A Chilean Adventure

Ok, so the tent wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The ground was hard and lumpy and very cold. Also, the guy in the tent next to us was sawing logs all night long. It was tough to fall asleep and tough to stay asleep. At least I didn’t feel so cramped when I woke up, but I had higher expectations.

The more Chilean and Argentine travelers we see, the more my definition of dirty changes. This morning we decided not to shower because we just showered yesterday. It just doesn’t seem worth the hassle when you’re not trying to impress anyone and all the travelers around you are really dingy. The desert mornings are also just too cold to shower at the campsite. I always heard about how cold it gets at night in the desert and now I’m feeling it! (I’m sure it’s not even close to the temps in Wisconsin though!)

Instead of showering, we made a really good hot breakfast of oatmeal and cheese. And the oatmeal was made with milk and sugar! It really hit the spot after a cold night.

We did a few other things around town before heading out. First, we went to an electrical store to get some three-prong adapters for the outlets in Argentina. The worker informed us that we could just use a two-prong adapter and let the ground prong hang out there. I thought I remembered Dad doing that a few times, but I didn’t trust my memory enough to blow up my computer. Now I feel comfortable doing it though.

We finally hit the road on our way to “Cueva de las Manos” (Cave of Hands), but our car was making some crazy noises as we drove down the main road. It must have been quite a sight in Perito Moreno to see Sasha, Clea and me running along the side of our white Chevy Corsa, twisting and turning to see if we could figure out where the noise was coming from. Finally, we went to a mechanic and had him drive it around the block with a couple of us riding along. Miraculously, it stopped making the noise as soon as he took the wheel. Don’t you hate when that happens? Oh well, we were glad we didn’t have any problems and didn’t have to fix anything.

On our way to the cave, we knew there were three entrance points, each with different lengths of driving and walking. The best seemed to drive for 12 kilometers and then walk for two hours. We got to the spot where we had to park our car, packed some provisions in our backpacks, and headed down the huge hill. Compared to the hills is northeast Wisconsin, this thing was a mountain. At the bottom, there were many trails and one little sign with an arrow that pointed in a vague direction. There were two main paths, but some people were returning from one and said it was incorrect. We headed out in the second direction and hoped it was the right way.

After an hour and a half, we determined that we were just following cow trails and we were nowhere near the cave. However, it was a beautiful hike through a big canyon and we saw some pretty cool things, including a guanaco that was very close to us. Guanacos are a regular part of the landscape in the Argentine pampas and kind of look like a llama, but not exactly. We also saw a big herd of cows that was very easily spooked. If the herd belongs to someone, it was obvious that they people just raise them on the range and really don’t deal with them at all.

So we finally walked back the whole way and up that huge hill. It was a lot easier said than done, but we took a lot of “photo” breaks on the way up to rest and catch our breath. Near the top, the other people who were looking for the cave at the same time we were had looked in their binoculars and spotted the cave in a distant wall of the canyon. We should’ve gone the other direction. Proof that you can’t always follow “the road less traveled.” It would’ve been cool to see the cave because it’s from the Tehuelche people (the ones we learned about at Museo Leleque), but we weren’t too heartbroken. The hike was worth it even if we didn’t see the intended destination.

We saw some cool animals as we drove back out to the highway too. There were some horses, but it’s hard to tell if they’re wild or if they actually belong to someone. There was a dead armadillo on the path, and I made Danielle take a picture of it because it was the only armadillo I’ve seen. We also saw some birds that look like a cross between and emu and an ostrich. I need to look up the name of them because there is a lot in the pampas.

We drove south for a while, and when the sun had almost set we decided to make camp along the side of the road. We pulled off near this little “cliff” that was like a natural shelter from the wind. Sasha and Clea put up their tent next to the cliff and we parked the car on the other side to make sure that it was shielded from the wind.

Since it was only about 10:00 when everything was set-up and ready for the night, we decided to make our own little drive-in movie and watched “You’ve Got Mail.” Since both of our computers have now died, it’s time for bed and we’ll have to finish the movie another time.