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Published: February 13th 2007
OK, so last thing you heard we were sweltering in 36o heat in Bs.As....well we took a flight to nearly the end of the world (sorry Ushuaia we didn´t make it that far) and were nearly as cold as those of you suffering in Blighty right now. El Calafate is a strange place; a bit like an alpine village with the architecture and chocolate shops (yes we did buy some...). Quite a pretty place next to Lago Argentino, the biggest lake in Argentina. It is in the soutern part of the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Glaciers National Park) which has the 3rd largest ice field in the world, after the Antarctic and Greenland. The glaciars are literally everywhere and it is an amazing sight.
We put up in a little B&B just outside town with a radiator that chucked out heat (yes we were too hot again...) and a sweet old lady who ran the place, and who unfortunately caused us to miss an amazing trip - more of that later.
On our first full day we took a bus to the national park and did a trek on the Perito Moreno glacier - which was great. We donned
our crampons and set off onto the ice (which was 300-400 years old), walking slowly so as not to trip ourselves up....if you´ve ever used crampons you´ll know what I mean, and if not, you´ll just have to try....quite an experience. We had a couple of guides with us - I guess in case one of the group fell into a cravass...and there were a few (don´t worry Mum I´m still here!). The glacier is huge; 30km long, 5km wide and 50m high...so impressive, especially when seen from the balconies constucted on the south side. The colour is the second thing you notice after the sheer size - the blues caused by the compacted ice are intense. And when pieces of the ice come off and fall into the water the noise is like thunder. We spent a whole day there and saw all kinds of weather, it changed almost by the minute. It was a really unique day, and P - being the geographer he is - enjoyed it more than Machu Picchu, and that´s saying something.
On our second day we had organised a trip to another - bigger - glacier for a sunset cruise, it was
Trekkers on ice
next stop antarctic...the first trip of its kind and we were really looking forward to it. In the morning the lady who owned the hosteria gave us a message which stated the departure from the hosteria as being an hour later...yes, you´ve guessed it, she got it wrong. The cruise company were only phoning to confirm the time of departure, not our pick up time, and we missed the taxi by an hour....we were quite disappointed, and I had to stop Pierre before he caved the womans head in...am sure he wouldn´t have done it really.....No, seriously, I calmed him down enough to go to the travel agent and get our refund, they were very understanding and quite sympathetic - unusual when they have to give You money. Never mind, we decided to have dinner in a restaurant overlooking the lake and see the sunset from there, and we were quite relieved when we saw fog near the glaciers...and no sunset to speak of....felt a llittle sorry for those on the boat though.
The next day we got a bus to El Chalten, which is in the north of the Glaciers national park. It was a 4 hour ride away, on
a gravel road, and when we arrived were happy to get off the bus, but not looking forward to the onward journey. The small town of just 20 years, is dominated by the Fitz Roy mountain range, and it is a spectacular sight. We paid through the nose for accomodation, but this was dimmed somewhat as the entry to the park and all the trails are free, guides are only needed to walk on the ice. So we made the most of our unscheduled stop - no space on buses up north for 4 days - and threw ourselves into the whole trekking experience.
The weather on our first full day was wonderful, blue skies and sunshine but not too hot, perfect for walking and being able to see the mountain peaks. We set off at a leisurely pace enjoying the scenery and warming up our muscles for the long walk ahead - there were 12km ahead and the same back. The first 3 hours were fairly pleasant, not too challenging - that was to come in the final hour...a very "steepy" (as it was written on the map) climb up rugged terrain to the top of a ´glacial
Whisky on the rocks.
Famouse Grouse all the way from scotland shipped to the south of Argentina with a glaciar providing the ice.... tarn´ (thanks P - thats the lake thats left when a glaciar has melted). The going was pretty tough with uneven stones underfoot and a hell of an incline. The view we had at the top was totally worth it however. I sat down to have a breather, but Pierre was off down to the lake and up another hill where there was another lake - he was quite excited as I think the geography was pretty rare. He came back with photos and I wish I´d gone too. We stayed up there for about an hour and could have stayed longer, as the view of Fitz Roy was inspiring. However, we still had the walk back to contend with and our legs were already starting to ache....
The clamber down the path was harder than the walk up, and at the bottom P was really feeling it in his knee - could have done with a ski-lift....after a few painkillers,we made the trip back in record time as I think if we´d stopped he wouldn´t have started again. We celebrated our return to civilisation with a couple or three beers at the micro-brewery, the negro beer (Bock) was
great. After a quick dinner we headed ´home´and fell into a much needed shower and slept like babies.
The next morning we felt suprisingly spritely and decided to do another walk, but just (!) 10km each way this time. So we set off to Lago Torre and got there in 3 hours. This walk wasn´t as beautiful as the previous one, may have had something to do with it being overcast. After lunch at the river with the 3 peaks of Cerro Torre in the background, we headed back - we were on a roll and only when we started climbing a steep path throught he woods did we realise we´d gone the wrong way, and were in fact going in the direction of Fitz Roy and Lago de la Tres where we went the day before. We decided to keep going as there was a path on our map that cut past another lake and was a sort of short-cut back to the town. However, there was no path (had been cut off for some reason) and when we reached a lake realised it was not the one we wanted, but one on the path to Fitz Roy....about
A full frontal!!
Glaciar in all its glory!! 4 hours out of our way. We therefore took the painful decision to turn back the way we had come...all that up hill for nothing!! We had gone 3 hours out of our way when we got back to the path we should have taken and still had 2 1/2 hours left...we were pretty exhausted by this point and morale was low....Somehow we made it back with a little (!!) moaning on my behalf and two sets of very weary legs and feet. Pierre´s knee took a battering and a few days to settle down, the next 2 days in a coach was probably good for him!
We made it back to our hosteria and fell through the door, the owner was amazed when we told her it had taken us over 8 hours - she said it was impossible, until we showed her our error on the map - by which time she´d offered us a beer and sympathy! We made it upstairs, just, showered with the intention of going out for food, but collapsed into bed and were away with the fairies in no time. The next day we made a concious decision not to walk anywhere,
except into the town!!
The last 2 days we spent sat on a coach...12 hours the first day - in a very hot and sweaty bus with no air conditioning and windows that didn´t open - and the second day for 14 hours in a slightly better bus but still no A.C or opening windows, but little fans instead! We overnighted in a dive of a one-horse town called Perito Moreno (with no similarities at all to the glacier of the same name) in a Hotel called Belgrano which we renamed Hotel B(elgr)ano, (Baño is toilet in spanish) nuff said....for once it didn´t take much to get me out of bed at 6:45 in the morning when P said get up or the bus will go without us and we´ll be stuck here....
The part of Patagonia we drove through on Ruta 40 is a desolate place....nothingness for miles and miles, until you come across a lonely house/hotel that sells its wares to weary travellers. However, it was beautiful in its own way, if only for the fact that there was nothing there, except the odd condor, strange ostrich like bird, and groups of wild horses. The last
El Chalten
No planning whatsoever only 20 years old and growing up fast!! 4 hours of the journey was the only time the scenery changed, from flat scrub to greenery and eventually fir covered mountainsides and more alpine looking towns. Suffice to say we were pretty happy to arrive in Bariloche last night.
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Mum
non-member comment
icebergs
What amazing pics - it all looks so beautiful. Am so glad you didn't fall into the cravasse - hope the knee is holding up. Have you reached the island yet? am following it all avidly on google earth and maps so glad you are back to civilisation and glad you are having an amazing time. take care. have you seen any penguins or is that in antartica?!!! love Mum xxxxx