Blogs from El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America - page 4

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South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate January 24th 2015

24.01..2015 Zur Hacienda 520 km Strecke, ein Grenzübergang und am Anfang 150 km Schotter, zur Hacienda hin dann nochmal 30 km - Kevin entwendete beim Abendessen einige Brotscheiben und etwas Butter, dies war ein eindeutiger Hinweis, dass wir sehr früh fahren sollten. Frühstück gab’s erst um 8.00, aber da waren wir schon seit 1 Stunde unterwegs. Unsere Ernährung war etwas sparsam gewesen - etwas Cola zum Aufwachen und je zwei Scheiben altes Brot mit etwas Butter. Es war um 7.00 schon hell und wir machten uns auf. Die Schotterstrecke war nicht besonders gut, aber auch nicht völlig grauenhaft. Es wechselte, aber man kam vorwärts. Insgeheim hoffte ich, dass wir so etwa um 10.00 bis 11.00 an der Grenze wären. Es ging wieder den See “Lago General Carrera” entlang, aber mit so schräg einfallendem Sonnenlicht war das ... read more
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eine Tankstelle
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South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate January 23rd 2015

4. Januar, Buenos Aires - Ushuaia Heute werden wir einen Temperaturschock erleben, denn von fast 30° in Buenos Aires fliegen wir nach Ushuaia mit knapp 10°. Wir haben das Taxi zum Flughafen genommen und uns kam es vor wie im Film Taxi, Taxi. Mit 130 km/h über die Autobahn hat er sich durch den Verkehr geschlängelt. In Ushuaia angekommen haben wir am Hafen für den Abend die Sunset-Segeltour gebucht. Wir waren mit einer ganzen Familie Brasilianer, einem Guide und einem Kapitän auf dem Segelschiff. Da der Wind nur schwach blies, sind wir nur ca. 30 min bis zur Insel mit vielen Seehunden gesegelt. Wegen ihrem Futter, welches aus Krabben besteht, waren überall rosa-pinkfarbene Häufchen zu sehen. Auf einer zweiten Insel gabs viele Kormorane. In der Zwischenzeit hatte der Wind um 180° gedreht und frischte auf. 5. ... read more
Sunset Segeltour 2
Sunset Segeltour 3
Sunset Segeltour 4

South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate January 16th 2015

El Calafate is the lovely town you drive through before hitting Los Glaciers National Park where there are beautiful Lagos and sites but the highlight is the famous Glaciar Perito Moreno, it measures 35km long, 5km wide and 60m high. What makes this Glaciar exceptional is that it's advancing 2m per day were most of the worlds Glaciars are receding. It's constantly dropping chunks of ice off its face....this is called calving. We camped at the entrance of the Park so when it opened we were there the first to enter. ( a tidbit of info from other travellers) We arrived and hiked down to the bottom platform and took in the spectacular giant Glaciar in front of us in silence ( or as much silence as possible with our Mr. Max :) lol. We stayed ... read more
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South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate October 19th 2014

OK, here I sit in El Calafate in Argentina and it is now 6 days since I have written something. Now one might think that a lot happened, so to find out just read on. After my last blog entry in Chile Chico, which was a really nice town and worth a stop, I hit the road early morning, making my way to the Argentinian border. Sine I couldn’t find a bus company I just planted myself on the edge of the town on the side of the road and put my thumb up; international language for “Hey, I need a lift as far as possible to where I am going”. And it was a funny feeling as I haven’t done something like this since I was a teenager. But it worked and soon I was ... read more
Flat and boring
At least a front seat...
Putting my feet up

South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate May 19th 2014

CIAO PATAGONIA:Not as easy as you think. I remember the Englishmen who dived into the water of Milford Sound in New Zealand...next to a glacier...followed by our two children. They just kept jumping in...freezing as...probably getting off on the applause from admiring adults on our sloop moored just there. They were young then...I was horrified...not encouraging...but quite impressed nonetheless. Now I'm in El Calafate in Patagonia...Glacier Central...my chance to hug a few icebergs...crash a few glaciers...get among the ice. ****** The capital of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares...Argentina's second largest National Park...half covered in ice...to many the most impressive. Glaciers...rivers of ice...they say 300 in Patagonia...13 in the park descending into Lago Viedma in the northeast or into Lago Argentino in the southeast plus many descending off mountains in... read more
PERITO MERINO GLACIER
PERITO MERINO GLACIER
UPSALA GLACIER

