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Bingo Abroad
Bingo Abroad

Bingo Abroad

On January 13, 2018, we set off from Portland, Oregon to tour the world, from hiking the Andean Mountains in Peru, SCUBA diving the Red Sea in Jordan and adopting an elephant in Kenya. Read more🇺🇸Portland
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    Dreamy Holbox

    February 21, 2020 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Met up with Lauren to have a girls weekend in the dreamy island of Holbox, 3 hours north of Cancun where no cars are allowed and there’s no cell service. Just bicycles and golf carts, and long stretches of sandy beach with warm turquoise water. Turns out all those Instagram photos don’t lie, this place really is beautiful. Relaxed and quiet, this place is a nice break from the real world. Plus there are even a few lizards and raccoons cruising around.

    We spent the first day biking around the island, walking along the massive sand bar, and doing a drink and snack crawl to 5 different hip bars and restaurants. Ended the night catching a local Carnival celebration of the king and queen of Holbox Carnival dancing to a drum line-esque band. Not really sure what was happening but still fun to see.

    Only downside here are the prices. The island definitely knows it’s an island paradise so the prices are set as such.    Read more

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    One intense way to learn a diving lesson

    February 9, 2020 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Turned out I had such a good time diving despite the strong current, I decided to take advantage of a few more days in Cozumel and sign up for an additional day of diving, even though Brice didn’t want to go.

    I was a little nervous at first, going solo, being paired up with an Israeli couple who were seriously experienced divers, and just because I’m often nervous when diving. But I decided to try my best to enjoy the day.

    Dive 1 was in the Palancar Caves, a stunning stretch of coral that has large columns. The depth to the right was only 30m or so, but if you looked left it was a steep drop to dark blue, about 150m deep! I kept my eyes to the right 😂

    We spotted tons of little fish, a few sting rays and then a giant green Moray Eel, about 6 feet long, swimming along!

    Right as I was thinking how amazing the dive was and how happy I was that I decided to go, my weight belt slipped off. It was like slow motion seeing it drop down to the sand below, another 5-10m below where I was. Before I even knew what to do next, I started floating up. Clearly even just 6kg in extra weight makes a difference!

    Fortunately the experienced diver saw what happened and grabbed me, trying to keep me from floating to the surface. I flailed, trying to get our divemaster’s attention. That’s the hard - and scary - part of diving, you can’t just scream out and explain what’s wrong. Apparently my flailing and pointing at my weights on the ocean floor just looked like I was excited about a fish, because by the time the instructor just stared at me. The Israeli guy tried his best but my buoyancy just kept going up, and suddenly we were at the surface. Given his experience, he knew exactly what to do - quickly inflated by BCD so I would stay afloat, held up his inflatable flag to notify the nearby boat, told me it was all ok.

    Once we got on board the boat, I got a bit freaked out, nervous of decompression issues going up so quickly, the adrenaline coming down and just rehashing the whole situation in my mind. The Israeli guy, my instructor and other guides on the boat all said it was no problem- we weren’t deep or down long enough for any issues. Phew, that was certainly good at least.

    In all the discussions after, despite it being a faulty weight belt that shouldn’t have slipped off so easily, it was definitely a lesson in what to do in that situation. How to get attention, what to do, etc.

    But man is it a scary aspect of diving, where you can’t express what is wrong and so much can feel out of your control.

    Makes me not excited to dive more, but then at the same time, wow it was beautiful under that. And I’m almost most upset that we had to cut our dive short because of the fiasco. So maybe I won’t stop diving just yet? 🤷🏻‍♀️    Read more

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    Contemplating life with the fish?
    Definitely earned this giant margaritaFerry to Cozumel even came w live music!

    Drift Diving

    February 5, 2020 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    After spending a week in Playa del Carmen, which we were certainly not fans of, we hopped over to Cozumel, the small island just to the east.

