South America January 2015

(Jan 1-2) Jim Potochick,Danette Potochick, and Deb Anderson left the US on New Year’s Day and landed in Santiago, Chile on January 2, 2015. Chile has 2,650 miles, along the Pacific coastline, and is the longest and narrowest country in South America. The main territory is about twice the size of Germany.  In the far south, the land has hundreds of islands and fiords.  The Chilean people are generally a blend of Spanish and European immigration.  Only 8% of the people speak fluent English.

After settling in, we had a privately arranged city tour which was split between driving and walking.  We saw the Government Palace, Plaza de Armas, and the Santa Lucia hill which is were the Spanish founded Santiago in 1541.  We had our first hot dog in Chile which has avocado, tomato, and a mayo cream on top so Jim and Deb were very happy and they continued to taste test these throughout our trip!  

The next morning we rented a car and drove to Mendoza, Argentina.  We drove through the Andes mountains and stopped at the La Portilla ski resort.  Crossing the border was interesting as it was like a funnel of cars going through a narrow passage.  Cars line up to go through border control of Chile (to get out or in) and then Argentina (to get in or out).  Border control is an old system of stamping paperwork, filling out forms, long lines, and few people working to pass through hundreds of cars. We crossed five times total on trip and waited anywhere from one to five hours.

(Jan 3-5) Mendoza is a wine region that has over 1000 wineries.  Boutique wineries bottle 100,000 or less.  Oak barrels can cost up to 1000 Euro and are used six times.  The first usage is the Grand Reserva, then Reserva, and on down to your table wines.  Malbec is the acclaimed wine of Argentina. We noticed the vineyards had some vines that were more in narrow rows and some where the vines lay across the top.  We found out that the rows are for wine grapes only and the grapes that lay out on top of rows are for eating grapes.  We visited some wineries, tasted the wine, and ate the Argentina beef which was fabulous.  

It is amazing that this area only gets about 6 inches of rain per year.  The area has a vast network of aqueducts and dikes that run through the vineyards and even the city.

The city of Mendoza had great restaurants, a large park area, and was easy to get walk around.  The park area had street musicians and local vendors selling items.  We learned when we got gas to be sure to go to the proper pump.  The stations also have natural gas and many vehicles have been converted because it is cheaper to run.

After two days, we returned to Chile and went to the coastal town of Valparaiso.  The trip across the Andes was an adventure because we drove Highway 52 through Villavicencio Natural Reserve and the road has 365 turns on a gravel road.  It was an old road that was used by the San Martin and his army.  At the top of the Andes we saw some Inca ruins.

This border crossing was five hours.  We met a couple young men while waiting who gave us an education of Argentina, its corruption, and the heavy tax they put on people wanting to travel, and heavy tax on tourists.  We also learned that the black market for money exchange is the norm because of the economy.  People want Euro or US dollar as they feel this currency will hold its value. 

In Valparaiso we stayed in a wonderful B&B home with eight rooms.  It was located on top of a hill in and area with beautiful old architecture.  The buildings were painted in varied bright colors and the city had a multitude of murals painted on buildings and fences.  In various cities throughout our trip we noticed the fabulous murals or “street art”.  The streets were steep in the area we stayed and they led to the main port area.  During the colonial era this was a significant port in South America.

(Jan 6-8)  We drove to Santa Cruz, which is in the Chilean wine region.  We drove along two lane roads through valleys and hills.  In addition to vineyards, this area is a great growing region for fruits and vegetables.   Our hotel was located in a vineyard, had a swimming pool, two restaurants close by and a wine tasting room.   Deb and Danette spent the day visiting wineries and enjoying a leisurely lunch at Vina Vie Manet, while Jim spent the day biking.

(Jan 8-10)  We flew from Santiago to Temuco drove to Pucon, Chile.  We met a man,  Collin, while standing in line at the airport who was originally from Minnesota.  We offered him a ride to Pucon and he became our first of many people we transported along this trip.  We picked up hitchhikers from US, Italy, Germany, France, and Chile.  It was fun to listen to the stories, background, and experiences that every hitchhiker shared with us.

