Caching in Argentina!

[+Andromeda321]

Hi all-

 

I just wrote a write-up on the local geocaching forums but figured some others might be interested in reading about this caching adventure as it took place in a rather remote part of the world (most would balk at less than one cache/week, but I was estatic). Plus hey, I'm very proud of caching on continent #3 and country #5!

 

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I'm a grad student in physics, and my research consists of searching for cosmic rays with an observatory in Argentina. I just got back from two weeks there- one at the observatory for a collaboration meeting, one exploring Argentina a little- so of course I was going to try and find a cache in South America if I possibly could! Not the easiest thing you've ever heard of as there are ~150 caches in one of the world's biggest countries and most of them are in Buenos Aires (where I wasn't going this trip), and there wasn't one within a hundred miles of our observatory. But I headed down with a very short list for the second week (seriously, there were like 5 caches I had a remote chance of searching for), and here is what happened, 3 attempts and 2 finds:

 

Bariloche (amazingly pretty town in the northernmost part of Patagonia- I had to see Patagonia!)

1) Cerro del Otto cache- http://coord.info/GCME0Q In a word, there's a viewpoint on a mountain outside town that is considered one of the top 10 views in the world by National Geographic, so I was going up here anyway and hike (and it was gorgeous- pics). There was a cache listing about an hour's hike along the ridge after I went up with the gondola but no one had found it in over a year (as ~150 caches in a nation imply there are only a handful of visitors a year at these caches), but hey gotta hike to somewhere right? No cache at the end- there were various clumps of trees on top of a ski slope and I searched 'em all within a radius, but no dice. DNF posted as well as a needs maintenance, but no real regrets about this search!

2) riverside hike- http://coord.info/GC1P1PB This hike is by far the furthest up the "things I never would have done without geocaching" but I wasn't certain I would get another chance at a cache so I went for it, and now I'm glad I did as this was my only physical cache find in Argentina! It was a hike along the river and the problem is the trailhead was still "2.3 miles" per my GPS from where the bus stop was (this is a civilized country so the bus goes out into the national park from town), and it was 515pm with sunset 3 hours later, so I allowed myself an hour in to the trailhead. Got there in 50 min and proceeded on a lovely walk along the river though I soon learned that a 1.5 terrain rating in Patagonia doesn't mean what it does in Ohio- to bypass some cliffs along the river you needed to do some steep hikes up and down near-cliffs where you scrambled up ladder-like tree roots, and this happened more than once. Lovely hike though and had it all to myself save the occasional Argentinian teenage couple annoyed by an intrusion into their privacy, and found the cache itself with no trouble albeit more than a little tired. Some rest and a swag/TB swap later (there was even something I wanted to trade for, a keychain with a scorpion in glass!) I left the cache site and began the long hike back to the bus stop. Made it back at dusk, very footsore but figuring I'd definitely earned that night's cut of steak which is what you eat as a rule rather than an exception in that part of the world.

 

Mendoza (town 600mi north of Bariloche where the wine comes from and the nearest major city to our observatory so where I flew in and out from- sorta across the border from Santiago, Chile)

3) Mt Aconcagua virtual- http://coord.info/GCD316 I celebrated Thanksgiving Day with a trip up into the high Andes- certainly worth it, as the scenery was amazing! Very dry landscape but a lot of the lower mountains still had some snow on them despite it being late spring... the main attraction though was to see Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Americas at just under 7,000m (Everest is ~1,800m higher still!) and luckily enough there is an easy-to-reach virtual to boot so this became my second cache in Argentina. The cherry on top though was spotting a little cloud on the mountain, something I didn't understand as it was a blue-sky sorta day until it clicked- after confirmation from the guide yep, I spotted an avalanche on the slopes.

 

So that's what I did geocaching wise and I'm happy as I wasn't certain I would get even one cache in South America but ended up with two! (Also have two earthcaches I really want to develop but don't really know much Spanish, hmmm...) Had I had a car I probably could've upped the number or at least saved myself getting so footsore on #2, but I don't drive stick so it wouldn't have been an option even if I wasn't traveling on a budget... I also confess this whole thing has given me a new appreciation for those reminiscing about "the early days of caching" because wow, it sure is a different experience when vast, amazing regions are so empty!

