photos at end
Wednesday 05 – Day 67 – El Calafate
Our flight was Aerolineas Argentinas AR 1872 from Bariloche to El Calafate, departing at 11:40 and arriving at 13:25.
We hailed a taxi outside the terminal and drove west into town along the south shore of Lago Argentino, the biggest lake in Argentina, upon which El Calafate is located. We checked into our hotel, Mirador del Lago (“Lake View”), and wondered where the view of the lake was. Apparently, the shore had migrated about 1km away because the level of the lake was so low.
By about 15:00, we were ready to go out and find some tours to book ourselves onto. The centre of El Calafate was much nicer than Bariloche, with a relaxed and friendly vibe. We first found a nice bakery café for a late lunch. Afterwards, we walked up and down the high street, actually San Martin, and compared the tours available at the local travel offices. Then, we look all information and had a drink in a bar while we decided what to do. In the end we decided to do a cruise on Largo Argentino, with glacier visits, and visit to Estancia Cristina the next day; and “mini-hiking” on the Perito Moreno glacier the following day.
In the evening we met up with the son of a friend Ben, and his girlfriend, Alona, for dinner. We ate in a “Mako”, a high-class grill and all had fabulous food and drink. (Malbec of course).
Thursday 06 – Day 68 – El Calafate
We had to get up and have breakfast early because, in theory, our tour was picking us up between 07:00 and 07:20. We were waiting outside on time, but by 07:30, there was no sign of them, although other pickups came and went. At about 07:40, reception came out to say that the tour company had called and they would be 15 mins, so 07:00 had turned into nearly 08:00, which would have been an extra hour in bed!
When the bus eventually came, we drove west for about forty minutes to a tiny port where we boarded a small cruiser and headed westward onto Largo Argentina. It was mostly overcast, with a few sunny spells, and we were going at full throttle so the windchill was significant. Gradually all the people that had been enjoying the cruise on deck retreated into the cabin – except Barrie who stayed to take more photos. After we had cruised for about an hour, we left the body of the lake and headed up a branch, where we began to see small glacial ice floes floating on the surface, which became bigger and more numerous as we proceeded. Eventually, we began to see the front surface of the Upsala Glacier, stretching like a wall across the lake, and the top surface of it sloping up and away into the mist and cloud. It was our first sighting of a large glacier close up and was a very impressive sight. As we approached closer, the lake was thick with icebergs, and we could hear the glacier shifting and cracking occasionally. The front of it was quite unstable, and prone to calving, so we were not able to approach closer than about a kilometre. We floated around admiring the view, and taking photographs, at a safe distance.
After about an hour or so in front of the Upsala Glacier, the boat sailed back to the main body of the lake before turning up another branches. At the end of this was a beach with a dock, a scrubby prairie with scattered horses, and, in the distance, some low buildings amongst poplar trees – this was Estancia Cristina.
The estancia was founded by the Argentine pioneers from England in 1913. Joseph P. Masters and his wife Jessie and two young children settled in the area to build branch and keep sheep on the promise of land from the Argentine government. If you want to know more about their story follow the link to their website link
It was 11:30 when we disembarked our boat on land and boarded a small four-wheel-drive bus-like vehicle. This slowly and painfully made its way across the prairie, through the foot hills, and up into the mountains above the side of the Upsala Glacier, along what was basically a mule track. It was a very cramped, hot, bumpy and uncomfortable forty-five minutes, but it was worth it. When the bus came to a halt and we disembarked, the guide led us for another twenty minutes hike up through a rocky alien landscape created by the relatively recent retreat of the glaciers. There were flat glacial ‘pavements’ planed soothe by the glaciers’ undersides, and huge piles of boulders and rocks deposited by their edges. There was one huge boulder left precariously balanced on top of another.
Eventually we crested a rise to look down upon a view that took everyone’s breath away. The main body of the Upsala Glacier stretched left-to-right below us, with a couple of bright turquoise glacial lakes in front. Behind were towering rocky snow-covered peaks separating a series of three higher glaciers feeding the Upsala, and in the distance, shrouded by cloud, was the immense South Patagonian Ice Field that feeds over fifty glaciers in Argentina and Chile – awesome! We spent some time appreciating the view, and taking photographs, and then hiked back to the vehicle.
We returned to Estancia Cristina in the bouncy bus at about 14:00 for lunch. Some people had booked meals (which were expensive), but others, including us, had brought our own packed lunches. Ours were courtesy of our hotel Mirador del Lago. After lunch, our guide gave us a tour of the estancia’s small museum, and then the estancia in general, and told us its story.
After the tour, we walked back to the dock, boarded our vessel, and cruised back to the port, where we took the bus back to the hotel, arriving about 20:00.
That night, we dined in the hotel’s dining room which was very good.
Friday 07 – Day 69 – El Calafate – Mini Hike on a Glacier
We didn’t have to get up and have breakfast quite as early because, in theory, our tour was picking us up at 09:00, but, once again, it was late – but this time, only about 20 minutes.
As the day before, the bus headed west from El Calafate, but this time, instead of turning off toward the port, it stayed on the same road and followed it around to the gate of the Los Glaciares national park, where we had to queue to pay our entry fee.
