Feliz Año Nuevo!

Happy New Year...

An unusual Hogmany for me today...I hired a 4x4 Toyota beast to explore the desert and mountains near copiapo...here's the Toyota...Tremendous vehicle...

You can probably just about make out a wee bit of the lagoon and salt flats in the bottom left. I drove 3 hours this morning to get to an altitude of 3700m to an amazing lagoon....











If only I'd got the tops of the mountains! This pelican wasn't happy with me snooping around.

Salt flat...

Land speed record attempt. Unfortunately there was no-one else there to use the stopwatch....I guess we'll never know if I beat it ;o)

Pretty amazing and my bizarre hogmany continued in a different way later. I had a nice run before heading out to dinner with a healthy appetite. However, I stupidly didn't realise that nowhere would be open! Thankfully I found a wee corner shop and got a cheese sandwich, a banana, two yoghurts and a packet of guacamole doritos for my last meal of 2011. This might have been a little depressing if it hadn't been such a brilliant year. Ok, I'm off to watch the Copiapo fireworks.

All the best for 2012!

Ajedrez, Al de estilo sudamericana

(Chess, South American style! - Or santiago, chile style anyway)

Day 2 in Santiago is going well. I'm due to get an overnighter to Copiapo tonight (at 23:15) so I have plenty of time to kill. After my run up the Cerro I've been doing a few bits and bobs. Although, it seems a lot of the Museums around here are closed for refurbishment/repair. To be honest I can't really manage more than an hour or so in a museum anyway so not to worry. So i was chilling (South American style) in the main square here in downtown Santiago - Plaza de Armas, when I notice something happening open the bandstand. What's this.....

Tremendo! A chess competition!

These two really mean business.....

Speed chess to the max and the guy on the right really hammers down the pieces for effect! (Actually I'm beginning to notice this is quite common amongst the players here .... take THAT!) - The guy on the right won the first game, but the older dude on the right got revancha with a demolition in the next one.

and these two are on the clock...looks like a final or something with the crowds ...

I edge closer to get a look see... The chap in the hat appears to be winning...on time and pieces on the board (looks like they had 10 minutes each and they are down to about 4 left now). Then I notice that hatman is giving a constant and very annoying running commentary. I ask the spectator next to me in my stilted spanish ... Jugador hablando constantamente, esta bien? He laughs and says "Si"

I am beginning to get really annoyed with hatman and I'm not even playing! This would not do in the UK, hatman would surely be taken aside and given a dressing down. I am now really rooting for the other guy....and then YES, a stunning counter attack (kinda like my own chess style ;o) ) and hatman is defeated .... and he's not happy! I punch the air and I'm really tempted to push through the crowd to  shake the winner's hand - TREMENDO!!!!!

PS before you ask - I did look around for an empty chair but there were no empty slots ... otherwise I'd have been all in for a game or two (but not against hatman - I think I might've done something out of character if I'd had to endure his constant chatter)

A touristy / arty shot from Plaza de Armas to finish.

Photo Catch-up - alcanzar fotos.

Some photos.... Algunas fotos......

BLOG IT! near Bariloche

Estancia El Puesto....era 24 Diciembre, después un almuerzo grande, "montar a caballo?", Siiiiiiiii! ..... tal vez un pequena siesta primero!

Buenas vistas en Estancia El Puesto!

Gauchos autenticos

Necesito mas que un sombrero ser un gaucho!

Este no es un dia de Navidad normal para mi! Todo Bien!!!

Sobre los andes a Chile en bus. Mas que un hora y media pasar aduana! Un hombre Argentino dijo este es rápido!

Cerro San Christobal en Santiago de Chile. Ayer yo camine arriba, hoy yo corri! Si puedo asegurar mi natación pues podre terminar el triathalon rápido en Junio!

La vista de Cerro San Christobal. Hay nubes :o(














Un turisto blanco en Chile!

Mendoza es especial!

Porque? Por Supuesto Mendoza tienen muchas Bodegas de vino increíble. También Mendoza es cerca de  muchas montañas muy linda. Todo esto es cierto. Pero Mendoza es también especial para mi a cause de 11 Junio 1978.

Por los que no recuerdo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1axsnMRbbo

No es facile para mi mirar que. Tengo mariposas en mi estomago y un lagrimo en mi ojo. Por uno momento los ninos (por ejemplo - mi!) y chicos y todos los gente en escocía creido......

