Textiles, testimony of daily human life

Spinning History

Next Departure April 11th - 24th 2010

The first remains of spun fibers of Argentina are very ancient, dating back to 6.720 to 7.670 BC. Textiles are of great importance when studying the history of Art in South América. They are the expresion of a culture that resists it’s disappearance and that gives testimony of a world different to the western. South America Textiles have always been present in every ceremony: they have and will continue being tributes to the monarchs; gifts for warriors; element of religious sacrifice and funerary attire. During this unique trip with Causana Viajes you will visit remote communities of the Argentine Puna where you will meet weavers, spinners, dyers; see examples of their superbly talented work and learn about their techniques. In many places, you may buy things directly from the people.

We focus on 2 very different areas: the Argentine Northwest, with several strong influences in their textiles. And Patagonia, where the “mapuches” spin not as fine, and weave with no foreign influences, taught from mothers and grandmothers to only the women in the family. We'll also visit some fine Museums. Our tour leader will hold a mini-class in the hotel, teaching how to spin with a mapuche spindle. Our trips incorporate unique talks, demonstrations, visits with people who have used ancient techniques in their art, Join us to share lively dinner table conversations and a great give and take along the way.

History of Patagonia

Remembering the Welsh pioneers each July 28th

Schooner "Mimosa". She sailed the first Welsh inmigrants to Patagonia

First Welsh settlers landing at Port Madryn

The Welsh immigrants, who settled in Patagonia -more precisely in the Chubut River Valley (Camwy) in 1865- where the first white people who bravely dared to settle this harsh land in the year 1865. Each 28th of July, the city of Puerto Madryn remembers the day the first schooner, called “Mimosa” landed on the shores of the New Bay. This celebration is shared with the descendants of the Tehuelche and Mapuche Indians who inhabited Patagonia in those days. The Tehuelche tribe made friends with the welsh settlers and taught them how to survive in this land hunt. A few learned each other language. Different activities such as a sacred ceremony at dawn, a barrel race, recreating the landing, Welsh tea, choir and music concerts take place in Puerto Madryn during that week. Carol Mackie de Passera – Director and owner of Causana Viajes - descends from Welsh pioneers who lived in the Chubut River Valley until floods, at the end of the 19th century, destroyed their home. So they moved to the province of Entre Rios where there was, and still is, another Welsh settlement. Thirty years ago Carol returned to Patagonia. Today, her daughter Marina and granddaughter Martina (born in Trelew in 2008), who descend from Nain Winifred, all live in Puerto Madryn.

Winifred, Carol's Great-Great Grandmother; Grany Winnie & Nora, Carol's Mother

Carol; her daughter Marina & grandchild Martina We have no photo of Great Grandmother Ann.

Mrs. Luned Roberts Gonzales & Carol at the Camwy School of Gaiman

Map of the area where the first Welsh settlers landed at Port Madryn and the Chubut (Camwy) River Valley where they still farm the land.

“…If the banks of the Camwy are not among the few calm dreams of the world, I will wait in the sounding of harps for better. Clear water runs sometimes over sand and pebbles from the harbour, with many a pool under willows, and always blue in the shade of poplars, or shining through the rushes, sometimes in the shallows breaking into fingers with little islands between, and everywhere alive with duck and heron, and birds prettier than a wish…” (Up into the singing mountain by Richard Llewellyn)

(Plates of the Schooner Mimosa, and the landing were published in the book "MIMOSA" writen by Susan Wilkinson. The map above belongs to Richard Llewelly's book "Up into the Singing Mountain").

Hidden Secret of the Andes

High Andean Flora

Custom Tour by Causana Viajes

The Southern Cordillera de los Andes beauty is well known amongst hikers and climbers but few know about the hidden treasures these mountains possess. Even the inhabitants of nearby cities have probably never seen the beautiful Violas, Ourisias or Naussavias hidden amongst the rocks. Mountains around the world are habitat for many endemic or endangered species and this is true for the Andes. In many cases they are the last “Refugio” for species which have been exterminated in adjacent lower zones. Mountains contain indicators which are very sensitive to climatic changes. The overall global plant species richness of the alpine life zone is estimated to be around 10,000 species, approximately four per cent of the global number of higher plant species, situated on only three per cent of the global terrestrial land area. The flora of the low hills on the eastern slopes of the Southern Andes and the treeless Patagonian steppe with its clear, cold and brilliant skies, are very similar to the flora of the Central Chilean Andes including dwarf shrubs and dense cushions such as Chuquiraga, Adesmia, Oreopulus, Oxalis and Junellia.

