Polas on the Go

Uruguay

Uruguay is so far what we consider the best kept secret of our trip.  A country about the same size as Washington State with 3 million beautiful people…I am not kidding-the beaches stretch for miles and you can walk without seeing anyone else.  We were in La Paloma-a sleepy town that filled up (by their standards) during this carnival week-the beaches were full of mate’ drinking people in their string bikinis.  We visited several of the neighboring towns and it was refreshing to find these quaint, starbucks-free beach spots. This is an incredible area where you can swim while seeing dolphins not far behind you and also where the people clap and chant "Uruguay! Uruguay!" as the sun sets into the horizon.

                

  
    
   
                            
                 
                                   

Carnival was going on while we were there.  The parade was hilarious as it worked its way down the street, people (kids primarily) would shoot this “puma” silly string/shaving cream stuff at all the participants.  The poor beauty queens on their float were bombarded with the stuff. Apparently, everyone is fair game!
 
                

Our “guide” throughout the whole affair was Gaston.  He helped us find a place to stay, gave the kids a two hour morning spanish class and set up their surfing lessons for the afternoon.  He went out of his way to show us the "backroads" of the area, teach us how to clam, make empanadas and the ways of the locals.  He is an amazing guy with a great family who made our trip to La Paloma such a blast.
 
    

We also, we spent a "delicious" two nights at La Vigna Estancia (just outside of MonteVideo) where we roamed the outdoors, ate wonderful organic meals and were hosted by a delightful family.

     

                

Brock's dream meal ... lunch served to him in a car!! (Colonia del Sacramento)

      

Glaciers Galore!

When we arrived at the Calafate airport we thought that there would be nothing for miles; just like Bariloche. I wouldn’t call Calafate a city but I wouldn’t call it a ghost town like Bariloche airport seemed to be. 

I thought the glaciers would be a mountain full of snow that moved slowly. The glacier actually turned out to be a huge block of ice stretching for miles and miles.  All together we saw two glaciers. The first one, the Perito Moreno Glacier, is one of the last growing glaciers in Patagonia.  The second one we saw, the Upsala Glacier, is the biggest in the area.

      

                    

                     

We learned a ton about glaciers. Here are some of the facts:

• A glacier moves slowly in the direction of a lake.
• 90% of the glacier is under water so you only see 10% of it.
• The more compact (and the less amount of air bubbles) the more blue the glacier looks.
• The blue color that we see is actually a reflection of light.
• Glaciers and pack ice contain approximately 75% of the world’s fresh water: more than all lakes and rivers, groundwater and water in the atmosphere, combined!
• Ten percent of the Earth’s land area is covered by glaciers.
• If all glaciers melted, sea level would rise about 230 feet.

      

      
                  

When we were at the Perito Moreno Glacier, we saw a gigantic piece of the glacier fall off. It was incredible to be there and watch the pieces fall and hear all the noises of the ice hitting the water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjrq4VSMSlY (14 seconds)

 

             

Hopefully, you can get a feel for how huge the glaciers are by these three pictures below.  My Grandma and I are standing in the same spot for each picture and the glacier just keeps going and going.

     

We also went to Estancia Cristina during our glacier tour. I can't imagine living in the middle of nowhere like they did!

                   

After hearing so much about glaciers, it was really cool to see them in person. Especially, with Weezie and Mike!

Fishing, Horseback Riding and Rafting in and around Bariloche (By Gavin)

    

   

                                                       

   

We went to Paso Flores (an Estancia which is basically a giant ranch) and it has so many things to do. We only stayed there two nights, though. I was really excited about fishing. We went in the afternoon. We drove over to the fishing area. On the way we passed awesome mountains, a beautiful view and some petrified wood.  Petrified wood is like wood that has been sitting there for a long time and turns into rock.  

      

We walked to the fishing area of the lake and we did lots and lots of throws.  Instead of “lazy man fishing” we kept on throwing it, reeling it in, throwing it, reeling it in, throwing it….  We came at the afternoon and Dad always told me about fishing that they want to be fed in the morning or at dinnertime, not in the afternoon.  We kept on reeling it and my hand hurt so I took a break. Right when I was going down, Mom said “Nate come over here” in a whisper. She found a fish…an actual fish… that was dead.  I think Mom wanted to put it on a hook and say “look what Nate caught, look what Nate caught”  But then Dad came over and said, “What are you screaming about?” and then he looked at the fish and it was too late to trick him. 

While I was taking my break, Mom and I were looking for all different colored rocks that we liked. We found at least twenty that we liked and then we put them in the water and they were even cooler.

                                                       

When Brock opened the backpack he was trying to look for crackers. All of Dad’s papers were blowing into the ocean and I had to go get them all… it was freezing… lucky for me. (Yes, that’s sarcastic.) Time was up and we didn’t get any fish but it was okay.

