Nibepo - Aike Ranch El Calafate

... of the main street - conquerors and heroes (or maybe not).

So tomorrow we leave Calafate at 2pm bound for Bariloche - a mere 28 hours away ... see you soon!

p.s.
And the random picture of sheep over a fire - there's loads of these
setups in restaurants up and down the main street - we presume a
traditional cooking technique around here - like a variation on the
Hog-roast situation.

... to be one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced...trekking on a glacier surrounded by the most beautiful scenery imaginable.

Well worth the hefty price tag associated with getting down here.

Tomorrow we hop a 3AM bus to Bariloche...and go north my friends! Scheduled for 35 hours, driving all the way through Patagonia...we shall see if takes less than 40 (since plenty of snow still fallin).

... up, put on cold and wet socks and shoes (the worst thing ever) and set out with our ponchos and a day pack. Although it rained like mad this day, this was one of the most fun trails I have ever hiked. We traversed east in front of the Paine Grande Massif, through muddy and puddle-ridden trails and amongst beech forests while gazing up at the myriad waterfalls trickling down from the glacier-capped Cerro Grande along the lush ...

... attack...... poor wife was beside him and we are just looking at this body on the floor and the doctor giving him CPR.... not a nice sight at 9 in the morning.... but we got to our ...

We wimped out on the 16hr bus journey out of Ushuaia to El Calafate and opted for the 60min flight instead - can`t blame us!! It was double the price but worth every penny!

Getting to El Calafate was a breeze and so didn’t really warrant a rest day the following day but we couldn’t resist! We’ve found a really nice hostel with an easy going atmosphere and the temptation to chill for the day was too much. Did I mention the hostel ...

... om in te wandelen en je helemaal 1 te voelen met Moeder Natuur. Het weer was prachtig, lekker zonnetje tussen de schaduw van de bomen door, vergezichten tot in het oneindige, maar vooral rust (iets wat niet al te schaars is in Patagonie overigens). Na dik twee uur hiken bereikte we het uitkijkpunt op de pieken en daar blijf je dan heerlijk een half uur naar staren. Wat een ander leven dan in het gehaaste Nederland zeg. Ik neem me echt 200% voor om iets van de ...

... mètres et comprend 2 faces - la face nord et la face sud. La partie visible du glacier fait entre 40 et 60 mètres de haut (~ un immeuble de 20 étages) alors que la partie submergée descend à une profondeur de 100 mètres! Il a une superficie de 250 km², ce qui équivaut plus ou moins la superficie de la ville de Buenos Aires. Aprés avoir passé près de 3 heures devant ce méga-glaçon, nous prenons un bateau pour nous en approcher davantage. Alors que nous longeons le ...

... around further over. At first we thought they were people and then realised they were Guanacos (they look like lamas) after we looked through the binoculars . As they started to move closer to us we got quite excited, but then they didn´t stop and started to make this awful laughing sound. At one point we were a bit nervous and thought they might run at us...strange how you want to get as close as possible to wildlife ...

... XXI - XII - MMVIII. El Parc Nacional dels Glaciars està a 80 kms. Ens passen a buscar amb minibus a les 8am després d'un bon esmorzar amb dulce de leche, m**melada de p**a, etc. Arribarem al parc pels volts de les 9.30am. Ens dirigim al llac que hi ha a la part sud del glaciar P**ito Moreno. Des d'allà agafarem un catamarà durant 15-20 minuts que ens durà a un refugi, on començarem el trekking o caminada. Abans ens fan una breu explicació del procés de glaciació i, en aquest cas sobre ...

... what you are seeing is amazing, then it isn't spectacular. How can it be? I guess what we really wanted to see was an entire serac, something the size of a skyscraper fall and smash into the water. Now that would have been amazing. I wouldn't have needed to do work anything out in my head! But that was never going to happen. So I wouldn't say I was disappointed with the Perito Moreno Glacier. Not at all ...