Escocia estaba ganando 3-1 y solo necesitado una mas gol para al progreso (Necesitan ganar por tres gols - por ejemplo 3-0 o 4-1). Pero una calamidad por el portero de escocia y Holland marcar un gol! Escocia ganar 3-2 y salia.

Holland fueron a la final contra Argentina....

Lo que poria haber sido....?

Fui a la estadio ajer...

Muy agradable...

...y donde Archie Gemmill hizo historia.


Voy a visitar un Estancia en las montañas por navidad entonces ahora yo digo - Feliz Navidad por todos!!!

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Mendoza is Special!

Why? Of course Mendoza has many fine wineries with fantastic wine. Also, Mendoza is close to some beautiful mountains. All this is true. But Mendoza is also special for me because of June 11th 1978.

For those who don't remember....

<Youtube clip>

It's not easy for me to watch this. I have butterflies in my stomach and a tear in the eye. For one moment all the children (including me) , youths and all the people of Scotland believed...

(In fact, Scotland had qualified for the World Cup by beating Wales in the final group game to win the group - with the first and original Hand of God moment thanks to our very own toothless wonder, Joe Jordan winning a dubious penalty for Don Masson to find the net - he didn't miss much from 12 yards. Our manager Ally McLeod then claimed we'd win the cup and suddenly we thought we were world beaters.

We arrived in Argentina after a ludicrous "victory" type send off. Unfortunately (hmmm, there is no excuse really) we totally underestimated the handy Peru and were humbled 3-1 after going 1-0 up through a Joe Jordan goal (no question of handball this time)

Next we played Iran in what seemed to be a must win game only now the pressure was really on and we were a bag of nerves in a woeful 1-1 draw - during this game Ally McLeod famously put his head in his hands in frustration

Both of these matches had been in Cordoba - if only we'd played them all in Mendoza...

So finally the stage was set - Scotland had no chance, needed to win by 3 goals against Holland, who'd got to the previous final in 1974, surely this was impossible. Frustratingly this is when Scottish teams always seem to play best - when they are written off and there is no pressure. So it was to be this time as well

Just to set the scene even more...

We actually went a goal down in the Holland game to a rather soft penalty...but just before half time - I'll never forget this goal either, we equalised through a long cross-field pass being deftly headed down (by Jordan) for Kenny Dalglish to smash in the top corner - Half time it was 1-1.

Just after half time we won a penalty and our Captain, Archie Gemmill duly slotted it home - I may be wrong but I suspect our usual penalty taker had been dropped in place of a youthful Graeme Souness.

Then, with 32 minutes to go, the best goal in the world ever sent Scotland into wonderland. We only needed one more to beat Holland by 3 goals and make it through to the next stages. We'd only missed out in 1974 by goal difference after strolling home 2-0 against Zaire when Brazil and Yugoslavia were ruthless in 3-0 and 9-0 victories - although I'm far too young to remember that one ;o))

But then disaster as with 19 minutes remaining somehow Johnny Rep lashes in a speculative drive from all of 40 odd yards. Our goalkeeper can hardly move and it's all over. 

Holland went on to reach the final again, only to lose to the hosts Argentina (for a second time - it was hosts West Germany in 1974).

what might have been......

I went to see the stadium yesterday...

<Picture of the stadium 1>
Rather nice with the mountains in the background

<Picture 2>
The end where Archie Gemmill made history

I'm going to stay on a ranch in the mountains for Christmas so will be out of range from tomorrow. So I'll say Happy Christmas now!!!!

Jimbo's Guide to Argentina #2 - Travelling by Bus

This is my second foray into my experiences of living and travelling in Argentina for a period now closing in on 2 months. You can't travel much in Argentina without using the buses and it is a very different experience to long distance bus travel back home. The only other alternative is to fly but often that can be very expensive (due to there being no low cost operators) and there may not be a flight going where you want to go. So here we go...my guide to bus travel in Argentina (sorry spanish speakers I'm going to take a one post rest from translating. This one would probably take me hours to translate)

Observation 1. Comfort factor.

