On to Cuzco

We slept in til almost 9:00 and then got ready and went downstairs to the breakfast buffet.  Wow!  It was really good with foods from around the world.  In addition to the usual fruit, yogurt, meat, cheese, eggs, pancakes there were tamales, sushi, dim sum, and the best chicken shawarma.

John and I went for a short walk around a nearby park. It was very hot and humid and there were stands on the street corners selling Inka Kola, this yellow soda pop.  After seeing it everywhere, John bought a bottle to try.  It tasted like a combination of bubble gum and cream soda.  Not my favourite.

The ubiquitous Inka Kola

Reynaldo picked us up and we were off to the airport for our flight to Cuzco.  For a Sunday morning there was really heavy traffic.  Reynaldo explained that today was a day for college admission exams.  Students can receive free college education but there are over 25000 applicants for 1500 spots. 

Our flight to Cuzco was quick and uneventful and we grabbed a cab ride to our hotel, the Terra Viva Cusco Saphi. When researching hotels on TripAdvisor, Booking.com and other websites, I had noticed that at some hotels the cab had to drop you off at the bottom of a hill and then you had to hike upstairs to the hotel.  At such a high altitude I knew I didn't want to be doing extra hiking, and I was thrilled when the cab dropped us off right at the front door.

our room with traditional alpaca decoration

the front of our hotel in Cusco

It was a great hotel and only $100 per night - close to the Plaza de Armas but far enough away that it was quiet at night.  Our room was big and bright, and there was a lovely interior courtyard where we could sit outside and relax.  In the lobby there was a pot of coca tea as well as loose coca leaves to help combat the altitude sickness that many people experience. 

Image from theculturetrip.com

Here's John in the doorway to our room. Notice the two bulls on the roof - one male, one female.  These are seen on homes and businesses everywhere around Cusco and mean different things, depending on who you ask.  There is usually a cross and sometimes a ladder as well.  According to some it brings good luck and good fortune to the residents, and the ladder and cross are there to ensure a speedy journey to heaven.  If you ask five people, you'll get five different answers!  For some differing opinions check out Yahoo, or this website or even this website.


We went for a walk downtown to Plaza de Armas and there was some sort of water balloon and shaving cream battle going on.  I'm not sure why, but everyone seemed to be having a great time.  There was a large crowd gathered to the one side so we went over there and watched some sort of dramatic presentation that involved two men in costumes having a pretend battle.  I really need to learn more Spanish so I can ask more questions! 



Some of the shaving cream fight participants



wearing a hat of shaving cream

Plaza de Armas was beautiful and I'm glad we stayed nearby.  I loved all the cobblestone streets, the historic buildings, the gardens - a great homebase for exploring Cusco. 



Shops and restaurants along the perimeter of Plaza de Armas



The Inca fountain - a new and controversial addition to the Plaza

 

The Plaza is beautiful and filled with restaurants, shops and people offering massages.  I guess they figure you need a massage after all the uphill hiking that you are doing in and around the Sacred Valley.  Facing the cathedral is a tall golden Inca statue which was added in 2011 and caused a great deal of controversy.  Some residents feel it is helping to restore the Inca presence to the city and others feel that the Plaza is a colonial area and the fountain should have been left in its original form.  I guess there used to be a statue that someone brought from New York with a Native American Indian with a bow and arrow at the top of the fountain.  I think that would look weirdly out of place in Cusco, but that's just my opinion!

We settled on a patio for a leisurely dinner overlooking the street and then were off to bed.  After all this walking and fresh air, the bed felt wonderful!

Machu Picchu - Here we come!

While we were staying in Argentina I had wanted to go on a side trip to Machu Picchu but somehow it never worked out with our schedule.  We decided that after spending our March Break in 2013 relaxing on the beach in Costa Rica in a state of near perpetual relaxation that we would go to Machu Picchu for March Break 2014.  What a very different holiday this was to be - six flights, four bus rides, two train rides, three different hotels....  it was a trip not a holiday!

As we left home early in the morning  on March 8th to head to Detroit airport the streets were covered with a thin layer of ice.  We had an uneventful flight from Detroit to Atlanta and then four hours to kill in the Delta Sky Lounge while waiting for our flight to Lima. They had a nice outdoor patio so we sat outside and enjoyed the warmth and sunshine, as well as the free drinks, snacks and wifi.  After such an incredibly cold and long winter, any chance to sit out on a patio in the sunshine was too good to miss.

