When Madiens Mourn - Awesome!..More more moooorreee
Secrets of the Sea of Fire - Interesting read...a bit intense...
Wicked Lovely - Fantasy - A little too teenny..but wud read again...
Bewitching Season - Marissal Doyle - Historic Fantasy
And one last thing - Molly Harper - Very Chic - Read through the night
I've got your number - Soo Kinsella...so very lovely...
A quirky adventure from start to finish...
With a muscle pull lingering from Christmas ice skating, I limped my way to mailing the visa's for Argentina and Chile....You would think there is gold lying around the streets of these countries...The processes was SO tedious...About 101 documents to mail in , in -person interviews, finger-printing....OMG...Well that was the just the visa. and what with the forrest fire burning the best part of the park 'n all :|
Not to mention the total drama with Ticket Booking...Thank Goodness to my great travel agent..Direct flights into and outta Buenos Aries(losing money in the process of re-booking... Booo..)...BUT, That did come in handy, given that I came down with ...wait for it...(drumroll here)...viral sore-throat. All hail to modern meds and Walgreen walk-in pharmacy, the antibiotics I begged for saved the trip :)
After much reviews from website all over, Chose Adventure-Life company. They typically out-source to Cascada expedicones...They were lovely and well organized.
Oh, I do need to start with my experience in Buenos Aries..Apart from the day I wasted with fever in Buenos Aries...the 1st day was great! (Just wish I could felt better). Had the day pretty well planned.
Note: Hostels in Buenos Aries are pretty decent. Natalia from Tango Y Bandoneon was so helpful, and the place was quaint...The street grids were pretty tricky(one would thing grid system being the more intutive) , kept getting lost to my complete annoyance....The cycle tour was pretty amazing too..loads of fun..Saw tango show amidst bouts of coughs , sneezes and lots of caliante aqua .
Empanadas are yummy, but after a while you get like..'don't they have other spices other than salt'!
The flight to El Calafate was quite uneventful, probabaly due to the cold meds I was on...Checked into El Cantera (Botique hotel)..and had a good hot bath..eat an expensive three course meal...doused myself with Axe oil and went to sleep...that wass that.
The bus-drive to Punta Areas was really long...and the immigration out of Argentina and into Chile..WOW such long lines....But finally reached teh tour meeting point.
Met some really nice people, Jess and Daniel, who were taking the 8 day tour with me, and newly married couple Mark and his wife..and the older Russian Gentlemen who had the expensive carmera...
Perhaps the only thing that would deter me in going back to Torres Del Paine would be the roads inside the national park...Bah! The sea bands helped, only so much so..and didn't want to take the dramamine...(Perhaps I ought to have...)
The eco -camps were wonderful!! The food great and domes so comfy...Thank goodness I didn't have to share the dome..my coughing would have kept anyone awake..and they would have hated me!!
J and D are like power hikers! Amazing!! It was in strak contrast that you would see a person with half a fever wrapped to a tee, amidst the hot hike..It was a hilarious sight...except for the protogonist I suppose...:\..
The first camp site was so-so...The food pretty meaty, the late pretty and starry skies amazing....The part i was bumed out was with the packing of the sack...Oh! Lord!..I had half the things hang out of my back pack, including the Crocs
The next stop, Lake Azul camp grounds was amazing...except the tents were a little clausterphobic...The veggie food (as requested by Jess and I ) was quite tasty (we got tired with the repeat of huge chuncks of beef in sauce and potatoes).
Then we were back to Eco Camp (caught a sneak peak of a puma!!!). Energy chews from REI saved me in the climb to see the peaks...It was one wet hike!
The bus drive back to El-Calafate didn't feel as long, but the immigration checks sucked pretty much the same...btw, never saw Chilean currency..
Back at El Calafate, went to draw cash since I had zippo money. That was terrible planning from my end ..well..what do you know, it takes more than a couple of tries to use the ATM in spanish...;)....
Perito Moreo...memorable trip..the bus ride was smooth..the overview spectacular, the boat ride was short enough to enjoy it fully on the top deck...and the hike was nose chilling - leg hurting - mind blowing and totally cool! The dinner with J and D was pretty nice...the food was great at this local joint where they had largest food portions ever!
The long flight back was tiring and going back to work the same day...well charming enough...but nothing compared to what awaited me ;)..
Feb 27-March 6th 2012
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