This is the type of seat I have had on 3 out of the 4 overnight journeys thus far. Before I go on I need to say that there are a rather confusingly large amount of different classes of seat. A bloke I spent a bit of time with in Bariloche - James from near Birmingham, he's a Wolves fan so can understand the Scottish "support the underdog" mentality (no offence to Wolves fans!) - he said he was baffled at first with the array of different seats and I quote "I've never known anything like it". You can get Semi Cama, Cama, Cama Ejecutivo, Cama Suite, Ejecutivo, Cama total.... the list goes on! You also have to be a little careful because cama from one firm may not be quite as good as cama from another due to how recently (or not!) they've upgraded their fleet.

Anyway, broadly semi-cama don't recline as much as this and are thinner (4 seats across a bus rather than 3). Also, you might not get food in a semi-cama seat.

A cama suite or cama total is likely to recline even further (fully flat) and you might get better food. I've had a cama suite once (from Posadas to Buenos Aires) and it was great. Unfortunately not all routes have these seats.

Anyway, you can normally get a cama if you book a couple of days in advance and they are usually only about 50 pesos more expensive (less than a tenner) than semi cama so I'm all in for cama every time.

Observation 2. Value for Money

Traveling by bus is usually significantly cheaper than an flight equivalent flight. If you go overnight you also save on hotel and with some food thrown in too the savings add up.

Example..just looking up some prices now...

Mendoza (where I am now) to Buenos Aires on Wednesday

BUS...I can get a cama suite for $525 pesos or Cama for $475. Its an overnighter and takes 14-15 hours.

FLIGHT $758. If you add on a couple of hundred pesos for a room and about 40 or 50 or more for a meal you can see the savings on the buses. That is actually one of the cheaper flights I've seen. The difference is usually bigger.

By the way - if anyone gets motion sickness at all (like my brother), forget the bus, the drivers don't mess about and there is a wee bit of rocking and rolling on the sometimes uneven roads.

Observation 3. The food's ok

With an overnighter Cama (depending on when you board) you sometimes get a early evening snack...

I've travelled on Andesmar a couple of times as they are the biggest firm around the Andes (could you guess from the name?) Heres the wee goody pack that acts as teatime snack or breakfast.

Now then, what have we here...a pack of dry toast (this is actually ok - a bit like a cracker), some jam for the toast, a sponge (filled with ... Dulce de Leche!) and a biscuit (filled with ..... Dulce de Leche!). I must admit this is all a bit sweet for me so I always take a couple of apples and bananas and some cereal bars on board to supplement my diet.

 What's this biscuit like then....

 Hmmm, icing type covering (quite thick), crumbly biscuity bit next, and a very thick filling of DDL. Total calories 242 - thats almost as much as a mars bar (280) . What does it taste like ....

CHOMP!....





















(note - posh wee finger just sneaking into shot!!!)

Hmmm, not bad... but one bite is about enough for me ... far too sweet! That is not what I want for brekky (there's only so far I go with "when in Rome..."!)

The Cena Caliente (hot dinner) usually (on Andesmar at any rate) comes about 11 or midnight and is no better or worse than average airline food. I always make sure I get a glass our two of Vino tinto to help me drop off :o)

Observation 4. In "flight" entertainment...

This was tremendous. Last nights bus trip kicked off with bingo! As you can see I did not win, but the lucky couple next to me won a bottle of vino. Good spanish numbers practice for me as well.

Apart from bingo - which would always be a winner for me - the entertainment can be very hit and miss. I've had some decent or at least watchable movies (300, transporter, a Brazilian film about some folk singers that I managed to understand a lot of the spanish dubbing for - I was very pleased with myself :o) ). However, it's common for a movie to be switched on at dinner time (midnight) so that can go on quite late and it can be loud. I combat this with some chill-out music on my iPod (plus the aforementioned vino). Also, I have very little interest in something like Fast and Furious 4 - iPod time!

We've also had some pretty dire retro 80's & 90's pop videos (UK, US) or of some ageing crooner who still seems to manage to charm the ladies in the videos despite being far too old for long hair and medallions. Sometimes it's better when they just switch it off - usually this is for an extended period after the midnight film and breakfast at 8. Ah, peace and quiet!

Observation 5. I can actually get some sleep.

