November 8th
I caught an early bus back to El Calafate, where I switched to another for the longer ride to 28 de Noviembre. When I handed my ticket to the driver, he laughed and asked jokingly, what on earth I was doing heading to such a small town. Fair question.
I’d found a guy on Workaway who hosts travelers at his place just outside of town. The reviews were nice, he seemed chill in the few messages we’d exchanged, so I figured why not?
I was pretty wiped from the many days of hiking and knew the trip would be long, so I popped in my headphones ready to catch up on some sleep. It didn’t last long before I got a tap on the shoulder from the guy sitting next to me—a college kid who asked if I wanted to share some maté with him. It was a kind offer, and honestly, mate did sound pretty good, so of course, I couldn’t say no.
He’d just finished his first year at university in Buenos Aires and was back home in El Calafate for the summer. Now he was on the bus headed to Puerto Natales, Chile, for a rock climbing competition. We ended up passing maté back and forth, sharing Oreos, and chatting the whole ride. So much for my nap—but, good company was worth more than sleep and sometimes it’s great to meet strangers and learn just a little bit about their life.
When I finally arrived to the town, a woman spotted me right away—not really a surprise since I was the only one getting off the bus—and introduced herself as Ali. She’s from Colombia and has been living in 28 de Noviembre for a few months while sorting out her paperwork to stay in Argentina. Ali helps out with some cooking and cleaning at the house, but otherwise spends her time exploring and getting to know the locals. She said she loves Patagonia and the slower pace of small-town life.
I’m already glad she’s here. She’s easygoing and seems excited to show me around. Later in the evening, I met Andrés—the host. He’s a middle-aged engineering professor with a ton of energy and a quick sense of humor. Both of them are very welcoming and it doesn’t feel quite as weird to be here as I thought it would.