While in Pucon we visited the Volcano Villarrica, Ojos Del Caburga Falls, hiked Parc Nacional Huerquehue, and saw thermal springs.

(Jan 10-13) We crossed the border to Argentina and stayed in San Martin.  We crossed the Andes and the scenery changes from farmland and forest to the dry Argentinean Pampa. The hotel looked like a German or Swiss chalet.  This location is a ski resort area in the winter months and a trekking area in the summer.  We went during their summer and also note that the water also rotates down the drain opposite then the northern hemisphere.  The city had a street art show with music in the afternoon and fireworks late in the evening.

Sunday we drove through the lake region which has two national parks and is part of Route 40. Route 40 is the longest route in Argentina and one of the largest in the world (3100 miles long).  We stopped in Villa Angostura which is like a ski resort village you would find in the US, but with German and Swiss influence.  We stayed in Bariloche, Argentina, for two nights.

Bariloche is a larger city but we were close to the main street and it came alive at night.  Many Germans settled here after the war, in addition to other areas like Buenos Aires.  The town is known for their chocolate factories, and they have several shops selling chocolate along the main street.

We drove what is called the Circuito Chico which is a three-hour drive around the lake region with scenic views of the lakes and Andes mountains.  We stopped and had lunch at a panoramic viewpoint area and also had locally brewed beer.

(Jan 13-17)  We drove back into Chile to Puerto Varas.  The pass is about 4290 above sea level.  After crossing the border, we stopped at a thermal springs facility, Termas Aguas Clientes in Parque Nactional Puyehue, and relaxed in the pools of warm water.  Puerto Varas has about 30,000 people, is located by a large lake, and the the Osorno Volcano is a short drive.

Part of our route was along the Pan-American Highway which is a 30,000 mile road that links almost all of the mainland nations of the Americas.

If anyone watches CNN and knows who Anthony Bourdaine is, we went to a restaurant that Anthony Bourdaine had been to on one of his shows.  We met three other Americans and sat with them for dinner.  They had just ended a six-day kayak trip.  The next evening Jim had a great night because he stayed in while Deb and I went out for a nice dinner!

We took a ferry to Isla de Chiloe and stayed in the city of Castro.  

We took a boat tour to some little islands where we were able to see penguins.  The island is mainly gravel roads with pastures and vistas where you can see the Pacific and gulf water.  We drove part of the island and saw fish markets, artesian stalls where they sold a lot of knitted sweaters, and visited one of the oldest churches (1730).  

(Jan 17-24)  We took a flight from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas, southern Chile in the Patagonia region.  We stopped at the Otway Penguin Colony and saw the Magellan Penguins.  Peguins live 25-30 years and always come back to the place where they were born for mating season.  They usually have 1-2 offspring and the male and female take turns watching and feeding the little ones.  They swim for food every 8 hours and dive 30 meters (90 ft) deep.  Only couples come back as no single penguins return.  They arrive in mid September from the southern coast of Brazil and the Falkland Islands.  Offspring are born in late November to early December and by mid March they return to Brazil and Atlantic Islands.

We spent the night at Puerto Natales which is a fading community of fishing and meat-packing enterprises.  We were impressed with the hotel in having a chef that created a varied and different menu, from what we had been having, so we were satisfied.  The view from the room was great as you could see Torres Del Paine. 

We spent two nights at a hotel right outside Torres Del Paine National Park.  The area was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978.  It’s granite peaks rise up to 9184 feet, and was formed some 3 million years ago.  We drove the entire park and saw waterfalls, lakes, and jagged mountains.  It was great to see all the hikers of varied ages.  It gave us a sense of increased energy to watch them with their backpacks as they set off on their hiking adventures which could last from a couple days to a week or more.  

The weather was great as we had low wind and clear skies.  This area is known for high wind and varied weather and just a couple days before the winds were at 50-60 mph and rain.  We took the Lago Grey Glacier boat tour.  It was spectacular to get near the glaciers and see the massive size and varied colors of the ice.  

