Our border hopping continued, as we headed back to Argentina to visit the Moreno Glacier and then on to El Chalten to trek around the Fitzroy Mountains in the Los Glaciares National Park.
We were staying in El Calafate and from here we took a day trip along one of the many bumpy roads to the Moreno glacier. Even though we had already seen 3 glaciers on our trip so far, this one was the largest we have come across, measuring 30km long, 5km wide and up to 60m high in places. Once we arrived at the glacier we took a boat trip on the lake... we were not able to get as close as other glaciers but this was for a good reason, huge chunks of ice would fall of the glacier every few minutes, some so big they created pretty large waves in the lake. We all stood on the top deck of the boat trying to get a good photo or video of this happening in the freezing icy winds, but as the glacier was soooo big we were never quite looking in the right place at the right time to capture it! The noise when the
ice fell was incredible, similar to a clap of thunder which probably could be heard for miles, it was just as spectacular as weŽd imagined. We walked along the catwalks close to the glacier, where we stood for a couple of hours mesmerised by the ice formations, waiting for the next chunk to fall...
The town of El Calafate itself is a lovely little town, even though it is quite touristy. It was full of little shops and cafes, we stayed in a great hostel and ate the best steak I think we have ever eaten... we thought the steaks in the US and Oz were good but we think that Argentina now maybe holds the record!
After leaving El Calafate we headed around the lake, Lago Argentino, to El Chalten, which again was a small town but this one still seemed to be being built! All of the roads were just dirt and rubble and couldnŽt really be called roads, and lots of building work going on everywhere.... although not many builders around (just like the roadworks at home!). El Chalten is in the shadow of the Fitzroy mountains, which is why we were here, and on
a clear day you can see the Fitzroy Massif from the village. However, we had to believe our tour guide about this, as when we arrived as it was raining so none of us fancied walking in it so we found the nearest bar for a few drinks...
Luck was with us the next day, as it had stopped raining so we went on one of the many walking trails to get a view of the mountains. Up at the top of the view point the very top of the Fitzoy Massif was still covered in cloud but it was still an amazing view. As it is used to be known as "smoking mountain" to the local tribes, its no surprise! We eventually got a clear view on our last evening as we were going out for drinks, so at least we managed to see it in the end and get a photo or two!
After leaving El Chalten we were now in for a very long drive north. After a 10 hour drive one day, we stopped over night in Perito Moreno, which was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and not even mentioned in our
Lonely Planet guide... enough said! Then after another long 12 hours the next day we finally made it to Bariloche. Throughout the drives the view was the same baron landscape for hours on end, until about 2 hours before Bariloche. However, we were kept awake by the bumpy roads and looking out for the elusive Armadillo... unfortunately it remained elusive as after 22 hours of looking we still never spotted one!!!!!
We were looking forward to Bariloche as we'd been told it was very picturesque town and a real Swiss influence with all the buildings. We were expecting a real alpine feel to the town, however, it wasnŽt quite as pretty as weŽd been expecting, as in between the picturesque buildings were huge ugly 70's buildings. The best thing about Bariloche was without doubt the numerous chocolate shops along all the streets, where you could wander in and taste the samples... delicious! Another little quirk about the town were the huge St Bernard dogs wandering around with brandy barrels around their necks...
Maybe we were a bit harsh, as the weather was a bit miserable the whole time we were there, and maybe if it was sunny we
would have been able to see more of the town and have a different view. It was still nice to visit for a couple of days though, to relax before we headed back across the border into Chile and the town of Pucon, where we were hoped to climb the active Villarica volcano.
Argentina's Flag
Map of Argentina