Photography – twoOregonians

Argentina, Destinations, Featured Places, Photography

Just Dance: Finding Authentic Tango in Buenos Aires

April 4, 2012

Long before we booked our tickets to South America, I had bookmarked this beautiful video, Milongas…The Seduction of Tango, by photographer Tewfic El-Sawy:

If you have the time, push play and experience a taste of the finer side of Tango in Buenos Aires.

I longed for this kind of visual experience once we landed in Argentina. On the other hand, Ted and I found ourselves wary at the thought of joining up with most Tango Tour operations in town for a variety of reasons:

A) We suck at dancing together. Maybe it was a case of sour grapes? Continue Reading…

Argentina, Destinations, Patagonia, Photography

Argentina’s Perito Moreno Glacier: Inspiration on the Rocks

March 22, 2012

Confession: I’ve harbored deep skepticism about the value of a visit to Perito Moreno Glacier.

Perito Moreno Glacier is El Calafate’s claim to fame; companies send buses, arrange lavish day trips and tour boats, and every store in the Argentinian city sells the same twelve post cards depicting the great ice wall towering above the chilly waters of Lago Argentino.

Truthfully (bear with me, here), I’ve rarely given any glacier a second thought. When living in New Zealand, I didn’t bother with a visit to Franz Josef, and even in Torres del Paine and Parques Nacional Los Glaciares, I was only beginning to come around when we saw Grey and Grande Glaciers. (Hold the rotten tomatoes, please. I’m just trying to be honest.)

Perito Moreno Glacier is hyped by every tour operator and guidebook in El Calafate, and I worried that we’d be cattle-herded past a hunk of ice, and I’d be playing the Emperor’s New Clothes Game, saying, “Ohhh, how lovely. Very nice,” while thinking, “Um. It’s frozen water. In a large amount. Cool. Why did we pay all this money again?”

Ted began the mission of winning me over. He’s been fascinated by glaciers for a long while, and his giddiness has been palpable each time we’ve rounded a bend to encounter a massive field of ice.

The moment we began walking down the elevated trails toward the lookout points and heard the creaks and groaning of this enormous mass, my attention was captured, too. Continue Reading…

Argentina, Destinations, Landscape Architecture, Patagonia, Photography

Growing Pains in El Chalten

March 20, 2012

What started as a Netflix DVD date-night-in a few years ago culminated in a February visit to El Chalten, Argentina, the quirky little “Swiss Village of the Patagonian Alps.”

On a sunlit morning, we bussed across the invisible line separating Chile from its Eastern neighbor and began the second half of our visit to the lower lands of South America. Following a short mid-afternoon stopover in the lakeside tourist city of El Calafate, we zoomed another several hours to the north and came upon El Chalten as the sun set behind the stunning mountain range.

At this moment of dusk, the grand peaks of Cerro Fitz Roy called out, “Congratulations, tired travelers! You’ve reached the land of mountain climbers, wildlife, and majestic peaks: the remote frontier of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares.” Continue Reading…

Chile, Patagonia, Photography

Parting Glances: Torres del Paine

March 18, 2012

Bolivia, Destinations, Musings, Photography, South America

Travels Through The Middle of Nowhere

February 25, 2012

Sometimes, I don’t do my research.

I sign us up for random 4×4 tours through the middle of nowhere South America and, aside from the Salt Flats, haven’t the foggiest idea of what we’re about to see through the car window…

Sometimes, the surprise is worth the negligence.

Day two of our three-day-expedition meant little to me when I saw the route on the tiny 4×6 map we were given at the outset: tiny mountain symbols, a few “Lagunas,” dashed lines, and some lingering memories of beautiful flamingo snapshots from a fellow blogger.

Sometimes, as we travel, time is spent on today. The people, the places, the tasks at hand.

Sometimes, we trust that at a certain point, neglecting the planning and research means that tomorrow really will take care of itself.

How jaw-dropping to encounter plants and wildlife, mountain scenes and colored lakes, high country snow (the first snow of our Brazilian companions’ lives!), and approach each new bend in the road with wide eyed anticipation and wonder.

Sometimes, we have no idea what to expect. And that’s when travel comes alive.

Enjoy the peek at beautiful, wild, surprising altiplano of Southern Bolivia…

Bolivia, Destinations, Photography, South America

Salar de Uyuni: Please Pass the Salt {and the Chocolate, too}

February 23, 2012

Island Vacation? No, not a golden beach on tropical shores: a vast, evaporated lake of salt sitting 11,995 feet high in the land-locked country of Bolivia. The 4,000 square mile Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flat) is roughly the size of Oregon’s entire Willamette Valley floor.

A visit to this natural phenomenon was part of our transportation scheme as we maneuvered overland through southern Bolivia and on into Chile. Continue Reading…

Bolivia, Destinations, Photography, South America

Cementerio de Trenes: Where Transportation Hopes Come to Die

February 22, 2012

Hello, hello, friends! This is the beginning of a rapid-fire blog journey following our tire tracks south from La Paz, Bolivia by overnight bus to Uyuni and then onward via 4×4 through cemeteries, salt flats, volcanoes and lakes, through lands of geysers and hot springs and high elevation passes, and finally past the Chilean border and into the Atacama desert. Enjoy the ride!

He stopped the vehicle and welcomed us to the Cemetery of Trains. An auspicious beginning. Continue Reading…

Bolivia, Destinations, Musings, Photography

Photos from La Paz: Cathedrals, Moonscapes, Pigeons in the Park

February 17, 2012

Welcome to Sights from Our Adventures in the City, episode two. See Lima to catch up on episode one. It’s riveting entertainment, let me assure you.

This post’s title makes sense mostly in the non-sensical context of Kilban’s lines:
Piggly, wiggly, bird bath, pie
Cat hips, fish lips, poke you in the eye!
…
Aardvark, percolator, five-cent cigar
Rhinestones, soup bones, midgets in a jar…

Please, pull up a seat and follow along our wanderings in downtown La Paz, Bolivia…
Continue Reading…

Destinations, Musings, Patagonia, Photography, South America

Patagonia Preview: Thanks to the Princess Bride

February 4, 2012

“Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. He took me to his cabin and he told me his secret. ‘I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts’ he said. ‘My name is Ryan; I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Roberts has been retired 15 years and living like a king in Patagonia.’”

I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit that my fascination with this crazy region at the ends of the earth began with a little line from the Princess Bride. Little did I know the first time I watched it (while home sick from summer camp), that all these years later, I’d be flying to the tip of South America to explore a place that’s captivated my imagination for so long.

Since we flew down to Punta Arenas on my birthday, Ted gave me the window seat (aww….), and I spent blissful hours watching the world of volcanoes, lakes, glaciers, and mountains pass beneath our wings. Take a peek, and enjoy the view!

Departing the hot desert of northern Chile…

Active Volcanoes

Beautiful islands on decent into Puerto Montt

Snow-capped Beauties

I have a thing for setting the scene with music. It’s a good soundtrack, I promise…

Enormous Glaciers!

The tip of the world, across the Straight of Magellan from Tierra del Fuego.

Yes, I’m officially geeking out. Best. Birthday. Ever.

Tomorrow, Ted and I leave bright and early to begin a five day, four night adventure on the “W” Track in Torres del Paine National Park. Gratefully, the area has re-opened to trekkers after the enormous forest fire that began on December 27th consumed more than 50,000 acres in the south and eastern portions of the park.

While we’re away from the computer this week, I’ll leave you with a few tidbits and pre-scheduled posts. Can’t wait to share the photos and stories that this coming week is bound to supply!

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