I've tried to get overnighters as much as possible. Partly not to waste a day, partly to save on a hotel room but also because I can actually get a few hours sleep. It's not like a decent sleep in a proper bed but it's not too bad. A bit like having to get up for a 7am flight to London. Sorry to disappoint, I have no pictures of me sleeping!

Observation 6. You get to see more of the country.

Argentina has lots of big open spaces between cities and you just wouldn't get to see that if you always took flights. Also you get to have a look at the towns on the way through. For example, I wish I'd stopped at El Bolson...next time.

Observation 7. The locals travel by bus.

The buses are predominantly filled with locals with the odd few tourists.....and as I say....

Cuando Estes en Argentina.....Haz como los Argentinos!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I'll finish with a few holiday snap shots from the lovely Bariloche...these were from a cycle loop round some lakes with James from Brum...James and I also enjoyed the real ale bar in the previous post. This is a slightly longish story so I'll cut it slightly short...we were talking to a couple at the bar and the guy randomly asked another guy if he came here every day or just Thursdays...todos los dias was the reply (every day). Next night we walk in and there he is at the bar..I couldn't resist catching his eye and saying "todos los dias?!" "Si, todos los dias" he said with a laugh and thumbs up.

If you're reading this - Have a great time in Oz, James!

Out west of Bariloche town. On this day the volcanic ash from the chilean volcano was not bad at all - you can see a little haze in the distance. It got worse in the afternoon.

On a bike again! 

Lakes abound!

Jimbo's guide to Argentina #1 ... Food & Drink.

Hi all,

I think my last few posts have been all too much like holiday snaps so I'm going to change pace a little. I've been Argentina for nearly 6 weeks now so I've experienced quite a few things here. My new series.. "Jimbo's guide to Argentina" will be observations, common themes, contrasts with back home, musings and so on. This might or might not be more interesting than the holiday snap posts but at least it'll be a change.

What else could I start with but Food and drink. These are two of the most important things in our lives - we have to eat and drink more than once every day and they can be a source of much enjoyment.

So here goes...but first my spanish translation of that preamble...

(Hola,

Pienso mi ultima unas posts fue demasiado como fotos de vacaciones por eso voy a cambiar un poco. He estado en Argentina durante seis semanas por eso he experimentado muchas cosas. "Jimbo's guide to Argentina" será observaciones, temas comunes, contrastas con Escosia, reflexiones etcétera. Tal vez este será mas ínterestante que fotos de vacaciones, tal vez no pero será un cambio.

Que otra cosa para comenzar que Comida y bebida? Dos de cosas mas importante en nuestras vidas.

vamos...)

First thing to say is I really like a lot of the food here. I'm not a particularly fussy eater (any more, I'm sure I was as a kid) but I've really enjoyed a lot of the food here. Heres some of the things I've liked most...

1. Steak - Argentine beef is great.

(1. Filete de Carne - carne de Argentina es fabuloso)

2. Steak - I'm being a bit silly but the beef here is fantastic and I've eaten a lot of it. Truly world class. I should really try different stuff when I go to a Parilla restaurant (barbecue/Asado restaurant) but I find it very hard to get past the carne part of the menu!

(2. Filete de carne - (yo hago una broma! Pero la carne de Argentina es de clase mundial y yo he comido muchas!)

Exhibit A. My dinner last night. Bife de chorizo, mashed potatoes and carrots.
(Mi cena de anoche, Bife de chorizo, pure de papa y zanahorias)

Before...
(Antes...)

Cooked to perfection if I do say so myself - Jugoso as they say here which means juicy, medium rare we call it.
The cuts of steak are slightly different here. Bife de chorizo is like a Sirloin. Lomo is like a fillet ... I've got a nice bit of lomo in the fridge awaiting my attention this evening!

(cocido perfecto! - Jugoso! Tengo algunas lomo para esta noche!)

After...

(Despues...)

Why is the beef so good here? It has a really soft texture and great flavour and I believe this comes from the grass the cows eat on the large humid pampas pastures.

(Por que la carne de Argentina es tan bueno? - Las Vacas comer hierba de las pampas y este es muy bueno.)

3. Ice cream.
I've not gone quite so mad on the ice cream but I have had a lot more than I usually would because it's world class. Actually, I think Ice cream is a bit of a lifestyle here. Every town has a few ice cream shops and they always seem to be full of people. Maybe it's partly due to the hot weather. They do have a load of different flavours to choose from and here's something I had earlier...

