We´ve been at the farm for a week now and are preparing to head south to Los Torres Del Paine for a week-ish of backpacking. Can´t wait!! Jehan and Roxanne finally made it to the farm after many unfortunate adventures (cancelled flights, being scammed by taxi drivers, and illness). Jehan is, unfortunately still sick and will not be coming with us on the trekking portion of the trip. We´re sad to leave her behind, but she´ll be staying at the Chacra Millalen which is a wonderful place for her to rest and get her energy back. We´ll be meeting up with her again in Buenos Aires post-trekking.
The past week had been crammed full of siestas, reading spanish novels, chatting with 8 year olds, and eating five times my weight in fresh veggies. Life on the farm is commune-style, with everyone taking turns for cooking and cleaning. We all eat together for lunch and dinner every day, taking a moment of silence before serving the food and then sitting at a huge wooden table under the willow chatting and relishing in the goodness of fresh food that we´ve all worked to grow. It´s very gratifying and i have a new-found appreciation for gardening and playing in the dirt.
As far as working goes, we begin at 9 am and go until 1, and our duties have included picking veggies, weeding, preparing garden beds for planting, and transplanting baby lettuce. We´ve also helped with cleaning and with cooking milanesas de soja (soy). Milanesas, though usually made with meat, are a traditional dish and, in this vegetarian version, consist of lots of grains and spices, mixed with water to form a dough, rolled out, cut into patties, and then boiled. Delicous!!
Afternoons are pure laziness with a minimum of two naps under fruit trees. Several days ago, post nap, we walked the 5 km under the three o´clock sun with two enormous gomas (tractor tire tubes) to a river. Nick, Joanna (another wwoofer), and spent an hour floating down the river in the gomas, waving at the curious argentinians on the riverside as we passed. We got the impression that tubing wasn´t a typical argentinian activity, based on their stares and funny comments. It was glorious to drag our feet and arms in the crisp water and laze under the azure sky and massive mountains. And, to our suprise, we suffered only minor sunburns, thinning ozone and all! Huzzah!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
hitching
Finally, we are here in northern Patagonia in Argentina. After 72 hours of travel (planes, overnight buses, more buses, and lots of waiting for buses) Nick and I got to La Chacra Millalen yesterday afternoon, and we instantly knew it was worth the many hours to get here. La Chacra (farm) sits 5km outside of a little pueblo called El Hoyo. When we arrived yesterday there we already 6 wwoofing volunteers, but four left this morning. Josefine, the owner of the farm, is a sweet woman who was born in Switzerland and moved here almost 30 years ago; she´s never gone to college, but she speaks at least four languages (probably more) and is quite fantastic. The farm consists of a large garden, two sheds, a panaderia (bread-making building), and a main building housing a kitchen, a family room, and a guest room upstairs. All of this surrounds a majestic weeping willow and is so peaceful and picturesque that I was completely at ease from the moment I arrived. Surrounding the Chacra are the Andes mountains, glorious structures ranging in size from hills to towering mountians and peaks, all of which are majestic. Its hard to believe that we are really here amongst such staggering beauty. On the buses we were able to get an idea of just how vast the Andes are. As we drove we were surrounded by innumerable mountains, yet as we passed and were able to see beyond their slopes, countless other peaks came into view. The sight brought tears to my eyes several time and I am still in continuous awe of their barren and rugged beauty.
Today, as our first day unburdened by our backpacks and without the need to travel anywhere, Nick and I decided to find a mountain to climb. We found a trail that climbs Cordón Piltriquitrón and set out with no clear idea of how to get to the trailhead or of what sort of hike it would be. The trail is off a dirt road that is on the outskirt of El Bolson, a town that is about 20 km north of El Hoyo. We set off walking down the dirt road that leads from La Chacra to El Hoyo, and were picked up by a rickity old truck after 15 minutes. This was my first hitchhiking experience, and it felt glorious!! Bouncing around in the back of the truck, in the shadows of the royal Andes, my heart was soaring. They dropped us in El Hoyo, and we started walking north through el pueblo, sticking our thumbs out at passing cars. We waited at the edge of town for another 15 minutes before another car pulled over for us, this time a nice car (proving wrong my theory that only old beaters will pick up hitchhikers) driven by a young Argentinian who chatted with us all the way up to El Bolson. We didn´t know exactly where the road that lead to the trail head was, and the man was kind enough to drive into El Bolson, ask for directions, and drive us back until we found the correct road. Nick and i were surprised by his unasked-for generosity. We then began the treck up the road, and soon discovered that it was 10 km long and very steep. After 4 km, we sat down for a break and another dilapidated truck came around the corner after us, picked us up, and took us all the way to the trail head. This was by far the most fortunate of our rides of the day. The three people in the truck (Fabrién, Marte, and Pablo), offered to give us a ride back down the after we were done hiking, as they were doing the same trail. As we began the trek, it started to snow. Yesterday it was 30 degrees celcius and torturously hot in the sun, and today it was snowing. Eh? Global warming? The snow, combined with the magical forest which could have been pulled out of Lord of the Rings, made the hike completely enchanting. As we neared the refugio (small buildings found on lots of treking trails with beds and food) we passed through a section filled with wood carvings: a woman, a gaucho, a reclining ent-like creature, and other abstractions.
