COMING IN FROM THE COLD!

Road to Cafayate

Argentina: Salta, Purmamarca, Cachi and Cafayate

It took Argentinean Airlines a full day to bring us from Ushuaia to Salta, a trip of more than five thousand kilometers!
Salta is a rather big city in the far North of Argentina, close to the Chilean an Bolivian borders. Nicknamed Salta la Linda ("Salta the Fair"), it has become a major tourist destination due to its old, colonial architecture and the natural scenery of the valleys westward where we were heading for.
We rented a car and drove a scenic route to Purmamarca, the Town of the Virgin Lands - "Pueblo de la Tierra Virgen", which is the literal translation of the Aymara mountain indian language word Purmamarca, a beautiful village cradled to the north by the Río Purmamarca, and to the south by the mountains bordering the ravine by the same name. It has less than 400 inhabitants and comprises a square and just a few streets from where we could see the surrounding mountains from different angles, especially imposing is the so called "Cerro de los Siete Colores" - the Mountain of Seven Colours behind the village.
From Purmamarca we drove through the more than 100 km long Humahuaca Valley. This Valley has been used over the past 10,000 years as a crucial passage for the transport of people and ideas from the high Andean lands to the plains. Its distinctive pre-Hispanic and pre-Incan settlements, as a group with their associated field systems, form a dramatic addition to the landscape and one that can certainly be called outstanding. We stopped in most villages and had lunch in Humahuaca, a village slightly larger than Purmamarca. We returned from here to Salta where we had ample time to visit the town square, the Cathedral and the Convent of St. Francis before we left for Cachi. The 200 kilometers long road to Cachi was unpaved for the greater part and was leading over a mountain ridge that was hidden in the clouds. For that reason we have been driving with visibility almost zero over a slippery and unprotected road along ravines that could not be seen, a terrible experience. However, after reaching the plains, the sky cleared and the temperature increased from 5 to 28 degrees centre grade. Without noticing we had entered a national park of which the red sandstone mountains could be seen in full glory.
Cachi is a nice small town surrounded by imposing snow-covered mountains reaching as much as 6,480 meters. We decided to stay over for the weekend and enjoyed the hospitality, the wine and the bright sunshine that warmed our bones that had suffered so many days of icy temperatures.
Cafayate, our next destination, was only some 165 kilometers from Cachi but the road was unpaved, reason why it took us five hours driving. But what kind of hours? The word “unbelievable” is the best that can be used to describe the beauty of what we have seen. This must be one of the most beautiful parts of Argentina and still it was deserted, we passed some villages that consisted of a few houses and sometimes a church but we rarely saw people. Sometimes we were driving through a deserted moonlike scenery that could suddenly change into a spectacular wall of hundreds of feet of high sandstone castles.
Cafayate appeared to be an important tourist centre for exploring the Calchaquíes valleys, and because of the quality and originality of the wines produced in the area, the last we have enjoyed above all.
From Cafayate we will return to Salta and Buenos Aires from where we will travel to Rio de Janeiro to spent some more days in this beautiful part of the world before crossing the next ocean.

We have received another unexpected reaction to our blog from Barbara Kalmoutis in Campbell, California. She and her late husband Peter used to live on the Greek Island Aegina where we always spent our summer holidays between 1980 and 1992. They have moved to the USA where we have visited them in 1994, almost 16 years ago. Barbara must be about 90 years old by now and it appears that she is surfing the Internet regularly. Well done Barb!

As usual: visit http://www.jan-margreth3.blogspot.com/ for more pics

VISIT OUR DUTCH BLOG TO SEE MORE PICTURES
WWW.JAN-MARGRETH3.BLOGSPOT.COM

Argentina: Buenos Aires, Valdez peninsula, El Clafate in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego

Since we finished our last report, we have arrived in Tierra del Fuego in the South of Argentinia. The flight with Continental Airlines to Buenos Aires was long but comfortable and after one night travelling we arrived in a reasonable condition. We stayed for two days in the capital of Argentinia and during a guided tour, we got a good impression of the this beautiful city. A city of contrasts, very pleasant and rich areas but there are also poor areas. Of course, we visited the famous Plaza de Mayo and had great diners in a few of the fantastic restaurants. Since we will return to BA twice, we have parked our large suitcases in our hotel, and left BA by Aerolineas Argentinia to Trelew in North Patagonia on the Atlantic coast. 150 Years ago, the first pioneers from Europe have landed here to start a new and possibly better life in the arid and icy steppe of Patagonia. We rented a car and headed for Puerto Piramides on the peninsula of Valdez with a lunch stop in Puerto Madryn.
Most of the peninsula is barren land with some salt lakes. The largest of these lakes is at an elevation of 35 metres below sealevel, the lowest elevation in South America.
It is an important nature reserve which was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. The coastline is inhabited by marine mammals, like sea lion, elephant seals and fur seals. Southers right whales can be found in Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José, protected bodies of water located between the peninsula and the mainland. These whales come here between May and December, for mating and giving birth, because the water in the gulf is quieter and warmer than in the open sea. Orcas can be found off the coast, in the open sea off the peninsula. The inner part of the peninsula is inhabited by rheas, guanacos and maras. A high diversity and range of birds live in the peninsula as well; at least 181 bird species, 66 of which migratory, live in the area.When we arrived in Puerto Piramides the weather was beautiful, sunny and warm and there were many tourists. This is the place for whale watching and many boats
are being towed onto the beach to make it possible for the passengers to board with dry feet. It was a perfect day for watching the whales but we were too late to book a trip on arrival but we could see them from the beach.
The next day the weather had changed dramatically and there would be no boat trips during that day so we drove more than 200 kilometres along the coast and through the plain of the peninsula. At Punta del Norte we admired the sea life, seals, sea elephants and sea lions. This is the place where orcas swim ashore to snatch young sea lions and penguins. The weather became really bad, causing problems to drive the unpaved road, it rained and stormed and it was terribly cold. We saw herds of guanacos and after the weather had improved, we stopped at a penguin colony to see these lovely animals. The next day the weather had improved and we boarded one of the boats to watchthe whales. It has been a terrific expierence to see these giants with their calves coming to the surface, taking a breath and diving again after a minute or so.
After three days in Puerto Piramides we left for a flight of two hours to El Calafate, a city in Southern Patagonia, close to the Chilean border. This is an important tourist destination as the hub to visit different parts of the Los Glaciers National Park, including the Perito Moreno Glacier (one of the most visited in the world).
The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are not retreating. The terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 3 miles wide, with an average height of 240 ft above the surface of the water of Lake Argentino, in Argentina. It has a total ice depth of 558 ft . Due to its size and accessibility, Perito Moreno is one of the major tourist drawcards to southern Patagonia. It is less than two hours by bus from El Calafate, and many tour companies run daily visits. A large visitor centre at the site features as a walking circuit which allows both faces, and the surface of the glacier to be seen. The first day we visited this glacier by bus to see it close from the platforms along the 80 meters high ice wall. Sometimes we saw big parts of ice, as high as church spires, breaking of the wall, collapsing into the lake with enormous noise, causing tsunami like waves.