(3. Helado.

No he comido el helado con la frecuencia como carne pero mucho mas de cuando estoy en escocía porque es clase mundial! Todas las ciudades tienen muchas heladerías y que estan ocupado con frecuencia!)

Check out the 1/4 KG Jauja (ice cream tub) bottom right - that's all for me. 3 flavours. Dulce de leche (of course) lemon (ah the old sweet and sour contrast) and banana (because I like bananas).

(Mira la juaja aqui! Todo para mi! Tres sabores. Dulce de Leche (por supuesto!), Limon (amargo contraste con dulce!) y banana (porque me gusta bananas))

All gone! Well, I was cycling today and that can work up an ice cream hunger in this heat!
(Todo comido! Fui a lago por bicicleta hoy, ciclismo puede darme hambre por helado!)

4. Wine
Although it was too hot in Posadas to drink much wine I have been sampling a good deal more since I've moved on. It's the best accompaniment for a good bit of steak and the Malbec from here is great. Soon I go to Mendoza, the home of malbec.

(4. Vino.
Estuvo demasiado calor cuando yo estuve en Posadas para tomar vino. Pero yo he bebido mucho mas desde entonces. Vino es la mejor bebida acompañar carne y Malbec es delicioso. Voy a ir a Mendoza pronto, el origen de Malbec.)

5. Salads.
Nice fresh salads. I was given great food by my hosts in Posadas (Thanks Veronica and Marcelo!) and they always gave me a nice bowl of salad with my dinner. Tomatoes, lettuce, carrots or cabbage, yum yum. Also the dressings here are good. I've had both olive oil and vinegar on the side or occasionally a house dressing on the side in restaurants. Argentina produces its own olive oil and balsamic vinegar which are great.

(5. Buena fresca ensaladas. Me dieron comida fantastico en Posadas (Muchas gracias Veronica y Marcelo!) y siempre me dieron ensalada con cena. Tomate, lechuga, zanahoria o col. Tambien los aderezos son muy bien en Argentina. Ellos producen aceite de olivia y vinagre balsamico en Argentina y esto es muy bueno.)

6. Empanadas.
Found throughout south America I believe. These are a bit like pasties back home. Pastry on the outside and filled with meat, chicken, cheese or vegetables although I think there are also sweet ones in some places. Apparently the recipe changes from region to region and there is much debate about the "right" way to make an empanada. I've not really noticed too much difference yet between places. They are great for a picnic lunch but the quality varies by the place you buy them in so its good to get a recommendation.

(6. Empanadas. Encontraba en todos los sudamericana yo creo. Son como "pasties" en Escosia o Inglaterra. Llenaba con carne, pollo, queso o verdura. Pero yo creo son empanadas dulce tal vez. Yo creo que la receta es diferente en diferente regiones. Es mejor que recibir un recomendación porque la calidad puede variar.)

7. Milanesa
This is meat or chicken encrusted in breadcrumbs. We have something similar at home - escalopes.

(7. Milanesa...
Carne o pollo en pan rallado. Son como "escalopes" En Escosia o inglaterra.

Ok that's my top 7 favourites. The argentine diet is fairly protein rich. I'm surprised I didn't put chicken on the list above as I've had a lot of chicken here too and it's very good.

(Bueno, estas es mi siete favoritas. Mucho proteína! No he incluida pollo - es una sorpresa porque he comido mucho y esta es muy bueno.

Other observations

• As well as the Ice cream there are other italian influences in the food. There are a lot of Pizza places (sometimes Pizza and Pasta, sometimes Pizza and Empanada). However, mostly the pizzas are not how I like them best as they seem to like them here with american style thick bases and lots of cheese. (Hay mucho restaurants de Pizza, pero no me gusta mucho la base gruesa y las porciones de queso, como las pizzas en Los Estados Unidos)
• Hamburgers are also popular but not in a McDonalds/Burger King way. The hamburgers I've had (as if I needed more beef in my diet!) are more like home made and better. (Hamburguesas son popular pero no en McDonalds o Burger King. Mucho Mejor.)
• Potatoes are very widespread as well as other root type vegetables (there were some that Veronica cooked for me that were tremendous with a steak but I've forgotten what they are called). (Hay mucho Papas en Argentina y otros verduras raiz)  
• There does appear to be a lot of sweet food but as I am not as fond of sweet food I've probably not done this justice - pastries, sweets, uncountable ways of using dulce de leche! (Hay mucho comida dulce!)
• You can get good coffee here in some cafes but I suspect the locals mainly drink mate (or up north terere) as most people carry around their mate and flask. (Puedo tomar cafe pero yo creo los locales prefieren mate o terere)
• Breakfast doesn't seem to be a big meal here. Lunch tends to be a main meal (followed by a siesta perhaps) and dinner could be quite light and late (for us brits). (Desayunar no es una comida grande. Almorza y Cena son mas importante. La cena se come muy tarde.)

