Plast summer camps in Argentina held in Patagonian Andes (03/06/05)

Plast summer camps in Argentina held in Patagonian Andes

by Oksana Zakydalsky

TORONTO - My recent trip to Argentina began because of an open invitation from Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization in Argentina to join in their summer (i.e., December/January) camps, this year to be held in the Patagonian Andes bordering Chile.

And so on December 22, 2004, I found myself in Buenos Aires with the family of my host, Xenia Baluk, involved in preparations for Sviat Vechir which was coming up in two days (according to the Gregorian calendar).

The next day we attended the Christmas service at the cathedral and in the afternoon set off westward on a 20-hour bus trip to Lanin National Park in Nauquen province. Our group included 13 campers, boys and girls, and six counselors. Another group of 12 "starshi plastuny" (young adult Plast members) were driving to the site.

Lanin National Park is one in a system of three parks in the Andean Patagonia region. Its mountainous relief is rich in lakes created by glaciers 18,000 years ago. Within the park lies the majestic, now inactive, Lanin volcano, a mountain whose almost perfect conical shape rises 3,776 meters (12,225 feet) above sea level.

This was a first trip to Lanin for the younger campers, and the camp program was to include several hiking treks in the park, including one up Lanin, although not all the way to its summit. To reach the peak of Lanin takes two full days of hard climbing. The climbers have to be in good physical shape, have the proper equipment and clothing, and be lucky with the weather, which is always cold and windy, often rainy and foggy. An assault on Lanin's peak was the main goal of the older campers - several of whom had attempted this in the past four years, but failed to reach the top more times than they succeeded.

The camping "experience" was similar to what we are used to in North America - but had some unique details. As the camp took place during the Christmas season, "koliadky" (carols) were part of the campfire programs. After lunch, there was a mandatory one-hour siesta period - everybody had to go to their beds and be quiet, and sleep. Argentineans being great meat eaters, the asado - meat grilled on an open fire - was a frequent supper meal. Supper was eaten late - between 9 and 10 p.m.

But the biggest difference was the attitude of the young campers - or rather, the lack of "an attitude." They were very responsible in doing what was expected of them (no nagging was necessary), very enthusiastic about everything they were asked to do, and, when the unpredictable weather or unexpected obstacles in the wild necessitated last-minute changes in the program, they did not grumble.

For example: a final two-day hike to the town from which we were to take the bus back to Buenos Aires had to be reversed midway because a forest of the colihue cane* blocked the way and could be crossed only by hacking through with a machete, which meant that the group would not reach the area where camp was to be pitched before nightfall. The leader decided it was too dangerous to continue and turned back to the home campsite, which they reached at 11 p.m. (14 hours and back to square one). The campers took it all in stride.

Although valiant efforts were made by the counselors to conduct activities in Ukrainian, at the camp the actual language of communication was Spanish, as many of the campers did not understand enough Ukrainian. One of the reasons for the weak knowledge of Ukrainian is the fact that there has been no Ukrainian-language school in the city for the last few years. The Ukrainian community in Buenos Aires is shrinking, as community organizations are battered by the periodic economic crises that hit the country, most recently (2001) with the devaluation of the peso. For a while, immigration from Ukraine was seen as a possible transfusion of Ukrainian-speaking "new blood" but, although immigration from Ukraine to Argentina continues, people who do come often immediately set about finding ways to get to North America or Europe.

We arrived back in Buenos Aires on the morning of January 8, the same day that a camp for novatstvo (children age 6-11)was to begin at the Plast campgrounds in Punta Indio, about an hour's drive from Buenos Aires. All the campers and their families met again that evening in Punta Indio to mark the end of the Christmas celebrations with a "sviachene" (a meal of blessed food) and a slide show of photographs from the Patagonia camp (thanks to the wonders of digital photography).

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The colihue cane is a strange plant; it can grow to 5 meters and is ubiquitous in Patagonia. Flowerings occur every 17 to 20 years with a massive production of seeds. With such an abundance of food, the rodent populations increase exponentially in a short time. Anya Agres told me that the year 2002 had been a year of just such a flowering and when a group had come to climb Lanin, there were rodents scurrying about everywhere. If you plan to go mountain climbing in Patagonia in the years 2019 to 2022, first check out the colihue cane situation.

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