So the first day in El Calafate we did nothing else but booking tours, hostels and planning out our trip for the next week.
The day after we caught a bus at 10 in the morning to Perito Moreno, the most famous glacier in Argentina. The busride took about 90 minutes. After paying the 40 peso entrance fee, we arrived at the glacier. We walked down the pathway and got up quite close to the massive piece of ice in front of us. It was an incredible sight and much more impressive compared to the Franz Josef glacier I saw last year in New Zealand. Walking down the paths, we were able to look at the glacier from different sides. It was amazing to hear the ice cracking and occasionaly see a piece of ice break off and fall into the clear blue water. We walked around the paths for about 3 hours. Afterwards we had a drink in the cafe to warm up again. Around 16:00 we caught the bus back into town. Back in town we went to the supermarket to buy some dinner. We decided to cook around here, because the town is extremely touristy, especially the prices they charge. I made a salad out of some cheese, tomatoes, unions, olives etc. and made a pasta with some carrot and peppers and meat. It turned out to be an excellent meal. That night we went to bed early as next day we would be picked up from the hostel at 7:15 to get onto a boat trip to the rest of the glaciers some further up in the parc.
The next morning we got up around 6 AM. We had a shower and some quick breakfast. The bus came to pick us up at exactly 7:15. It took another 90 minutes to get down to the port of the national parc where the catamaran was at. We got onto the boat and off we went. After 30 minutes on Lake Argentina, the biggest lake in Argentina, we got to see the first glacier. It was an impressive sight. Afterwards we went on to some more glaciers, sailing between big icebergs. It was an impressive sight. Then we sailed on to a little island in the middle of the parc, where we could walk through a little forest. The trail ended at a lake where some small icebergs were floating around. We took some great photos there and then moved on back to the boat. The boat then headed back to the port. By then we were truly knackered and we instantly fell asleep on the boat. Once we got back at the port we got into our bus and we got back in town around 18:00. We decided to have some homemade pizza in the hostel as we were too tired to cook. We did decide to buy some bread and cheese for our lunch, as the next day we would be heading off to El Chalten. Again we went to bed quite early, as the next morning we had to get up at 6 AM again to catch our bus to El Chalten.
The next morning we got up early again, by now we were already getting quite used to the rythm of getting up early. We had a shower and had some quick breakfast. We grabbed a taxi to the busstation and hopped onto our bus to El Chalten, a small mountain village 4 hours north of El Calafate. We arrived in El Chalten at around noon. The bus first stopped right outside of town at the rangers´ office. Here a ranger welcomed us to the national parc and gave us some information about the parc, what trails we could walk and what to look out for. We then arrived in the center of town where we walked over to a hostel in the neighbourhood and asked for a bed. Fortunately the hostel had room so we were able to check in right away. We understood we needed a full day for every hike in the parc, so we decided to relax for the day. The receptionist of our hostel asked us what we were up, once she heard we were not really sure she advised us to do a shorter trail to Lake Torre, a 2,5 hour walk. She told us we were really fortunate as weather had been really bad for the past week, and advised us to take advantage of the great weather. Obviously we took her advise and got our boots on. We got us a small map of the area and off we went to the trail. The walk took indeed about 2,5 hours to walk. The weather was brilliant. Clear blue sky and really sunny, we felt so lucky knowing the weather had been terrible right before. Once we arrived at the viewing point, we were presented by an incredible view of a mountain called the Torre. We took some great photos. We then headed back as we had another 2,5 hours to walk back to our hostel. On our way back we met an american couple who were waiting for the sunset. The guy was equipped with an extremely professional camera, so Jannik, the danish guy I was with couldn´t resist asking what kind of photos the guy was taking – this because he wants to get into photography too. Afterwards we hiked back to the hostel. We got back around 18:00. From there we went to the supermarket and bought us some food for dinner. During dinner Jannik proposed to get up really early the next day to catch the sunrise of the famous Fitzroy mountain, an impressive piece of rock you could see high above the whole valley. I was kind of up for it too, so decided to join him.
