Be There Shortly

Adventures of a five foot traveler.

El Calafate

We’ve entered Argentina! Although we will be back in Chile in less than 12 hours, but then we’ll be back in Argentina in eight days, so we’re not really shortchanging it. But speaking of change, upon arrival in Argentina the guy at the corner shop was all too eager to accept US Dollars and even Chilean Pesos. Argentina is currently undergoing “estrés económico” (as the headline on Argentina’s breakfast TV stated) and I’m curious to see how much the exchange rate fluctuates over the next four weeks as we explore the country… Okay. Tangent over.

Chile’s customs definitely wishes they were a fútbol team

Due to bus schedules, we completed our journey from Punta Arenas to El Calafate in two days, first with a three-hour bus from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales and then a seven-hour bus the following day from Puerto Natales to El Calafate. This left us with an afternoon in Puerto Natales, which will be our launch pad for our five-day W trek in Torres del Paine that begins on Saturday. Very aware that I have never done a multi-day trek on my own before, we took full advantage of our afternoon in Puerto Natales to sit in on Erratic Rock’s 3 o’clock talk, where they super helpfully go over all things W trek. We’ll be heading there tomorrow to rent gear, but more on that later (assuming we make it 😉 )!

Can’t believe all the places I’ve gotten to run!

Now for El Calafate, which has been a great introduction to Argentina and has laid claim to my favorite singular sight of our travels thus far: Glaciar Perito Moreno. In many ways El Clafate reminds me of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. With few year-round inhabitants (the population is only 6,000), the town feels like an outdoorsy, yet very wealthy, vacation base camp. It’s situated on on the banks of Largo Argentina, which has provided a great path for morning runs and afternoon walks with flamingo and wild horse sightings.

First time I’ve seen flamingos in the wild
Avoiding all of the horse poop…
Pretty great running scenery

Okay. Now that the lead is sufficiently buried: THE GLACIER! Words can never come close to describing just how awe-struck I felt while walking along the paths at Los Glaciares National Park viewing the massive incredible beautiful mystifying enchanting hunk of ice that is the Perito Moreno Glacier. While most glaciers are receding (thank you, humans) this one is actually stable and is the size of Buenos Aires. I’m going to stop talking now and just leave you with these photos:

Approaching Perito Moreno
Can’t stop staring
The National Park did a fantastic job with their walkway trails…
…allowing us to get up close and personal.
But not up close and dead!
Still close! And still not dead!
This week’s portrait mode
Laughing as the woman snapped dozens of photos of us…but realistically rather appreciative

This afternoon we’re heading back into Chile and then we’re embarking on the W trek on Saturday. Stay tuned to see if we make it…! If we don’t, I’m very glad we chose to see the glacier before the trek rather than after 😉

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6 Comments

  1. Ron January 10, 2019

    Awesome photos!

    Can’t wait to hear about your upcoming Patagonia adventure. Here’s wishing you great weather.

  2. Beth January 10, 2019

    Great photos, stories and info. Be safe and stay warm!

  3. Bruce January 10, 2019

    So beautiful. You are both fortunate to have this experience.

  4. Gilly January 11, 2019

    Looks AMAZING even in the photos – happy trekking!

  5. Villy January 12, 2019

    HOLY MOLY! What a glacier!

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