Villa La Angostura e uma pitada de San Carlos de Bariloche – Argentina

               Villa La Angostura encontra-se cerca de 80 km ao norte de Bariloche. Para chegar até lá de ônibus desde o aeroporto de Bariloche primeiramente é preciso chegar ao terminal de ônibus da cidade, que fica a cerca de 10 quilômetros de distância. Pode-se ir de ônibus público, que passa de 1 em 1 hora e custa 7 pesos (menos de 1 dólar), de van (65 pesos), ou de táxi (150 pesos). Do terminal sai um ônibus para Villa La Angostura que custa 60 pesos e sai a cada 2 ou 3 horas, por isso recomenda-se verificar os horários com antecedência. Na verdade, o ideal seria visitar Bariloche antes de ir para La Angostura porque lá é possível trocar dinheiro mais facilmente e por uma taxa de câmbio melhor. Cada dólar pode ser trocado por 13 pesos no mercado paralelo, em vez de 8 pesos no oficial (o mesmo acontece com o real: 5 pesos por real no mercado paralelo em vez de 3.3 no oficial). Portanto, tente levar o máximo de dólares ou reais para trocar lá!

            Villa La Angostura é uma cidadezinha bem pequena, calma e graciosa. Os grandes e mansos cães de rua, ou que têm dono, nunca se sabe, são definitivamente uma característica que chama atenção na vila.

Os festeiros provavelmente não ficarão satisfeitos com a vida noturna local, e a melhor chance de divertimento para eles seria conhecer gente e tentar sair em grupo, ou passar um tempo em albergues estudantis. Um deles é o agradável Hostel La Angostura que fica perto do terminal de ônibus (aproximadamente 10 minutos a pé) e custa 150 pesos por dia. Com uma ampla sala de estar comunitária, TV de tela grande, mesa de bilhar, dardos, mesa de ping pong, churrasqueira, etc., os quartos são limpos diariamente e os empregados super simpáticos. Foi lá que Débora reencontrou um amigo americano, Mike, que não via há anos e com quem desfrutou deliciosas refeições e fernet com coca.

            Cerro Bayo é a montanha local para se fazer snowboard e esquiar, a qual é simples, menor e um pouco mais barata que Cerro Catedral, em Bariloche.

            Devido às condições de neve serem bastante imprevisíveis nessa região da Patagônia argentina, Débora não recomenda comprar um passe semanal no caso de a neve no Cerro Bayo não estar boa. Além disso, porque Bayo é uma montanha pequena, comprar um passe de 3 a 5 dias teria sido suficiente, e é o que teria feito se tivesse pesquisado melhor! Ela ficou remoendo a decisão de ter comprado um passe de 7 dias por um bom tempo antes de se conformar. Assim, também poderia ter feito snowboard nas montanhas próximas, como a Catedral e Chapelco, ambas cerca de 100 km de distância, sem disperdícios. A mesma regra aplica-se para essas montanhas.

           

            Cerro Bayo encontra-se cerca de 9 km do centro da cidade e este ano não disponibilizaram transporte público para chegar lá, dessa forma, as opções eram ou tomar uma van por 100 pesos a viagem ida-e-volta, ou pedir carona até lá. Débora utilizou a van somente um dia dos 12 que esteve na Villa, nos outros, ela facilmente conseguiu carona até a base onde se encontra a vila de esqui.

           

            Se você não é muito chegado a esportes de inverno, Villa também tem muitas outras coisas para oferecer. A paisagem é maravilhosa e é possível desfrutar de belas caminhadas, andar de bicicleta, visitar os lagos e cachoeiras. A trilha que vai até o famoso Parque Arrayanes se inicia no porto da Villa. A melhor forma de conhecer mais lugares e curtir a natureza é utilizando uma bicicleta. Débora acabou fazendo tudo a pé já que tinha bastante tempo, mas de certa forma se arrepende de ter caminhado até o Lago Espejo (12 km do centro da cidade, em cada sentido) porque havia algumas outras coisas no caminho que poderia ter conhecido em um único dia de bicicleta.

           

            O centro da cidade tem muitas lojas de equipamento para alugar que oferecem ótimo atendimento, e Débora escolheu Bayo Abajo (ao lado do terminal de ônibus da Villa) por causa do melhor atendimento ao cliente e preço. Lá você será muito bem atendido por Javier e Victor e conseguir uma boa pechincha em equipamento.

            A estadia de menos de 2 dias em Bariloche não foi suficiente para fazer muita coisa.

 Há MUITOS brasileiros lá e por isso recebeu o apelido BRASILoche. Lá, ela visitou a vila de esqui na base do Cerro Catedral que conta com uma excelente infraestrutura, e até tem uma construção estilo shopping center que dá acesso a um dos teleféricos. Subir o Cerro Campanário, o que ela altamente recomenda, custa 100 pesos de teleférico, ou é gratuito se decidir subir a pé por cerca de 30 minutos. O cume presenteia o visitante com uma vista de 360º da região (algumas das vistas são: Cerro Tronador, Cerro Bayo, Península Llao Llao, Lago Nahuel Huapi, Lago Perito Moreno, etc).

            Em Brasiloche ela se hospedou no albergue Pudu por um dia (130 pesos). Com uma bela vista do lago, cozinha agradável, e funcionários simpáticos, Pudu é um bom lugar para ficar para aqueles que não se incomodam com construções mais antigas e banheiros compartidos. A hospedagem também fica bem perto da Cervejaria Antares que tem bons preços no happy hour e boa clientela, contudo a cerveja não é das melhores.

DICAS:

• È melhor comprar um passe de 3 dias alternados para que não precise usar todos os dias de uma vez, assim, se não houver neve, você poderá procurar por ela em outro lugar.
• Certifique-se de não trocar mais dinheiro do que o necessário no seu país (pelo menos em se tratando dos EUA e do Brasil), porque o valor no mercado paralelo argentino é MUITO melhor e você poderá tornar sua viagem muito mais barata fazendo isso. Não é fácil encontrar esse valor paralelo na Villa, então faça isso com antecedência em Bariloche ou Buenos Aires.
• É fácil pedir carona da avenida/estrada principal (Arrayanes), logo que o centro acaba indo em direção ao Cerro Bayo (sul), e passando a pequena ponte que cruza um riacho.
• O supermercado La Anonyma (2 quarteirões do terminal de ônibus) é mais barato e tem muito mais opções de compras do que os outros mercados na avenida principal.