    We read that diving was the thing to do so after scoping out a couple dive shops, we signed up for a day with Barefoot.

    Because of the strong current, it’s more of drift diving here where you just cruise along the reef, not really being able to stop and check out things for long. That made it both challenging and easy at the same time - if you let the current just take you, you didn’t have to do anything at all, not even kick. But getting use to it was tough and if you ever wanted to stop or turn, whew that was a lot of work!

    Our instructor was awesome and got our attention in time for us to kick hard to watch an large and beautiful spotted eagle ray. So magical! I wish I had a camera with us for a photo of it.

    We also saw a massive crab, multiple lobsters, plenty of barracudas, trigger fish, and really colorful corral.

    A fun and tiring day that left us exhausted the next day but worth it!    Read more

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    And very cool street art!1Yum- potato and "chorizo" tacos

    Touristy PDC

    January 31, 2020 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We came to Playa del Carmen hoping this could be an area we would like to stay longer or to return to, having read that this was a great place for digital nomads. Now that we have been here for 5 days, we are both struggling to understand if or why that is true.

    For one, it is much more touristy than I expected. The popular 5th Avenue is lengthy pedestrian only thoroughfare, lined with touristy knickknacks, touts trying to push anything from sunglasses to taxis to drugs. It’s like one big shopping mall, surprising me with all the American stores like Old Navy, H&M, and Forever 21. The beach, while beautiful with its turquoise water and clean sand, is packed with people.

    Two, with all that tourism comes the prices. We hear stories that living here can be cheap but I see a lot of restaurants that are US prices - $12 for a margarita and $15-20 for entrees. At least the Crossfit we joined (so good!) is only $35 for the week!

    Supposedly there is a nomad/expat community per the Facebook groups I’ve joined, but it seems like most people are only here for a few days before heading elsewhere.

    So doesn’t seem to be the place for us. And makes us both miss Buenos Aires a little bit more. But trying to make the best of it - we’ve got diving and snorkeling lined up, plus I am enjoying all the vegan tacos and smoothie bowls my heart and stomach can handle! 🙂    Read more

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    Rolling Stones plaqueThe mate aisle

    Uruguay: Some Thoughts and Facts

    January 26, 2020 in Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Thoughts and facts about Uruguay:

    There are more cows than people, with 12 million cows an only 3 million people, half of whom live in Montevideo. Now I get why when I asked what to do in the interior of the country, people looked at me like I was crazy - it’s just a lot of farmland!

    It is so small they have a plaque commemorating when The Rolling Stones first played a concert here, as popular musicians never stopped in Uruguay prior. They also teach about the day that Uruguay unexpectedly won the a World Cup in school 😂

    People are even more obsessed with mate here than Argentina. I didn’t think it was possible but everywhere I turn someone is carrying around their mate cup and thermos. I still don’t get it.

    “1st world prices, 3rd world lifestyle.” Ok it might be a little cheaper than the US and not totally 3rd world here, but it is much more expensive than I expected, especially after BA.

    Montevideo is much more of a beach city than I expected. It has a nice boardwalk that line the coast for at least 20 miles filled with runners, walkers and bikers. On the sandy beaches, kids run about and people play competitive volleyball. Architecture near La Ciudad Vieja (the old city) however feels very Soviet with bland block housing, grey streets and lots of graffiti. It was led by Communist dictators until the 1980s, so I guess that kinda makes sense.

    The country’s actual name is Oriental Republic of Uruguay. And Montevideo means “6th hill from east to east,” named as such by the Spanish to find their new port city.

    —

    It has been a nice few days here and I am glad we came, but not sure we would return for any particular reason.    Read more

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    1The "lobby" of our funky stay

    Charming Colonia

    January 25, 2020 in Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Well after nearly two months in Argentina, we finally said goodbye for now. Man did we love Buenos Aires and it was sad to leave.

    But it is still nice to continue exploring new places so off to Uruguay we went! We spent our first night in the charming historic town of Colonia del Sacramento, just an hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires.

    This World Heritage site founded in 1680 is quite small; you can walk around nearly all the cobblestone streets and beachfront paths in just an hour or two. Even though it is very much a tourist town, I was still smitten by the cute restaurants overlooking the water, people playing the accordion on the sidewalk, and quiet, slow way of life for the locals here.

    We stayed at the best BnB owned by a extremely friendly and welcoming Brazilian who has called Colonia home for 14 years. He has created an eclectic space filled with antiques and artwork he’s collected. It was funky and charming, and had a wonderful rooftop to watch the beautiful sunset over a game of cards.

    One great evening.    Read more

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    1Loved these "tortillas" on almost every street corner. Filled with cheese and whatever else you wan

    Jujuy, Argentina

    January 21, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    This area was so much more like Peru, from the look of the locals (darker skin and shorter), to the food (a lot of llama and potatoes), to the houses (made of mud and brick). It appeared to be much poorer and more indigenous. It definitely didn’t feel like other parts of Argentina. Perhaps being high up in the mountains at 8,000 feet elevation and close to the Bolivia border truly separates this place from the rest of the country.

    It was beautiful with colorful mountains and bright stars but I’m ready to be at lower altitude and eat vegetables again!    Read more

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    Salinas Grandes

    January 19, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Due to the political unrest in Bolivia, we chose not to go to the Uyuni salt flats as we originally wanted, but luckily Argentina has their own salt flats! Not as big but still really impressive.

    It was a long, windy road an hour from town, up and up the mountain. We offered to take two Argentine college students who we shared a fun conversation about travels, their studies in sociology and of course my never-ending questions about mate.

    Then finally we made it. Miles of white salt that looked like snow, beautiful turquoise water in the natural pools, and crazy reflections in the puddles from the previous day’s rainfall. It was magical.

    For just $5, we got a guided tour that allowed us to drive out onto the salt flats. From there we learned a little about the ancient lake, and how the local community uses the salt today - as salt licks for livestock, for industrial purposes and for cooking (good thing we know more Spanish now as the guide spoke no English!).

    At 12,000 feet in elevation, it gave us both a bit of a headache, especially with the sun beating down.

    At one point we all got out of our cars to walk single file along the salt to see a natural pool. Not sure why we needed to be so cautious, until a guy’s foot went right through the salt! It wasn’t so bad but he did have to get some bandaids as the salt is quite sharp, it turns out. Lesson learned - follow the guide!

    But the tour was so worth it as we also got to be further from the crowds to take in all the beautiful views, along with a few hundred silly photos. 😜    Read more

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    Our gorgeous BnB
    View of Salta town center from a McDonalds (no shame!)2Views on the drive to Cafayate2Nice roadtrip stop at the Garganta del Diablo gorge

    Day 731!

    January 13, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We have now officially made two years on the road! It is pretty crazy to think about, especially as we often argued over being gone this long and whether we would actually do it. Being away from friends and my parents, the comforts and known of home, always being on the go - all those things were occasionally really hard. Obviously there were so many incredible things about our travels too. So many good memories and experiences.

    And then bam, this last year just flew by! Perhaps it was because we had so much time in “easy” places - Australia, New Zealand, all around the US. Or perhaps because we spent most of it being stationary - Chiang Mai for 2 months, Portland for 2 months and Buenos Aires for 5 weeks. Whatever the case, it’s been an amazing two years and I feel so lucky to have had this experience.

    And the fun continues! Now we are on a little roadtrip around Salta, the NW region of Argentina where it is high altitude and dry. It looks like Arizona with cactus and beautiful mountains, but they actually have good wine here!

    It feels very different here, more like South America than BA where it feels European. The houses are very colonial, the towns are quaint, and the people look more indigenous.

