43 hours later...we have finally arrived...

That was by far the longest bus ride in the world, and it had all to do with the volcanoe that erupted in Chile. Last night was too dangerous to travel so we held up in a tiny town along Route 40, luckily there was enough beer to go around!
Thanks to my cousin Al, he sent me a news update on what was going on, luckily we got through all the volcanic ash this evening that covered a huge section of the route up to Bariloche. The bus had to travel at a snails pace during daylight today and there were times that the ash completely blinded the way making it all the more treacherous. I took some great video of the erie, grey colored sky heavy with ash and fully covering 2-3 centimeters of the already barren landscapes. Honestly it felt like the aftermath of a nuclear war with the sillouette of the sun trying to pierce the dense, opaque sky and at times disappearing like a solar eclipse but really due to snowflake sized ash...pretty cool, really.
Okay guys, we have wifi from here so we will be definitely be doing some good updating of pics and I promise this time to have video!!
Sent by Jeffrey via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Volcanoe eruption...road closed...a night in a small town...

S 44.02972
W 070.35544
Elevation: 2371 Feet

These are our current coordinates here in Argentina...we are stranded on the bus and will be here for the night...
The police have stopped the few scattered motorists on this Route 40 because a volcanoe has erupted in nearby Chile and has caused severe ash to fall and block visibility in this mountainous region.
At this precise moment we have stopped in a miniature town that has a restaurant, hope there's a hotel!
Apparently the next mayor town we were going to pass into, Esquel, had over 3 cm of ash on the floor so the safe thing to do was stop here for the night....not a bad idea especially since at night you can't see a thing!

Will update you guys in the AM...
Check google to see if something comes up on a volcanoe erupting in Chile near the town of Esquel, Argentina. If anybody finds good information send us a message!
C4 and SL300...the mission has been aborted, are there any escape routes??!!! ;-))
Sent by Jeffrey via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Siberia, Antartica, Patagonia.....

So we are about 15 hours into our 30+ hour trip up Route 40 in the Patagonian wild! We are headed to Bariloche a ski resort town which is now in low season apparently so we hope to get a hotel room at a reasonable rate! We arrive there at about 9AM on Saturday morning.
Imagine Siberia and Antartica then think of the population density in those parts, well this drive up Route 40 in the Argentine Patagonia has seemed like a sister cousin of those places, we've basically seen about...hmmmm.....zero people! BUT the heavenly blues, reds, oranges, yellows, whites that we saw this morning at sunrise over the barren landscape are by far the most impressive colors schemes I have ever seen in my life. Plumes of white clouds, in every shape imaginable covered sections of the sky and made for a sunrise to never ever forget...
In a small town now having an Argentine steak and drinking red wine, hopefully not too much wine because in about 2 hours we get back on the bus to continue the 30+ hour odyssey to Bariloche.
NOTE:
I took some great pictures this morning, as I made friends with the bus driver and he stopped in a few places for me to shoot out the window.
We have cell coverage again, and it appears we will continue to have it as we approach a more densley populated area of Argentina.
By the way the first ten hours on Route 40 was a dirt road scoured with rocks some the size of soccer balls, that's a big reason the trip is so long because we have to drive slowly. From here on up more of the road is paved. Glad we made it to that part of Route 40 before it becomes paved and loses that charm.
Sent by Jeffrey via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Se nos esta borrando hasta la rayita..

Salimos ayer del Chalten un pueblito ubicado a 4 horas de Calafate donde nos quedamos 3 dias haciendo trekking, aqui se encuentra un cerro muy importante el Fitz Roys. Hicimos varias caminatas y encontramos paisajes muy variados.

Tomamos el bus a la media noche rumbo a Bariloche, una ciudad muy famosa por sus deportes de invierno y su arquitectura ya q esta ciudad fue poblada en gran parte por suizos, entonces su arquitectura es muy europea.

Llevamos 15 horas de camino, ha sido nuestro record ya q lo maximo que hemos hecho ha sido de 15 horas. Nos setimos bien, pero creo q se nos esta perdiendo la rayita de estar tanto sentados. Si todo sale bien manana en la manana estaremos llegando a Bariloche.

La ruta ha sido divina, es la ruta 40, es una ruta muy famosa, aqui se puede disfrutar la patagonia en todo su explendor. Es muy desertica, por kilometros y lkilometros no se ve ni un arbol o planta. Por tramos el bus va como a 20 Kilometros por hora porq gran parte es carretera destapada.


Sent by Paula via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

no internet in the Patagonia ...NO tenemos servicio de internet hasta el sabado

hi guys, been disconnected from the internet here in a town called El
Chalten. there is no cell coverage so our blackberry´s do not work to
upload blogs, or receive any type of email. This is a simple internet
that already has a long waitlist of people waiting to use...so need to
write fast.
Heading to Bariloche (ski resort town) in Argentina at midnight
tonight. The bus ride is our longest to date 30 plus hours!!! this
is going to be painful!! but it is along beautiful ROUTE 40 (kind a
like Route 66 in the States).
We arrive in Bariloche on Saturday late morning. Till then nothing in
the Patagonia for internet, so talk on Saturday.

Perito Moreno abril 27

Nuestro destino Hoy fue el Perito Moreno. Una porcion de glacial q quedo despues de la ultima glaciada hace 19000 a#os cuando todo lo q ahora es el area de Calafate y sus aleredores, era Hielo.



El Perito Moreno queda ubicado a una hora del Calafate. Cuando llegamos al area comenzamos el tour en los balcones (ver foto balcon frontal). donde pudimos apreciar el Perito desde todos sus angulos. La parte frontal del glacial tiene aprox 5 kilometros de extension y 60 metros de altura sobre el nivel del lago.

El parque Nacional Los Glaciales ocupa una superficie de 724.000 hectareas.



Despues de una caminata de 50 minutos tomamos un barco que nos acerco a las paredes del glaciar, alli pudimos apreciar mucho mas de cerca la imponentes paredes de hielo. Al llegar a un extremo nos preparamos con zapatos especiales para iniciamos la caminata sobre el glacial.

Caminamos por el hielo por mas de 2 horas, esta ha sido la primera experiencia que he tenido sobre el hielo, un espectaculo inolvidable. Cuando caminas te encuentras con montanas, picos, despenaderos, lagunas, grietas.

Habia q caminar con mucho cuidado porq habian area peligrosas en cualquier momento se podida uno caer a una grieta con gran profundida por esta razon siempre habia que caminar en fila india con un guia adelante y otro al final de grupo.



Terminando nuestra aventura por el hielo nos llevaron a una ultima parada. Nos invitaron a una copa de Whisky en las rocas y si... era literalmente en las rocas ya que picaban el hielo del glacial y nos lo ponian directamente en el vaso. Nunca habia probado un Whisky tan delicioso, el sabor era diferente, no se si era por la procedencia del hielo o porq estabamos a temperaturas tan bajas que me supo tan rico.

El Perito Moreno ha sido definitivamente uno de los lugares mas maravilloso que he estado en mi vida.

Sent by Paula via BlackBerry from T-Mobile