The next morning our alarm starting buzzing at 5:30 in the morning. I had told Jannik to only wake me up if the weather was really clear, as I really didn´t feel like getting up for a rainy morning. It turned out to be a really clear morning with loads of stars and apparently no clouds. We had a shower and started to walk at 6:30. A girl, Cath, who I had met down in Ushuaia wanted to join us too, so she was there as well. Equipped with only one flash light we started to walk into the darkness. Following the trail up on the mountain through the forrest. It took about 90 minutes to get to the lake from where we could see the sunrise of the Fitzroy. Once we got there at around 8, we found out we were a bit too early. We had to wait for at least another 45 minutes for the first rays of light to hit the mountain. Those 45 minutes were not the most pleasent 45 minutes of my life, as wind was blowing in our faces and as we weren´t really moving this became quite cold after a while. It was a beautiful sight once the sun hit the mountains though and worth the hassle of getting up early. Once we had taken the nescessary photos we walked on the very top of the mountain. It was another 2,5 hours from the lake we were at. We had already been warned by other hikers the last bit was really steep and covered in slippery snow and ice. Once we got there we found out what they meant. It was an incredibly tough climb to the top of the mountain. The trail was incredibly steep. Thankfully weather was even better than the day before. Once we got to the top we were rewarded by possibly the best panoramic view I had ever seen. Absolutely impressive and beyond imagination. We took loads of photos which turned out really well. Especially because the weather was amazing, some not too common around there. We stayed at the top for about 90 minutes. At that time clouds were actually coming in, so it was time to make our descent back down. As tough as it was to go up, just as tough it was to get down again. As the trail happened to be incredibly steep and slippery, it was really hard to get down again. We were more sliding down the mountain than actually walking. With lots of care we managed to get down again. We then had to walk another 3 hours back to town. We got back in town around 17:00 and especially the last hour of the walk I was completely knackered. I bought a big bottle of beer to celebrate the success of the day. I then went to an internet cafe to call home and congratulate my farther with his birthday. Afterwards I went back to the hostel and started to cook dinner.
After dinner I met up with an Italian guy from Venice, we had met him back in El Calafate and on the trails in El Chalten as well. He asked me whether I wanted to join him for a few drinks in the micro-brewery next door. I decided to join him. The micro-brewery happens to be one of the few bars in town, so as the night progressed it became crowdier and crowdier, full with locals who wanted to relax after a day of working. Around 3 AM I decided to head off to my bed as I had been up for about 22 hours at the time, including a 10 hour walk through the mountains.
The next morning I decided to have a day of pure relaxment. For the last 5 days I had been getting up early every morning and doing a lot of active stuff. I was in need of some sleep. I slept in until about 11 AM. I then had a shower and some breakfast. After breakfast I had a wander through town. The town is still far from finished, it feels like walking around on a construction yard. All of the roads in town are still in the works. Everywhere new houses and hostels are being build. I went to the supermarket and bought some dinner and then went back to the hostel and read a book for a while. I cooked dinner again and afterwards we went for a beer in the micro-brewery again. There we encountered the american couple we had met earlier on the trails. We had a little chat about photography and traveling in general. Afterwards we went to bed.
The next morning I woke up around 10. Jannik had booked himself onto a glacierhike not far from El Chalten. I decided not to do it as I had done something very similar last year in New Zealand and I have to be selective what tours to do as my funds are not everlasting. I decided to do an one-hour walk to a small waterfall. Afterwards I walked back to the other side of town where I did another 90 minute walk to a nice panoramic viewing point. Once back in town I went to the supermarket to buy some dinner. Jannik decided to go camping that night on the mountain so I was cooking dinner just for myself. Once back in the hostel I met a young couple from Rotterdam. We had a little chat about traveling etc. They asked me whether I knew some nice places to have a drink. Obviously I did and told them about the microbrewery. So off we went for another beer at the microbrewery. Afterwards I went straight to bed as I was quite tired.
The next morning I woke up around 10. I had nothing planned for the day as I had done close to every trail in the national parc. I decided to take it easy for the day. In the kitchen I saw a belgian guy baking pancakes. I thought that was a brilliant idea so I asked him for the recipe. Once I wrote it all down I went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients. All I could find was a kilo of flower, so I ended up baking a kilo of pancakes. The people in the hostel were impressed by my patience baking pancakes for more than an hour with two frying pans. Once I was done I had a massive stack of pancakes on a plate. I gave some away to the people sitting around the hostel so by now I have got a lot of new friends as you can imagine. I decided to pack them for our trip to Bariloche, as this bustrip was going to take 29 hours. Surely sometime we would get hungry.. Later in the afternoon Jannik returned back from his night camping. We had one final beer at the microbrewery for nostalgic reasons and then headed off to the bus. Four hours later we arrived back in El Calafate. There we both had some pizza. Afterwards we headed back to our former hostel to wait for our bus to Bariloche which is due to depart at 4 AM. This gave me the time to finally update my adventures here on my blog..
In one hour the trip continues to Bariloche where I will arrive 29 hours later. It will be good to head up north a bit to catch some of the warmer weather again. Soon more news from Bariloche!
Apr 10th 2008 – Apr 16th 2008
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