    If only there weren’t mosquitoes!    Read more

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    Onto Brazil

    January 11, 2020 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We took advantage of the new rules to enter Brazil (no visa needed anymore!), and hopped over the border to see the Falls from that side. It was an easy trip - just a short 15-minute taxi ride, few minutes getting our passports stamped and we were in Brazil!

    Iguazu Falls on that side was certainly more crowded - or maybe that’s because we foolishly planned our trip for a Saturday - but the views were more impressive. Lush green jungle and neverending waterfalls, it looked like part of Jurassic Park, untouched and beautiful.

    The highlight was walking along the boardwalk to see the intense falls so close up, you get soaked from the mist. If there weren’t so many people, it would have been magical.

    After the park, we got a taxi into town to experience a small bit of Brazil. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of Coxinhas (a traditional fried dough stuffed with veggies in our case) and shockingly good local river tilapia. Oh and caipirinhas of course. The town was nothing to write home about, but it was fun to have a day’s adventure in Brazil.    Read more

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    A little wet but all smilesRainbow 🌈Devil's Throat

    Absolutely impressive Iguazu Falls

    January 10, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    I was a little nervous that Iguazu Falls wouldn’t live up to the hype. It’s not the most convenient place to get to and so many travel blogs and photoshopped pictures these days make places look more amazing than they are in reality. But fortunately Iguazú was incredible as they say.

    First we visited the Argentine side. With 7 miles of trails, there are plenty of viewpoints, most of which allow you to look down on the numerous falls (240 in total!). Seeing the massive falls called Devil’s Throat was amazing. Powerful gushes of water roaring down the cliff, how does it not run out of water eventually??

    We were caught in a complete downpour which was kind of fun and refreshing, as it was still 95 degrees with 87% humidity. 🥵

    Given the weather and all the spiders, this was the perfect amount of jungle for me. We saw a small toucan in the trees, a cayman floating in the water, and so many cute little coatis, which are like tame raccoons eager for tourists’ food. Not as cute with their claws climbing up your leg, begging for food!

    Off to the Brazil side tomorrow.    Read more

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    Chao for now, Buenos Aires

    January 8, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    One great last night in Buenos Aires. A pool party on the roof, picnic in the park then pasta dinner. We may have had a few too many bottles of wine, but it was a fun night out with some good new friends, lots of laughs, and a strong desire to return to BA.Read more

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    Back to baking

    January 6, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    In our last week in BA, I finally got myself to a baking class to make alfajores with Vicky Pe Bakery. These cookie sandwiches are found all over Latin America but are made with slight variations depending on the region. The one we made was from Mar del Plata, the beach south of Buenos Aires, made with Nutella and cocoa powder, filled with lots and lots of dulce de leche, then dipped in dark chocolate. 😋

    It was a fun afternoon chatting about life in Argentina, drinking mate, learning a bit of Portuguese from the Brazilian couple who were also in the class, and of course eating lots of sweets.    Read more

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    Team Tigre

    January 5, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Toured about Tigre with this fine crew on Sunday. This small town just 40 minutes north of Buenos Aires is part of the Paraná delta with hundreds of natural canals and interconnecting rivers.

    We did all the touristy things: We took a boat ride down the murky-looking river to see the canals and gawk at the homes that are only accessible by boat. We wandered through the massive Sunday market which was like one big HomeGoods store - it wasn’t as artisanal as I expected and was super crowded but at least Daniel got a lamp 😂 And we enjoyed beers at a rooftop bar.

    Our trip to Tigre wasn’t as “tranquilo” or as much of a reprieve from the city as some people say it can be, but overall it was one fun day. #teamtigre #eatchillsweat    Read more

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    How do they stay out so late?!

    January 1, 2020 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    I have no idea how the Argentines do it. They go to dinner at 10pm any day of the week. For New Years, we were proud of ourselves for making it until 2:30am - for us Americans, that is quite late and when the bars close. But here, oh no, that's when the party is just getting started and plenty of people stay out until the sun comes up. Do they ever sleep? I'm not quite sure.

