From Cape to cape. Expeditions by land and sea.

[drron]

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Not every site was well maintained-

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[love_the_life]

I remember that the cemetery was huge and we kept getting lost trying to find our way around! The tombs were amazing.

 

[drron]

There was a mudmap at the entrance.Fortunately I can still remember things for a couple of hours!

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Then the grave that most come to see.Many still cry for her-

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The story after her death is quite unusual.A memorial to her was being built,her body embalmed and displayed in her office when the plan was to move her to the memorial a la Lenin style.But there was a military coup.Her body disappeared for 16 years until an officer revealed she was buried in Italy.Juan Peron was in exile in Spain and had her body exhumed keeping it on a pedestal in his dining room for 2 years.Eventually she came home and as far as anyone can be sure her remains are here.

 

[drron]

As I left the cemetery it began to rain.Mainly a light drizzle but quite heavy at times.At one point when it got heavy I popped into a patisserie and had a selection of 3 empanadas-nice lot of filling and very tasty-105 pesos.So a few street scenes on my return journey-

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A superb name for a business-

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Manpower still used-

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That evening back to the lounge.A good night as our little group had bonded well.But early to bed as an 0500 start in the morning.

 

[drron]

Check out just after 0500.Save another $US120 in VAT.They call a taxi-150 pesos so he gets a 50 peso tip.
Grumpy checkin agent.Well it is early.Long lines for security.Note nearly everyone setting off the machine so for a change shoes and belt remain on,nothing out of bag and keep quiet about my knee.Result-no patdown.Then a 75 minute wait at the gate.Preferente boarding works well as usual but to no avail as everyone on a bus to a remote stand.We had a choice of LATAM flights to USH-0400 direct or 0720 by El Calafate.As we always say why fly direct.

LA 4440. AEP-FTE. ETD-0720. push back-0726. Take off-0735. A322. Seats 4B,C.
ETA-1045. land-1035. At gate-1039.

LA4440. FTE-USH. ETD-1125. push back-1120. take off-1126.
ETA-1245. land-1228. At gate-1131.

Quite a few ask if they can be seated in Rows 1-3.But they bring 2 women up from the back to the 2 spare seats.They want to sit together but told to take the available seats-1B,D.After take off the women in 1B is screaming at the old fellow in 1A and calling the FA.The fellow eventually gives up and swaps with the woman in 1D.
Exactly the same snack as previous flight-obviously an Argy special.So pics of the leg room and coming in to FTE-a large lake but apart from the terminal and road to it no other evidence of humans.

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Quite a few get off.But after about a half have left the plane the woman in 1C has a grand mal convulsion.Crew have absolutely no idea what to do but fortunately a nurse right there.As soon as she stops fitting 2 burly fellows in leather jackets with the Union Jack on the back come on and carry her out.Despite that everyone else is off quickly and the new pax on so leave early.Pics on take off-

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As you can see weather is pretty awful on take off but above the clouds a better view of the Andes.Mrsdrron has upgraded herself to 3A so gets the better shots.

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[drron]

On the leg to USH there was no service at all.The crew remained in the galley with a friend who boarded at FTE.So a few more pics-

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Mrsdrron got some good shots on descent into USH-

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That's a penguin island so that is definitely not snow.

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Landing-

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[drron]

Our bags were out quickly and the hotel driver was waiting with our name displayed.Soon at checkin which was a bit of a hassle.We thought we had prepaid they thought we hadn't so no booking.Mrsdrron had not been able to book online with the hotel and emails had gone unanswered.She eventually joined the Small Luxury hotels program which gave the same rate + a free upgrade,continental brekkie,wifi and airport transfers.It appeared that Amex had knocked back the original payment but no one had contacted us.
But a great room and we were happy whether it was an upgrade or not-

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What a view from the lobby-

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We were a little peckish having only had the LAN snack pack so went to the bar and had pizzas-a ham and tomato plus a king crab plus camembert washed down with a glass of SB and a bottle of the local brew.

