First I need to state something that’s been overdue: Travelling with Axel is very pleasant. We quickly agree on most things and there the first two weeks went on very smoothly. So thanks, Axel, for this vacation together.
The ride to Argentina passed without major problems. It only took two attempts to get to the bus station after Max remembered he had left his bus ticket in the hostel. Omar took it cool and raced through the town to get us there just in time.
In El Calafate, we were greeted by sunshine (again!) and strong gales. We booked a trip to the very amazing Perito Moreno glacier (which is not the largest one but definitely the most spectacular) the next day. More about that later.
Axel and I also tried obtaining a booking for some ice glacier walking for the remaining day without luck (no space left). However, we got talking to two other travellers who had arrived here from Bariloche by plane, just like we wanted, but the ticket price was ridiculously high with LAN. But these travellers, they had picked a flight by LADE, some department of the military, who fly back and forth only once a week. We checked and there was a flight on the 12th for only 832 ARS, which was about a quarter of the LAN flight and still cheaper than the 30 hours bus ride that we originally had in mind.
Both cheaper, faster and less hastle? It sounded unreal. This needed careful planning, however. We had to shorten the stay in El Calafate and we needed to make sure we were back from El Chaiten to catch the flight by Tuesday. The trick was simple: We booked a full day trip to El Chaiten for ice walking and then stayed there. In El Chaiten, we actually had planned to leave a night early and stay in El Calafate because the official bus would arrive too late in the morning to get to the airport in time. But good Karma seemed to follow us: The owner of the hostel in El Chaiten said he could book a shuttle service for us directly to the airport that would leave at 6:30am for a mere 170 ARS. So no need to go back a night early and have some more time in El Chaiten!
The catch? You can book a LADE flight on the website but you cannot PAY there. You have to call a phone number or go to their offices. We first picked the latter option. 25 minutes after walking to the middle of no-where (gravel roads at the edge of town without sign posts), we stood in front of a closed office door with no further information.
Back in town we tried calling them to no avail — none of the numbers worked. After shopping ahead for El Chaiten, we tried again from the hostel. No luck either. I sent an email with the credit card details as last resort. At noon in El Chaiten just before the ice glacier tour, we tried again to call them, ending up in a waiting loop for 15 minutes. Man, if we I had only known how difficult this was… fortunately, by the evening I had a confirmation mail by LADE (which was almost impossible to download with the unreliable internet in the hostel). Phew. It did turn out well but I’m sure I had grown a few grey hair.
I hope this little story didn’t bore you to death. Just a short insight on how the planning sometimes works.
So back to the Perito Moreno glacier. Max, Imbal (who we met in the Kawaskar in Puerto Natales), Axel and I took the alternative route which included a more scenic route through the valley. The name El Calafate origins from the berry of same name. If you eat it, the legend goes you will come back for more. Well, I think that’s the case for most enjoyable things (like toothpaste, ice cream, books etc). Moreover, the calafate berry gives you really blue tongue.
Continuing to a ranch, we at first were a bit worried about some black clouds hanging in the valley. Thankfully, by the time we reached it, they were all gone and we again had perfect weather.
We took a short hike through along the Lago Argentina that is cut off during winter by the glacier with amazing views of the glacier as we slowly closed in. However, the most spectacular views could be obtained by walking to the balconies. So much packt and crushd ice. We had two hours for lunch there and waited for big pieces of ice to break off and crash into the lake. The downside is: Once you hear the crash, it’s already too late. But it is a fun activity waiting and watching. And did I mention that the view of these huge shards of blue glowing compact frozen water is just completely mindboggling? It is fantastic.
The 90 ARS for the boat cruise were well invested. We got pretty close to the glacier and we were able to see probably the three biggest pieces of ice breaking off and falling into the lake for the whole day. Taking photos of that is another thing. You can either shout “OH MY GOD! LOOK THERE!” or quickly point your camera to the action and go for as many shots as possible but usually not both. I did the former making a few more people happy witnesses.
The evening ended with the famous Asado with lots of meat, and meat and more meat (and bits of salad, too). And lots of wine. It was a great evening and it was possible to also celebrate Axel’s birthday (well, Germany is four hours ahead anyway).
This post is already breaking the 1000 words barrier. So the next post will be about the ice glacier walks and other stuff we did in El Chalten.
BTW: Most of the photos are a bit dark, that’s because they have been underexposed on purpose. You would lose the detail in the bright spots otherwise.