    But we at least had a good time with some new expat friends. NYE is a little different here, nearly every restaurant and bar is closed as people spend time at home with their families until midnight. They ring in the new year, then hit the clubs which open at 1am (!!). We found a couple casual bars in a touristy area that happened to be open at 8pm for our American schedule. Service was slow but we had a good time chatting and enjoying the evening, like it was any other day of the year. Only because big fireworks started going off did we realize it was midnight. No countdown or ball dropping here!

    It was a relatively low key New Years but thankful we got to celebrate it with great new friends in a fun city we are loving.

    Happy 2020!    Read more

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    Dinner at Casa Coupage
    Crazy street art in Palermo Hollywood

    BsAs - part 2

    December 29, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Life has been good here in Buenos Aires. A little mellow and some days I feel a little guilty that we haven’t done more touristy things or venturing outside our nice neighborhood of Palermo. But then again it’s been relaxing after numerous weeks being on the go to just work out, get a few things done at cute cafes and enjoy all the parks.

    That being said, we are slowly working through our list of “Buenos Aires Must Dos.”

    We finally did a walking tour of the city center, where we learned a bit more about Evita and other aspects of Argentine history.

    We took advantage of the crazy exchange rate and went to a fancy closed-door restaurant - this one was a sommelier who decided to turn his gorgeous 19th century home into a dining space for 10 guests 2x a week. We got a delicious multi-course meal, a lot of good wine (too much it turned out!) and great conversation with fellow diners.

    I’ve been taking Spanish classes from a great tutor who is teaching me all about Argentine culture and lots about the different words and weird pronunciation here (double Ls are not like a y in other Spanish speaking countries but rather a sh- sound).

    Finally after 3 weeks here we’ve been making a few more friends. While I don’t love a lot of things about Facebook, I do love the way it allows you to connect with fellow travelers.

    But sadly since we only have a week left here, time to get the final activities off our to do list - a day trip to Tigre, a river delta area north of Buenos Aires; an alfajores baking class; and a tango show. Time to get it all in!    Read more

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    So many dogs!1Our happy 5 eggsGraduation celebration

    Life in Buenos Aires

    December 6, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Dog walkers - they have an intense job here where walking 10 dogs at once is not uncommon. It is impressive.

    Graduation celebration - friends and family come out to celebrate the graduate by spraying them with silly string, confetti and paint. Very festive!

    Food - man do they love dulce de leche, so much so the grocery stores have entire aisles devoted to various brands of the sauce.
    As for eggs, in the little stores that are on most corners, you can buy them by the egg - whether you want 1 or 7, no need for a full dozen here. Then they get wrapped all nice and snug in newspaper for you to take home.

    —
    Enjoying our first week in Buenos Aires, the beautiful parks, charming cobblestone streets, and chaos and grit. The cheap prices of everything doesn’t hurt either!    Read more

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    The whole town of El Chalten from above

    More hiking!

    December 1, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    For our last Patagonia stop, we spent a few days in El Chaltén, a super tiny tourist town at the edge of the Glaciares National Park. The mountains surround the whole town, and you can easily start several great hikes right from your hostel or AirBnB.

    With only 350 year-round residents, it’s quite small but still filled with restaurants making homemade pasta, microbreweries, and bakeries making solid empanadas and alfajores (I love these little shortbread cookie sandwiches with dulce de leche in the middle!) Plus the town has a fun vibe of hikers and rock climbers from around the world, all there to enjoy the best of nature.

    After one day spent wallowing and sitting mostly in the hotel with a terrible head cold, we got in a couple more lovely hikes with some amazing views of Mt Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. Brice even suggested going on a second hike in one day - is he beginning to somewhat like hiking?!

