Dec. 19-22
I arrived to El Calafate from Ushaia Friday afternoon. The main attraction in El Calafate is the Los Glaciares National Park, located in the area known as Austral Andes in Argentina, in the south west of Santa Cruz on the border with Chile. Saturday morning I visited Perito Moreno Glacier where I had the opportunity to put on some crampons and hike the glacier.
Perito Moreno Glacier, originally uploaded by dollop.
At the end of my adventure hiking the glacier my guide had a little bar setup on the glacier and served me some Scotch with glacier ice. A excellent way to end my glacier hike.
Perito Moreno Glacier, originally uploaded by dollop.
After hiking on the glacier I had my packed lunch with a view of the glacier and as impressive as the site of the glacier was the sounds of the cracking ice and the occasional break-off of ice that falls into the water was truly awesome. I can only describe the sounds being a combination of what sound like gun shots, a tree falling in the forest and thunder.
Perito Moreno Glacier, originally uploaded by dollop.
Sunday morning I took a catamaran tour of several more glaciers inside Perito Moreno National Park. The Upsala Glacier, and Spegazzini Glacier. Unfortunately the tour did not leave the catamaran. There was supposed to be an opportunity to disembark and hike around one of the glaciers, however there was too much ice in the lake for the catamaran to safely dock.
Lake Argentino, originally uploaded by dollop.
Tomorrow I will take a two day bus ride to Bariloche. I have chosen to take a bus so that I can view the countryside along the way. There will be a overnight stay on the route.
Dec. 16-18
On Tuesday I arrived to the southernmost city in the world, the end-of-the-world. It´s hard to believe that it´s summer here. The weather has been mostly sunny but there have been moments of hail and everyone is dressed as if in a ski village. Minus the ski boots. The sun rises at 5:30am and sets a little past 11:00pm. The extended daylight is an experience in itself.
Wednesday morning I set out to get my first experience in Patagonia via the Tierra del Fuego National Park. My first stop in the park was a train that was used in 1902 by a penal colony to transport materials 8km from town. The train stopped working in 1942 and was rebuilt in the late 1990´s asa tourist attraction but is very unique and provided my first views of the park. The train ride lasted about an hour. After the train ride I went with a guide further into the park and hiked a couple of 40 minute trails that provided access to the glacial landscape along the Beagle Channel. I returned to town around 2pm, had lunch, and then at 3pm took a catamaran that toured the small islands in the Beagle channel.
Beagle Channel, originally uploaded by dollop.
The highlight of this trip was a distant island that has a Penguin colony. I had hoped to get off the boat but that was not an option so that people don´t disturb the colony, however we did get very near the island and I was able to take some decent pictures of the penguins.
Penguin colony in the Beagle channel, originally uploaded by dollop.
The catamaran returned to Ushuaia at 9pm. A long and eventful day.
Thursday morning I got up early and did more hiking. This time it was a bit more intense but worth every effort. The highlight was a lagoon created from a glacier and it took about 3 hours of hiking to reach it. My guide was very patient with me since I had to stop every 5 minutes and take a picture. Much of the trek was on peat bog and it felt like I was hiking on a mattress, which was pleasant except for every once in awhile my foot would find a very special spot and I would sink a leg through the pete bog and into mud up to my knee. I arrived back to my hotel at 6pm, exhausted, exhilarated and very muddy.
Lagoon, originally uploaded by dollop.
Tomorrow I leave Ushuaia for El Calafate.
Dec. 12-15
Buenos Aires, originally uploaded by dollop.
I arrived in Buenos Aires Friday morning at 7am, 25 hours after leaving San Francisco. I was exhausted upon my arrival and ended up sleeping until 6pm. The night life of Buenos Aires is alive until the sun comes up and I ended up walking around, taking in the life of the city until about 3am Saturday morning. Early Saturday evening I met up with a tour guide by the name of Lorena who I contacted via Craigslist prior to my departure from San Francisco. Lorena took me on a 3 hour personal-private-walking tour, and showed me the most important places around the historical heart of Buenos Aires city center. After the walking tour Lorena and I had dinner at one of her favorite Pizzeria’s. The food and company was excellent. On Sunday I randomly walked around the city taking in some of the sights, and eating excellent food. I plan to stay in Buenos Aires another night and aim to fly to Ushuaia on Tuesday. Ushuaia is said to be the southernmost city in the world.
I am currently visiting Buenos Aires, eating lots of beef, drinking excellent wine, and watching lots of tango dancing.
Looking down on Ocean Beach from Fort Funston.
