(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part X - On the (Patagonian) Lamb

So, after our full day excursion experience, we were back to half days, preferably not too draining half days.  GG left me to take an experienced horseback ride through the country while I went on the “easy” animal hike – some ups and downs while we observed guanacas, flamigos, rheas, and possibly a puma in their natural environs.  We would then rendez-vous at the estancia for a traditional Patagonian lamb bbq – I was very much looking forward to this.

That "easy" hike - not so easy!  Not contemplated in that intensity level assignment was the 120 km/hr winds blowing that day.  However, miraculously, this was the only hike of our stay where I did not take a fall!  We did spot all of the animals cited, except for the elusive puma.

Here are some of the highlights…

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part IX - Bringing the Paine!

We awoke for our first full day excursion – we were cocky after our Ferrier triumph and opted for the most difficult full day hike offered – the famous French Valley continuing up to “The Plateau.”

Our group included the NJ family as well as a young lawyer couple from NY who were around our age and very friendly.  They live on the UWS and have a one year old son who’s home with the nanny and parents.

There was a 45 minute van ride to a lake where we then took a 40 minute boat ride to our point of departure.  I put our pack on my back (not so light!) and we were off.  We began our day in full long johns and then the sun came out.  It was brutal.  During our first stop we stripped down to just trekking pants.

This outfit was short-lived - GG would not be seen even in the middle of nowhere with me looking like that.

The hike to the plateau was long.  Very long. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part VIII - Conquering the Paine!

We awoke early and after a quick breakfast we headed off with Miguel, our guide, and only two other guests – a couple from San Diego – who also had the guts to sign up for Ferrier - the difficult hike, day 1, morning 1.  We found out soon along the hike that both of them are actually quite fit, marathoner/equestrians.  Yet, somehow, GG and I kept up the pace.  The first part of the hike was steep and rocky and afforded us amazing views of the icebergs that broke off the gray glacier.  

yes - those are icebergs - just the tips...

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part VII - Torres del Paine - Explora Patagonia!

Finally, we were en route to Explora Patagonia – one of the most anticipated highlights of our trip.  A 5 star resort set in the middle of the Torres del Paine national park – one of the most untouched areas of deep Patagonia.  It seemed like the perfect blend of adventure and pure pampering.  The only question was would it live up to our expectations?

And the answer, quite simply, was yes.  In fact, I’d say it even crept a bit past our expectations.

Our driver to the Chilean border, Patric, was extremely nice.  By coincidence, he is a professional guide as well, so his English was perfect and he pointed out interesting wildlife spottings along the way, including hares, guanacas, reas and even pink flamingos!  The journey was not a short one – about a  4 hour car ride to the first border and then a short journey in no-man’s-land – a very strange 10km stretch where we were neither in Argentina nor Chile – until we reached Chile and our Explora transfer point.

Straddling the border...

We arrived a bit early, but the Explora van was already there waiting so we rendezvoused in a coffee shop while the others arrived at the border.  From that moment onwards, we were taken under the Explora wing…

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part VI - El Calafate

We awoke early this morning to catch our flight to El Calafate.  We did not spend too much time doing any homework on this destination except that we knew it was Explora’s recommended transfer site in order to get to the hotel in Torres del Paine.  So, we booked a room at the Design Suites Calafate (continuing our Design Suites tour from Bariloche) in hopes of having a relaxing afternoon there before continuing on our journey the next day to Explora.

The flight was quite easy and we collected our belongings and took a taxi to the hotel. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part V - Bariloche, continued! Conquering the Rainbows!

This morning our fly fishing guide, Nico, arrived at the hotel and whisked us off to our first ever fly-fishing expedition.  Along with his cousin, we hopped in their van, pulling along a raft and headed to the Limay River with a stop at the local convenience store to get our fishing licenses for the today.

Nico told us all about nymph versus dry flies (dry ones sit on the surface) and how 90% of the eating happens underwater which is why we’re using nymphs – to maximize our chances of landing a fish.  At minimum, he hoped we’d get at least 2 strikes by the end of our half day together.  Our expectations were appropriately set.

We put on our gear and set out near the mouth of the river, the outflow of Nahuel that headed to the Atlantic Ocean.

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part IV - Bariloche

We checked out of the Sheraton Iguazu yesterday morning with a pleasant surprise - they found my memory card totally unscathed!  Well, almost totally unscathed as we discovered later.  Strangely enough there was one new picture on the card and we weren't too thrilled with the location of the photo but we'll pretend it was some innocent moment that just happened to happen while viewing our memory card in someone else's camera hovering near a toilet in the Iguazu Sheraton.

Very avant-garde photography skills...

We had a connection through our favorite airport - Newberry Airport - the domestic BA airport where we spent much too much time trying to get to Iguazu.  At least on this go around we got corrent information and found wi-fi, some good wine, and a pretty solid empanada.

Our flight to Bariloche proceeded smoothly and we headed out to our hotel, The Design Suites Hotel, just outside of the city center.