DESCABELOS:

• Não se pode contar com transporte público para subir até o Cerro Bayo, e o serviço de van é caro. 
• A trilha para o Parque Arrayanes estava fechada para reformas, por isso o único meio disponível para chegar ao parque era de barco.
• Pouquíssima neve, mesmo, esse ano.

Villa La Angostura and a taste of San Carlos de Bariloche – Argentina

              Villa La Angostura is located about 80 km North of Bariloche. To get there from Bariloche's airport by bus, you'll first have to get to the bus terminal which is about 10 kilometers away. You can take a public bus, which runs on the hour and costs 7 pesos (less than 1 dollar), a shuttle (65 pesos) or a cab (150 pesos). From the bus terminal there is a bus to Villa La Angostura which costs 60 pesos and runs every 2 or 3 hours so it's best to check the bus schedule beforehand. Actually, the ideal would be to go downtown Bariloche before heading up to Villa because that is where you can exchange money more easily and for a higher rate. It's possible to get 13 pesos for 1dollar in the grey market instead of exchanging it for the official rate of 8 pesos for 1 dollar (the same goes for Brazilian reals: 5 pesos each real in the grey market, instead of 3.3 at the official rate). So, try to take as many dollars, or reals, and exchange it there!

            Villa La Angostura is a very small town; it is quiet and cute. Big and friendly stray, or owned dogs,  one can't really tell, are definitely a remarkable feature of this town.

            Party rats will probably not be satisfied with the local night life, and the best bet would be meeting people and trying to go out as a group or hang out at a hostel. There is a very nice hostel near the bus terminal (about a 10 minute walk) called Hostel La Angostura which costs 150 pesos a day. It has a large living room, a big TV set, pool table, darts, ping pong table, grill, etc., the rooms are cleaned daily and the staff is super friendly. It was there that Débora met her American friend, Mike, who she hadn't seen for years and with whom she enjoyed some nice meals and fernet+coke.

            Cerro Bayo, the local mountain for snowboarding and skiing, is low key, smaller and a little cheaper than Cerro Catedral in Bariloche.

            Because the snow conditions are very unpredictable in this Argentinian Patagon area, Débora does not recommend buying a week pass if the snow in Cerro Bayo is not good. Also, because Cerro Bayo is a small mountain, getting a 3 or 5 day pass should be enough, and she would have done it if she had known better! She was mulling over the fact that she had bought a 7 day pass for a while before coming to terms with herself. That would have allowed her to ride other nearby mountains also, such as Catedral and Chapelco, both of them located about 100 km away, without waste. The same rule applies for the later mountains.

Cerro Bayo is about 9 km from the town and this year there were no public buses up there, so one could either take a 100 pesos shuttle service round trip, or hitchhike. Débora took the van only one day out of the 12 days she stayed in Villa, the others she easily hitchhiked up to the mountain.

            If you're not into winter sports, there are a lot to do in Villa also. The scenery is wonderful and you can enjoy beautiful hikes, ride a bike, stroll around lakes and walk up to waterfalls. The trail head leading to the famous Arrayanes Park is located at the Villa's port. The best way to visit more places and enjoy nature is by bike. Débora ended up doing everything on foot because she was there long enough, but she somewhat regrets going to Lake Espejo on foot (12 km from downtown each way) because she could've seen a lot more stuff on the way by bike.

            Downtown has a lot of gear rental shops with great service, and Débora chose Bayo Abajo (right next to the town's bus terminal) for the best customer service and prices. There you''ll be very well taken care of by Javier and Victor and get good deals on your gear.

            The less than 2 day stay in Bariloche wasn’t enough time to do a whole lot.

The place has many Brazilians, therefore it has been nicknamed BRAZiloche. She visited the ski village at the bottom of Cerro Catedral which has great infrastructure; it even has a shopping mall looking building which gives access to one of the gondolas. The highly recommended visit to Cerro Campanario costs 100 pesos if you take the chairlift, or free if you choose to walk up about 30 minutes. The summit provides the visitor with a 360º view of the area (some of the sights are Cerro Tronador, Cerro Bayo, Llao Llao peninsula, Nahuel Huapi Lake, Perito Moreno Lake, etc).

            In Braziloche she stayed at Pudu hostel for 1 night (130 pesos daily fee). It has a good lake view, kitchen, and cool staff Pudu is a good place to stay if you don't mind old buildings and shared bathrooms. It is also very close to Antares Brewery which has good happy hour deals and a good crowd; however the beer isn't that good.

           

           

TIPS:

•  it's best to buy a 3 day alternate pass so you don't have to use all of it at the same time, so if there is no snow now, you can seek for it elsewhere.

•   make sure to not exchange more money than needed in your country (at least in the US and Brazil), because the rates at the grey market in Argentina are MUCH better, and you could make your trip much less costly by doing that. It's not that easy to get the unofficial rate in Villa, so do it beforehand in Bariloche or Buenos Aires.

•    It's easy to hitchhike from the main street/road (Arrayanes), right after downtown ends towards Cerro Bayo (south), passing the small bridge that goes over a creek.

• La Anonyma supermarket (2 blocks from the bus terminal) is cheaper and has a lot more options to buy groceries than the other grocery stores in the main road.

TROUBLES:

• can't count on public buses to go up to Cerro Bayo, and the shuttle service is expensive.

• Arrayanes Park trail was closed for maintenance so only the boat ride to the park was available.

• Very very very little snow this year.

           

Update on “Crossing the Americas”

As you can see, there has been a long time since the last blog was posted. That's because the only and original idea of this blog was to post how Débora and Pat's trip crossing the Americas would be.

As the journey ended, there was no reason to keep writing here. However, they don't ever wanna stop traveling, so a new era of Crossing the Americas starts now.

From this date on, there will be posts about other trips, a lot shorter than the original one, but that could also be helpful at some extent for people planning on going to such places.

Hopefully, there will be plenty!

Thank you!

PS. For checking information about their trip across the Americas please see posts up to 2011.