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The pizzas were excellent and the brew not bad.So now the view from the room-

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[drron]

The Los Cauquenes hotel is in a gated community.Although cold the afternoon was dry with intermittent sunshine so we went for a walk around the local area.Told the houses start at $US 1 million-

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Certainly million dollar views-

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[drron]

A truly beautiful place-

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Dinner at the hotel-
Mrsdrron ordered the king crab with golf sauce-yes that is what is in the menu.Turned out to be seafood sauce.I ordered the veal tenderloin,The waitress left me speechless when she asked"What is the point of the meat?"It turned out she was asking how did I want it done.Now I like veal medium so I asked for medium/well done and it arrived medium.I then had a volcano pudding.I guess it was meant to be a lava cake-

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It was washed down with the Patagonian wine we thought awful in the Sacred Valley but at sea level quite drinkable.

 

[drron]

The continental breakfast was adequate.It did get you scrambled eggs and charred bacon-that description turned out to be very accurate.We booked the train plus National Park tour for the afternoon so got the shuttle into town in the morning.Overcast and cold.A not very inspiring town with a great mixture of building styles-

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The English are made to feel welcome-

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Two busses doing tours to the prison.but only 3 times a day.Plus it is only a short walk.

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[drron]

In another twist the other tour bus is an old London bus-

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Evita is still remembered-

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Lunch at the Tia Elvira restaurant-king crab this time with mayonnaise and ketchup-you guessed it-

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A nice lot of crab but again a cover charge.On the way back pass a massive construction site-14 new blocks.

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Able to watch the armed services at work from our window-

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[drron]

So at 1400 we set off on our tour passing the golf club-

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A good set up with their workshop on view and historical photos-

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But not missing a chance to have a go at the English-

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A fellow then gave a long talk in Spanish so I looked at the golf clubhouse-

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[drron]

Finally the gates are opened and we board the train.It is a tiny one-

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After about 10 minutes we arrive here-

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[drron]

Are we going to dance?No we are here to see the awe inspiring Macarena falls.Somehow I doubt they will rival Iguazu.

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Looks like they are diverting the line-

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We retreat to our private office but are waiting more than the 15 minute stop announced.Turns out we are waiting for the work train.

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[drron]

Off to the National Park station-

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The country is still showing the scars of the prison days.Work was mainly cutting down trees-

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Finally arrived,everybody off and the "facilities".

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So was it worth it.Well not great value for money.It does take over an hour to do what could be a 15 minute ride but pleasant enough.
So now picked up by the hotel bus-there are 8 of us on this tour with a guide and driver.First stop-the Post Office at the bottom of the world-

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[drron]

We were meant to have 30 minutes here to walk along the coast-it is a start point for a couple of trails.i did set off and walked a little distance.On a fine day the scenery would be stunning.The fa_us was beginning to turn.

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[drron]

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Then to a large lake shared by Argentina and Chile.The mountain is in Chile-

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[drron]

Looks like someone may have stayed here-

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Then on to the NP HQ for a comfort stop.It overlooked another lake-

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Then passed a family of black necked swans-

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And finally to the end of Route 3-the Pan American highway to Alaska.Well apart from the Darien Gap.

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[drron]

The last of the National Park-

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Back to the hotel and we were frozen.The temp had dropped to 2C.Warmed ourselves up and again dinner at the hotel.I just had the king crab appetiser and mrsdrron the seafood risotto-this was extremely good with lots of seafood including crab and the rice perfect.Naturally a bottle of SB.

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The next day was intermittent rain with a forecast maximum of 3C.Mrsdrron decided to stay in but I went back to town to visit the Prison museum.So on the way in what I presume are staff accommodation at the hotel and then examples of the units in town.Ushuia has a population of 80000.

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The houses nearer to the CBD are mostly quite small-

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[drron]

You get off the shuttle near the port.Today there was a difference-

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Rained heavily walking to the prison but stopped when I got their.The old prison is now basically part of the Navy base-

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Outside the museum-

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Obviously fresh snow in the mountains from last night-

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