When we went to board our flight to Lima, both John and I as well as two other guys were pulled aside and not allowed to board.  We like to take advantage of our Sky Miles Priority status and board early so we can get our bags into the overhead compartments before they run out of room.  After a few minutes, the staff gave me the go ahead to board, so I took both of our carry on bags and got on the plane while John waited, not so patiently, at the gate.  But when I got to my seat, another girl was there with the same seat assignment.

Unbeknownst to me, as soon as I had boarded the plane, the staff at the gate told John to "get her back."  (Meaning me). He tried texting me, but, to no avail.  Meanwhile, the girl and I flagged down a flight attendant to help us figure out what to do about our seat situation.  Then the another flight attendant came to get me, and as we started walking off the plane, John was walking onto the plane.  Even though we had booked our seats with his SkyMiles frequent flyer points and John was sure that we wouldn't be upgraded, we had been moved up to Business Class.  Hurray! After some negotiation with other passengers, we were able to get two seats together and finally settled in for our flight to Lima.

As we were relaxing with champagne and orange juice, the pilot came on to announce that there was an error message with the left engine and we had to roll back to the gate for the mechanics to check it out.

A little while later they announced that the light wasn't coming on any more so we could depart - almost an hour late.  I was a bit leery - why was the light coming on in the first place?  Did the light stop coming on or did they fix what was causing the light to come on? But soon we were airborne so I tried not to think about it. The seats folded down flat into beds, so after dinner and a movie (Nebraska), I laid down and had a nice long nap.

We landed in Lima around 12:40 am, quickly moved through customs and immigration, grabbed our luggage and then got a cab to our hotel, the Sheraton, which I had booked using my SPG bonus points.  Our cab driver, Reynaldo, was from Lima but had lived in Virginia for four years.  He told us all about Lima - 11 million people of the 29 million people in Peru live in Lima.

The interior of the Sheraton Convention Centre in Lima - hope you don't have vertigo!

When we checked in at the Sheraton they had upgraded us to the Club Level.  It seems our theory about not being upgraded when booking on points had been proven wrong twice in one day!  We had a quick shower in our lovely room and then went downstairs for our complimentary pisco sour.  Both Chile and Peru claim to be the origin of the this drink and I had been looking forward to trying the Peruvian version.  They tasted similar to me, although the Chilean version uses lemon juice and the Peruvian recipe calls for lime juice. It would be interesting to have a side by side taste test, but not at this late hour.  By 2:30 am, we were finally headed to bed.

Costa Rica - March 2013

While we've both been busy working full time, John and I have found time to travel and recently had a request to update our travel blog.  So the details may be a bit fuzzy as time has passed, but I'll do the best I can to capture the key elements of some of our latest adventures.

We travelled to Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste in Costa Rica for one week in March 2013 for a holiday.  John had been working too many hours, so this was definitely a week for him to relax and unwind.  We lucked out and were upgraded to first class on both legs of the trip to Costa Rica, which made for an enjoyable flight. 

When we arrived in Liberia, Costa Rica we were met at the airport by Nan and Paul who owned the casita that we had rented for the week which we found on the Vacation Rentals by Owner website. 
They are a wonderful couple from the States who own two casitas - one that they live in and an identical one next door that they rent out.  It was perfect - just one bedroom, one bathroom with a kitchen, living room and a cool and shady covered patio where we spent lots of time.  There was a triathlon happening in the village that afternoon so we made a quick stop in nearby Playa Coco for groceries and then headed to our home away from home.

Paul and Nan also owned the vacant lot next door to the casitas and we spent time watching the monkeys in the mango trees as well as the rooster and chickens who liked to wander through the yard every afternoon.  Most days consisted of a walk on the beach in the morning, then we would head back to the casita from breakfast and retreat to the patio during the heat of the day, head over to the pool at the hotel next door in the late afternoon, then out to dinner.  It was a lovely lazy way to pass the time.

Found this sea horse washed up on the beach one morning during one of our morning strolls and scooped him up and put him back in the ocean.  It reminded me of the Starfish Story that is near and dear to so many teachers.


 Even though Playa Hermosa is a very small town with only three streets we were able to find lots of great restaurants.  It was interesting that none of the streets have names so directions were challenging and we would walk and walk to find a restaurant only to find that they weren't open even though they were supposed to be open according to web sites like Fodors and Trip Advisor.  We just had to be flexible!

