It has been a wonderful year for Tom, Fuji and me in Latin America. But now we are moving onto new adventures in the good ol' USA...

Thank you for visiting over the past year - hope we kept you entertained with our adventures on Southbound Gringos!

For more photos from me, please visit my new website, www.tcblue.com, and my new blog, http://tcbluephotographyblog.posterous.com.

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On March 31st we were in Buenos Aires and due to fly home over night to arrive home on April Fools Day, exactly a year-to-the-day from when we left the US for a year in Belize, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. 

All day long, Tom and I talked about what an amazing year we had spent together, what beautiful places we had seen and what kind people we had met.

We also marveled at how few mishaps there were, how lucky we had been: We were never robbed, were ripped off only once for a mere $25 and traveling with Fuji was not the disaster we had feared. 

We were home free! Or so we thought…

April Fools!

Here is how leaving Latin America after a year abroad went:

1. We checked out of our hotel at 11 a.m. as we could not get a late check out. 

2. So, we had to leave our bags in the lobby and wander the streets for seven hours until it was time to leave for the airport. Not terrible but not fun either because since we had Fuji so we could not go inside anywhere. It was a long seven hours in the hot sun.

3. Finally it was time to get our taxi. Unfortunately, it was rush hour and we spent the next hour and a half battling towards the airport.

4. On the way to the airport, our driver rear-ended a car and about five minutes later took a side mirror off another passing car.  We were very relieved to arrive at the airport in one piece.

5. We waited in the long check-in line only to find when we got to the front that our visas were one day expired.

6. We had to leave our place in line and rush to immigration where waited for half an hour for someone to help and then paid $150 to have our visas extended.

7. Then rushed back through the airport and got back in the check-in line. 

8. We got our tickets and the airline checked and approved all of Fuji’s paperwork. Since the flight was so long, we were told to keep Fuji with us until an hour before the flight so she could stretch her legs outside.

9. An hour before boarding, we brought Fuji and her crate back to the check-in area. We were about to put her through security, when an Argentinean policeman approached us and asked to review her (already approved) papers.

10. Said policeman said that we are missing one stamp from an office in Buenos Aires. I had never heard of this extra stamp, and neither had the airline, but the policeman refused to let her board.

11. We ran through the airport, pushing Fuji in her crate, to the customs area to see if the vet there could help us. The vet on duty is nowhere to be found. 

12. After waiting for the vet for half and hour, we were informed we will not make the plane. 

13. Additionally, because it is now boarding time, there were no airline agents to help us. So, we had to wait until the plane took off to rebook and re-collect our checked baggage.

14. We waited in the airport, with Fuji still in her crate, watching the minutes tick by until our flight leaft. Goodbye flight home.

15. Tom used the time to find a hotel online that accepted dogs, had availability for the night and was right next to the office where we needed to take Fuji in the morning for her extra stamp. Wonderful – something has gone right!

16. Just to be sure, Tom called the hotel directly to confirm that they accept dogs. “Yes, yes we accept dogs”. With that out of the way there is nothing to do but continue to wait for our bags…

17. Around 10 p.m. we were able to rebook our flight and get our bags back.

18. We took an hour-long taxi back into the city and arrived at our hotel at 11p.m.

19. When we arrived we were greeted by, “No, we do not accept dogs or animals of any kind”. Tom was furious! “But I just called you to confirm! And you said it was fine! And your website says you accept dogs!”

20. Tom showed them the print-out of our reservation where it says they accept dogs. But still, “No, no, no, no we do accept dogs”.

21. We were exhausted, Fuji was still in her crate, Tom was livid and we still didn’t have a hotel. Plus we should have been flying through the air home, cocktail in hand!

