Pisco Sour
Ithaca
Chalets
Arriving at El Chalten meant the start of my trekking attempts. We were staying at El Ranchiro in little two bedroom chalets, the winds whipping around the cabin sounded like gale force storms were brewing and proved difficult in convincing me to get up for early morning hikes. So in the end I did not get around to trekking by the infamous Mt Fitz Roy. A few of our group did get up at 6am to venture out into the elements.
Day one saw us head up to Mirador de Condors, which was a 10km round trip hike. The winds were fierce and threatened to tip us over the edge, but not a single condor was seen. The area is also famous for seeing the red headed woodpecker. Colin and Jane became the experts on seeing these, they were even lucky to see a pair together.
Day two consisted of a 22km trek with Vanessa, Colin & Jane to see Laguna- and Glacier Torre. Again the winds were unbelievable and getting lashed with gravel and pebbles at the glacial lake front was inevitable. Nevertheless we bunked down in a rocky wind shelter and picnicked facing the glacier.
Night two was when I discovered El Chalten's microbrewery. The local beer, Bock Negro, was compared to as a weak Guinness, but really it was more like a rock shandy. I have instead been introduced to Pisco Sours! Ingredients of which are Pisco (brandy), sugar, lemon, egg white. The microbrewery also provided us with endless supplies of popcorn, which got progressively saltier once the staff saw how much we were consuming.
Day three involved a wee bit of ice trekking. Anthony and myself headed off to Glacier Viedma and checked out some massive icebergs enroute. I really enjoyed the trek, I was a bit like walking on a raspberry slush puppy! While on the glacier I got talking to an Irish guy, Alexis from Galway, who left home three years ago due to the recession and hasn't looked back since. He's just been spending the past few years learning Spanish and travelling all around the continent. Awesome but terrifying. The ice trek was topped off by being served Baileys with freshly hacked glacier ice - delish!
While eating dinner that night, Kirsten let out an almighty squeal and rushed out of our chalet. It could only signify one thing - Ithaca, and Pete, had finally caught us up. They were not due to arrive until the next evening, but 48 hours of pretty much continuous driving meant that Pete and Graham had made excellent time and shy Ithaca was finally ready to meet the group. It only took her two months to get over from the UK. (Don't think Kirsten will be sending business towards that shipping company again). Group members clambered all aboard Ithaca, offloading books for the library, getting our odyssey branded t-shirts, and exploring every nook and cranny, while appropriately oohing and ahhing at all the leg room and comfort Ithaca offered. Another celebratory night was had at the microbrewery to toast the final, and most important, arrivals. Yet again more Pisco Sours and endless popcorn were consumed.
Odyssey South America 2012 can now officially start!!
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