One day we had hiked around looking for a Mexican restaurant that we had read about but it was closed so instead we stopped at Papa Hog's Smokehouse which is owned by a couple from Quebec.  We had great smoked ribs and chicken, and while they were preparing our meal they told us we could go next door to the variety store to buy wine or beer to have with our meal.  They don't have a liquor license but you are allowed to bring your own.  Sweet!


Waiting for dinner at Papa Hog's

One evening we dined at the restaurant at Hotel La Finisterra which has the best view in Playa Hermosa.  The food was good but it was worth the hike up the hill just to enjoy the view.

By far, our best meal in Playa Hermosa was at Mario's.  It took us a
few days to figure out where Mario's restaurant is because it is at his home.  We hiked up the driveway one afternoon and his children were outside playing.  They ran inside to get their parents and we made a reservation for the following evening.  Mario asked us if there was anything we couldn't have (I have food allergies so this was greatly appreciated) and then told us that he would go spearfishing in the morning and we would have the catch of the day.  The next evening when we arrived it turned out the other couple who had also booked a reservation had had to cancel so it was just Mario, his wife and the two of us dining on the patio overlooking the lights of the town.  As each course was presented they told us about the local ingredients and we learned all about his chef training and why they had decided to return to Playa Hermosa.  We really gained an appreciation for the burdens and benefits of life in Costa Rica.  The food was great, the company was great, it was one of the most memorable meals of my life. 

We did take a few side trips while in Playa Hermosa including a hiking trip to a volcano.  Every one got off the van to go on a water tube ride and horseback trip so we had a private tour with our own tour guide.  Birdwatching is a huge tourist draw in Costa Rica and I almost felt bad that John and I couldn't fully appreciate all the cool birds that our tour guide pointed out to us on the volcano tour.  We didn't get to see a sloth - it was very windy and they don't tend to be out in the tree tops on windy days.  We did get to hear some of the loudest cicadas EVER - it sounded like hundreds of car alarms were going off all at once.  We also saw a marching column of army ants, and got to climb over trees and hike through streams.  We had booked the trip through the front desk at the hotel next door to our casita, Hotel Villa Del Sueno.  It was nice having the hotel next door - we could take advantage of their services even though we weren't staying there as Paul and Nan had a great relationship with the manager. 

A vine - behind me is a tree trunk.  Things grow BIG in the jungle!

Our other side trip was a ziplining tour not far from Playa Hermosa.  We got to fly through the jungle while the monkeys watched us from the trees. 

Lastly, we took a quick road trip with Nan and Paul to the hilltops overlooking the town to watch the sunset.  Just another beautiful day in paradise.  Usually I tend to check places off once I've been there but we had such a great time I'd love to go back again!

Hasta Luego Argentina

On December 18, John and I arrived back in Windsor to celebrate Christmas with our families.  Then he flew back to Argentina on Boxing Day and I stayed here in Canada to return to my job as an education consultant.  It was hard to see him off at the airport, and I know it was hard for him to see me putting my suitcases away for good while he was packing to go.

These past six months in Argentina were an amazing learning experience.  Here's a brief and incomplete list of what I've learned (as well as things I already knew but were reinforced) from this experience:

Meeting people is one of the best parts of any trip.  In Argentina, through my little bit of Spanish, their little bit of English and the universal language of pantomime we are able to communicate.  People were helpful everywhere we went and I learned that language does not have to be a barrier to communication.  I managed to survive for six months in a country without knowing how to speak the language when I arrived.  The fact that Spanish alphabet is almost identical to the English alphabet made learning to read the language much much easier.  I can speak a little bit of Spanish now but still struggle when listening to others speak Spanish. They seem to talk so fast and use so many words.  I speak Spanish very very slowly and use a few nouns and a lot of pointing.  I will be much more cognizant of my own use of language when speaking with people at home who are English Language Learners.

Go for it.  I have learned that I am capable of taking on such a major life challenge with little notice and very little planning due in no small part to an amazing partner and incredibly supportive family. 

