El Calafate

Just to recap, we were El Calafate bound from Buenos Aires. With plenty of time to spare, we thought we'd pop into our favourite parrilla for a quick steak before heading off to the airport. All was going swimmingly, packing was a breeze, the taxi booked and Leo was tucking in nicely to his baby food reserves (still no sign of baby food and having to improvise now).
We arrived at the national airport and proceeded to the LAN check-in desk. "We're here for the 3.01 flight to El Calafate thankyou" was followed by, " there's no such flight, that's the arrival time and your flight is now airbound". Holy c*%p and freakin hell. The check-in lady suggested we try to buy tickets for another flight, next one leaving the following day(!). As we arrived at LAN ticket sales we were greeted with the news that the next available flight was the following week!! And though I'd spent ages wishing to stay in Buenos Aires, the thought of mucking up the rest of the trip was not good news at all. Ari sprinted off to Aerolineas Argentinas (AA) for more options while I managed to secure a refund on our missed flight. In some extraordinary turn of good luck he managed to purchase tickets for a delayed flight that was due to leave in 45 minutes. Not such good luck as to afford us a bargain, but at least we'd get there the same day.
Aboard the plane we were ushered into perhaps the worst seats I've ever had the pleasure of sitting in, the ones at the back near the toilets with no windows and barely any leg room. Ari spent the entire time whinging about this whilst I couldn't help thinking it paradoxical; the fact that AA was tight enough to herd in as many people as possible should be a bad thing, when it was entirely the reason we were on the flight at all. This didn't seem to appease Ari's indignation at the stink eminating from the toilets however.
All's well that ends well, we arrived somewhat later in El Calafate, located in Argentinian Patagonia's deep south. On arrival to our quaint little B&B our hosts were very welcoming and as they expected us earlier in the day we had to embarrassingly recount our tale of mistaking arrival for departure time. If they thought we were crazy they didn't show it and busyed themselves making friends with Leo.


El Calafate is home to a beautiful unique landscape, lakes, mountains and barren windswept lands. In the nearby national park you can find the famous glacier, el Perrito Moreno, one of the view glaciers of the world that is still moving. We were here on the advice of the Irish boys we meant randomly on the boat trip in lake Titicaca and were excited to get exploring. The weather was cold but not incomparable to an English autumn day, except when the wind blew. God was that wind strong. The light was eery, taking on a hue I had never seen before, and there was something different about the sky, it seemed, well lower, if that's at all possible. And it all seemed so very refreshing. El Calafate town is purpose built for tourists and takes on a Swiss ski resort feel, with chalet style constructions dotted about the place. Quite pleasant none the less.


The following day we set off on the drive to Perrito Moreno, and the weather grew slightly overcast and rainy, which just added to the drama of the spectacle.
As we arrived to take a boat from the lakeside to near the great glacier, the rain grew heavier and the wind rattled. Poor Leo's first experience of winter. Luckily he was well wrapped up in his cold weather gear (it's first outing I and I was too excited it was getting a use, small pleasures I know..) so didn't notice too much. We joined a huddle of tourists and spent an hour navigating the lake, taking in the formidable view. I don't think I can convey how amazing a view this glacier is, and I don't know if the photos will do it sufficient justice either.
Firstly it's size is amazing. Secondly it's colour is beautiful, ranging from pure white to deep blue within its crevices. And if you're lucky you just might witness a section of ice breaking off and crashing into the water below. (don't worry, this is not due to global warming but a natural occurrence) We were lucky enough to almost see two crashes. On top of the boat we posed for a few photos and I inadvertently asked the official photographer to take a photo with our camera (oops) to which he dutifully agreed!

