Advertisement
Published: April 27th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Leaving BA
All packed and a little sad to be leaving our little flat, our trip to Patagonia didn´t get off to the most auspicious start. Stavi was unwell, though whether it was the quantity of red wine consumed over the week or something she ate, I don´t think we´ll ever know! Stavi slept through the flight down and for me the boredom of the three hour flight, having finished all my books, was broken only by the delight of a double helping of lunch!
El Calafate
Recommended by Dave and Carolyn we´d booked the America del Sur hostel (thank you!). It´s the first time I´ve ever had to introduce myself to every member of staff in a hostel! Albeit a little full on, in the absence of my interpreter, I quickly found them incredibly friendly, helpful and very willing to speak English! Phew! I could put the phrasebook away...
The next morning, Stavi was feeling better despite a rough night. Fortunately we´d opted for the rather gentle Upsala Glacier Tour. We found ourselves on a boat with about 200 other tourists on one of the clearest days you can imagine. Getting up close to the galciers
was incredible. It gave Stavi the opportunity to try out all the tricks she had read about the new camera (by the end I wondered if it had been surgically attached without my knowledge, but as anyone at our wedding will realise, like father, like daughter!). (Stavi: The good thing was that all the camera action seemed to bizzarely cure me!). We had lunch by a beautiful lake with a view of no less than three different glaciers.
The next day we´d opted for something a little more adventurous ominously called "BIG ICE" which involved 6-7hours trekking. Apparently to do this you needed to be quite fit, aged 18-45 and not pregnant. Fairly certain the last point did not apply to me, but being naturally portly I wondered if this was for me... In the end, it was absolutely brilliant, one of our highlights so far. We stopped initially at a viewpoint to take in the Perito Merano Glacier. Absolutely amazing. A short boat trip and a hour hike later, we were fitted out with our crampons and (incredibly) quickly briefed on how to walk on the ice. Setting off, we quickly got the hang of it, gaining in
glacier Spegazzini
Tallest glacier in the park.. confidence, I promptly tripped over my own feet and became the first of the group to fall on his backside!! We walked for about an hour and a half over different terrain. Uphill, downhill, through an ice tunnel and over frozen streams of water. We stopped for lunch by the most vividly blue frozen lagoon I´ve ever seen. I can´t really do it justice.
Meanwhile, the hostel had booked our bus and our accommodation at our next destination, El Chalten. Having by now run up a fairly hefty bill, we headed into town to get some more cash and some tea. The first three ATMs were all out of order, the next one had no cash and that sinking feeling started....how many dishes would we have to wash?!
Fortunately, the last machine (there are only 5!) worked. With enough money, we had a nice meal at another recommended restaurant (Stavi: Pura Vida, yes Carolyn the portions were huge but I managed all the pumpkin!). Only problem now - there was no ATM in El Chalten. With a bus at 8, we set out early to get more cash, only to discover the Nationwide had blocked Stavi´s card. A
frustrating 8 pound phonecall, a later bus and a few choice words about Nationwide, we arrived to discover we had missed one of those rare clear days in El Chalten, where you could see both Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy. You can only imagine what we thought of Nationwide then...
El Chalten
We rose early the next morning ready for the first trail. It was supposed to be rainy later in the week, so we struck out for the trail that afforded views of everything. For the first couple of hours we could see all but the very summit of Cerro Torre, as it turns out the best view of the whole time. By lunchtime, the wind had picked up, the clouds had come down and the rain had started. We eventually made it to the mirador (viewpoint), but it was too windy (we were walking doubled over) to get any further. Back in the village, the rain was horizontal stinging our faces, so incredibly unpleasant. Somewhat disheartened and a little disappointed, we enjoyed a couple of local beers and a filling locro stew in the microbrewery.
We spent the night listening to the howling wind and
driving rain, just glad we weren´t camping. Next morning, opting to make the best of it, we set off in the rain for Laguna Torre. The sun fought to come out and gradually the rain stopped. After walking uphill all the way to the mirador the day before, I was relieved to find some flatter ground. We made it to the laguna and had lunch just before everyone else all arrived, just by ourselves and a wonderful laguna. Very special. After two successive hikes, longer and tougher than anything I´d done back home, I wasn´t relishing the prospect of another tough walk the following day.
Fortunately the next day was, at least to start, the best of the three days. Setting out early again, we hit the Fitz Roy trail and within 90 minutes were rewarded with some of the best views of our time in Patagonia. Simply stunning. As we began the last ascent even Stavi found it tough going. The last 500m or so we were scrabbling over rocks and trying not to slip on ice. Sadly by the time we reached the top, the wind had picked up and the snow had started. It was far
too cold to sit around, so we had a hasty lunch and I sheltered behind a rock, while Stavi took another few hundred pictures!
Heading down, we had a brief scare. One of the gusts was so strong that I couldn´t stand up and it knocked Stavi clean off her feet. Fortunately she landed on her on behind. After that we headed down as swiftly as we could. Back at the hostel, we were both shattered and decided that we´d head back to El Calafate the next day.
Setting off early, we were treated to a final view of Fitz Roy from the bus. Although, I don´t think I´ll ever be able to claim that I
enjoyed the hiking, seeing the scenery on the way back really brought it home, in spite of the weather, how truly, truly amazing it had actually been....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.115s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0536s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb