Southern Patagonia: Glaciers, wind, and a guest

Hola! Greetings from Patagonia.

The last few weeks have been exciting and crazy, so i will try and catch everyone up....and thanks to Noah, we actually have some pictures to show: http://picasaweb.google.com/noah.kaufman/SouthAmerica2008

A few weeks ago we met Noah in Buenos Aires and then flew down to El Calafate, which is in far southern Patagonia. Most of Central Argentina is ranchland, so as we rose up out of Buenos Aires, we saw lots and lots of flat land. This continued for a few hours until we started to see the Andes in the distance and then as we got closer, we saw a huge rock like a fortress over the valley. We thought that this may be the legendary Fitz Roy peak, but weren´t quite sure until we saw the glaciers in the far distance. Although we claimed any piece of snow was a glacier, this seemed like a definite glacier. Then a lake emerged out of nowhere and we landed...in the middle of nowhere.

El Calafete is a town on a lake near a glacier. It is very harsh in the winter, so things are really open only 6 months of the year. Apparently it used to be quaint in the past, but now it´s main street is dominated by tourist agencies, souvenir shops, and a gawdy casino. So we settled into the city in our quaint posada, found a tour to the Moreno glacier for the next day, and went to dinner. The next morning we met Augustin and our tour to the Moreno glacier and set off. After driving for about an hour, we could see it in the distance and were amazed. Then we boarded a boat to get a closer look and our jaws dropped. The boat got us close, but until we got off the boat and walked on the balconies just across from the glacier, we werent able to appreciate the full glory.

When you walk on the balconies, you will first hear the glacier. Loud pops like gun shots and as you get closer you realize that this is the glacier moving. Large chunks of ice will break loose and cause mini-tidal waves in the water. We saw a 10 meter chunk break loose, caram off of the ice, and dive into the water and it really does make you feel small. These glaciers have been slowly moving for tens of thousands of years and their changes arent measured in our lifetimes but in series of lifetimes. But, then there are also amazing things that happen immediately. Apparently, every few years the glacier will damn the water connecting the lakes, the lake will push and push, and eventually the glacier will give in a tremendous explosion of water and sound. But I digress.....Anyway, we hiked around the balconies for a few hours and saw the glacier from hundreds of different angles and, personally, I was not ready to go when the bus was leaving. I am convinced that if we waited a few more minutes we would have seen a great explosion, but we had more work to do!

That evening we arranged a kayak tour, had a wonderful dinner at the restaurant down the street, and went to bed. That night we made the escapade to the hospital (see the previous post) so the next morning it was only Noah and I for the kayak tour with the immortal Milton! Milton was our kayak river guide and spoke like a sly Argentino and would occassionally spout strange phrases like, "You look like two boys having fun in the river!" Milton soon became a fixture of the trip and we would imitate him as often as possible and soon used his wisdom to develop our new catch phrase, "What would Milton do!" Anyway, after meeting Milton we hopped into his Land Cruiser with the kayaks, picked up a Columbian couple that would join us, and headed to La Leona. La Leona was reportedly a hiding location for Butch Cassidy and his gang but now it was just a small hotel, with a small cafe, and a pile of dirt near the river to load the kayaks. We put on a ridiculous amout of neoprene (the water was cold) and got into the kayaks and pushed off. The river connects Lago Viedma (lago means lake) and Lago Argentino and parallels RN40, which is the most famous highway in Argentina that runs the country from north to south. Unlike the rivers in Colorado, this river was empty. No other boats or rafts. Only sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. We saw a few condors viewing us as potential prey (I tried to point them towards Noah) and lots of old estancias (ranches) dotting the river. There was a decent current and a strong wind, so we had quite a workout. Well, the other reason we had a workout is that Noah and I decided to attack the small rapids and create obstacle courses in the river. We zig-zagged around giant boulders and tried a sophisticated maneuver under an overhang, but that one didnt end well. For some reason, after all of the playing around Noah and I could barely move our arms at the end. We tried to use our paddles as sails (unsuccessfully) and send out distress signals (unsuccessfully) but eventually caught up to Milton and ended the kayak trip.

We took a day to recover and give Gina a bit more healing time and then headed to El Chalten, which is a town of 500 nestled in the Andes about 30km from the Chiliean border to the West. El Chalten has wind. Lots and lots of wind. Not like a nice fall day with a breeze. We are talking wind. Gale force winds. And it is windy all of the time. So, every walk in town was a struggle against the wind and the dust. The town is surrounded by mountains with Fitz Roy being the king of those mountains. A giant spire into the sky that overlooks the entire town. The first full day was overcast, rainy, and a bit snowy so we saw no mountains but we did a beautiful hike up up to Lago Capri and got a brief look at a glacier to the west. Throughout this area there are countless trails and unlimited hiking. Fitz Roy is an amazing peak that just seems terrifying to attempt to climb. The next day we did an ice trek on the Viedma glacier. Viedma isnt as active as the Morena glacier and not as dramatic, but walking on a glacier gives you another level of appreciation of the glacier. These glaciers extend hundreds of meters below the surface and many kilometers back into the mountains. So, you are surrounded by ice and can see into each crack and crevice. The ice took on different colors from white to blue to black and all the shades in between. We were even given a glacier cocktail of Baileys and glacier ice!

