Tag Archives: #penguin

Bus to El Chaltén

April 14, 2025Events, Grief Journey#Argentina, #bereavement, #Childloss, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #lifeafterloss, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #overdose, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, El Chaltén, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #13

The next day, Jason, Perito, and I boarded a bus for El Chaltén, the base for hikers heading up to the famous Mt. Fitz Roy. The ride took three hours, during which we saw wild guanaco and passed a turquoise lake backed by towering snow-capped peaks. It was the most beautiful bus ride we’ve ever been on. (The photo is from the opposite side of the bus and through a window so it only gives a vague idea of the beauty we witnessed.)

How Tristan’s Penguin Got its Name

April 12, 2025Events, Grief Journey#Argentina, #bereavement, #Childloss, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #lifeafterloss, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #overdose, #OverdoseAwareness, #Patagonia, #penguin, #PeritoMoreno, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #12

After going to the glacier, I reminded Jason that we did not know if Tristan ever gave his penguin a name. “Would you like to give him one?”

Jason thought for a moment and then said, “Perito, after the glacier.”

I liked that. Perito Penguin.

I wondered how the glacier got its name, and found this website: https://www.swoop-patagonia.com/blog/perito-moreno-the-father-of-modern-patagonia/

I learned that Patagonia was explored by Francisco Pascaio Moreno, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1852. In 1897, the Argentinian government gave Moreno the honorific title ‘Perito’, that roughly translates as ‘expert’.

Moreno and his party gave the name of Lago Argentino to a huge lake at the base of the Andes and raised the Argentinian flag at a place they called Punta Banderas. This docking area is now where boat trips depart to visit the huge glacier, which is just around the bend, south and west of Punta Banderas. Ironically, despite all Moreno’s years of exploring Patagonia, he never even saw the glacier that now bears his name.

Fittingly, while Tristan never got to visit Patagonia, his penguin now bears the name of the glacier, a beautiful gift from his brother Jason.

Perito Moreno Glacier Rocks and Lookout

April 11, 2025Events, Grief Journey#Argentina, #bereavement, #Childloss, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #lifeafterloss, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #overdose, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, #PeritoMoreno, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #11

The glacially carved and folded rocks along the lake’s edge were amazing.

We boarded the bus and were driven to an overlook where the glacier was connected to two separate bays. On one side, where we had been, the water was greyish white, and on the other side it was blue.

Perito Moreno Glacier

April 10, 2025Events, Grief Journey#Argentina, #bereavement, #Childloss, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #lifeafterloss, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #overdose, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #10

Jason wanted to see and walk on a glacier, so we took a day-long tour of the Perito Moreno glacier.

We saw a lovely rainbow on the bus ride there. Turned out, the rainbow started on the glacier and arced over the mountains.

We arrived at the national park, boarded a

boat, and rode to a dock across the lake.

From there, we walked to a shelter where we were fitted with helmets and clampons.

Then we headed onto the glacier for an hour. The crevasses were a beautiful and intense blue.

Jason and I drank the clear, clean, icey water.

Afterward we hiked back to the docking area, had lunch, and boarded the boat for a ride in front of the glacier and then back to our bus.

El Calafate Chocolate

April 9, 2025Events, Grief Journey#Argentina, #bereavement, #Childloss, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #lifeafterloss, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #overdose, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #9

But what about chocolate? I’m a chocoholic and was going to quickly run out of my travel stash. That’s almost an emergency in my book.

I asked my friend Adriana Inés Bertola, an Argentinian native, what to do. She said be sure to try “Chocolate en Rama.”

I soon found it—it is long, thin strips of chocolate bound together. It’s created by chocolatiers throwing their chocolate in a thin layer on a marble top and picking it back up at just the right moment. I wonder if this is a creative substitute for the conching done by European chocolatiers?

Anyway, the chocolate was delicious. Penguin agreed.

Thanks, Adriana!

El Calafate Food

April 8, 2025Events, Grief Journey#Argentina, #bereavement, #Childloss, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #lifeafterloss, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #overdose, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #8

El Calafate is named after the Magellan Barberry, which is similar to a blueberry and native to this region. I tried to find them fresh or dried, to no avail. But there was El Calafate-flavored jelly and ice cream everywhere, so Jason and I settled for that.

We also had to try various kinds of empanadas and ravioli, and the penguin joined in our hearty meals.

El Calafate Dogs

April 7, 2025Uncategorized#Argentina, #bereavement, #Childloss, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #lifeafterloss, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #overdose, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #7

And dogs. Big dogs. Everywhere.

Apparently, they “belong” to the community. They hardly ever bark. I am guessing the locals provide food and water.

They lounge in the sun, greet visitors, and hang out… even in front of the meat counter inside grocery stores.

Different culture!

El Calafate Trees

April 5, 2025Events, Grief Journey#Argentina, #bereavement, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, and #lifeafterloss, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #6

Fascinating trees…

Pure Joy

April 2, 2025Events, Grief Journey#bereavement, #drugdeath, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #grievingmother, #losingachild, #losingalovedone, #loss, #opioidepidemic, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, and #lifeafterloss, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

Post #3

We flew to Buenos Aires, then boarded for our next flight.

While getting on the airplane, I saw pure joy on Jason’s face. What a treat that was for me to see, after all he had been through—the end-stage cancer journey I endured from 2009-2011, with everyone certain I would die; the breakup of our family; and his older brother Tristan’s two years of addiction and then overdose death in 2015.

Jason had been through sooo much and now had come out on the other side.

My heart sang.

As we flew across Argentina, outside my window I saw strange marks on the ground—lines and circles. I thought, “Surely not Nasca lines in Argentina.” They turned out to be, I was later told, the result of mining.

Later we crossed over the beautiful turquoise Santa Cruz River, set against reddish clay soil. It was gorgeous.

We soon arrived in El Calafate in the Andes Mountains of Patagonia.

A Pocket for the Penguin

April 1, 2025Grief Journey#bereavement, #griefandhealing, #griefisreal, #griefjourney, #grieving, #loss, #OverdoseAwareness, #penguin, and #lifeafterloss, griefLosing Someone to Addiction

I needed a new waist pack for our trip, so about a week before leaving I headed to Roads Rivers and Trails in Cincinnati and selected the most suitable one for my needs. But it was odd, having pouches on each side of the main compartment with no closures. I asked the sales rep, “What are these for?”
She didn’t know.
A few days later came the inspiration, probably from Tristan, to take his little penguin on our trip since we were going so close to Antarctica. The open pouch turned out to be perfect for carrying the bird–it would give him a perch for a perfect bird’s-eye view of the whole trip.
Jason, and many people we encountered, loved it.