The weather was a little too much for Leo so we climbed back inside for a cup of tea and continued to admire the view from inside. Quite frankly this glacier is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen, it's so peaceful and beautiful, and I absolutely loved it. Definitely worth the visit.
After disembarking we sought refuge from the wind and rain in the cafe nearby and grabbed some lunch. (Now fully improvising with Leo with his meals and on a staple diet of cereal, bananas, bread and bits of our dinner, lucky boy). Leo's presence was met with the usual mix of delight and incredulity. Pretty funny really. Anyway as we left we decided to take a short walk along some terraces built infront of the glacier to get another look. The terraces provided more excellent viewing (Leo missed it this time as he was sleeping peacefully in his sling).
We bumped into a lady with a baby of a few weeks in a sling and also a French couple who had been on the boat with us. As we got chatting we found out they had travelled with their one year old son, but they had found a creche in El Calafate for him that could look after babies and children whilst parents could go out and about on excursions. We dabbled with the idea of maybe leaving Leo, who knows, he might relish the idea of spending a few hours with CHILDREN and not boring old mum and dad. We took details and went on our way to ponder.
Apart from el Perrito Moreno there are other glaciers to explore, unfortunately due to icy conditions the usual boat trip was not offering this excursion. There was also minitrekking which we hadn't considered doing with Leo before, but as this was back in Perrito Moreno and we'd already been there we decided against this option too. The option we took was a morning of horseriding near the lakeside, which meant we could go out and about sans bebe (sorry Leo) and could leave him in the creche for 3 hours we were away. Dropping Leo off at the creche was slightly strange, we hovvered to watch him and wave him off but he didn't seem the least bit interested in us and we were eventually ushered out of the door by the staff. A jovial 'gaucho' arrived to pick us up to take us to his ranch and we, extremely novice riders to put it mildly looked forward to our experience.
My previous horseriding experiences are few, but usually somewhat hairraising, a school trip to the lake district involved a memorable horseride over the mountains and with crazy adolescent boys falling off galloping horses and scaring all the other horses to follow in hot pursuit, my memories were less than pleasant. But we were assured that this would be a tame experience so I was happy to plod in peaceful surroundings.
I imagine that if Ari was a boy at my school, he would have been one of the ones falling off the horses, and hoped he wouldn't do anything to provoke a stampeed. As we set off in single file Ari was to learn that even if he had ideas of galloping off into the horizon all gaucho stylee, his horse had other ideas, and calmly settled himself at the back of the group. Hysterical. Ari's attempts to kick the horse into action and the subsequent frustration on his face were priceless. Mine on the other hand was happy taking his own course but luckily, kept a sensible pace. We had an understanding it appeared.

The horseriding was a little slow but a fun experience nontheless and a great way to see some of the Patagonian landscape inaccesible by car. The trip was rounded off in the gaucho's house with a cup of mate, a herbal tea drunk through a wooden straw/pipe thing. Didn't really do it for me but I guess it's an acquired taste.. We were actually in a hurry to get back to Leo as visions of a hysterical baby played on my mind guiltily. When we finally rocked up to the creche, we found Leo fast asleep. Apparently he hadn't noticed we were gone. It's a strange mix of relief and disappointment to hear such news, but at least he had a good time interacting with other babies!
Leo's been carrying a cough for the last few days, so we decided to take him to the pediatrician to check it out as the cold weather may not have helped him. The visit was easily arranged and for a small fee we were ushered in to her inviting office. Surprisingly she greeted us enthusiastically, with a kiss on each cheek! You don't get that on the NHS! Her service was great and we left feeling reassured.
Time to leave El Calafate to continue on our journey in Patagonia, this time we tripled checked our flight details and backed up to head back up north to Trelew, on the pacific coast for a spot of nature watching.

