Mar Chiquita

I actually have access to a computer that works today! Dont have many exciting pictures, but I will show you what I saw just for fun. We spent the night in Parana last night, in a pretty fancy hotel. See, we got into town in the late afternoon, extremely hungry and tired after a long day of mosquitos and sweat... Of the three of us, I am the one who likes driving the least, and guess who was behind the wheel? Yeah, so I was getting pretty frazzled trying to navigate through this town. Did I tell you that Argentines drive like crazy? Or at least, I dont get it. So, when we found a hotel with a room, we took it, no questions. It was a pretty cool place, but the best part was the view from the roof (we snuck up in the morning after breakfast). Cool church, no? Today we drove to Mar Chiquita. I am learning to drive a bit more like an Argentinian, for better or worse... drive in the center of whatever space you have, be it a lane, a road, a field ;) Pass everything and anything, stick your nose out and go... I miss Cesar cause he always drove!
We didnt have much luck in finding my plant today, but did find this beautiful river. The birds were amazing, but I really am not equiped enough (or patient enough) for those kinds of pictures.

We then watched the sunset, this place is absolutely lovely in the evening!

Dinner tonight was horrible, I really pray we dont get sick, but there is a breeze, it isnt boilingly hot, and life is good. Lots of love to you all.

Mosquitos!

It was pretty sad, but the only pictures I have of Buenos Aires are of the port at night. My camara, with its fancy expensive battery, died during the one day that I had to take pictures. Bugger technology. The original battery actually lasts longer than the fancy one! We´ve moved north now, on to Santa Fe. It is incredably hot and humid here, and the mosquitos are unbelievable. The city was pretty interesting though, we walked through at night. Got eaten alive, but oh well. We spent the day today on a typical treasure hunt for my plant, finally found it in a field full of cows. We have a Swiss kid named Paco with us for the week, and he wasn´t so cool with passing through the cows, but he survived. I think he thought we were crazy for doing what we do, but he eventually even joined in (I think he was desperate to get out of there!). Later we went to Parque National Pre Delta. Talk about mosquitos! Katie and I braved a walk through the woods to a lookout, and there were litterally clouds of the little buggers! Katies white shirt was black with them. Suprisingly, I am not too itchy, yet. My face is a bit lumpy though, good thing you can´t see me now!
You can run, but you cant hide! This area is quite beautiful. Unlike the rest of Argentina which is flat flat flat, the ground sort of rolls here (I know, there are hills and mountains, there is just more flat!). We are in the land of soybeans, I have never seen so many soybeans. We drove for 6 hours, and other than an occasional field of corn or this mystery plant, there was nothing but soy. Talk about monoculture. By the way, if anyone knows what this crop is, please tell me, it is driving me crazy!

Tango!

I dont have any photos, but I thought I should tell you about last night. I finally did it! I danced the tango in Buenos Aires! Not very well, I must admit, but I really did improve, and was told that I was suprisingly not bad for a beginner. So, I had a lot of fun. There was one rather dull spot in the evening, a big black pit actually. See, this guy asked me to dance, and like I did with everyone who asked me, I told him that I dont know how but that I can follow ok and I would love to try. He said fine, then after 30 seconds of the dance, dropped me and walked away with his nose in the air. It was HORRIBLE! But, I was rescued by the guy sitting at the next table who took me out and actually led, so that people would see that I wasnt the worst dancer ever and never ask me to dance. But, ugh! Regardless, I had lots and lots of fun. Yippie!

Mar del Plata

I met with another Schoenoplectus groupie in Mar del Plata, it was wonderful. Karina was the best, so much fun, and so very helpful. I got a lot done here, even if the weather was foul for the day that we worked. The city is one of the top tourist destinations for Argentinians, which made it a bit crazy and a bit cool. Karina's family was amazing. they had us over for a barbeque. I ate so much that I almost puked, but it was sooooo good! Then we played a game called paddle to work it off. Cesar loved it so much, and didnt stop till the last person quit on him, he went through 3 groups. Suprisingly, he wasn't much use as a muscleman the next day;)

Cathedral Casino Lovely weather for working outdoors! Hanging out Karina's lovely family Cesar playing paddle My helpers, the lovely ladies of Mar del Plata and the adorable Cesar Pretty trees

Viedma

We got stuck in a town called Viedma for a few days. It was an odd place, the capital of the Rio Negro province, but so small that we couldn't find a place to rent a car. We did finally find one, but the trials of waiting and dealing with crazy people took a bit of a toll. The odd thing was, we ended up loving the place, it had a definite charm.

Argentinian Patagonia

It is amazing how things work out sometimes. When we were crossing the border into Argentina (which was a pain in the butt by the way!), Cesar ran into an old friend of his who happened to be a truck driver. Since the boys hadn't seen each other for ages and had actually lost contact, David and his mechanic Alfredo offered us a ride north so they could catch up. It was an incredible trip, if a bit cozy. They even stopped and let me collect my plant twice! Much better than taking a bus, for sure. We went out dancing, partied in the truck, and Katie even got to drive!

The truck
Katie driving Sunset in Saramiento My work Crew Sometimes, you just get stuck On the road

Fin del Mundo

Here we are, at the end of the world. It has been a bit of a change! The weather may be freeking cold, but the days stay light till 10:30 at night. We were lucky enough that my friend Cesar from Santiago decided to join us for this leg of the trip. He is serving as a very welcome interpretor,´driver, muscle man, and comedian. Katie and I are having SO much fun with this crazy guy, it almost isnt fair.
We went to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine in search on my plant, as well as a bit of adventure. I came here the last time I was in Chile, never thought I would get the opportunity to come back. I guess the saying is true that if you eat a calafate berry, you will return. I was in much better shape last time though! Ouch.
Cesar y Yo Guanacos!
Beautiful spot
Quite windy though We hiked up to the base of las torres. It was one heck of a hike, but incredable. We started pretty late though, almost didnt make it back to the tent. thank goodness for long antarctic days!
Las Torres Sunset, with a long way to go to get to the tent!
The mountains are spectacular here, but so are the lakes!

Puerto Montt

Katie and I went to Puerto Montt and rented a car to look for my plant. I had my first real conversation in spanish with the guy that got us the car to rent. We talked about my plant, which is really the only thing that I can be coherant about in spanish. It was pretty cool. But, my comprehension didnt last. That night,we camped and the owners of the campground talked our ears off. They fed us breakfast because they were curious about us and we sat and ´talked´ for 2 hours. It was so much fun, even if we couldnt follow a word they said!
Work was interesting, even if there were many evil mosquitos and some very sticky mud!

The city of Puerto Montt has a funky charm. It is very much a port town