Blogs from El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America - page 5

Day 10 I know we have some pretty special days coming up but today was quite incredible. Woke up to clear blue skies & just a zephyr of a breeze. Top temp forecast to be 15 but feels much warmer. No need for all those layers of clothes we have with us. Full day involved 1 hr drive each way to Los Glaciares National Park & specifically the Perito Moreno Glacier with 4 hrs exploring the glacier from every angle. Understanding a little of the geology and dynamics of the glacier makes it even more amazing. This glacier is unique amongst other glaciers in that rather than being formed by frozen water it's formed by daily constant snow falling on the higher peaks putting pressure on the snow below until it is unable to be compressed ... read more

From city to jungle to desert to mountains to glaciers, Argentina is amazing. I knew that I had booked a ‘nicer’ hotel in El Calafate but I had no idea how nice- if we could have moved in forever, we would have. When we walked in to our massive room and looked out the window at the amazing view of Lago Argentino, I never wanted to leave! There wasn’t a lot to do in El Calafate but we didn’t care, we were there for Perito Moreno! 5km wide, 60m above sea level, up to 100m below sea level, and 250 km2, this massive ice block is an incredible beast of nature. Perito Moreno is a stable glacier, meaning that it freezes as much as it melts, therefore it is not receding like most glaciers. Being from ... read more

Tuesday 19thNovember (Odyssey Day 11) Our departure today from El Chalten was 0820 today and we had to make a quick stop for Eamon to pick up his washing since he forgot to go back to collect it last night. They did eventually open the door for him, even though they weren’t open yet. It was our free morning entertainment as we all watched the drama from the truck. And then we were on the road to our next camp. We headed south for just three hours to the town of El Calafate. It was a rather short but scenic trip today and we arrived at lunch time. Our campsite here in El Calafate is far more sheltered than the previous one and we are all relieved that we won’t be blown away tonight!! We had ... read more

Maria Chiara and I must be suckers for punishment. After two long plane rides we had finally managed to escape an excruciatingly long and severe British winter when we arrived in Buenos Aires. No sooner had we got nicely settled and acclimatised to the benign late summer temperatures, than we took yet another long flight down to Southern Patagonia and yet more cold! As our plane plunged towards Antarctica, the land below looked like some sort of moonscape. Or possibly Mars. After touching down at El Calafate airport, a minibus trip to the town took us through tundra-like landscape. El Calafate the town has jauntily-coloured buildings akin to what one would expect to see in Lapland or Alaska. Patagonia is the sort of place where civilisation can never really dominate, where the extreme nature of the ... read more

One I've my favourite characteristics of travel is the random and extraordinary things that can happen. And as far as crazy coincidence goes, I think I have topped that category on the flight to El Calafate. I sat down in my window seat and got myself set up for the three hour plus flight, and I ended up chatting with the couple next to me, who were also (coincidentally) from Canada. Actually, they were from Calgary(coincidentally)... and actually it turns out he's one of the Vice Presidents of the company that I work for! So in summary, on a domestic flight in Argentina, over 10,000 km from home (and work), I'm sitting on a plane with over one hundred other total strangers on it, and the person seated right next to me is not only also ... read more