Blogs from El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America - page 2

Today is a travelling day. Woke up this morning at 7:15 and finished packing before walking to restaurant for breakfast. Our room 60 is the second last room on the western side and the restaurant is located at the extreme eastern side of the hotel so actually a bit of a walk as the hotel is long and skinny so that all rooms have a nice view. The bus left around 9:20 and had to back track towards Punta Arenas to reach the border crossing. We were traveling with Joseph, Marta, Darlene(Boston) , Angeliqua (Texas), Arnie and Benny from Israel. The bus stopped just before the border crossing at a cafeteria/tourist shop for about 60 minutes even though the driver told us 20-30 minutes. We were all looking for the driver but he had disappeared but ... read more

Motorcycles move to the head of the line. No-one said it, but we were all thinking it (Ron, Marty and I) as we entered Glaciers National Park (Argentina) and rolled past large designated look out points full of buses and minivans over the 20 km between the entrance and the final position closest to the glacier. Forget the gradual buildup. Hit the point that you most want to see first. Then go slowly back. It worked like a charm. Crowds were thin when we reached the small parking area by the cafeteria and the metal walkways leading down to the glacier. Elated, we parked and advanced on the prize. What I had not realized is that visiting a glacier with men whose life's work is bound up in the dynamics of ice, water and rock, is ... read more

Ron and Marty had parked just off Ruta 40, and stood looking out over Lake Cardiel, an unusual feature in this flat dry land. All of a sudden with a roar and a wave of dust, and we were joined by a motorcycle tour. Four male riders of a certain (ie my) age, and a white pickup driven by a woman, who was somehow overseeing the Tour. They had subcontracted with Motoaventura (who had rented me my bike in Osorno) to provide them with BMW motorcycles and the follow vehicle. We greeted each other. They discovered we didn't speak German. We discovered they weren't much interested in speaking English, so we went back to talking to the group leader, Angela, who was fluent in both languages. The riders turned out to be Swiss and rich. Their ... read more

Aujourd'hui, lever très matinal pour aller visiter l'Estancia Cristina, une des plus anciennes estancias de la région. Pour s'y rendre il faut traverser le Lago Argentino. La bonne nouvelle c'est que le bateau rapide est en panne et on aura droit à 8h de navigation sur le lac (4h à l'aller et 4h au retour) !!! La mauvaise nouvelle c'est qu'on va se taper 8h de navigation et on aura donc peu de temps sur place !!! Toutefois le trajet est intéressant car il permet d'observer plusieurs glaciers appartenant au champ de glace sud de Patagonie d'une longueur de 350 km et troisième calotte glaciaire au monde après l´Antarctique et le Groenland. Et puis, première pour moi, jaurai l'occasionde voir des icebergs de près... et le soleil est de la partie, ce qui ne gâche rien. ... read more

Je quitte déjà Ushuaia et je reprends un vol en direction de la Patagonie et plus précisément en direction d'El Calafate, porte d'entrée pour la visite des grands glaciers de Patagonie et ville située au bord du Lago Argentino, le plus grand lac d’Argentine. Je ne vais pas vous raconter ce voyage en détail sur ce blog car il est plutôt à but professionnel (même si je vais quand même en profiter) car je vais rencontrer plusieurs prestataires, visiter des hôtels et tester des excursions. Mais je vais quand même le détailler jour par jour et mettre principalement des photos afin que vous ayez un aperçu de ce beau pays. Et bien entendu, si quelqu'un est intéressé et souhaite plus d'informations, je suis à disposition et, promis, je ne prendrai pas de commission élevée, ahahah. À ... read more