Friday, November 7

Our formal tour had ended and we have a flight home schedule to leave at 10:00 pm but we had one more opportunity for a morning excursion in Rio so we chose one that wasn’t too energetic- a jeep tour right into the heart of the Tijuca National Park Forest. We thought by now we might want to get away from the cement of the cities and do some forest bathing.  

The Tijuca Forest, classified as an Atlantic Forest, is one of the largest urban forests in the world and covers the slopes of Corcovado where the iconic Christ the Redeemer sits at its peak. It is over 3,900 hectares (Stanley Park in Vancouver is 405 hectares by way of comparison), and 116 types of plants including palms, jack fruit trees and Brazil trees can be found there. Raccoons, toucans, snakes, 30 species of birds, and monkeys also find homes in the forest. It was declared a national park in 1961 and it is included in the landscapes around Rio that were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012. 

The forest was initially cut down for coffee plantations but when it was determined it was affecting the drinking water serving the city it was reforested in the late 19th century at the demand of by Emperor Pedro II. Only a handful of enslaved individuals planted 100,000 trees from 1861 to 1887 and now considered heros, they are honoured by a plaque near the visitor’s centre in the park.  

We were picked up at our hotel by our jeep with guide, Paolo, and as we travelled to the park, he pointed out various point of interest in the city and gave us some great bits of information. He told us about the massive celebration on New Year’s Eve on the beaches in Rio, especially Copacabana Beach, with up to 2 million people enjoying concerts on multiple stages and fireworks. The celebration involves the tradition of wearing white for peace and making offering of flowers and candles to the ocean for luck.  

Paolo talked a little about the favelas (impoverished neighbourhoods) where squatters have built small homes working their way up the valleys and on the sides of the mountains in the city. There are rumoured to be roughly 1.5 million people living in favelas where the services are limited but there is some self-owned, built and maintained infrastructure for water and power. Sewage, garbage removal, proper water, and crime are issues as well as powerful drug gangs in many of the favelas. You may have heard on the news about crackdowns by police in Rio that ended in 132 deaths  in the week before we arrived when 2500 police officers, soldiers and snipers targeted the Red Command, a criminal organization that has ruled some of the hillside towns for decades. There are some where you can take guided tours, though tourists are encouraged not to wander into them on their own. It reminded me that I took a tour of the “Townships” in Johannesburg when I was there years ago. It was an uncomfortable but educational experience that would likely be a similar experience here. The graphic depiction of the favelas is used in many of the textiles we saw for sale in tourist shops throughout Rio.  

We made a quick photo stop to overlook Praia do Leblon (Leblon Beach) and golf course area, as well as watch some paragliders launching from a pad on the side of one of the nearby mountains.  

The Park is full of hiking routes that are well used by the locals on weekends and holidays, the longest of which is 108 km long. Today we hiked a short one (only 300 m) called Student’s Trail to one of the Park’s three waterfalls, Cascatinha Taunay (Taunay Waterfall). I kind of chuckled when we got to the waterfall, which was really lovely, but having come from Iguazu Falls it seemed a little anticlimactic. 

A cute little Chapel, called Capela Mayrink (Mayrink Chapel), build in 1850 by the farmers who wanted to have a local chapel, was unexpectedly open for us to have a peek into because they were cleaning it up for the once a month service to be held in two days. I realized that although I got some pictures around the chapel, I didn’t actually take a picture of the chapel itself. Duh. We encountered a group of school kids who were also touring the park at the chapel and they mobbed a couple of young Americans on our tour and peppered them with questions practising their English. We had heard the joyful laughter and singing of a younger class as we were arriving at the waterfall as well. 

Another short hike through the forest took us to the visitors centre where the guide took us slowly through the displays explaining everything. I could have gone for less of that, but he was such a good guide I tried to be patient. 

We had two more stops in the park, one where monkeys were swinging about in the trees, and Chinese Lookout, where there is a Chinese Pagoda-style gazebo. Both overlooks provided great views to the city below. We were transported back to our hotel in time for us to get lunch. 

Copacabana Beach and one of the casual outdoor restaurants that line the beach seemed to be a good idea for our last lunch in Rio. I had the best hot dog I’ve tasted in my life. Served on a warm, incredibly fresh white bun, it had melted brie and hot pepper jelly smothering it. Yum! We sat for some time watching the action on the beach where there were vendors selling and renting all manner of things, including beach chairs and umbrellas, hats, scarves, food and more. It wasn’t exactly warm and as a result there weren’t many people on the beach and some of the vendors were already packing up and leaving by 2 pm or so.  

