This will be my last main blog before I close the trip with a Summary - look out for that as there may be a few little giggles in there that I haven't included elsewhere!
I arrived in El Calafate on Saturday to glorious blue skies, but a slightly cooler temperature of 15c - well I am getting closer and closer to the south pole so it's not expected to be hot - Cue Jacket and jumpers, away go the shorts and flip flops!
I was taken to my hotel - the Mirador del Lago - a beautiful little lodge style hotel on a slight hill with views over the largest lake in South America - Lago Argentino...On checking in, it appeared that there had been some complication with my booking and the hotel had over booked, it was their mistake and they were very sorry. They made arrangements for me to stay at another hotel...the best hotel in the center of town - the 5* Pousada Los Alamos! How lucky was I - well until the wifi problem, having two single beds instead of a double and been kept awake each night by some concert in town that doesn't finish until 1:30 - it's a nice place, breakfast is awesome and the pool and spa is also pretty cool with great views out over the golf course - all of which I have full use of free of charge during my stay!
I met up with Bjorn again for dinner...Bjorn is the Dutch guy that I met on the High Andes tour in Mendoza - he's here at the moment before going down to Ushuaia - so we've kept each other company over dinner and shared our tales. He's been traveling since the 2nd January and started up in Peru on the Inca Trail, working down through Bolivia, Chile and now Argentina, ending his trip in March up in Buenos Aires. He's had some amazing experiences which are all food for though for me for my next trip!
Yesterday was my last big trip of the holiday, and organised excursion called "Todos los Glaciars" - a day sailing on the Lake heading into another or Argentina National Parks "Los Glaciares" It was an early start, 7:15 pickup and a 50km drive to the port. Once we arrived it was just a mass of tourists - I started to feel like a sheep and being herded from queue to queue. There were 3 catamarans going out, each with around 200 people on board - if I had one negative about this trip it would be too many people per boat.
Anyway, we set sail and as we started drawing closer to the glaciars you started to see huge lumps of ice floating around the lake - large icebergs that were once part of the glaciars that have broken off. The colours were stunning, really bright blues and turquoises, combined with the starting turquoise of the water, it really was quite something to see. As we approached on of the larger icebergs it suddenly shifted and a great hug lump broke off, the iceberg toppled and what was underwater was suddenly above water as the ice rebalanced itself. This time, the colours a deep navy blue. The guide explained the colours were from oxygen within the ice and that the ice was actually full of small bubbles.
Our first calling point was the Upsala Canal, here 3 glaciars sweep down the mountains and join to form into one, it was impressive, however we couldn't get close to the wall of it as so much of it was breaking down and the boat couldn't navigate between the icebergs as it wasn't safe, we stayed for a while getting close to some of the icebergs to allow some good pictures, before we headed off the the next glaciar, Spegazzini. Although parts of this were falling off (And some did whilst we were there) we could get much closer to the glaciar wall. It was stunning, huge wall of ice, the formations reminded me of Planet Krypton from Superman! Our boat pulled up alongside some of the smaller bits of ice that had fallen off and the crew pulled a piece on board, where it was hacked into small pieces and taken to the bar, where you could then go and buy yourself Whiskey on the Rocks, where for the first time in my life the rock was several hundred years older than the Whiskey!
Our last stop was the Perito Moreno glaciar, This is by far the most impressive. The northern face peaks at 140m above the water level, the southern wall much smaller at 80m. This glaciar has a total surface area larger than the city of Buenos Aires. Trying to get this in my head hurts and I feel like my brain was going to explode. just simply spectacular. This glaciar forms a damn between the main lake and another of the smaller lakes. This glaciar is moving the least, but all glaciars move, it's just part of the natural formation, hence the pieces of ice that are continually breaking off. This glaciar is also the only one that can be seen on land as it's possible to reach it via the peninsula between the two lakes. Some of the tours, and indeed the one Bjorn did, take you walking across the glaciar. This is one thing I regret not doing but still, seeing it was pretty cool!
Back to the hotel and I met Bjorn again last night for dinner, he's left now and continuing his journey and it's time for me to start packing and planning my return home. I don't have anything planned today, I'm going to take a stroll down to the shores of the lake and chill out, then this afternoon I've booked in for a massage in the hotel Spa. Tomorrow, my flight back to Buenos Aires, with one night there and then it's Adios Argentina as I head back to London.
What a trip this has been!
Sounds amazing Chris!
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