Patagonia Day 1

I realized almost as soon as I arrived that putting some big announcement of my blog on Facebook was a bad idea. Not because it was too public, but because for at least the first week, my wifi access will be few and far between. Starting tomorrow, we're hiking the W trail in Torres Del Paine, Chile and we will have absolutely no wifi for 5 days straight. Sorry, dear readers! 

Anywho, my trip began Monday afternoon. Flew out of Dulles at 3, arrived at Bogata around 9, ran to my 10 pm flight to Buenos Aires, and got there around 7 am. Waited around at the airport until 10, and here I am now in El Calafate, Argentina (although I'm technically now on a bus to Puerto Natales, Chile). We're 2 hours ahead here, so while its 9 am here, it's 7 am at home and I am exhausted. Thankfully the fun in transit never stops, and maybe I can sleep some on this 5 hour bus ride. 

The flights were fine. I got a $300 ticket to Buenos Aires via STA and while I was stoked it was so cheap, the closer I got to this trip, the more I realized it was so cheap probably because the airline was a piece of shit. I have mad restless leg syndrome and just knew there would be no legroom and I'd be miserable. Lo and behold, Avianca came through for me. Everything was so nice! I loved the food, there were plentiful options for inflight entertainment, and both flights I had a window seat with no one sitting right next to me, so I got to lean on the wall AND kind of stretch my legs out. I took a sleeping pill on the flight to BA and immediately knocked out. Woke up not too groggily. I recommend them, thanks CVS!

While waiting in the BA airport (which, btw, is nasty and old and gross. For such a beautiful place...I'm told....the airport could use some work) I made a friend with a German girl who just flew to BA from LA. She was meeting up with friends in Córdoba and had the same layover as I did. So we exchanged money at the bank together and sat on the ground chatting for a while. On my trip to Brazil I remember I chatted up every person I could, maybe out of nervousness. This girl was the first person I'd really talked to since I left. It was a gentle reminder to be outgoing! Maybe that hadn't been front of mind since I was meeting up with a group and wasn't going to be all alone, like in Brazil. 

The flight to El Calafate was kinda lame, Aerolineas Argentinas is the worst. I slept a little and watched Argentina go by below me, though, and also realized that my iPhone cord wasn't working in my external charger...so I had to do the unthinkable and turn off my phone. RIP CVS cord, thanks for nothing! I take back what I said earlier about the sleeping pills. 

A big chunk of the east coast of Argentina looks super uninhabited. Really barren. Not really what I imagined, but also I'm not sure I really had any expectations. Currently, the scenery from the bus looks like Mars mixed with the field of Rohan from Lord of the Rings. Basically no vegetation, but we're in a valley and there's mountains looming in the distance. El Calafate is right on Lago Argentina, which is the most beautiful, shockingly teal lake I've ever seen. Really quite stunning. I didn't see it from the airplane, it was on the other side, so when I got off the plane and looked around, my jaw completely dropped. 

Also, I realized I was in the middle of nowhere. There is NOTHING around the airport, nothing! And I hadn't really chatted with Dane and co about what to do post-airport, so I went into full survival mode. First things first: locate a bus. I marched up to the bus service people and one by one asked if they would take me to the hostel, of which I showed them the address. Two of them said they would. So then I went back and forth asking about price and timing. One of them fit my budget and said they were leaving in 5 minutes. Perfect!

Except he was a total liar and left 30 minutes later. Lame. But the bus ride was nice and simple and dropped me off right at the hostel, which is close to the downtown in the cute lil touristy town of El Calafate. Dane and Emily were outside sitting on the stoop, and I don't think I'd ever been happier to see anyone. Finally, the Fellowship was reunited. Or the Patagoon Squad, as they deemed us. 

The rest of the crew got there on Friday, so I had a lot of catching up to do. They toured BA, Montevideo, and went to a glacier, so they were already racking up the insta likes and leaving me in the dust. 

I dropped off my stuff, and off we went to explore. We got lunch (empanadas), bought said bus tickets, and rode around the town on bikes. Guys, this place is windy af. I haven't moved that strenuously in years, and that's counting all the half marathons, the Ragnar race AND a 60 mile bike race. This was tough! After we realized that biking with 120 mph winds were the worst, we dropped the bikes off and went to a bar to sit and chat. It was here, dear friends, that I got a beer. A Golden Ale. I don't want to say my challenge of not drinking is over, but I definitely caved. 

I caved later, too, when we had a meat feast at the hostel. No lie, the hostel guys made chorizo, chicken, and 2 different cuts of beef, along with rolls. And wine. Lots and lots of wine, all in these little Penguin pitchers. I had a glass or two. Do as the Argentinians do, right? Also, we all got the meat sweats. At dinner we met a Brazilian couple (from São Paulo!) and a solo Argentinian dude. I forgot to mention that Cristel, in our group, is from Mexico and speaks Spanish, so we are in the clear as far as understanding things go. Thanks Cristel!! I've tried to speak several times to people, and they always answer me in English. Which is a little disheartening, but I'll never give up!!

Dinner ended around midnight and then it was lights out. I don't think I could've stayed awake if my life depended on it. 

Got up at 7:30 to eat and catch our 8:30 bus to Puerto Natales, where we'll gather our camping supplies, have one last night in a bed, and set out for Torres Del Paine. If I had internet at the moment I'd add a map of our route. Look up the W trail if you're so inclined. 

Anyway, the bus is where I am now. Soon we'll get to the Chilean border and have to go through immigration. Cristel is asleep next to me, Ron and Emily are sitting directly in front of the bathroom and getting the poop smell every time someone closes the door, and Dane is a million rows ahead of us, because who knows why. I just gotta mention, we've been on the bus for an hour and this one tall guy has used the bathroom twice already. Maybe he has the meat sweats too.