Frai Toluca El Calafate

... saying "...the sense of sublimity which the great deserts of Patagonia and the forest-clad mountains of Tierra del Fuego excited in me, has left an indelible impression on my mind".

Shattering the prehistoric surroundings was Calafate, its azure lakes and green hills jumping into view as we descended into town. Calafate is the prime jumping off point for "Parque National los Glaciares", a protected area laden with, no surprises, impressive glaciers and snow-capped peaks ...

... set off to explore the area only to discover there truly wasn't anything there apart from sheep, cows, the beautiful turquoise lake and, as it turned out, a lot of snow. So they entertained themselves by chasing some flamingoes in the snow (Duncan, ably assisted by Nadine who spotted them with her eagle's eyes) and cuddling some lambs (Nadine, expertly ...

... It was one place we really didnt want to leave and could have stayed watching all day but shar and myself had to leg it come ten past 3 for the bus which was leaving-everyone on bus felt the same as us-that it really was mind blowing. Hopefully the pics will do it justice but i doubt it.
Back we got that night and went to the town to eat out in a trendy bookstore type bar and we booked our next days excursion to Chalten which was to be a very very tiring long ...

... forest for two hours which is beautful and leads a walkway to more glaciers. You get back to the bus around 5pm. Lunch is not included. So I am excited about this tour, but the only problem was that it was raining badly when I went on it. I was drenched! and cold lol. But it was worth it. By camera died the last hour so i was not able to take pictures of the biggest glacier at the park the Upsala. It was beautiful to see up close and in person. So ...

... The Refugios did mean that we could count on getting hot water and would not need to bring along a camping stove. I hadn't done a formal backpacking trip (sans porters, guides or teahouses) in several years and it was a flashback to my Boy Scouts days as the quartermaster as I planned out all of our meals when we were at the grocery store. We embarked on Mar 26, packs in tow (and with Mary having done a first class job of ...

... journey was 10 hours, and then wait 3 hours and catch a second bus for another 7 hours. On the first bus we crossed the border into Chile, crossed the Magellan straits on a boat and then crossed the border back into Argentina. (This is the only way as Argentina`s territory in Tierra del Fuego is surrounded by Chile) . The Magellan straits were very uninteresting, hardly warranting a photo but I took a ...

... next day I took the three glacier tour with Fernandez Campbell to the glaciers Upsala, Spegazzini and Onelli. After an hour busride I arrived at the national Park and boarded a huge catamaran that was going to sail us around that day. Despite the weather conditions it was quite an amazing trip because through the gray surroundings the amazing colours of the icebergs were even ...

... in de buurt van de gletsjer. Na een korte hike stonden we dan echt oog in oog met een overweldigende ijsmassa. Naast het visuele aspect is het geluid wat de gletsjer produceerd misschien wel overweldigender. Regelmatig hoor je wat ik het best kan vergelijken met het geluid van donder en je voelt het echt. Als je geluk hebt (en wat wij gelukkig hadden) breekt er een enorme klomp ijs af aan de voorkant net op het moment ...

... t Beef Steak". Fast alle Schild** im Hostel klingen aehnlich lustig, ab** man v**steht sie. Die Hauptattraktion fu** alle El Calafate-Besuch** ist d** P**ito Moreno Gletsch**, ein** d** wenigen Gletsch** die noch nicht schrumpfen. Wir wollen g**n eine kleine Trekking-Tour auf dem Gletsch** machen. Es war nicht moeglich, diese im Vorhinein zu buchen, und so gehen wir gleich **stmal zur Agentur, um uns nun vor Ort schnell die Tickets zu besorgen. Wir haben Glueck und koennen gleich am ...

... parents had paid for us to take a tour of the glacier, the highlight of which was to strap on krampons (oooooooh, Bodyform...) for a 2 hour "mini-trek" over the glacier, which sounded REALLY cool. Get it?! Nurse, my sides, etc ;)

The drive to the glacier was pretty cool, past a couple of bright blue lakes and then we caught sight of the glacier itself, which was absolutely breathtaking. It was just massive and we were really blown away.

Having ...