El Calafate, El Chalten and back to Puerto Natales

Thursday 28th January.

Arranged to stay another two nights at Posada Larsen with the intention of doing a day trip to El Calten tomorrow or Saturday. Although the agency, EuroTour, advertised that they did it every day, it actually only operates on Thursdays and Saturdays so booked it for Saturday. Then to the bus station to get my ticket back to Puerto Natales on Sunday. There only seems to be one departure at 8.00 am. By then it was time for a coffee and a piece of calafate tart. 

Coffee and Calafate Tart

Went to the Laguna Nimez nature reserve, not expecting much but it was delightful. It's an area of wetland at the edge of the Argentino Lake and home to many bird species. Initially I didn't see many but then there were dozens of them. I don't usually get excited about birds but the combination of the beautiful weather, great scenery and a few feathery friends made for a great afternoon excursion. The birds I most wanted to see, the pink flamingos were rather shy and kept well away from the shore. 

Upland Goose

Harrier

Forgot to check what these were

But they can fly

The nearest I got to the Flamingos

 Continued to walk round the lake and eventually back into the town. Along the main street found the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares which doesn't seem to be very focused on glaciers but is a pleasant park with examples of native and introduced plants and trees along with information on various explorers and scientists; Darwin gets pride of place. And then there are exhibits of various bits of industrial equipment; seems a strange mixture.

Tractor used for Road Construction.
Vintage 1951, Like to think I have aged a bit better!

One of the American guys I met on the Spanish course was very negative about El Calafate on the grounds that it is just a tourist town, which is true, but I quite like its relaxed ambience. Perhaps I have been seduced by the blue sky, warm weather and lack of gale force winds. Tried to get money out of a couple of ATMs but they didn't want to give me any, on any of the cards I tried. Had lamb for dinner again but the portion was just as huge as last time, maybe it's intended to be shared?    

Pedestrian Crossing. Did they run out of paint?

Friday 29th January

Another fairly relaxed day. After failing miserably to find an ATM that would give me any money last night, I tried the same "Link" machine this morning with identical results. Luckily Banco Patagonia uses a different network which was happy to give me my money so now I don’t need to be counting my pesos quite so carefully. Went to the museum close to the nature reserve which cost me 120 pesos and had a strange layout. It is housed in what looks like two galvanised, corrugated iron sheds with no windows so it is very dark inside. The first shed deals with the dinosaurs of Patagonia and has several large reconstructed skeletons and a lot of information on the walls in Spanish. The woman in charge gave me a translation in English but it was difficult to read in the darkness. The next part of the exhibition dealt with the arrival and subsequent extinction of megafauna, such as sabre toothed tigers and giant sloths, coupled with and possibly caused by the arrival of Homo sapiens. The museum improved greatly as it progressed to the indigenous inhabitants, their culture and their demise at the hands of the European colonisers. Its treatment of 20th century history was surprisingly partisan accusing the Argentine state of massacres of indigenous people and workers who joined trade unions.  So it was an interesting but unusual museum which I think was trying to create a unifying theme all the way from the dinosaurs to the present day. Interesting that it claims to very green, generating its own electricity. Can't help feeling that a few windows or skylights would have been even greener and much more user friendly.

Museum in a Tin Shed

Good for Scaring the Kids

Interesting that despite the high winds that seem part of the Patagonian climate, I have seen virtually no wind turbines, no sign of serious insulation either, no double glazing. Given the huge expanse of Patagonia, the almost constant high winds and the sparsity of people to object I would have thought wind farms would have been remarkably effective. 

After a coffee and a brownie went for a walk along the lakeside, almost getting blown away in the process. Lots of expensive looking houses along the lake front but I think the constant wind would send me crazy.

In the evening went out for dinner at the place closest to the hotel and had an excellent traditional stew of butter beans, sausage, pork etc. And a half bottle of Malbec; one of the best meals I’ve had.

Saturday 30th January

Pick up for tour about 7.20 this morning and then drove round picking up groups from various other hotels. I found myself sitting with a group of mainly retired people from Portland Oregon. They are on a tour which included a cruise on a Norwegian ship to Antarctic, which they all seemed very enthusiastic about. Drove through the outskirts of Calafate where they have built suburban dual carriageways complete with street lighting across the empty steppe and suburban style houses are beginning to fill in the spaces, Milton Keynes in Patagonia?

Creating Suburbia on the Steppe

Little House on the Prairie

Most of the drive to El Chalten was through the empty Patagonian steppe with a brief stop at a hotel at a river crossing. Only as we got close to El Chalten did the scenery improve with fantastic views of the mountains of which the most prominent is Mt Fitzroy, 8400m according to our guide. Named after the captain of the Beagle who explored the area in 1833? 

