El camino a Valle Pintado

A photo I took from the trail on the way  to town.

Hola Amigos! It´s my first entry from the south! Pardon me if it seems rushed and disorganized. It is! By the way these computers have no spell check... just sayin'. The trek to El Bolsòn is quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. It´s only 3 km to town as the crow flies, but you must climb over a mountian. I´ve got a limited amount of time before the internet cafe closes, but I´ll convey what I can.

I´ve been at my farm since wI had a few canceled flights due to volcanic ash. Got stranded for a night in Houston, and was rerouted through Miami. Two and a half days after I left California I landed in a hot and humid Buenos Aires. I got there a day late, so I could only spend one night in the city. Lucho, my couch surfing host helped me make the most of it. We took the train from Belgrano, the neighborhood where Lucho lives, to Retiro. From there we meandered back through the city and the parks near the sea. There were art and craft markets, drum circles, and bands playing in several of the parks. It happened to be an Argentine holiday, so the streets were packed with people- an enormous block party! We ate empanadas under the raining trees in Plaza San Martin. The air was so saturated with moisture that it would condense and drop off the leaves. At night we were joined by some German travelers, aslo couch surfing with Lucho. We took the train to Plaza de La Republica, were we saw the Argentine capital and walked across the widest street in the world. From the we headed to San Telmo, BA´s old downtown, for a night of Tengo clubs and bar hopping.

In the morning I caught a bus that would take me to San Carlos De Bariloche, a 22 hour trip. All day we drove across the pampas, a sparely populated flatlands across the center of Argentina. As night started to fall you could see thousands of fireflies stiring thick grassy air of the plains, a living reflection of the night sky above. By day break we were in a mountainous desert. Jagged snow capped peaks could be glimpsed in the distance. I arrived Bariloche before noon and took the bus into town. A fellow traveler told me about a mountain climb trail that was a few km walk from the city center. I befriended a group Argentines at the top, and we shared a round of maté, the local drink of choice.

Wednesday morning I was on another bus to El Bolsón. A cab ride ride and a short hike later I was in Valle Pintado, on the banks of the Rio Azul. I hiked upstream through a pasture spotted with wild rosebushes until I finally spotted signs for the granja. After almost a week of touch and go traveling, I´d made it!

The farm sits on the easter bank of the Rio Azul, in the green and narrow Valle Pintado (Painted Valley). The glacier melt river is born roughly 20 km upstream- a long day´s hike from here. I will do it some time. To our east and west, forested valley walls rise steeply. El Bolsòn, a town of around 20,000 is just over the ridge to the east, while the western side of the valley rises all the way up to snow capped peaks of the Andes. The peaks aren´t visible from our farm, but climbing up the eastern side of the valley one can see they are quite near. On the floor we are at only 200 meters elevation. The air is warm and pungent. I´m told that all of the wildflowers came into bloom a few days before I arrived! My first few days here were in the 80s-90s F, almost warm enough to swim in the icy, icy river (I got in up to my waist, haha). The water is running swift and high. There are many deep, vibrant tourquoiz pools teaming with fish! We don´t have fishing poles here, but I think I will try my luck with a stick and line.

The farm is run by a guy named Alex. He´s a stand up dude! Alex was born to American parents in Indonesia, where he lived until he was 18. He went to school in the US near Philadelphia where he created a customized major composed of courses in sociology, environmental sciences, anthropology, and comperative theology. At 21 he and his brother bought the land where the granja now sits. He has been here farming it ever since. He´s now 29. Alex wakes, works, and grubs with all of us, and is a bountiful rescource or all things farm and homestead related.

Other characters I´ve gotten to know on the farm are Patrick, a 28 year old American who has been living in equador for the past 8 years. Nico, a farming in the making from Uruguay, a really facinating guy! Jilly and Jillian two American wwoofers. Jilly spent last souther summer working at the south pole station. Thats Antartica!! There is also Nacho and his son, Argentine farm residents, and Rachel the cheese expert. There are a few more, who so far I´ve only had sparse interaction with. All of us are 30 and under. There´s a great community vibe here, everybody teaches everybody. Almost everyone speaks a bit of english, but spanish is the default language. I´m getting a lot of practice!

Ok, running out of time! Here´s a quick outline of the farm. We have 1 hectare planted with staple crops: wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, and lentils. There another hectare beside it, which is essentially and enormous garden. Here we have all sorts of greens, squash, beans, berries, tomatos root veggies like carrots, radish, turnips, and more. This piece of land also has a green house. We will be constructing one more while I am here. The farm owns one milk cow, which currently has a calf. We milk her once a day, and make cheese every other. Most of the cheese we sell, but the cream we keep to eat! There is a flock of 28 laying hens, which I will soon be in charge of. We are looking to harvest this flock in a month or two and raise up a new flock of about 40. This will be one of my focus projects while I am here! The farm also owns one horse, but we have about 5 or 6 grazing on the land. Oh yeah there are also geese.

Ok thats all I have for now! I have to get back for a party tonight! It´s one of the wwoofer´s birthday. I didn´t even get to touch on the food, living spaces, and our rustic lifestyle, but there will be more to come in a week or two!

Looking over the farm towards the mountains in the north.

Rio Azul, at our doorstep.

Caballos. One has a baby!

Our community dinning room and livingspace.

Our orange kitten named Blu.

Oso, the crybay puppy. He´s constantly tripping over his overgrown paws.

Looking over Bariloche towards the Andes.