This trip is due in part to AFS-USA (formerly the American Field Service), and our hosting of exchange students form several different countries including 3 from Ecuador. We have been to Ecuador in the past to visit with the exchange students and their families but this trip is special.
   During January and February 2017 Susan, my wife, our son John, and I will be traveling around the southwestern side of Argentina in what is known as Patagonia. However to get there we will follow a zig-zag pattern as we fly from Kansas City to Atlanta Georgia to Quito Ecuador to Lima Peru to Santiago Chile to Buenos Aires Argentine where we will meet up with our son John who is flying in from Chicago.

From Buenos Aires Sue, John, and I will fly to San Carlos de Bariloche where we have rented an apartment for a week. Graciela, Pablo and ‘dos chicas’ will all travel by ‘Sleeper’ bus for a 20 hour journey west across the Pampas to Bariloche. They will join us in the apartment and the following week we will head further south to Pablo’s hometown of Esquel. This is where he and Graciela will be married. We will then spend about another week traveling around the area, hopefully as far south as El Calafate. After that we will all fly back to Buenos Aires where John will head home to Chicago and we will fly back to Quito for another week before heading home.
   Once back in Ecuador we will drive east into the Ecuador Amazon staying a couple of nights in Tena. Back in Quito we will probably drive to Guaranda to visit with Maritza and Omar and their families. While there Sue and I may repeat part of an acclimatization climb I did several years on the 20,000 foot high Volcan Chimborazo. Depending on how we adjust to altitude we should be able to reach the upper climbers hut at 5,000 m (16100 feet). While in Quito we will try to drive north get some shopping done in Otavalo.
   During the trip and as time allows I will post pictures and comments. Here are some pictures from the area around Bariloche.

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   View the ISS from Esquel Argentina (42.9095°S, 71.3143°W)

   Here is a great web site with information about the cities and places in Patagonia.
   Here is a great web site with information about the cities and places in Ecuador.