Mount Fitzroy

The weather makes a huge difference; today there is clear blue sky with only a few tiny white fluffy clouds.  The town of El Chalten was only established in the 1980's to thwart any possibility of Chilean expansion. From El Chalten we transferred to a smaller minibus to drive up a gravel road through stunning scenery along the De Las Vueltes river to FitzRoy Eco Lodge where we were served a "light lunch" of sirloin steak and potatoes. OK, the steak was a bit well done for my taste but it was a very generous portion. Also met my first Llamas at close quarters; I can't help thinking they just ambled out of a children's story book. 

De Las Vueltes River

FitzRoy Eco Lodge

Shaggy Llama

Friendly Llama

After lunch we returned to El Chalten to join a catamaran on the Viedma Lake to go to the Viedma glacier sailing past the icebergs and into an incredible head wind roaring down the glacier and onto the lake. 

Watch Out for Icebergs!

Viedma Glacier

Weird Cloud

The scenery is incredible although disappointed not to see Mt Fitzroy again. It has been the most fantastic trip, far better than I expected. Certainly makes Geology come alive with valleys carved by glaciers and hillsides showing their twisted strata. Totally brilliant day. Another long journey back across the steppe to Calafate where we arrived just before 9pm. Dropped some postcards in the British looking red pillar box outside the Correos, got some cash out of the Bank Patagonica, the only one that likes any of my cards and then relaxed on the terrace of Borges y Alvarez Libro Bar with an Otro Mundo Golden Ale. On the plus side it came with a basket of popcorn. Down side, the chicken quesadilla was horrible.

Borges y Alvarez Libro Bar

In case you don't know how to pour beer.
Only in English

Sunday 21 st January

Dropped of my keys at reception and made my way to the bus station, pulling my case along. As I came out of Posada Larsen was amused to see two guys from the hotel across the road doing exactly the same. I followed one of them all the way to the bus station where I arrived about 0730. Bus started loading up at 0740 and was full except for four seats at the back. At almost exactly 0800, four trekkers arrived and started repacking their rucksacks before getting on the bus so it was 0810 when we pulled out of the bus station. Back along 200 plus km of RN40 until we pulled off onto the gravel road and reached the Argentine border post at 1120. Another big bus had just pulled in from the Chile side and the border post was overwhelmed by the numbers. There were long queues for both “in” and “out”. Two counters, two guys, two computers checking everybody in and out and stamping passports. It was 1253 when we finally left and drove a few km to the Chile border post where we had to go through the same process this time taking all our luggage with us for “inspection”. I can see why bureaucrats want to know who is in the country but if I were a criminal trying to get in or out I just wouldn't bother to wait in line for the stamp and get back on the bus. Yes, I would have entered or left the country illegally but if I were a serious criminal how much would that bother me?

Cars queuing to enter Argentina

Argentine Border Post.
Queuing to leave Argentina on the left and to enter on the right.
Must be miserable if it's raining

But Chilean immigration was much slicker; for a start they have a passport scanner so the guy doesn't need to type all the passport details manually. All the bags went through an X-ray machine although I am not sure what they hoped to find; no one was asked to open their bags. The main concern in Chile seems to be agricultural produce but I wouldn't have expected that to show up on X-ray. There was a dog wandering around and for a while I thought he might be a customs dog but came to the conclusion he was just an opportunist stray hoping to find something tasty that had been dumped. Finally at 1338 we are on our way and only 58 km to Puerto Natales where we arrived just after 1415. Made my way to the Hotel Saltos del Paine not far from the Aquaterra where I stayed before. Advantage of this one is that it is a bit cheaper and also closer to the Navimag ship embarkation pier. After checking in headed up the road to the Creperie but found it closed,as are many places, it being Sunday. Went to one of the cafes on the corner of the main square where I had the "Pastel de Choclo" literally sweetcorn cake. It was quite good and very filling, comprising a mush of sweetcorn in a deep, thick earthenware bowl with olives, onion, hard-boiled egg, pieces of lamb and chicken mixed in. It was very hot and thanks to the thick bowl it stayed that way. I needed a Coke to cool down. Went for a walk along the seafront; it feels really warm now with bright sun and little wind. There are even people paddling in the sea! 

Good View from my Window

Fishing from the Pier

Later in the evening looked for somewhere I could get a light bite but the options were fairly limited so went to Don Jorge in the main square where I shocked the waiter by ordering only an avocado salad and an Austal Calafate beer.  Must admit I had expected the salad to be more than juts two avocados with a slice of lettuce but the bread and tomato salsa made up for it. Total came to 8250 Chilean pesos (1000 = £1)

Off on my mini cruise tomorrow so probably internet and no blog for next few days.