Birthday Biking, Mendoza, Argentina

Thirty-one years young was celebrated with my friend Gus on a bicycle winery tour outside of Mendoza. Bikes and wine -- a dangerously perfect combination. We visited 3 wineries plus a chocolate factory on our day-long adventure. Gus and I both started on lowrider bikes, but after my chain kept breaking Gus was tired of peddling for the both of us. So, we called the bike company and they brought me a different bike -- a mountain bike. Here are some photos from our tour.

Gus at the bike shop waiting to begin our day of debauchery.


Toasting at one of the wineries.


Sucking down some tintos.


Our last winery had a friendly beast of a dog named Auko. I got some photos with the old timer.

Alpa Corral, Argentina

Federico and I headed for the field during the first week of February to collect beetles for my tests. Below are a few photos from around town. There is lots to say and many more photos, but for now, a few from the area. Basically, Alpa Corral is a very small town that is slowly becoming a tourist attraction for Argentineans. Many still don't know about this charming village in the foothills of the mountains, and one local shopowner told me it was the first time she had ever seen a foreigner in town. We spent 10 days collecting just outside of town, and we had some amazing experiences, my favorite being the gauchos we met. I'll write more about this town in the next several posts.

The town of Alpa Corral, our first collecting site.
Bike rental in "downtown" Alpa Corral.


River bend at dusk near Alpa Corral.


The name our campground -- Pelicano!


Our tents at the campground. We stayed here for 10 days.


Federico setting up the blacklight to catch insects.


My cold tolerance set-up (in the campground's shower!).


While running hot tolerance tests, these sisters came to talk and observe.


"La Capilla," the chapel. This was one of our collecting sites.

Close-up of the stonework on the chapel.


Pinning beetles in the shade of our field vehicle.

Night in Mendoza

The last night before Jenny flew home to California we got dressed up and went out for dinner. Upon returning to our hostel we had a drink with the hostel staff. After a another drink and a tenfold improvement in our Spanish (or so we thought) we went with the hostel staff and some Irish jigs (who were also staying at the hostel) to an outdoor bar next door. The staff was fun to hang out with, and the jigs were moderately entertaining, though they claimed to be horrified that I work with dung beetles. I suspect they were just jealous.

Some photos of our evening in Mendoza.


First, us with our drinks in the hostel lounge.



Jenny and one of the Irish jigs in the background.


Salud!