We left Chile and had a last crossing back into Argentina and the city of El Calafate.  We went to the Los Glaciers National Park and saw the Perito Moreno Glacier, which is one of the few advancing glaciers in the world.  This is part of the Patagonian Ice Field, from which 13 glaciers descend.  We walked a massive catwalk and got close to the glacier.  It is 55 meters high, 10 km wide and 14 km in length.  We could hear the ice cracking, which sounded like a boom or gun shot, and we could hear the sound as chunks fell into the water.

Our last stop in the Patagonia region was El Chalten, Argentina, which is the area of the famous Mount Fitz Roy (3405 meters/11,175 ft.) in Los Glaciares Nacional Park.  On our drive to El Chalten we passed several estancias/ranches. 

This area is a climbers paradise.  We met two French men who were going to climb to the top as soon as the weather cleared, and we gave a ride to two Americans who were going climbing.  We also met a woman who went climbing and then dove off a ledge and opened her parachute.  We walked a ten mile trek where we had a fabulous view of Fitz Roy.

(Jan 24-29) We flew to Buenos Aires and spent several days in a great boutique hotel.  Argentina is the second largest country in South America and eighth largest in the world.  BA has a population of 13 million.  We took a half-day private tour of the city.  We saw San Telmo, Recoleta Cemetery (where Eva Peron is buried), Plaza de Mayo, La Boca and other districts.  After our tour, we asked the woman to drop us off at a famous Sunday market.  We saw live music, people selling antiques, and a Tango show on the plaza.  Walking back toward the hotel we found several more areas with street markets and music.

We took a tour of the Teatro Colon which is a center for opera, ballet, and classical music.  One evening we went to a Tango show at Gran Cafe Tortoni.  We walked the city every day and saw things like a famous Japanese garden, Alvear Palace Hotel, and stores that sold fine leather goods.  

Another day we took the train to Tigre which lies on the Parana Delta.  We took a boat ride around the inter-connecting rivers and streams.

One day we took a ferry to Uruguay and spent the day in the small city of Colonia del Sacramento.  The city was founded in 1680 by the Portuguese and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The historic quarter has narrow cobblestone streets with single-story houses.

Jim, Danette, and Deb had spent a month together sharing rooms with three separate beds, sharing bathrooms, and sharing car space with Jim and Deb as drivers and Danette as navigator.  As we reflected on the trip, we all agreed that we had a great time going to a new country that none of us had been to and will treasure forever our shared experiences and love for each other.  

Cuba Nov 11-19, 2014

Credit to Jim Bennett for the writing below:

So off we head to the land of Castro, communism and cigars. Five of us, Jim and Danette Potochick, Jim Bennett, and Davron and Carlos Cardenas, in search of a new adventure. This was pretty much an unknown, for we knew few people who had traveled to this strange island.

On day one we drive five hours to Miami. In the afternoon we meet Sergio, the representative of Road Scholar, the tour company that holds the State Department license allowing educational trips to Cuba. There is a thorough orientation for the 23 of us, the first step in peeling back all our preconceptions.  Afterward we have dinner and turn in early. Wake-up time is four A. M. Yikes!

The next morning we groggily bus to the Miami airport, sit around a bit, then board a scheduled Sun Country jet to Havana. A short plane ride later our adventure begins. We sail through Cuban customs and board a comfortable modern air-conditioned bus. Made in China. We meet Guillermo, our Cuban Study Leader. He is an ex- school teacher and a fountain of information about the country. He will be with us for the entire trip.

We travel to Revolution Square and learn about the great events that have occurred there. Everywhere we turn, Fidel Castro is hailed as a hero. Fidel was instrumental in leading the 1959 revolution, which drove the avaricious dictator Batista from power. Subsequently the graft and corruption of the Batista regime were replaced step by step by the glories of the socialist economy, and the monuments in Revolution Square pay homage to that, uh, success.

 Afterward we’re off to lunch in a paladar, a privately-owned restaurant. A note: in Cuba there are an increasing number of small privately-owned businesses. These businesses are growing rapidly in type and number, so much so that most guide books are already out of date. Since the retirement of Fidel Castro and the ascension to power of his brother Raul, capitalist elements are creeping into the economy. Fidel was a charismatic socialist visionary, while Raul seems to be more of a pragmatist.

