14 del Febrero - El Calafate & El Chalten
Patagonia is a surreal and dramatic place (even eerie at times). Where else can you find towers of stone jutting out of the otherwise flat landscape of the pampas at a steepness that defies the stickiest of snow? Or amazing shapes in blue ice that hover like skyscrapers over milky turquoise lakes?We have been out of touch for a few days as the internet access in El Chalten was super expensive and slow, and we´ve both been nursing ourselves back to health after coming down with colds. Estamos resfriado. So, since our last blog entry, we have been to El Calafate to see the Perito Moreno glacier and then on to El Chalten to hike around the great Fitzroy mountain. Now we are in Rio Gallegos waiting for a morning bus tomorrow to the lake region in Bariloche (a 26 hour bus ride from here...life in the slow lane), where we will meet Pete and Rachel for a much needed dose of friends from home to help fend off homesickness.
In El Calafate our visit to the Perito Moreno glacier was well worth it. The glacier that we saw in Torres del Paine was spectacular, but we were only able to admire it from a distance. We saw Perito Moreno from a fenced in viewing area where we were able to see the detail in it´s impressive icy spires. After that, we got a look at it from water level in a boat on the lake. Perito Moreno is tall. It towers 70 meters above water and reaches down beneath to the bottom of the lake. It is composed of many hues of blue ice that melt into sculpture-like peaks or break off as the glacier advances. You can hear the ice cracking and moaning under constant pressure. If you are lucky, you will see a huge chunk break off of the glacier and create a mini avalanche as ice falls into the water below. We witnessed this roaring phenomenon a couple of times...lucky us. Apparently, the glacier was named for the man who created the borders around it, which include it in Argentina´s territory instead of in Chile. Although the National Park that houses the glacier is a bit too touristy for our taste, we enjoyed the day as we marveled at this very surreal site.
We also finally tried yerba mate for the first time. Our tour leader offered us sips from her mate cup, which is a special gesture, and we gladly accepted. It has a smoky, somewhat bitter taste...but it is very similar to te caliente (hot tea). People here drink yerba mate day and night. They carry around personal supplies of the leaves, sugar and a thermos of hot water to constantly refill their cups and they sip with these difficult to describe metal straws. When someone offers you a sip from their cup, it is a gesture of friendship.
The rest of our time spent in El Calafate was at our guesthouse. We had a room with a fully stocked kitchen and we were able to cook our own meals for the first time since we left home. Jen actually cooked AND enjoyed doing it. It was really nice to have a homebase for a few days to rest and get well.
The day we arrived in El Chalten was sunny and clear. Our bus stopped at the outskirts of the tiny frontier town, so that we could get a good look at Fitzroy and the surrounding mountains from a distance. Our first glance of the mountains looked like a backdrop on a movie set beyond the pampas. There is nothing but flat, arid landscape for miles around and suddenly out of nowhere the Andes sprout up tall and proud. El Chalten is a small, sprawling town surrounded by mountains. At dusk if you stand in the center of town and spin around to glimpse at the surrounding horizon, you see nothing but the majestic silhouettes of the jagged, enormous mountains and towers. The town itself has recently discovered it´s potential for tourism and is erecting hotels and restaurants accordingly at a break-neck pace. There are plenty of day hikes from town, so we rented a habitacion doble (double room) at one of the little hotels and planned to set off for two hikes from there.
Our first hike was very mellow. We hiked to Laguna Torres and met a guy from Barcelona on the way. It was great to practice Spanish with him and he agreed that the Argentine Spanish is very different and confusing (even to him). The entire hike took about 5 hours and was on a really easy-going trail and was not steep at all. We followed the river to a glacial lake where we could get a better look at the Cerro Torres that play a supporting role to Fitzroy, the star of the show. This was our first hike since our 5 day excursion in Torres del Paine, so we were happy to take it easy as we tested out our recently healed feet and tried to avoid getting any new blisters. We also learned the number one rule in hiking--wear two pairs of socks! Someone in Torres del Paine mentioned this technique and we put it to the test in El Chalten...we are happy to report that it works.
Our second hike was steep, but short. We hiked up to a mirador (vista point), where we could get a closer gander at Fitzroy. We sat for about an hour and watched as the mountain disappeared and reappeared behind wispy clouds. Our hiking outings in Torres del Paine were very rushed as we had a lot of ground to cover there everyday. In contrast, we had all the time in the world in El Chalten and were happy to take it all in at a slower pace.
Our last night in El Chalten, we treated ourselves to a really nice dinner at a new restaurant there called Malbec...perhaps for Valentine´s Day, although I admit that I didn´t even realize it was Feb 14th until I checked email today. At Malbec, we sat near the window and watched the sun set behind Fitzroy. The food was really good and the wine (Malbec) was wonderful. We sat there talking about how strange it will be to go to a restaurant at home and not see Malbec on the menu. We are savoring the life of luxury that Argentina offers.
posted by The Blaus @ 7:17 PM
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