Ok, time for me to cook my lomo!

(And the lomo was great! but hold the phone what is this......?

El Lomo fue muy sabroso, pero ... uno momentito...que es esto????

My christmas has come early - a real ale pub in Bariloche!

(Navidad llega temprano - una cervecería artisanal en bariloche!

And (in my opinion) the best of quite a decent selection of ales...the porter - you little beauty!!!!!

(Y en mi opinion la mejor cerveza - "porter" - tremendo!!!!)

Puerto Madryn and Peninsula Valdes.

Buenos Tardes de Puerto Madryn (Good afternoon from Puerto Madryn)

Puerto Madryn is famous for Whales, seals, penguins (lots of wildlife really) and for being founded by 150 immigrants from Wales in 1865. Before I got here though I had to negotiate a 24 hour bus journey...that's right 24 hours on a bus! Actually it wasn't quite 24 hours because there was a 2 hour change in Rio Gallegos but still I left El Calafate at noon on Thursday and arrived here after noon on Friday. My guidebooks said Rio Gallegos was pretty much a staging post and not worth hanging around in for too long. Apparently nearby there are the biggest Brown Trout in the world, but even this wasn't enough to make me stay longer.

(Puerto Madryn es famoso porque tiene ballenas, focas, pinguinos - mucho animales de hecho - y  porque fue fundado de cien cincuenta gente de Gales en mil ochocientos sesenta y cinco. Pero antes llegue aquí necesite sobrevivir un viaja en autobus de veinte cuatro horas! Saldre El Calafate a mediodia en Jueves y llegue a Puerto Madryn después de mediodia en Viernes. Mi guía  me dijo Rio Gallegos es solo un centro de transportación y no bueno para quedarse mucho tiempo. Hay las trucha marrón mas grande en el mundo! pero este no bastante para mi quedarse.)

I had a run on the lovely beach here on Friday night. I love running on beaches. The sound of the waves, the smell of the sea and the game of chicken with the waves. If you run just at the water line the sand is perfect - not too soft but just soft enough. However, running here means you need to be careful not to get your feet wet with the occasional big wave. Oh, the danger!

(Yo he corrido en la playa encantadora aquí en Viernes. Me gusta mucho corriendo en playas. Escuchar las olas,  olfato el mar y exponerse pies mojado!)

A picture of Puerto Madryn beach from Friday - cloudy.
(Un foto del Playa de Puerto Madryn de Viernes. Nublado.)

It's nice to be close to the sea again. In Scotland you are never too far from the sea.

(Me gusta estoy cerca de el mar. En Escosia esta nunca lejos del mar.)

On Saturday I took a tour around Peninsula Valdes and a whale watching tour. There were two buses; one for English speakers and one for Spanish speakers. However, there was a problem because the English speaking one was over subscribed by two. The guides asked if anyone could speak enough spanish to go with that bus and it seemed there was only one person who could, so I bravely volunteered. Perhaps the other person could translate for me and I could do with the practice anyway.

(Sabado pasado yo tome un viaja de Peninsula Valdes y para Ballenas. Tome la autobus de espanol porque la autobus de ingles hubimos demasiados pasajeros - necesito practicar!)

I understood a lot of the guides introduction as I think he was being slow for even the non-Argentinian spanish speakers but I guess I understood about 30% from then on. Luckily there was a very helpful couple from Mexico next to me who helped translate as well as Lisa from Germany who also swapped buses.

(Entendi trenta por ciento del comentario pero Estoy suerte porque un pareja de mexico me ayudo)

Now for some photos of the wildlife...

(Algunas fotos del animales...)