Sadly our time in South America had come to an end with a bus to the airport at 4:30 pm for our 10 pm flight, a good thing given that journey took us 2 hours with all the crazy traffic.  

If I get a chance now that I’m back to reality I’ll do a final wrap-up. 

We are only two nights in Rio and there is so much to see, but we packed a lot in today and even had some free time in the evening. As it turns out, Prince William is in Rio this week for the presentation of the Earth Shot winners so there was some extra excitement in the air.  

Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and second most populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo). It was settled in 1555 and founded in 1565. It was the capital of the country of Brazil from 1763 until 1960 when Brasilia replaced it as capital. The population of the metro area is 6.7 million and we saw the traffic to show it! On our way to our hotel when we arrived at 10:30 pm it took us 45 minutes. On our way to the airport at rush hour on Friday, it took 2 hours. 

The area of the city between the mountains and the sea is actually designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Rio is the headquarters for many of the largest companies in the oil, mining and telecom companies.  It is one of the most visited cities in South America because of its natural setting, carnival and beaches. It hosted the summer Olympics in 2016 making it the first in South America and first Portuguese-speaking country to ever hold the Olympics and only the third time it has been held in the southern Hemisphere.

We started our tour, with guide Barbara (who, to be honest, was terrible – poor English and apparently French too, couldn’t keep track of people, and didn’t give us much information at all – maybe the worst I’ve had unfortunately) , driving past Copacabana Beach, just two blocks away. In colonial times, fisherman beached their boats and brought in their catch here. But slowly as the area grew it became the artistic centre of the city.  Dinner shows have become a cultural experience involving dinner, music and live performances. The construction of the Copacabana Palace attracted artists and entertainers and the area became known for its shows. 

And there have been several large scale concerns on the beach in recent years: Lady Gaga in May 2025 performed free which approx. 2.5 million people attended; and Madonna performed a free concert in 2024 as part of her Celebration tour drawing 1.6 million.

And yes, the singing of Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana” could be heard throughout the day. It’s a really wide beach with beautiful sand, but with large waves it’s more conducive to surfing than swimming. The red flags were up the entire time we were there. 

We travelled through the busy streets of Rio with it’s crazy motorcycle drivers constantly honking to let the other drivers know they were about to weave into their lane at the last second and narrowly missing vehicles on either side. Apparently lanes and turn signals are merely suggestions for motorcycles in Rio.

First stop for us and the stop of about 1.5 million visitors a year, was Sugarloaf, one of the most recognizable features of the Rio landscape. It is a hill named after the conical shape given to the way sugar was stored in 16th century Brazil. Developed in 1912, the original cable car was made in Germany and only held 20 passengers whereas 62 can comfortably fit in the Swiss-built new ones we used today. We took one cable car from the ground to the top of the first hill, Morro da Urca ( 220 m) and then a second to get to the top of Sugar Loaf itself at 395 meters.  It was not great weather so the 360 degree spectacular views from this height were hazy, but still fabulous. 

Our next stop was to the central part of Rio for a quick photo stop at the distinctive Metropolitan Cathedral, a modern structure influenced by Mayan pyramids, which is under very extensive renovations.  Its full name is “Catedral Metropolitana de Sao Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro”, and it’s dedicated to Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of Rio de Janeiro. It was built between 1964 and 1979 and you can definitely see the influence of Chichen Itza. Although it was cloudy the day we visited we could imagine how beautiful it would look with the sun coming in the four beautiful stained glass sections that soar 64 metres from floor to ceiling. 

The summit of Corcovado Mountain was our next stop and one of the most recognizable monuments in the world, Christ the Redeemer. I hadn’t thought a lot about how we’d get to the top of the mountain to climb to the statue at the top, but was surprised to find out that we jumped on a train at the bottom of the mountain to take us through the heart of the Tijuca jungle most of the way to the top. There are more than 116 different kinds of plants in the jungle, many we recognized as plants we try desperately to grow in our homes in Canada. 