Technology changes everything.  While in Argentina I was able to continue my employment in a part time capacity by teaching online courses for a university.  I was able to use email to stay in constant touch with my replacement at work and answer all his questions so that the transition back to work should be less stressful.  We were able to download apps on our phones to learn Spanish and to translate signs and menus.  Favourite apps were those that were able to function without using data such as WordMagic and BrainScape.  I was disappointed that I wasn't able to use FaceTime very often as the wireless connection would often cut out and make it more frustrating than rewarding. However on the occasions when it did work, it was wonderful.  If I was to do a trip like this again, I would definitely want to find out more about tools like Skype.  Through Facebook, I was able to find other expats in Cordoba and share strategies and experiences.  Through this blog, I was able to share my experiences with family, friends and strangers. 

Home can be more than one place.  Usually when I'm talking about home, I'm referring to our house in Windsor, or the house where I grew up in Comber.  But many times John and I would be out for dinner or  for a walk and when we would say, "It's time to head home" we were referring to whatever apartment we happened to be living in at the time.  Even though it wasn't our furniture or our 'stuff' once we unpacked our bags and toured the neighbourhood, wherever we were living became home even if only for a few weeks.

Living somewhere is so different than being a tourist.  I've toured lots of foreign cities but to actually live in one for six months is a whole different challenge. Things that I might have barely noticed as a tourist gradually grate on your nerves until you have to decide to either let it bother you all the time, ignore it or do something about it.  For example, in Cordoba there is a real problem with littering and almost no recycling program.  At first it bothered me a bit, but as time went on it drove me crazy to see garbage everywhere.  I felt terrible as I dumped my plastic, paper and other recyclables in the garbage everyday.  The litter still drives me crazy and even when I pick up some of it as I'm out for a walk, it doesn't make much of a difference in the overall mess.  However, there are lots of people who earn money by going through the garbage looking for cardboard to recycle so I made sure to put my cardboard out separately so they could pick it up easily.  I was so delighted when I got to El Calafate and Ushuaia to see that the residents there take exceptional care of the environment - not a scrap of litter anywhere! 

Living in Argentina for six months gave me time to learn more about the country, the culture and the politics, the arts and the language, than if I had only been here on vacation. Grocery shopping, banking, laundry, going to the movies are all an adventure and a challenge when you are living abroad. It makes we want to go back to some of the places that I've been as a tourist and stick around for a bit longer to get to know those places too.

Born to roam.  This experience reinforced what I've always known - I love to travel.  I love to see new places, meet new people, experience new things. Even though it feels wonderful to be home, I can't wait to head out again whether it's for a quick getaway or a longer trip. 

So this is my last blog entry ..... for now.  It's back to work on Monday and back to my normal routines.  I'm sure that the first few days will be a challenge - working online means no commute, no need for work clothes and make up, and no need to pack a lunch.  But working online also means communicating in the virtual world, and I'm looking forward to seeing my colleagues and working together with them in the real world. But if and when opportunity knocks, my bags will be packed and I'll be off to the next adventure!!!  Stay tuned.

Buenos Aires Birthday

What great luck for me – my birthday was on a Saturday this year!  Here’s how we spent the day:

Breakfast at the hotel buffet

Shopping  – John wanted to get me a leather coat from Argentina for my birthday, so we went to lots of different leather shops that are all located together on Florida street.  Once I found a jacket that I liked, the shop owner went with us and we walked about three blocks to their factory where you can pick out different colours and they can measure you to custom fit a jacket.  I was lucky and found one that I loved that was in stock, so we walked out of the factory with my birthday present.  I can’t wait to wear it when I get home.

Lunch – at a cute little French bistro restaurant located down a little alleyway just off of Vicente Lopez.   Absolutely delicious food and to drink, lemonade with ginger, which was perfect for such a hot, steamy day.

Our corner table at Sirop
Image source: TripAdvisor

Back to the hotel to lounge by the pool for awhile; having a December birthday, I’ve never been able to do that before.

Dinner – we walked (over an hour) to Marcelo’s, an Italian restaurant in Puerto Madero.  When I was first planning to come to Buenos Aires, John and I had looked up this restaurant online and we had practiced our Spanish by trying to translate their online menu.  Dinner was fantastic, then we walked to the San Telmo neighbourhood for to a milango to watch the tango dancers.  Unfortunately, when we finally found the milango, it was closed and the dance was going to be on Sunday instead.  We quickly hailed a cab back to the hotel and called it a night.   What a memorable birthday!

One of our waiters serving John some seafood pasta - yum!

