19-20 November 2013 El Calafate

---

Tuesday 19^thNovember (Odyssey Day 11)







Our departure today from El Chalten was 0820 today and we had to make a quick stop for Eamon to pick up his washing since he forgot to go back to collect it last night. They did eventually open the door for him, even though they weren’t open yet. It was our free morning entertainment as we all watched the drama from the truck. And then we were on the road to our next camp.







We headed south for just three hours to the town of El Calafate. It was a rather short but scenic trip today and we arrived at lunch time. Our campsite here in El Calafate is far more sheltered than the previous one and we are all relieved that we won’t be blown away tonight!!







We had a meal out tonight. While we were originally meant to go as a group to a Parilla (steak house) just around the corner from the camp, there was a slight mix-up regarding booking times and so we ended up eating at the Parilla at the campsite. It was well worth it though as we had seen the lamb being cooked through the window earlier in the afternoon.







Dinner was a veritable meat feast. We all had the Parilla y Ensaladas Libre which was pretty much meat, meat, meat and more meat!! There was a salad buffet and a bar, all the rest was meat. It was certainly worth the wait, though I never believed I could eat quite that much meat all in one go, regardless of how much I love red meat! There was sausage, black pudding, chicken, flank, offals and of course they saved the best for last – the best lamb I have ever eaten! By this time though, it was more a matter of ‘I want’ rather than ‘I’m hungry’.











Wednesday 20^th November (Odyssey Day 12)







Today was a free day in El Calafate and I was determined to do everything slowly. The majority of the group went up to the Moreno Glacier that the town is renowned for but I decided to wander around the town instead.







It’s quite a small town and pretty much everything is closed for the afternoon siesta, so I found a cosy café out of the wind to enjoy some warm pastries and cold beer. The sun was wonderful if you can stay out of the force of the wind.







There was another overlanding group using the campsite today though they were a much shorter hop-on-hop-off type trip. There was a bit of ‘I’m sure we are better than them’ going and as soon as we realised they were having BBQ for dinner, we decided to do the same – only we made our hamburgers from scratch. Nothing unhealthy about a bit of competition…

---

Photos

Driving
Some beautiful views in every direction

Driving
Everyone made the most of the photo stops along the way

El Calafate
Ellie & AJ at dinner - anyone want some meat?