The monument was completed in 1931 and stands 30 metres tall with arms that span 28 metres. This art deco statue was designed in 1922 by French Sculptor Paul Landowski, and built by Brazilian engineer Hector da Silva Costa, with Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida who sculpted the face. This symbol of Christianity was voted as one of the new seven wonders of the world in 2007. 

After leaving the train we neared the stairs to the statue in the pouring rain, and were asked if we wanted to go up the stairs or take the elevator. Given the line for the elevator we asked how many stairs there were and our guide said, 20 or 30, turns out it was 215. The good news is that it had stopped raining by the time we reached the top of the stairs. 

Our good luck at the Falls unfortunately did not hold up for our visit to Christ The Redeemer as it was so overcast when we arrived that we couldn’t see anything down to the city below the base of the monument and could see the Christ only barely. But after a while the rain stopped and the mist came and went and if we were patient we could get some clearer pictures of the Christ figure at least. Nanci was the last to depart the platform and by then the blue was starting to show through the clouds so I’ve stolen, with her permission, her picture.  

It was interesting to see the reaction of visitors to the statue. Some were there for the photo op or to cross it off the bucket list (guilty), while for some it was obviously a moving and spiritual experience. Many prayed, with a hand on the base of the statue and some broke into tears in each other’s arms. Some had dressed in very special dresses to have their picture taken there, and may have been disappointed by the rain and the number of other people who would be in the picture. Social media was filled with pictures of Prince William who had been there just days before us, but in beautiful blue-sky weather. 

On the way to our next stop we drove past the Maracanã soccer stadium and towards the Sambadrome, home of Rio’s exciting Carnival. The Maracana soccer stadium was built for the 1950 FIFA Word Cup in which Brazil was beaten by Uruguay in the final before a still standing record attendance of 173,850 spectators.  Its original capacity has dwindled to 73,000 due to renovations over the years, including those to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It will host matches in the 2027 Women’s World Cup.  

The Sambadrome which we just drove past as well, is a stadium built specifically to host the annual parade of Samba Schools each year during the Carnaval.  Instead of being a stadium with a field in the middle with seats around it, it consists of stands on either side of an avenue between them with a seating capacity of 90,000+. It covers 570 metres in length. The neighbourhood where the sambadrome is located was where the samba originated in the slave community there.  

Next it was off to see another of the iconic features of Rio, the Selarón Steps. 

The steps transformed a run down area using yellow, green and blue tiles (colours in the Brazilian flag) originally but later using 2,000 tiles donated from more than 60 countries. It was built in 1990 and now attracts a huge number of tourists. In fact, it was hard to get a picture of them because there were people all over them! 

And finally, at 2:45 we headed for lunch!  I was getting a little hangry by this time. But it was worth the wait! We went to a popular Brazilian grill called Carreras Classic Grill. The process and the volume of food were what made this experience so interesting. First of all, we were invited to serve ourselves to the salad bar that had all sorts of fabulous items including pasta, fresh veggies and mixed salads. Next while we started on the salad, waiters came around slicing and serving various proteins right off the stake they were grilled on. Pork, lamb, different kinds of beef, chicken, and sausage were all served for as long as you left the coaster-like sign at your place in front of you on the green side. They finally stopped coming around when you turned over the card to the red sign up. And to top it all off, the food was fantastic, especially the beef. Definitely an experience. 

By now it was 4 pm and we headed back to our hotel which was nearby. We decided to go for a long walk on Copacabana Beach with two sisters from Long Island who were on our tour. It was a comfortable 24 degrees or so, with even larger waves rolling in than we’d seen in the morning. We just missed seeing Shawn Mendes who was staying at the anchor Copacabana Palace hotel which we passed on our way home from our evening stroll. The Long Island ladies stopped to watch with 50 or so others standing behind the fencing outside the hotel in the hopes of seeing him and they did. They got a great video of him coming to over to greet his supporters as a souvenir of their trip to Rio. 

We decided after the late lunch and over consumption of protein that we really didn’t need another meal so headed to our rooms quite early to try and store up some sleep for our red-eye the next day.  Sorry this blog entry is so long, but a lot happened today!  

Before I start, I wonder how many of you recognized a continuity editing issue in my post from yesterday (November 4)? I messed up and realized it after I had published it.  

We were off and touring early again this morning, and yes, the ubiquitous zig-zagging to pick up other passengers. Then it was off to the border with Brazil. 

