Hosteria los Hielos El Calafate

... We'd spent 8 great hours out on the lake and arrived back in town on a high. It was a stunning location, and one of those sights you don't forget in a hurry. The day left us with a quandary though - should we still do the (expensive) glacier walk the next day, or now we'd seen it from the water should we do something else? Renee and I love a good glacier as much as the next person, but 8 hours viewing them had caused glacier fatigue to set in. Because the boat had taken us to all ...

Bought a Poppy and jumped on the 21.25 from Heathrow to Buenos Aires 6 days ago. We flew for 15 hours (stopping off in Sao Paulo, Brazil for some fuel). Spent a night in the capital of Argentina and then headed south for another 4 hours in 2 hops to El Calafate- from there 3 hours by road to Puerto Natales. Endless scrub barren country below and around- but the Andes of Patagonia got closer and closer until at last we were in sight of ...

... t see this, because it is one of the most beautiful natural effect you can watch. At least we were in the front of the glacier and some big ice wall broke and fall down on the lake... amazing!! Other nice places we visited in this park were Upsala and Spegazzini glaciers, not as famous as Perito, but also very beautiful. I also recommend to visit Bahia Onelli, so idilic and beautiful place in there.

... This is impossible to find in South America where there are shelves full of dulce de leche. To this day, I don't know why we didn't buy like 10 jars of good ole PB. We were able to arrange an immediate bus transfer to the national park and were on our way to the Pudeto ferry crossing. It was a beautiful sunny day, a point that cannot be emphasized enough and that we did not appreciate at the time, and our approach to the ...

... the lake. We spent hours watching this process repeating itself, mesmorised and trying to catch some of the falling junks on camera. This proved to be very difficult and a lot of luck is required as the glacier is so huge, 4 km across and curved. The noise is the first warning you get by which time the ice has already hit the water. Every few years on average, the glacier advances all the way across ...

... just say that as far as long-distances buses go, it was the best service we've had - Andesmar bus company rocks!! Anyway, we arrived in Rio Gallegos with just enough time to wander into the city centre and grab a good breakfast before the next bus to El Calafate. Nothing much to report about Rio Gallegos, it was nice enough but nothing much to draw the average tourist really. The breakfast we had was good though so we were quite sated for the 5hr journey to El Calafate ...

... El Bolson, Antares and Quilmes (Stout, Bock, Red & Cristal). All great beers, and should be sold in England as they are miles better than some of the rubbish we get! * Toasted Ham & Cheese sandwiches - really cheap, really tasty and have been a staple lunch for the past few weeks * The staff at Hostel America del Sur - All "Mas loco que una cabra" (Crazier than goats), but have made the stay in El Calafate very enjoyable, especially ...

... pas toujours si pesant, bien au contraire.... Le retour en minibus accompagne d'une vingtaine de septagenaires de Cordoba nous a plutot enchante et m'a permis de montrer aux parents pourquoi j'avais tant aprecie l'hospitalite argentine.... Tres contents de partager leur bus avec des francais, ces petits vieux ne cessaient de nous inviter sur leurs photos et de nous poser des questions sur la France, l'air passiones, jusqu'au moment ou l'un d'entre eux a ...

... Getoese ins Wass** zu fallen. Er regt sich ab** nicht. Wir bekommen Steigeisen an uns**e Schuhe v**passt, um auf dem Gletsch**eis nicht abzurutschen. Uns**e Tourfuehr** zeigen uns, wie man damit laeuft, und dann geht es auf in die Eisb**ge. Hi** am unt**en Ende des Gletsch**s ist die Schmelzzone, und so laufen wir vorbei an leuchtend blauen und glasklaren kleinen Seen mitten im Eis. Einige davon sind extrem tief und sehen faszini**end aus. Gen**ell ist diese uns so fremde Landschaft ...

... returning a few minutes later before pouring the perfect ice into the glasses and then adding very generous measures of scotch.

It was really cool to have a drink on my birthday, on the middle of this huge glacier, it felt so special.

It was a surprise for both of us, which made it even better!

After the drink and a slice of typical Argentian chocolate cake, we headed off the ice and back to the cabin/lodge for lunch.

Katie ...