We enjoyed our hike and explored the town a bit and found some surprisingly good food. It is important to note that the staple of the patagonian diet is lamb. You can order lamb, lamb stew, lamb empanadas, smothered lamb, lamb soup, lamb pie, and probably lamb cupcakes. So, we had excellent lamb in this area and enjoyed staying in our little cabin that looked feeble, but was very strong and resilient against the pounding of the winds.



Then we left in Carito (the nickname of our little Fiat) to Torre Del Pain on RN40. Although, Carito isn´t a big car, he has a mighty heart and got us to the Chilean border in no time at all. We had a bit of an incident at the border in that we were found carrying contraband across the border --- yes, we tried to smuggle in apples! It was pretty harmless, but the border official confiscated our 4 apples and made us change our form to indicate that we we bringing apples across. After the brief border escapade, we cruised into Puerto Natales.

Puerto Natales is famous for two things: (1) Proximity to Torre Del Paine (2) The Mylodon. We were going to Torre Del Paine in a few days so we took a day to explore the Mylodon cave. This is a prehistoric giant sloth that created an international sensation in the late 1800´s when the bones and skin were found preserved and people that that there were 9 foot sloths walking around Patagonia. Alas, they are gone, but there is a giant cave where the bones were found that was surprisingly interesting. True to form we got a bit lost on the hiking trails, but this time were rewarded by a beautiful view of the region and the bays that flow down towards Antartica. I did fail in my quest to get a great cheesy Mylodon shirt, but the picture of Noah climbing the fake Mylodon statue was more than worth it.

Successfully seeing the Mylodon cave, we headed back to Puerto Natales with a slight detour to see the ¨beach¨of Puerto Natales (remember, we are pretty close to Antartica right now at the tip of the continent). After driving for a few kilometers on a very dusty road we were stopped by a herd of cattle. Everywhere. Two gauchos (cowboys) were slowing moving the herd, but they were not at all happy about our car or our presence. Gina was able to capture some live action photos while Noah kept us from crashing into them. Slightly later we saw beautiful mountain vistas with lambs grazing in front of them. Gina, attempting to take award winning photos, got out of the car to get better pictures. We aren´t exactly sure what happened but there was a lot of commotion by the lambs and Gina came back saying that they weren´t pleased at all.

With livestock adventures behind us, we headed to Torre Del Paine. Although none of us knew much about the park, it was supposed to be Chile´s greatest park. We were not disappointed. When approaching the park, you can see the Cuervos Del Paine (Horns) and a few large glaciers on either side of them. At our first stop, we were greeted by a pristine lake with floating icebergs, glaciers in the background, and greenery everywhere. Our second stop, had a thundering waterfall and direct views to the towering Cuervos above. Our final stop was our Hotel, but getting there was an adventure. About 1km prior to the Hotel, there is a tiny bridge and a sign that says that all passengers must exit the car to reduce the weight. A bit nervous, Noah and I exited and let Gina drive across the bridge (chivalry at its pinnacle). She screamed a few times but made it.

Our road trip was worth it. The Hotel is nestled under the Torres Del Paine in a beautiful pasture. Just minutes after arriving the gouchos stampeded the horses across the property as we stood slack-jawed. We settled in, had a bit of a hike, a decent meal, a few beers at the bar (while fighting the older tourists that have no manners!), and called it a night. The next morning was horseback riding!!

We woke up to lots and lots of rain, nearly called off the horse ride, and then decided to give it a go. We started harmless enough although my horse was a bit gassy and Gina´s had a bit of a wild streak. The gauchos and guide lead us off the property and we stayed at the base of the mountains. The clouds had started to lift, so hints of the Torres and neighboring peaks were visible. The lead us through creaks and streams and up and down fairly steap hills. Then they asked, "Do you want to gallup?" This seemed like a good idea, right? Horses gallup all the time. Although I looked at Gina and she was nervous and she has been riding horses for years. Apparently, galluping is sprinting really fast on the horse, aka -- Seabiscuit. Well, we got in a line, the gaucho took off and then the horses were following but still trotting until the gauchos in the back slapped the horses and then we took off. Noah was barely in his stirrups. Gina was out of hers, but she was flying past everyone. And I was too zapped on adreneline to know what I was doing. We did this a half dozen more times and soon we were all yelling gouchos and gouchas. What an experience!

Sadly, we had to leave Torre Del Paine and Chile that day and head back to El Calafete for our flights the next day. The roads were pretty dusty and difficult and tiring, but the border crossing was eventful again. This time we crossed at a very, very small town and couldn´t even find the border. When we did find it, there was a Chilean who wasn´t too interested in anything, but when we drove through the Argentine side (just a few kilometers down the road), it got fun. We pulled up and there were two people sitting outside with a dog. We got out of the car and heard screaming inside. I thought the worse. When we got into the border station, we discovered that we were disturbing a very intense game of ping-pong, hence the screaming. We all breathed a sigh of relief, laughed, and then off to Argentina.

One more night in El Calafete and then we parted with Noah. He was off to Buenos Aires for a night before heading home. We were off to Northern Patagonia and the town of Barriloche.

Ajay