Blogs from El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America
El Calafate to San Carlos de Bariloche via Buses and Navimag Ferry
Published: May 10th 2012South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate
April 29th 2012
At 8:30am we departed El Calafate by bus. The way was familiar to us having travelled the opposite way a few days previously. While Lady Eileen snoozed Leigh enjoyed the vista. Once Eileen awoke the main topic of conversation was the series of pylons that spanned over two hundred kilometres but were not linked – does anyone know what they are? An easy border crossing and we arrived at Puerto Natales at 2pm. We checked in and left our bags at the Navimag meeting point then spent the day looking for slippers for Eileen and trying to keep warm. Success; slippers purchased. (I was anticipating a stunning pair of carpinchio leather slippers but the reality was more like granny slippers; warm, effective and comfortable – Leigh. And best of all ... cheap! – Eileen.) We dined ... read more
Fishing and this time Catching
Published: May 10th 2012South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate
April 23rd 2012
It’s a cracker of a morning, the sun is just below the clouds low down on the eastern horizon, but it is lighting up the snow capped Andes far to the west. Maximo has just picked me up from the hostel and we are speeding west beside Lago Argentino to a favoured fishing spot. Maximo checks my shoe size and after a “wow” there is a hurried u-turn to get a larger pair of wading boots. We were soon out of town clipping along at around 140kph, hardly seeing another car on the road. Both guides (Sergio and Maximo) had Toyota HiLux’s with big cracks through the windscreens. I joked to Eileen later that a cracked windscreen is a badge of honour for fishing guides and that they probably hit the windscreen with a hammer as ... read more
April 22nd 2012
On 21 April we took a bus across the border back into Argentina to the lovely lakeside town of El Calafate, noted as the gateway to the glaciers and trekking. The good weather we had in Chile was forecast to continue in El Calafate so we booked a day trip to visit the Perito Moreno glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. The world heritage status national park covers 600,000 hectares and has 356 glaciers. The largest glacier is Perito Moreno covering 250 sq km. It is 30 km long, 5 km wide at the front and rising to over 60 meters above the level of the water; very big! We chose a perfect day to visit Perito Moreno glacier with no wind and lots of sunshine. First we took the boat out to see one side ... read more
Puerto Moreno and Torres del Paine
Published: April 6th 2012South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate
April 5th 2012
I left Buenos Aires in the middle of the night to fly south to El Calafate, a small tourist town that was to be my first stop in Patagonia. I barely remember the flight – I crashed out instantly and awoke as we were landing with my untouched food placed kindly next to me. El Calafate airport is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the vast and empty Patagonian steppe, with only a few mountains visible in the distance. I soon realised that the town itself was pretty much the same, a tiny place containing only the airport, some hostels, a few travel agents and lots of hiking equipment shops. I spent the first day exploring the town (didn’t take long) and a nearby Laguna (containing some Flamingos) and then headed back to my hostel ... read more
March 25th 2012
After visiting the Argentinian side of Iguazu falls myself and Will, a guy from Dublin I'd crossed paths with a few times in Brazil, left Josh and took a bus to Buenos Aires just in time for St. Patrick's day. On arrival we bumped into a few of the guys I'd stayed with in Rio so we all headed out to watch some Six Nations and drink some green beers. The whole world celebrates St Paddy's but Buenos Aires takes it especially seriously. Whole streets in the centre were full of Guinness drinking Argentinians in a party of almost Carnival like proportions. Nightlife in BA is pretty hardcore, no one seems to head out until about 3am and to head home until nearly lunchtime. Being Irish for a day had it's advantages as I quickly realised ... read more
El Calafate & the famous glaciar!
Published: April 4th 2012South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate
March 25th 2012
When closing in on El Calafate the change in landscape is breathtaking, you are suddenly surrounded by endless turquoise lakes and beautiful mountains. We booked our hostel before we arrived, just for two nights as the Perito Moreno Glaciar is the only real attraction near the quaint town. America del Sur was another great hostel; amazing views, great staff and spacious rooms. We booked a bus to the glaciar for the next day, we decided not to do the boat tour or the mini-trek on the glaciar due to our fairly tight budget! We then made a very cheap tuna salad for dinner and spent the first night with people we met on the bus. The next day the bus, which takes an hour and a half, left the terminal at 13.00. The view of the ... read more
March 16th 2012
Ok, this is going to be big. I´ve got a week´s worth of stuff to write about so i´ll try to keep it concise. Also i´m dedicating this one to all those who did Geography at school, specifically cold environments people, Mr Lemoine included, as i am now literally THE Big dog of seeing glacial stuff. I was all like "why hello lateral and terminal morraines forming barriers to the corrie lake or tarn that sits infront of the frost shattered back wall covered in scree". Anyways: The week has been amaaaaaaaaaaazing, although the name of this place is slightly decieving in that I have so far not patted any gonias at all. First tings first, Monday. This was the day of the visit to the Perito Moreno Glacier, which when translated means the Glacier of ... read more
No Cute Title Today, Just An Incredible Day in Patagonia!
Published: March 14th 2012South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate
March 13th 2012
Yesterday was a day full of travel; lots of hurrying, lots of waiting, lots of sitting and wondering what the heck was going on. My taxi driver sent someone else to pick me up today, but she was early and very nice. We left the hotel at 9 and made it to the airport on time. I thought that the travel gods were smiling upon me today- the plane was on time and they checked my 2nd bag for free. It was off to a great start. As we approached Buenos Aires, the cloud cover grew thicker and more ominous. Heck I wasn't worried, I was only there for a couple hours and didn't care if it was raining there; that would be my worry the following week. Oops, my bad. We circled BA for over ... read more
March 11th 2012
Our time in Buenos Aires has come to a close. We didn´t do a huge amount on our last day, I got my phone sorted finally, we went to a modern art museum and packed for our flight the next day. The flight down was pretty good, they seemed to just give us endless free drinks and we even got a small cardboard box with some biscuity treats inside. Having said this, the champagne oyster consome was sub par and the braised condor was absolute garbage but over all it was pleasant. The landing seemed a tad speedy. Our descent compared to a normal one is similar to going down a firemans pole compared to a slide. It was all good though and we landed safely in a vast nothingness by a lake. They call it ... read more
Glacier National Park - not in Montana
Published: March 9th 2012South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate
March 8th 2012
We caught the 8:15 bus to Glacier National Park. A 1.5 hour ride and a ridiculous price (was about $100 for the bus and park admission) led us to another spectacular site (well worth the money). Probably my favorite part of the trip so far. Perito Moreno Glacier is one of two glaciers in South America that is actually advancing (2 meters per year). And the park has a really cool setup of walkways right across from the glacier. The glacier is massive and so are the walkways. We spent the day trying to find the best spot to watch the glacier calve (pieces of ice break off and crash in to the water). Every couple minutes you would hear a thunderous boom (like a gun shot) and see ripples in the water from the ice ... read more