 

When I get home, I’ll have my usual birthday celebration of sushi followed by Cinnabuns with my girls plus this year I get to pick out a birthday quilt from my mom’s collection of beautiful homemade quilts.  It will be a birth-week instead of a birthday. 

I wonder what the next year will bring???

A very happy birthday girl!

Walking with Penguins

 After an early breakfast on Friday morning, I hurried down to the harbour to catch the shuttle bus for the penguin tour with Piratours.  I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.  As we were waiting, I met Joseph from Croatia who was also travelling on his own, and we ended up chatting for most of the trip.  There were 20 people in our group – Joseph, myself and a couple from the UK were the only ones who spoke English so our guide Santiago conducted a great bilingual tour.

Santiago explained that we were driving 90 km to the boat and it would take an hour and a half.  The first half of the drive was on gently curving winding roads, the last half was on really winding gravel roads that steeply rose and fell as we made our way through the mountains.  Thank goodness I was sitting near the front.  Along the way, we saw a fox that ran along with us for a few minutes and we stopped at the top of a hill to take photos of windblown trees.

When we arrived at Estancia Harberton we made a quick pit-stop and then boarded the zodiac to head to Isla Martillo to see the penguins.  Everyone was so excited – you could feel the anticipation as we pulled onto the shore.  We were told that when we were on the island we should stay low so we wouldn't frighten the penguins, keep quiet, don’t smoke or eat, and take lots of photos!  When we got off the boat the penguins were right there and there were so many of them.  Santiago explained that the colony began in 1970 when a couple of penguins settled on the island (no one knows why) and the population is now about 4000 and growing each year.   The penguins were very curious and waddled over to check us out.  I was surprised at how close they wanted to come to us. 

We hiked uphill to another area of the island, away from the beach, where the penguins were nesting with their babies.  The babies hatch at the beginning of December so we were fortunate to see many of them in their nests as well as out with one of their parents.  I had always envisioned penguins living in cold Antarctic conditions so it seemed odd to see them in a meadow of long grass and on the hillsides with shrubs all around.  I was also surprised how noisy they could be when they would bellow to one another or warn one of us that we were getting too close to their nest. 

Curious penguins checking out the visitors

Adorable baby penguins with the parents

Penguins on the beach...

Penguins in the meadow, penguins on the hill....

Penguins on nests

We had an hour to spend on the island, photographing and watching the penguins, and it seemed like it was over in a moment.  We reluctantly climbed back into the zodiac and sped back to Estancia Harberton.

Cool old truck at Estancia Harberton. I'll have to ask dad more about this
truck when I get home - year? make?  It says "PowerWagon" on the side.

Outside the Museum

We had half an hour before we left so Santiago suggested that we visit Museo Acatushun on the property, or we could eat our lunch.  Joseph and I wandered through the pasture area, taking photos of the horses and rusting equipment, and then over to the museum.  What appeared on the outside to be a regular farm shed turned out to contain a remarkable display of marine skeletons assembled from remains that have washed up on the shores nearby.  Much of their vast collection was found at Bahia San Sebastian where a difference of 11 km between high tide and low tide leaves marine animals stranded on the beach. The UK couple had skipped the museum so Joseph and I had an exclusive English tour while the rest of the group went on the Spanish tour.  The displays all had English labels and information, which was very helpful. Who would have thought you would find such an amazing museum literally in the middle of nowhere?   

Displays inside the Museo Acatushun

 

Soon it was time to head back to town to eat a late lunch, hike back up the hill one last time to gather my things from Tzion and then say goodbye to Ushuaia.  What a remarkable place. 

Notes:

Ushuaia is the launching point for all Antarctic cruises.  If I only had a few more weeks and a LOT more money….. 

When I looked in my guidebook back at the B&B, Lonely Planet described the Estancia Harberton as a ‘don’t miss’ destination in Ushuaia.  Tierra del Fuego’s first estancia, it was founded by Thomas Bridges and his family in 1866 and became famous after his son wrote a memoir titled Uttermost Part of the Earth about his experiences growing up there among the now-extinct Selk’nam and Yahgan people.  The museum specimens have been compiled by biologist Natalie Prosser Goodall.  If you are interested in visiting, be sure to contact them ahead of time by email as there is no phone and hours vary or book your visit through one of the agencies in Ushuaia. 