(Muy) Buenos Aires

Arrival in Buenos Aires! Hoorah! Immediate things of note; hot! Accent- what the hell? As we did the usual acquisition of currency, mucho baggage and taxi, Ari did his best to understand what was going on but seemed at a loss as to what anyone was saying to him. Once inside a taxi we headed off for our base for the next few days and we got our first glimpses of the city. The roads were big, orderly, the land well organised, a different land entirely to the ones we had grown accustomed to. Maradona becoming the latest manager for the Argentinian National side and the general opinion was; lets hope that it's not all talk and no action..
We arrived at the apartment we'd rented in the lovely district of Palermo. I was struck with an attack of deja vu- was this New York or Madrid? We were really excited to be here, and couldn't wait to find our first Argentinian steak. After our usual trip to the pharmacy/supermarket (no baby food to be seen anywhere, strange) we popped into a parilla (grill) and ordered loads-a-meat with all the trimmings. It was FAB, even Leo enjoyed a good old chew on a piece of steak. Could life get any better? Finding some baby food might be good, but otherwise things weren't looking half bad.
I wanted to spend a while in Buenos Aires (BA), but in trying to keep costs down (the devaluing pound is making this trip more expensive as the days pass) by getting the cheaper flights meant we only had 4 nights here, so we had to make use of every second.
Our first day was spend walking the streets of BA, through parks, stopping for coffee, giving Leo a go on some swings in a children's play area. We came across some beautiful Japanese gardens which had some lovely Bonsai trees on show. Would love another go at having a Bonsai, our last attempt back home didn't work out so well, can't remember if it was under/overwatered but it never really thrived that well in our care!
We stopped at the Evita museum for a spot of culture, the museum is in an old house where she used to house her charitable foundation. We found her story to be amazing. I had no idea that she was only 33 when she died, which is ridiculously young to have achieved and done so much. And to have died so tragically from cancer.

I had already warned Ari that the following day we were going to hit the centre for some retail therapy so to be prepared to shop til he dropped. He was really excited at the prospect (not). But BA is supposedly the place to get leather products of all kinds and I was hoping to pick up a nice handbag. We headed off and wandered up the main streets, buzzing with activity, salesmen for leather, tours, restaurants. Call me an old fusspot but I wasn't particularly inspired by what I saw, maybe because I haven't actually used a handbag for the last two months, and perhaps because I wasn't seen quite the bargains I was expecting. Alas, I had to make do with a new pair of havaianas for me (and a pair for Leo- he's going to look so cute next summer), would have bought the shop but curse this luggage weight restriction malarkey. Ari looked for a football top but was equally uninspired. Oh well. We took refuge in a coffee house and headed home for a spot of steak. Still no baby food to be found, wierder and weirder.
Last day in BA, we thought we'd head for the dock area after buying our coach tickets for later on in the journey (night bus across Argentina- yuck). The docks were lovely, this might sound ridiculous but they reminded me of the Albert Dock in Liverpool (additional sun and heat included), where Good Morning used to be filmed and the floating map of the British Isles used to reside. Goodness me I hope I'm not getting homesick. After the increasingly essential coffee stop I hoodwinked Ari into going shopping again, on the premise that he didn't want his wife to look undignified in a pair of worn out old jeans. Actually jeans shopping is not my idea of fun either but was necessary as they were about to fall fall apart and with only one other pair of trousers I did not fancy my chances of finding anything half decent in Patagonia. Brent Cross fix number two was a quick military operation and suffice to say, mission accomplished. Time to head home to pack as our BA experience was nearly at an end. Quick dinner stop, maybe steak on the menu?
We have all decided that Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, and a place where we could easily live. Everybody always says how much of a European feel it has but it really is true, you could actually be in Europe. Definitely would come back again in a second. Alas, that was it for now, for it was time to head off to deep south Argentina, Patagonia territory.