The second day we have been on a boat all day to see the different glacier from lake level. We were prepared for ice cold weather, wearing warm clothes so we could watch this spectacle speechless from the deck of the boat. It is unbelievable how impressive nature can be and we are glad that we have had the opportunity to witness this spectacle. During the three days in El Calafate we enjoyed the Argentinean kitchen once more and were getting used to eat large steaks like all people do here.
From El Calafate we travelled to Ushuaia, the most Southern town of Tierra del Fuego, at the end of the world as people say. We have navigated the Beagle Channel for several hours and experienced Winter and Summer during the same day: wind force nine with hail that turned into bright sunshine! Here we took some quiet days while walking and enjoying the cool fresh air.
From here we will leave chilly Patagonia an will travel to Salta in the most Northern Part of Argentina, some 5000 kilometers away!.
Visit our Dutch web for more pictures: www.jan-margreth3.blogspot.com

Traveling back to New York, a wedding and an unexpected meeting

After two days in and near Boston we travelled further to the South. Without a road map and a GPS that had poor or no satellite reception, we tried to reach Jersey City, where we would have a last night in the RV. After departing Middleboro it was difficult to find the Interstate to NY but the failing GPS became really annoying when we approached New York City. We almost took a road through downtown Manhattan but a friendly policeman stopped us at a toll gate, telling us that RV’s were not allowed on this road. He advised us to make a U-turn at the next exit where after he would give us proper directions when we would pass the toll gate for the second time.
So we were suddenly driving our RV in the Bronx where people were asking themselves what we were doing there. After a few traffic lights we were back on the highway were our police officer was waiting for us. He allowed us to pass the toll gate without paying and told us how to reach the George Washington Bridge. After passing the Yankee Stadium we crossed the bridge and drove into New Jersey. This was not the end of our misery because the GPS lost contact at the most crucial moment in which way we almost found ourselves in the Holland Tunnel, leading into Manhattan. We were able to take the last exit and there was this nice man on a bicycle who brought us to the campsite, where we had made a reservation. While registering at the office, we heard that he was waiting near the exit on a regular basis to assist lost campers like us against a small fee! Free advice to GPS owners: be sure to have road maps with you!
From the campsite we could see the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan, on the other side of the River.
On 1 October, we delivered the RV at El Monte in Linden (see picture on left: Margreth and Martina) and booked us for six days in the "extended Stay America" Hotel in Elizabeth, where we had a good room.
The reason that we were in New York, was the wedding of Farrah and Jordan, on 3 October in the Botanical Gardens of Brooklyn. Farrah is the daughter of Hidi and Sheila, who we visited in Bangladesh last February (see our blog www.jan-margreth2.blogspot.com ). We know Farrah from childhood, and we felt that we had to attend her wedding.
On the night before the wedding Hidi and Sheila invited us and some friends for a dinner where we met a number of old friends.
The wedding ceremony was impressive in a beautiful environment and was witnessed by more than 160 people. The reception was great and the diner and ball were unforgettable. We are thankful that we could be present at such a beautiful day.

We received a response to our first report in this blog by Luigi Schiano, a former colleague of Jan from Italy and after an email it appeared that we both would be in New York by the end of September when he and his wife Annemarie would visit their son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren in West New York.
West New York is 18 miles away from Elizabeth, where we stayed and therefore we joined them on Sunday morning for a brunch.
Together with our spouses we have attended may conferences all over the world and have visited each other in Italy and The Netherlands. However, we had met last in 1991 so we had a lot to talk. Time flied and we had to say goodbye too soon but not after we had promised to maintain contact.

The following days we have visited Ellis Island, where the immigrants set foot on American soil for the first time, the Statue of Liberty and, of course, we held a pilgrimage to “Ground Zero” where a new WTC is being built. Of course we have walked the streets of Manhattan until our feet hurt and our necks were stiff.
On Wednesday, 7 October we fly with Continental Airlines to Buenos Aires where we are scheduled to arrive on Thursday morning at 9 o'clock.