 

Oh, and if anyone wants to read about my Argentinian adventures in general, here is my travel blog. It's forever behind and still says I'm in Patagonia (I'd rather explore on my vacations and write about them later), but it certainly gives you an idea. Ciao!

[+hzoi]

Nice. Very jealous, we've been looking at some of those same caches, but airfare to Patagonia is just not in the cards right now.

[+Ms.Scrabbler]

wow!

thanks for sharing

[+Viajero Perdido]

Good job, good stories!

 

I just spent 3 weeks in Argentina myself, and I tried to cache as much as possble. I bailed soooo many times due to muggles, and just plain DNF'd a couple, and in the end only have one virtual and one archived nano to show for my troubles. In three weeks!

 

Now Chile, Chile has been good to me, cache-wise. The game seems to be more developed here. (I'm in Santiago right now.) I've found five this week so far - such a fast pace compared to Argentina - and every one has been spot-on the coords.

 

Pity you didn't pop over to Portillo on your Aconcagua day. There were a couple of FTFs waiting there; we could've bumped into each other. Now that would've been cool - bumping into another cacher at a super-lonely cache.

[+Andromeda321]

Good job, good stories!

 

I just spent 3 weeks in Argentina myself, and I tried to cache as much as possble. I bailed soooo many times due to muggles, and just plain DNF'd a couple, and in the end only have one virtual and one archived nano to show for my troubles. In three weeks!

 

Now Chile, Chile has been good to me, cache-wise. The game seems to be more developed here. (I'm in Santiago right now.) I've found five this week so far - such a fast pace compared to Argentina - and every one has been spot-on the coords.

 

Pity you didn't pop over to Portillo on your Aconcagua day. There were a couple of FTFs waiting there; we could've bumped into each other. Now that would've been cool - bumping into another cacher at a super-lonely cache.

 

Haha yeah I noticed how there seemed to be much more caching opportunities on the Chilean side for whatever reason- in fact, many of the caches I was looking at were placed by Chilean cachers!

 

Really wish I had time to check out Chile as well (and head to deeper south in Patagonia, El Calafante sounds amazing) particularly as all the hostels were filled with people doing several month South American odysseys. But this trip was more a taste, and like any tastes of a good dish I'll be back for more someday!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Sounds like a wonderful trip and it's great that you had a chance to find a couple of caches in Argentina.

 

I've had similar experiences just trying to find "a" cache that was be feasible to find during my travels. Since most of my trips are a week or less I rarely have access to my own vehicle and relying on public transportation to get to geocaches can be difficult. In a couple of instances I was visiting a place where I had a private driver provided by the organization I was visiting but could only really use them for business purposes. In both cases, that resulting in visiting countries (Ethiopia and Zambia) and not getting the opportunity to find a cache. When I was in Ethopia, there were only four caches in the entire country, only one of them was in the realm of possibilities to find it (one of the others is the somewhat famous Erta Ale Volcano cache).

 

I'm hoping to finalize travel plans to Costa Rica in February in the next week or so and from what I can tell it shouldn't be too difficult to find a cache while I'm there. I'm still hoping to visit someone I've worked with in the past that lives in Equitos, Peru and get a find on a fifth continent.

[+narcissa]

Jealous. Did you meet any Welsh speakers in Patagonia?

[+LowellHouseGuy]

In February I am going to Buenos Aires and staying at the Savoy Hotel and then to Ushuaia. Are there any recommended caches in Buenos Aires within the area of the hotel?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

In February I am going to Buenos Aires and staying at the Savoy Hotel and then to Ushuaia. Are there any recommended caches in Buenos Aires within the area of the hotel?

 

There seems to be a problem with the geocoding of Buenos Aires as a place name. When I entered Buenos Aires, Argentina in the "By Address" field on the hide and seek a cache page I only got two results, both quite a bit south of the city (one of them is a FTF opportunity). I looked at the map and picked a cache that *is* in the city then had to search by coordinates by entering in S 34 35.300 W 058 23.600 and got back 75 results. Selecting the favorites ribbon showed a few that might worth checking out. Looks like there only a few caches in Ushuaia (for those that haven't looked, it's in Tierra Del Fuego) and a search using Ushuaia, Argentina actually *does* put you in the right place.