Lima revisited

So, back where we had begun our Peruvian journey, in foggy old Lima. Except that, it was not quite as foggy as we left it, a small chink in the clouds revealed a bit of cheeky blue sky. Turns out we're on the cusp of their summer, very nice for them.
The same hotel and staff greeted us on arrival back to civilisation. I use this term purposefully as after a month of travelling round the towns of Peru it was clear as day the stark contrast in quality of living between the poor rural folk and the wealthy urbanites. I don't know what else to say on this matter except that, despite living in a much more beautiful and culture rich area, the poor of Peru have a definite struggle for existence that is clearly ignored by the majority. Like the world round unfortunately.
As an urbanite myself I felt the immediate benefit of the city's mod cons, the cable tv and the high speed internet, but felt nostalgic for the few weeks we had spent exploring the beauty of Peru. It was however time to embrace the everforward nature of our travelling, a day or two before flying to Argentina, and we were very excited about it.
As we had missed the opportunity previously, we took the opportunity to visit Lima centre and see it's colonial heritage as South America's leading city in its heyday. The centre is actually very pleasant, buildings rebuilt after suffering from the destruction of earthquake, but lovely all the same.
After lunch and a potter round the old cathedral (housing the relics of Francisco Pizzaro no less), we were accosted by a lady selling city tours, including a trip to the city high point. On the back of 'only an hour' we thought what the hell as we had 'only a day' to see the city. What she had failed to point out that the hour was after we were to spend 'only 45 minutes' looping the area around the main square picking up passengers until the bus was full. After several almost attempts at forgetting the whole thing the bus filled up and we were on our way. Between the tour being in Spanish and the guide having a rubbish microphone, Ari decided he would take the opportunity to have a nap, whilst I tried in vain to find something interesting in what she was saying. Eventually we scaled the heights of San Cristobal to reach the vista point, ducked away from the photographer offering framed photos of folk in front of the view and spent 20 minutes looking down at a sandy, sprawling and quite frankly pretty ugly city. Oh and Leo got stung in the hand by a wasp just to round things off nicely. Not the best 'hour' in all but fortunately Leo's hand was fine after the swelling subsided a few hours later. On the way home I was accosted by a guy with a tv camera, asking my opinion as a Brit about the new trend 'rent a husband'. I replied I had already made a permanent acquisiton but sounded like a good idea in theory!
Back at hotel base camp we made plans for the journey the following day. Dismayed to find we had another ridiculously early start we took solace in a few hours sleep on the plane and settled down to watch the US election unfolding on CNN. I particularly enjoyed the way they beamed there presenters in from various states into the main Atlanta studio. Gripping stuff. And so we went to sleep, hoping for great things from the US in the morning, and great things for the Argentinian adventure to come.

Peru (by Leo)

Hi, it's Leo here, finally given the chance to report my goings on from Peru, thanks computer hoggers... I've been meeting lots of people and lots of strange animals, I do like animals, at a distance! Once I get the hang of one place, it just changes again, I'm like, what's going on here? Is it sunny, is it raining, do I wear my hat or not? It's all so crazy. I think Mummy likes it cos she gets to dress me up in all sorts of things, like that woolly hat and poncho. Do I look good in them? She thinks so, but you can be honest with me if you want... They sure feel cosy though. Speaking of an image to keep up, I was looking a bit shaggy and so I took a stroll down to the barbers with Daddy and got my first trim, look how grown up I am! I've been improving my swimming skills and I'm so brave I can go in even cool swimming pools now. I could get in much quicker than Daddy, if only he would let me. I've met llamas, peacocks, guinea pigs and a little lamb, which I liked until it gave me quite a start by ba-ba ing in my face, I didn't think that was very nice!
I've been up to some new tricks too. I can say ma-ma, da-da and tut tut, but only when I feel like it! I've also come up with a new skill which I like to call the "moon" crawl. Mummy and Daddy would prefer it if I went forwards instead of backwards as I keep scaring them by almost falling off the bed. Hey, you've got to live life on the edge man! They said I was really brave cos I did well when we went up high and they didn't feel so good, I think they're just wusses!
I've had some great days, playing on the grass, going high up a mountain, riding a boat on a lake.. when I get a bit tired I know I can have a good old snooze curled into Mummy or Daddy.
So on to new places I hear, I hope I enjoy them, I might meet some new friends, animals, who knows I might have perfected the forwards crawl by then! So catch you soon so I can tell you all about my new adventures!

The Sacred Valley of the Incas

Going to the sacred valley of the Incas was a bit like going back where we'd come from, as we'd passed through on the chug chug train to Machu Picchu. Going by taxi to Urubamba, our base for the next few days, took only an hour, and we wondered why we'd picked the train to get there at all. Well, it's all part of the experience isn't it! We were to be staying in a hotel complex called Kuychi Rumi, a collection of little cottages in beautiful gardens within the valley. I had no idea what it would be like before we got there, and I couldn't believe our luck when we were given the keys to our little house and left to our own devices. This is the first time we've had any semblance of a 'home' in two months, our own upstairs, kitchen diner, lounge with fireplace, too exciting for words. I was quite happy to stay in and do nothing but enjoy our new house, which we did for the first day. The climate in the valley was beautiful too, like a warm English spring day every day, perfect. Leo got some good rolling around in the grass time too, only hampered by an overbearing mother stopping him from munching on dead leaves and by being whisked away from the attentions of the friendly but big and inquisitive hotel dogs.