22. We spent the next hour calling hotels at random. “No, we do accept dogs.” “No, we do accept dogs.” “No, we do accept dogs.” Then, “Yes, we accept dogs!” JACKPOT! “But, no we do not have any rooms available.” Etc etc

23. Finally, we found a hotel on the other side of Buenos Aires that will take us.

24. We paid for another taxi.

25. We checked into another hotel and got to sleep around 1 a.m.

26. At 9 a.m. we took another cross-town taxi to get Fuji’s extra stamp. They don’t even look at her. We just had to pay more money and get some more ink. So glad we missed our flight and paid oooodles more money for that extra ink mark...

27. At 11:00 a.m. we had to check out of our new hotel (10 hours in a hotel for $200. What a deal).

28. We waited in the sun, on the street with Fuji for seven hours for the second day in a row.

29. Then, we took another taxi to the airport and checked in again, this time with extra stamp.

30. Finally, we boarded the plane home – only 24 hours and tons of money later.

So, South America got the last laugh and made our final departure less than graceful. 

But, we got to catch one extra sunset over Buenos Aires and have one more adventure before returning home.

And wonderful thing about home is that it is always there, waiting for you, even if you are gone for a whole year… plus an extra day!

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As we contemplate leaving, and heading home after a year in South America, one thing stands out for me from my two and a half months in Patagonia: water.

Crystal clear, amazing, unforgettable, mesmerizing, colorful water.

Here are a few shots that I have taken during my time here of rivers, streams and lakes that prove my point.

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Sadly our second to last weekend in South America did not go according to plan... I got sick on Friday night, which messed up the plans we had to do a full day hike on Saturday.

Instead, we took a drive down Rt 23 into the grasslands that make up the vast majority of Patagonia. But, while it was very beautiful, I barely got out of the car and felt generally miserable for the duration of the drive.

Here are just a few shots taken while I vallantly tried to push through my fog of feeling yucky. Fumbling with my manual settings and working to frame my shots while grasping my aching belly, made me realize that I must really like to take photos.

So, while these images are certainly not close to my best, I do give myself an A+ for effort.

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On Saturday, we met up with a friend of a friend who is currently living in Buenos Aires, Loree, her parents and her friend, Ruthie, for a four-hour boat ride on Lake Nahuel Huapi to Isla Victoria and El Bosque de Arrayanes.

Arrayanes are a rare form of Myrtle that only rarely grow into trees. Their white and orange coloring, contrasting against green leaves made the forest seem alien in the dappled sunlight.

A beautiful Saturday in Patagonia with good people… Not too shabby (But I do wish I had a picture of our company for the post - our group shot turned out awfully backlit and dark).

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We spent the weekend camping in El Bolsón, a hippie community in a warm microclimate on Chile’s border, about two hours south of Bariloche.

Our first stop was the famed artisanal and handicraft bazaar, which although large, seemed to only have the normal offerings: jams, fruits, food stalls, handmade sweaters, wood-carvings, jewelry and the like. I know I am one of the world’s worst shoppers to begin with, but I thought it was over rated. Just yet another crap-fair…

But, El Bolsón didn’t let us down when we went to El Bosque Tollado (http://www.elbosquetallado.com/las-obras.html), a swath of forest 5,000 feet high on Mount Piltriquitrón’s slopes that was destroyed in a forest fire in 1982. Artists from around South America have turned the burnt trunks into a large, outdoor sculpture garden, giving death new life complete with sweeping views over the valley.

We also found a lovely campsite nestled in a meadow, next to a waterfall. And we were the only campers there!

So, Fuji spent almost a full day off leash, bounding through the tall grass like a wild beast, collecting burrs and trying to get the resident kittens to join in the fun (all they wanted to do was hiss at her).

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After we left our San Martín De Los Andes campground, we headed back to Bariloche, via a different unpaved (again) road, Rt 63.

Along the way, to complete a perfect weekend, our poor car finally succumbed to the road, and we got a flat tire. We bounced cautiously on the dubious looking spare all way back (safely) home...