South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate April 2nd 2014

Glaciers Galore and Icebergs Aplenty I was lashed by freezing wind and occasional horizontal rain, but I couldn't leave the deck of our big catamaran, The Patagonia--there was magic everywhere! Gliding by us, all around were icebergs from the size of toy boats to cruise ships. They'd been wind- and water-sculpted into a myriad of fanciful, hulking and anthropomorphic shapes. I saw birds, dragons, amphibians, even the Three Graces and a few angels wafting across the water. As varied as the shapes, were the colors from deep cobalt interiors to turquoise and baby blue, most opaque, some transparent, some striped in blues and dirty grays, revealing their checkered origins. Not only were the icebergs impressive, but also was the setting spectacular. Tall, snow-capped mountains towered above the fiords of Lago Argentino, the country's ... read more
cutting through the waters
fine sunrise
sun comes out as we leave

South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate March 29th 2014

The bus to Rio Gallegos wasn't the best. The films were in Spanish, the landscape is pretty flat and dry and dinner was served at 22.30. We had also been held up by 2hours by protests on the main road just outside Puerto Madryn. At first we thought it was a really bad accident because we could see a pretty big fire burning, clouds of black smoke billowing, but the police were going pretty slowly back and forth and we couldn't see any firemen or ambulance so we should have realised. After an hour or so we got past and as we were going past a series of hand gestures were exchanged between the protesters and the passengers on the bus. This delay meant we had missed our connecting bus from Rio Gallegos to El Calafate, ... read more

South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate March 28th 2014

With a roaring thunder and a great splash, a huge chunk of ice broke off the serrated snout of the towering Perito Moreno Glacier and plunged into the milky, turquoise Lago Argentino--it was for this that I, like so many others, made the pilgrimage to the obscure little town of El Calafate. I'd come to El Calafate for five days in late March, well past the December-February Patagonian summer when the small town would triple in size to 20,000 with tourists. Now, the crowds had gone, but autumn was setting in with rain, fierce winds and clouds that obscured the picturesque mountains surrounding the town and dulling my photos. When storms had been predicted for the days ahead, and I could no longer hike, I reluctantly left my beloved El Chalten , population 500, where for ... read more
snowy peak, green grasses and granite underpining
milky turqoise Lago Argentino
El Chalten's Solo Mountain--oops

South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate March 24th 2014

(Photos now added!). After the Torres Del Paine trek and the dormitory living of Puerto Natales it was nice to get back to El Calafate and a slightly less frenetic pace of life (God, it does get wearing having to get up each morning and be places for a particular time). El Calafate is a small, pretty town tending towards the twee, nestling on the shore of Lago Argentino. Like Puerto Natales it is another town of lake and wind. In addition to the road connection it is also home to the main regional airport making it the principal point of entrance for tourists wanting to visit the glaciers national park, and more precisely the region's leading attraction, the Perito Moreno glacier. Basically as Puerto Natales is to Torres Del Paine so El Calafate is to ... read more
Flamingos at Laguna Nunez, Lago Argentina
The bottom of the glacier
View Across the Peaks and Troughs of Perito Moreno

South America » Argentina » Santa Cruz » El Calafate March 20th 2014

We had a short 3 hour bus ride from El Chalten back to El Calafate. Once we arrived we spent the afternoon relaxing, organising food & boots for our Big Ice excursion (glacier walk) the next day. It was an early start to the day with a hostel pick up at 7am & a 80km drive to Los Glaciares National Park. We visited the viewing platforms which gave spectacular views of Perito Moreno glacier's North and South faces & rupture points. The sounds of the ice cracking & breaking were unbelievable, it sounded like gun shots going off. We saw big chunks of ice breaking off & falling into the lake. We then headed for the pier in Bajo de las Sombras port. We sailed across the Rico Arm & had more amazing views of the ... read more
In the ice cave
Laguna Nimez national park
Patagonian Lamb




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