Importing from Adventure Awaits Us

Started cross-posting other entries in the series.

content/posts/adventure-awaits/an-aerial-pacific-sunset/index.md

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+---
+title: An aerial Pacific sunset
+emoji: 🌅
+date: '2023-01-09T13:58:51+00:00'
+summary: We saw a breathtaking Pacific sunset from 12,500m, where the horizon blazed ruby red and sky turned into an earth-sized rainbow. Unforgettable!
+syndications:
+- https://adventure.awaits.us/an-aerial-pacific-sunset
+series:
+- Adventure Awaits
+topics:
+- Travel
+- Myself
+---
+We were graced with a rare treat on the flight South to Santiago de Chile; being in the West-facing window seats for a _stunning_ sunset over the Pacific.
+
+If you’ll forgive my inner physicist a moment; being 12,500m up means the sun can get _even lower_ below the horizon and still be visible, with more of our atmosphere even further refracting our local star’s white light up through and onto the sky.
+
+The upshot? Our setting sun grows to almost fill the horizon through our little porthole. It burns the deepest ruby red, the thin slice between endless cloud and blackest space becomes, in every direction, a vibrant earth-sized rainbow, with an electrifying ultraviolet stripe holding back the stars.
+
+Can you tell I’m moved? I’d share a picture with you but, no word of a lie, these intensities and frequencies of light _just can’t be captured_, or displayed, by anything short of custom or laboratory photographic equipment. Instead, here’s a lovely picture of a sleepy Yvette, from just before the sky dazzled us.
+
+![Yvette, smiling at the camera in front of the plane window and the sunset at 12,500m](yvette-sunset.jpg)
+
+After a very long day of travel this gorgeous sunset was quite literally, and only, a sight for sore eyes.

content/posts/adventure-awaits/argentinan-patagonia/index.md

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+---
+title: Argentinian Patagonia
+emoji: 🇦🇷
+date: '2023-02-02T16:39:20+00:00'
+summary: Injured IT bands kept me from trekking in El Chaltén, but no complaints! From wild glaciers to windy peaks, Argentina is pure magic.
+syndications:
+- https://adventure.awaits.us/argentinan-patagonia
+series:
+- Adventure Awaits
+topics:
+- Travel
+- Myself
+---
+{{< figure alt="" src="header.jpg" class="big" >}}
+
+I've been stuck moderately immobile for a bit, while my [IT-bands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliotibial_band_syndrome) recover from so much hiking (and so little preparation!), so you’ve got another post from me, written mostly while Yvette enjoyed the hiking in “Argentina’s trekking capital” here in El Chálten. (Don’t pity me too much; the sky is throwing everything at poor Yvette as she scales the nearby peaks, and our hostel bar offers £1.20 (quarter litre!) glasses of excellent Argentinian wine with back-to-back bangers from _Queen_ on the radio—I'm having a great time!)
+
+{{< figure src="el-chalten.jpg" caption="The view across the Las Vueltas river basin, from the gentle waterfall walk we were able to take on our more injured days in El Chaltén." >}}
+
+First off, here in Argentina, I’ve found that _everyone_ we’ve chatted to (local, hiker, store clerk, backpacker, taxi driver…) has been welcoming, kind, and surprisingly generous with their time — even taking time to reply slowly in Spanish for folks like me, stumbling through their mother tongue like a drunken toddler. I would have thought this was “small town vibes” but folks here tell me it’s the same everywhere, Argentinians—and South Americans in general—are so frequently lovely it can’t be chance.
+
+{{< figure src="jp-and-yvete.jpg" caption="Left to right: JP at the beautiful Chorillo del Salto waterfall outside El Chalten; Yvette holding onto… everything in the face of blistering winds over Laguna Torre." >}}
+
+If the people have been superb, the landscapes here have been out of this world. I still dream of the cosy waterfall a short & flat walk from here, nestled into the rock with what feels like an oasis of green lapping up the glacial snowmelt. I could also write for days about the enormous beauty of the _Perito Moreno_ glacier in El Calafate, and the bittersweet privilege of being able to see one of the only glaciers in the world that's [still growing](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/perito-moreno-glacier-collapse-video-argentina-patagonia-spd).
+
+{{< figure src="perito-moreno.jpg" caption="The corner of the Perito Moreno glacier; the scale isn't apparent until you notice the kayakers on the right of the photo… these towering ice blocks are taller than our apartment building!" >}}
+
+The biggest hike I managed in El Chaltén was along the _Fitz Roy_ river. I was so pleased to be able to get _some_ hiking done in this place so filled with opportunity for it! We took a 20km there-and-back route following the river to the _Laguna Torre_, where the icy 100km/h winds scream down the glacier, and occasionally force you, grinning, to the ground with their sheer strength. Despite the low cloud, the views were incredible, and we adored every moment.
+
+{{< figure src="laguna-torre-route.jpg" caption="Our route from El Chaltén to Laguna Torre. We'll have to come back to hike around Fitz Roy, just off the top of this map, as we weren't able to fit it in around our injuries!" >}}
+
+{{< figure src="laguna-torre.jpg" caption="Left to right: the peak (of a still unnamed mountain, for us) emerges from the cloud with its extremely icy summit; JP and Yvette find a moment of calm in the winds for a selfie across Laguna Torre towards the glacier." >}}
+
+Our return to El Calafate (named for the tasty calafate fruit, very similar to [barberries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berberis) or maybe cranberries?) gave us time to relax and to stroll around the very calming _Reserva Laguna Nimez_. It's an ecological reserve with incredible bird life on the shores of the enormous (and shockingly blue) _Lago Argentino_. A strafing run from a low-flying [Chilean Flamingo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_flamingo), and a pair of [Cinereous Harriers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinereous_harrier) so close we could have touched them, were absolutely highlights (especially as we’ve become accidental birders while we’ve been here—[Merlin](https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/) has made it so easy to learn and identify them!)
+
+{{< figure src="el-calafate.jpg" caption="From left to right: JP as an ecological warden; we pose in central El Calafate in font of the city sign and… Christmas tree‽; Yvette adoring a windy-but-wonderful walk through the bird reserve." >}}
+
+Anyway; it may be a rainy day, but I’m going to go exploring! I’m still stuck in disbelief that it’s already been a month, but somehow also that it’s _only_ been a month…