The Penguin Papers

  I was sad to leave the estancia, but excited to visit Mendoza, the home of Argentinian Malbec and many other delectable wine varieties.  The flight was a smooth up and down hour, in stark contrast to my previous flight in hurricane force winds. Yet again, my luggage travelled with me, a fact that continues to delight me. I was greeted at the airport arrivals lounge by my guide, the handsome Juan who speaks such perfect English that I question whether he is actually Argentinian.  He insists he is 100% Mendozan born and bred. He drove me to my hotel, giving me a full overview of the region on the way, and said he would pick me up in the morning for our wineries tour.  The Club Hotel Tapiz is a former winery turned boutique hotel still surrounded by vineyards.  The buildings are lovely with the wooden floors and panelling that seem to be a staple for the old wineries. There is a small swimming pool and what is deemed a spa but really is just a lone exercise bike ...

The estancia experience was such a good one, it is worthy of a second blog post.  My great friend, Lynne (with an E!) had visited Los Pots (as those in the know call it) a couple of years ago. Lynne loves horses and is an experienced rider, and she raved endlessly about her time there.  I was delighted when my travel agent also suggested the estancia as part of our itinerary, and Lynne assured me that they could cater to a wide range of equestrian skills.  Despite my Texas passport, I am not the most skilled of riders, especially out of a western saddle where the most exertion required is getting your boots off at the end of the day. The staff, as explained in my previous blog, are all experts whether it is in the care and feeding of the horses and cattle (gouchos) or the care and feeding of the guests (the chalet girls guides). The gouchos didn’t say much, only adding to the allure of the cowboy mystique, but you just knew that they would be completely unflappable in an...

I was delighted to discover that my flight out of El Calafate wasn’t cancelled. I was not delighted to be flying in steady 50 MPH winds with gusts of up toe 70 MPH. I was told that these were fairly typical conditions for the area and that the pilots are well skilled in dealing with it.  As the plane bumped and dove and dipped (not unlike the ship in the Drake Passage), I did begin to question my atheism and some of my other life choices.  As I considered praying as a real option, I was reminded of Christopher Hitchens who when asked if he would believe in god on his death bed, said “ The entity making such a remark might be a raving, terrified person whose cancer has spread to the brain.  I care very much that people do not credit such things.”  Feeling like I couldn’t Hitch down, I didn’t pray and yet still survived the flight.  Although I did not praise the lord, I did praise the pilot.He was remarkable. I had a three hour layover in Bariloche where it seemed...

El Calafate is known as the “Land of Glaciers” as it sits near the entry to Argentina’s Los Glaciers National Park.  As someone who just spent almost two weeks in Antarctica, this sobriquet seems a bit also ran to me, like callling Pittsburgh “Land of Skyscrapers” after spending two weeks in Manhattan.  It’s a nice enough town,that is a bit of a mashup of rustic charm and blatant tourism. You can’t walk 10 steps with tripping over a shop selling those knitted alpaca jumpers that seem like a great idea at the moment but you end up donating to the charity shop when you get home without ever wearing them.   You will also be reminded not to forget your souvenir snow globe, cuddly toy Patagonian lamb or overpriced belt embossed with local birds.  I’m pretty sure the only reason it was included in our itinerary was to give Jane a chance to see glaciers and icebergs given she didn’t join us in Antarctica.  As it turns out, she couldn’t join me in Argentina either,...

In case you couldn’t tell, this blog is about dogs.  The first part is an almost unbelievable tale of compassion, strength, perseverance and love worthy of a Hallmark made for TV movie.  In my previous blog, I told you about m y heroic, superhuman, exceptional hike up a mountain near Bariloche.  What I didn’t tell you yet is what happened when we were having a rest at the top.   In the distance, we saw a young man climbing up to from a side path, carrying something in his arms.  We couldn’t immediately see what he was carrying; it initially looked like a a baby or smalll child.  As he approached, we realised he was carrying an adorable, but pretty battered looking dog.  It transpired that he had spotted it on his way up, and worried (rightly) that the dog was lost and spent about an hour trying to catch the pitiful, petrified animal.  He finally managed to get hold of him, but had to wrap a shoe lace around his snout to keep from being bitten. It...

  I got a minor case of Nirvana blues (when you are sad things are going too well and that disaster must be imminent) when yet again I spotted my luggage on the belt at Bariloche airport.    I was greeted by a lovely driver who gave me a good introduction to Argentina’s version of Switzerland.     Bariloche is in the northern part of Patagonia,     with snow covered Andes in the distance and a beautiful wavy lake in the foreground.     I could well have been in Zurich except everyone speaks Spanish and not German, and I was unlikely to be told off for jay walking. I checked into the Cacique Inacayal Hotel, an establishment which was trying hard, and failing miserably to be classy.    The setting is stunning, but the staff are surly and the fittings and furnishings in serious need of a refurb.    Regardless, my room overlooks the lake and the scenery well compensates for the picadillos of the hotel. I quickly dumped my bags...

Both Sadie and I were very happy to see the end of the Drake Passage, but pleased to have chalked up adventure points for the final leg of the Antarctica experience.  I can say with absolutely no reservations that the past two weeks have been the most exciting, fulfilling, thrilling, splendid, glorious (and a whole bunch of other adjectives) of my travel portfolio. I felt quite emotional saying goodbye to the crew and fellow passengers, knowing we shared something quite extraordinary for a brief period of time.  We will each now go back to real life, but should we ever meet again, we will greet one another with a knowing look that words will not convey.   Upon waking yesterday, Sadie discovered that her flight from Buenos Aires to Miami had been cancelled, and I swelled with pride as I watched her calmly deal with the situation and book alternative  flights to Miami and then on the NY.  She was not in the least bit phased, but only felt guilty that she might be ...