March 15, 2008 - San Juan, Argentina
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I woke up late and made it to breakfast by 10:15 AM (Breakfast closes at 10:30 here). It turned out that I was perhaps among the first customers eating breakfast there! A soccer team was staying in the hotel and they continued to amble in and chomp on their breakfast well after 10:30.
I had planned to visit the Natural Sciences museum in San Juan today. The museum would be open until 1 PM today (being a Saturday). Most tour agencies would also close by 1 PM. One of the tour companies I had visited yesterday called me up to inquire whether I would be interested in a tour of Ischigulasto Park on Sunday (tomorrow). As I was holding out hope for a second agency (that was conducting a private tour of Ischigulasto and Talampaya over 2 days for 2 people) to call me back on whether I could piggy back on their private tour, I had to decline this company's offer to visit Ischigulasto tomorrow.
By the time I reached the hotel reception on my way out, I had a rethink of my options here. If the agency (conducting the private tour for 2 people) is not able to get me in on the 2-day tour of Ischigulasto and Talampaya, it may be too late to book myself on the day trip to Ischigulasto (for tomorrow) with any other agency (since all of them will close by 1 PM today). Upon reaching the reception area to hand in my keys, I requested the front desk manager to call up the tour company associated with the hotel and booked myself on the day trip to Ischigulasto National Park for tomorrow (Sunday). The draw back was that the tour cost had to be paid in Cash. On the bright side, if the company arranging private tour is somehow able to hook me in on their 2-day tour, I could always take it as I have not paid to the company that is taking me on the day trip to Ischigulasto tomorrow.
I walked the 2 short blocks to the bus terminal and took a bus to the Natural Sciences Museum. I was dropped off after a 15-minute ride. The museum was a short walk from the bus stop. There entry to the museum was free. If one requires the services of a guide, one can choose to pay the guide. As the only guides available were going to provide explanations in Spanish, I declined their offer and proceeded to read up the Spanish explanations next to the exhibits.
The fossils on display were from excavations at Ischigulasto. The Ischigulasto formation dates to the Triassic era (before Jurassic). I saw a skeleton of FRENGUELLISAURUS ISCHIGUALASTENSIS as well as a skeleton of a DICYNODONT. The museum is part of the University of San Juan and I observed a couple of palaeontologists cleaning fossils. The museum was rather small and I finished my visit is less than 45 minutes. The University of San Juan also has a museum at Ischigulasto Park as well and this apparently contains a lot more fossils. I shall hopefully get to see it tomorrow when I visit Ischigulasto.
I walked around for a bit near the Museum area. I noticed teams of young girls playing field hockey in a nearby park. San Juan appears to have a field hockey league (for youngsters) and it was quite similar to Baseball, Soccer leagues for youngsters in the US (including the screaming of the parents at the referee)! Upon further research I found out that the Argentine women's field hockey team has had a stellar record. Maybe some of these youngsters (and their screaming parents) will make it to their national team someday!
There was a bit of a delay in getting a bus from the Museum back to the city centre. On reaching the city centre I headed to the travel agency to inquire about the possibility of joining their private tour. I was told that it was not possible. Perhaps the 2 folks (who are paying for this private tour) do not want a 3rd person (moi) joining them! [They know not what they have missed!] So I will only be doing Ischigulasto tomorrow.
I headed to SOYCHU (the Vegetarian restaurant I had dinner last night) for lunch. By the time I finished my lunch, the place was packed. Looks like Vegetarian food (when it is on offer) is quite popular in these parts. I headed to a call centre and call friends and family. It was 2:30 PM and siesta time was well under way. The call centre owner suggested that I could visit a local winery in the afternoon.
I headed to my hotel and rested a bit before heading to the bus terminal to take a bus to "Cavas de Zonda". It was 3:30 PM and I was told that I had to wait until 4:30 PM as the buses to this place are infrequent. The fare was 2.25 pesos (less than $1) for the 1-hour ride to the foothills of the Andes where the Winery is located. I missed getting off at the right stop the first time and had to wait until the bus made it all the way to the last stop and dropped me off on its return route! I walked to the Bodega entrance to find out that it closes at 5 PM on Saturdays! It was close to 6 PM now. I may try to visit this place on Monday as they open at 9:30 AM. "Cavas de Zonda" is supposedly famous for Sparkling wines.
I had a 45-minute wait by the road side for a bus back to town. I observed many cyclists speeding by. I suppose they must be training in the Andes foothills before heading for the tour de France. Upon reaching the city, I headed back to the hotel. I checked my e-mail. Wine tours in the Mendoza area appear to be getting finalized. I wrote my diary and charged all my camera batteries (did not want to be running out of juice when I am at Ischigulasto).
