"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy a plane ticket and that's kinda the same thing."
Author Unknown
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This is the continuing account of our 2011 trip to the South American countries of Chile, Argentina, Easter Island & Boliva (see other blogs) with travel companions Melanie Mason and Paul Delaney.
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On January 15, 2011, we were evicted from Chile (previous blog post) and the Red Cross received permission to transport us, the trapped tourist, to El Calafate in Argentina. At about 9:30PM the buses left town (Puerto Natales) under police escort. We arrived at the border, got stamped through and at 3:30AM we were disposed at the bus terminal in El Calafate.
Our story picks up here......
Argentina Republic
Argentina, officially the Argentina Republic, is the second largest country in South America, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among spanish speaking nations, though Mexico, Columbia and Spain are more populous.
The secret is out: with its gorgeous landscapes, cosmopolitan cities and lively culture, Argentina is a traveller's paradise. It stretches almost 3,500km from Bolivia to the tip of South America, encompasses a wide array of geography and climates, and is almost the size of India. Nature-lovers can traverse the Patagonia steppe, climb South America's highest peak, walk among thousands of penguins and witness the world's most amazing waterfalls. Hikers can sample the stunning scenery of the lush Lake District - with its glorious lakes and white-tipped mountains - and revel in Patagonia's glacier-carved landscapes and painted Andean deserts.
Argentina celebrated its bicentennial in 2010, rejoicing in 200 years of independence from Spain. Argentina is safe, friendly and - compared to Europe or the US - very affordable. Now is a great time to visit, so get your spirit in gear and prepare for an unforgettable adventure!!
El Chalten
El Chalten is a small mountain village in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is located in the riverside of Rio de las Vueltas, within the Los Glaciares National Park (section Reserva Nacional Zona Viedma) at the base of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy mountains, both popular for climbing trekking. For this reason this village is well-visited by trekkers and climbers.
The village was built in 1985 to help secure the disputed border with Chile. Today the sole reason for its existence is tourism. It is 220 km north of El Calafate.
"Chalten" is a tehuelche word meaning smoking mountain, as they believe it was a volcano, as it's peak is covered by clouds most of the time.
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| The view from our hotel room in El Chalten. Mount Fitz Roy…..impressive or what!! |
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| This little town was our Saving Grace!! After being kicked out of Chile and ending up in El Calafate, Argentina, we had to think fast as to our next destination. We had heard from a couple of people that El Chalten would be a good spot for many of the things we wanted to do…..so sitting in the bus terminal in El Calafate, we decided that the 3 hour bus ride to El Chalten was our best option….so here we are!!! |
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| Paul did some research and found that there was an awesome hike just a little way out of town that was similar to hiking in the Torres del Paine…..and since we missed out on this we opted for the 'next-best-thing'!! |
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| To get to the hike we grabbed a taxi and drove to the starting point. From there we simply followed the path!! |
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| We only met a couple of people on this trail going in the same direction as we were. We figured that this trail was very similar to Torres del Paine and for this reason we felt that a certain aspect of our trip had been salvage. |
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| The forest soon opened up and we could see the towers. These form part of the same inter-company park system as Bernardo O'Higgins National Park of Chile. |
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| We found this cardboard cut-out for portraits and had our picture taken. :) |
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| The Fitz Roy Mountain Range, with it's rugged wilderness and shark-tooth summits. This is the defacto mountaineering and trekking destination in the Argentina Patagonia. It occupies the northern half of Parque Nacional Los Glaciers. |
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| This part of the Argentina Patagonia rivals the Torres del Paine in many ways, including numerous, well marked trails for trekking and jaw-dropping scenery - that is when the clouds clear. |
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| As we stood here taking in this amazing view a glacier caved from the upper glacier field. |
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| This was some of the most wild breathtaking scenery I had ever laid my eyes on. |
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| "OK guys I'm pretty convince that that's the trail over there." |
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| When we finally finished trekking up through the forested mountain side, we came out into this treeless place. At the very end is a trail that leads down to a campsite and a climb up to two mountain lakes…..which we did! |
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| We walk into this valley and climbed up to the glacier lake situated about 600 metres up from here! |
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| "Mel are you having fun yet?" |
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| Crossing a brook…….some river kayakers had actually dragged their kayaks in here hoping to go down this river. Didn't they check the water levels first….silly friggers!! |
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| Mel starting the climb up! |
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| Mel stops for a drink of some of the most refreshing water one could ever taste. |
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| Nearing the top. The closest lake in the picture below is where we had started our slog uphill from. |
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| Mel cresting the top of the trail. The big lake in the background is where we would go the next day! |
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| It's amazing that anything would grow in this harsh environment…..but these flowers were doing quite well in the shelter of the big boulder. |
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| Just a casual stroll up the flanks of Mount Fitz Roy! |
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| Our destination! |
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| It's a beautiful mermaid feasting on an empanada. |
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| The ruggedness of this part of the world is astounding….no wonder it's a prime trekking and adventure tourism destination! |
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| Obligatory "pondering" picture on the Lago De los Tres. |
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| Laguna Sucia about a hundred metres below. |
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| At the edge taking a picture of……….. |
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| ……..the stream tumbling down the rock wall. |
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| The emerald waters of Laguna Sucia with it's hanging glaciers make the perfect backdrop! |
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| A perfect view of both lakes…..with a wee bit of Mel in the picture! |
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| After the exhilarating climb up to the lakes we still have a 4 hour trek back to town, passing amazing scenery along the way! |
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| The Rio Blanco meanders towards El Chalten. |
The next day we head for Lake Viedma.....