I mention two months as it holds some significance. Firstly, we celebrate Leo's 8 month birthday. As our baggage weight situation is getting ever so more tricky we could only give him a new pair of trousers to replace some that had got lost and a kiss and a cuddle for presents. I'm sure he was not all too thrilled. Second, we mark our half way point in this South America trip.

Things I miss are
Family
Friends
Being able to do my own laundry
Hampstead Heath
Being able to wear anything other than my staple basic wardrobe

Things I don't miss
English weather
London prices
My mobile phone

We did have to remember our main purpose for visiting the area from time to time, to check out some more Inca archeological sites in this very picturesque location. The sacred valley is so named as it was a very fertile as well as beautiful land and the Incas believed in worshiping mother Earth and the gods of the mountains for the riches the area possessed. A guide we had one day said that some people believed the 'sacred' name had another significance, that Jesus at some point in time had (posthumously perhaps?)visited the area(hmm).

Our relaxed days took us around the local area, to Urubamba town, to Ollataytambo and Piscac for the Sunday market.

Ollantaytambo was a particular highlight, the site of an Inca town and some preserved Inca streets and houses still being lived in today. We hired a guide who provided us with expert detail into the workings of the area, the site of one of the last battles between the Inca and the Spanish. The ruins displayed the telltale stonemasonry and left temples and walls unfinished, giving modern day archaeologists clues as to how the Incas built on such and impressive scale with such large and heavy stones. He also filled us in on a little missing detail from Machu Picchu, much to our satisfaction. I as ever tried to maintain my concentration and poise at all times, though Ari came a bit unstuck when our dear guide recounted tales of the the Quechua peoples named the Wankas (Ari got uncontrollable giggles). A slightly befuzzled guide continued on as best he could, as I tried to apologise through my eyes. If you want to know more about the Wankas check out the link here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankas

Moving swiftly on.. As luck would have it, as we descended from the ruins we happened upon a wedding celebration between a local girl and a Western looking man, undergoing a ceremony that blended old Inca traditions with more modern Peruvian customs. We looked on as a spectacular feast of colour, dance and music passed before our eyes. Apparently this kind of public event only happens twice, maybe three times a year.
A quick stroll along an old Inca road took us to a typical house, preserved in the Inca fashion by family living the Inca way. Their house was a museum of Inca household items including human bones and a population of guinea pigs (cuy) scuttling around on the floor. It is quite usual to keep a herd of guinea pigs as a sort of living larder, for sumptuous feasts such as religious festivals and birthdays, where one is served as the dish of the day in honour of the saint/birthday boy/girl. As one taxi driver gleefully told us, "A birthday ain't no birthday if you ain't got no cuy on your plate" (narrative licence used a smidge).
And so it was back to our taxi for our next stop, some Inca agricultural terraces out in the valley. What was special about these terraces was there concentric circle design, which is believed to have created little microclimates on each level allowing over 1000 types of potato to be farmed. Good job I'm a fan of the old spud. Quite amazing and once again, set in the most breathtaking scenery.
As by now we were near wilting and our taxi/guide combo were on the clock we bid them farewell as they dropped us off at what was now our favourite restaurant, not far from our little home. They were pleased to see us (by that I mean Leo) and whisked him away to greet the kitchen staff as we refreshed and replenished. Leo at first had not taken to the owner Ricardo at all (most embarrasingly), it's a tendency we've noticed with a few loud, mustachioed Latino men, well, Leo is a ladies man after all. By now he had been won over and everyone was happy.

Another day, another day, another Inca ruin, this time a temple in Pisac. After a late start on the tourist trail (we loved our house too much) we visited the local market, made a botched haggling attempt on buying some souvenirs and proceeded to the ruins, lying on the mountain side. It was late in the day and there were dark clouds overhead but this made it all the more atmospheric and as there were not many people about, gave the ruins a kind of eery quality. A few snaps and it was time to head off home.


Our time with the Incas was at an end, and it was time to head back to relative civilisation the following day on a flight back to Lima. We were genuinely sad to leave, but left feeling revived, relaxed and ready for what we hoped would be more amazing adventures ahead.