Our guide was able to do some of the paperwork for us, but then we had to each go through customs ourselves. I was actually happy to do that because so few countries are stamping passports any more and this was an opportunity to get a new one. They are building a huge new building at the border on the Brazil side, and they said tourism to the area has increased a lot in recent years. 

By the way, Iguazu Falls was named “Big Waters” by the indigenous groups who lived in the area before the Europeans discovered the falls in 1541. Spanish Conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to record its existence. 

The Park on the Brazil side is larger in size than the one of the Argentina side and it’s also called Iguazu National Park. There is apparently more variety of wildlife in this park and I actually saw signs cautioning drivers about potential jaguar crossings! The park on the Brazil side also differs in that it has only one 1.5 km one-way trail and the bus was able to drop us off right at the start of the trail after we stopped briefly at the park entrance. 

Right off the bus we could see what they said about the panoramic view from Brazil of the falls on the Argentine side. From the first viewing balcony we could see a long curtain of falls across the gorge on the Argentina side.  

As we walked along the trail the different angles the river and walkway took allowed us different views and Kodak moments. One prime spot had a line up of people waiting to take selfies and group shots with the perfect background. It took us a while to get to the front of the line, but we persevered. After all, not likely to be in the neighbourhood again.    

Near the end of the trail, we put our handy-dandy cheap pocket-ponchos on because there is a walkway with a bridge to a balcony that goes way out on to the first level of the Devil’s Throat Falls. It’s hard to explain but hope you can see what I mean from the photos and videos. It allows an immersive experience in the Devil’s Throat; the mist, the wind, and the roar of the water – without a boat. Pictures were hard to take because of all the mist, but being present was the best thing to do anyway. It was such an exhilarating experience. Even with the poncho we got soaked to the skin but it was OK. 

Coming back over the bridge and back to land, we took a glass-walled panoramic elevator up about a 100 feet (during which we couldn’t see anything since we were at the back of the elevator) to a plaza to wait for the group and try to dry out somewhat while dodging the ubiquitous Coatis. 

It is time to sadly say good bye to Iguazu, and our next stop was the airport for our flight to Rio. Upon arrival at the airport we found once again that we were not all on the same flight and we had several hours to wait for our later flight. I’m sure I’ve spent more time in airports on this trip than any other location. But we made the flight to Rio and to our hotel just two blocks from the famous Copacabana Beach. We couldn’t see much on our trip from the airport to the hotel as it was pitch black, but once we got closer to our hotel we could tell it was a happening place.  

Another great day of adventure and adventure in travel.  

Today, and our excursion to Iguazu Falls, is the main reason I booked this trip. I am so very grateful that the forecast for today is for sun and warm weather so we can enjoy our day and hopefully get some good pictures.  

Gabrielle was our guide for today, and on route to the Park he gave us some information about this region. He spoke with pride about the beautiful jungle around us, and the falls and the fact that the government has protected 80% of the jungle in this area. This area apparently holds 60% of the biodiversity of Argentina in the way of animals, bird life and plants so it’s really important. 

Iguazu National Park is in the farthest northern tip of Argentina at the border with Brazil, created in 1934 to protect the falls and the surrounding subtropical jungle. Across the Iguazu River from the Argentinian Iguazu National Park is the Brazilian one of the same name and both are designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.  

There are apparently threatened species of jaguar in the park, although thankfully we didn’t see one! Many other threatened species reside here as well including the jaguarundi, tapir, ocelot, and anteater. There is also a member of the raccoon family, a Coati, that is not at all endangered but rather is a huge pest, particularly in eating areas where they have built big screened in eating areas to keep the animals from ransacking people’s back packs and literally taking food from their hands.  

We started our day as we have with most of our tours, zig zagging from hotel to hotel picking up passengers along the way. Once at the park Gabrielle explained what the day would look like and off we went.  There are three loops in the park where metal-grated walkways take visitors along an upper loop of the river bank, lower loop of the river bank, and one to the Devil’s Gorge at the beginning of the falls.  We would see all by the end of the day. The map below gives you a good perspective of how big the park is and how much of an area the waterfalls cover.

There is a small train that takes passengers from one end of the park to the other and we took it to the end of the line to get to the walkway to Devil’s Gorge.

The walkway took us over top of the delta of the Iguazu River which the guide told us is only knee to hip deep at this point in the wide delta. This is where the falls start and continue down the river on both sides for 2700 metres, 2100 on the Argentinian side. 

