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Parque Nacional Tierra Del Fuego |
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Written by Keith Rhoades
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Friday, 19 November 2010 |
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Hello all...Tonight is my last night in the fin del mundo...I feel a bit sad leaving this place. I woke up this morning and Maria had her usual breakfast ready for me. We had a conversation in spanish about my work, what I do, and then she went on and told me about all the social problems and social plight in Argentina. At 9 am a shuttle came to pick me up to take me to the National Park of Tierra Del Fuego. Today I did something I have never done in my 41 years of life....go trekking back country alone. I have always went with someone or in a group. As much as I love hiking, I have always had this fear that if I go alone...and I break an ankle, get lost, get attacked by an animal, or bitten by a snake....I would be doomed. The shuttle took me to the entrance of the park and then in Spanish told me they would pick me up at Roca Lake a 3:30....I hit the trail. The scenerey was breath taking. I of course picked the most rugged of geography and volatile of weathe to trek alone. The weather was unbelievable...it was so cold and windy, the it started raining, then sleet and hail, and even snow flurries!! I trekked nearly 6 miles hardly encountering a soul....There were a group of Germans which I could of course here coming a mile away. The Germans are really getting on my nerves this trip...so loud and overwhelming and on the hike they were scaring all the birds. But for the most part I was alone...it was eerie...to be in the woods in such climate and elements and I realized how finely tuned the senses can get...I could hear the leaves rustle and even the trees squeaking as they swayed too and fro from the wind. I could hear every bird....which I encountered woodpeckers, geese, hawks, falcons, wild turkey, and a ton of birds I could not even name. When it started raining and sleeting I would duck underneath a tree and wait for it to pass. then the sun would come out and it would be warm. It was 33 degrees today...but tended to fluctuate up and down and the artic wind was bitter when it blew. I had packed a lunch and sat by the water and ate my lunch and carried forth. By 2;30 I was starting to get nervous....I hadn´t see a soul in miles and I knew the shuttle was supposed to pick me up at 3:30. I started to wonder if I had went the wrong path or if it was further than I realized and I wouldnt make it in time. At 3;15 I came upon a sign that said Lago Roca and I knew I had made it. Sure enough at 3;30 the shuttle came by and picked me up...and of course on the shuttle was 7 Germans...I think even the driver was getting upset because he put on some latin music and started blasting it to drown out their voices carrying on. I got back to my place and realized it was pay day back in the states....so I had to pay my bills. Who would have thought that someday we could pay our bills while at the end of the world. I then went for a walk around town, had a cafe con leche, and then went to eat dinner. I just got back and packed my bags as I have to be at the airport at 7:30 tomorrow morning for my flight to el Calafate...a town high in the Argetine Andes which is the glacier park and the famous Perito Moreno Glacier. And so thus ends my journey to the end of the world....I´m sad to leave but also happy....I do admit I miss the gym...I feel like Ive gone to hell on this trip....eating crap and not very intense exercise. But I assume it is good for body to take a break. The flight tomorrow is only an hour...so that is not to bad....it is just the drama of packing, checking in, getting on the plane I dread. So until tomorrow...from high in the Andean Mountains...sending thoughts and love your way!
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