Leaving Revolution Square, we drive to the Colon Cemetery, a huge (140 acres) property of massive monuments, mausoleums, and chapels. The size and scope of these family vaults defy comprehension.

Later, we’re off to the Hotel Nacional, arguably Havana’s finest. It is a wonderful old place, quite comfortable, and proud of its famous past visitors—Marilyn Monroe, Meyer Lansky, Frank Sinatra, etc. Then an excellent dinner at the hotel and we’re free to explore afterward.

Day three arrives. A huge early-morning buffet, then our morning lecture begins at 8:30. This is an educational trip, make no bones about it. Our speaker is a local architect who is heavily involved in the preservation of Old Havana. He has outstanding knowledge of the city and what is necessary to repair and maintain the old buildings. Our little group shares the opinion that his is an impossible task. Many of the buildings in Havana were constructed in the 20’s and 30’s, and some even in the 1800’s and before.   The architecture is stunning on many of these old places, but maintenance is dismal. They are disintegrating before our eyes. In the city of Havana half the incoming water supply is lost to leaks in the system and those leaks have done untold damage to the foundations of the building. On average, three buildings a day collapse in Havana. It would cheaper to tear these old places down than repair them, but there is no money even for that. We can’t conceive of how they will ever be able to repair, rebuild, and maintain the houses, apartments, commercial buildings, and infrastructure.

Later we investigate the ‘four plazas’ of Havana, each with its own story. The people we meet and interact with are unfailingly polite and friendly. In one square the men are cautioned to avoid the brightly costumed women who come up and volunteer to have their picture taken with them. These women wear a brilliant petroleum-based lipstick, and if they kiss you your cheek will be a smeary mess for the rest of the day. They wear badges provided by the government; we call them registered kissers. In one of the squares there is a little shop selling postcards. They also sell stamps, which can be applied with a little glue stick they offer. There is a slot to mail the cards, and we are told they may arrive in two or three months.

Later we meet with employees of a graphic arts cooperative and buy a little of their work. In Cuba there is a huge emphasis on the arts, as we will encounter time and again. For lunch we find a place featuring enthusiastic Cuban jazz music. The food is good, the people friendly, and the music loud and percussive. We all stick cigars in our mouths and act cool.

      We visit the first English book store in Cuba. It is run by an American journalist who lives in Havana. She is very open about how things operate and the difficulties she can face in operating her little business.

A note: people in Cuba can talk very freely. Though the country is a dictatorship, there is a free exchange of ideas. You cannot, of course, go onto a street corner and shout that Fidel is an immoral communist pig, but people are very open when you ask them hard questions. At the book store we break up into small groups to discuss life in Cuba, and one Cuban is asked directly about graft and corruption in the Cuban government. He is very open is saying that it is prevalent in all levels, though since Raul Castro has come into power there are an increasing number of prosecutions for graft.

     Later we explore the neighborhood near the Hotel Nacional and find an excellent restaurant. Carlos is fluent in Spanish and has a long conversation with our waitress. She is very candid about how much she makes ($25 per month) and about the hardships of living in a controlled society that has no money. Cardiologists, she informs us, make $48 per month. Everyone, of course, supplements their government incomes any way they can. Tourism is the number one industry in Cuba and many professionals make more money driving cabs than they can earn in their regular business.

     On day four we have a presentation on Cuba-U. S. relations, as seen from a Cuban perspective. Without going into endless detail, suffice it to say that there has been a monumental amount of misunderstanding, posturing, and just plain mistakes on both sides over the past hundred years and more. To get a better feel for all these problems would take several books.

     Later we’re off to the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana, the fortress protecting the mouth of Havana Harbor. Apparently the fortress and the blockaded harbor did their jobs well. That is, until the English came and climbed up the hill behind the fortification and took control of the city.

     We’re off to the Artisan’s Market, where we see paintings, photography, crochet work, wood crafts and other art. We can interact with the people and discuss their daily lives. As usual, we make an effort to support them by making small purchases. We are more than happy to spend the money with these people.

