Copacabana and Isla del Sol

             When Aoife and I decided to make our escape from La Paz, Copacabana was our destination. After taking a bus and a ferry to get there, we settled on a cheaper hostel (which in the end had some rooms that looked like murder scenes) and went to explore by the water. It was nice to be by the water again. Lake Titicaca is so vast that it looks like an ocean. It felt like being back on the Island as I soaked up the sunshine and watched the water.

 Pumped for what´s about to happen Zorbing!

               What made this even better though was the discovery that on Lake Titicaca they have zorbing balls. Zorbing balls! I have only ever heard of it being done in Germany, so when Aoife was keen to give it a go I was so in. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard. If one person goes to move before the other, you´re falling and then toppling all over yourself just trying to stand back up. I lost the things in my purse so many times. You only go for 10 minutes but honestly 10 minutes is enough. Definitely a highlight in Copacabana.
          After that we went to a restaurant on the water for happy hour and dinner. After dinner, we went to use the bathroom above the restaurant. I went to take a picture of the view and my wallet fell out of my bag. I didn´t realize until we got back to the hostel and when we went back to the restaurant everything was closed and locked up. We banged on the door and shined our flashlights but no one answered. The area itself was kind of a little ally that shared its back with a hotel so we thought we´d go ask in there. The man at reception thought I lost my wallet in the bathroom and then after explaining took us out to the back where they hang the sheets and the wall is. While trying not to decapitate myself on clotheslines, I went closer to the wall. This led the man to think that we actually were trying to jump over the wall and break in and a bunch of yelling ensued. Not at all what was happening. Then we went back to the door and there was another man who had a key but he wouldn’t let us in because he didn’t know us, even after we explained all we wanted was to just look at the stairs. We gave up after that and went for drinks.
          The next day, when we went to the restaurant there was my wallet with all my cards (both debits, VISA, and Driver´s Liscence)! So lucky!! After that it was on to Isla del Sol. While everyone tells you to go to Isla del Sol, no one tells you how pretty it actually is.


 We got there around 3;30 in the afternoon and were welcomed by an Argentinean filled beach. This surprised me. I hadn´t expected beaches. We had decided to do the hike from North to South that day and set out for the ruins. By the ruins, there is another lovely beach that hardly anyone was at. If I were to go back in the non-rainy season this is definitely where I would choose to camp. The hike itself was very pretty. It gave views of the lakes and mountains and a thunder storm that kept threatening to take out the sun. However, we were lucky. We hit the south part of the island and found a hostel right as darkness was hitting. When we woke up the next day, it was pouring. So we waited it out rather than getting rained on and enjoyed ourselves for the sunny afternoon. When we got back to Copacabana, the power was out. This made for an interesting sing a long on the main road once it got dark out. It was really cool to be by the water and see all the stars and have a hippie group of Argentineans perform an impromptu concert

Adventuring in Southern Argentina!

I have had problems with this page uploading on my phone, which is why I haven't updated. However, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy!

 Elisabeth and I at Iguazu Falls.

After Iguazu, Elisabeth and I hung out in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires. We ate good food, did a free walking tour, pub crawl, and rented bikes to go to San Telmo and Boca. That was an interesting adventure which resulted in us viewing a huge street market, seeing what a football game is like from the outside, looking at beautiful coloured houses, getting lost multiple times, and Elisabeth missing her taxi to the airport!
When Elisabeth left, I honestly just took the 3 days I had in Buenos Aires to just chill. It was sad to part ways because we had so much fun and got on so well...but it has also been nice exploring on my own and having to do my own thing. I have found you meet the most people in the kitchen!
From Buenos Aires, I flew to the last city at the end of the world, Ushuaia. I met some of the loveliest people there and just had a really relaxing time. It was the first time in forever that I stayed in the same room with the same bed for 3 days!

 Llamaing with the Ushuaia sign.

In Ushuaia, you mostly do outdorsy things. The first day, I was so tired from not sleeping that I opted out of going to the national park and just hung out and went to a museum. I tried to go see penguins but the water was too rough. The nextb day, I went to Tierre del Fuego National Park, which reminded me so much of the west coast just with the mountains closer. On my last day, I went on the Beagle Channel and saw some sea lions, a lighthouse and went on a nature reserve.

 So shocked I caught this shot.

 Look at that monster sea lion in the back. He was so noisy!

 Nefi, her French friend, and I drinking hot chocolate in the magic of Ushaia.

It was pretty cool... not penguins. But it worked and the people I went with were great company :) plus, we got hot chocolate and home brewed beer!

 The boat to commemorate shipwrecks at 5:30 in the morning. 

