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Published: March 26th 2008
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It was difficult to leave Buenos Aires because we loved this city so much but we were also looking forward to flying to the end of the world literally- the city of Ushuaia which means " the bay that looks at West". It is the capital city of Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, situated at Isla Grande (Big Island) and is the southernmost city of the world. It was beautiful to wake up and admire the great view from our hostel of snow capped mountains and the Beagle Channel.
We went to Tierra del Fuego National Park and did a 4 hour trek there taking in some great views of the beagle channel and lapatia bay and ending at Roca Lake. It was our first trek but we didnt find it too bad. However, we were tired when we got back so we helped ourselves to a bottle of wine and joined two Irish girls in the Irish bar for a few more. We spent 4 days in Ushuaia before setting off for our next destination- El Calafate. We got the 6.00am bus and after 10 hours on the bus getting off the bus 4 times for passport checks as we
View of Ushuaia port
Most southerly port in the world crisscrossed Chile and Argentina, a short ferry ride, a further 4 hour wait in a bus station for the next bus and then another 5 hours on our bus we reached our destination jaded and delighted to fall into bed!! We will be travelling up through Argentina mainly by bus as there isnt a rail network in Argentina but we are getting well used to the long bus rides at stage.
It was well worth the journey to El Calafate for what we came to see- the incredible Perito Moreno Glacier a World Heritage Site located in the National Park surrounded by beautiful clear milky turqouise waters and snow capped mountains. While most of the worlds glaciers are receding this is considered stable and advances 2m per day. Occasionaly larged pieces of ice break from the glacier crashing into the water making a resounding roar. It is 30km long, 5km wide and 60m high. We took a boat ride to get closer to it and I imagined it as the place Superman would come to to get his kryramite! Getting to the glacier was an experience itself. We booked a taxi ride and shared it with an argentian girl.
The local taxi man was a good guide and he kindly shared some Mate with us and the argentian girl. Mate is the local drink that Argentians seems to drink a lot of and apparently if a local invites to share some its an honour! It tastes like green tea but bitter and its drank from a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd but you cant move the straw when you drink from it otherwise you destroy the taste- strange!
The next day we set off for our next destination on the map- El Chalten, a little town 5 hours north off El Calafate. El Chalten is home to Mount Fitz Roy and its very much a town that resembles a construction site/tourist town at the moment. We had a very active few days here spent walking, climbing mountains and ice trekking so we are glad to be in a city at the moment to rest our bones. Our first hike started at 9.30am and we arrived back to the hostel wrecked at 5.30. We hiked to Laguna de les tres, the closest viewing point to the Fitz Roy we could get to, expect for mountain climbing
of course. The first 3 hours were fine but the last hour of scrambling up the steep mountain of loose rock I found really hard but Peter found it OK and used all the motivational speeches we could use to get me to the top of the mountain like "we are nearly there" expect I knew we werent!!! It was certainly resilence that got me to the top and not fitness!! But it was well worth it for the view of the Fitz Roy. We were really lucky the weather. It was a beautiful day and there wasnt a cloud near the Fitz Roy. We heard some people had camped 3 weeks waiting for the view we got as there are only a few days like that in the year.
I really wanted to trek on a glacier so I signed up for a days trip trekking on Glacier Viedma. It was a brillant day and I even got to try out ice climbing which I´d recommend. I took a boat trip to the glacier and we had to put on these crampons- metal shoes with spokes for stamping into the ice. We stopped mid days through the trek in
Laguna de Torres- the final view point after 4 hours of walking
See the turqouise glacial waters of the laguna. We sat here and had our lunch! an ice cave for a Baileys with freshly crushed ice from the Glacier- it was strange drinking Baileys in an ice cave but cool.
Anyway have a look at the photos- they will give you a better idea of what I am trying to describe!
Maire & Peter x
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conor ward
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nice ice
my god, that glazier thing looks mental. was a bit worried when i read your sentence "The local taxi man was a good guide and he kindly shared some Mate with us and the argentian girl". whats thart about! where ye headed after this?