January 3, 2008
Light in Los Antiguos

Hey Folks; I'm saved! Finally got out of mine central and managed to make my way to Perito Moreno where I camped one night and then caught a ride with Pepe (pictured next to his awesome car) to the incredible Eden of Los Antiguos on the Chilean border.   It is very, very nice to be in the presence of water and trees again. This is a fruit producing town of four thousand amazingly friendly souls, currently decking the streets for their annual harvest festival that will attract more than thirty thousand visitors! I spent yesterday afternoon in an orchard that invited me to eat as many cherries, strawberries, and raspberries as I could pick (which I did), had tea in the kitchen of an extremely nice old lady named Betty who has the most incredible flower garden I have ever seen (more than five acres of it), and am currently camped on the river just outside of town.  The first day of the festival is tomorrow so I will be sticking around for that, then likely heading south just this side of the border to try and reach Lago Pueyrrendon and Lago Posadas for a bit of fishing. I am getting over my cold and am feeling like I am beginning to accomplish what I came here to do. Hope all is well back home. Will update again as soon as I can.