Eco Yoga Park, Krishna Krishna

After a brief stay in Buenos Aires with our Argentinian family, coupled unfortunately with a quick and deadly stomach invasion, John and I headed into the countryside of the Pampas again, to an Eco Yoga Park. Our experience at this farm is more similar to the last one in the Andes - beautiful landscape, extremely interesting company, a jovial and relaxed working environment, and great vegetarian food!

After a non-traditional Argentinian breakfast (more than just toast and jam!) we head to the garden, otherwise known as the ¨fields¨among the volunteers, and work on maintaining the many camas (beds). It´s hard work, but it all gets balanced out with a nap during siesta, yoga in the afternoon, and a movie or homemade board game at night. The people who live here are Hare Krishna, so the men wear orange and the women wear all white. They seem to be always happy and peaceful. There are many strange customs here, but we are made to feel very comfortable, and for the most part left alone to be ourselves.

Today is Sunday, the day of rest. John is sitting outside on a wooden bench reading. I can see monarch butterflies flying about him, and a couple roosters pecking at something by my window. In the fields cows from the neighbours farm watch our friends harvest food for lunch, and sometimes there will be horses eating grass in the middle of the park. I don´t know where they come from, or where they go afterward, but I will sure miss all the different lives I´m sharing with when I move back to the city.

The End of the World, El Calafate

Taking a handful of buses we head south, out of the Patagonia region, in and out of different provinces, away from the Andes onto the East coast, and eventually back to the west to our final destination, El Calafate. The journey wasn´t easy (long waits, unexciting bus stations, watching 2012 dubbed in Spanish twice... worst movie ever!, windy cities and one quite nasty storm).

Thankfully the place we settled in was a friendly and pretty little town with lots to do, and our first stop was down the road to a bird conservation park to see the flamingos. The next day was my birthday and we did a day trip to PERITO MORENO, the biggest glacier in Argentina! The huge wall of ice stretched out from mountain to mountain, and as we approached in the boat we could clearly hear the constant movement of the very alive glacier. We also took a trip to a trekking town called El Chalten and did a day hike to a beautiful lake, with a perfect view of Mount Fitz Roy, the highest peak in Argentina.

Our time in Patagonia is thus complete, and a little bit ahead of schedule we will head up and out of the south.

Chacra Millalen

In terms of safety, I´ve realised the small towns in Argentina are where you want to be. It´s here where we´ve encountered the most honest friendliness, selfless willingness to help, and the outright refusal of any ¨muchas gracias´s¨ (thank you very much´s). ¨No hay porque¨ they say (¨No reason why¨).

Chacra Millalen is situated in one of these gem towns, El Hoyo. A 3 dollar cab ride out of the ¨center¨and we´ve arrived in farm country, but of the strangest kind. Farms nestled between the Andes mountains, in a most agreeable climate, sans insects. Almost unreal. Our farm must be the most wonderful because of many reasons.

The family that owns it, Josephine, Fabio and son Juan, are really kind, educated and interesting people with a lot to teach and an exceptional openness to learn. The other volunteers, Rose, Abby, Blake and Rebecca, all from the States, all fluent English speakers - finally! - are all positive and fast friends. Our tent sits perfectly between a small dirt road and apple and plum trees, under a blanket of stars in a quantity I´ve never experience before. We do super interesting and different tasks each morning - making apple sauce, constructing bricks from hay and mud, picking beans from a neighbour´s farm, and harvesting row after row of massive and juicy raspberries!


Meals are made by everyone, with fresh ingredients from the garden. Everything is vegetarian and delicious. This place will definitely be missed, but we know will never go missing! Maybe we´ll be back.

Patagonia

San Carlos de Bariloche and El Bolson nestled next to the Andes in Patagonia were a perfect match to our personalities. Warm in the sun; cool in the shade. Small town mentalities; huge nature egos. Physically I´ve been tested to my limits here, and mentally some of the views, and people we´ve met have been hard to process into reality.

Bike rides through the rolling mountains on crystal clear days.
Nights on the beach watching the sunset turn the mountain peaks red.
And then in El Bolson! Half-a-day treks up famous peaks to always changing, always inspiring, always smile-inducing mountain refuges.

Our 4 day hike at the top of those peaks is yet the most radical thing I´ve done in my life. This country is so much bigger than I had prepared for!

On the Road

When we first awoke, after a surprisingly pleasant night on the bus, we were surely in a ¨No Country for Old Men¨ landscape. Adjusting to the scenery away from the city was the morning task. Just as we were becoming comfortable with the rolling desert hills and winding roads, a gigantic snow covered mountain popped its peak up off to the right, and on the left, very blue sparkling water from one of the seven great lakes of Argentina. From our vantage point in the double-decker bus, we had a 180 degree view of it all.

We´re officially in a utterly unique region of the world, nothing John and I could have ever dreamed up ourselves. There are cattle running in relatively infinite space, horses looking majestic, one even roaming dangerously free by the road side. Gauchos (Argentinian cowboys) mounted on their horses are waving at us. What a beautiful way to start the next chapter!