At the end of the walkway is a “balcony” where we stood to look down into a huge hole into which hundreds of litres of water flows known as the Devil’s Throat.  And it’s just one of the approximately 275 falls!  It drops 82 meters or 269 feet and is the largest drop in the park. 

We have been told that currently the flow rate is 3 million litres per second over the total of all the falls on both sides whereas normally it’s closer to 850,000 – 1.5 million litres per second. Yes litres per second.

The sound at Devil’s Throat is deafening and you can’t see too far down toward the river bed below because of so much spray. We got the odd blast of spray as we walked around the balcony taking pictures but it felt good as it was a hot and humid day. You can imagine the jockeying for position along the railing at the best photo spots!  Iguazu Falls gets over 1 million visitors a year with most visiting both the Argentinian side as well as the Brazil side.  

We made our way back to the beginning of the walkway and took the train back to the beginning of the upper walkway which follows the bank on the Argentine side where the majority of the falls are located. Since we were looking down on the falls on the Argentinian side, sometimes we could only see where the water went over the edge and not see where it was going, but because the walkways wound around the various features and the river winds as well, we could see many falls right down to the river bed as well. My toes picture is taken along this walkway. At the end of this walkway was the San Martin Falls, in tribute to the hero of the Argentinian liberator, whose tomb we had seen in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires. 

By now we were starving but good news, it was time for lunch. It felt really good to sit as we’d already hiked over our 10,000 steps. 

After lunch, some people who had opted to take the boat into the gorge left our group and headed out for their adventure. It was much like a combination of the “maid of the mist” at Niagara Falls, and the fast boat that whips along the river down stream from the falls. It was 2 hours out of the day, and having done both those experiences at Niagara Falls I opted not to do it today. 

The rest of us carried on to trek along the lower walkway where at the beginning we saw the Iquazu River at the completion of all the falls. It was relatively narrow across but now instead of only knee deep it got very deep. Sorry can only remember I was surprised by how deep it was.

Further along we were able to see the power boat and its passengers far below making their way as close to the falls as they could safely.

Along this walkway we saw a toucan in the trees and a couple of lizards. All along the walkways, roads and train tracks as we travelled throughout the park, we saw hundreds of butterflies mostly on the small size. There were yellow ones, called Lemon Butterflies, which flitted along in groups of 5 – 6, occasionally dozens were around a puddle of water on the road. Others seemed to want to ride along with the visitors and Nanci got this shot of one on my shoulder. 

It sounds like a lot of repetition going up and down this 2700 metre stretch of the river but a more beautiful sight or potential picture was around every corner. Before touring the park today, the guide told us that we’d see the falls closer up but that tomorrow when we see the Brazil side we would see move of a panoramic view of the falls on the Argentinian side. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect from today, and I can’t overstate how amazing these falls are. They are not like Niagara Falls where one large curtain of water, is impressive to say the least and rivals the total flow at Iguazu at approximately 2.8 million litres per second, but the sheer number of falls, and also the ability to be in such close proximity to them is quite the experience. I left very happy and very tired.  Over 16,000 steps today. 

On the way back to the hotel we had one stop at a restauant/bar for a complimentary wine and small charcuterie of locally produced cheese, meat and olives. I was so tired that I didn’t really appreciate it and it was an early night once back to the hotel, after packing because we leave this hotel in the morning.  

Monday, November 5th

Just a short one for today. It’s a travel day which is supposed to be non-eventful, right? Not so much.

I guess when you have 10 flights in 12 days you gotta expect it’s not all going to go right.

Despite assurances from the South American office for Wing Buddy that we would be on the same flight as the rest of the group even though our documents showed otherwise, Nanci and I ended up on a different flight from El Calafate to Buenos Aires and then Buenos Aires to Iguazu than the rest of our tour group today. And our flights were delayed. So we ended up spending 4 hours at the airport in El Calafate which has a grand total of one coffee shop after you’re through security. Thankfully it’s a nice one and we had a view looking over Lago Argentina from our comfortable chairs by the window. However, 4 hours is a long time. And there was chaos in the boarding area because the airline was having so many mechanical problems the flights were backing up. Really didn’t give one a bunch of confidence!