Atualização do “Crossing the Americas”

Como vocês devem ter notado, faz um tempão desde que o último blog foi publicado. Isso deve-se ao fato de que a única e original ideia deste blog era de informar como a viagem que Débora e Pat fizeram pelas Américas seria. Como a jornada acabou, não havia razão para continuar escrevendo aqui. Mas como eles nunca vão querer parar de viajar, uma nova era de “Crossing the Americas” começa agora.

A partir de hoje haverá postagens a respeito de outras viagens, muito mais breves que a original, mas que também podem ser de certa utilidade para aqueles que planejam visitar tais lugares.

Esperemos que sejam numerosas!

Obrigado!

Obs.: Para obter informação a respeito da viagem pelas Américas, favor ler as postagens de até 2011.

Overview

Pat and Debora

Names and ages:
Pat Harwood 28
Debora Lima 29

Hometowns:
Pat - Lake Tahoe, California
Debora - Sao Paulo, Brasil

When did you start your travels?
We left Lake Tahoe in early October 2010 and arrived in Sao Paulo almost exactly 5 months later after visiting every country of the connected Americas excluding Canada, Paraguay, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname.

Reason for taking this trip:
We both love adventure. Debora wanted to return home ending her travels with a bang, and accompanying her was an opportunity Pat couldn´t resist.

Why did you decide to drive?
We value independence. I guess we also enjoy living out of our car on the streets cooking curbside meals on the tailgate, or maybe its just our wallets that enjoy it.

Are you also taking along pets?
Yes, Pat´s beloved Video Camera which demands a lot of attention.

What type of car are you driving?
1998 4x4 Toyota Tacoma with 4 cylinder 2.7 liter engine.

Did you make any modifications to your car for this trip?
To Pat´s truck, we ourselves installed an air conditioning system, a sliding rear window for access to the truck-bed, constructed a bed in the back with storage underneath and a "secret compartment" with a tricky hidden locking mechanism, secret locks to the back, a hidden kill-switch to the fuel pump, and other miscellaneous goodies. These modifications gave us confidence when leaving our car and belongings unattended for extended periods of time (sometimes days), and although we were never robbed during our journey, it was probably overkill. We also had new tires mounted onto our rims. Something we regret not adding was another leaf-spring to the rear suspension. Our fully loaded truck bottomed out on many of the thousands of speed-bumps along the way. Our ball-joints were also shot before we left Mexico,
but we didn´t replace them. The final month and a half of the trip was spent with a failing power steering pump too. We punctured three tires along the way while driving on dirt/stony roads.

How did you save up or finance your trip?
For almost a year, we both worked and lived cheaply cooking for ourselves, rarely going out to eat, and almost never drinking at bars.  We also sold some belongings. After preparation costs, we spent about $6,000 each during the 5 month trip, most of which went towards gasoline.

How long do you plan on traveling?
We´re done, but Pat still has to figure out what to do with the car here in Brazil and decide how and when he´ll return home.

What were your family’s and friends’ reactions when you told them about your trip before you left?
Most of them thought it was a crazy dangerous idea. Some people recommended we bring guns. The common perception of Latin America in the U.S. is absolutely distorted to an extreme of fear and distrust. However, friends and family who have traveled in parts of Latin America were much more supportive and realistic. On the other hand, we did hear true stories from several friends who had friends who had been violently robbed at roadblocks and even sexually assaulted. In
Colombia we also met one traveler who, with his family, was stopped by masked gunned teenagers while driving at night in Guatemala, and then they were tied up and robbed. But in a weird way these extreme risks, though rare, were part of the adventure which allured us.

Did you speak Spanish before you left your home country? How much Spanish?
Pat studied Spanish for 4 semesters in high school and had already traveled several times to Spanish speaking countries, so his ability was mediocre and improved somewhat throughout the trip. Debora, who´s native language is Portuguese (very similar to Spanish), speaks quite well even though she only studied the language for one semester in college. She did most of the talking.

Do you have a favorite place or country that you have visited during your trip?

Its really hard to pick a favorite, but we do have some favorite spots we visited:
Mexico - The Yucatan Peninsula with its cenotes and beautiful caribbean water.
Guatemala - Semuc Champey was one of the most unique and beautiful
places we´ve ever seen.
Costa Rica - We loved the many hot springs and waterfalls keeping us
clean as we bummed our way across the country.
Ecuador - Was one of our all around favorite countries with cheap
travel costs, friendly people, and few road checkpoints.
Peru - The Cordillera Blanca driving up high dirt roads with great
views of the mountains.
Chile - The Carretera Austral was very beautiful.
Argentina - The Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre were our favorite mountains
we´ve ever seen.

What was the weirdest thing you experienced on your trip?
In Nicaragua we chose to take a long 4x4 road as a scenic route along the coast to San Juan Del Sur. It turned into a near disaster. After driving for hours over technical rocky terrain, the road became extremely muddy, but we chose to press on. We got stuck for about 7 hours in the mud digging our way out with our bare hands until 2:00 a.m. Up ahead it continued to challenge us, and we got stuck a few more times. Exhausted, we slept a few hours in the car in the middle of the jungle. The following day we continued along in this precarious fashion but received some help from a couple local villagers who told us we were the first to pass the road that year.
Eventually we made it but the car suffered.

What was the worst border crossing?
The Darien Gap was the most difficult for us. We were lucky enough to share a container with Lacey and Luiz (from The Lost World Expedition) with the help of this website. Things went well at first but became stressful as the late torrential rainy season, which even closed the Panama Canal for the third time in history, caused bad flooding in Colon. On the day we needed to load our car onto the ship, the aduana´s computer system wasn´t working, so that delayed things and made the situation very urgent. Also, the plane tickets to Cartagena were more expensive than usual because it was near the holiday season, so the money we were all saving with the container share just went to the plane tickets. But on the bright side the whole process went
about as fast as it can, so we didn´t have to wait around too many extra days. The second worse border for us was entering Argentina from Bolivia where they required proof of car insurance but didn´t offer it at the border. We spent about 9 hours searching for options and eventually got lucky with a little online insurance printout that one apathetic border official chose to accept.

