After our delightful 23 hour bus ride we arrived in Mendoza, and found the heat of the nearby desert. We stayed in a lovely hostel with its own grape vines, small swimming pool, and rooftop kitchen for a few days while we explored the city and surrounding vineyards and mountains. The city of Mendoza has large tree lined streets fed by small canals on each side as the city was basically built in the desert. It cools the whole city down while making every shaded st...

Camping at the beach has been a welcome break from the windy and mostly cool temperatures everywhere since Buenos Aires. After a bus, night at the bus station, another bus, and yet another bus ride, we arrived at the little beachy town just inside a national park that spans the entire peninsula. The municipal campground was a short walk from the bus and we were lucky to arrive in time for a shower, which cost about US $3 and only open from 7-9pm daily. A 3 mil...

We are becoming quite the savvy bus riders. Our experience has taught us that long bus rides, 12 hours for example, can be enjoyable when properly prepared. Today we are traveling from El Chalten, the little town on the edge of Parque Nacional de Los Glaciares, to the little town of Perito Moreno. The bus takes the rough and tumble Route 40 the entire way and since this is the only road that connects the few towns in this region, the fact that it is mostly unpa...

Initial disappointment with sub par hostel accommodation turned to dismay as the evening progressed. Here are a few of the things we will eventually laugh about: giving up our beds in a 4 person room and taking beds in a 6 person room. Enduring the heat, odor, and snoring of 4 strange and burly men until one of them dashed into the attached bathroom with a violent illness. As David's mind played scenes from the movie Outbreak, we both quickly gathered our things ...

Finest trekking and camping so far around Fitz Roy that mostly seemed to make up for the loss of Torres Del Paine. After busing for another 4 hours we were still actually in the same park as the glaciers we saw in El Calafate. We got off the bus and stowed some things off at the only hostel in town with availability for our return in three nights from hiking (the terrible one referenced in the other blog post) and set off on our first hike. The weather is notori...