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On Sunday night, we made it to the nothern end of the Seven Lakes Drive, San Martín De Los Andes.

We threw our tent up at a crowded lakefront campground and I was slightly disappointed; I wanted lonely, remote Patagonia.

But as the day began to fade, boys filled their buckets with minnows and crabs, fishermen cast against soft, pink light and people took last, chilling dips in the lake, I realized that a lovely slice of Argentine life was laid out against the setting sun, right out our tent's door.

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After we packed up our tent and ate a little cold breakfast, we hit the (unpaved) road again on the Seven Lakes Drive.

We made a two hour detour down dusty Rt 65 to the hamlet of Villa Traful, which sits on stunningly clear Lago Traful.

The aquiline lake is so chockablock full of trout and landlocked salmon that Ted Turner bought an enormous track of land complete with a fishing lodge at the mouth of the Traful River. He is said to own at least half of the valley and most of the land around Villa Traful.

****

Below is an excerpt from an interesting 2010 article about real estate development in Patagonia and the potential consequences of large land sales of areas rich in oil, natural gas, and importantly, fresh water, to (mostly foreign) billionaires.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pepe-escobar/the-end-of-the-world-is-o_b_691860...

For an opposing take on these issues, I recommend watching the documentary, 180 South.

Patagonia: The End of the World Is on Sale

By: Pepe Escobar, Roving correspondent for the Asia Times

Posted: August 23, 2010 06:49 PM

Trout-fishing fanatic and CNN founder, Ted Turner, has a spectacular 5,000 hectare villa in the south of Neuquen province and controls most access to one of Patagonia's most pristine rivers. He has another 35,000 hectares in the same province plus another 5,000 in Tierra del Fuego. Outside of the US, Ted only bought in Patagonia.

Villa Traful is a green, hilly private valley bordering the spectacular homonymous lake. It's virtually empty in winter - projecting the sensation this is what Shangri-La must have been all about, before the advent of Facebook. Buying land in Traful during the 1990s was a piece of cake. Those in the know quickly grabbed public land around the lake. Now the dream is over. Jorge Sobisch, the Croatian-family former governor of Neuquen province who wants to become president, is basically selling it all for huge mass tourism groups.

But above all this is Ted Turner land. Turner is the owner of La Primavera, a spectacular 5,000 hectare estancia right on the mouth of the Traful river, where he can blissfully fish for the best trout and salmon nature can manufacture. Jane Fonda was a sucker for La Primavera. Tompkins was a guest, as well as George Bush senior and Henry Kissinger. Intruders are monitored by satellite. As this was winter and everything was dead, I could not even afford the pleasure of navigating on Turner waters. And of course Ted never shows up on Vila Traful himself - although he visits La Primavera a few times a year.

La Primavera was actually founded by an American, odontologist and former vice US consul in Buenos Aires George Newbery, in 1894. George and Ralph Newbery (father of famous aviator Jorge, whose name now graces one of Buenos Aires's airports) were convinced that Patagonia should be populated with cowboys imported from Texas.

So already in the early 20th century there was widespread fear in northern Patagonia of a yankee colonization drive. The Texas cowboy exile route soon dried up. La Primavera was sold to an Englishman, then a Frenchman, then an Argentine and finally fell on Ted's lap as he was deeply involved in a 2 million hectare conservation project -- or territorial expansion -- in Montana, New Mexico and Nebraska.

But Patagonian Ted has always been adamant; this is only about fishing.

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Goodnight and good morning at our first campsite, Hacienda Route de Siete Lagos, situated at the corner of Rt 231 and 65 on the Seven Lakes Drive.

Note Fuji anxiously awaiting my return (I am the stick figure in the distance between her ears)…

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Poor, poor, poor Fuji needed a bath before sleeping in our tent at our first campground... (The drop off was really, really steep, so she wasn't close to hitting the lake-bottom, but I think she caught more air then Tom ever intended).