Finally we got off the ground and while in-flight Nanci had the great idea to get ourselves closer to the front of the plane for a fast get away upon landing and successfully talked the flight steward into it. He agreed to move us to the exit rows which were empty. But still we were literally running to catch our connection in Buenos Aires and if it weren’t for Nanci’s quick thinking and the kindness of a Spanish speaking passenger disembarking with us to help us navigate through the right security line to get to the gate for our flight I don’t think we would have made it. Thank you to that person and I have one huge kindness to pay forward for sure.

So instead of arriving at Iguazu at around 6 pm we got here at 9 pm. I’ve never been so glad to see my luggage come off the carousel in my life. The other group were delayed somewhat by the airline chaos as well, but arrived around 8 pm.

This would be the adventure part of travel.

The famous Iguazu Falls is tomorrow and apparently there is a high flow right now. Not sure if that’s good or bad.

Anyway, we’ll find out tomorrow.

Sunday, November 2nd

Almost a day off touring!  Well not quite.  

Today we had no scheduled activities during the day.  Some of the group are off for the whole day trekking across a glacier, a different one than the one we saw yesterday, and others are off on tours to see some caves with aboriginal writings. We decided to leave the day open to catch up on the past few days of intense touring. 

We didn’t set an alarm and had a leisurely start to the day, meeting up at 11:30 am to walk into town for lunch and to souvenir shop. It’s definitely spring here, with tulips and other summer flowers blooming. It’s a lovely sunny and clear day with some puffy clouds, 8 degrees C, and very windy.  Today will be our last day of cool weather and we’re bracing for the heat of Iguazu Falls and Rio.  

We did have one organized activity today as this evening we had booked to visit a ranch in our hotel’s neighbourhood. It’s set up to demonstrate what it was like on the ranches that settled this area, sharing some traditional food and for a show including local folk music and dancing.  

The early settlement of El Calafate was as a stop over point for wood traders on their slow journey, hauling their wool from the region at a speed of only 20 km per year! The government encouraged settlement by providing plots of land for those interested to establish ranches. Many from Uruguay took the government up on the offer and this is the style of ranch which we visited today. 

El Calafate was officially founded on December 7, 1927 by an Argentine Government Degree to continue to promote settlement and it was named after the calafate bush common in the area.  

It has just burst forth as a destination for tourists visiting the glacier and glacier park and now 99.9 of their industry is supporting the tourists in some way or another.

We spent the first 2 hours of our ranch visit outdoors, where it was cold and windy, but we were dressed for it and they did a great job of alternating having us outside for one demo and then inside for another for us to warm up. And the first activity was around a camp fire. They demonstrated a special and somewhat bizarre way that they made coffee on the ranch. They put a pot of water on the fire to start to get it hot, and then put in heaps of coffee grounds. Gingerly, with tongs they take brilliantly glowing red wood coal pieces from the fire and put them in a large bowl of sugar and turn the coal to coat it and then put the coal into the kettle. They did this several times until I thought the pot must be full of coals. Apparently the coal oxidizes the sugar which causes the coffee grounds to sink to the bottom of the pot so it can be served without the grounds, and it gave the coffee an only slightly sugary but smoky taste. 

They also served a pasty that tasted kind of like a donut, but was square with no hole.  Apparently made from only three ingredients but I didn’t hear what they were. 

This ranch is 17,000 hectares and they primarily ranch sheep, although the tourism aspect of their ranch has produced a great crop for them as well. The property is very well maintained and the buildings used for the dinner, while rustic in design, had modern conveniences.  

While at the camp fire we were treated to a demonstration of the great sheep herding skills of their amazing border collie. The working dog is the offspring of two other collies that have been retired and who followed us around the property looking for any handouts from the guests while the junior dog was doing the work.  

We stopped in at the hen house, which used to be the root cellar, and a greenhouse, which is not common in Patagonia, but the ranch here grows all it’s own veggies during the summer months.  

We walked along a lovely little creek running through the property, to the backdrop of hills all around for a bit. We ended up at a deck build by the creek where we could taste a warm mulled wine and some barbecued lamb and lentils on a biscuit. Nice little appies in such a unique setting.  