A little bit afterwards we went swimming and then we went  on my favorite horseback ride ever.   It was a big horse, not the little puny ones I usually ride. It was big and the real deal. We started going and it was really bumpy but fun. We passed so many animals – a bunch of sheep that were separate but if you say “bunch” really loud, they all come together. We also saw horses, cows and alpacas.  One of the sheep bunch had a black sheep. The guide said look at that black sheep over there. We cannot use the wool. If we find even one little strain of black wool, we can’t use it. But, it is good for the sheep’s protection.  We rode all over the mountains, up top and passed some huge rocks and were basically in the middle of nowhere.

Second fishing trip:  We went over and asked the guide, can we go fishing now? He said, “Well, I was just going to check my computer to see when it would be the best time to go fishing”. He went to check his computer and said “how about 6:30” so we planned on that. We went home, relaxed until 6:30 and then we got all our stuff and went into the boat. The man asked if we wanted to bring the dog. He said he didn’t really care because he brings it every time. We said yes and the dog jumped on to the boat from the dock.  

He started going slowly in the boat at first and then he started going super fast. The wind was blowing my hair and then he actually taught us how to fish. (Not like Paso Flores.) It was fun because we didn’t have to fish, reel it in, fish, reel it in. We just did lazy man fishing.  He showed us how to do it and started going slowly.  We were hanging out, relaxing and then he told us if we hear the screeching sound that means the fish pulled and the dog goes crazy. We did it once to test if the dog really goes crazy and the dog jumped up.  We were hanging back, relaxing…. and we heard a screeeech…. I didn’t hear it but everybody else did. I jumped up (because everyone else was) and ran to the fishing pole and started reeling it in. It was hard so I let Dad help. We kept on reeling it in. I couldn’t see it and they said “look!”  it was huge. Bigger than any fish I have ever seen in San Francisco. And the first one I have caught since I was really little.  It was 3 kilos… almost 7 pounds!!   Fishing in Bariloche on the boat was a blast (of air)! 

                        

                                                 

   

Rafting....

Mike and Weezie came to visit and we went rafting. It was really cool and I got used to the paddling and the rythm of the water. I liked the rapids the most and here are some of my favorite rapids: "Sambo" where when you went down the rapid you twirled the boat into circles. I liked it because we went around and around and we got kind of dizzy. I liked the "hippo" too. It was a three level rapid and I got splashed a lot.  At the end, we had a dessert and it was biscuits with jelly and the biscuits were really good.

 
  

 

Bariloche Highlights (By Nate)

When we first arrived at the Bariloche airport (in Patagonia/Argentina) we looked out the window and saw nothing but trees… and dirt.  I thought we would be sleeping in a tent camping for the next month and be really bored with nobody around.  We drove for about an hour until we actually saw the town. It was beautiful because it was on the lakeside.   Right now, we are just finishing being here for a month and here are the highlights of Bariloche:

"Colonias del Verano” (Summer Camp) –   There are a lot of nice kids here.   It is a sports camp where you play sports all day. They have a rock wall, a pool, tennis courts, futbol Americano and futbol (soccer), a giant gym, etc.  The kids are all from either Argentina or Chile. The Chileans come to Bariloche to visit.   (In Argentina they use “vos” instead of tu which they use most other places.)   We are the only people from the United States at the camp.  I learned a lot of new games that I can bring back to share with my friends.  Some of the games are really fun because they are the kind of games that you usually play in gym class.  The pool… we do laps…and more laps…and some more laps and then it’s lunch time.  And then more laps. I am serious!   The house… the kids at the camp are also making a project building a houseout of branches and sticks and leaves.   Some of the older kids don’t like it so they try to destroy it but the leaves cover it up and it usually moves from place to place every day. The rock wall…  great for climbing.  The counselors…  so much fun!  
 
  
  
“Casa Numa” – The best place to stay in Bariloche!   

 

It was our favorite place to stay because it is in the middle of nature.  There are about twelve cabins and each one of them, almost every time has kids to play with.  The manager, Gabi,  lives right in one of the cabins and she is really nice. She has two kids and since we arrived they got a new dog and two new rabbits.   Everyone has been interested in American Football. The cabins also serve dinner which is really good. The chef comes around every evening to take our order.  I usually order the raviolis.  The new dogs name is Numa so that’s why we call it “Casa Numa”. We have been to so many houses lately that we like to give them nicknames.  
            
                                   

                                               

       

Playing in Nature - We went on lots of hikes here in Bariloche because, how could you not? Everywhere  you turn there is nature and it is amazing how much space there is. There are thousands of hikes with waterfalls and lakes and great views. Or, you can also take a chairlift but that ruins the point because you are supposed to walk up.  (On the really high ones you have to take a chairlift, though.) We also went kayaking on one of the beaches.  The sky is the bluest I have ever seen!!

                     
                             

    

 

  

 

 

  

 

     

 “Spanish in Bariloche” - Every morning we woke up at 7:30 to go to spanish school at 8:30. We made it as early as we could so we could get to the summer camp as soon as we could. The teachers were really nice and we learned a lot.

                                                                 

Bariloche has been very different from what I thought it would be when  we got off the plane.   Bariloche was a very fun part of this trip . I think the reason is because I stayed for awhile and got to know so many people.  I feel lucky that I have so many friends around the world and I will hopefully be able to see them again soon.