An Ode to Argentina – Part One

“What once was foreign has become familiar.
Places I dreamed of I now know – the smells,
the sites, the tastes, the people. I thought only
to visit, but instead I found a home away from home.”

– Heather Markel, June 2019.

It’s hard for me to believe but I spent almost four months in Argentina. I recently left with a certain sense of regret and sadness. So I’d like to say some thank yous to Argentina.

I fell in love with Patagonia right away. The crisp air, the dogs that ran up like they knew me and even though they hoped for food they also liked a cuddle. El Calafate was my very first experience with Argentina, and I ended up spending almost two weeks there because I simply loved the feel of the town and all the amazing experiences I could have from there. Patagonia is also where I had the (now) funny incident of my first Argentinian tour guide asking if he could make out with me my very first week! Hey at least he was young and cute. 

“So many things I’m thankful for.”

Hiking a glacier is something I never imagined doing and I’m so glad I did. I strapped on crampons and conquered the ice and got a welcome glass of whiskey at the end! But even that memory competes for first place with my walk with penguins. Down in Ushuaia I saw the boats that go to Antarctica and the mere possibility that I could simply ask for a room on one of them and get to that continent blew my mind. (I wasn’t ready for the rocky waters, and met people just back who had 40 hours straight of rolling seas…) Ushuaia is the so-called end of the earth (even if not quite). I had never seen penguins outside the zoo and they are an entirely different animal, literally, when living free in nature. Patagonia, your rolling mountains and vistas and lagoons and hiking and wildlife simply stole my heart. Ushuaia is also where I did my first crazy long hike, through lots of mud, and my first hitch-hiking experience to get there. Thankfully with some new French friends!