Hostel Buenos Aires El Calafate

... and in one of them we will list some of the things we miss about home and what we want to do as soon as we get back. There are so many things!

Having said that, we are still having a great time (travel days notwithstanding). El Calafate has treated us very well. The hotel we are staying in is lovely. It has a great view of the lake and town, the staff are wonderful (and they speak English!), the rooms are big and modern, and we had a great meal here ...

... aqu e agora nao passam de 100. A colonizacao eh bastante criticada visto que causou a morte dos nativos e a destruicao da fauna e flora de regiao.

Descobri que Fitz Roy, o nome do "cerro" em El Chalten e do meu quarto aqui na hosteria foi o capitao do navio Beagle, que dah nome ao canal que margeia Ushuaia. O Beagle foi a embarcacao em que Charles Darwin visitou a America do Sul, quando comecou a formular a teoria da evolucao das especies.

El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina andre_c10002

... trip was the biggest in South America so I wasn´t expecting much from yet another glacier. I was wrong, Perito Moreno was amazing. I went on a boat trip close to the face and it was so beautiful. A really clean glacier with not much till in the face. Deep blue in parts and constantly moving. I have heard different things about this glacier in that some sourses say it is still growing and others just say it is in balance ...

... course be put in perspective...as I have not travelled the world extensively by any means...but I cannot imagine a more magnificent part of the world. For future reference, where I refer to 'we' in my writings, this refers to myself and my travel partner...by brother dearest...Jools. And from August onwards...myself, bro and 'my other half' Maree. Arriving in Argentina on a one-way ticket with no booked return flight or onward travel...we plan to ...

... et de lacs, le tout dans un décor surréaliste! Encore une expérience innoubliable! En fin de journée, retour pour El Calafate: tout le monde a dormi dans le bus, éprouvés par une très longue journée. Enfin, l'asado (BBQ) était là pour reprendre des forces! Demain, journée tranquille et trajet pour El Chaltèn, village de montagne connue pour deux des sommets proches: le Fitz Roy et le Cerro Torre (connus des grimpeurs comme une des plus difficiles ascension au monde).

... windvlagen van ruim 150 km per uur te voorduren kreeg begon de spannig voor Les op te lopen. Marth heeft in de auto uitgelegd wat de basics van paardrijden zijn dus dat moest goedkomen. Eenmaal aangekomen op de ranch was er gelukkig een engelssprekende gids dus dat viel mee. Daarna zo´n paardekeppeltje op en op naar de paarden. Deze waren aanzienlijk groter dan de pony uit 1992 dus even slikken. Toen bleek dat het paard wat ...

... off between the glacier and the land around it. We had to walk through a forest to get to the glacier and then all of a sudden we were standing on ice. But the forest has no snow, is all green and brown. And then, all of a sudden, you are surrounded in this white and blue. It was a lot of fun. We got to drink water straight from the glacier. At the end they gave us a glass of whiskey and an alfajore (amazing cookies that they have all over south america). After eating lunch ...

... another mosquito-borne illness very similar to malaria, but not as deadly) and then powered down to the bus with all our packs & bags.

We were using the same bus company as we used to get here, so we knew the bus would be fine, and we arrived at the border about 30 minutes after leaving town.

After the usual tooth-pulling formalities (but interestingly no customs search this time), we were ...