Next it was on to see the sheep raising part of the enterprise. They do have modern sleeping facilities, but they have left some of the historical buildings intact to use for their demonstrations. We saw how the sheep were separated for shearing, and then the shearing itself. This sheep shearer used the old fashioned huge scissors instead of the electric razor type. This was both to show us the original method but also because the sound of the electric ones scares the animals and it shears them too close and they get cold!  It was amazing to see that after just a few minutes a bald-ish sheep skipped out the shoot and the shearer laid out a complete one piece skin of wool. A group of volunteers keep up the traditions and showed us the pretty tedious way they spin the wool first into one strand, then many, and how it is dyed.

Finally it was time for us to head back to the dining hall for a fabulous dinner and some entertainment. After a starter of beef empanadas and salad, we were served family style with the meat and veggies that had been grilled and roasted being presented on a little grill for each table. They were piled high with beef, lamb, sausage, chicken, potatoes and we think butternut squash.

As dessert was being served the entertainment started, which was traditional dances and music from the Patagonia area. The guitar music was lovely and it was light hearted and interactive.

It was an interesting, but late evening as we didn’t get back to our hotel til 1030 and then had to be up early the next day. But it was worth to learn a little more about the region and its people.  

The excitement builds as today we will enter Los Glaciares National Park to see the Glaciar Perito Moreno. This National Park is the largest in the Argentinian park system and was created to preserve a significant portion of the souther Andes glaciers and forests. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1981. 

Viedma, Upsala, and Perito Moreno are the three largest of over 8600 glaciers in the Park. Viedma is the longest in South America, Upsala is one of the largest in the park with a significant area, and Perito Moreno is the most famous for its accessibility and dynamic ice calving. 

We were on the curb at 9 am ready to be picked up by the tour guide and driver and we started our journey to zig zag through Calafate picking up tourists staying at other hotels. There are only 8 of us who are English-speaking on the Wing Buddy tour so we have a regular English and Spanish speaking guide wherever we are travelling. We ended up with about 16 passengers once finally on our way to the Park. 

It was a drive of about one and a half hours, but the scenery was spectacular.  All along the route we traveled alongside Lago (lake) Argentina, a beautiful turquoise colour at times and brown or green at others depending the wind and where you are on the lake due to sediments. It’s been created by the Moreno Glacier runoff.  When the guide was telling us about the lake I noted that it was 700 m deep and then when looking at my notes to write the blog I thought I must have made an error.  However, I looked it up and its average depth is 155 m (509ft) and at its deepest it’s 719 m (2,359 ft). Despite the cold temperatures of the lake (2 – 5 degrees C), they do fish for trout and salmon which can reach up to 1.5 metres in length. 

The whole Patagonia region is a desert and is famous for its almost constant winds (especially Sept- Mar) so the landscape if pretty devoid of trees except where they’ve been planted to protect ranches. Ranchers raise the famous Argentinian beef, and sheep and have a huge horse industry, breeding horses for polo, racing and general ranch work. 

Along the route, our guide told us about the Calafate fruit, and showed us pictures, but we didn’t get to see one of the bushes. The fruit growing on the low bushes looks a lot like blueberries and is used in a similar way. The fruit is used in jams, ice cream, wine and beer. There are some myths around these berries, one which states that if you eat the berries of the Calafate plant you will return to the captivating Patagonian landscapes again. Our guide told us she ate so many Calafate berries when she first visited that she never left.  

The driver stopped the bus at one point and pointed out the 3 – 4 Andean Condors flying high above us. They are huge birds standing 3 – 4 feet tall and weighing up to 33 pounds with a wing span of up to 10.5 feet. The adult birds are black and white while the juniors are brown and they are 100% scavengers. 

Our guide, Daniella, was full of information and joy. She laughed and smiled and told us fun stories all day. One of the things she told us was that there is a culture of clapping among Argentinians. If a baby is born, you clap. If dessert looks amazing, you clap, you get the drift. So we clapped at pretty much everything all day. 

Daniella explained how and why the glaciers have been created along the west of Chile and Argentina. As the winds off the Pacific hit land and are forced to raise to get over the Andes, they drop the humidity as rain in the lower altitudes and drop the humidity as snow in the higher elevations. The snow layers compact forming the glacier and the layers move within the glacier so it is always moving. This Southern Patagonian Ice Field is the third largest after Antarctica and Greenland. 

Finally we were getting close to our first sight of the glacier, and Daniella put on some inspirational classical music and told us to close our eyes and she’d let us know when it was in full sight. It was quite the build up and while I have seen many glaciers in Canada, and Alaska, it really was quite the sight to see the snout (the front edge where it is melting and calving) of the glacier rising out of the lake and the glacier flowing through the valley as far as we could see.  