Returning to the bus, we continued through the park towards the Perito Moreno Glacier, occasionally getting glimpses of it through the trees. After twenty minutes or so we arrived in the carpark of the ‘pathways and balconies’ – an extensive series of boardwalks and viewing platforms stretching out across the hillside opposite the foot of the glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier is immense, very photogenic, and, uniquely, has two faces at its foot – one, to our right, facing the main Lake Argentina – and another, to our left, the southern arm, known as “Brazo Rico”. The bulk of the glacier sloped up away from us into the misty distance. It was a beautiful blue sunny day and the glacier was looking particularly fine – brilliant white and deep glacial blue. It was also in an entertaining mood – frequently making very loud noises – cracking and groaning, and occasionally calving moderately large slices of ice off into one of adjacent lakes. We strolled around the paths and balconies for an hour taking photographs, then found ourselves a bench to eat our packed lunch.
Once back on the bus we headed to a small port about 10 minutes away. There were a handful of jetties with about three vessels moored up. We got off the bus and boarded one of the boats, which crossed the lake under the cliff-like front edge of the glacier – keeping a respectful distance in case of calving.
At the other side, we disembarked onto a stoney beach where we were split into groups and assigned a guide – ours was Mariana. We walked a little way uphill to a cluster of wooden buildings, where we could go to the loo and leave any stuff that we wouldn’t need on the glacier. Then we crossed a small headland onto another beach of stones and erratic boulders, at the flank of the glacier, which towered above us – white surface and deep blue depths. Climbing the hillside alongside the glacier, we arrived at “base camp” a cluster of small geodesics and huts. This is where we all had brutal-looking sets of metal pitons strapped to our boots. We were also given the clear warning to “Walk with your feet wide apart” – because if your feet are too close the pitons on one foot will engage with the ones on the other, locking your feet together and tripping you.
Mariana, and a couple of colleagues, led us further up the hill alongside the flank of the glacier. Walking with the pitons on felt very strange, and concentrating on keeping your feet apart made it even stranger. After a hundred meters or so, we stopped for some guidance upon how to walk on the ice – uphill like a duck: downhill like a monkey, knees bent. Then we stepped onto the glacier.
Walking was hard work – the pitons were heavy and awkward and required physical effort, and and walking as instructed required mental effort. Mariana led the way, and I was fortunate to be second, or “co-pilot” as he called me. Being in the position enabled me to have full support from the guides when needed. The rest of the group, about 10 people including 2 Israeli girls recently finished their arm service followed in single. Mariana really provided us with a lot of assistance, but in such a way that we didn’t feel like a burden. The other guide moved up and down the line keeping an eye on everyone, and helping when needed. I was pleased to see we were not the worst, and in fact the young “fit” Israeli girls were struggling as much as us. The guides also hacked rough footholds into the ice at intervals; explained the anatomy and behaviour of the glacier; and constantly discussed and adjusted our route. The surface of a glacier is very steep and uneven – it is scored by many deep crevasses and sinkholes; streams of meltwater run over the surface and then disappear into the sinkholes; and spectacular slabs and towers of ice rise up at alarming angles. All of this requires your route across the surface to be winding and convoluted as you head towards your objective, avoiding obstacles and dangers – nevertheless our feet were often within a few inches of crevasses and sinkholes of unknown depth. Furthermore, the glacier is constantly moving, and so it makes very loud and alarming noises – groans, bangs, rumbles and explosions – many of which you can feel as well as hear. You just have to trust that the guides know what they are doing. They joked, “how do you know how deep the crevasse is? If a tourist falls and your hear the scream it is not very deep, if you can’t hear the scream ….”
A glacier is a fundamental force of nature – carving the landscape; gouging out valleys; and shaping mountains. It is vast and timeless; cold and soulless. Nevertheless, walking on a glacier is a unique and breathtaking experience, we were both awed and exhilarated, as well as physically and mentally tired, when, after about ninety minutes, we descended the last gentle slope to gather with the guides and other tourists on the final flat area of ice. Here the guides had set up some tables from which they served us with large tumblers of whiskey chilled with glacial ice that they had hacked out of the glacier with their icepicks. The mood was celebratory amongst both tourists and guides, as it is a big responsibility for the guides to take tourists on such a demanding exercise, and we toasted the glacier.
After that, we stepped off the glacier; returned to basecamp; removed the pitons; retrieved our possessions; walked back to the beach; boarded the boat for a return to the bus; and drove for about forty-five minutes back to El Calafate.
That night, we ate in a restaurant almost opposite our hotel called Pura Vida, which had been recommended by Ben the previous evening. The food was good and the portions were huge.
Saturday 08 – Day 70 – El Calafate and Ushuaia
We had a relatively late flight to Ushuaia in the afternoon, and nothing planned for the morning, so we got up relatively late and had a long breakfast. Nevertheless, we had to check out by 11:00, so left also our bags with reception and set out for a little walk around town, which we had’t really done since the first afternoon.
El Calafate has a lakefront with a promenade, but the lake was currently at a very low level and the edge of the lake was about a kilometre away from it, with cows and horses grazing on the land between. Parallel to, and a block away from, the lakefront is the main street. This mostly consists of businesses serving the tourist industry – travel companies, hotels, restaurants, bars, and souvenir shops. Nevertheless, it is all pretty smart and not tacky. We pottered about: bought some postcards, had a drink, went to the bank, and had ice creams.
At about 14:00, we headed back to the hotel, retrieved our luggage, and ordered a taxi to the airport.