     The lecture for day five is on religion in Cuba. Jim B and Danette skip the lecture and head off on foot to Havana Viejo, the old city, some three miles away. It is a fascinating walk through the local neighborhoods, stopping to talk to artists, shop owners, and assorted citizens. On the way, Danette stops at a school to talk to a teacher, and Jim and Danette are invited in for a tour. Eventually it is time to return to the hotel, and a ’54 Chev convertible provides taxi service. A note on the cars: about a third of the automobiles on the street are American vehicles made in 1958 and earlier. Mostly 50’s, and few 40’s, and now and then a Model A. Strangely (to us), many of these old cars have been converted to diesel. Thus you will see a ’57 Chev clattering down the street with billows of black smoke pouring from its oversize tail pipe. It seems that all the government vehicles run on diesel and the operators and maintenance people ‘appropriate’ diesel fuel and sell it on the black market. There it brings $1 per gallon, while gasoline, imported mostly from Venezuela, is $5 per gallon.

     Later we dine in a paladar, then hop on the bus for a journey to the Ernest Hemingway residence on the outskirts of Havana. We walk around his sprawling compound and see the massive pool where Ava Gardner swam nude. We are unable to find photos of that, though.

     That evening we dine at El Aljibe, a local favorite, famous for their roast chicken and ‘secret sauce’. A surprise awaits us when we leave the restaurant: instead of the usual bus, driven by our trusty chauffeur Roberto, a string of 1950’s convertibles awaits our group. With ear-to-ear grins we all jump aboard and caravan though the city to our hotel. Horns honk, sirens scream, people wave—a very fun time for all.

     In the morning we depart from Havana for Cienfuegos, a prosperous (comparatively) town on the south shore of the island that is Cuba. It is perhaps a three-hour bus ride, with stops for refreshments and bathroom usage. Many of the roads have only two lanes, with only one main highway running most of the 700-mile length of Cuba. We see very little traffic—it is too expensive to travel. As we get further out into the countryside we see more horse-drawn transportation. We pass deserted sugar mills and small farms and small towns. A note on sugar production in Cuba: When the soviets came to Cuba to spread the benefits of communism (and look for places to install their missiles), they offered the Cubans 40 cents per pound for sugar. The world price at that time was 10 cents. Cuba was a huge sugar producer, so the living was good. That is, until the Soviet Union collapsed and stopped buying sugar. The Cubans had not updated their production facilities because there had been no need, and now they could not produce the product for 10 cents a pound. The country dropped immediately into a deep economic depression, from which many say they have still not recovered. As we travel we also see farmers putting the roads to another use besides transportation: they spread their rice harvests along the road to dry. There is so little traffic that this poses no problems for travelers like ourselves. When the rice is dry, they bag it and load it into trucks, for market.

     We stop at a museum at Playa Giron, the Bay of Pigs, where displaced Cubans naively believed a tiny invasionary force would cause the people to rise up and overthrow the revolutionary government. There are signs everywhere extolling the triumph of the great Fidel, and we learn the Cuban side of the story.  Any way you look at it, it was an ill-conceived disaster.

     On to Cienfuegos. We walk through the main square in Cienfuegos, Plaza Jose Marti. There are little shops surrounding the square, and we wander through them and talk to the shopkeepers while on the lookout for souvenirs to take back to the U. S. Our accomodations in Cienfuegos are at the Hotel Jagua, the best in the city. Also the newest, dating back only to 1958.

     The following day we saddle up and head for the city of Trinidad, which is called the crown jewel of colonial Cuban cities and was founded in 1514. With its rough cobblestone street, it is probably also the leg-breaker capital of the world. How the suspensions of the 1950’s automobiles can survive the streets of Trinidad is beyond comprehension. We lunch in a delightful paladar in Cienfuegos, where we have an  excellent meal and a marvelous view, both of the distant mountains and of the ancient woman hanging out her laundry next door.

