If there was a sister machine to the Imagination Station, and it was called the Domination Station, then we took a ride in it for the breakfast at our hostel in El Calafate. It was one of those hostels where it was big enough to have a table decked out with bread, cereal, juice, tea, milk, coffee, sweet crackers, dishes, knives, jelly, and spoons. And cups. All of these were heavily utilized by us. As I mentioned earlier, it was just big enough that you couldn’t pinpoint the group that ate like they were all pregnant and eating for two. To be fair though, we were trying to eat for two meals, so in a way, I guess we were pregnant. Though, I’m doubting that argument would hold up in a court of law, though court shouldn't be involved in our plans. Right. Back to El Calafate.
By about 11 a.m., we started driving to Perito Moreno, which holds one of the most popular glaciers in the world, for a reason. The reason is because it is very big and nice. Once we got there, we realized we walked into the middle of an octogenarian convention. Apparently, there was a cruise for elderly people that made stops there. When we walked into park-owned cafeteria, it smelled just like a nursing home back in the states. I almost grabbed a guitar and started singing Christian folk songs, just like we used to do with my youth group back in Ohio. Besides that fact, the glacier was sweet. Look to the latest pictures for a visual. It really was insanely awesome.
After Perito Moreno, we drove to Puerto Natales, and got into town by 9:30 or 10. We found a nice little hostel, Nikos II (because, apparently, there is an original Nikos in town (which we found later) that is still in business, and they couldn’t think of another name). We quickly cooked up our meal in a real kitchen (egg sandwiches and rice!!), and then took it easy, used the internet to talk to girls and stuff, and then went to bed.
The next morning, we went to a nearby lake, Lago Sophia, which we heard was really good for fishing. This excited us, because we like to fish. Unfortunately, I think they meant that Lago Sophia was great for not-fishing. Either that, or we are really bad at fishing. Which is true. Needless to say, we caught no fish, but we did catch crocs. Let me explain this fun little story for you. Hans, Aaron and I went hiking up a hill/mesa/thing for about an hour or so while Logan took a nap and Josh wrote the previous blog update. When we came back, Logan was in his sleeping bag on the ground sleeping, and Josh was sitting in the car writing still. I looked at Logan, and there was a black croc laying up against his head. I guess the strong Patagonian wind had blown it onto him, and the other croc (we are talking about those shoes with holes, in case you haven’t figured it out yet) was 10 feet away. Well, Josh decided to try them on, and now they are in our car upping Josh’s legit hikerness. Apparently, crocs are a staple of hikers down here, since we’ve seen a ton of people strap them to the outside of their bag. So, Lago Sophia wasn’t great for fish, but it was great for crocs. To be fair, had the locals told us it was great for crocs, we wouldn’t believe them.
We decided to spend the night near the lake, and we cooked up rice, lentils, tea, and rice pudding. Good stuff. We were a little lazy that day, so we only set up one tent, and sent two people to sleep in the car. I (Andrew) didn’t sleep in the car, so I was ok with it. We woke up, and drove up to Torres Del Paine to camp for a bit. We found a campsite (which we had to pay for, boo!), and then went on a 3 hour hike with ganuacos lining the path pretty much the whole way. These things are a cousin to the llama, and as land animals go, are one of the four things we’ve seen on this trip. Llamas, these weird emu things, armadillos, and (this is wishful thinking) pumas. For two days, we camped at Torres Del Paine, hiking easy treks that lasted under 4 hours. Next week we will be hiking a lot more in TDP, but this was just a primer for us, and also so Logan could see a bit of TDP before he leaves.
After two days in TDP, we drove back to our previous home, Nikos II. Oh, right! That day was my (Andrew) birthday! I was a little disappointed that the guys didn’t hire jesters, those stretcher carriages that kings used to use, and a big crown made out of some form of expensive material. Oh well. I’m just kidding. They were very nice to this guy. Hans woke up a little early and made us fried potato ball things for breakfast which was awesome (along with rice, of course), they gave me shotgun in the car for free (not that we have to pay for front seat, but they told me to sit there), and then we got lots of bread (which is my favorite thing in this world), and told me to go to my room because they were going to cook food in the kitchen at Nikos. Then, Aaron told me to put on pants because supper was ready. I walked out and saw nothing for my birthday meal. They told me we were all going to fast and drink water. I was so happy! That was a lie. I actually walked out, and then they took me to a nice restaurant and paid for my meal. What nice bros. Seriously. We came back to the hostel after that, ate more bread with peach marmelada while we watched the only movie we have along on the trip. It was a great day.
As I write this, we are driving to Punto Arenas, the city Logan flies out of, and Sheldon will enter from. It’s really sad to see him go, but it’s also really exciting to have another guy join us. I guess as the people say, it’s “sweetbitter”. Logan will be making a pit stop in the Dominican Republic to visit his girlfriend for three days there, and then will head on home to Pennsylvania where he will continue his normal life working on the farm, hunting, and lovin’ life, while having a small hobby of videoing his pursuits of huntin’, and it’s called White Tail Pursuit. Google it. It’s legit. Even though he says it’s not, and shaking his head while I write this down (they sold out a theater at home with a screening of it). Anyway, Sheldon is coming one night before Logan leaves, so we’ll all have one night together to hang out, all six of us, and then Logan will head out the next day, and we will head back to Torres Del Paine to hike for 5 days. Life is good.
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