Do you have any advice for others who may be considering driving the Americas?
Its definitely a great experience. Having a car that you can sleep in saves a lot of money in the wealthier countries. We only payed twice to park our car in campground. Mostly we parked on streets that appeared safe, and when those weren´t available we payed for rooms. We also enjoyed the pay-by-the-hour motels found throughout Latin America. Not only were they often cheap and luxurious, but they always came with a private covered garage where we could work on the car or reorganize our belongings, and sometimes they came with a gratuity beer. Our two little backpacking stoves were very handy for cooking. Some things that we would have done differently include: Using a vehicle with a diesel engine which would reduce fuel costs (by far the
biggest cost for us). With a bigger budget we could have stayed longer in countries and seen some extra attractions that we chose to skip. We could have traveled even lighter, leaving a few more belongings behind. This would have reduced the headache of organizing sometimes.

Would you do it again?
Yes and No. We enjoyed our method of travel, but we wouldn´t take on a trip as large again without getting payed for it.
Do you have a blog or a website describing your trip?
www.crossingtheamericas.blogspot.com

BRASIL

A fronteira mais fácil de se cruzar nessa viagem foi a do Uruguai com o Brasil. Nåo havia filas, corrupcao, tampouco inspeçöes. Os oficiais brasileiros simplesmente verificaram os passaportes e levaram poucos minutos para conceder a permissåo temporária de importaçåo do carro. Dalí, Pat e Débora continuaram em direcao ao norte e passaram sua primeira noite perto de Pelotas, às margens da Lagoa dos Patos. Eles nadaram na enorme lagoa e fizeram o jantar na traseira do carro, depois, passearam pela cidade à noite antes de dormirem no carro de mil e uma utilidades. Fizeram café-da-manhå e, como sempre, sentaram no carro para comer e tomar seu copo quentinho de café, enquanto observavam os residentes da área passeando pelo calçadåo da praia. Cerca de 1 pessoa entre cada 3, voltava sua cabeça confusamente ao ver a placa de carro da California.

Depois de passarem direto por Porto Alegre, continuaram subindo as montanhas por estradas curvas e florestas vicosas. As próximas paradas foram Gramado e Canela, duas cidades turísticas charmosas com influência escandinavia prevalecente. Eles dormiram em Gramado e no dia seguinte visitaram ambas as cidades admirando sua arquitetura europeia, depois, voltaram a costa visando chegar a Florianopolis. A tarde, comecaram a cruzar a grande ponte ligando o continente a ilha e logo estacionaram em uma das vizinhancas de surfe mais tranquilas no sul da ilha para passar a noite. Visitaram varias praias lindas pela manha. Uma delas incluiu uma trilha de alguns quilometros pela Mata Atlantica antes de chegar ao isolado trecho de areia onde um mar bravo proporcionou com que Pat fizesse manobras excitante pegando ondas com o corpo. Ao regressarem da caminhada, almocaram em um restaurante frente a praia onde Pat experimentou pela primeira vez um buffet brasileiro. Continuaram ao norte da ilha ate a famosa praia da Joaquina onde Pat encontrou a primeira praia cheia de bundas brasileiras. Ficaram na ilha uma noite mais, visitaram mais praias e suas vizinhancas, e depois voltaram ao continente onde continuaram fazendo a mesma coisa a caminho do norte pela costa.

Por hora, satisfeitos com a aventura pelas praias, dirigiram ao interior para ver uma cidade chamada Blumenau. Eles visitaram sua Vila Germanica e compraram deliciosas cervejas ales da cervejaria (suas primeiras cervejas "de verdade" desde que sairam de San Diego, E.U.A.). A parada seguinte era Ilha do Mel, uma pequena ilha perto da costa que se alcanca depois de uma curta viagem de barco saindo de Pontal do Sul. Deixaram o carro em Pontal e tomaram o barco para a ilha, onde caminharam todo o dia, visitando atracoes como o forte historico, vilas nas selvas e mais praias.

Depois disso, chegaram a cidade de Curitiba onde Debora tinha um casal de amigos que ofereceu sua casa para que eles descansassem. Andrea, Andre e seu filho Ian mimaram Debora e Patrick com muita comida deliciosa, bebidas, banhos e seu proprio quarto de dormir (o primeiro desde a Bolivia e depois de 35 noites dormindo no carro). Devido a ótima companhia e acomodaçöes ficou difícil para os viajantes partirem, por isso ficaram ali 4 dias curtindo sua estadia. Um jornalista conhecido de Andre e Andrea ofereceu a Deb e Pat uma entrevista sobre sua viagem no canal Record de Curitiba antes de eles continuarem sua viagem (altamente influenciada pela tia de Débora, Sirley). Eles aceitaram o convite com satisfaçåo e tambem tiveram a oportunidade de ir à emissora para colocar as imagens que Pat fez da viagem no video e também sua música, na entrevista. Fizeram a entrevista no último dia que ficaram em Curitiba depois partiram para Såo Paulo, dando àdeus a seus encantadores anfitriöes.

Entrevista para a rede de televisåo brasileira Record Parana

No dia 4 de março de 2011, depois de 147 dias na estrada e cerca de 37.000 kilômetros no carro, Debora e Pat entraram em uma das maiores cidades do mundo: Såo Paulo. Perto da meia-noite eles adentraram a Zona Leste da cidade, de onde Débora é e onde sua família a vinha esperando por 6 anos. Sua måe e irmåozinho foram os primeiros a recebê-los na porta do apartamento. Abraços e beijos dados, e muitos mais seguiram nos próximos dias conforme os muitos familiares e amigos davam as boas vindas ao casal com feijoada, caipirinha, churrasco entre outros. Também era época de carnaval, entåo todos estavam de folga. Isso marcou o fim de uma aventura única nas vidas de Débora e Patrick.

Obs.: Bom, mais ou menos...ainda há algumas coisas a serem esclarecidas. Mas a VIAGEM NA ESTRADA acabou oficialmente. Porém, ainda existe pelo menos mais uma postagem por vir.

BRAZIL

Crossing into Brazil from Uruguay was the easiest border of the trip.  There were no lines, no corruption, and no inspections.  The Brazilian officials just looked at the passports and took a few minutes to issue a vehicle import permit.  From there Pat and Debora headed north and spent their first night near Pelotas on the shore of Lagoa Dos Patos.  They swam in the giant lagoon and cooked a meal on the tailgate, then strolled around town at night before climbing into the back of the truck to sleep.  In the morning they cooked breakfast in the same fashion then sat drinking cups of coffee in the car and watched locals passing by on the beachside walkway.  About 1 out of every 3 people turned their heads in confusion and awe when they noticed the front California license plate.

