America del Sur Hostel El Calafate

So we landed in El Calafate, which was a bit like landing in a Star Wars set, just desert and nothingness. Grabbed a cab to the hostel and went straight to bed for a few hours to sleep off our Buenos Aires hangover. Our hostel was lovely with huge windows, panaramic views of the lake and live in puppy. Got up in the evening and went for some food (Patagonian Lamb stew - which was delicous!) and had a wander round the town which consisted of one strip of restaurants, internet cafes, souvenir s...

Internet is outrageously expensive in El Calafate,so still no photos uploaded,next 2-3 days is in the Torres with no internet, so I am thinking 5 or 6 march will be a big update, loads of stories and catching up on photos Last night we had met Tim, the other guy that took the shuttle from the airport, at 9pm for supper, he is German by birth but lives in New York, he also brought along Christina from Spain and Bart from Holland, we had a great meal, steaks for all, but grilled lamb for me, it...

It was the strangest feeling to be on a flight out of London not knowing when Iīll be back... Kind of surreal and exciting but still so sad at the same time. Iīm really going to miss everyone in London, especially those who wonīt eventually live in Australia :o( My flight was from Heathrow to Sao Paolo, Brazil on British Airways and in SP I was meant to have 2.5 hours at the airport to change to a flight with Aerolineas Argentinas that would take me to Buenos Aires, Argentina - my home for th...

We arrived here after another long bus ride, 22 hours in total from Puerto Madryn. Time seemed to pass quite quickly though as we played "bingo on the bus", it was hilarious. Great practice for our Spanish numbers, but never wonn the bottle of vino - would have made the bus journey a lot more enjoyable if we would have! Calafate is a tourist mecca. It's modelled itself on a Swiss tourist trap and done a great job. Everything is grossely overpriced, just for us Gringos. So why spend hours on a...

Dont have time for real update, but.... El Calafate has been absolutely amazing! Everyone should come here!! I leave tomorrow adn I am sad to go. I asked if I could change my bus ticket, but alas I cant. The route #40 is closed, so I have to get to Bariloche the long way... 36 hours long. So I am breaking it up and going 24 hours to Puerto Madryn where there will be nothing to do, but it will be a real bed. Then another 12 hours to Bariloche. Also means I cant get to Cave of the hands where t...

I got down to El Calafate just fine & dandy. The weather is much better than Bariloche as it has itīs own microclimate and is a few degrees warmer than the surrounding areas, and fact itīs had clear skies and sun every day. The whole town is once again extremely touristic, but itīs actually quite nice to be back on the īGringo Trailīafter my random detour. Everything is very easy for me here - the hostel organises all buses and even my next hostel. I checked at the bus station and itīs th...

We arrived in Buenos Aires after another long coach journey (18 hours) from Puerto Iguazu. The hostel which we have stayed in here is like a hotel, there are even maids who come and clean your room and make your beds each day!! We stayed in a 4 bed dorm which was really good for meeting people - we now have a contact for when we go to New Zealand! One night we decided to sample the Hostel Chefs famous BBQ. This turned out to be the biggest bit of steak you have ever seen and was pretty pink i...

Ah, finally the main attraction! The last two days have been truly, indescribably amazing! Up early for a quick shower and coffee, then picked up by excellent tour company. We drove out to the Moreno Glacier, just outside of El Calafate. It is truly spectactular. We did a full observation from viwing balconies, then on a boat to cross the lake to start the trek. When ever I ask about the weather here the answer is just "this is Patagonia". It is sunny and am told that the weather is warm for ...

Thursday 13th September - Monday 17th September As we were enjoying Argentina so much, we couldnīt resist heading further south to see the glaciers in the Patagonian National Park (Nacional Parque Los Glaciores).....despite our previous threats to fly to warmer shores. This was to be our longest bus journey yet..a total of 22 hours to the town of El Chalten via Rio Gallegos. To top it off, our Spanish had let us down once again and just as we were prepared to settle into our armchair like sea...

I forget to say in our last blog, we went from hot hot hot in Buenos Aires to bloody cold in Patagonia. We are now routinely wearing our attrative thermal underwear, Mmmmm. We arrived at El Calafate and went directly to our hostel which was most wonderfully heated by underfloor heating (Louise: my idea of heaven). Nice hostel, but we have had a nightmare with snoreres!!! Most of the travelling population appear to have a big and noisey problem with snoring. Our first night there we were kept ...