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Published: March 30th 2005
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So Ushuaia just did not quite happen. I was assured I had a reserva from Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia which I found hard to believe so I was hardly surprised when I got to Rio Gallegos and was told I was not on the passenger list.
The trip from Puerto Madryn to Rio Gallegos was entertainment itself. I was at the very front of the bus with 3 Argentines. First of all we played musical chairs so I could get the one seat where the audio was working so I could hear the English and watch the film. It was some dire film with Robert de Niro which clearly never made it to general release. Then I got to answer questions like - What do you think of Camilla? Maradonna? The Argentines? It cracks me up that in the middle of Patagonia they have actually heard of Camilla and have an opinion of her. Anyway my fellow passengers where lovely and helped pass the time. The coach itself was terrible and even though it was genuine coche cama it was an uncomfortable night. Oh and the toilet - think trainspotting - I kid you not.
So I get to Rio Gallegos and realize that maybe things are not quite as simple down here as they are up north near BA. I tell you get further away you can and feel things slowly falling apart. So 7 am at Rio Gallegos and backpackers as far as the eye can see. The bust terminal is going through a revamp so at the moment it is a little hut with an inch of dust everywhere. So we are all sitting on our back packs drinking coffee and sharing our supplies of food. It transpires that my grand plan of heading north from Calafate is not going to work since all the Calafate people are heading back the way I just came from. Deep joy at the realization that I am going to have to head back to this shack. Ushuaia is a no go so I decide to cut my losses and head to Calafate which was a mere 4 hours away. So with lots of advice I headed off to Calafate.
Ok I was told it was dire and dire it is. It is this random little town whose sole existence is to house the tourists here to see the glacier. Tourist Trap. It just screams out at you. Anyway the town is dire but the glacier is out of this world. I had been told not to worry about a tour guide and just to take a general bus. It was good advice as the bus stopped at exactly the same places as all the tour buses and I was spared the usual spiel. I got some information anyhow on the boat trip. Ok so a glacier. I thought I had an idea in mind of what I was expecting to see. We got to the first stop which is a distant view of the glacier and it just took my breath away.
I have the photos but as with Iguaçu you can not capture in photographs the majesty of what you are seeing in front of you. I also took the boat which takes you 300m away from the glacier. You can not get closer in case there is a big collapse. There was one last year and I saw the photographs which were staggering.
After the boat ride they take you to the viewing platforms. You can walk down several levels and view the glacier from all angles. What I had not anticipated is that the glacier is actually noisy! Especially in the afternoon after the sun has been on the glacier for a couple of hours. It starts groaning and creaking and then chunks of ice start falling off. I tried to capture some on film with little success. I do have on film all the noise it makes though! When the ice hits ice it is like a gun shot. Ice hitting water is a hard splosh and then of course the noise it totally different if this is happening within the glacier. The sunlight as well also affects the colour of the glacier and you have a spectrum from deep turquoise to the whitest of whites. Ok I think I will shut up now as there are truly no words to describe how phenomenal it is. It is right up there with Iguaçu, Grand Canyon etc as one of Mother Nature’s most spectacular sites……
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