    We once again got great weather to close out our 3 weeks in Patagonia. Certainly wasn’t as cold or dreary as I feared or expected and I’m a-ok with that luck!    Read more

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    1Off to hike the glacierCelebratory whiskey on the rocks, made with glacial ice

    Where are the White Walkers??

    November 27, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    We have made it to Argentina! On this side of Patagonia, we got to adventure about at Perito Moreno, a 97-square mile glacier with a massive ice wall that is 200’ high. We were lucky enough to hike on the ice and to see a few calvings (where huge chunks fall into the water), which sound like the booming crack of lightening. I was shocked by how blue the ice is - simply gorgeous.

    Also couldn’t help but think of The Wall from Game of Thrones the whole day...    Read more

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    Done! ✅

    W Trail - Day 5

    November 23, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Day 5: Mirador de Torres; 13.9miles

    Wow that was exhausting. The hike to the mirador was super crowded with people (unlike our other days). It was also just straight uphill - definitely a slog but not too bad until the last .8 miles. We finally made it to the mirador after 4+ hours, there was some cloud cover and some wind but otherwise it was quite nice views with the big towers and the blue lake below. We were exhausted and hurting a bit though so didn’t enjoy it as much as possible perhaps. The route down was slow going and painful, so many big rocks jamming on my knees and steep downhills smashing toes in my boots. Once we made it to the flat part, I was beyond thrilled.

    I am happy to have done the hike as I would have regretted not, but also feel sadly it was a little underwhelming, as it is the quintessential hike of Torres del Paine. The other hikes were certainly better.

    It was so nice being back in time for a hot shower and dinner at the lodge instead of getting on the bus, even if it meant another night in a dorm.

    We shared a bottle of wine with a super nice couple from Bilbao and celebrated our final evening on the trail. We did it!!! 🎉    Read more

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    Great spot for an afternoon

    W Trail - Day 4

    November 22, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Day 4: Cuernos to Torres Central; 7.2 miles

    Overall another good day but it did feel a little long - clearly we are starting to get tired. But this hike was my favorite - incredibly gorgeous views of the blue lake from above and mountains all around. We even got to see two small avalanches today!

    With the great weather, we had a picnic lunch with Janet and Elaine along the trail, then made our way over to Torres Norte.

    After being so excited to get a shower after the long day, of course we found out the water was out. Who knows why. So instead we enjoyed some beers outside with blue skies and views of the Torres. Definitely thought when we were prepping for the trip, we’d be bundled up freezing cold all wee, not soaking up the sunshine!    Read more

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    1Frances Glacier

    W Trail - Day 3

    November 21, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Day 3: Paine Grande to Cuernos; 9.8miles

    Great day! Relatively easy hiking with beautiful views of lakes and big mountains, and surprisingly nice weather. We did a short jaunt into the French Valley to the Frances overlook. Sadly we didn’t get to see an avalanche at Frances Glacier but we did hear a couple roaring - very loud and cool.

    We made it to our next lodge, Los Cuernos where we had a fancy private cabin. It was beautiful and clean and overlooked the lake below. I had best shower in a week but sadly Brice got a freezing cold shower, making him not as jazzed about the room upgrade.

    We enjoyed a fun dinner with friends we made on the trail - Janet and Elaine, and Andrew (from Portland) and Kerry, all of whom we met the first night. Loving the ambience and friendliness here.    Read more

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    With fellow hikers Catherine and AdamFinally some clear skies! Just in time for sunset.

    W Trail - Day 2

    November 20, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Day 2: Grey to Paine Grande; 6.8 miles

    Much better day today! It started with a good, filling breakfast then a short walk to the nearby mirador. Wow, the glacier was amazing that close up, especially seeing the big wall of ice and all the icebergs floating around! So so cool.

    Then we started the hike back down to Paine Grande. We weren’t super excited after day 1 but the weather was much nicer and the trails were already much drier, so it wasn’t as difficult or unpleasant. The weather was nice.