A school of dolphins. Un Escuela de Delfines.

Southern Right Whales, a mother and baby. This mother is called the "grandmother" as she is so old. We don't know how long these creatures live for. One estimate could be 150 years!

(Ballenas, una madre y bebe. Este madre llamado "abuela" porque ella esta muy vieja. No sabemos cuanto tiempo ballenas viven. Tal vez cien cincuenta anos!)

Penguins. (pinguinos)

Seals - thats a baby one underneath the big alpha male!

(Focas, un bebe bajo el grande hombre!)

A great day all in. The whales were amazing. So big. When we arrived at the whale bit and we saw how big they were I thought I'd drop in the classic line from Jaws "we're gonna need a bigger boat". I was very disappointed only one person gave a small chuckle. We saw 8 whales in total and another mother plus baby (bigger one this time) couple. This baby was a show off and did some jumps. The other person that swapped coaches into the spanish one is a german girl (Lisa) who has been studying in Bs As. She got some great shots of the dolphins and another german guy (Simon) got a photo of the whale jumping. So we're going to share them around. Maybe I'll post some of these when I get them.

(Un día fantastico! Las Ballenas fue extraordinario. Tan Grande! Vimos ocho ballenas en total y un otra madre y bebe. Este bebe fue mas grande y hizo algunas saltos. Tal vez yo tendré un foto de este mas tarde de mis nuevo amigos de Alemania, Lisa y Simon)

At the seal place we might have seen some Orca "Killer Whales" as they prey on the seals around here. In fact this is where almost all of the footage of Orca in the wild is from and its the only place in the world where they can climb up the beach to catch a seal. Unfortunately we didn't see any orca on the trip but I did understand a lot of the guides commentary on them...

(Son algunas Orcas también, pero no vimos)

They live to be about 70 years old. They get really stressed in captivity and their fins fall over.   They swim big distances every day. They only kill when they need to eat. They only have offspring every five years. And they need to eat 50% of their body eight every day (WRONG! numbers still get me in spanish when people speak quickly, its 5%)

(Entendi mucho del comentario pero no todo. Todavia numeros son dificil para mi)

I had a bit of a rest day yesterday after the excitement of Peninsula Valdes. I also organised my next travel and accommodation requirements. Tonight I go to Bariloche. Only a 14 hour journey this time. I must admit I don't think I'm really cut out for the backpacking lifestyle. I'm too old now to share a dorm room (private rooms all the way) and you should've seen the hostel kitchen on Saturday night. It was like Jenners on boxing day trying to get my tatties on the cooker (sweet potatoes that is). Also, I like to take things a bit easy. I don't like arriving, doing the activities and then moving on again. I like to take an extra day or so to get to feel the place a bit more. For example, today is so much quieter than the weekend. Lovely. It was a long weekend holiday so I think a lot of the locals came to the beach town for the weekend.

(Esta noche voy a ir a bariloche. Me gusta descansar también y no demasiado ímpetu. Entonces no estoy un backpacker profesional! Necesito un habitación privada y también sábado pasado la cocina fue como un tienda ocupada en el día del venta! No me gusta!)

Until next time bloggers!

Hasta la próxima vez!

The BIG Ice - Hielo GRANDE!

Hi Folks,

I'm going to try something slightly different this time. As this will be a long post with lots of photos and chat from the Glacier adventure I'm going to write the post in English first. Free flowing blogging is best. Then I will try to translate that into Spanish. This will be a test!

Here goes...

Wednesday morning was the day of the BIG ICE - a full day trip to The Perito Moreno Glacier. Moreno was a surveyor here (he mapped out the Chile Argentine border around here and perito means "expert") It was an early start - 7am so I had to cheekily ask for a slightly early breakfast. I had no reason to worry as Los Lagos hotel was happy to help as usual.

(Miercoles fue el día del "BIG ICE" - un día totalmente al glaciar Perito Moreno. Moreno era un agrimensor y el hizo la frontera de Chile y Argentine cerca de aqui.)

To whet your appetites I'll give you an opening shot...but first I need to tell you how our own first view of the glacier happened...

