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Published: March 13th 2007
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Cerro Torre
Catrin looking very happy with herself after 2.5 hours of trekking! Cerro and Laguna Torre conquered! This was the first time we really felt like we were starting to travel in South America.
We arrived at the airport at 7.30am for our 8.50am flight. All seemed well until a delay flashed up just before we were about to board. New departure time 10.30am. Not too bad so we went off for our first caffeine injection of the day.
The first noticeable thing was that security was not particurlarly secure. The main airport toilets were actually past security so people were constantly going in and out. If the detector went off, you could simply point to something metal on your person and the guard waved you through… no major terrorism concern here then.
As it got close to 10.30 we thought we should investigate what was happening. A small melly of spaniards were up at the counter seemingly getting more and more irrate. When Rich asked what was going on, the girl said 'another 10 minutes´ so we weren´t sure what the fuss was about.
When we finally boarded the plane at midday and sat for a further hour on the runway, we started to get the picture. By all accounts, the Argentines
Cerro Torre
Rich trying to look cool and recover at the same time! are upset that AerolÃneas Argentina has been taken over by the Spanish since the crash. Some say that they are trying to sabotage the company in order to devalue it so that an Argentinian company can buy it back. There have been so many accounts of stuff like this that it seems a believable story.
Anyway once on board we had a good sleep and woke up to the most magnificent views flying in over Fitz Roy mountain, and crystal blue lakes. The airport also seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, there was no town in sight…
As it was El Calafate was only a 20 minute drive away and once there we got a bus to El Chalten. If we thought we were in the middle of nowhere in El Calafate, the best was yet to come. On the 4 hour bus journey we saw only 3 other vehicles, 1 was a bus coming in the opposite direction, and another was a broken down car…
The landscape is barren but beautiful. We stopped half way at this café / hotel. How these businesses can survive we will never know.
Arriving in El Chalten
Cerro Torre
After several failed attempts the timer works, we are in picture and we've got a photo together. Yeah! at 10pm. We headed up to our hostel. Cecilia (the slightly odd woman who had caused us no end of misery in trying to book the hostel) greeted us like old friends. We had a little room with twin beds and a shared bathroom - Rich says this is the best he has slept in months!!
Over the next 3 days we did a 6 hour, 3 hour and 9 hour hike, the first two in glorious sunshine.
Starting the final hike to Fitz Roy it was slightly overcast, and by the time we were doing the last 1 hour scramble up to the top the wind had picked up significantly, As the ´path´ was about a foot wide and there were steep drop-offs either side Catrin was getting slightly nervous. Climbing up was a challenge but getting down could be even more of a problem. So when we got to the top between the howling wind, rain, cold and Catrin freaking out, we came down again pretty quickly!!
Back at El Calafate a day or so later, we were enjoying staying in a rather swanky hotel room (the hostel we had booked had somehow not manager
El Chalten
What a day!!!! to reserve us a room and arranged this room for the same price - result).
We did a trip to the Moreno Glaciar which most people name as one of the highlights of Patagonia. For us it was 3 hours of hell. The rain and wind was whipping up a storm and the mini café shut its doors 1 hour after we arrived. Waiting for the icebergs to break off felt a bit like the behind the scenes view of an episode of Planet Earth. Rich braved out the full 3 hours and hopefully some of the shots are worth it.
Our final memory of El Calafate are the street dogs. They are everywhere and come in all shapes and sizes. At first you feel sorry for them but it seems a good life. They have their own rules, mostly regarding the chasing of cars and the pet dogs look on in jealousy.
They also like to make friends with you. Our own one decided to follow us home. Slightly unsure if this was a good idea, we ducked into the local garage. He waited patiently, letting a number of other customers walk out. Eventually we caved
El Chalten
Enough trekking, its chilling time, and I need some time to cool down, we've been trekking for hours. in and tried the same trick in another shop up the road, Again he waited patiently until we came out.
We tried telling him to go home but to no avail. It seems he would walk all the way to the hostel. Until that was he stepped into another street dog´s territory and we left them battling it out…the next day we seen him and town awaiting some new friends to follow, all was well.
So that´s it for Argentina for now. Tomorrow there will be more stamping of passports when we cross into Chile…
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Neil
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The hike
Guys - this looks superb. Your 'altitude' training up Ben Nevis must have worked! Watch out of those dogs though Rich!!