     In the afternoon we tour the town, stopping to visit a casa particular, a Cuban bed and breakfast. The people are marvelously candid, so we deluge them with questions. Many of the people in our group take very detailed notes, as though they are preparing for a test. We have, however, come here to learn. A note about Road Scholar travelers: if our group was any indication, Road Scholar travelers are very serious about gathering knowledge. Most had traveled widely and become learned about many parts of the world. They love to share information and traveling with them is an education in itself.

     In Trinidad it is very warm, and by the time we meet the bus to head back to the Hotel Jagua in Cienfuegos, we are dragging. We rest a bit, then the five of us get together on the sixth-floor walkway of the hotel, where we can hear music playing from somewhere in the city. We have a drink and stick cigars in our mouth. We look very cool.

     The following morning we indulge in the usual excellent breakfast, before traveling to a local farmer’s market. Unlike the U. S., the meat is not refrigerated, but hung openly or piled on tables for customers to view. The meat is very fresh in the morning, but as the day goes on it drops in price. It is generally a good idea to overcook meat that has been purchased late in the day. Regarding food in Cuba: everyone is issued a ration book, good for a certain amount of sugar, salt, flour, milk, etc.  After that, you supplement your income with a trip to the farmer’s market. Sadly, Cuba is a net importer of food. The government has allotted only small amounts of acreage to the farmers, and the small size and lack of mechanization, plus the unaffordable price of fertilizer, make for very inefficient farms. Departing from the farmer’s market, we load up and head to Santa Clara, the provincial capital, where we meet with a senior citizen’s social group. On the wall of their meeting hall is a sign that says Fiesta des Abuelos, or something like that. We interpret it liberally to mean ‘Get down with granny’, for these folks like to dance, sing, and party. In the spirit of the day, we tourists join in and boogie with the old folks.

     We dine in Santa Clara, then head over to the Che Guevara memorial. Bet you didn’t know his real name was Ernesto Lynch…. In any case, he was very well-read and well-educated. He graduated from medical school and spent much time studying engineering and mathematics. He was a fearless revolutionary fighter and is revered to this day in Cuba.

     Afterward we attend a performance by an a capella choir. The group was very talented and entertaining. Afterward they have the usual cd’s for sale and most of us buy one. Again, there is no pressure to do this, but we wholeheartedly desire to support these groups, and it is a pleasure to do anything we can for them.

     After dinner the five of us head out to find some good Cuban music. We walk for many blocks in Cienfuegos, talking to residents along the way. Unsuccessful, we finally return to our hotel only to find that an excellent band is playing. By now we’re all tired, so we go to bed.

    The following morning, Jim and Jim and Danette go for a long walk. Carlos and Davron pass by and throw us a bottle of shampoo or some such, the same as Danette has been passing out to the Cubans. After a while we all meet back at the motel, board the bus, and drive for the Cienfuegos airport. We are careful not to have too much Cuban money left, for it is not convertible outside the country. We pool all our Cuban money and find we have barely enough for lunch, then board the plane and leave Cuba without an extra centavo. A note on Cuban money: they have a two-currency system—one currency for Cubans and one for tourists. There is a 13% fee to change U. S. dollars into tourist pesos, or CUC’s.  The Cubans are threatening to do away with this clunky system within the next two years.

     In Miami, customs is a breeze. We check in at automated kiosks, talk briefly to a U. S. Customs inspector, and leave. Contrary to even the latest guidebooks, we are not hassled about bringing our purchases back from Cuba—everyone has loaded up with T-shirts and other memorabilia. Our guides cautioned us against bringing back cigars or rum, but it is unlikely that a few cigars would cause a problem.

     One last note: communications in Cuba are easy, if you can afford it. Pick up the phone in the hotel and call home. $2.65 per minute. As for internet, citizens do not have access to it. One or two business owners told us that they have illegal dishes on their roofs and can get on the internet, but it is against the law. Lastly, an observation on the police. They seem efficient, organized, and not especially friendly. Far, however, from a police state one might expect in a communist country.

     Bottom line? One of the best trips we’ve ever taken. An educational experience far beyond expectations. Well organized, efficient, and really, really, fun.