boujin
Finishing up in Patagonia (sniff)
2010.03.9, 12:26 pm
Four days have passed since we arrived in Calafate. From all of the stories that we heard of Calafate before coming here I was surprised that managed to stay for so long. Despite the overly touristy downtown which we avoided except for ice cream, I found it a pleasant town to spent a few days in.
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| From Patagonia - El Calafate & Pietro Moreno |
Today was our monthly anniversary and we celebrated by going to the nature reserve down near the waterfront. Calafate sits on the southern edge of Lake Argentina and the nature reserve sits right on the north eastern side of town. The reserve was filled with all kinds of birds and I saw hundreds of ducks in the lagoon which was a site to behold. Several hundred meters away a flock of pink flamingos was nestled behind a largish island of reeds to try and get some protection from the extremely persistent wind. The wind howled today and stronger gusts lefty you teetering on one foot or the other. I was reminded of our first few days here in Patagonia when we went to see the penguins and felt the full force of the Patagonian wind for the first time.
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| From Patagonia - El Calafate & Pietro Moreno |
Back in town we stopped by for ice cream which is of a really high quality here in Argentina. Our newly found friend from the hostel has advised us that the quality is even better in Buenos Aires so I'm looking forward to more savory scopes of sugary cream when we get there. Unlike Japanese or American ice cream, it comes closer to gelato over here, with quite a bit of air whipped into the cream. Also seems like a good deal of cream is also used which probably bumps up the flavor and calorie intact simultaneously.
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| From Patagonia - El Calafate & Pietro Moreno |
We stumbled back up the hill to the little hostel that we've been staying at for the past three nights called I Kue Ken. Highly recommended as a tidy hostel with a great view and friendly staff. I like the living area with the big windows looking out onto the lake far below and the sofa on the second floor affords an even more luxurious view. Tonight I watched the sunset from up there and enjoyed my last sunset in Patagonia. Almost made me cry! The kitchen is well stocked here, the bathrooms are clean and the supermarket is just down the road by about 400 meters or so. The long walk up the hill from down town may be a put off to some. I liked the view so was happy to make the climb. Balco or Blanco the dog - we nicknamed him Barry - is also a real treat if he decides to take a walk with you. Not sure if his owners down the street want him to do so... but yesterday we had a blast when he decided to follow us off the porch and then just tagged right along as we took a very long way down to the lake. I'd say he stayed with us for about 4 or 5 kilometers and was super well behaved. Down near the lake yesterday, however, he decided he had had enough and headed back into town when we weren't looking. One minute we were gazing at the ducks and the next minute Barry was gone. It was much to our relief today that when Hisako and I got back from our little excursion down to the waterfront Barry was waiting on the deck once again. Adorable.
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| From Patagonia - El Calafate & Pietro Moreno |
Our flight for BA heads out around noon tomorrow and I'll need to be up to catch the 10 o'clock bus to the airport. Patagonia was amazing beyond belief and I have my fingers crossed that we'll continue to experience and see things as great as we saw here for the rest of this trip. Such a great start!
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| From Patagonia - El Calafate & Pietro Moreno |
Fitzroy / El Chalten and Pietro Moreno / El Calafate
2010.03.7, 11:54 am
Today went to see the Pietro Moreno, one of only two glaciers that is active in South America. Not sure what the other one is. After seeing Glacier Gray in Torres del Paine, it seemed like much of the same thing at first, but once we got up close and saw the ice falling off it was a different experience completely. The bus out there costs about $80 pesos and then the entrance to the park costs another $75 pesos so it was a costly trip and worth every pesos. We also took a boat for $50 pesos when we got there that took us up close to the glacier because we heard cool stories of others that we met in Puerto Natales about seeing the ice falling off up close. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any big pieces fall off when we were on the boat. We did see some chunks about 60 meters in height and 30 to 50 meters in width fall off from the boardwalks that are built near the glacier. Far enough away that you don't need to worry about falling ice and close enough that you get a real sense for the power of the glacier. Once a piece of glacier broke off you could see the deep, fresh blue of the newly exposed ice which was absolutely beautiful. I also enjoyed watching the waves race along the glacial waterline whenever a piece broke off, sometimes triggering further breaks.
We arrived in El Calafate yesterday afternoon and we're staying at the I Keu Ken hostel which was recommended by friends. Nice place with a relaxed atmosphere, very speedy internet access compared to El Chalten, and has a nice view of the lake. Not so close to the downtown area. El Calafate has horseback riding and the Pietro Moreno glacier as well as some smaller excursions around town. Hisako found a good ice cream place downtown today, but the town overall is a little too touristy as many people say and other than being a launching pad for the glacier it's rather blah. Have seen a few more Japanese here than we have through the rest of the trip. Looks like it might be a popular spot with the tour companies from Japan.
Before El Calafate we were in El Chalten for about 6 days, which we absolutely loved. At this time El Chalten is a getting-touristy little town and has access to all kinds of trails. Unlike Torres del Paine, all of the hikes are free so you can just walk out from your hostel and stroll down one of several different paths. Some longer hikes also exist around, but many of them are rather rough and require guides as they pass over the ice cap or glaciers along the wall. I heard that some of the longer hikes are upwards of $1,500 USD which I had no intention of trying! Chalten had a great ice cream shop and walferia. Also had my first piece of grilled lamb in Argentina which was absolutely delicious. I've heard a lot about the meat in Argentina and looking forward to trying a few nice restaurants along the way. Hisako and I had a little adventure yesterday trying to figure what meat we wanted to buy at the grocery store. At first we thought we would get some ground meat, but couldn't find any laid out in the packaging and didn't know how to ask the butchers to grind the meat for us. I believe it's "picada"... A very nice lady helped us pick out a tender slice beef which we cooked in the fry pan for a great dinner last night.
Jumping all over the place here, could be the wine that I had for dinner, but the hike up to Fitroy was a great hike as well as the one over to Cerro Torre. We did them on two different days and the day that we went up to Fitzroy we had great weather just like down in Torres del Paine and had amazing views of Fitroy towering above the small little glacial lake that's located at about 1,100 meters. We started at an elevation of about 450 meters so it was quite a climb for one day, similar to what we did to see the Torres. However, the trails at Fitzroy are much much better than what we experience at Paine and the trails were quite easy going compared to what we had done before. The Argentinians use many more switchbacks on the trails and tend to follow the contours of the mountains. This makes for longer, but a lot less challenging hiking. We spent most of the time taking pictures and enjoying every footstep.
I've been asked a few times the difference between Paine and Fitzroy and I would recommend Paine if you need to choose between the two. Probably being on the longer in Paine has skewed my view significantly. Still, Paine seemed to be full of surprises while Fitzroy was a lot of the same view just up close or further away. For example, when we went to see the French Valley or the Torres themselves, it wasn't until we were right in front of the goal that we could experience it in its full glory. At Fitzroy you can see the mountain from El Chalten and numerous spots along the hike so it just looks a lot bigger (although very beautiful) by the time you get to the final overlook. The scenery also seemed more diverse in Torres del Paine, but we did hike nearly 100km around the park! If you are looking for a relatively relaxed hike, good trails and a shower at night, then go with Fitzroy and if you are really interested in getting out into nature then shoot for Paine. In addition to seeing the Torres, seeing Glacier Gray from above, going over Gardner pass and seeing the valley near Dickson are unforgettable sights.
Better get some sleep so that I can do lots of relaxing tomorrow! Maybe we'll head out to a farm the day after tomorrow to see what that's all about before we make our way to Buenos Ares.
Think I'll also grab one of the popular Quilmes beers...
photo credit:
fragment scene
fragment scene