Crossing the Andes into Argentina

Merry Christmas to one and all!

It does seem odd sitting here in Argentina and thinking of the normal ways we celebrate. Since this trip is our Christmas gift to the family, and we opened gifts from relatives before we left, today is rather mellow. We found out last night that the Argentines do their celebrating (and I do mean celebrating!) on Christmas eve. At midnight, the fireworks began and excited yells all around. (So much for quiet cabin in the woods, but more on that later!) Wish we could understand more of what is being said--although we are doing way better! Now, we are up on Christmas morning while all others sleep! Thank goodness for Cailin's friend, Megan, who gave us a tiny Christmas tree to bring on the trip--it was surrounded by candy this morning when the girls awoke. I am also attempting to re-create my mom's Christmas breakfast cassarole. It is cooking as I type and is full of 'substitutions' so who really knows how it will turn out. Bread, eggs, sausage, cheese--how bad can it be?

Well, back to the trip! We began our journey across the Andes in to Argentina on Dec. 22. Here is a "Fun Fact" (Alia's favorite saying): The Andes are the longest mtn range in the world, running through Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina, and covering over 4 thousand miles.

We were crossing the Andes via the Cruce de lagos--a two day trip that goes bus, boat, bus, boat etc...Day one, the 22nd, was cloudy and cool when we left Puerto Varas (a little different than the swimsuits the girls wore the day before!). We boarded a bus that took us to some beautiful waterfalls (yes, we have seen quite a few of these--wait for the slideshow montage I will create: 500 waterfalls in 30 days, or something like that! Williams family--just like the prayer wheels!?), and then to our first lake crossing in a big catamaran. The lake is called the Emerald Lake from the color and it was truly amazing. Due to the cloud cover, we couldn't see the tops of the volcanos that were around us, but gorgeous, none the less!

Our night stopover was in Peulla, which is the Chilean side of the Andes and is just 2 hotels in the middle of the national park. They, of course, cater to the touristas, like us, and have all sorts of excursions you can do. We opted for the Canopy tour (zip line) and it was a blast! We zoomed over waterfalls and trees, giant ferns etc... until the last platform that had a 35 ft. rappel! The girls are hooked!

Ready for another Fun Fact? We are about the same latitude south of the equator that Seattle is north of the equator! Therefore, the June weather that we have in Seattle is just what we are experiencing here. Also the flora and fauna is very similar. These are the only two regions in the world, from what I have read, that have temperate rain forests. Duncan is really wondering if we needed to come this far to see what is in our own 'backyard'!

The morning of the 23rd dawned raining and grey and unfortunately the clouds were very low, giving us little to no visibility on the lakes. Of the 400+cm of rain this area receives annualy, we saw 300 cm of it come down today! Yikes, it rained hard and was about 40 degrees out. Sound familiar??

However, crossing the pass in the Andes on a 4-wheel drive bus, driving on a one-lane dirt road through tight turns and greenery was quite amazing. The lake crossing ended in San Carlos de Bariloche. This is a cute, very German influenced town. The Germans settled in Chile and Argentina in the 1850's with a second influx after WWII. As Duncan says, we are celebrating Christmas with the Nazis!

We have been laughing over our accomodations here. They were described as a cabin in the woods in the middle of the Nahuel Huapi national forest where silence and nature abound! Turns out this whole area is in the national forest and we are, yes, in cabins and yes, see trees, but are right off the main road and in a neighborhood by other houses. Hmmmm....The cabin does have radient heat and that is great. We did laundry in the tub (see picture with DIRTY water!), and the clothes dried so fast over the warm floors! See, glass is always half full around here!

Dec. 24, Christmas eve was a gorgeous day and we could see the snow-covered Andes that we couldn't see the day before. We took the gondola up to the top of Cerro (hill) Otto, which is in the middle of the area and could see forever! Last Fun Fact for the day: The reason trees are such a big deal and cause so much excitement around here is that this in the only place in Patagonia that is covered in evergreens! There is about a 20 km band that gets the rain and has the trees. Up on Cerro Otto, we could see the green trees to the North (400+cm rain), a few less trees right where we are (100cm rain) and then to the South, a dessert with very few trees and mostly brown.

After coming down the hill, we took the bus into town and explored that. This is the Chocolate capital and everyother store was a Chocolateria! Huge chocolate stores--we did have to sample some!

Today, we will hike to a nearby lake--if the busses are running. We asked if they were and think the answer was yes, but only every 30 minutes. We shall see if we understood or not! :)

Feliz Navidad!