MOUNTAIN TOWNS

CANELA

GOTHIC CHURCH

After driving north past Porto Alegre, they headed up into the hills winding their way through beautiful lush jungle scenery.  The next stops were Gramado and Canela, two charming tourist towns with prevalent Scandinavian influences.  Pat and Deb slept in Gramado then toured both towns the following day admiring the European architecture, then they returned to the coast with their sights set on Florianopolis.  By afternoon they were crossing the large bridge over onto the island and soon parked for the night in one of the little surf towns on the southern end.  They visited several beautiful beaches in the morning.  One involved a hike for several miles through the jungle before arriving on an isolated stretch of sand where the wild surf offered Pat some thrilling rides on his belly.  After hiking back to town, they bought lunch at a beachfront restaurant where Pat got his first taste of Brazilian buffet.  Then they made their way north along the island to the famous Praia Da Joaquina where Pat got his first view of a beach full of Brazilian butts.  They spent one more night on the island, visited a few more beaches and towns, and then crossed back to the mainland where they did more of the same as they headed north along the coast.  

FLORIANOPOLIS

SHORT HIKE TO THIS DESERTED BEAUTIFUL BEACH

FISHING BOATS

Satisfied with their beach adventure for the time being, they drove inland again to check out a town called Blumenau.  There they visited its Germanic Village and bought delicious ales from the brewery (their first "real" beers since San Diego U.S.A.).  Next stop was Ilha Do Mel, a small island off the coast requiring a short ferry ride from the town of Pontal Do Sul.  They left the car in town, hopped on a boat, and headed for the island where they hiked around visiting attractions such as the historic fort, jungle villages, and more beaches.   

LAGOA DA CONCEIÇÅO

BLUMENAU

FIRST DELICIOUS BEERS IN A WHILE

Next came the city of Curitiba where Debora had friends who offered them a place to stay.  Andrea, Andre, and their son Ian spoiled Deb and Pat rotten with delicious food, drink, showers, and a bedroom (their first in 35 nights since Bolivia).  With such great company and accommodations it was hard to leave, so they stayed for 4 nights enjoying their stay.  Before they left, Andrea, Andre and Sirley contacted a journalist friend who offered Pat and Debora an interview with the Curitiba news station Record TV regarding their long journey.  The offer was accepted with excitement.  They also got to visit the Record TV studio and transfer selected video from Pat's camera to add to the story.  On their last day in Curitiba they conducted the interview and then left for Sao Paulo after saying goodbye to their gracious hosts.
interview for the brazilian TV channel Record Parana

ILHA DO MEL - HONEY ISLAND IN THE SOUTH

WITH ANDRE

ANDREA, IAN AND SOME YUMMY SOUP

On March 4th 2011, after 147 days on the road, and about 24,500 miles on the car, Debora and Pat entered one of the largest cities in the world, Sao Paulo.  At about midnight they rolled into Debora's hood in the Zona Leste where her family had been waiting 6 years for her return.  Her mom and little brother were the first to greet them at the door of the apartment.  Hugs and kisses ensued, and many more preceded over the next few days as Debora's many family members welcomed them with Feijoada, Caiprinhas, BBQs and more.  It was Carnival as well, so everyone was on holiday.  This marked the end of Pat and Debora's adventure of a lifetime.  

P.S. Well kind of... there are still a bunch of  loose ends to tie up.  But THE ROAD-TRIP is officially over.  There will however be at least one more post to come.

CHAMPIONS' CARNIVAL PARADE

SIRLEY, DEBORA AN RAQUEL

BREAKING OF THE DAWN

URUGUAI

Chegar ao Uruguai foi um pouco complicado.

Enquanto Deb e Pat estavam na ultima cidade da Argentina decidiram gastar o restante dos pesos argentinos em compras para evitar a perda de dinheiro com conversao na fronteira. Eles so decidiram fazer isso depois de perguntar a um acougueiro do mercado e seu amigo se haveria mais pedagios no caminho ate a fronteira. Eles disseram que nao de forma assertiva. A essa altura do campeonato os viajantes ja deveriam ter aprendido a nao confiar completamente na palavra de residentes locais, mas decidiram dar um voto de confiança mesmo assim. Dirigiram os 30 quilometros que faltavam para chegar a fronteira e, depois de passar por uma longa ponte sobre o vasto Rio Uruguai, tiveram que parar num pedagio que so aceitava dinheiro. Pediram e imploraram, e ate ofereceram um celular para tentar pagar o mesmo. Depois de terem esgotado todas a possibilidades, relutantemente tiveram que voltar os 30 quilometros ate a cidade para poder usar uma caixa eletronica pagando uma taxa de saque mais 3% de conversao de moeda para sacar somente US $5,00 em pesos. Eles ficaram muito chateados com a situacao e desperdicio de tempo e gasolina, mas retornaram ao pedagio com dinheiro na mao.

Cruzar a fronteira propriamente dita foi razoalmente facil com excecao de ser a primeira a negar a passagem com o garrafao extra de 5 galoes de gasolina cheio, que frequentemente carregam na traseira do carro ao cruzar fronteiras cujo combustivel do pais seguinte e mais caro. Com a permissao do oficial da aduana conseguiram transferir o combustivel do garrafao para o tanque que ja estava quase cheio. Depois disso foi so "Alo, Uruguai!" A primeira noite ali passaram em Nueva Palmira nao muito alem da fronteira na orla com o mesmo rio gigantesco que cruzaram por ponte mais cedo aquele dia. Na manha seguinte visitaram as cidades Carmelo e Colonia Del Sacramento, e a tarde ja tinham alcancado a capital Montevideo onde Pat deu entrada no visto de turista para o Brasil.

