Early on Saturday morning, we left Torres del Paine for about an 8 hour drive to El Calafate including a border crossing from Chile back into Argentina at the windiest place in the entire world! The winds throughout Patagonia are like nothing I have ever experienced. They rage ferociously over the land, almost knocking you over - and blowing everything in sight out of their way. The weather forecast talks about winds of 25 km - but we are convinced that in some cases the gusts are up to 70-80 km. Our arrival mid afternoon at El Calafate was like arriving back in civilization. El Calafate is a sophisticated and extremely pretty tourist centre in the plains below the Andes and is the gateway to the Perito Moreno Glacier. We enjoyed the restaurants, the ambiance, the attractive buildings, the paved streets and the vitality. We even did a 45 minute run along the shores of Lago Argentino. Ten years ago, the town had 2000 people. Today it has 20,000 people - so everything is new - but also tasteful. We had the best meal of our trip at the restaurant Tablita. Ray´s steak was tasty, succulent, and tender and my lamb was equally so. Meals generally are short of vegetables and I am longing for freshly cooked carrots, broccoli, sprouts, etc. I thought I was ordering a tomato salad and received a bowl of chopped up tomatos in cubes. But they were delicious.
On Sunday, we spent the day at Perito Moreno Glaciar. We hiked along the shores of the Lago Argentino up to the Glaciar, then up the slopes opposite the face of the glaciar, and finally took a boat ride across the lake in front of the glaciar. What an amazing sight. About 170 feet of sheer ice rising out of the water for 5 km across and stretching 30 km back into the mountains. Its one of the few glaciars in the world today that aren´t receding but are staying the same. The glaciar is always moving and you will hear cracks from the ice followed by a boom as the pieces of ice move inside the glaciar. Sometimes, pieces fall off from the front of the glaciar into the water and you will hear the noise then see the spray of ice and water as they land. We learned that 32 people died between 1968 and 1988 because the ice splatters as it falls and can travel quite a distance hitting people watching the glaciar and in those instances killing them.
I hve to say I have found Torres del Paine and the Perito Moreno disappointing. I had imagined I would be totally in awe of this part of the country and was really looking forward to experiencing it, but I have not felt my passion unleashed.
Once back in El Calafate, which we loved, we went out for dinner with 6 others from our group - then back to the hostel and bed around midnight.
On Sunday, we spent the day at Perito Moreno Glaciar. We hiked along the shores of the Lago Argentino up to the Glaciar, then up the slopes opposite the face of the glaciar, and finally took a boat ride across the lake in front of the glaciar. What an amazing sight. About 170 feet of sheer ice rising out of the water for 5 km across and stretching 30 km back into the mountains. Its one of the few glaciars in the world today that aren´t receding but are staying the same. The glaciar is always moving and you will hear cracks from the ice followed by a boom as the pieces of ice move inside the glaciar. Sometimes, pieces fall off from the front of the glaciar into the water and you will hear the noise then see the spray of ice and water as they land. We learned that 32 people died between 1968 and 1988 because the ice splatters as it falls and can travel quite a distance hitting people watching the glaciar and in those instances killing them.
I hve to say I have found Torres del Paine and the Perito Moreno disappointing. I had imagined I would be totally in awe of this part of the country and was really looking forward to experiencing it, but I have not felt my passion unleashed.
Once back in El Calafate, which we loved, we went out for dinner with 6 others from our group - then back to the hostel and bed around midnight.
Note:
Pictures added Apr 9
Iceberg
Perito Moreno
2 comments:
.
I may be wrong but awhile back
I was traveling and happen to meet
you while shopping and you mentioned
about your blog. It seemed interesting
to me. I was gone for some time
after that but I finally checked out
your blog and it's just like you said!
Well anyway take care and write
sometime if you ever have time...
liz and ray,
your blog is making fascinating reading! The national geographic images of the orcas is one i can picture clearly - how wonderful to have been to the actual site. Brian says Ray's golf game reminds him of the game they had together in the snow in Canada! love t
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