(Primero un foto del Glaciar pero también yo digo como nosotros se vimos la primero tiempo)

We'd been on the bus for about an hour and a half travelling through the scrub with the mountains ahead. Suspense was building as the guide (speaking in both spanish and English) gave us some history and details of the Glacier today. We were in the middle of a wee Q&A session when he broke off suddenly and said his mate the driver needed to put some music on. The music was opera with a soprano building to a crescendo. Meanwhile the driver had slowed us down to climb a steep rise...and just as we reached the crest of the rise we all saw the amazing sight of the glacier for the first time...right at the moment the opera music reached its crescendo!

(muy dificile traducir! Cuando la música llego crescendo también la autobús llego la cima de una cuesta y nosotros vimos la glaciar primero tiempo. El conductor es muy experto...un profesional!)

I'm afraid I laughed out loud and almost gave the driver a round of applause! Imagine the skill involved in ensuring the bus reaches exactly the right point just as the music reaches its crescendo!

(Me reí casi en voz alta! y casi apluadi!)

This was a great start to what turned out to be a tremendous day.

First we were taken to some balconies that overlook the tip of the glacier. Two pictures of me and the Perito Moreno Glacier...and one just of the glacier.

(Primero nosotros llegamos a un balcón donde podimos mirar el extremo del glaciar. Tres fotos, dos de mi y la glaciar y uno del glaciar solo.

One silly! (Uno tonto!)

One sensible. Note the "Pocket rocket" cycling jacket is serving me well on our third continent. What a jacket!

(Uno con sentido. El "Pocket rocket" chaqueta de ciclismo - un chaqueta fantástica!) 

...and finally an attempt at an arty one with a contrast between the red flowers and the blue ice and water.

(...y finalmente yo trate hacer un foto artístico con flores rojo en contraste con azul del glaciar!)

Now, one of the highlights of any day at a big glacier is witnessing a big chunk falling off. Apparently this becomes more frequent later in the day as things warm up. We did hear a couple of big cracks but early doors all I could see were a few of the subsequent ripples as I was not looking in the right place. Later in the day there were more cracks but I sadly never got to see a bit fall off.

(Yo quise mirar un pedazo del glaciar fractura y bajar pero aunque yo oi no lo vi.)

Next we had to take a boat ride to the south side of the glacier so we could get access to the ice.

(Despues, nosotros tomomos una bota al sur del Glaciar para que podimos montar)

We had a 45 minute hike up the lateral moraine (school geography somehow a little more interesting today than in the classroom!)

(Caminamos durante 45 minutos arriba de "lateral moraine" - geografía es mas interesante al glaciar en contrast con en aula!)

Then we got our crampons on ready to hit the ice... and here we are...

(Llevamos crampons estamos listo montar el hielo...y estamos aqui!)

 One of the other groups ahead of us as we head into the center of the glacier.

(Un otro equipo delante de nosotros mientras nosotros caminando al centro del Glaciar)

Some meltwater in the foreground

We had almost 5 hours on the glacier including a lunch stop of around half an hour. Some more pics including the highlight - a tunnel we went through but had to turn back in because it went too deep inside the ice.

(Nosotros montando el glaciar durante cinco horas con treinta minutos para almorzamos. El Punto culminante fue un túnel)

We had to cross a few melt water streams.
(Necesitamos travesía algún ríos piquenos.)



















Into the tunnel!

(hicimos al interior del Glaciar)

Finally we made our way back along the lateral moraine and back to get the boat back. Here's some photos from the boat and I'll finish up with some chat on the Glacier...

(Finalmente regresamos al bota. Algun fotos del glaciar desde la bota.

You can see in the last picture that the glacier has actually grown and over the lake and reaches the other side. This is one of the few glaciers around the world that is not shrinking. It is pretty much in equilibrium. It has a cycle of growing until it touches the other side of the lake. This blocks the water off and one side (this side in the pictures) rises with meltwater and rain. This can continue until the lake is a number of metres higher than the other side. Eventually the water pressure builds and punches a hole in the glacier under the water. When this happens the glacier can fall in on itself in what is called a rupture. This can be very spectacular and might happen within the next few months. some people might even camp out to see it. Imagine your disappointment if you camped out for weeks only to choose the wrong moment to go to the loo!

(Demasiado dificile! Lo Siento!)

All for now, cheerio to the Glacier! I'm in blog catch-up mode so plan to post more tomorrow.

(Chau, yo trate enviar mas mañana!)