy, rainy day, which turned into SNOW later! It was so cold, and we spent a good deal of time in the café because we were so cold! But, it was incredible! The paths led us pretty close to the glacier, which was massive! And we got a lot of walking done, and pictures were taken like crazy!

Sam and I FREEZING!

El Glacier Perito Moreno, believe it or not, this doesn't even capture the massiveness of it!

Bot and I throwing up the peace signs, of course!

On Sunday night, we met up with some friends from our program, Erica and Grace in the middle of town for some dinner. As we were ending our vacation, they were just beginning theirs! Sunday night were were exhausted and Bot and I had a flight early again the next day. 

We said our goodbyes to the hostel this morning and hopped in our taxi on the way to the airport! In true Argentina fashion, it turned out to be an adventure! We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and we noticed there was some construction going at the airport, no big deal! We checked in and got our boarding passes, paid the airport tax (ridiculous) and got on the line that was beginning to form to go through security. Well, our flight was apparently the first one to head out today, which means that the airport staff were just starting their day. The construction had impeded with the machinery for security, and basically, what it came down to, was that the crew couldn't find outlets to plug in the metal detectors and scanners! So, for about 30 minutes, multiple staff would come in, assess the situation, and leave! Finally, they ended up moving all the equipment so they were able to reach the outlets! Always an adventure!

Last picture in El Calafate, waiting for our plane to arrive!

Also, this weekend, I downloaded an app on my iTouch that allows me to text cell phones from the US for free! Very exciting for me, although it only works on wifi (and I don't have wifi in my house) it's super useful and I'm able to be in contact with those of you at home! Let me know if you want my number! :)

My parents head to Argentina on Thursday and I'm super excited for my time with them here! It's bound to be a lot of fun, but I already expect our goodbyes to be hard!

Keep me in your prayers, as I think I'm starting to get sick, which is no fun!

Thanks for following me in my adventures! 

Miss you all!

Un besito, 

-C