I headed to dinner at a well recommended local restaurant. The food (Italian) was ok, the local wine decent and the service was bad (as usual). As they had already added a service charge, I did not tip them. I walked back to my hotel.
March 16, 2008 - San Juan, Argentina
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I woke up at 5 AM and was ready and at the reception a little after 6 AM! My pickup was scheduled between 6 and 6:30 AM. I waited...and waited...and waited. I observed many late-night (rather all-night) revellers stumbling home. Most of these folks caught a taxi in front of my hotel and some of them took their keys from the front desk and headed to their rooms.
A young lady appeared at the reception area and from the snippets of conversation I overhead it appeared that she was headed to Ischigulasto as well. I was not in a particularly friendly mood so did not strike up a conversation with her. The pickup vehicle finally showed up around 6:50 AM. It turned out to be a CAR! It appeared that the lady and I were going to Ischigulasto with the same tour company. The lady took the front passenger seat. Upon seating myself in the rear seat, I eagerly asked the driver for the number of passengers on this trip. When I heard his reply (4), I resigned myself to being squeezed in the back seat for the next 12 hours!
We headed to a nearby hostel and picked up a couple. All of the passengers (with the exception of yours truly) were Argentines. I was headed to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and language was not going to make a difference to my enjoyment.
I decided to catch up on my sleep during the 4-hour drive to the park. I woke up in time to see a magnificent sunrise around 8:30 AM. Brilliant Orange Ball of fire against a clear sky. Perhaps it's the near desert climate here, but the weather has been fantastic thus far. Due to space constraints, I had left my camera bag in the trunk of the car and memorized the sunrise in my mind. I dozed on after that.
We reached the park entrance around 10 AM. The trip had taken us less than 3 1/2 hours in large part to the excellent paved road and the sparse traffic on it. We paid the park entrance fees of 35 pesos (US$12). We were to follow a park ranger in our vehicles as we toured Ischigulasto National park. There were around 15 Vehicles (all shapes and sizes) and about 80 people. The ranger would take us on a 40-Kilometre (25 Miles) circuit (aptly called Circuito Turistico!) over a 3-hour period with stops at various places for a show and tell. Of course, it was all in Spanish. In the ranger's defence he spoke lucid, clear Spanish with clear diction and enunciation (perhaps the Argentines could not follow him!).
After our second stop in the circuit, I chatted a bit with our driver. It turned out that the clocks had rolled back an hour today! So I had woken up at 4 AM and had been waiting for the vehicle since 5 AM. D'oh!
Although the TRIASSIC era formations at Ischigulasto looked somewhat similar to the formations I had observed during a visit to the Dakotas (US) last year, the significant difference was that we were able to drive and walk among the formations in Ischigulasto on paths designed not to disturb the ecosystem here. Although we did not see any fossils or observe any digs, it was a very nice trip and a thrill to know that we had visited a place where some of the oldest dinosaur skeletons have been found.
After our show and tell as we were headed back to the park entrance, we drove by magnificent RED ROCK formations aptly called COLORADO. As we were not allowed to stop, I rolled down the window and took pictures from the car. Tours of Ischigulasto that take place in the afternoon do stop at these rock formations as the evening light enhances the redness of COLORADO. The park also conducts tours during full-moon nights. That would have required additional bit of planning on my side! (Perhaps next time)
We got back to the park entrance and I eagerly headed into the museum. While the displays were impressive, it turns out that all of them were replicas. The originals were supposedly in the museum at San Juan! When I told the curator that I had visited the museum at San Juan and did not see any Originals, I was told that the Originals at the San Juan museum were not for Public viewing! I hope that they change this policy soon and open up these fossils for public viewing - perhaps limiting the number of visitors per day to 200 or so.
The driver suggested lunch at a nearby place (3-4 kilometres away). I requested and obtained a cheese-free HUMITA and combined with some hot sauce, it was delicious. It would keep me alive until I get back to San Juan.
On the way back we stopped at a precious stone museum and a weekend artisan fair. I think all these could have been skipped for a visit to Talampaya which was just 65 Kilometres (40 Miles) from Ischigulasto.
I got back to my hotel around 7:30 PM and rested a bit. I decided to try having dinner at a cafe. Despite my instincts I ordered a cheese Pizza. It was DISGUSTING as ever. I took out 95% of the cheese off the Pizza and had the bread and tomato sauce with half a bottle of wine. Not bad :)
Almost all the tour agency trips I have taken thus far have drivers / guides who are quite knowledgeable and provide you with all the information and answers questions as well. They also do not stand around scratching their heads at the end of the trip waiting to be tipped. I am quite impressed with this attitude.
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