Blogs from Santa Cruz, Argentina, South America - page 92

Shortly after arriving in El Calafate , we were struck at the unusual clouds in the area!... read more

We caught the bus to El Calafate in Argentina, a short 6 hour journey where we planned to go to see the Perito Moreno Glacier and then move further Northern towards Santa Cruz our Christmas destination. When we arrived we went throught the usual procedures, find somewhere to stay, book tickets to leave then organise trips. El Calafate is quite a touristy little town so finding somewhere to stay was quite easy, however trying to get out on a tight time schedule proved a little more difficult. We tried to book air tickets but unless we wanted to pay about 400 pounds each for Business Class then we could forget that option till the 23rd December. We then went to find a Bus all bus journeys are at least 2/3 days with a hotel break and ... read more

Now I'm not one to be easily impressed, and after three or four of months contsant travel you can become a bit jaded by what you see, so when I say that I Moreno Glacier was one ice cube that was worth travelling half-way round the world to see, you can take that as being an exclamation of admiratrion of the highest degree. Seriously, we've seen quite a few glaciers on this trip, and I've been heli-hiking on the fox glacier in New Zealand, but compared to Moreno Glacier all the others put together were the equivalent of an ice cube in Antartica. This thing looked like it was designed as a backdrop to some scene in the Lord of the Rings, and to be standing on a boat 200 meters from the face of it ... read more

Alle.... Nach einer etwas laengeren Pause also endlich mal wieder das Neueste aus dem Sueden Suedamerikas: Ich schreibe euch gerade aus unserem Hostel in Calafate, rechts von mir ein Kamin; wenn ich aus der grossen Fensterfront vor mir schaue, sehe ich den tuerkisfarbenen Lago Argentino und dahinter einen Andengipfel an den Naechsten gereiht. Wir sind gestern hier angekommen und geniessen seitdem die Vorzuege die eine Stadt, auch wenn es nur eine kleine Stadt ist, zu bieten hat: Supermaerkte in denen man von A-Z alles kaufen kann, Weihnachtsdekorationen in den Schaufenstern, Eiscafes, Coffeebars, ja sogar Taxis und einen Busbahnhof gibt es hier. Und natuerlich endlich wieder eine Internetverbindung die erschwinglich ist. Wie ihr euch wahrscheinlich mittlerweile denken koennt gab es all das in den letzten Wochen nicht. Dafuer gab es majestaetisch wirkende Berge, glasklare Gebirgsbaeche, t... read more

Mon.5th. Dec. Santiago is quite a big airport, but all the internal flight passengers are herded into 1 queue - absolute chaos. The pilot must have been having a bad day too, because the landing was really rough. Bumped into 2 Canadians from la Paz. It´s great to see familiar faces. We left them at Punta Arenas, the furthest south we´re going, but near enough to see the penguins. We haven´t made many mistakes planning the route, but this is one of them! The pace is utterly miserable. After 2 hours walking around in the bitter wind, looking for a place to stay, we decide that the penguins aren´t worth it , and catch the next bus to Porto Natales. 4 hours later and this place didn´t look much better, that is until a nice lady ... read more