Elad’s blog

This title is not original. It is said that this was the reaction of Eleanor Roosevelt when she first saw the Iguazu falls, probably the most impressive waterfalls of all south america, and some 4 times bigger then the Niagara.

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It took me a few days to get the feeling that I begin to understand how Buenos-Aires ticks. The city is full of contradictions: huge avenues (including the famous 16-lane avenue, arguably the widest in the world) and small streets; beautiful buildings and dirty streets; old colonial houses next to ultramodern glass towers; noisy transportation and Tango music; baggers in the streets next to fancy restaurants; luxurious theatres and art galleries next to piles of garbage and dirt. Numerous policeman seem to stand virtually at every corner, especially at night, and daily happening-like demonstrations seem to be the favorite entertainment of the locals. And above everything the humid and hot weather that sits like a blanket, scaring people off the streets at midday, and makes the streets full on the evening hours.

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Buenos Aires convinced me, in my first day here, that the name is just an unjustified plot to create good public relations. The air here indeed is not so good. The city itself is huge (around 3 milion people live at the centre, 13 milions if you join the suburbs), dirty, and noisy. In addition it is hot and humid; even the rain that started to fall in the evening doesn’t help. However it is also beautiful, vibrant, and seems to have heaps of nice and pretty people, buildings, art, culture, music on the streets, and really nice places, such as the Boca quarter, which I saw today with Nirit.

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Tierra-del-fuego kept the best for my very last moment there. When the plane did the turn over the Beagle Channal, immediately after the take-off, I spotted them. A flock of whales, most likely killer whales (I think I recognized the orcas by the typical white strips on their sides, clearly visible from the air) was swimming on the middle of the channal just below us. It lasted only a minute or so, until the plane got too high and too far; but it was an unforgettable minute. Always take a good window seat on these kind of flights.

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The locusts covered the country of Egypt, settling over every square inch of Egypt; the place was thick with locusts. There never was an invasion of locusts like it in the past, and never will be again. The ground was completely covered, black with locusts. They ate everything, every blade of grass, every piece of fruit, anything that the hail didn’t get. Nothing left but bare trees and bare fields–not a sign of green in the whole land of Egypt.
Exodus 10, 14:15

The Gringoes came at dawn. They probably didn’t break the divine promise of “never again to this scale”, but they were certainly close. From two huge cruise ships that arrived at night, they came upon the city of Ushuaia, its harbour, its restaurants, souvenir shops and tour operators, and scared away all the other innocent tourists, who merely planned a nice few hours boat trip at the Beagle channal. All of a sudden, everything was fully booked.

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They missed this theatre show about Darwin and the Beagle expedition at the first second, just because they chose the wrong jenre.

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For example, who would guess that just on the weekend I arrive to Ushuaia, they would try to establish here a new tradition of an “annual beer festival”. I love traditions. Of course I help them to establish this one.

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Just a few pics of ice
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The first thing you see when approaching the small touristic town of El-Calafate is the lake. Lago Argentino is a big glacier-fed lake, situated between the arid patagonian planes and the snow-covered Andes mountain chain. Thus, the view has a third of a brown plane, a third of a light turqouise lake, and a third of a white snowy mountain; add the light blue sky above, and you can get the feeling. The colour of the lake is strikingly similar to the lakes in New-Zealand near mount Cook. The place does resemble Twizel and that area, which were also surrounded by similar brown and white views when I visited them. However, there are some differences. Most important, the glaciers. No doubt, the Argentinian glaciers are far more beautiful, big, clean and impressive then the ones they have in New-Zealand.

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One hour after I left Bariloche, I suddenly realized how tensed I felt on my last days there, and how unnecessary it was. It was the same old problem I have of planning too much. I planned ahead to make friends in Bariloche or Pucon and rent a car together; and got into pressure because it didn´t work out. Completely free, like the famous Israeli song says, is only alone. I cherish my freedom. I would replace it only for the one thing that is also worth coming back from the dead for, as all of you who saw the princess bride know.

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