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Just a few minutes away from El Chalten there lies one of the most beautiful lakes in the Argentinian Patagonia: Lake Viedma. This is the start of our glacier walking and ice climbing experience!
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| We landed on the part of the bay where the glacier had retreated. The land is scrapped right down to the bedrock and then a good portion of that has also been scrapped away! |
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| As we reached the beginning of the Viedma Glacier, a berg caved……its the bright blue pieces in the water. |
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| Viedma Glacier is a large glacier that is part of the huge Southern Patagonian Ice Field, located at the southern end of mainland South America. Viedma Glacier is located in Los Glaciares National Park, in the Patagonia region of Argentina, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1981. The Southern Patagonian Ice FIeld is 13,000 square kilometres; Viedma Glacier is one of the Ice Field's 48 outlet glaciers. |
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| We were here for the ice climbing and to learn how to do it we started on a small ice wall……this is Mel learning the tricks of the trade! |
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| Mel and Paul starting up the 13 metre ice wall. |
The next day after visiting Viedma Lake we did another hike....
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| Day 3 and our third and final full day in El Chalten, so we decided to hike the 4 hour trek up to Cerro Torre (seen it in the background). |
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| We eventually come upon the De las Vueltas river valley and continue up to the river's source. |
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| The Adela mountain range forms part of the awesome scenery. |
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| The thing I noticed the most as we were hiking up this valley was the very high winds that kept gusting…..you'd be hiking along minding your business when all of a sudden a massive gust of wind would almost sweep you off of your feet. |
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| Our destination on this hike was the Laguna Torres……a windswept glacial lake at the base of Cerro Torres. |
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| …….did I mentioned how gusty the wind got here? |
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Taking in the view of El Chalten from our return hike from Laguna Torres.
…..and continuing on in Argentina
Bariloche
San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche, is a city in the province of Rio Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes. Surrounded by lakes and mountains, San Carlos de Bariloche is a major international tourist destination with a permanent population of 108,000 according to the 2010 census. It is famous for skiing but also known for sight-seeing, water sports, trekking and climbing.
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| We decided it was in our best interest to continue north in Argentina to the town of Bariloche…..a 26 hour bus ride…..much of it on dirt road. But they did inboard meals…….hey don't knock it, even Air Canada doesn't offer that anymore!! But trust me, it wasn't worth waking up over….."was it Mel?" |
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| We arrived in Bariloche at 1:00AM with the intent of continuing on to the Chilean border in the morning, so we camped out here at the bus station hoping to get an early morning bus. When the ticketing agency open, there were no buses to Chile for 3 days, so Bariloche here we are! |
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| As it turns out Bariloche was a beautiful town with lot's to do and we made the best of our 3 day stopover! "I'll drink to that….holy shit the size of the beers!" |
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After a 26 hour bus ride and a night sleeping on a bus station floor all we wanted to do was explore the town of Bariloche. The Swiss-German ancestry was pretty evident in the architecture, such as found here in the town square.
Paul is taking a picture of the town square from another angle……. |
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| ……..so this is what Paul sees! |
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| This town has a real Swiss-German feel……..how much of a Swiss-German feel you ask? A St. Bernard dog with a first-aid whiskey barrel Swiss-German! |
Well that's it for now. We'll see you in the next blog.
DIARY ENTRY: Monday January 17, 2011 6:58PM: Just back from an awesome hike here in El Chalten, Argentina…..how did we end up in Argentina???