Colonia Del Sacramento

Montevideo

Encontraram o consulado brasileiro rapidamente e levaram todos os documentos necessarios. Ironicamente, o consulado nomeia o visto para americanos como gratuito, porem, adiciona uma taxa de processamento de visto que varia de preco dependendo da nacionalidade do individuo. Pat teve que pagar a taxa mais elevada de US $ 160,00 por ser americano. Quando foram chamados para serem atendidos e os documentos coletos, a senhora averiguou o passaporte e insistiu dizendo que precisaria de um novo com mais paginas para poder conceder o visto porque somente restava a ultima pagina do passaporte. Isso os decepcionou porque Pat tinha reservado a pagina especificamente para o visto brasileiro e ainda havia alguns cantos de paginas para a estampa de entrada no pais. Perguntaram a funcionaria do consulado o porque nao poderia utilizar a pagina, mas a mesma insistiu com um tom alterado que nao podia e pronto. Tentaram convence-la de que nao teria problemas, mas ela ficou cada vez mais brava e comecou a quase gritar antes de sair de seu posto e entrar numa sala adjacente. Depois de averiguar o passaporte com companheiros de trabalho e descobrir o motivo de nao poder colocar o visto na pagina (porque e reservada para uso oficial do governo americano) voltou mais calma e explicou a razao. Sairam de la desapontados por mais uma vez terem que fazer processos burocraticos e gastar mais dinheiro com agencias altamente restringentes. Perto dali encontraram a embaixada dos E.U.A. onde Pat poderia adicionar paginas a seu passaporte sem ter que tirar um novo e esperar para que ficasse pronto. Entraram na recepcao do predio excessivamente assegurado e o recepcionista explicou que estavam no predio correto, mas so poderiam marcar hora atraves da pagina da internet do governo e nao pessoalmente. Denovo frustrados, sairam do predio quase que anarquistas. Encontraram conexao wifi gratuita nas redondezas e, para felicidade de Deb e Pat, ainda havia 1 lugar vago para entrevista na manha seguinte.

Comemoraram o fato com macarrao e molho vermelho com bacon perto da praia. Do outro lado da rua, dois lavadores de janelas faziam seu trabalho num edificio todo espelhado. Desceram pendurados desde o topo do edificio e quando tocaram o chao, Pat os abordou interessado em saber como procurar por esse tipo de emprego e se eram escaladores tambem. Logo, ele e Debora foram convidados para assistir um treinamento para novos contratados dado pelos lavadores de janela e escaladores Nicolas e Mauricio. Decidiram assistir e gostaram da experiencia. Nicolas, que os convidou para assistir o treinamento, foi extremamente simpatico e ofereceu qualquer ajuda que os viajantes pudessem precisar, por isso trocaram contatos.

Watching the climbing training

Na manha seguinte Pat conseguiu paginas extras em seu passaporte pelo custo de  US $ 80,00 que prontamente foram aceitas pelo consulado brasileiro para conceder o visto que levaria 2 dias uteis mais o fim de semana para completar o processo. Ao meio-dia Pat e Deb ja saiam de Montevideo dirigindo ao leste pela costa em direcao a Punta Del Este. Pararam em muitas cidades costeiras no caminho admirando belas paisagens e arquitetura diversa. Passaram uma noite em Punta Del Este antes de continuar pela costa visitando mais cidades e praias antes de deixar o carro sozinho num estacionamento a noite (sem os viajantes dentro, para variar) enquanto caminhavam alguns quilometros ate uma cidade diferente chamada Cabo Polonio. E proibida a entrada de carros particulares nessa colonia turistica, por isso so se pode chegar ali caminhando ou tomando onibus especial 4x4 que leva visitantes por preco razoavel. Deb e  Pat acamparam na praia somente com lencol e cobertor a luz da lua cheia depois de comer lanches e vinho que que tinham levado. Depois da colonia e suas atracoes retornaram ao carro, e dessa vez pegaram o onibus.

Sea lions

close-up

Full moon and the lighthouse

Daylight Lighthouse 

Rocky coast of Cabo Polonio

The fingers at Punta del leste

Depois, seguindo o conselho de seu mais novo amigo uruguaiano Nicolas, foram em direcao ao interior por estradas pavimentadas e de terra em direcao a cidadezinha Arequita para ver suas atracoes. Ali encontraram  belos riachos, clifes, um rio para nadar e um otimo lugar para acampar num plano verde e com arvores grandes. Depois de deixar a area voltaram a Montevideo. Contataram seu amigo ao chegar ali e passaram a noite conversando com ele e sua namorada, comendo lanches e bebidas feitas por Nicolas, alem da deliciosa bebida uruguaiana grapamiel. Como regularmente, dormiram no carro e buscaram o passaporte de Pat no consulado brasileiro na manha seguinte. 

Antes de partir pararam para agradecer Nicolas por sua generosidade e foram surpreendidos com um presente de partida: uma garrafa de grapamiel. Prontamente continuaram felizes em direcao a fronteira final adentrando o Brasil.

Friends Pat, Deb, Nico and Grapamiel :)

URUGUAY

Approaching Uruguay came with a bit of a headache.

While Deb and Pat were in Argentina's last town along the way they decided to spend the remainder of their pesos on groceries to avoid loosing a couple of bucks in a cash currency exchange.  They only came to this decision after asking a local butcher if their were any more tolls on the way to the border.  He shook his head "no" in a very certain manner.  Well, by now they should have known not to put too much faith into the word of a local, but they chose to anyway.  They drove the remaining 30 kilometers to the border, and after crossing a large bridge over the huge Rio Uruguay came to a hault at the gate of a toll booth with no cash.  They begged and pleaded, even offering to sell the man in the window a used cellphone for the price of the toll.  After exhausting all possible options, they reluctantly drove back to town and payed an ATM fee and the standard 3% to withdraw about US $5.00 in pesos.  They were very bitter over the situation and the waste of time and gas but returned to toll booth with cash in hand.  

The border itself was reasonably smooth except for being the first where they were denied passage with the full 5 gallon container of gasoline that they often carry in the back of their car when entering a country where the price of fuel is higher than the last.  But with the border official's permission, they somehow managed to squeeze almost all of it into the tank which was nearly full already.  And then it was "Hello Uruguay!" Their first night was spent in Nueva Palmira not too far from the border on the shore of the same massive river near its mouth.  In the morning they visited the towns of Carmelo and Colonia Del Sacramento, and by the afternoon they had made their way to Uruguay's capital Montevideo where they began the process of acquiring a visa for Pat to enter Brazil.  

