Fingerpainting

I decided today (Thursday) that I needed a bit of culture to counterbalance the outdoor activities I've been doing since arriving in Patagonia. My muscles may also have needed a break after the horse trek/ice trek combo. So I figured, what can be more cultured that fingerpainting!

I went first thing this morning to see the Walichu caves just outside of El Calafate. The caves have 4,000 year old fingerpaintings. You know, cave drawings/paintings. Some hand prints and some other designs.

I think in this one you can more clearly see the "negative hands" with the white print with red outline. My guide called the upside down ones negative, and I certainly don't know that's not what they're called. These ones are made by putting your hand on the rock (and they chose good rock to do it on as there were many types in these caves) and then using guanaco blood to paint all around it. Guanacos are related to llamas and camels and are essentially wild llamas. Although I have been on the lookout for them, I haven't seen any yet. And I doubt I'm going to find any in BA.

Here are some fingerpaintings of people. They seemed to be of the stick-figure school of fingerpaint. The really tall one on the left is the shaman.

Some paintings of caves maybe? And then lots of dots in a circle.

After visiting the caves, I went to check out the regional museum in Calafate. I had been told it was small and quite good. Both accurate descriptions. It had an exhibit on all of the extinct big mammals and mega-animals (that is not what they were called, but that's what I'm calling them). They had some cool bones and fossils on display. Like a mini natural history museum.

Then came the best sign in the exhibit. Apparently there is a heated scientific debate on the domestication of the guanaco. Enough to merit an asterisk. I mean, this could have wide ranging implications today, don't you think?

And because I'm a sucker for scenery: Here are some photos from where the caves are. It's got the steppe, Lake Argentina, and the Andes. I couldn't resist.

Edge of the Earth

View of Lago Argentina from the airplane. Notice the amazing blue color (sorry about the photo quality) of the water contrasted with the brown desert.


View of the mountains around Bariloche taken from the plane en route from Bariloche to El Calafate.

Fun Fact about Patagonia: Butch Cassidy and other outlaws, when fed up with the growing law and order (as opposed to growing lawlessness) in the West, ran away to Patagonia to start new lives. They thought its remoteness would provide security from the law. They were right. That is until they decided to start holding up Argentine banks. It was the most random thing I've learned about Patagonia thus far. I have Bruce Chatwick to thank, as I've learned lots of random facts from his book In Patagonia, which was pubished in the late 70s.

I arrive in El Calafate yesterday (Sunday). It looks like a western outpost. Some houses, hotels, buildings sitting a bit depressed from the surrounding hills/dunes. There is a nice main drag, but then you walk one block off and the roads deteriorate, sidewalks are made of dirt, and signing/lights go way down. It really does have a frontier town feel to it. Oddly enough, like most cities in Argentina, it also has a casino. I imagine that's the "saloon" where shootouts occur. Anyhow, being out here does give you a sense of isolation and that you are really at the limits of civilization. I am at the Edge of the Earth...don't be coy, I know, the earth is round, not flat, and has no edges. Just go with this one...