September 30, 2005, Catedral Patagonia,Argentina

Hola,<br>Jill and I are on an extended adventure in Argentina and Chile with a focus in the Patagonia region.  It is spring time in the Andes and they have had a great snow season.  <br>We had a pleasant flight to Atlanta and waited about 7 hours for our flight to Buenos Aires( BsAs).  The 9 hour flight was rather uncomfortable at times because the Boeing 757 has no leg room,even for Jill.  The 18 hour bus ride in como cache class from BsAs to Bariloche was very enjoyable. We relaxed, ate and slept the entire trip.These are double decker buses with seats that go horizontal and even I can sleep.  There was a young waiter who served us snacks, breakfast, lunch, tea sañdwiches, dinner with wine and champagne or whisky.  Only one class of service on the bus. Tickets were 54USD each which include all meals. Great way to travel if you have the time which we have.<br> <br>The Spanish school met us at the bus depot and drove us to our homestay family. Our homestay family is great. Christina teaches English at 2 different private schools for children and her husband is a ski instructor at Catedral Alta Patagonia ski resort.  We rented a car for a month at ABA Car Rental for a very good rate. We had Christina work the phones and rental agancies and our rate for 4 weeks is 1700 ARP which includes all insurance and papers for taking the car to Chile. We negotiated the deal at 2200 on a Friday evening and they delivered the car to our homestay at 0930 on Saturday. You could probably improve the rate by negoiating further in advance. We thought we could get a better deal locally at the last minute - not so. <br> <br>So far,we have skied at Cathedral, an enormous ski area. We skied in and out of the area in spring conditions.  The views of Volcan Tronador and the Andes to Chile are fantastic.  We had condors soaring within 100 feet of us on the top of the area at Refugio Lynch. There is a gondola, quads and numerous doubles and triples.  As in the North American ski resorts, the ski areas are deserted in the spring.  People stare at our randonee gear. We have been approached by a guide while skiing the rock bands out of the boundaries about skiing further outside the area. A full day lift ticket is 18USD during the spring.  <br><br>The ski areas close on October 12 so we are trying to ski the few ski resorts in the region.  Our Spanish Immersion course ends in 2 weeks and then we will drive to the Chilean and Argentine Lakes District to climb and ski volcanos.  There are a lot of volcanos in Chile but access is limited at many. <br><br>It should be quite the adventure. We will keep you posted.<br><br>Chao,  Zap and Jill<br><br> <br><br>More photos here:http://zapjillski.smugmug.com/gallery/993761/1/46455521
 

Gracias para el informe. Tenga un viaje muy bueno.

Yeah, and also, thanks for the info, have a great trip

Yeah, and also, thanks for the info, have a great trip)

<br>Yeah well, I said have a very great trip, not just a great trip.

Nice report, Zap. Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for the information on that part of Argentina.