After Ushuaia, I took a long bus ride to El Calafate. Over the course of the bus ride, you leave Argentina and go into Chile only to later leave Chile and go into Argentina. It was long, but the main highlight was crossing the Strait of Magellan! That was pretty cool. The next day, I quickly booked a afternoon bus to see Perito Moreno glacier. It was amazing! The cracks in the ice were so ethereal blue and even though it started raining I still spent two hours staring at it. It was also so cool to hear and watch the ice fall off into the ocean! It is definitely one of the highlights so far! I loved every minute of it:)

 Perito Moreno glacier!

After a day in El Calafate,  I booked it to Puerto Natales because I wanted to do Torrres del Paine before the busy season.
I booked a hostel there based on the fact that the reviews said the hostel owner was so helpful. I got there and told him I wanted to do the hike and did not have too much of a plan and wanted some advice. He told me to check the internet. I was so mad in that moment. I was tired, no one was in the hostel, I was angry that he wasn't willing to help me and I did not want to pay to stay there. I dropped my stuff in the room and went to the living room where I found two girls from California who told me about there plan to hike from East to West meaning you see the towers on the first day. I had been so worried about having people to hike with that I asked if I could join them right away and basically clung to their plan. This resulted in me booking an extra night of tenting at Refugio Grey which I actually didn't use.
The hike itself was beautiful! We had amazing weather. Everyone we talked to thought we were crazy for going east to west and suggested going west to east due to the wind but there was no wind so it was perfect. Plus, it was awesome to have a great view of the towers right away:) This hike was way more relaxed than the Inca trail and I just had such a good time. The scenery was so beautiful and changed so much.

 The view of the towers on the first day!

 I realized being worried about hiking alone was silly as I did hike some of it alone on the last two days and  I met so many cool people and when I got on the bus to go there I met boys I had met in Ushuaia who invited me to go with them! If I hadn't already made a plan with Chloe and Miki, I think I would have.
The one night, Miki and Chloe stayed in a cabana and they let me sleep on their floor instead of camp!

 Wine after the third day! I love how the man we asked to take the photo took so long to line up the photo so that the shoes were included. 

We had wine that night and Miki really wanted to swim in the beautiful blue lake. As I was brushing my teeth I thought well why not. So at almost 10 oclock we hopped in the glacier lake up to our belly buttons. I swear I could not feel my feet! But it was so worth it!

Taking a dip in glacier water (aka glacier milk)

The next day, I chose to hike to the french valley while they went on. Another moment that was so worth it. It was beautiful.

Part of the French Valley.

 

After hiking 20 k to get to refugio grey I was exhuasted though. I tried to see if I could rent a room, but they were all out. So I had to set up Chloe's tent.
The thing about the tent is... I have never set one up! I aldo never checked to see what kind Chloe had. So I was exhuasted and pulled out this tent that looked like mosquito netting. I admit I had no idea what I was doing so I asked the people next to me for help. They were two men and a girl who were from Venezuela and they laughed but they did help me. They smiled a lot at my muchas gracias'! So once the tent was up, I realized I might freeze with all the wind. This tent was made for Osoyoos summer weather not potential 0 to -10 weather! I tried to rent a different tent but they were out.. so I settled on two sleeping bags! It was an interesting night! I was definitely glad to be back at the hostel in a bed the next night.
I travelled to El Chalten after that and I was going to hike Fitz Roy. However, I was only there a day and I had come down with a cold/the weather was super windy. Instead I hiked to a lookout and these lakes. It was ok..but at that point I was kind of done with it and needed a break. So to the marble caves I went. I was supposed to meet Lee, another girl I volunteered with but the timing didn't work out.
So I took a night bus from El Chalten to Los Antiguous, waited 3 hours there to take a mini bus to the border, walk across to take a pick up to Chile Chico and go to the information. I'd met four other pll trying to get to the caves as well so we banded together. At information we find out there are no busses to Rio Tranquillo till tomorrow. So we rented a mini bus to drive us for 9000 more Chilenos than a regular bus. The drive here was amazing, but it was so hard not to sleep.

 The view along the way. 

There were beautiful views of ethereal blue lakes and snow capped mountains! When we got here, we followed this guy to this quaint hostel. Seriously, we are basically staying in these people's home. They are so helpful and lovely.

 Marble Caves!!

This morning we went to the caves and it was so beautiful! We even got to walk in them. The stark difference between the blue water and the marble was just stunning! I am definitely happy that I made the trip. Plus, I am really enjoying the people that I've met:)

Some of the children from Rio Tranquillo playing on the lake.