Siestabrigid's travel blogs:
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El Chalten - Argentina's most famous Glacier
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4th and 5th Feb - El Chalten
Before leaving El Calafate we visited the most famous glacier in Argentina - namely, Perito Morena. Fortunately, we got there early in the morning before all the coach tours arrived! It is an active glacier in that it is always advancing and receding - there were lots of calvings while we were there - it is at times like that that I wished I had a super-duper camera with all the bells and whistles!! One of our group - an Aussie chap - had a terrific camera so he is going to send me his digital shots of a calving sequence - so I will not lose out!! After our visit to the glacier, we went on a boat trip to the same glacier for more close-up views of the spectacle. I much preferred Gray Glacier - more stately and personal - I think because I walked to it there was a special significance to it.
That evening we took a late bus to El Chalten - a trip of another 5 hours!! At least the scenery was more interesting - lots of lakes and wildlife along the way. When we got there we stayed in a really cozy hostel. We were lucky to have a room all to ourselves - no sharing this time! We had our own bathroom also and the place was nicely heated. All in all, a good result! This town is totally different to el Calafate - a small exclusive little town - great for climbers but time and tourism is fast catching up and there are signs of uncontrolled development already. However, there is a very relaxed atmosphere here - there are lots of good restaurants and right opposite our hostel there was a marvellous cafe called Del Bosque, where we had breakfast - excellent coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice.
We decided to go for what was to be a 40 minute each way hike up a hill to get some good views - well, the 80 minute round trip turned into 4 hours!! What a surprise! We got back at 10.30 pm - I was so hungry and tired that I could not be bothered going to a restaurant at that hour so retired to bed having eaten a yogurt, apple and some crackers - I must be crackers too!! The trouble is that it does not get dark hear until 10.30 to 11 pm so you get carried away with the walking bug. The next day we had a full 8-hour hike to Fitzroy, in the north part of the P N Los G - another of the granite peaks with a glacier and glacial lake at the foot of it. It was a fantastic day - ideal weather conditions - there are great views from the top, of Laguna Sucia (a glacial lake, emerald green) and we took wonderful photos of condors flying overhead. This peak is 3445 metres high. We got back to our base at 8 pm having left at 8 am that morning. The day would not have been such a roaring success if it were not for our guide Marcello - who was the tops.
On Wed 6th I had a chill-out day in El Chalten while the others in the group did an ice hike on Viedma glacier. I went to my favourite cafe for breakfast - had a wander around the town - found a beautiful Alpine church (dedicated to an Austrian mountain climber called Toni Egger, who lost his life climbing Cerro Torre on it's first ascent). After lunch I had booked a full body massage and a reflexology session - it was a perfect tonic to iron out my creaking bones and tight muscles!! All for the princely sum of US$26 - for 1 hour 15 mins treatment. Sheer bliss!! Sorry Peter!! I then met up with 3 girls from California and, had a lesson in how to get the best out of my digital camera from one of these really nice girls. We got a 5 pm bus back to El Calafate that evening. What a contrast to El Calafate!
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Where I stayed:
Lo de Tribi
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