    We got to PG in late afternoon, in time for a few rounds of drinks at the bar. We chatted with a nice couple from Amsterdam and had dinner with new friends who are from Denver. The people on the trail are all so friendly and great, making this much more fun.

    And even the camping was ok!    Read more

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    Ready to start!
    Goodbye broke down bus.So thankful for waterproof bootsWhat should be the trail...

    W Trail - Day 1

    November 19, 2019 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    Day 1: Bus, catamaran, hike to Glacier Grey; 6.8 miles

    Talk about a rough start. After a 5:20am wake up call, we got on the bus to Torres del Paine eager for our adventure. The earlier bus was supposed to be better because we’d have an hour less on the bus plus arrive for the earlier catamaran giving us an extra 2 hours of time in the park. When we were only 30 minutes away from our stop, the bus broke down. So we just had to sit and wait while another bus came the 2 hours from Puerto Natales. As it was pouring down rain and I was dreading the weather once we would start hiking, I was happy it to be in the bus a little longer.

    Finally a new bus came, we made it to our stop and after some “negotiating” with the catamaran captain we were on our way. The clouds cleared and we got some great views to start. Once we arrived on land, we started out for our supposed 3.5 hour hike with some enthusiasm. That quickly ended thanks to the massive mud puddles along the route. Due to all the rain the previous few days, there wasn’t much trail and it was almost nonstop mud and walking in creeks. At one point it was literally like walking down a waterfall.
    Then Brice fell and broke his walking pole - at least it wasn’t his leg! But that just sent him over the edge. We weren’t enjoying the day and it just seemed worse.
    Finally we got to the lodge - in 5 hours vs the 3.5 hours we expected.

    Fortunately Refugio Grey was super nice, our room comfortable and the other people in our dorm friendly (and quiet sleepers!). We had a delicious and filling dinner while complaining with other hikers about the hard day. It was nice knowing everyone else struggled too. Plus we agreed we would bail out if the second day was just as rough. Not the best start to a trek I’d been planning for over two years by any means but trying to be hopeful for improvement.    Read more

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    Smart or not adventurous?

    November 15, 2019 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Today we attempted to drive to the Pali Aike National Park to hike around its massive volcanic crater. But sadly after 2.5 hours in the car, we realized our little rental car likely wouldn’t make it through the large puddles on the gravel road to the park. We opted to turn back rather than risk getting stuck in the mud in an area with no cell service, no nearby town and rarely another car. Good call or did we miss out on a good adventure? 🤷🏻‍♀️

    At least along our drive we did see tons of guanacos (basically large llamas), a little red fox, some giant bunnies, a really fat hawk, and more sheep than we did in New Zealand.

    And then we got blue skies once we returned to Punta Arenas!    Read more

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    Los Pengüinos

    November 12, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We got perfect weather for a day trip out to Isla Magdalena to see the island of penguins. It was smooth sailing for the hour long boat ride through the Strait of Magellan.

    We were told on the way out there, in 2007 it was reported there were 65,000 pairs of penguins! The population has decreased but there should still be thousands on the small island. So once we arrived, I saw black and white creatures dotting the land and thought it was a swarm of penguins. No, nearly all of them were seagulls. I think the better nickname for the island should be Seagull Island with a Handful of Penguins.

    Nonetheless we did see quite a few penguins, most of whom were inside their little burrows keeping their eggs warm or were plucking grass for better insulation underground. They were cute and funny as always when waddling to shore, and made the weirdest noises when encountering another penguin.

    On the way back we swam a few pods of dolphins to keep those of us who weren’t napping entertained.

    Not the most exciting of tours ever but still a fun afternoon.

    One of the best parts of the day was chatting with an older couple from Spain - all in Spanish! I’m sure we didn’t sound great and it wasn’t the longest of conversations due to our limited vocabulary but it was nice to know we haven’t lost that much Spanish since our last time in South America.    Read more

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