Day 114: December 6, 2007:Lago Argentino Boat Ride

  El Calafate, Argentina
Thursday, December 6, 2007

Day 114: December 6, 2007: Lago Argentino Boat Excursion

The hotel staff had left breakfast in our cabin the previous evening so we got up at 6:15, ate, and were in the office by 7:00 to wait for the bus. It arrived at 7:25, to take us the 46 km to Punta Banderas from where all boat excursions leave. I was surprised at how many more boats there are now compared to the last time I made this trip in 2004. I estimate that there were only about 35 people on our boat, the smallest group I've done this with. Each paid U$S 142 for bus transfers, the boat ride, park entrance, and a fabulous lunch at Estancia Cristina. When I did this trip in 1989, it cost us U$S 20 each!

There were a lot of clouds and a lot of blue sky as we pushed off around 8:15. The wind was strong but not really too bad. After getting a cup of coffee, I went out to the fantail and then to the upper deck to look at the towering cliffs on the east side of Will Lyons' field area. Amazing fold and thrust structures are exquisitely exposed. This will be his only view of the north side of the Magallanes Peninsula.

North Wall of the Magallanes Peninsula

Iceberg Arch

Structures

I got to talking with a British guy, his wife, a Welsh woman and an Irish woman who were traveling together. They all had a little geological background and peppered me with questions. Once we entered the western end of the lake, the quantity of icebergs increased dramatically. The boat wove very slowly through the thickest part of them, affording us many good foto opportunities. Many were enormous.

When we got to the Uppsala Glacier, we stood about a kilometer off, hoping to see some calving action from the largest glacier that enters the lake. I've never even seen an ice cube fall off of that thing in four visits but the ice has retreated 2-3 kilometers since my first visit in 1989. Very little is left of the part of the ice that floated out onto the lake. It was clear above the glacier so we could see all the way to the top of it where it decends from the Southern Patagonian Ice Sheet.

Lago Argentino Icebergs

Telefoto of Uppsala Glacier

Kame Terrace Sediment

After we left the glacial front, we cruised for about an hour and went up the Estancia Cristina branch of the lake. We beached at the usual spot at Estancia Cristina and walked 500 m to the ranch dining room, deciding not to do the short, optional hike up to a pretty waterfall--we were hungry! I was a little disappointed that the parilla is no longer in the center of the dining room but it does allow more room for people to eat. As usual, the meal was excellent. We stuffed ourselves on lamb, vegetables, wine, and salad before having a tasty dessert. Afterward, we waddled through a tour of the ranch where we learned its interesting and somewhat bittersweet history. They now run a pricey hostería there as well. I hit it off with the guide pretty well. She told me to come back with Will and Megan when they make this trip in a couple of weeks.

JR at Uppsala Glacier

Our Boat

After the tour, we reboarded the boat and sailed the hour and a half back to Punta Banderas. I went out on deck and was there alone for about half an hour. Then, the Welsh and Irish women came out and were soon followed by most of the others. We chatted the whole way back. We reboarded the bus at Punta Banderas and it took us back to the hotel.

I told the hotel staff that we needed to get a 3:15 AM taxi to our 4:00 AM bus to Río Gallegos. They said thatwould be no problem and they would arrange it. They also told me they could only take cash because their credit card reader was down, so I went back to the ATM and got money to pay for the hotel and the boat excursion, which we were paying through the hotel.

By the time I got back I was ready for a shower. A very dry martini afterward put a nice cap on the day's activities. We went to dinner at about 10:00. A birthday party for one of the owners was in full swing but they put us in the upstairs dining room and we had another great meal, talking a lot with the woman who served us the previous evening. Her English is quite good.

My mother was worried that we didn't have the cab company's phone number in case they forgot about us. I asked Tomás about that as I paid the bill. He looked at me funny, reminding me that the birthday party would probably go on until dawn. I knew he was right.

When I got back to the cabin, Elise went out to have a beer with Tomás and the others. I went to bed and vaguely remember her returning a half an hour later. If the party ever got loud, I never heard it.