On Saturday (January 15/11 - Chile) we found out that the Red Cross had received permission to transport the trapped tourist to either Punta Arenas or El Calafate in Argentina. We felt that going to Punta Arenas was like jumping from the fat into the fire, so we opted for Argentina. We were told to make our way to the school that the Red Cross had set-up in, so we were there at about 10:30AM, but so were about 2,000 other tourist. We milled around and waited and waited and waited…..obviously nothing moved very fast around here. The Red Cross started to prioritized the tourist into old, pregnant, sick and young and eventually started loading them on buses. After about 8 - 9 hours they said all tourist over 50 who wanted to head for El Calafate should board the buses. For the first time I felt being over 50 was a benefit!!
At about 9:30PM the buses left town (Puerto Natales) under police escort. We arrived at the border, got stamped through and at 3:30AM we were disposed at the bus terminal in El Calafate. Needless to say there was no chance of finding a hotel at that time in the morning. First we had no knowledge of where we were, had no local currency and in reality probably couldn't get a hotel at that hour even if there was one available…..which was highly unlikely.
Recognizing that we were in a different country and knowing that this was gonna cause us serious grief (i.e. border crossings, pre-book flights, etc.), we decided that our best option was to head north to the community of El Chalten. At least we would be able to get (hopefully) a hotel room. After being awake since about 8:00AM the previous morning, I was literally exhausted.
We arrived here (El Chalten) at about 11:00AM and immediately realized that this community could offer us similar trekking that Torres del Paine could offer, so we decided to stay for a few days.
Today we decided that we would walk into the Fitz Roy mountain range. We were gone a total of 7 hours. The hike was in the Glacier National Park and this park has put a lot of money and effort into making it world-class. The trails are very well groomed and maintained, similar I would expect to Torres del Paine.
We passed a glacier coming from one of the mountains and walked through a thick lenga forest. Our timing was right-on with the glaciers as a large piece broke off and we were there to see it. It was actually pretty loud and the noise sounded very much like thunder. Afterwards we climbed up to a lake that was situated at 1,200mts. Brought us closer to a glacier and it was actually snowing! It was very good to get out and do some trekking. Finally we felt like we doing something other than sitting around waiting.
Currently Paul is gone to make a couple of phone calls with Sky Airlines to re-book and see what is happening with the demonstrations. If they calm down, then we'll head back to Puerto Natales to make our connecting flight, otherwise we'll try and get a bus north and hope to be able to cross the border back into Chile.
DIARY ENTRY: Friday January 20, 2011 6:57AM: Sitting here at the bus station in Bariloche, Argentina, after sleeping here all night. How did we end up here? ……Long story but first let's get caught up on the ice trek.
To get to the glacier (January 17/11 - El Chalten) we had to take a boat ride up a lake. So strange to see ice bergs in a fresh water lake. After arriving at the glacier we get our gear and hiked into the first wall. At about 8 metres this seem pretty imposing. We got our instructions, took a few stabs at it, and BOOM we were ice climbing. I was a real pro and the first on the wall. It was a lot more physically demanding than I thought but after slipping and sliding I made it to the top!!! Melanie took a different route than I, but after her second try she also made it!!
Afterwards we moved to the ice cliff that was about 12+ metres. Again the guides picked two routes, one about 10+ metres with no overhang and the other 12+ with an overhang. On my first attempt of the one with the overhang I couldn't get pass the overhang but after watching Paul make it, I was determined. On my second try, after quite the struggle, I got to touch the ice pegs holding the ropes!! Melanie tried the other route and made it on her first try!! She was the only girl out of 7 to make it and from my guess she was perhaps the oldest. Yeah Mel!!! Similarly, there were 5 guys and only Paul, a guy from Holland (he was about 25) and myself made it. And I was definitely the oldest!
Afterwards we took an hour or so to hike around the glacier. Crevasses everywhere, ice tunnels and the best tasting water I ever had. This was definitely an awesome experience and it made our trip a bit better after the fawk up in Puerto Natales.
On Wednesday (January 18/11) we managed to get a bus to Bariloche but it wasn't leaving until 9 at night. So we decided to hike up to Lago de Torre. This was supposed to be a 6 hour round trip hike but we knocked it off much quicker! The hike wasn't nearly as spectacular as our first one (2 days ago) and it was definitely much more crowded. The most notable thing about the place was the glacier lake at the end where the winds were the strongest I ever experience. Apparently this is normal because of the mountains and glaciers.
At 9:00 we boarded our bus for a 26 hour bus ride……gag. The unfortunate part was we arrived here in Bariloche at 1:00AM in the morning. So we ended up spreading our mattresses on the floor and sleeping here. As I write this, Paul is checking with the bus companies and nothing is available until Monday……fawk fawk fawk. Oh well adaption is what it is all about.
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