Our first stop once inside the park was to embark on a two-level tour boat on Lago Argentina to get as close as safe to the snout of the north side of the glacier which averaged 50 meters high.  It took us just a few minutes to get from the port to the glacier and although it was really cold, the wind was whipping and it was misty and even raining a little, we stood outside to be able to get the best views and pictures. It was fascinating; the rich and translucent appearing blues; and the cracks and crevices in the ice casting shadows. 

We were hoping to see a section of the wall calving but despite staring at the wall, no such luck. Finally we were shooed inside for the trip back to the port where we went into the visitors lodge which provided food and washrooms. From there, there were steel grated walkways all throughout the side of the hill over looking the glacier to get different views. Our guide had recommended we take a couple of specific ones to get the best views in the time allowed. 

We were going to grab some lunch because it was now 1 pm but the line was long so we decided to do one of the loops and come back later for lunch. Best decision we could have made. It meant that when we were on one of the best places to view the north edge of the glacier we heard the thunderous crack we’d been told to listen for, and stopped in our tracks to stare at the face. And OMG, a small avalanche of small pieces started and then a huge piece of the wall broke off and slide into and submerged into the water.  Almost immediately it popped back up again, like a beautiful turquoise whale breaching, to settle on the surface of the water. It was quite something. I got some of it on video but I was concentrating so much on what I was seeing that I missed moving the camera to catch some of it! Sorry about that! We watched for a long time as the berg grew higher in the water as the water ran off of it back into the lake. You could see sections of where the glacier had been in contact with the sediment so it looked dirty, and other areas that were clear but the most predominant was the beautiful turquoise blue.  

We decided after that there wasn’t anything that could have been more spectacular so we didn’t finish the walkways and instead went back to get lunch. And there was no line up. Sometimes things just work out.  

It was back on the bus for the return trip getting back to our hotel by about 5 pm, tired but happy. After a rest and a change of clothes we walked downtown to a pasta restaurant that was highly rated by Trip Advisor (and we were in the mood for something different to eat). It had a great vibe and the food was fantastic, all made on site.  We ended up sitting next to a couple from Germany who we had seen on the boat trip in the afternoon and we conversed with them through much of the dinner talking everything from travel to politics. They are spending 3 months travelling through South America, and were very engaging so it was a delightful evening. 

Today we left the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, and headed further south to the small community of El Calafate in the province of Santa Cruz. It is the major supply community for those travelling to Los Glaciares National Park.

Our domestic flight flew out of the municipal airport today. The airport was quite chaotic, but everything was on time and all went well. As we were approaching the town we could see the snow capped Andes in the not too far distance. We arrived into El Calafate by 12:30 pm and were bussed to our hotel which is a 20 minute or so walk to the centre of town. 

More than 30,000 people live in Calafate, all supported by tourism as its only industry. They run tours year round with the height of the season being their summer, December and January, when it warms to mid-20s C. In their summer, it is light in the day from 4:30 am – 11 pm and in winter it is only light from 10 am – 4:30 pm. When we arrived I said it felt like we were in Canada’s north, like White Horse and I suppose it is pretty similar distance from the equator. The architecture ranges widely from tiny ramshackle bungalows, to lodge or cottage style and a few high end brick homes.    

After dumping our bags we meandered into town to grab lunch and see what we could see.  The town is bigger than I expected with many restaurants and stores supplying equipment and guides for those hiking in the park. One can also book an excursion to do a full day hike on the glacier, but we’ve given that a pass.  

We found a really cute, brightly painted and adorned cafe with an outdoor patio, and it was warm enough in the sun and out of the wind to sit outside. 

As we had our lunch at about 3 pm we started seeing little trick or treaters walking down the sidewalks and coming in to the restaurant to get treats.  Many were dressed as skeletons, and some as quite gory corpses.  But there some other inventive and cute costumes on the kids and on their parents accompanying them.  Made me a little homesick for my little humans in Ottawa but I know they had a hoot.  

We picked up some snacks and water from the grocery store on the main drag and headed back to our hotel, stopping at a bakery on our way home to pick up sandwiches for dinner. Our hotel is really nice and we’re well looked after, but they don’t have a restaurant.