They found the brazilian consulate downtown quickly and were prepared with all the necessary documents.  Ironically the consulate says all visas are free but there is a paper processing fee that varies in price depending on what nation the applicant is from.  Pat would have to pay the high price of about $160.00 being from the U.S.  They were eventually called to the window, and the lady working behind it collected all of Pat's documents, but after looking at his passport she insisted that he would need to have pages added to it in order for the consulate to insert a visa.  This frustrated them because Pat had deliberately saved the last page in his passport for this purpose and there were still a few additional spots left for stamps.  They asked the consulate worker "why?" and showed her the space, but she insisted with a raised voice that it wasn't sufficient.  They tried hard to persuade her but she became very angry, started yelling, and eventually stormed off out of sight into the office behind the window.  Soon after showing Pat's passport to some coworkers she returned pointing to some text written on the last page of the passport stating that this page was in fact reserved for purposes other than visas.  So they left disappointed and frustrated that they would indeed have to jump through more bureaucratic hoops and pay more money to red tape government agencies.  Not too far away they found the U.S. embassy where Pat could have pages added to his passport.  They entered the highly secured building and a man working inside explained that it was indeed the place to do what they needed to do, but they could only make an appointment by internet and not in person.  Frustrated once again, they left the building borderline anarchists.  Some free WiFi was encountered nearby, and to Deb and Pats' satisfaction their was an appointment slot available first thing in the morning.  

They celebrated with a curbside meal of bacon pasta next to a park near the beach.  Across the street they admired some window washers dangling from the top of a tall building.  When they reached the ground Pat struck up conversation and was interested to discover they were climbers like him.  Soon he and Debora were invited to a nearby climbing spot that afternoon where Mauricio and Nicolas (the two window washers/ climbers) were going to train some future employees.  They chose to join and enjoyed the experience.  Nicolas, was extremely kind in offering assistance and friendly company during Deb and Pat's stay in Uruguay, so they exchanged contact info.

The next morning pages were added to Pat's passport at the cost of about $80.00, and soon it was accepted by the brazilian consulate for a visa which would take 2 days plus the weekend to complete.  By noon Deb and Pat were on their way out of Montevideo driving east along the coast towards Punta Del Este.  They stopped at numerous towns and beaches along the way admiring beautiful scenery and diverse architecture.  A night was spent in Punta Del Este, and then they continued along the coast visiting more towns and beaches before eventually leaving the car parked for a night (without them inside it for a change) while they walked several miles to a unique town called Cabo Polonio.  Personal vehicles are prohibited in this small touristy colony, so it can only be reached by foot, or by riding in the large 4 wheel drive trucks that shuttle people to and from it for the cost of a few bucks.  Deb and Pat slept on the beach under a blanket after having some food and wine under a full moon.  After touring the colony and its attractions in the morning they returned to their car this time by shuttle.  

Next, following the advice of their new uruguayan friend Nicolas, they headed inland on both paved and dirt roads towards a little town called Arequita to check out its surrounding attractions.  There were nice creeks, cliffs, a river to swim in, and a very nice place to camp in their car amongst a grove of large trees for the night.  After leaving the area they completed their loop back to Montevideo.  After arriving they got in touch with their friend and spent the evening with him and his girlfriend drinking Grapamiel and some homemade wines of Nicolas's.  They slept in the car as usual and picked up Pat's visa the next day. 

Before heading out, they stopped by Nicolas's apartment to thank him for his generosity and were both surprised and pleased to accept his goodbye gift: a bottle of Grapamiel.  And off they went towards their final border crossing into Brazil.

ARGENTINA PART 2

Pouco depois de passar pela cidade fronteiriça Los Antiguos, Debora e Pat alcançaram Perito Moreno. De la começariam uma longa viagem em direçao ao sul por centenas de quilometros por terra pampa em estradas desoladas, com e sem pavimento. Mas antes, encheram os tanques de gasolina e, finalmente, trataram de lavar um monte de roupa suja que precisava ser lavada urgentemente. Na verdade, essa era somente a quarta vez que lavavam roupa em toda a viagem de 118 dias. A ultima vez tinha sidoi em Caracas, Venezuela, quase 7 semanas antes. Fizeram jantar na rua e como sempre subiram na traseira da pick-up para dormir.

Passaram o dia seguinte dirigindo por longas estradas planas, algumas com obstaculos, outras bem suaves, com pouca paisagem impressionante para contar, alem das guanacos passeando por pampa e um grande lago turquesa ao oeste. De repente, na distancia, comecou a emerger o lugar responsavel pela adiçao de toda essa distancia a jornada. "Essas sao as montanhas mais impressionantes que eu ja vi", testifica Pat, e olha que ele ja viu muitas. Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre e os outros picos de granito apareciam juntos a sua frente. Debora e Pat chegaram a El Chalten, localizada bem perto da base destes fantasticos picos, e ficaram empolgados por estarem em um lugar tao bonito. Surpreendentemente, o acesso por carro e caminhadas no parque nao custou nada. Havia abundante numero de areas de acampamentos "nao oficiais" na cidade, e, nas montanhas, acampamento era frequentemente gratuito. Isso realmente era a cereja no bolo de sua jornada.

Guanaquitos

Lago Cardiel, a little something in the middle of the pampa

Ficaram 4 noites em El Chalten, fazendo caminhadas todos os dias por natureza facilmente acessivel que cercava as enormes pontas de granito. Nessa epoca do ano os dias eram bem longos tendo luz ate depois das 22:00h. Durante sua estadia, os dois caminharam quase 45 quilometros observando rios, cachoeiras, lagos, glaciares e, logicamente, montanhas. Pat tambem levantou ao nascer do sol e caminhou para ter belas vistas iluminadas de Fitz Roy. Como nao tinham exercitado muito suas pernas nos ultimos meses, elas sofreram as consequencias, e mais de uma vez retornaram ao carro mancando. No ultimo dia, antes de irem dormir, tomaram banho nos chuveiros de uma hospedaria que entraram de mansinho.

 Fitz Roy mountain range

Cerro Torre

Lago Torre and Glaciar Torre

Melting fast

Lake and Fitz Roy

Tres Lagos

9 p.m.

