Getting there from Buenos Aieres is either a 50+ bus ride or a 2 hour plane ride. Given the time remaining to us, we took the latter option (we even got to earn frequent flyer points!).
The first stop was El Calafate. Apparently, the calafate plant has a berry which was used to seal between the planks of wooden boats, back in the day. Now, the town serves as a transport hub for the area, as well as providing access to the spectacular Perito Moreno glacier.
The glacier is a massive sheet of moving blue-tinged ice, about 5km wide at the base, 32km long, and ranging from 40m to 60m high (about 20 stories!), all of which is moving downhill at a rate of 2m per day. The whole time we were there we could hear loud cracking noises, sometimes accompanied by a chunk of ice falling away from the edge of the glacier, into the surrounding lake. The best were at the beginning and end of our stay, when two house-sized blocks ripped themselves off into a slow, melty death, much to the delight of everyone in attendance.
The next day we headed up north a little to El Chalten, home of the Fitz Roy, a unique-looking peak which was not conquered until a decade after Everest. Being the avid mountain climbers we are, we decided not to attempt the summit this time. We did, however, do a couple of less
techical hikes.
Note: Contrary to the impression you may have gotten based on the number of treks we have done on this trip (at least 6 at last count), we are not actally big fans of the activity. However, if you come to South America they pretty much come with the territory. If on the other hand you do like hiking, go and book your tickets now!
Anyway, the first day we did a 6-hour warmup trek to Lago Torre (Tower Lake). Once we got there, we both agreed that the view from the lookout a hour-and-a-half earlier was actually much better. But Dave took the opportunity to strip down to his boxers and a t-shirt and attempt to ride an undersized iceberg anyway, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.
The next day we set out for Lago de los Tres (Lake of the Three. Three what or who, we never established). This one was about 8 hours, but much harder, mostly due to the long, steep hill you have to climb at the end. It jumps up 400m over about 2km, which kind of sucks after doing the same height over the previous 6km. Not to mention the intermittent rain and strong, gusty wind. Ah, hiking - gotta love it.
Anyway, we finally made it to the top, to discover that, as suspected, Fitz Roy was covered in cloud. Shortly after, we further discovered that the clouds were in fact full of snow, which they then proceeded to release upon us. Still, snow is better than rain, so in many ways this was an improvement anyway.
We headed back to El Calafate the next day, and from there did an 18-hour tour of the Torres del Paine national park, in neighbouring Chile. This park really deserved more time than that, particularly if you are a hiker, but: a) we didn't have time, and b) we are not hikers. Instead, we spent about 12 hours on the bus, 4 hours in the park, and 2 hours in the Argentine and Chilean border control offices. Still, it was worth the trip, particularly for Dave Cohen, who got to see over 30 condors - his favourite bird - in one spot!
The next day we flew into Ushuaia. Famous mostly for being at the bottom end of the world, it also serves as a departure point for travellers heading towards the real bottom of the world - Antarctica. We had a quick check to see if any cheap last-minute tickets were on the go, which there were, but only if you consider US$4,000 to be cheap. Unfortunately, it wouldn't quite fit into our budget this time...
Instead, we caught a shorter (and much more economical) boat ride down the Beagle Channel, spotting some interesting landscapes and animals, including cormorants, sea lions and penguines. Those little guys might waddle around on land, but they're pretty zippy under water.
We rounded out our Ushaia visit with yet another hike (only a couple of hours this time), a visit to the Maritime Museum, and attending a local church service. Fun!
The next day we caught a plane back to Buenos Aires, then a bus straight out of town to Cordoba, in the central north of Argentina. We are here until tomorrow, then head to Salta (probably).
In any case, that about wraps it up for this round. Only one or two more to go, I'm afraid.
Hasta luego!
Los Davides
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