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On Saturday morning, we left Bariloche for a three day camping adventure on Patagonia's famed, and largely unpaved, Seven Lakes Drive.

Here are some shots taken on much needed roadside breaks from the bone-jarring, bouncing, dust eating journey along Rt 231 in our non-too-sturdy two-door VW Golf.

And this is just the beginning of the Seven Lakes Drive...

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My lovely husband, Tom, presented me with a stuffed Te Amo lion first thing on Valentine's Day morning. An hour later, the lion was dead. Fuji is in deep trouble!

Luckily, Tom also took me out to an amazing dinner and got me a ring... Otherwise, Tom would have been the one in deep trouble!

<p>Valentine's Day Massacre from Tamsin Blue on Vimeo.</p>

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Wacky weather on our hike around Bahia Lopez...

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On Sunday we hiked a vertical, sweaty, dusty half an hour to get to the top of Cerro Campanario, which National Geographic named one of the “Top 10 Views in the World.”

On the way down, we opted for the ski-lift, with Fuji in tow. On our little Latin American adventure, she has ridden in bike baskets, on motorcycles, horses and now on ski-lifts… I wonder if she realizes what a crazy life she leads!

As to whether or not this is one of the best views in the world, here are some photos to judge it by… 

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When sunlight stretches warmly past 10 p.m. and lazy, long summer days turn into balmy dusks, street dogs, high school kids and vendors create carnival chaos in Bariloche’s main square…

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And here it is: our first hike in Bariloche, Cerro Lopez.

Needless to say, Fuji kicked butt, tearing up the STEEP, loose-rock slope, sending cascades of dust and mini-avalanches of rocks onto her panting, struggling owners below.

Reward for being hit in the head with loose rocks, choking on dirt, all while baking in the sun for a few hours = views, views, views, more views.

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On our first free day in Bariloche, we decided to get to know the local area by driving the popular El Circuito Chico around Llao-Llao peninsula.

While Bariloche is bustling with shops, bars, restaurants and clubs, we only had to drive just 15 miles out of town into this forested wilderness on the lakeshore.

So, now we have the lay of the land… and what a stunning lay out it is!

Amazing.

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Southbound Gringos has arrived, well, south.

Today we arrived at our final stop, San Carlos de Bariloche in Patagonia, and are settling into our southern most apartment (http://www.apartment-bariloche.com/vacation-rental-gallery.php) on our year long trip down through Central and South America.

Bariloche sits at 41º latitude, 2526 feet above sea level on the shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake, within the Nahuel Huapi National Park (1.754.386 acres).

This time of year, the long days are warm(ish) and sunny, with cool nights. There is sunlight streaming into our apartment windows until 10:00 pm, which means we have daylight on our side for all the hiking we plan to do.

We are looking forward to exploring the park, and its different biomes: Andean-Patagonian forest, lake, steppe and high mountain. If we get lucky on our hikes here, we could see the Pudú-Pudú (Midget Deer), Andean Condors, Pumas, Otters, Red Deer and herds of Guanacos (Llamas).

So, I am desperately looking forward to our first weekend and first hike in our new southern-most home…

In the meantime, here are some shots from out our window of the lake.

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Tomorrow morning we leave for the very last stop of our year-long South American odyssey, Bariloche.

So, tonight is our last night in Buenos Aires. And I am so very ready to say goodbye… to the cars, pollution, dirty streets, noise and parks crammed with people. I can’t wait to be in the fresh air, to go on hikes with Fuji and be in a small, friendly town.

I feel as though after the DeSenas left, Buenos Aires was over for me in some way I don’t fully understand. I even stopped taking photos for the first time on our trip as you can tell from this blog’s very sad, vacant month of January.

It is time to move on and get re-inspired!! Just one last gorgeous, smog-induced sunset from our Buenos Aires’ porch, and Southbound Gringos is Patagonia bound…

Ciao Ciao Buenos Aires.

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