Pablo and the others waited for us in the refugio while Nick and I hiked a bit further (by this point getting anywhere near the summit was out of the question). The scenery quickly changed from forest to a desert-like barren landscape dotted with small grasses and a few brave and stunted pines. Clouds blown by frigid wind wafted across the slopes with an eerie presence. Although the view would have been stunning, walking through the clouds was also quite unbelievable, as we caught occassional glimpses of jagged peaks and slopes. Back in the refugio, we had some maté with Pablo and friends and then treked back down. They invited us to their cabin for pancakes (a sweet late-afternoon dish here) but that fell through for some reason I wasn´t able to understand. They ended up driving us all the way back to El Hoyo and gave us their email addresses. They live close to Buenos Aires, so we hope to see them again once we are up in that area in a few weeks.
We will be here at La Chacra Millalen for a week, and then will be meeting up with Jehan and Roxanne before we head down to Chaltén and Los Torres Del Paine!!! AAHhh! I am bubbling over with happiness.
¡Ciao!
Today, as our first day unburdened by our backpacks and without the need to travel anywhere, Nick and I decided to find a mountain to climb. We found a trail that climbs Cordón Piltriquitrón and set out with no clear idea of how to get to the trailhead or of what sort of hike it would be. The trail is off a dirt road that is on the outskirt of El Bolson, a town that is about 20 km north of El Hoyo. We set off walking down the dirt road that leads from La Chacra to El Hoyo, and were picked up by a rickity old truck after 15 minutes. This was my first hitchhiking experience, and it felt glorious!! Bouncing around in the back of the truck, in the shadows of the royal Andes, my heart was soaring. They dropped us in El Hoyo, and we started walking north through el pueblo, sticking our thumbs out at passing cars. We waited at the edge of town for another 15 minutes before another car pulled over for us, this time a nice car (proving wrong my theory that only old beaters will pick up hitchhikers) driven by a young Argentinian who chatted with us all the way up to El Bolson. We didn´t know exactly where the road that lead to the trail head was, and the man was kind enough to drive into El Bolson, ask for directions, and drive us back until we found the correct road. Nick and i were surprised by his unasked-for generosity. We then began the treck up the road, and soon discovered that it was 10 km long and very steep. After 4 km, we sat down for a break and another dilapidated truck came around the corner after us, picked us up, and took us all the way to the trail head. This was by far the most fortunate of our rides of the day. The three people in the truck (Fabrién, Marte, and Pablo), offered to give us a ride back down the after we were done hiking, as they were doing the same trail. As we began the trek, it started to snow. Yesterday it was 30 degrees celcius and torturously hot in the sun, and today it was snowing. Eh? Global warming? The snow, combined with the magical forest which could have been pulled out of Lord of the Rings, made the hike completely enchanting. As we neared the refugio (small buildings found on lots of treking trails with beds and food) we passed through a section filled with wood carvings: a woman, a gaucho, a reclining ent-like creature, and other abstractions.
Pablo and the others waited for us in the refugio while Nick and I hiked a bit further (by this point getting anywhere near the summit was out of the question). The scenery quickly changed from forest to a desert-like barren landscape dotted with small grasses and a few brave and stunted pines. Clouds blown by frigid wind wafted across the slopes with an eerie presence. Although the view would have been stunning, walking through the clouds was also quite unbelievable, as we caught occassional glimpses of jagged peaks and slopes. Back in the refugio, we had some maté with Pablo and friends and then treked back down. They invited us to their cabin for pancakes (a sweet late-afternoon dish here) but that fell through for some reason I wasn´t able to understand. They ended up driving us all the way back to El Hoyo and gave us their email addresses. They live close to Buenos Aires, so we hope to see them again once we are up in that area in a few weeks.
We will be here at La Chacra Millalen for a week, and then will be meeting up with Jehan and Roxanne before we head down to Chaltén and Los Torres Del Paine!!! AAHhh! I am bubbling over with happiness.
¡Ciao!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Count Down
In 11 days i'm out of this country! Huzzah! Six months of adventure in america del sur. First, living out of a backpack for a month in Argentina: farming, backpacking in Patagonia, Buenos Aires, Mendoza, and where ever else. Then, to Valparaiso Chile for five months of school. I am sincerely hoping my spanish is sufficient to get me through university classes; I am rather out of practice. And finally, if I'm not completely penniless at that point, up into Peru for a week or two.
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