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Published: February 17th 2007
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View from America del sur
The view from our dorm room and most of the other windows in the hostal. Ross:
Getting off at El Calafate brought some funny looks my way. not sure if it was how I looked after 24 hrs on a bus and covered in sand or how I was dressed; I hadn’t bothered changing when we left Puerto Madryn as it was bloody roasting and was still dressed accordingly- boardies, thongs and a small concession to the cold I had put a hoody on. Still it wasn’t that cold and some of these people were getting about like we were in the South Pole. Anyways after a free ride from a nice bloke that worked at another hostel and a short walk we reached our hostel: America del sur. Claire had already booked this place ages ago but Shierley and Johnno (more Aussies from our GAP tour) who were about a week ahead of us had already stayed here and said it was amazing so good things were expected. And we were certainly not disappointed; the hostel looks amazing, it’s all exposed wooden beams and massive picture windows which sitting on a hill just outside of town gives spectacular views out over the milky blue waters of Lago Argentino (Argentina’s largest) and the surrounding snow
Glacier tour 1
The milky blue waters of Lago Argentino and the stunning mountain surroundings. The water colour's caused by minerals suspended in the melt water from the glaciers. capped Andes. The staff are equally amazing, friendly and informative. You get settled in then they take you through all your options for things to do round town the tours you can do and pretty much anything else you can think of. Then there’s the food; Claire and I were both pretty knackered and couldn’t be bothered cooking or walking into town so we decided to sign up for the all you can eat parrilla (30 pesos that’s £5 for all the BBQ’d steak and salad you could eat with beer or wine included). I know I’ve banged on about having the best steak in the world before but this, this was truly the best, juciest, tastiest fantastic steak I've ever had. No fancy adjustable height grill and fire pit here, just a BBQ made from an old oil drum. I packed away 3 or 4 big chunks of perfectly cooked meat; seared and wonderfully seasoned on the outside but pink and juicy in the middle (the chef at America del sur is truly the God of BBQ incarnated in human form). My steak lust satiated we got an early night as it was an early start the next day
Glacier tour 2
Me on Lago Argentino. for a boat tour of some of the glaciers in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares .
The tour was quite good but the catamaran was rammed to the gunnels with people so it was pretty busy (especially when we got near a glacier or an iceberg). People would rush out onto the aft deck and instead of lining down the side of the boat letting everyone see, they would all knot up and jockey for position which you then had to fight your way through to get to a clear spot up the side or to the front deck. People are disturbingly moronic at times.
We saw the Spegazzini glacier (it has the highest front wall of all the galciers in the national park) and the Upsala glacier (the longest in Argentina, around 60Km, but for how long no ones sure as it is retreating very quickly). Spegazzini was pretty cool (literally). The boat goes in quite close to the front wall and you can hear the glacier groaning and creaking. I was hoping for a big chunk to calve off but all we got was a few small bits droping off probably not much bigger than a washing machine.
Glacier tour 3
"Ice berg dead ahead" and some snowy mountains. Ah well.
Upsala was a bit of a dissapiontment as well it looks amazing seeing the ice field strech off as far as the eye can see but the boat couldn't get in close to the front wall, which apparently isn't that high or exciting, as the channel was choked with icebergs. Stopped for lunch at Lago Onelli and after a short walk through the woods and a quick poke at some catapillars we had a munch on the lake shore with the veiw of the Onelli glacier in the distance and the hundereds of small icebergs that bob around in the lake.
The next day we went minitrekking on the Perito Moreno glacier expectaitions were quite high after feeling a bit dissapointed after the boat tour. First we got taken out to a viewing point right at the snout of the glacier where there are lots of viewing balconies and you're only about 400m away from the glacier so it gives absolutly amzing views. The 2 hours we spent at the viewing balconies was worth the price of the whole excursion alone and definately blew the boat tour out of the water (anyone reading this looking for things to
Glacier tour 4
A glacier retreating from the lake. do in El Calafate make sure you do the minitrekking, if you've money to burn and time to kill then take in the boat tour but the minitrekking definatley gives you more bang for your buck and you certainly wont be dissapionted). With in minutes of reaching the first balcony Claire and I were treated to a massive chunk of ice calving from the glacier. Truly a sight to behold and a complete pain in the arse to try and capture on camera. Seriously you could spend all day here just watching the glacier; the colours, sounds and the surroundings are breathtaking. Several more huge chunks came off before we grudingly had to leave to do the next bit of the trip - a short boat ride to the other side of the bay where we would meet our guides and get kitted out to go trekking on the glacier.
We met our guides and then after a short walk down to the shore for a brief lecture about glaciology (during wich our guide nearly snapped his neck whipping round to look every time the glacier made the slightest groan) we got fitted out with crampons and let loose on
Glacier tour 5
Me and Claire with the Spegazzini glacier. the ice.
Trekking on the glacier is bizzare as from time to time you loose sight of the surrounding mountains and you're left with this alien landscape of undulating ice shot through with the most brilliant streaks of blue; deep crevases filled with the clearest water you've ever seen and it tastes great straight from the glacier.
The guides took us on a winding 1 1/2 hours trek up to the highest point on the glacier giving an unprecedented view out over the lake where the glacier terminates and back up the ice field to its distant origins in the mountains above us. Then we were treated to some whisky on the rocks (the ice being considrably more aged than the whisky - it was Famous Grouse) and the guides seemed pretty chuffed to be serving good Scottish whisky to give us a taste of home. We let them know that Famous Grouse isn't considered that good a whisky back home this kind of took the wind out of there sails, we didn't mean it in a mean way but they just seemed to take it wrong.
Thourghly chuffed with a day well spent it was back to
Glacier tour 6
The mighty front wall of the Spegazzini glacier. The bit up the right hand side is only a small tributery glacier the main ice field goes off for miles to the left. the hostel for more parrilla cooked at the hands of the God of BBQ.
Tomorrow its off to the southern most city in the world: Ushuaia and the end of the world (this is open to much debate and petty squbbling between Argentina and Chile who happen to have a naval base slightly further south on the other side of the Beagle Channel, but as every Argentinian will tell you "but that doesn't count, its only a naval base".
Claire:
El Calafate was a bizarre little place but our hostel was amazing (with kickass underfloor heating and a strict no shoes only socks in the house rule) and the people were really friendly. we went on the catamaran tour round the glaciers and while the scenery was amazing the sheer number of people jostling for position on the catamaran really was a bit off-putting. the next day we went mini-trekking on the perito moreno glacier which kicked ass. no other way to put it. really enjoyed stomping about in the crampons and taking millions of photos. that has been the main delay with these blogs, trying to sort out the photos to upload only the ones we had to
Glacier tour 7
Spegazzini again. We quite liked this view, this time with dirty bits. cos we have miiiiilions.
the parilla at the hostel was as amazing as ross said it was except he didnt tell you how good the salad was. there was so many yummy roasted and grilled veg and amazing salad. i had a great time. the all you can drink wine wasnt half bad either.
didnt do much apart from our excursions here, couldnt afford it given their exorbitant cost. looking forward to getting to ushuaia but hope its not too cold!
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Chris and Nikki
Chris
I bet it was an amazing experience to see that with your own eyes.