Crackers, wine, ice-cream and 8 minute workouts

I am always excited when traveling to a new place or moving onto my next destination, sometimes to the point where I feel nauseous in excitement and anticipation for the unknown which lies ahead. As I left the hostel today the same sensation rose within although this time it was accompanied with a tinge of melancholy as I parted ways with Kerry, my companion for the past two weeks and one of the new friends I met during my Antarctic adventure.


Our time together was a furor of laughter and conversation; crackers, wine, cycling, bus rides, hostel schlepping, ice-cream sampling, self catering, 8 minute workouts, bug bites and shared stories. Finding a great travel partner is a challenge, similar interests and a good sense of humor are key; a person you can just be yourself around, enjoy adventures (good or bad) and have a laugh with. I am already looking forward to catching up with Kerry (and Greg) further North in the months to come.


After several days in which our itinerary centered heavily around wine we decided to mix it up and head North towards Parque Provincial Ischugualasto. Mountain ranges and a valley of sand and rock makes up the 200 million year old ¨Valle de la Luna¨, a dinosaur graveyard and an arid panorama of moonscapes and unusual rock formations. 


As you do for any new adventure we set out enthusiastically for the small town of San Agustin where we would spend the night before our visit to the park. The following morning however, after the 6 hour bus ride and a night of bed bugs, sex noises (not our own) and mosquitoes in a dorm that resembled a cell, our enthusiasm had waned. 


Whilst we enjoyed our Triassic experience the prospect of another night sleeping (or not) with the light on, under a veil of bug spray and netting wasn't very appealing so we fled with what skin we had left, back the the refuge of wine and ice-cream bestowed by the lovely city of Mendoza. 


My stint in Malbec territory wasn't complete frivolity, I did manage to firm up some travel plans for the months ahead, the next stop continues my Argentinian tour with a jaunt in the cosmopolitan and Tango infused capital of Buenos Aires.