Ushuaia – The End of the World





Ushuaia - nestled along the side of the Andes,
gateway to Antarctica

 My trip to Ushuaia began as many trips do in Argentina, with a delayed flight.  My flight from El Calafate to Ushuaia was supposed to leave at 11:25 am and I had hoped to arrive in time to do a cruise on the Beagle Channel to visit a penguin colony.  However, the penguins and I had to wait a little longer to meet as my flight finally left at 2 pm.  By the time I arrived in Ushuaia, made it through security with my luggage and checked in at my Tzion B&B most of the afternoon was over.  I used the rest of the day to check in with the tourist information agency, book my penguin cruise for Friday and find someplace for dinner.  When I booked my B&B on booking.com, the reviewers raved about the caring family who ran it but mentioned that it was located about 8 blocks from downtown.  What I didn’t realize is that Ushuaia is built on a very steep hillside leading up to the mountains, so whenever I left the B&B I walked 8 steep blocks down, only to return 8 steep blocks uphill later in the day. 

View from my bedroom window -
Mountains, town, Beagle Channel

On Thursday, I was up early to catch the shuttle bus to Tierra del Fuego National Park to do some hiking.  It was cool and damp when we left Ushuaia at 9 am and within a few minutes it began to rain, at first just a drizzle but then changing to a good steady rain.  As the driver dropped us off at the trekking station, he said “Pick up 3, 5, 7.”   So he was dropping us off in the cold and rain at 10 am and not coming back until 3 pm at the earliest.  I wondered what I had gotten myself into – how was I going to kill 5 hours in this park without freezing to death?  I envied the more prepared hikers with their weatherproof outfits and hiking boots. I had a nice fleece coat and rain resistant coat (I found out the hard way that it is no longer rainproof a few years ago), jeans and my sneakers. I thought to myself that more commercial operations would have equipment to rent – hiking boots and waterproof pants for unprepared tourists like me.  But there was no such kiosk here so I took my hiking map and headed off in the same direction I had seen a few other people go.  After about 15 minutes, I realized this wasn’t a trail for me – walking along a lake for mile after mile - boring, and turned back to go in the other direction.  As I walked, I noticed large noisy birds hunting for insects nearby and stopped to take some photos. 

Changing direction, I went south towards the National Guard station and a series of short hiking trails.  Trail #1 was supposed to be an easy 15 minute hike.  I must have taken a wrong turn as it took me about an hour.  Even though I stopped to take many many photos, even without stopping I couldn’t have done that trail in 15 minutes.  I had to scramble up and down steep rocky sections that were slick with rain and mud and at one point I slipped and landed on my bottom.  I thought I’d better head back to the main road and find an easier trail.  If I was to fall or twist my ankle, it could be a very long time before anyone wandered by and there was no cell phone service in most areas of the park. 

Trail 2 looked boring – a short hike to a lake so I wandered down to trail three which stopped at the end of Route 3 where there was a nice lookout area and busloads of tourists.  By now the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to push through the clouds and the rest of the day was overcast but dry.

Trail 4 was a beautiful hike through beech trees and a peat bog. Again I took many many photos of the beautiful scenery and interesting birds to share with anyone back home foolish enough to ask to see my vacation photos.

The views along trail 4

 

In the morning, I had thought that five hours was an eternity. Instead I found myself hurrying back to the drop-off point where the restaurant was now open and a warm fire was burning in the fireplace.  I had a cup of tea and chatted with some fellow tourists – a girl from Holland, a couple from Denmark, and another couple from France who were also waiting for the bus.   Once back in town I debated – do I hike back up the hill to the B&B, rest for a bit and shower, then hike down the hill for dinner and back up the hill for bed?  No.  Instead, I killed some time shopping downtown while hauling my backpack with me, had an early dinner, stopped at the grocery store to pick up snacks for tomorrow’s boat ride and then called it an early night.

 

 

Things I’ve noticed:

Unlike other areas of Argentina where we have lived and visited, there is no litter in El Calafate or Ushuaia.  Residents and tourists alike are vigilant about caring for the environment. 

My suitcase was definitely in the minority at the luggage carousel in both towns as most tourists here are hiking, trekking and into other outdoor adventures.  Big backpacks are the norm.  I felt a bit like Zsa Zsa Gabor in Green Acres as I wheeled my big suitcase out of the airport past the backpackers, but I’m heading home to Canada after our weekend in Buenos Aires so I’m packing a ton of stuff that I won’t need here but will need at home.

More gorgeous scenery