Visiting Patagonia

  El Calafate, Argentina
Thursday, May 17, 2007

    We thought that Turkey and China were cold countries until we came here. This place is freezing. Of course it is the furthest south we have traveled on the trip so far, one of the furthest south cities you can travel to, period.

Sunrise in Patagonia

It is surrounded by hundreds of miles of tundra. Just seeing the name "Patagonia" makes you feel like you are at the end of the world.

   The only thing that kept us coming outside was the amazing scenery. The sun rises at 9 am which is a great time for the sun to rise. It allows all us "non-morning people" to enjoy it. And these are some of the best sunrises in the world. Have you ever seen a sunrise this beautiful? I don't think so.

       When we arrived in Calafate we forced ourselves to get outside and see the town. The hostel receptionist recommended walking to the lake to see the flamingos. Julius had some serious doubts that flamingos would have such poor judgment to live in such a terrible climate. 

Flamingos in the Antarctic?

Imagine his shock when we walked to the lake and found a big flock of them just standing around, apparently oblivious to the howling winds and below zero temperatures. These flamingos apparently have not visited their cousins in Tanzania, living it up in the warm lakes. Otherwise they would have some serious doubts about returning here. 


    The lure of El Calafate is it close proximity to four massive glaciers. One glacier can be reached by car and the other three are sailed to by boat. The trips are very reasonably priced compared to the adventure outings in New Zealand. We went to to Moreno Glacier on our first day. This glacier can be viewed from some well positioned walkways across the lake but there is also an option of going on an hour cruise to get up close and personal. The promise of a toasty cabin room sold us. We got some coffee to stay warm and Julius tried the whiskey on the rocks - the only whiskey on the rocks where the ice is older than the whiskey (enter rim shot here). 

     The next day was the full day cruise on another side of Lake Argentina to visit the Onellie, Upsala and Spegazzi glaciers. We didn't think it could be any more amazing than Moreno but it was. The glaciers were massive and the most brilliant shade of blue. The boat ride also took us by dozens of icebergs of various sizes. On the edges of the lake were huge mountains capped with snow and forests of fall colors. It was truly breathtaking which is our only excuse for having  almost 200 photos for these two days! 

     And of course a stop in Argentina would not be complete without more shopping, red wine and steaks (with Patagonian lamb thrown in for good measure). We ate at one Parrilla (steakhouse) in town and Julius and I felt adequately hungry to try the Parrillada Mixta for two. This is a selection of meats (chicken, lamb, various cuts of beef) with no side dishes. It arrives at the table on a small grill. This dish is worth ordering just to see the reaction of others at the table. Mom and Arla swore they were becoming vegetarians. We thought it looked great. Of course we didn't finish it but we did our best. The waiter assured is that it was a good effort.