FRAN ENRIGHT Fran came to Patagonia and soon became addicted, as she has returned on several occasions. She participated on several Cloud Ridge Naturalist tours, including a seminar on Ancient Forests of Argentina, which focused on the Alerce and Pehuen trees of Rio Negro and Neuquen. On her first Patagonia tour we walked to the Mirador del Ñirihuau at the Chalhuaco Valley, a few kms South East of Bariloche, here we took a few minutes to photograph and identify some tiny High Andean plants. While on the Seminar we spent a full day up Cerro Catedral with a local botanist and saw many beautiful tiny plants which included the amazing roseate violas. Fran next asked Carol to design a tour that would focus on High Andean Flora. Fran returned to Colorado and put together a group of Rock Garden friends which in January 2008 came on Causana Viajes first High Andean Flora tour. We had the expertise on plants of Cecilia Ezcurra and Carol not only enjoyed learning about the variety of plants found above tree line but also saw that everything went smoothly and prepared picnic lunches, made people sample local food and drinks, she even organized a mate party! We have enjoyed Fran company on a South Georgias Antarctica Expedition Cruise which Causana Viajes partnered with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the ABA, Cloud Ridge Naturalists to raise funds for the Punta Tombo Penguin Project. As well as on Cloud Ridge Naturalist tours we were fortunate to have been invited to participate on to Bathurst Inlet in the Canadian Artic and to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. We hope to be able to show you the North of Argentina and Chile soon Fran and to continue celebrating yours and Carol’s birthdays in the Southern hemisphere.

Departures upon request - Best season, mid November through January

Walking with Whales…

Walking is a good exercise… But to walk on a solitary beach, side by side with Southern Right Whales is a unique and touching experience. Seventeen kilometers northeast of Puerto Madryn – the city gate to Peninsula Valdes in Patagonia- a peculiar beach congregates these gentle marine mammals. There you have the opportunity to walk with them along the beach, or just sit on the soft pebbles and enjoy the sight. Only 5 to 10 meters away from you the whales just do what they come to do to this area: mate, give birth to their calf, nurse them or just swim in the calm waters of the Nuevo Gulf. From mid April to end of September the show begins when you reach this beach. We locals come almost every day to eat a sandwich, zip a coffee from our car and harmonize the spirit admiring the gentle mammals. Few places in the world offer you the chance to walk with whales… It is a rewarding experience… Come and enjoy it!

Andes, Deserts & Moais

A special custom-concept tour by Causana Viajes

LA ESCALERA A Journey through space & time

From 30.000 feet the sight of the Cordillera de los Andes was magnificent. The airplane window framed some snowy peaks far away, to the west. No matter the altitude, the enormousness of the mountains drew a dim smile on my face, anticipating the fact that I would be there. The journey soon would bring me through windings trails to the clouds. A climb towards an enormous, colossal, gigantic “Escalera” (ladder), through different regions and ecosystems; from the humid cloud forest, across the high Puna plateau, to the mighty Andes where the endless high Andean deserts, and the Andean volcanoes rule. A geographical ladder going up and down in this remote South American region, were Argentina, Chile and Bolivia share a geography that ignores political boundaries. Were nature imposes its rules with irreverent will. Several times, similar journeys shook my soul and my heart. And every new trip, every experience was unique.

Audrey Benedict, Director of Cloud Ridge Naturalist wrote about the trip:

"...I'l focus on only one of the special highlights of this past years Cloud Ridge trip to northwest Argentina cactus deserts, Yungas cloud forests, and alpine highlands/puna, northern Chile ,the Atacama Desert and Lauca National Park, and a 2,300 mile long flight to the remote outpost of Easter Island. Much of the trip followed the ancient road of the Incas "the Camino Inca" over the Andes and was especially rich in terms of the archeological areas we visited, which included not only the extraordinary stone masonry 'reminiscent of Chaco Canyon* of the ancient Inca-ages but also visits to museums where we saw the perfectly preserved, tapestry wrapped pre-Inca mummies 'mostly children' that were once placed as offerings to the Gods on the highest peaks of the Andes. The scenery, botanical treasures, and wildlife were amazing! My personal favorites were the families of vicunas -tiny cousins of the guanaco and the llama-,the tiny vicuna 'kids' played fighting with each other while the long-eared, rabbit-like vizcachas peered down at us from their rocky strongholds. We crossed over the Andes at nearly 16,000 feet and wound our way down into the Atacama, undeniably the driest desert in theWorld. The landscape was surreal-massive salt flats 'where salt was actualy being "harvested", vast lagoons dotted with salmon-pink flamingos, and magical canyons eroded from crystaline gypsum. It's diffcult to even describe the power of a visit to Easter Island. I´m sure that some of you grew up dreaming, as I did, about Thor Heyerdahl!s reed raft, Kon-Tiki, making the same journey that the ancient Polynesians must have made to the island at around 900 A.D. Though you can look at endless pictures in books, absolutely nothing prepares you for the huge stone "moai"statues, the towering stone sculptures carved from basaltic lava that dominate the island. The largest of these statues is 70 feet tall and weighs about 270 tons! The island almost reverberates with tragedy, the modern analogs in today's world daunting in their complexity.The selection of pictures on the next page are just a sampling of all we saw. Sheer magic...!"

Enjoy our next trip March 12th to March 26th 2010

Easter Island extension ends March 30