Waterfall from snow melt

El Chorillo waterfall

Sunrise

De El Chalten foram ainda mais ao sul para uma cidade turistica chamada El Calafate, com uma parada no caminho para visitar um bosque petrificado. As coordenadas para o local so estavam disponiveis para quem faz um passeio guiado, entao decidiram procurar a pe por onde achavam que a atracao estaria. Eles desistiram depois de caminhar algumas horas sem encontrar o local especifico do bosque petrificado, mas nao de maos vazias. Pat acredita ter achado um osso pre-historico petrificado que poderia ate ter sido de um dinossauro. Depois disso veio El Calafate, onde uma multidao de turistas caminhava pelas ruas visitando lojas e restaurantes elegantes. A principal atracao perto dali era o enorme glaciar Perito Moreno que termina num lago gigante onde se baseia a cidade. Para poder ve-lo paga-se a entrada do parque que custa US $ 25,00 por pessoa. Tambem pode-se pagar mais para visitar o mesmo de barco e tambem ir aos glaciares vizinhos dali. Mas Debora e Pat foram maos-fechadas e nao fizeram nem um nem outro, saindo da cidade pela manha. Mais tarde descobriram que poderiam ter entrado de graca no parque se tivessem ido a noite, mas, as vezes se ganha e, as vezes, perde.

Ja que a bomba da direcao hidraulica ainda estava fazendo barulho e ja tinham furado o pneu duas vezes em estradas sem pavimento, prefiriram continuar dirigindo por estradas asfaltadas para retornar ao norte. Para isso, tiveram que dirigir cerca de 200 quilometros extras ao sudeste passando por uma cidade costaneira chamada Rio Gallegos. Esse foi o marco sul de sua rota e a sexta vez que cruzaram da costa do oceano Pacifico ate a do Atlantico. 

Depois de um dia e meio começaram a dirigir para o norte e depois noroeste onde teriam seu ultimo encontro com as montanhas andinas por tempo indeterminado. As vilas nas areas de esqui de Esquel, El Bolson, Bariloche e seus lagos vizinhos os mantiveram ocupados por uns dias antes de comecarem a sair do pais, dirigindo ao lado do Rio Negro. Muito dessa viagem foi cruzando terra pampa, seguida de deserto, seguido por areas de plantacoes, e, depois de dois dias, viram-se na fronteira da Argentina com o Uruguai, perto da confluencia de dois rios gigantes no norte de Buenos Aires.

Lakes by Bariloche

Rio Negro and Dedo de Dios (God's Finger)

Salt flats

DICAS

- Tente entrar de bicao em atracoes com mais voracidade.

TROUBLES

- O i-phone da Debora desapareceu do nada por razoes desconhecidas.

ARGENTINA PART 2

Not long after passing through border town Los Antiguos, they arrived in Perito Moreno from where they would head south for hundreds of kilometers through the pampa (plaines) on desolate paved and unpaved roads.  But first they fueled up, spare tank and all, and finally tended to a dirty heap of laundry desperately waiting to be washed.  In fact this was only the fourth time they had done laundry during the entire 118 day trip thus far.  The last occasion was in Caracas Venezuela almost 7 weeks prior.  They cooked a curbside dinner as usual and jumped in back of the truck for the night.  

The following day was spent on long flat roads, some bumpy and some smooth, with little exciting scenery to speak of other than some guanacos grazing in the roadside pampa and one large turquoise lake off to their right.  Then in the distance began to emerge the destination for which they chose to add these many extra miles to their drive.  Pat will testify, "they are the most impressive mountains I have ever seen," and he's seen quite a few.  Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, and the other giant blades of granite towered straight ahead.  Debora and Pat rolled into the town of El Chalten, which sits close at the foot of the awesome peaks, and they were very excited to be in such a great place.  Amazingly there were no entry fees to drive or hike in the park.  In town free stealth car camping was abundant, and in the backcountry tent camping was often free.  This really felt like the cherry on the cake of their journey.

They stayed in El Chalten for 4 nights, hiking every day through easily accessible wilderness surrounding the enormous granite spires.  The days were long this time of year staying light past 10 p.m.  During their stay the two of them walked about 30 miles viewing creeks, waterfalls, lakes, glaciers, and of course the mountains.  Pat also awoke early twice to hike for sunrise views of Fitz Roy.  Having not been used much during the recent months, their weak legs suffered, and more than once they returned to the car limping.  On the last evening before going to bed, they poached a hot shower at one of the hostels in town.

From El Chalten they headed even further south towards touristy El Calafate, with one stop along the way to check out a petrified forest.  Directions to the geological site were unavailable without paying for a guided tour, so they chose to search by foot in the general area they knew it must be.  After walking for a few hours without locating the main spot they gave up, but they didn't leave empty handed.  Pat believes to have found a prehistoric petrified bone that could very well be from a dinosaur.  Next came El Calafate where hoards of tourists walked the streets visiting fancy stores and restaurants. The main attraction near El Calafate is viewing the huge glacier called Perito Moreno which spills into the giant lake by which the town resides.  To see it costs about $25.00 U.S. per person.  People can also pay more than this to view it by boat as well as other neighboring glaciers.  But Debora and Pat were much too cheap for either of these options, so they left in the morning.  Later they found out they could have snuck in at night to avoid paying the entry fee, but you win some you lose some.

Since the power steering pump was still wining and they had already gotten a couple flat tires on dirt roads in the past, they chose to stick to the pavement for their return to the north.  In order to do so, they had to drive a couple hundred extra kilometers southeastwardly towards the Atlantic coastal town called Rio Gallegos.  This marked the southernmost point along their route and their 6th crossing from the Pacific to Atlantic coast.  Over the next day and a half they made their way north and eventually westward once more for a final rendezvous with the Andes Mountains before they would say goodbye for who knows how long.  The ski towns Esquel, El Bolson, Bariloche and their surrounding lakes occupied them for a few days before they left driving away along the Rio Negro.  Long stretches were spent crossing pampa followed by desert followed by farmlands, and two days later they found themselves at Argentina's border with Uruguay near the confluence of two giant rivers north of Buenos Aires.  

TRICKS

- Try to poach harder.

TROUBLES

- Debora's i-phone has suddenly vanished by unknown reasons.